Posted by Corina Zappia at 4:37 PM, November 30, 2006
Most Fascinating, 2005: Camilla Parker Bowles
Next Wednesday is Barbara Walter's annual 10 Most Fascinating People, and as we know, Babs Sr. is never wrong. A list of who can sit at the cool table this year: retired baldy Andre Agassi, geek-to-hunk Patrick "Can Buy a New Career" Dempsey, the widow of Steve Irwin (your check from South Park's in the mail, hon), and Vogue ed-in-chief Anna Wintour, from whose antechambers a million talentless and conniving assistants bloom. Cheers.
Wa-wa's never wrong, particularly when it comes to whom we think about even a year or two past. On 2005's most fascinating list: Camilla Parker Bowles. On 2004's: Usher and Ken Jennings.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 4:21 PM, November 30, 2006
Poptower.com
The wait is over: The Office episode written by the two creators of the original (most say better) British version, Ricky "God" Jervais and Stephen Merchant, airs tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET.
TV Guide.com has an exclusive blog post (God, even to type those words, I cringe) from actress Kate Flannery. Try to ignore the rather daggy writing style.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:46 PM, November 30, 2006
NME.com
In this time when news of racial slurs and name-calling surely don't dominate the headlines, 50 Cent puts his two cents in with a little good old-fashioned Oprah bashing. NY Post reports on the January issue of Elle in which the rapper calls the richest women in show business an oreo:
"[Oprah] started out with black women's views but has been catering to middle-aged white American women for so long that she's become one herself. I think the idea of being publicly noted that she's a billionaire makes [black women] interested in seeing her views. But it's even more exciting to the demographic of white American women she's been aiming at to see that she has the exact same views that they have."
"Sales of season seven of "Seinfeld" are up 75% over season six and 90% over season five -- after one week of sales, according to website DVD Empire. Sales are up despite Jesse Jackson calling for a boycott."
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:23 AM, November 29, 2006
MTV.com
Eye of the Potato talked recently with Matt Vener, former casting director for one of MTV's most daring reality shows, the now-canceled series Date My Mom. The highly rated dating show featured contestants who chose their potential mates based on dates they have with the mates' mothers. Eye discusses with Vener why the show was canceled, why casting the gay and lesbian episodes was so difficult, and where they found those freaky moms.
Date My Mom was a pretty bold show while it was on TV. Did you guys ever receive criticism for some of the antics, like when that one mom tied a cherry stem with her tongue? There are a couple of things people have talked about; I think at one time Jon Stewart had said something on his show. But when people make comments, that means it stood out. So people watched it because of it.
Why did the mothers and daughters want to go on this show? Were many of them interested in a career in acting? Yes, I think it was two things. These daughters had also just turned 18, 19, and were about to go to college. It was their last chance to do a show with their parents that they could show to the kids one day.
Right, but it's not like MTV could have done Date My Dad, right? It would've been pretty weird.
How did you find these people? Were they all applicants who applied through MTV.com? No, I have to give it to my staff of recruiters, who go out to nightclubs, beaches, colleges and find all these people. Most of the contestants came from holding events at clubs . . ."Hey, we're coming to your club, casting for Date My Mom."
It always seemed like the daughter was hot, the mom was ugly. Or the mom was hot, the daughter was ugly. Did you try to mix it up with with a certain number of each? We wanted to mix it up and give everyone a shot. We didn't want people to think you just had to be hot to be on the show. It was up to the guy, based on what the mom would tell him. We wanted to see if the guy would pick based on beauty or on what he felt comfortable hanging out with.
Do you think these guys can really tell what the daughter will look like based on the mom's appearance? We asked ourselves that, too. A lot of the times he picked the girl that maybe wasn't so hot but he had more in common with. It did work to show people that looks don't matter all the time. I mean, now the girl might look a little different than he thought, but that's what he gets. Ha, ha.
The show had lesbian episodes too, right? Yes. Each season we did five gay or lesbian episodes.
Did MTV want it? Were you pushing for it? MTV is very free-expression, and they love to add that to their shows, the diversity. That's what I think is cool about MTV, that they have no fear in taking risks and actually putting that type of stuff on the air. And it broadens the audience, showing kids that look, this is what's happening out there.
It's cool they did lesbian episodes, not just gay episodes. And to be honest with you, those were the funniest episodes we had.
How was casting for those? Pretty hard. because you're dealing with 18 year olds who maybe haven't told their parents yet they're out of the closet or gay, so it's harder to get them to come in with their parents. Or some of the parents were like, 'Hey, I want to do it, but I don't want people at my work to find out stuff like that.' So the moms who did it with their daughters, we let them know that this is awesome that you're stepping up for your child. To this day, we still all appreciate those parents.
Did you feel like you had to do more encouraging? Sometimes I had to talk to the parents. [Let them know] we're not putting them on the show to make fun, but to be on the show to support their daughter or son.
I know MTV is often suspected of possibly scripting their reality shows, particularly Laguna Beach. With Date My Mom, was it all pretty real? I also think it has to do with a lot of the people who come in and audition for the show; they see how the pattern works. Reality shows have formulas, but whether . . . I wouldn't know, because I wasn't on set producing it. I just did the casting. I'm the wrong person to ask.
Why was the show canceled? We had done 100 episodes, and MTV doesn't like to be repetitive. It was successful; it was highly rated; we run reruns now and it still brings in higher ratings than some other shows that just came out.
Were there ever any long-term relationships to come out of Date My Mom? There are definitely a few people who have called and said, "Thanks so much, I'm still hanging out with her, dating." No one's getting married yet, but still dating.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 4:02 PM, November 28, 2006
Every holiday Eye has an extra-special skill that makes her miss all the cool holiday movies and turn on the tube right in time for Howie Mandel. Not this year, friend. TV Guide posted all the showtimes for the next month. Here's a shorter excerpt below, which skips over the foul Al Roker, Ryan Seacrest, Howie Mandel, and Jennie McCarthy specials. And don't ask Eye why "Charlie Brown Christmas" is only playing once, about a full month before Christmas Eve. What, no one can shell out the royalties twice on that one?
Tonight:
"A Charlie Brown Christmas," 8pm/ET, ABC
Dec 1, 7:
"Frosty's Winter Wonderland," 7pm/ET, ABC Family
Dec. 25:
"A Christmas Story" marathon, all day, TBS
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:59 PM, November 28, 2006
From Ironmitch.blogspot.com: The new bachelor
So in the finale episode of The Bachelor: Rome last night, Prince Lorenzo Borghese picked the girl of his dreams (or the next half-hour, anyway), choosing the blond teacher over the blond virgin, blah blah blah. It's no secret the bachelor sucked this year, so let's skip right along to next season's pick of the litter. Perhaps under the gun after choosing some herb who hawks gourmet doggie-lice shampoo, the casting director outdid herself on this one. (Find out more about how the bachelor is chosen here.) E! Online reports today that the next bachelor is U.S. Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D., a 30-year-old medical officer for a Pearl Harbor dive unit. Oh, and a triathlete. Oh, and there's not room enough for another goddamn title to attach to his name.
"I was asked to serve as group surgeon for a team of fifty military personnel headed for a one-month recovery mission in Laos attempting to find the remains of U.S. POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War . . . . What I would see and experience- disease and poverty coupled with courage and the will to survive- would change my life forever."
