NBC has announced it will add a new reality show called “Momma’s Boys” to its schedule in late August. The show will feature male contestants and their moms living in a house with potential wives. It is up to the moms to decide which of the harlots, oops make that hopefuls, are perfect for their sons.
This comes on the heels of the NBC reality show “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad.” This TV answer to child abuse pitted fathers and a child against other family pairings. It was painful to watch the way some of the dads treated their kids.
It appears, based on these two shows, NBC is looking at family related reality shows to fill a schedule that gets weaker with each passing moment. You have to think more is to come. Here are some ideas for future NBC reality shows.
Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth?
If the number of telephone calls and emails I continue to get is any measure of the continued interest in Heidi Watney, the former KMPH, Channel 26 sports reporter, then she is gone but not forgotten. So here's an update:
As part of Watney's new job as a sideline reporter at Boston Red Sox games for the New England Sports Network, she was interviewed for a story that can be seen at BostonHerald.com. The contents of that story drew attention from many sports bloggers in the Boston area.
That’s because Watney had some interesting things to say.
One part of the story focuses on The Fresno Bee's reporting in December of how Watney was suspended by KMPH management after cursing at a school administrator.
Here's what I wrote at that time:
KMPH, Channel 26, sports reporter Heidi Watney has been suspended this month because of an incident with a Hoover High School vice principal that occurred in November. Watney cursed at the school administrator.
This is the problem Clinton, Obama and McCain should address
Forget the high prices of gas. Forget the increase in student fees. Forget that the voting on “American Idol” is all wrong. There is a much bigger problem facing this country. Not since Roseanne Barr grabbed herself and spit while while singing the National Anthem has there been such a blight on this once proud landscape.
And this problem is growing. It has gone from a few small incidents to being almost universal. You can’t drive down the street without running into it.
The problem is a lack of common courtesy. There was a time when most people where civil to each other. Now it is all men and women for themselves. Who cares if the light has been red for five minutes? Go on through. Lines at the checkout counters are only suggestions. Go ahead and get in front of the crowd.
There is no place on this great green planet where there is so little lack of common courtesy than at the grocery store.
The nominations for the “35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” were announced today. Categories included most of the usual suspects from talk shows to children’s programming. We won’t know until June 20 who has won. Can’t you just feel the tension?
This year’s group on nominees include the usual battles such as in the talk show category where “The View,” “Rachael Ray” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will fight for the top honor. And of course there were numerous categories for daytime dramas.
But the real battle is in the Game Show host category. This is where white collar vs. blue caller. Veteran vs. rookie. Stander vs. sitter. Yes, I am talking about “Cash Cab’s” Ben Bailey and “Jeopardy!’s” Alex Trebek going head-to-head for the Daytime Emmy.
There hasn’t been as much tension in this category since the old Peter Marshall and Bert Convy showdowns of the ‘70s. Just as it was with those titans, arguments can be made for both this year.
Yawn. That’s how exciting the competition on “Dancing With the Stars” has become. Watching the ABC reality show is like watching the Oscars and trying to predict who will come in second place. The action resumes tonight.
Unless Kristi Yamaguchi suddenly goes mad and beats up the judges, this is her year to take home the tackiest trophy in televison. Her dancing is so far superior to the others it is like a Broadway dancer taking on an 8th grade nerd.
There must be a way to make the competition interesting again. Here are some suggestions.
You can look at any television ratings book and see KFSN, Channel 30, is the most watched station when it comes to local news. And 99% of the time the local ABC station does the solid work that proves it deserves that attention.
That is why when the station loses its focus the results just seem completely out of place. Just such a moment happened Thursday night. Any of you who stayed up past “Lost” saw the story. If you didn’t see the report, you at least had to have seen one of the 34,267,528 promotions for it.
The story that stands out like a sore thumb is KFSN’s report on Fresno’s Bigfoot connection.
It is not unusual for politicians to pop up on television shows. Richard Nixon appeared on “Laugh-In.” Bill Clinton played the sax on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” But tonight the three leading contenders for the White House go where no Presidential hopeful has gone before. They are going to get down and dirty with professional wrestling.
On the eve of the Pennsylvania primary, Presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain will be featured in taped messages on WWE’s “Monday Night RAW.” Those messages will air between 8-11 p.m. tonight on the USA Network.
This is one way to get a message to the five million viewers who tune in the professional wrestling program. It just makes a person wonder what kind of message will be presented. Here’s one possibility.
The mystery of the Oceanic Six seems to be getting clearer on “Lost.” Or is it?
For those of you who don’t watch the ABC drama, survivors of a plane crash have been on a mysterious island for 100 days. Since the end of last season, there have been flash forwards to show that a group known as the Oceanic Six were rescued.
It is clear that the six include Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews). Here’s the big question. Has the sixth member of the group been revealed or not.
Please don’t continue to read if you are behind in watching the series. There will be spoilers.
Chris Carter reveals secrets of "X-Files" movie - (not really)
One of the biggest receptions at this year’s WonderCon in San Francisco over the weekend was for the cast and crew of the new “X-Files” movie. It has been five years since David Duchovny and Gilliam Anderson played the sexually-charged government agents who chased more supernatural creatures than the Scooby Squad.
Chris Carter, creator of the TV series, joined the film’s stars to talk before a packed house of rabid fans about the new movie that is scheduled to hit theaters in July. Well, when I say he “talked about” the movie, you have to remember that Carter sees more conspiracies than Agent Mulder. It is actually surprising that he would even admit the movie is being made.
After his time with the fans, Carter sat down to talk, in only the way Carter can talk, about the latest offering in the franchise.
There are a lot of things that can be forgiven at a concert. Late starts are a given. Crowds pushing to reach the the stage is just part of the spectacle. Even the guy singing out of tune next to you has become a part of the concert experiences.
