television – News Stories About television - Page 51

Nov 18, 2008 10:33 AM CST

Kiefer Had to Kick Butts in Slammer

Star spent 48 days in big house without smoking

(Newser) - Not surprisingly, Kiefer Sutherland didn’t find prison a pleasant experience. “There’s no smoking,” the actor tells Vogue. Though he made it 48 days without cigarettes, the 24 star still hasn’t quit. Sutherland, 41, went on to complain about the lack of privacy, made worse by...

TiVo Adds Domino's to Its Menu

Nov 18, 2008 9:46 AM CST

TiVo Adds Domino's to Its Menu

Users can order Domino's pizza from their TVs

(Newser) - Hungry? Don't get up from the couch. TiVo customers can now order Domino's pizza right on their TVs, the Wall Street Journal reports, in a promotion that pops up when a customer forwards through a Domino's commercial. The promotion has two goals: Beefing up the pizza chain's bottom line—shares...

Monk Will Go Out on Top

Nov 17, 2008 1:23 PM CST

Monk Will Go Out on Top

USA says quirky detective show will end after upcoming season

(Newser) - The news that the upcoming eighth season of Monk will be its last has fans in mourning, but the USA Network staple leaves a rich legacy, Media Life reports. Monk ushered in the era of original cable programming and has consistently scored top ratings in key demographics. Tony Shalhoub is...

Fan's Suicide 'Haunting' Abdul

Nov 17, 2008 9:15 AM CST

Fan's Suicide 'Haunting' Abdul

Idol judge afraid to return home

(Newser) - Fearing that the spirit of her suicidal stalker is haunting her Beverly Hills house, Paula Abdul has hired healers to cleanse it of ghosts, the New York Post reports. Even so, a friend says Abdul has not returned to the house. Former American Idol competitor Paula Goodspeed, found dead outside...

JT Brings
SexyBack...
In a Leotard

Nov 16, 2008 8:00 AM CST

JT Brings SexyBack... In a Leotard

(Newser) - Justin Timberlake donned a leotard and heels for a surprise guest appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend, People reports. The singer played one of three incompetent backup dancers, reuniting with real-life duet partner Beyoncé—who ultimately fired the trio. JT rubbed up against Beyoncé and repeatedly intoned a...

TRL Going Out With a Bang

Nov 15, 2008 1:45 PM CST

TRL Going Out With a Bang

(Newser) - After 10 years of screaming fans, frantic voting, and celebrity appearances, MTV’s Total Request Live is finally going off the air. A star-studded 2-hour finale will air tomorrow, the Los Angeles Times reports. Sinking ratings for the music video show are behind its demise—about 322,000 watch the...

Lively Not Really That Gossipy

GLOSSIES

Nov 13, 2008 2:45 PM CST

Lively Not Really That Gossipy

Gossip Girl star waxes poetic on her career, clothes, co-stars

(Newser) - Blake Lively might be the "hottest senior ever to roam the halls" of hit show Gossip Girl, but the 21-year-old is a far cry from the "boozy party girl she plays on TV," writes Dana Wood in W. "I don't really like to go out,"...

Fox Cancels Mad TV

Nov 12, 2008 5:50 PM CST

Fox Cancels Mad TV

Fox cancels comedy show after 14 years

(Newser) - Mad TV will bid adieu after 14 seasons of Saturday night sketches, the final nail in its coffin coming from a failure to boost ratings during the presidential campaign, reports Defamer. Fox's Saturday Night Live competitor, which has been on the chopping block for years, will finish up the season...

Gee, Beav, Sculpture
by Wally at the Louvre

Nov 11, 2008 6:08 PM CST

Gee, Beav, Sculpture by Wally at the Louvre

(Newser) - Eat your heart out, Eddie Haskell. Tony Dow, best known as the actor who portrayed the Beav's big brother, Wally, in the '50s TV series Leave It to Beaver, will have one of his abstract sculptures on display at the Louvre. Several sculptors from the Karen Lynne Gallery, including Dow,...

ABC Slates Lost Premiere

Nov 8, 2008 4:45 PM CST

ABC Slates Lost Premiere

(Newser) - After months of speculation, ABC insiders say that season five of Lost will premiere on ABC January 21, with an hour-long refresher and two new episodes, Entertainment Weekly reports. The 3-hour special will air on a Wednesday, setting up Lost to compete with American Idol on Fox. But regular episodes...