It's too good to be true. He must slaughter kittens in his sleep or something.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:09 AM, November 28, 2006
The big news from today and yesterday is that NBC broke with the other networks and agreed-upon Bushspeak to term the current conflict in Iraq a "civil war." The one given the job of breaking the news was none other than Wild Man Lauer, who stated on the Today Show, "As you know, for months now the White House has rejected claims that the situation in Iraq has deteriorated into a civil war, and for the most part, news organizations like NBC News have hesitated to characterize it as such. But after careful consideration, NBC News has decided a change in terminology is warranted, that the political agendas can now be characterized as civil war."
MSNBC's TV site has more on NBC's position and what it means, with a clip from the Today Show.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:04 PM, November 27, 2006
Washingtonpost.com
We asked Chris Mazzilli, owner of popular New York comedy club Gotham (scene of Seinfeld's film Comedian), for his opinion on the Michael Richards incident. How will this affect Richards' comedic career? His chances of performing at other comedy clubs? Has he become a pariah?
"It's an unforunate thing, and really the public will decide that. Obviously, he apologized right away and I think he's really sorry for what he did. At the end of the day, the public will decide, and I think his next moves are important. What Seinfeld did was a classy move, standing by his friend on Letterman. Hopefully people will find it in their hearts to forgive him and move on with it."
Mazzelli followed this with another point that's been left out of much of the discussions thus far: Where was the Laugh Factory in all of this?
"What's interesting to me, being in the club business, [the heckling] had been going on for a while,and the club should've intervened. It should not have gotten that far. Comedy isn't a dialogue, it's a monologue. That doesn't discount what he said, but he shouldn't have to deal with that stuff."
And beyond interrupting the hecklers—why didn't they stop the slur-spewing Richards? Why, as the Times points out, was Richards allowed to come back to the Laugh Factory and perform the next night, after all this had happened?
Posted by Corina Zappia at 1:39 PM, November 27, 2006
MSNBC
Lisa de Moraes of the Washington Post reports on a TMZ clip that discusses past incidences of misogyny and anti-Semitism on Richards' part. TMZ -- the AOL Time Warner gossip Web site that brought us Richards's N-word marathon -- yesterday introduced a video interview it conducted with two people who say Richards went on a similar room-silencing screamfest about Jews during an appearance at another Hollywood comedy club last spring.
In the Times, Bill Carter points out an interesting inconsistency in Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada's stance. Protesters appeared at the comedy club on Monday and its owner, Jamie Masada, said Mr. Richards would not be back until he had apologized. “That is one thing I won’t tolerate,” Mr. Masada told reporters on Monday. Oddly, Mr. Richards actually appeared again at the Laugh Factory on Saturday night, before the tape of his offensive tirade became public.
Nikki Finke of LA Weekly's "Deadline Hollywood Daily" points to the accepted racism inside many of today's comedy clubs. In my opinion, the real news behind Seinfeld's Michael Richards spewing "n"-word racial epithets after being heckled during his Friday night stand-up routine at the Laugh Factory (see video here) is this: many of today's comedy clubs have become a cesspool of hatred. Inside them, racism, ethnic prejudice, religious bigotry, homophobia and sexism all masquerade as humor. Anyone who's been to the clubs and heard the acts knows this to be true. Yet, in most cases, the audiences or the club owners/managers rarely react badly.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 3:59 PM, November 22, 2006
For once, the New York Times' Virginia Heffernan offered a decent review, this one of the History Channel's documentary about the pilgrims, Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower: "[It] awakened new curiosity about competing myths of origins: both the first story (about the noble search for religious freedom) and the second (about the cruel seizure of someone else’s land). For that reason, it is a terrific way to celebrate Thanksgiving and an antidote to it."
She did leave one useful fact out: Nothing says good time like historical reenactments, and this one is three hours long. Also, note how the story here is really about the pilgrims: a good two-plus hours is spent watching them try (unsuccessfully) to set up camp in Boston and trudge back and forth across the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. It apparently took the pilgrims about nine weeks to cross the Atlantic, but watching it feels like 40 years.
Once you wake up from your second nap, you'll notice weird History Channel oddities—like why is Squanto wearing a J. Crew henley? And why did the pilgrims gift the Wampanoag Indian chief Massasoit the LL Bean windbreaker? The big Thanksgiving dinner between the pilgrims and the Wampanoags comprises just the last 10 minutes of the three hours, but some interesting facts are dropped: they actually feasted together for three days, and it's unclear whether the pilgrims invited the tribe or the tribe just happened to show up. The highlight of the show are the concluding quotes from the commentators, particularly Linda Coombs and Jonathan Perry of the Wampanoag Indigenous Program. Their insight is sobering, touching, and like Heffernan said, worth remembering on Thanksgiving Day.
"By that act of them their coming and settling, life here was changed forever. because the life we live even today is not the life we would have made for ourselves. That life is our god given right, but we have not been able to get back to it yet." - Linda Coombs, Wampanoag Indigenous Program
For more information on the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, go here.
Desperate Crossing will replay on Thanksgiving Day at 8pm ET/7 C.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:48 PM, November 21, 2006
Whoever missed Michael Richards' apology for his racist tirade at the Laugh Factory, here it is again. He came on during Jerry Seinfeld's appearance on David Letterman:
How does someone fly into a rage and "accidentally" let racist remarks like that slip?
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:13 AM, November 21, 2006
Well, uncomfortable Thanksgiving YouTube, at any rate . . . Eye almost projectile hurled her corn muffin the other day watching this YouTube clip of Tuduckenspaqua, which is—deep breath—a quail stuffed into a spatchcock stuffed into a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey. (Eye was unclear what a spatchcock was; it just appears to be another way to prepare a chicken.) Note: Not for the squeamish, esp. that tasteless cat/dog ending. These guys must have scratched themselves twice, belched, and then came up with this masterplan. And yet, one-up-manship on the turducken concept is always repulsively intriguing.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 3:56 PM, November 20, 2006
(Answers.com) The Chapel of Thanksgiving in Dallas, TX
Nothing really makes the heart skip a beat like the words "Bryant Gumbel" and "holiday special" together as one. This week our boy has the bird all sewn up with An American Thanksgiving, premiering on Turkey Day at 4pm ET. Alexa Yablonski of USA Today (co-sponsors of the special) reminds us that this day is not about the annual battle for the last Butterball or eating dinner at 2 p.m. Thanksgiving is about giving thanks, just like the pilgrims and the Native Americans did before they lived happily ever after.
In the Gumbel special, everyone from U.S. vets to former gang members to a rescued grizzly bear show their gratitude. There is also a special Katrina section (expect it to be handled with real taste; the snappy show description reads, "The moving story of hurricane Katrina victims who are finally given a reason to be thankful!") What made Eye stop and pause, even perform the perfunctory Google search, was the show's mention of visiting Thanks-Giving Square in Dallas, TX. I'm sorry. What's that? Who that? Are you familiar with this place, reader? The multi-denominational center in Dallas, TX includes a Chapel of Thanksgiving with its own stained-glass "Glory Window"; hosts Thanksgiving seminars on "aspects of gratitude," and has even started the Thanksgiving Council of the Young for wee Thanksgiving superfans. The mission of the center is manifold, but its key purpose is to "to gather and share the thanksgivings of the world," i.e., assert the universality of this American holiday.
Eye smells a pusher. A bloody Thanksgiving pusher. There are a lot of sick fucks in this world and more than a few claim gratitude is their attitude.