The one thing that can’t be forgiven is when an artists has no passion for the performance. It is easy to tell from the first note that this is just another stop on a long tour for the performer.
That was not the case Wednesday night at the Table Mountain Casino. Pop icon and tabloid favorite Liza Minnelli performed before a full house. Say what you want about her marriages and abuse problems but Minnelli turned in a performance that came straight from her heart.
How many times have you been sitting on the couch and thought that you could sing better than those people on reality television shows? If the answer is even "once" then you had better get off the couch and down to the Fresno Art Museum.
Auditions are being held on Halloween at the facility at 2233 N. First St. for the next season of the TeleFutura series "Objetivo Fama."
“Objetivo Fama” features young Hispanic singers in a competition in which the winner gets a recording contract with a Latin music company. Competitors from Fresno have been on the reality show the past two seasons.
The 2007-2008 television season officially launches Sept. 10. Don't get that excited. It will be weeks or months before all of the new shows get on the air. It will also be weeks or months before new episodes of returning shows begin.
I will tell you that the first episode of the Fox series "Prison Break" is brutal to watch. Yes, it is a show about prison. And there is nothing pleasant about that. But this year, "Prison Break" is set in a Panama prison that is the toilet of the penal system.
So as you settle in to watch the new shows and returning favorites consider the following are 10 predictions of what will happen during this new TV season:
The sun never sets on the Disney Empire. That doesn't mean that there aren't dark days. The company's profit specter casts a heavy shadow around the globe. That shadow even reaches to the mountain community of Oakhurst.
The city played host to Disney Daze today. It is an annual celebration of everything Disney held by people who love the Disney Company. These are people who have either spent their lives in service to the company or spent lots of money to scoop up merchandise.
And the Disney Company wants to make sure it gets every single penny.
The final box office totals for the weekend show that the live-action version of "Underdog" took in $11.6 million. That didn't make "Underdog" a champion at the box office, but is not too bad considering the film was not shown to any print journalists.
Jason Lee, who provides the voice of "Underdog," was at the recent Television Critics Association meeting to talk about how his network series, "My Name Is Earl," fits in the NBC Thursday night lineup.
One thing is certain. The actor can not be accused of taking that opportunity to over hype his new film.
The end is here. This will be my final report from the Beverly Hilton where I have spent almost two weeks with television executives, actors and the like to get a sense of the fall television season. I have not been alone. Critics from across the country have converged for this purpose.
Now that the end is here there is one thing that stands out in my mind. You would think it would be the trek to the studios where "Cold Case" is filmed. The discussions about why there are so many foreign actors starring in fall shows certainly took up a lot of time. There was even the heated debate over whether "Cavemen" is just bad or reaches that high plateau of terrible that is reserved for shows like "Cop Rock" and "The Littlest Groom."
All of that pales when compared to the opportunity to sit back and watch the almost non-stop coverage of Hollywood's bad girls.
Imagine a black television screen. Ominous music plays in the background. Then, like a memory that has been lost in the cobwebs of your mind, letters begins to appear. It takes a few seconds but the word LOST becomes very clear.
Cut to the interior of what appears to be a fancy Los Angeles hotel. All that can be seen are a pair of feet running in expensive shoes. Except for the sound of the shoes hitting the carpet, there is silence. Slowly a rumble begins to build. The rumble turns into shouts.
The next scene shows Stephen McPherson, President of ABC Entertainment. He is trying to stay ahead of a mob of television critics. They are out for blood because it appears McPherson has more interest in comic book fans that the critics.
Welcome to "Lost: The Televison Critics Association Tour."
The one thing that the world does not need is another awards program. So don't expect red carpets, wild fashions and celebrity presenters for the following T-CAT Awards. The T-CAT is for Television Critics Association Tour. These fake honors are being presented in connection with the nearly two weeks I have been sitting in a hotel talking with casts and crews of new network and cable shows.
Nominees were based on those I selected. The voting, tabulated by the firm of Bentley, Bentley and Bentley, reflect only my votes. Winners will receive a solid gold thank you.
Nancy Cartwright could pass through life without being noticed as long as she never opened her mouth. As soon as the actress begins to speak, it is obvious that she is the talent that gives Bart Simpson a voice. It has been Cartwright that offered every quip, curse and complaint by the imposh Springfield youngster since the yellow-skinned animated family debut in 1989. And now, finally, the Simpsons are going big time. That means Cartwright's voice goes from making her a television star to also being a movie star.
"The Simpsons Movie" hits theaters Friday. In some ways, says Cartwright, the work on the movie was not that different than doing an episode of the television shows. In some ways work on the movie was a completely different world.
Ring. Ring. The voice on the other end offers the not so ominous "Hello."
"Chloe. This is Rick Bentley. I need you to download the floor plans of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I am here at the Television Critics Association meeting. Peter Liguori is here. He's the chairman of entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Network. No matter what awful torture I must use, I have to get Liguori to reveal a few secrets about the series '24.' Hurry Chloe."
Seconds later the plans arrive. The quickest route to the ballroom where Liguori is speaking is past the front desk. An alternative route by the pool seems a better bet. I have all the tools to make him talk: a drill with an incredibly long bit, six gallons of battery acid and a copy of "Basic Instinct 2." On second thought, I will leave the movie behind. Some torture is too cruel.
Family is a real reality for NBC
The 2007-2008 television season officially launches Sept. 10. Don't get that excited. It will be weeks or months before all of the new shows get on the air. It will also be weeks or months before new episodes of returning shows begin.
The sun never sets on the Disney Empire. That doesn't mean that there aren't dark days. The company's profit specter casts a heavy shadow around the globe. That shadow even reaches to the mountain community of Oakhurst.