Carolyn Kepcher, Donald Trump’s left-hand woman on the first five seasons of The Apprentice, has been fired, literally. She “was fired earlier this week. Rhona Graff of the Trump Organization confirmed to CNNMoney.com that Kepcher no longer works at the company,” according to the site. (That is the Rhona, the woman who calls the candidates… continue reading
Archives for August 2006
American Idol 5 tour has earned $14.6 million, is the “most successful Idol tour ever”
The American Idol 5 arena tour, which continues through Sept. 10, is “the longest and most successful Idol tour ever,” according to USA TODAY. Citing Billboard, the paper says it earned $14.6 million “through Aug. 2,” having “been seen by more than 265,000 fans.” And that was nearly a month ago. Billboard’s Ray Waddell tells… continue reading
Dave Navarro denies report that winner has been selected, says group doesn’t yet agree
Dave Navarro has responded on his web site to an online gossip report that the winner of Rock Star: Supernova has already been decided upon. In her blog, Janet Charlton claimed that the group had already selected its winner, even though the finale is weeks away. Besides the fact that she cited no sources, she… continue reading
Danity Kane’s album debuts at number one, beating OutKast by almost 40,000 copies
Danity Kane, the debut album from the Making the Band 3 album, has debuted at number one. That’s better than either O-Town or Da Band’s debuts. More significantly, the group beat Outkast, which sold just 196,000 copies of its new record compared to Danity Kane’s 234,000 copies. E! Online calls that an “upset.” Danity Kane… continue reading
Celebrity Duets debut beaten by Big Brother 7
FOX’s Celebrity Duets have been beaten by the hamsters: the new series had lower ratings than Big Brother 7 in both total viewers and among viewers 18 to 49. Celebrity Duets was watched by 7.7 million viewers in its first hour and 8.6 million in its second hour. Rock Star: Supernova, which aired opposite the… continue reading
Who Wants to be a Superhero ends tonight
Having debuted six weeks ago, SciFi’s Who Wants to be a Superhero? concludes tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Either Fat Momma or Feedback will win, becoming immortalized in a comic book. The first five episodes will air starting at 4 this afternoon, and if you’ve missed it, it’s an interesting series. That’s primarily because there… continue reading
GM drops Survivor sponsorship, but not because of race twist
After sponsoring Survivor for its first 12 seasons, GM has dropped its sponsorship of the show. That their sponsorship was dropped before the most controversial season yet is “just a coincidence” and “not cause and effect,” GM spokeswoman Ryndee S. Carney told the AP. Instead, it apparently took them 12 seasons to figure out that… continue reading
Mark Burnett says Survivor Cook Islands is “not racial at all”
Talking yesterday to reporters about Gold Rush, Mark Burnett was asked by an AP reporter about the controversy surrounding Survivor Cook Islands, even though, as Variety notes, “[a] press advisory specifically had warned that he wouldn’t discuss ‘Survivor,’ but when a reporter asked Burnett about the controversy, he waved aside the AOL publicist’s objections and… continue reading
Bravo announces Top Chef 2 cast
Bravo has announced the cast of Top Chef 2, and it has grown from season one. For the second season, which debuts immediately after Project Runway 3‘s finale on Oct. 18, the cast has been increased to 15 chefs. Their ages range from 23 to 46, but eight are in their 20s, and a total… continue reading
Janelle vetos herself yet again and Neil Patrick Harris rocks the Big Brother house
At the end of last night’s episode of Big Brother 7, a peanut M&M climbed up my esophagus and landed on my tongue. I realized that this was clearly a warning from my stomach: If I watch one more segment with Mike Boogie and Will in the damn diary room doing that stupid call-each-other-on-their-fake-hand-phones routine,… continue reading
Danity Kane’s single debuts at 17, tying Ashley Angel and beat only by Taylor, Katherine
Making the Band 3 group Danity Kane released their self-titled debut album last week, and its first single, Show Stopper, has debuted at #17 on the Billboard 100. While a significant achievement for the group, it also establishes reality TV shows as the most successful vehicle for new singles this year. Billboard’s Chart Beat notes… continue reading
Gold Rush competitors may form teams; clues will be revealed on CBS shows
Mark Burnett talked to reporters a few minutes ago about his upcoming online competition series Gold Rush, and, among other things, clarified the rules of the game. Essentially, over a couple days, clues will be revealed online and on TV shows (the first will be revealed on the Early Show Sept. 13, while one of… continue reading
FOX’s Celebrity Duets and Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing debut tonight
FOX presses its luck tonight when it debuts yet another singing talent show that follows in the footsteps of its own American Idol. Celebrity Duets debuts tonight at 8 p.m. ET with a special two-hour episode; it will air next on Sept. 7, in its normal timeslot, Thursdays at 9. Results shows will air Fridays… continue reading
Former child star will appear on Big Brother to whore his CBS sitcom
The Big Brother 7 houseguests are getting a surprise visitor tonight, CBS has announced, spoiling its own surprise before it even happens. Of course, it wouldn’t be a surprise unless there was a chance for cross-promotion, and the visitor is the star of a CBS sitcom. But he’s probably better known for the sitcom he… continue reading
The Amazing Race wins its fourth consecutive Emmy award
The Amazing Race is fast becoming the reality TV version of Third Rock from the Sun, Friends, or Will and Grace, a show that keeps winning Emmys even after it starts to suck. Despite the fact that this past year featured the show’s weakest season to date–the family edition–the CBS series won its fourth consecutive… continue reading
Janelle and George nominated after the houseguests “spread [their] seed and pollinated the back yard”
Last night, HBO aired the season finales of both Deadwood and Entourage. Over on NBC, there was the three-hour Emmy telecast. There was also our old friend, the Sunday episode of Big Brother 7. Between writing about the Emmys and lamenting the end of Deadwood, I didn’t have a lot of time or energy left… continue reading
Ashton Kutcher will crash weddings for a NBC reality series
After creating mental anguish for celebrities with his MTV series Punk’d, Ashton Kutcher went on to executive produce Beauty and the Geek, which was, for the most part, a heartwarming and good-natured series. But now he’s going back to his evil roots, producing Wedding Crashers, using actors to interrupt wedding receptions–something that even Oprah couldn’t… continue reading
Kathy Griffin no longer speaks to Matt, doesn’t “particularly love men right now”
Kathy Griffin has been very wounded by her public divorce from Matt Moline, who stole $72,000 from her. While Matt “apologized, Griffin said they no longer speak,” according to the AP. But their divorce has affected more than just their relationship. Kathy says, “I also don’t want to meet anybody, don’t ever want to get… continue reading
MTV following Schlitterbahn water park employees for new reality series
If you’ve ever seen one of those Travel Channel water park countdown shows, you’ve heard of Schlitterbahn, the huge water park in Texas. Soon, the park will be getting exposure on another network: MTV. Waterpark, which has not yet been officially picked up, is “a coming-of-age story about the park’s workers, the majority of whom… continue reading
Critic says “it’s about time” Survivor “make[s] race a front-and-center discussion, after years of shrugging [it] off”
Among those people freaking out about Survivor Cook Islands‘ tribe organization is not Eric Deggans, the St. Petersburg Times’ media critic. Instead, in his column today, he writes that “it’s about time” the show acknowledged race. He writes that, typically on Survivor, “race difference plays out as a parable on assimilation — the people of… continue reading