She'll be tuning into the Gumbel on Thursday night to find out more.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 10:43 AM, November 20, 2006
Fey + Stern= tabloid headlines
Eye loves a bold woman, and she knows Tina Fey has it in her. (That's why Eye expects so much more from Tina Fey than 30 Rock.) Fey delivered on Howard Stern, and US Weekly has a nice excerpt in case you missed it. To wit: Paris Hilton looks like a trannie and her hair is like a Fraggle, Matthew McConaughey smells, and Fey lost her virginity to her husband when she was 24.
Another coup for Howard Stern, who we all know is paid sweet nickel for his work (Forbes claims it's a $100 million/year salary plus a one time $225 million bonus.) Far be it for us to sing the praises of one who already got his slice of cake . . . that said, how does Stern do it? What is it about the proximity to porn stars and fart jokes that makes celebrities treat his interview seat like a confessional?
Posted by Corina Zappia at 4:54 PM, November 17, 2006
SUNDAY
The Simpsons: Homer joins the army and takes advice from great military leader Cap'n Crunch; warns his fellow comrades to "stay crunchy."
MONDAY
< House of Carters: Notorious Carter pop visits the kids; looks like electrocuted Peter Cetera.
TUESDAY
Friday Night Lights: It's the bad steroid episode! In other news, Tim still feels bad about banging his paralyzed best friend's girlfriend. Gives Street his game ball as an even-steven trade.
WEDNESDAY
Dancing with the Stars: Fan favorite and NFL Hall-of-Famer Emmitt Smith beats out Saved by the Bell's A.C. Slater as Lord of the Dance. Slater's partner/possible fuck buddy refers to Slater as "her castle."
South Park: Because a show can never have too many Crocodile Hunter jokes. This week, a little boy's chance of beating cancer is directly tied to his pee-wee hockey team winning the big game. Team coach Stan is warned that if the match is lost "that boy is going to die faster than Steve Irwin in a tank of stingrays."
THURSDAY
Ugly Betty: Thanksgiving episode=visit from Santa Stewart.
The O.C.: In this week's O.C. Deathwatch, Cagefighting Ryan is replaced with Let's Get Physical Ryan! Episode opens with a Ryan-running-along-the-beach montage to the tune of R.E.M.'s "Orange Crush." Made Eye yearn for the days of Rooney.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:36 PM, November 16, 2006
(Mugshots.net)
Funny how it all gets a little more suspicious when the murder suspect releases a book called If I Did It. Simpson will appear in a two-hour Fox news special entitled O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here's How It Happened to discuss his similarly titled book, due out in December.
The National Enquirer broke the news on this one, and claims Simpson is being paid $3.5 million for the book.
Over at Slate.com, Daniel Engber discusses whether this new book could lead to another trial.
Access Hollywood reports that the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are just a little bit upset by the news.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 1:12 PM, November 16, 2006
Throw a rock and you could hit another pud starting his/her own TV blog (hi), but nothing makes Eye question the stupidity of man more than the ol' promotional blog put out by a TV show itself. Participate in special contests sponsored by Downy dryer sheets! Witness fictional TV characters blog like live humans! Worse—network execs blog like live humans! (We see you there, Bravo VP. Since when does America know "Andy" on a first-name basis?)
Eye's current favorite: the Slim-Fast Challenge Blog for Dancing with the Stars. Working mom Tysonia is paired with dancing instructor Bruno to lose weight through the magic of ballroom dance.
Know one that's particularly egregious? Email Eye at tvblog@villagevoice.com.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 10:35 AM, November 16, 2006
(Omelete.com)
It's only in its pilot stages, but the Showtime project Manchild, about middle-aged men facing mid-life crises, has received tons of publicity because of whom the cable network has already managed to sign on: Rome's Marc Anthony, James Purefoy; Sex & the City's John Corbett; and homegrown Jersey director Kevin Smith. Smith will apparently be playing the role of cynical divorcé. Eye called Showtime yesterday to find out more about Smith's decision to move into acting beyond his Silent Bob appearances, but the network had little to say at this point as the show is still in its infancy. Looks like all Eye had to do was go to Kevin Smith's website Silent Bob Speaks to hear it from the man himself. Basically, Smith thought the script was funny; no, he doesn't think of himself as an actor; this will be four months out of the year and it is a "side gig."
"We shoot the pilot in December, after I finish this other, two-day acting gig on a feature. If Showtime digs the pilot, we go to series two months or so after that. With twelve eps a season, it means I’m out of the directing game (which should please some folks) for only about four months out of the year . . . . The only daunting aspect is that I’m surrounded by real, honest-to-goodness actors (James Purefoy, John Corbett, Paul Hipp). Thankfully, I got my first taste of acting beside real actors (the Silent Bob stuff barely counts) in “Catch & Release” (in theaters this January), so I’ve already got a bit of experience feeling inferior all the time (shit - I’ve got a lifetime of experience in that department, to be honest)."
Full text is here. (Eye also suspects that Smith doesn't get some douche underling to write his website for him. It reads like he does it himself, complete with photos of his home-that-doesn't-suck.)
Posted by Corina Zappia at 1:31 PM, November 15, 2006
It took all the publicity surrounding last night's final dance-off between NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and A. C. Slater to make Eye finally watch Dancing with the Stars. Eye used to wonder what America saw in this show. She wonders no longer.
Look at these dances:
Eye's prediction: Emmitt, although Eye does love how Slater's song was "It Takes Two." It takes two, right. No, chump, it takes you cheating on the Dorito Girl.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 10:21 AM, November 15, 2006
(Toronto Star)
Last night, Eye caught the preview of ABC's new primetime game show, Show Me the Money, produced by Endemol USA. The details of the game are too long and complicated to relate, but in short: the dancers are hot, the contestants are Bob Barker cast-offs, and the stage is Vegas meets Billy Graham revival. Glazed audience members gaze at the Jumbotron screen for salvation and answers to questions written for an extremely slow child.
Scoring William Shatner as the host of the score was the real coup here. In a quote given to Eye, Endemol USA President David Goldberg raved, "William Shatner was the guy we wanted from day one . . . . He has a naturally warm and witty presence that allows him to embrace the fun, dramatic, and outrageous moments of the show." Dancing Shatner's so-uncool-I'm-cool schtick and ability to play along is no doubt the highlight of Show Me the Money, but Eye couldn't help but wonder what all this did for Shatner himself, starring in a show that will probably last two episodes.
Is Captain Kirk slumming? You tell Eye:
1966: Stars as Captain Kirk on Star Trek. On a 1968 episode, participates in the first televised interracial kiss on U.S. TV with Nichelle Nichols. Controversy ensues, even though the kiss takes place through telekinesis. 1982: You know what year this is. Airplane II: The Sequel. 1982-1986: Plays veteran cop T.J. Hooker on T.J. Hooker. Forced to ride in a cop car with Adrian Zmed. 1998-present: Priceline.com's little angel. 2004: Records his album Has Been, which includes a duet with Henry Rollins and a cover of Pulp's "Common People." Eight million hipsters rejoice. 2004-2005: Racks up two Emmys and a Golden Globe for roles in Boston Legal and The Practice. January 2006: Sells his kidney stone to GoldenCasino.com. A Shatner kidney stone is apparently worth $25,000. Donates the money from sale to Habitat for Humanity. March 2006: Produces and stars in Discovery Channel's How William Shatner Changed the World. Without Star Trek, there would be no cell phones.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 9:46 AM, November 14, 2006
Eye of the Potato is busy eating french fries. She'll be back in tomorrow. In the meantime, check out the wise words of her unpretentious foodie colleague, Eat for Victory.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:25 AM, November 13, 2006
(Calgary Sun) The current bachelor: Prince Lorenzo Borghese
Eye of the Potato talked recently with Robyn Kass, casting director for The Bachelor about the search for the bachelor, criticisms of current bachelor Lorenzo Borghese, and why there hasn't been a minority bachelor or bachelorette.
