A few months ago, Al Roker interviewed Heidi and Spencer (I think they go by the cute couple name "Hencer") on Today and it didn't go well. Well, it didn't go well for Heidi and Spencer; Roker became a hero to many viewers for pretty much not taking the couple seriously at all. Well, the battle has continued on Twitter.
The two stars of The Hills were supposed to be on Today yesterday but were bumped (they did appear on Regis & Kelly this morning though). So Spencer went on Twitter (the new celebrity battleground) and said "WEATHERMAN I thought you were out of town today getting your stomach stapled again? He called Roker "abusive to women" and a "sicko." Roker responded by simply saying that people shouldn't pay attention to haters on Twitter.
Heidi and Spencer have a new book out, How To Be Famous. Tip #1: be complete morons.
Wow, it's one thing to write about the death of someone like Edward Woodward, someone who was older and not in good health, but it's another thing to write about the death of someone only 52. Ken Ober, who hosted the classic (well, in my mind it's a classic) MTV game show Remote Control in the late 80s, died yesterday of unknown causes.
If you've never seen Remote Control, it was a wacky pop culture trivia game show that supposedly was filmed in Ober's basement. Besides being a really fun game show (especially for someone raised on television), it costarred a lot of people who later became household names, such as Adam Sandler, Denis Leary, and Colin Quinn.
As much as I loved The Real Housewives of New Jersey, I knew that I was loving it for all the wrong reasons. I'm New Jersey all the way: born here, went to college here, have lived here all my life. About ten percent of the people I've met fit the yelling, lunkheaded Jersey stereotypes we've seen on TV since The Sopranos; what I don't understand is where reality TV's recent fascination has been with the louder residents of the Garden State.
First it was Housewives. Then it was Cake Boss, where Buddy Valastro and his crew scream and gesture so much it's a wonder how their cakes don't collapse in the oven. Even TLC's relatively gentle Masters of Reception seemed to highlight the more "Jersey" aspects of my home state.
Hey, I didn't call Kanye West a jackass, the President did. But he's still a jackass either way. I'm sure he's been called much worse since he yanked the mic away from Taylor Swift at MTV's Video Music Awards in September.
When I heard that West and Lady Gaga would be touring together, I thought, what a horrible blow for Gaga. Not that she's any stranger to controversy, what with her blood-spattered performances and all. Actually, these two might be perfect to tour together.
But alas, the show will NOT go on, at least not with West. Apparently, he's being dropped from the tour, whether, as he told Jay Leno, he needed to take some time off, or whether he was asked to take some time off (I vote for the latter).
Gaga told Billboard, "Kanye's going to take some time off. But the good news is that I'm going on tour in a few weeks."
Ironically, the ill-fated tour was named "Fame Kills."
I can admit that I'm no longer the hip young kid that I quite honestly never was. So it didn't surprise me that MTV was able to launch a new show and I was completely unaware of it. But, I've talked to younger friends who do watch MTV, and they don't remember any promotion for Popzilla either.
I found it purely by accident, and when it popped onto my screen, I was looking at something that looked like a mix of old Walt Disney animation and something the folks at Jib-Jab would have come up with. Utilizing photographs for the heads of celebrities, exaggerated slightly for comic effect, and little white Disney gloves, the show skewers celebrities and pop culture in short skits like Robot Chicken, and it's far funnier than it has any right to be.
Greg The Bunny, first on IFC and then FOX for a season and then on IFC for a short time again, is one of those shows where, if you mention it to a group of 15 people, 14 will probably look at you like you have half a head and the other person will either nod that they remember the show but never watched it or they'll nod and say "oh yeah! That was a good show." It was an acquired taste (anything with puppets is, right?), but a lot of people really miss it.
Well, there's actually a spinoff to the show in the works. That's right, a spinoff.
The original creators are getting together with MTV for the new show Warren The Ape. The plot will find Warren depressed and broke after Greg The Bunny ended, so MTV approaches him to do a reality show about his life.
I think the last time I actually cared about MTV was around 1991, so I'm not really invested in the latest Kanye West drama/hype that happened at last night VMAs. But I do think this picture was bizarre enough to post. It pretty much confirms that this is a world I have nothing in common with anymore. Thankfully.
Last year, all the citizens of Transsexual, Transylvania felt a collective disturbance in their fandom force. MTV had announced that they were going to do a remake of the classic cult film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not only would this be completely unnecessary, but it actually kind of hurt every Rocky fan's soul to hear it. Rocky Horror needs no remake because it never becomes dated. It's so far removed from, well, everything ever, it still holds up perfectly, happily doing the Time Warp again and again in its own little universe.
Well, maybe MTV got lazy or maybe they got freaked out about the insane amount of Internet sad-chatter against the idea of the new version, but MTV's Rocky Horror remake is on hold. Rejoice and prod a gold underwear-clad Adonis with a standing candelabra.
