US TV

When your first ever words as a news anchor on live TV are “f*ckin’ sh*t”, things can only get better, right?

A.J. Clemente will soon find out after his nerves got the better of him in his first day on the job. Continue reading »

Veteran US television presenter Dick Clark has died, aged 82.

Clark suffered a heart attack at a hospital in Santa Monica a day after he was admitted for an outpatient procedure.

Known as “the world’s oldest teenager” due to his youthful appearance and enthusiasm, Clark hosted the popular music series American Bandstand and over the years was instrumental in the creation and success of the likes of the American Music Awards, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes and The $25,000 Pyramid. Continue reading »

Hamill to guest on Chuck

Former Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has landed a guest role on the new season of Chuck. Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, will appear as a villain on the spy series.

Hammer to reprise role on The Simpsons

Actor Armie Hammer will reprise his role as The Social Network’s Winklevoss twins in an episode of The Simpsons. The 24-year-old will make a guest appearance in the animated comedy instead of the actual Winklevoss twins Cameron and Tyler, who sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly stealing the idea for the website.

Doherty scores own reality series

Actress Shannon Doherty will feature in her own reality series that will follow her as she plans her wedding to celebrity photographer Kurt Iswarienko.

BBC comedy axed

Long-running British comedy series Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps has reportedly been axed after 10 years on the BBC.

Gervais developing new sitcom

Ricky Gervais is creating a new comedy series with Dexter producer Clyde Phillips called Afterlife. The sitcom will centre on an atheist who dies and goes to heaven.

The folks over at ustelevision.com must have a lot of time on their hands as they have put together a graphic depicting around 9,000 logos from TV channels around the world.

As for the purpose, who knows?

See the full 9,000 logo graphic here.

Below is a small portion of the graphic.

Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin seems to have been good enough to fool Fox News in the US.

The network has confused the 2008 vice-presidential candidate with the Saturday Night Live comedienne, using a photo of Fey during a story on Palin.

Fox News displayed a photo of Fey dressed as Palin standing at a lectern during one of her SNL sketches in 2008.

Fox released a statement admitting the error.

“This past Sunday during America’s News Headquarters, a graphics error was made during a segment on former Alaska governor Sarah Palin,” the statement said.

“The producer has since been disciplined and an explanation and apology will be made in the same hour next Sunday. Fox News regrets the error.”

Source: SMH

Stars farewell Oprah

The likes of Tom Cruise, Madonna, Beyonce, and Tom Hanks were among those to bid Oprah farewell at the taping of ‘Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular’ this week. Other attendees at the bash to celebrate Oprah’s talkshow career included Michael Jordan, Jerry Seinfeld, Will Smith, Halle Berry and Katie Holmes.

Jackson picks boy/girl Idol finale

American Idol judge Randy Jackson is picking that the finale of the series will “come down to a boy and a girl”. In other words, Jackson is picking either Lauren Alaina or Haley Reinhart to go home this week, with the final then to be contested by the survivor and Scotty McCreery.

Griffiths heading back to Aussie

Australian Brothers & Sisters actress Rachel Griffiths is planning a move back to Australia following the axing of the drama series this week. Griffiths is interested in working on Australian productions.

Weaver joins comedy pilot

Sigourney Weaver has agreed to feature in a new HBO comedy pilot called Spring/Fall. Weaver will join Tea Leoni and Hope Davis in the pilot, which centres on two women in New York who work together in the fashion industry.

Video previews of all the new shows commissioned by the NBC network in the US for the upcoming 2011/12 season.

Prime Suspect

Smash

Up All Night

Whitney

Grimm

The Playboy Club

Awake

Free Agents

Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea

Bent

The following shows have been axed by NBC:

Chase

Friday Night Lights

The Cape

The Event

Law & Order: LA

Outsourced

Video previews of all the new shows commissioned by the Fox network in the US for the upcoming 2011/12 season.

Terra Nova

Alcatraz

I Hate My Teenage Daughter

Napoleon Dynamite (animated)

The Finder

The New Girl

Allen Gregory

Fox has axed the following shows:

Breaking In

Human Target

Lie To Me

Running Wilde

The Chicago Code

Traffic Light

New J.J. Abrams pilot picked up

J.J. Abrams new drama pilot Alcatraz has been picked up by Fox in the US. The series, which follows a group of prisoners who escape from the island prison, features Lost actor Jorge Garcia and New Zealander Sam Neill. 

Lie To Me and Human Target cancelled

Lie To Me and Human Target have been cancelled by their US network this week. The Tim Roth-starring Lie To Me ran for three seasons while Human Target ran for just two.

Pressly’s comedy pilot picked up

Jamie Pressly’s new comedy pilot was also picked up by Fox. Pressly and Katie Finneran feature as a pair of mothers who discover their daughters are similar to the bullies they encountered when they were at school.

Mos Def joins Dexter cast

Hip hop artist Mos Def is joining the cast of  Dexter for a multi-episode arc on the show’s sixth season. He will play an ex-con who claims to have found religion yet seems to continually find himself surrounded by violence.

Television ownership in the US has dropped for the first time in 20 years.

Research conducted by Nielsen has found that 96.7 per cent of American homes now own TVs, down from 98.9 per cent previously.

Nielsen attributes the decline to two reasons: increasing poverty in the US and the advancement in technology.

Many low-income households now can’t afford to own TV sets due to the added expense of digital antennas and young people are now growing up with laptops which give them access to a wide range of television shows and movies via the internet.

The second reason is prompting Nielsen to think about redefining the “television household” to include those who access content via the internet.

“We’ve been having conversations with clients,” said Pat McDonough, the senior vice president for insights and analysis at Nielsen. “That would be a big change for this industry, and we’d be doing it in consultation with clients if we do it.”

Nielsen says the decline also mirrors the trend in 1992 where TV ownership declined due to a prolonged recession. However, it was reversed in the mid-90s during the economic upswing.

While it is still believed that American households hold the TV at the centre of their media life, they are finding ways to live without it.

Source: NYTimes.com