I'm sure you've read those criticisms about Lorenzo: his title isn't really recognized anymore in Italy, he's actually from New Jersey, he doesn't really speak Italian. We've never hid anything about his background or his family. Even on the show, there's numerous times he lets the girls know, 'This is the background of my family.' I don't think we were every trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes; I think we've always been up front about his family and their titles and where he lives and what he does.
So you didn't try to hide the fact that he was trying to learn some Italian before the show. You didn't feel like it was this grand exposé. No, no. People like to make big things out of little things. I thought it was very sweet that he was trying to learn a little bit of it.
Most of the girls had already done the research: knew about the company, his background. We didn't try to fool any of the women into thinking they were going to be living in, like, the Vatican.
Why hasn't there been a minority bachelor or bachelorette? Will there ever be one? Yeah, sure. Again, I came in late, this is my second season, I don't know the reasons. It might just have to do with timing and the people who apply and the people who we get and the people who are right all around. But I don't see why there wouldn't be.
How do you sift through applications for the bachelor? I know one can apply online. We actually do find a lot of good [potential bachelors] on the internet. The best people are not necessarily the ones who apply themselves, but somebody who nominates them. So it's like the mother or the best friend or the sister sending us an application of their good-looking son or brother.
Has anyone ever been chosen as the bachelor based on an online nomination? Well, this is only my second season . . . we didn't find Lorenzo [the current bachelor] that way. Actually, Lorenzo was nominated by a friend, but it was through phone calls. When we're searching for "the guy," it's about a four-month process and we call and locate and network, like, every single company in the country.
What kinds of companies? It depends. My staff and I will sit around and say, 'Okay, what are amazing jobs to have?' We might start off and say, 'Let's try astronauts and pilots and lawyers and surgeons.' And maybe even jobs that we don't even know if we'll be able to contact anyone. But we make a list of maybe 30, 40 different ideal cool jobs and then we start at the bottom four. And that means calling every law office in the country and talking to the receptionist and finding out if there are any good-looking, single guys in the office.
So you actually cold call these places? Yes. Usually the receptionists are really excited. Because so many people know the show, and it's such a nice show. That's why this show is so much easier to cast than other shows—there's not a crazy twist. You get the receptionist on the phone, and she will give us the goods. 'Absolutely, there's a really good looking guy and he's single! Everybody tries to set him up." We contact newspapers, and—I'm just throwing astronauts out there, I don't even think we've gone that route—we'll find out different ways of talking to people at NASA. Do you ever go through dating services? There probably isn't something you can think of in this world that we probably have not done. Dating sites are great, different athletic sites, magazines.
When we're looking for "the guy", there's about five of us. When we start the search for the women [i.e., the contestants], my staff ramps up to about 15.
We travel around the country, go in bars, set up events, do radio promotions and newspapers. It's all about letting the cities know we're coming into town.
You guys seem to target a lot of family dynasties. I know Lorenzo is from the Borghese cosmetics empire, and then there is Andrew Firestone. Is it about tracking down the 100th Carnegie? It's not like the network comes to us and is like, 'You have to find someone who's an heir to this or that.' But we always want to have the guy that every girl wants to date. We'll start off small, where we'll literally call the people at Harrods Hotel, and be like, 'Is there a daughter in the family? Is she single?'
So you'll call up the Rockefeller Foundation. Absolutely. We have no fear over here. And if you saw our calling log, it's of just about everywhere.
The calling log has got to be pretty funny. Honestly, we get nothing but great responses. It's very rare we hit a wall.
Even if you're calling a family foundation or investment-banking firm? Yeah, you think they would hang up on us. I've done a lot of reality shows, and a lot of them will get those responses.
So you don't think it is hard to find the next bachelor that lives up to the fantasy? Oh, I think it's really hard. It's a long process, and we go through a lot of guys. I came in so many seasons into it, and they'd already had the Firestone and the football player and the actor.
How many do you end up choosing from at the end? Wow. I think at the beginning of the search, we talk to hundreds. We narrow it down, and there's probably a pool of about 30 to 40 guys that we really get into.
Do you come across a lot of guys who live up to the fantasy but don't want to participate in the show? Sure. It's tough. And one thing we never want to do is talk someone into doing it.
That's why you really don't see bachelors who are 21 or 22. We want someone who's lived a little, who has dated and had significant girlfriends. It's a lot of interviews and a lot of conversations to get guys who are at the point in life where they're ready to find someone and commit to it.
Do you have an open casting call? It's usually just for the suitors, because the bachelor is soo specific. Although we've had places contact us, like maybe they have a single-guys auction at a company, and they might say, 'Hey, there's 20 guys we're auctioning off, and maybe we can put them on tape and send them to you.' And we love it when that happens and usually get really good people. There's hot guys everywhere. Ha. Unfortunately, there's none in my life, but there are for the show.
What do you look for in a suitor? One of the reasons we find the bachelor first is, we spend a lot of time talking to Lorenzo. After we end up choosing him, he and I spend a lot of time on the phone and I ask him his turn-ons, his turn-offs, and age range, jobs, schooling. He'll sort of give me his list of 'In an ideal world, this is what I would like, this is what I would like to stay away from."
And this is confidential. Yes.
Whatever you would think they would say, Lorenzo was just really open-minded and excited about meeting girls.
A criticism of this show is that a lot of the couples don't stay together. Why do you think that is? Do you think that these bachelors really are looking for someone to marry? Well, first of all, I'd like to say that Byron and Mary are getting married next month. And I will say that Charlie and Sarah are still living together. And Andrew and Jen, they were together for about a year. So people do criticize it and people do ask me that, but it's like life. You find someone, people fall in love, and they date someone for a month or six months or a year or two years, and sometimes they break up and sometimes they stay together. And I think that The Bachelor is like life. People say, 'You know, you put them in such extraordinary circumstances. How do you know they're really in love?' Well, then they get to live life together. We've had a lot of long relationships.
I think The Bachelor is better than my personal track record. If I wasn't casting it, then I'd probably give it a shot.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 1:31 PM, November 10, 2006
SUNDAY
On The Simpsons Halloween episode, Homer swallows green goo from outerspace; eats Dr. Phil, who tastes like Jeffrey Tambor.
On Adult Swim's Robot Chicken, Mario and Luigi take a detour away from Super Mario Bros. land and into Grand Theft Auto's Vice City; mistake a $50-a-trick hooker for The Princess.
MONDAY
On Heroes Peter informs a rich old dying dude that he can fly. Dying dude croaks 30 TV-seconds later.
TUESDAY
Election night. Colbert concedes defeat, with a Congrats Terrorists cake that "tastes like surrender."
WEDNESDAY
The morning after Election Night. Unless you live under a rock, I think you know the news here.
On Top Model, what might weigh in as the stupidest challenge ever has contestants chase after a giant compact of Cover Girl Tru-Blend.
