TV Zone
News, scoops, reviews and more from TV land.
Oprah, Justin Bieber talk Selena Gomez
Photo credit: AP, 2011
But enough about Lindsay! What about Justin and Oprah! Last night's much, much promoted Oprah/Bieber sighting on OWN was the other big tube event — unless you want to count the Giants' demolition of Green Bay — and it was quite the event. Those two mega-celebs together in the same room — or restaurant, or private dining arena, hard to say which — and you'd think the very ground would shake with the glory of it all. O asked about many things — actually, about one thing: Selena Gomez, in which she wondered about "PDAs" (Oprah is very up-to-date on cool age-of-twitter terminology) and other matters. Take a look at this good extended clip . . .
Lindsay Lohan's 'Liz & Dick' gets no love from the Twittersphere
Photo credit: AP
Haters are gonna hate, but apparently they're especially gonna hate on Lindsay Lohan's return to the small screen — or any screen for that matter — in "Liz & Dick." The hashtag for last night's not-well-reviewed Lifetime flick — #lizanddick — attracted a veritable crush of snark, bile, hoots and hollers. This was to be expected — the movie was not good but the lead pounded out her lines with all the facility of a block of oak. Snark was just . . . too . . . easy. Huffington Post put together this list of tweets and by all means go to Twitter to search for/post your own. Meanwhile, the final arbiter awaits — Nielsen and its head count, which should prove to be a record-breaker for Lifetime.
Larry Hagman: An appreciation
Larry Hagman, whose "Dallas" character, J.R. Ewing, was the patron saint of TV villains and among the three or four most iconic figures in the medium's history, died Friday after a long battle with cancer.
His family announced his death in a statement released by Warner Bros. Television, the producer of "Dallas," which said in part, that he died peacefully surrounded by...
Read more »Larry Hagman, a video tribute
Photo credit: TNT
Larry Hagman, one of the great villains -- and great leading love interests -- of the small screen is gone, and in honor of to his glorious versatility (for Hagman was, foremost, a wonderfully funny actor as well), a video tribute. A deeper appreciation to come later.
All of these are self-explanatory to Hagman fans, but they do offer one obvious perspective -- that he's been a large part...
Read more »Kelsey Grammer's 'Boss' is canceled
Photo credit: Getty Images
"Boss," the big, brassy Chicago-based drama that was designed to be Kelsey Grammer's re-entry into the world of TV -- and especially Emmy contention -- is no more.
Starz has pulled the plug on the show, citing low ratings. In fact, nonexistent ones. The show lasted two seasons, got some pretty positive notices -- including from me -- but never got any viewer traction.
Grammer was often brilliant in the role of a brutal big city mayor. How brutal? Well, he murders his chief aide for one. Hey, it's Chicago. In New York, the mayor just bans giant soft drinks.
But the show looked like it was veering off track by the beginning of the second season, with a wacky assassination plotline. But the first season pilot was something to behold -- beautifully acted, directed and conceived. At first blush, "Boss" looked it would be a keeper. So much for first blushes.
Kevin Clash, voice of 'Sesame Street's' Elmo, resigns
Kevin Clash, the longtime voice of Elmo and a legendary puppeteer in the closeknit world of children's television, has resigned. His resignation comes in the wake of allegations of an underage sexual relationship with a man - now 25 - who recanted those allegations last week. However, reports have surfaced - mostly in TMZ - that the man had been paid to change his story and has since sought...
Read more »For Robin Roberts update, check out 'GMA' Tuesday
Photo credit: AP
Robin Roberts' treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome is - by her account - going well, though she did hit a speedbump lat week. On leave from "Good Morning America" following a bone marrow transplant in early September, she told followers on a Facebook post Sunday that she had been hospitalized last week for a viral infection. Blaming the week stay on a "latent virus, many of us...
Read more »Fox News' Major Garrett to CBS News
Major Garrett, one of the most visible figures at Fox News during its long ride to the top and beyond, has been named Chief White House correspondent for CBS News. He replaces Norah O'Donnell now at "CBS This Morning."
Garrett in fact hasn't been at Fox for a while, having made a move over to National Journal (he began in print at U.S. News & World Report), where he fostered...
Read more »PBS double-bill: Nova's 'Megastorm;' Burns' 'The Dust Bowl'
Photo credit: AP
Good night coming up on WNET, with "Nova's" special telecast, "Inside the Megastorm" at 7; then "The Dust Bowl" that follows. They are both, unintentionally, linked -- natural catastrophes with a human touch.
"Bowl" is a superb look at the so-called "dirty thirties," when a vast stretch of the Midwest was flattened by wind and dust; "Megastorm" -- see promo below -- is a look at a more recent disaster, also caused -- many believe -- by the hand of humanity.
I spoke with Ken Burns briefly last week who clearly lays the cause of Sandy on global warming - and he's certainly not alone in that belief.
'666 Park Avenue,' 'Last Resort' cancelled
Photo credit: ABC
Bad news for a pair of ABC standouts Friday afternoon -- "666 Park Avenue" and "Last Resort" were canceled -- or in the genteel euphemistic baloney of the trade, “the back 13 were not picked up . . ."
Same difference, but for now they will be around a few more weeks. The numbers weren't great -- duh -- and not all critics were enthusiastic. (I liked very much the "666" pilot, a bit less so “Last Resort,” but didn't really pick up on either series too much afterward -- so much else to watch -- so I guess I'm part of the problem, too.) "666" -- filmed in NYC -- was even a victim of Sandy, like so many thousands of others (flooding shut down the production). "Last Resort” starred a reasonably great actor -- Andre Braugher -- and had a stellar production team, too (Shawn Ryan leading the credits), but the premise was a tough one -- nuke sub takes over island while evil overlords in Washington sort out their issues.
ABC hasn't issued a formal announcement -- Deadline and Hollywood Reporter had the news first -- but they never do. Chalk up these two casualties to yet another good effort by ABC to try something different and unique and visually arresting. But -- in this brutally tough environment -- not arresting enough apparently.