Michael J. Fox's Teen Wolf was infectious fun back in 1985. By the time we got to Jason Bateman and Teen Wolf Too, a lot of the luster had worn off. Still, MTV thinks there's still plenty to mine from the concept, as they've ordered a pilot for a Teen Wolf series.
MTV VP Liz Gately says, "It has a fresh take and is very different from the original." They go on to explain that it's more similar to An American Werewolf in Paris (not London, but Paris). I'm still trying to wrap my brain around why remakes seem to be all the rage right now. Especially if this remake is so different from the source title. Why is it a remake then?
Have we reached a creative laziness where it's just easier to try and sell the public on a property they've already heard of than something brand new? If this is as "very different" as Gately says, then why not just call it something else entirely? Vampires and werewolves are popular enough right now with the kids that you don't need a 24-year old movie title to sell a series.
No, reality television's favorite couple of prats, Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt remain. You know, that could explain why everybody else is running from The Hills. The producers are hoping an injection of Kristin Cavallari, formerly of Laguna Beach will help. Personally, I'd be thrilled with the addition of some of the fine folks from the MMA to kick Speidi's ass. I'd watch that week after week.
Don't worry about Patridge, though. She says she's leaving The Hills to focus on that acting career she went to LA for. Which means starring in another reality show for MTV, apparently. The Audrina Show, produced by Survivor's Mark Burnett, will hit the airwaves 2010. Can somebody tell me what Burnett is doing attached to this project?
The commercial is a mixed bag. Taylor Swift proves that she has the real goods as a singer, doing the toughest part of the "Tonight" quintet. Ne-Yo's dance turn is more of a salute to Michael Jackson than an homage to composers Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. And Katy Perry's rooftop bit reinforces the fact that she's funny and playful.
I was a huge fan of Skins long before it came to the US. When you follow television like I do, you sometimes become aware of shows from other countries that the U.S. isn't keen to yet. Which is how I found Skins when it was first making waves in the U.K. Immediately, I was drawn to it as something I'd never seen before in a teen show.
The show worked so well because of its authenticity, achieved by having a group of real teens write the stories. All the actors were little known real teens, as well. No young-looking 35-year-olds faking it here. To keep it fresh, they rotate out virtually the entire cast every two years.
Now co-creator Bryan Elsley is looking to apply that same formula to an all new U.S.-based Skins, and after a tense bidding war, MTV has secured the rights. I am glad it's on cable, as the original has some racy content. I just hope MTV doesn't get tempted to turn it into The Real World: Scripted. Even the fake kids of Skins are more real than those bozos.
Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.
The native-Texan is just too unassuming, soft-spoken and self-deprecating to show up at Comic-Con International last week to discuss TV's The Goode Family and King of the Hill alongside his new feature film, Extract.
But there he was in Press Room 28e, preparing for his panel and eyeing the Mythbusters Comic-Con bag I'd just picked up on the convention floor.
"I've got to get me one of those bags before I go out there," Judge said.
On behalf of a grateful TV Squad nation, I offered him mine. He accepted the bag graciously. Then we begin the interview.
The Kevin Bacon Game used to be the ultimate litmus test to gauge your level of connectedness in Hollywood. You just tried to link up your name to King Bacon and if you were three links or more, you couldn't even get a Melrose Avenue street bum to spit on you for a quarter.
That game has officially been replaced by something much narrower and definitely much cooler. It also puts me a link away to the Hollywood machine, which bumps me up to not having to pay that bum to spit on me.
A few months ago, Al Roker interviewed Heidi and Spencer (I think they go by the cute couple name "Hencer") on Today and it didn't go well. Well, it didn't go well for Heidi and Spencer; Roker became a hero to many viewers for pretty much not taking the couple seriously at all. Well, the battle has continued on Twitter.
Wow, it's one thing to write about the death of someone like 
Hey, I didn't call Kanye West a jackass, the President did. But he's still a jackass either way. I'm sure he's been called much worse since he 
I can admit that I'm no longer the hip young kid that I quite honestly never was. So it didn't surprise me that MTV was able to launch a new show and I was completely unaware of it. But, I've talked to younger friends who do watch MTV, and they don't remember any promotion for Popzilla either.
Michael J. Fox's Teen Wolf was infectious fun back in 1985. By the time we got to Jason Bateman and Teen Wolf Too, a lot of the luster had worn off. Still, MTV thinks there's still plenty to mine from the concept, as they've 
Audrina Patridge is the latest "cast" member to leave The Hills
How do you pump up the viewership for a music award show on a network that used to be all about music but lately has been all about reality TV and nasty scandals? Well, apparently MTV has decided to go retro and keep it funny. To promote the upcoming 
I was a huge fan of Skins long before it came to the US. When you follow television like I do, you sometimes become aware of shows from other countries that the U.S. isn't keen to yet. Which is how I found Skins when it was first making waves in the U.K. Immediately, I was drawn to it as something I'd never seen before in a teen show.
Mike Judge doesn't strike anyone as the kind of guy who's created a legendary animated duo and a cult hit movie. And, you certainly wouldn't size him up as a creative mind with two active series on first-run network TV.
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