THURSDAY
On Grey's Anatomy, the male doctors go on a bonding/hunting expedition, but end up having to Macgyver a surgery in the woods. Put to the test: Dr. "Friend to Gays" Burke.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 4:32 PM, November 9, 2006
Writer/Director Crispin Hellion Glover in his film 'What Is It?'; photo by Rocky Schenck
It's these sad little abuses of power that make it all worthwhile. Crispin Glover stopped into town a few weeks ago to promote his film, What Is It?, and Eye spoke with him about the cult of celebrity, renewed interest (courtesy of YouTube) in his crazy "I can kick!" appearance on David Letterman; the power of this website; who are the most skilled talk show hosts; and even...sigh...why he doesn't watch TV. Glover will have another stint in the city Friday, Nov. 10-Sunday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Anthology Film Archives to screen his film and present a slideshow performance of his published works.
Would you ever put any clips on YouTube? There's already like 50 on there related to you. There's a lot on there. I don't like to confirm or deny anything, but you should take a look and see.
Right, didn't the New Yorker write about some actress you found on YouTube? I did contact that actress, Stevie Ryan, and there's a movie that I want to make in the Czech Republic that she could be interesting for.
Would you promote it on YouTube just like What Is It? I can't confirm or deny that I'm promoting anything on YouTube. [Eye looks at YouTube later. There is a video with Stevie Ryan's YouTube character, Little Loca, which features a man who claims he is not, in fact, Crispin Glover—followed by a trailer of What Is It?]
There are so many diehard Crispin Glover fans out there with websites devoted to you. One even has a birthday countdown. I learned how many months and days it is until your 43rd birthday. I hope it's the correct date, because it's reported that my birth date is September 20, and my real birthday is April 20.
I read you celebrated it twice. The only reason that's written is because it's incorrect information. That's the problem with the Internet. If a rumor is written several times on the Web, it becomes a fact in people's minds.
About the Letterman clip, how do you feel about the fact that it's still around on YouTube? It's been about twenty years since that appearance. It gives an interest and a curiosity about me. So I'm actually quite glad that it's had this new life.
Can you confirm or deny that you were high or you were playing a role? I like to leave it a mystery: my film, What is It?; the David Letterman appearance; my record ("Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution. The Solution=Let It Be") there's often a question. And what it is that people think about it is really the more important thing. And if I just state something, it defeats that purpose.
What purpose, exactly, is defeated? Well, what happened [on the show]. I think it's interesting that there is a question. After all of these years, I've always thought it would be very evident what the actuality of the situation is, but it's apparent that it's not evident because there's a lot of people that think a lot of different things. And I think that in itself is interesting, the fact that some people say one thing and other people say another thing.
Can you extend this discussion to TV? I was talking to someone on reality TV who said it has nothing to do with reality. I'm sure. I actually don't own a television, and haven't since I moved out of my parents' house when I was 18 years old.
Why not? I actually grew up watching quite a lot of television. It's something I just didn't want as a distraction.
What did you watch when you were a kid? I did like Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But I also watched those '70s sitcoms that everybody grew up watching. And I definitely don't miss those things. There's something interesting I guess about the culture element of it, but in the same way my film is very much a reaction to certain types of corporate controls that are going on in film. It's even far more exacerbated on television. What kind of thoughts and ideas can come through these things where corporate control is concerned about offending anybody?
When I was 18, 19, there were several times that people wanted to develop a television series with me. I was already very uncomfortable with that medium; I knew I didn't want to be involved in it. And I don't regret not having done it. At the time, there was much more of a differentiation: People who were on television were on television; people who were in film were in film. And that changed right around that time. But even still, there's something about that medium. . . .
So you left it. You started out doing TV?
My very first job was actually in the theater. But I did do commercials. And I did some situation comedies.
Right, Family Ties. Yes, but before that, I did The Best of Times, which was a pilot. And I did Hill Street Blues, a Happy Days episode. Oh, I did a television movie called High School USA.
Yeah, there's a clip from it on YouTube. You say, "Do you like cheese?" Yeah. I actually liked the character I did. But by and large, I really did not like doing television. I could see very readily that there was a much more limited thought process in television than film, and now I feel there's a limited thought process in film. It's always been like that. When I was 13, I thought it would be neat to be on a television commercial.
But now you don't really want to sell Coca-Cola or Fresh Direct? The fact is, if Coca Cola wanted to put money into me making a film that I had control over the concepts, I would have no trouble with Coca-Cola sponsoring me. The differentiation lays when Coca-Cola says, 'You can't do this because we put money into your film.' And that's what continually happens in the corporate world.
How do you feel about being interviewed on talk shows like Letterman? Do you think they manipulate their interviewees? Oh yeah. You do a pre-interview on all those shows: you talk with the producer. What conversation you have is selected. You're given . . . it's not really a script, but basically what the questions are going to be. The talk show host is filled in on what the answers are going to be. And the writers come up with what the jokes are going to be. Some [talk show hosts] will veer away from it, but some won't. Letterman in particular tends toward sticking very much to the script, and I think he becomes uncomfortable when scripted things are veered away from. Because he has his jokes pretty well planned out. I mean, he's also a witty guy. He can come up with things pretty quickly.
I understand it, but if you look at those shows, starting in the 1950s, it was less about the cult of the personality of the talk show host and more about an actual conversation..looking at Dick Cavett or even Steve Allen or the early people on The Tonight Show. Even Johnny Carson was more conversational.
Strangely, two of the best interviewers I've been on with were Carson and Howard Stern. David Letterman and Jay Leno tend to be more about getting the jokes. But if you watch those shows, even a long interview is not 7 or 8 minutes. Most shows are about the skit, the monologue. It's their show, and they feel that pressure. But Howard Stern tends toward being a talk show non-celebrity-fluffer. Even Letterman will for the most part interview the guests about what they want to be interviewed about. Even Stern will support what's being promoted, but he will delve into the personality of the person against what the personality they're putting forth is. Often what a celebrity is putting forth as a persona is not what their true personality is. Howard Stern is very aware of that and will get underneath that and expose that.
For me, I have the opposite problem: Many people think I'm much more insane/crazy/weird/bizarre than I actually am. I don't mind if Howard Stern goes in and tries to get to the truth of it, because I don't have something that I'm trying to hide. Sometimes it's a bit irritating, but it's easier for journalists to make a sensational element of me being this crazy/weird guy than getting into the nuances and truths of thought about things. Even if I give an intelligent interview, it's easier for a journalist to go in and say, 'Oh this person collects things," which I don't actually have a collection. I have one thing, but it's turned into a collection. Howard Stern will tend toward getting into an actuality.
What did he do with you that you were impressed by?
He wanted to know what happened with Back to the Future negotiations . . . He would go to the point of things where most interviewers would step back and say, 'Well, I know this is a territory that I'm not supposed to get into.' He was braver with that.
I remember I saw him on with LaToya Jackson one time, and as I recall, she was on with her manager that she was married to. And he got into the sexuality of their relationship, and there was a question about how you're not actually married until intercourse has happened within the marriage. And LaToya looked at him and was like, 'Really?' So it became apparent that she hadn't had sex with her husband. That's what it felt like.
They should get Oprah and Steadman on. Of course she wouldn't do it.
Howard Stern has a persona as well. He's intellectual, but that's not his persona. So off the air, he's more mellow and gentler and nicer and more intellectual.
I wanted to go on with him for promoting [my movie], but it's the first time he turned me down. I think he knows that there isn't a lot of dirt to get with me. When I tell the truth, it's actually less sensational.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 8:55 AM, November 9, 2006
Dallas News
This morning Hollywood Reporter gives the outcome of election night's battle of the networks. To wit:
ABC was the winner of the night, with an average 9.7 million viewers, compared with CBS's 6.3 million and NBC's 7 million. Hollywood Reporter suggests ABC's extra half hour of coverage and an episode of Dancing with the Stars that played right before might have tipped the scales. If that means it came down to the fiery tango of A.C. Slater, I'm going to cry. (Speaking of, did you happen to notice his Dancing with the Stars bio mentions nothing about Saved by the Bell?)
Moving right along...Fox News beat out CNN in the primetime slot. Another sad reality, but I guess Wolf Blitzer vs. Guiding Light reject with gooey lips: The choice is clear. Fox: 3.1 million viewers. CNN: 2.97 million. Trailing behind: MSNBC, with 1.9.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 7:55 AM, November 9, 2006
I don't think I even need to mention how much Stephen Colbert killed during his and Stewart's Indecision 2006: Midterm Midtacular. Here's a clip of his final speech, finally on YouTube:
Posted by Corina Zappia at 12:53 PM, November 8, 2006
Ahh, there it is on CNN at 12:02 p.m., right before Pelosi takes the stage. The question they would never have asked Tom, Newt, or Dennis:
"Nancy Pelosi out on the campaign trail likes to describe herself as a mother and a grandmother. In fact, when I spoke with her a couple of weeks ago out on the trail, she's expecting her fifth grandchild, and I asked her what she was more excited about: the prospect of becoming the first woman Speaker of the House, or becoming a grandmother again?"—CNN Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel
Posted by Corina Zappia at 10:31 AM, November 8, 2006
Couric: "Very quickly in closing...As Rodney King might say, 'Can't they all just get along?' Are they [House, Senate and President] going to be able to work together?"
Stephanopoulos: "Democrats picked up three seats in Indiana. They've picked up three seats in Pennsylvania. They've picked up one seat in Ohio. They've picked up two seats in New York. They picked up one seat in Connecticut. Still many more out there. That turned out to be a Republican sphere, their killing fields. "
BENNETT: Before the body is laid into the ground here on Rick Santorum, you bet very tough partisan slashing. He was targeted by the Democrats who wanted to take him out.
COOPER: Huge money raised, a lot of money.
BENNETT: Huge money raised to take him out. What will also be said, as David Brooks wrote in "The New York Times" a couple weeks ago, what you were just talking about in terms of compassion, if you were a victim of AIDS or autism, suffering from autism, if you were in Darfur the issue is partial birth abortion, lots of linking across the parties from Rick Santorum to senators on the Democrat side.
He was the champion, really a champion of the poor, the dispossessed, the helpless, the unborn, whether it be here in the United States or abroad and they have lost a champion in losing Rick Santorum.
COOPER: Rick Santorum though was running, hammering Bob Casey, Jr. saying he was weak on national security that he couldn't keep the country safe. Does that message no longer resonate as much as it did in past elections for Republicans?
BENNETT: Well, Rick never backed off that message but I think, Anderson, you have to look again at the type of candidate that the Democrats chose, you know.
BENNETT: But he's not finished, can I just say that. His political life is not over.
COOPER: Where does he go from here?
BENNETT: You will see a movement to draft Rick Santorum to run. You will see that.
COOPER: Run for?
BENNETT: President of the United States, you will see that.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 12:59 PM, November 7, 2006
MTV.com
After sizing up the networks' coverage, how about we look into that barometer of youth culture, MTV. How's the election news? Are we choosing or losing tonight? Vote or Die!! Vote or Die! Diddy, my dawg, where you at?
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:38 AM, November 7, 2006
USA Today
You don't need us to tell you that CNN and the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert tag team will be doing the most election coverage tonight. (Look for Colbert/Stewart at 8pm-9pm, then 11pm-on.)
We turn to the major networks, to see what's up on this holiest of holy eves:
NBC
NBC will start at 6:30 p.m. with the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, then cram updates of the house races into the first two minutes of each hour. There's a new Friday Night Lights at 8 p.m. (fullback and very bad boy sleeps with injured quarterback's sweet-but-horny girlfriend). After Law & Order Criminal Intent is the Election Night Special with Bryan Williams, joined by Tim Russert and the Tom Brokaw crutch.
8pm Friday Night Lights
9pm Law & Order Criminal Intent
10pm Election Night Special
ABC
Election night is election night, but Dancing with the Stars is forever. Starting at 8 p.m., an hour and a half rerun of the show that singlehandedly keeps the sequin industry afloat, and at 9:30, a new epsiode of Help Me Help You, where Ted Danson plays a therapist with problems of his own. (And I quote from the description, "he has his work cut out for him!") Four live updates of the election will be cut in during this two hours of programming. At 10 p.m., we go into Vote 2006, where Charles Gibson slides into Peter Jennings's old seat and will be flanked by Cokie Roberts and slaphappy midget pundit George Stephanopoulus. At 11:30, a special Nightline with election updates.
8pm Dancing with the Stars
9:30pm Help Me Help You
10pm Vote 2006
11:30pm Nightline
CBS
Bravo CBS, for that solid hour and a half you've budgeted into election coverage, although you do have the Couric, who won't be placated by blood sacrifice of CBS pages alone. She needs time. And she's ready to hit hard tonight: "We don't want to bombard people with facts, figures, statistics and graphics," she tells USA Today. "I think it's a night where people are hungry for perspective and meaning." Those facts and figures always bum us out too, Katie.
8pm NCI with Mark Harmon
9pm The Unit new
10pm CBS News Election Coverage
11pm CBS 2 News
11:30pm David Letterman Show
Fox
Most coverage of the election, in the special way that only Fox can cover it, will be relegated to the Fox News cable channel. Affiliates can chose whether or not to pick up this feed. Hmm. So we turn to TV listings for Manhattan/Time Warner Cable, courtesy of TV Guide.com: After new episodes of Standoff and House, it appears that Manhattan Fox affiliate WNYW will be slamming election coverage in its regular news hour, complete with the usual Guiding Light rejects/reputable anchorwomen. After that, brand new reruns of Seinfeld and The Simpsons!
8pm Standoff
9pm House
10pm Fox News
11pm Seinfeld
11:30pm Simpsons
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:35 PM, November 6, 2006
(Canada.com)
Below, GLAAD's Entertainment Media Director, Damon Romine, weighs in on an earlier talk with Michael Jensen of AfterElton.com.
I got a comment on my earlier posting that this is not a big deal, that it's something everyone's known for a while. What's the difference between an actor coming out publicly and it being rumored?
Both T.R. Knight and Neil were in a similar situation where they were out to coworkers and friends, but the general public wasn't aware of the situation. Neil's coming out has tremendous impact in terms of creating awareness, understanding, and acceptance.
There's a difference between the rest of the country, and New York/L.A. just being conscious. I think there is a tremendous difference between people thinking they know it and someone being public about who they are. That puts an end to the gossip, but sends a great message. 'This is who i am; I want to share that with you.' Here's what we know: Attitudes and opinions change when you know someone who's gay. How I Met Your Mother is an extremely popular sitcom, and now millions of viewers can say that they know someone who's gay. I read in TV Guide, how on his own show, he's going to have a gay brother. How [Harris's character] is with a women, the gay brother will be the same with men. It's an interesting twist on it.
Do you think it will affect his career any?
I'm putting Harris and Knight together in this context because they have both something historic in coming out while still appearing on their television series. These are two people at the top of their game, and on very popular television shows. The more people who choose to live openly, the less bias you'll see in Hollywood. There will be a shifting in the bias.
I talked with AfterElton.com's Michael Jensen about how Rupert Everett mentioned however that this cut him off from playing action-hero roles. What do you think?
There are many reasons why someone won't get a part. It's hard to pin it on being gay. The reality is, many actors have certainly thrived in their careers. Their coming out has allowed them to live openly, honestly, and with an authenticity that has made their career flourish. And also, Everett came out several years back, and we're in a different period in history. Times change; the more actors come out, the more we see in public, the less stigma there is attached to it. And the less bias we'll see in Hollywood.
Do you think it's more difficult for lesbians to come out?
You look at the fact that Rosie O'Donnell is very successful; Ellen is successful; Jane Lynch is a star of Lovespring International and has a feature film coming out, For Your Consideration; Kristanna Loken was just given a new leading role in a Sci Fi series; Sarah Paulson is out and she's Matthew Perry's leading lady on Studio 60...A handful of women are out and working in Hollywood. I feel like it's become easier for men and women to come out and live their lives honestly.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 9:00 AM, November 6, 2006
(Canada.com)
So Neil Patrick Harris, a.k.a. Doogie Howser, came out last Friday after Canada.com reported that Harris had tried to secure a role for supposed boyfriend David Burtka on Harris's current CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. (And also after Contactmusic.com then claimed his publicist issued a statement claiming Harris “was not of that persuasion.”)
It's no deep dark secret that gay actors fear the negative repercussions coming out publicly could have on their careers. During an acceptance speech at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, openly gay thespian Sir Ian McKellen spoke frankly about discrimination in a conservative Hollywood: "It is very, very, very difficult for an American actor who wants a film career to be open about his sexuality. And even more difficult for a woman if she's a lesbian." Then there is Rupert Everett, who revealed he was once called a pervert by a studio exec, who turned him down for a role opposite Sharon Stone. Everett—who, let's be honest, was made to play Bond—believes by coming out he lost the opportunity to play action roles in American films. "Half the film theatre owners in America are right-wing Christians," said Everett.
Eye talked about this with Michael Jensen of AfterElton.com, a LOGO-owned website that looks at gay and bisexual men's visibility in the entertainment world.
How will this affect Harris's career?
My personal suspicion is it won't affect his role on that show. In fact I think that more people will tune in to see him. He is a character actor, so this isn't the thing everyone's been waiting for, the leading box office man to come out. What's really notable about Neil Patrick is that unlike Richard Chamberlain or Tab Hunter, this is a 33-year-old man in the middle of his career who's managed to do something like reinvent himself as a child star and do that successfully, and now reinvent himself as an openly gay man, ready to play any role. What's interesting for him and T.R. Knight of Grey's Anatomy is that they're established in these roles on hit shows, and really, what can anybody do at this point? It's not like they're going to suddenly write the characters out. We're at a stage in society where the blatant homophobia would engender such a backlash that even if the networks were predisposed to do it it would hurt them more than help them.
We're still not to the point where these openly gay actors are cast as these roles, but they're coming out as these roles. [Jensen believes this will make studios rethink the possibility of casting gay men in heterosexual roles, that Harris's and Knight's success will set a precedent that it can be done.] Coming on the heels of Knight playing a heterosexual role, bam now we have another heterosexual role. For so long, gay men had to play a gay role or heterosexual in name only, like they were rarely involved with a woman.
Rupert Everett mentioned however that this cut him off from playing action-hero roles.
There's truth to that, there's definitely a bias in Hollywood.
Who's at fault? The theater owners? Studio execs?
It's just a knotty complicated problem. All of those have a part to play. Ian Mckellen himself said in his opinion, it's as much the actors as anyone else. They're afraid what might happen.
Is it true that it's even harder for lesbians?
It's much harder for women. That just follows the basic dictum: who has the power. Gay men have more inroads in Hollywood; I think you find more gay men of positions in power in Hollywood than lesbians. A lesbian friend of Ian McKellen's said, 'Don't ask me to come out as a lesbian. I'm already a woman in Hollywood.'
Posted by Corina Zappia at 6:47 PM, November 3, 2006
((c) & TM 2006 Cartoon Network)
Eye attended a Cartoon Network upfront breakfast a few months back where Andre 3000 and his co-executive producer Tom Lynch (responsible for the Lil Romeo cartoon) introduced Class of 3000 . The new cartoon follows a music star named Sunny Bridges who gives up his career to teach gifted musical students in Atlanta. Sunny Bridges actually bears a striking resemblance to Benjamin and is voiced by him.
Somewhere between arriving at my table at Cafe Gray and not touching his oatmeal breakfast—does anyone ever really get to eat at these things?—Andre Spoke. "Little Dee, he's pretty much a smaller version of me," we learned. And that he has been working on this for about two years. And that "Vince Guaraldi was a huge influence." Guaraldi is best known for scoring all the Peanuts cartoons—and wouldn't you know it—a new song composed by Benjamin is featured in every episode, and Benjamin also wrote and performed the title song. Can we also say that at the breakfast, Andre was wearing some crazy massive Navajo wool vest in cream, dark rinse black jeans pulled up past his waist, and that Atlanta Braves cap which never leaves his head. Because the style gods shine upon him, it worked.
Andre Benjamin's new cartoon Class of 3000 premieres tonight at 7pm (that would be in just a few minutes) with guest performances from the Fox Theater in Atlanta.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 11:03 AM, November 3, 2006
Wow, it's exactly what Oprah would've done. Last year, Tyra dressed up in a fat suit so that she might feel the true pain of being obese, and not just Tyra-dressed-up in-a fat-suit-who-everyone-can-still-recognize.
(Hollyhood Blogazine)
For an episode of The Tyra Banks Show that airs November 13, Tyra takes the plunge as a member of Chingy's posse, where no one mistook her for a cracked supermodel turned rapper. The glue-on moustache is choice.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 3:29 PM, November 2, 2006
HBO to Offer Shows Online? "a new broadband offering would put HBO into competition with the cable and satellite operators that now pay the bulk of the estimated $3.5 billion a year in revenues HBO generates." (BusinessWeek via TV Tattle)
Is Flavor of Love Racist? "In a society like ours, laden with heavy racial baggage, is there room for farce featuring black folks?" (Washington Post via TV Tattle)
Anna Nicole Smith Instigated Romance With Stern "She adds, 'He was like, 'I can't, I can't,' because he always had to go by the books. … I knew I was in love the first time I kissed him.'" (People)
Restaurant Buys Colbert Portrait for $50K "Chad Walldorf's chain of barbecue restaurants paid $50,605 for the portrait, which The Colbert Report sold on e-Bay." (USA Today via TV Tattle)
Posted by Corina Zappia at 2:44 PM, November 2, 2006
Eye is one of the few losers in the blogging world not to have Windows 98 or higher, so she was unable to watch the advance premiere on MySpace. She just sits in her cube, rewinding this dumb extended trailer.
Ryan cagefighting=stroke of brilliance. If Seth isn't holding up a Tasti Delite by episode two, then this show officially sucks.
There are still a few more weeks before the Top Model finale, but I lost interest after my favorite contestant, Megg Morales, was voted off. I talked yesterday with the 19-year-old rocker from Los Angeles about her lion-lady hair extensions, her recruitment through MySpace, and the contract she had with Elite prior to the show.
What have you been up to since the show ended? I'm starting a t-shirt company called Reckless Redemption and it's going to be for skaters and bands. Besides that, I've been trying to get an agency and do some more modeling. And I've been working on some music too. It's just me and my friend. She plays the piano; I play rhythm guitar. I'm [also] going to train to be a lifeguard. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I thought it was pretty crazy, so fuck it.
How did you end up on the show? Were you recruited? Actually, someone found me on MySpace. I didn't have modeling pictures up or anything. She was just like, 'Hey, if you wanna try out for this show called Top Model, I'll help make you an appointment.'
Do you still have a MySpace profile? No, I had to get rid of it right now, until the show's over. Then I'm going to put one up and everyone will know about it. I'll make sure of it, haha.
So funny. I didn't know they were recruiting on MySpace. Yeah, isn't that such a trip?
Why did you want to go on Top Model? Had you done any modeling before that? I was with Elite for a time and did some catalog work. The show came up, and it was just this really crazy opportunity. I'd be stupid not to go.
How did you get signed to Elite? My mom took some snapshots and sent them to them, and they called me back two days later. All I had to do was grow my eyebrows out, and they signed me.
Do you think models are snobs? Or do they just get a bad rap? Well, they make themselves get a bad rap because they're so full of themselves. Being beautiful, sometimes it just makes you like, 'Oh, I'm so cute. Eveyrobdy loves me because I'm so beautiful. I can act anyway I want.' I think I have some good qualities, but I think my best quality is my personality. If you're a shitty girl, you're going to be ugly outside too. I don't care how pretty a girl is.
I don't understand why most models I've met are like that. They're just spoiled brats to me.
Did you like working with Elite? I think was really young, and there was a lot I needed to learn about myself. It was just kind of tough, because there were all these beautiful girls and I was just this tomboy, this awkward chick. Thank god I needed to graduate, because if I didn't leave I don't think I would have gotten to know myself.
I didn't realize some contestants were already signed with agencies before they went on the show. Are you still with Elite? No, because we had to drop all of our agencies to go on the show. I canceled [my contract] because I wanted to graduate from high school and getting my diploma was more important.
The contestants on this show have to be 18 or over, older than when most young models start their careers. Do you think they're too old to have a real chance at becoming a top model? I don't think it hurts your chances. As long as you take care of yourself, you'll continue to look young. But starting young is definitely a plus, because you get more experience and know what to do, and your face gets out there a lot earlier. But the show shoots you up, so you pass like three years just because of how much exposure you get.
Really? Because I know another complaint is that there hasn't been a major model that emerged from Top Model. If you want to come out a supermodel, you can't rely on the show anymore. And I think a lot of contestants do rely on that. But this show, I think some people are going to do extremely well. A.J., CariDee, they could be supermodels.
You seemed to take everything in stride. Did the competitiveness of some of the other girls bother you? At some points, I was just like, 'Oh my god, Bro, what did I get myself into?' But then I realized maybe I didn't want the title as bad because I ended up making a lot of great friends in the house, and making friends was more important to me than having one little trophy. It was weird, because I thought maybe I would slap some bitches down, but I was just like, 'Woah, these girls are actually really great.'
You were pretty upset at the end, like you knew you were going home. I knew. I was upset the bearded lady was my last picture, and I only really screwed up once. And the fact that Jaeda had been in the bottom a couple of times before, it was just like, get her off already, man. She's nice, but her pictures weren't too great.
You had some pretty huge hair extensions. Were you happy with them? That hair was intense, man. I felt like a lion. They should've made me the lion lady. I had like six tracks in my head. When I went home, I said, 'Mom, take these out. I need these out right now.'
Who are you friends with from the show? A.J. and CariDee. Especially A.J. She's so rockin', she's definitely my girl. And I like the twins.
A.J. seemed so lonely. I don't understand, they never showed us hanging out. We used to do some crazy shit in that house. One time we made bongo drums and we got CariDee's guitar and we went into the backyard and had a huge jam session.
I wish they would've shown us all jumping in the pool naked when we first got into the house. That was so much fun.
Do you still keep in touch with anyone? I'm in touch with A.J. But CariDee and the twins, I'm really not supposed to be talking to because they're still on the show.
Who do you hope wins? I hope CariDee kicks some serious ass. If Melrose wins, I'm going to be very upset. I'll have to give her props for winning, but she's going to have a very lonely win.
Is Melrose putting on an act? No, that's just her. She's not a very kind person. but she's on a show. I don't know how she is off the show. But I don't see how you can act the whole time.
Isn't CariDee the one who's always taking off her clothes? Yeah, she was always walking around naked. There's nothing wrong with that. If it makes you feel comfortable, maybe you should get naked too and see how you feel. Feels pretty cool..hah.
Did you find any of the girls difficult to deal with? Melrose, I just didn't really like being around her. Her voice is annoying. Monique was a little monster, but thank god she went.
That was disgusting when Monique spread her dirty underwear on Melrose's bed. Yeah, even I felt for Melrose and I don't even like her that much. I didn't like how Monique said, "Oh, I was just acting." No, that's how you were. Take responsibility. I'd just be like, "Yeah, I'm a bitch. So what?" Don't deny who you are.
A lot of reality contestants say that they were just putting on a role. But why would you do that? Why? Because that's what America is going to see, this chick that's not even you?
For more screen time. It was upsetting, the fact that I'm not into drama they don't even show me. But it's cool, I'd rather be known as the chill person then being this dramatic bitch.
Did you feel like you were fairly portrayed on the show? Yeah, fer sure. I was completely myself, and how they portrayed me was actually pretty cool, cause I was never into the drama and I was always just chillin'.
Did you want your catchphrase to be, 'rock & roll'? I'm glad it's 'rock and roll' instead of 'That's hot.;
Who are your favorite bands? I feel like we need to talk about rock now. Yeah, fer sure. Black Sabbath, Lamb of God. Lamb of God's my favorite; I saw them with Slayer the summer after I got off the show. They're my all-time favorite band. Any kind of rock & roll, really. I love it all.
Any particular idols? The drummer for Lamb of God, Chris Adler. Also Anthony Kiedis. I met him at a bar; it was really dope. A bar that I snuck into.
That's right, you're under 21. Is it actually hard for you to sneak into bars? I tried the other day, and this guy came up to me and said, 'Aren't you that chick from Top Model?' And I was like, 'No.' And he was like, 'Yeah you are. You're only 19. Get out of here.'
He kicked you out? Yeah. Because I had a Jack & Coke in my hand. Top Model totally blew my cover.
Posted by Corina Zappia at 1:07 PM, November 1, 2006
Dear Tina:
Last night, I had a dream about you. We were walking along the beach. The wind was blowing in my hair. You were eating shucked corn.
I spoke. I told you how I really wanted things to happen for you with 30 Rock. Not just because every sitcom has been replaced by a reality show, although how many times can Bill-age-32-from-Idaho eat rat eggs and I fear Flava of Screech. Truth is, I can't look at Leah Remini on King of Queens anymore. Or Patricia Heaton on Everybody Loves Raymond. Or any other show where attractive women are the nagging ball and chains to some pud who eats his own boogers.
But I wonder Tina…will 30 Rock last? Some good one-liners here and there, Tracy Morgan making the most of it…but I sense a faltering, a losing of grip. In the battle with Studio 60 it's clear who the victor is, but that's only because Aaron Sorkin's a poozer who makes his actors sound like they're planning nuclear holocaust whenever they drop by Home Depot for lighting fixtures. (Here's Mr. Sepinwall, stating it so much more eloquently than I.)
I think your career is in movies. The Lohan vagina must talk. Think about it.
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