Oprah Set to Bolt ABC

Nov 8, 2008 10:02 AM CST

Oprah Set to Bolt ABC

(Newser) - Oprah is getting ready to say goodbye to ABC and take her legendary talk show to her OWN cable network, the New York Post reports. The CEO of Discovery Communications, which is teaming up with Winfrey to create OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network) says he expects Winfrey’s eponymous show...

Critic John Leonard Dead at 69

Nov 6, 2008 4:15 PM CST

Critic John Leonard Dead at 69

Lung cancer claims Vonnegut's 'smartest man who ever lived'

(Newser) - Critic and author John Leonard died last night after a long battle with cancer. Leonard, whom Kurt Vonnegut once called "the smartest man who ever lived," was 69. A brilliant but not flashy stylist, an unapologetic liberal, and a mentor to countless younger writers, Leonard worked at various...

Saved by Zero? Or Sick to
Death of It?

Nov 6, 2008 2:30 PM CST

Saved by Zero? Or Sick to Death of It?

Toyota's relentless 0% APR ads wear thin ... and will continue

(Newser) - “Saved by zero?” Try bored. Toyota’s 0% APR ad campaign has left TV viewers annoyed—by both the jingle and the fact that it airs seemingly incessantly, AP reports. Though some might appreciate the extension of 0% financing, originally set to expire this week, most viewers are bemoaning...

Obama Owes Her Big Time

Nov 6, 2008 2:07 PM CST

Obama Owes Her Big Time

Winfrey's endorsement gave candidate huge boost, especially during primaries

(Newser) - As an early backer of Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey may have made the difference in the close primary contest against Hillary Clinton, Jake Tapper writes for ABC’s Nightline. One statistician estimates Winfrey—whose choices for her book club, for example, have an astronomical impact on book sales—delivered between...

Oprah on
Obama Win:
'We Did This'

Nov 5, 2008 9:40 AM CST

Oprah on Obama Win: 'We Did This'

TV host plans special election show today

(Newser) - Oprah Winfrey began to open up about the election last night in Chicago, and today on her show, she’ll “unleash” her views on Barack Obama’s victory, her website says. “This happened because we did this,” she told Mark Halperin at Obama’s rally. "We...

Edwards' ER
Check Funds
African Hospital

Nov 4, 2008 12:36 PM CST

Edwards' ER Check Funds African Hospital

Anthony Edwards asks for charity donation for cost of guest appearance

(Newser) - In lieu of a paycheck for his return to ER as the deceased Dr. Mark Greene, with scenes shot in flashbacks, Anthony Edwards asked Warner Bros. to donate $125,000 to help build a 250-bed hospital in Africa, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Steven Spielberg matched that money, and ER's executive...

Grey's Axes Lesbian Doc

Nov 4, 2008 12:09 PM CST

Grey's Axes Lesbian Doc

Brooke Smith's last show airs Thursday

(Newser) - ABC is ending Callie and Erica's lesbian romance on Grey's Anatomy—and Brooke Smith's role as Dr. Erica Hahn along with it. Though Grey's executive producer said Smith's firing was due to a lack of "magic and chemistry," not her character's sexual orientation, insiders told Entertainment Weekly that...

Could Rain Trigger Autism?

Nov 4, 2008 9:50 AM CST

Could Rain Trigger Autism?

Surprise link between autism and rainfall

(Newser) - US counties with higher rates of rainfall also have higher rates of autism, according to a controversial new study published by the American Medical Association. Pollutants in the precipitation, longer periods spent watching television, lower levels of vitamin D, or some other environmental factor linked to rainfall may trigger autism...

TV's Gimmickry
Diminishes Election

OPINION

Nov 3, 2008 1:27 PM CST

TV's Gimmickry Diminishes Election

News operations aim for ratings, shoot viewers instead

(Newser) - Tomorrow night will be a high-water mark for TV news gadget gimmickry as the networks try to hook some of the millions of viewers who will tune in for election coverage, Rick Kushman writes in the Sacramento Bee. Some, like the technology that will allow TV networks to have instant...

Maddow's Success
Defies TV's Formula

GLOSSIES

Nov 3, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Maddow's Success Defies TV's Formula

MSNBC's unlikely hit powered by brains, drive

(Newser) - Rachel Maddow is an unlikely cable-news pundit: butch lesbian, holder of a doctorate from Oxford, erstwhile drive-time radio sidekick. But her MSNBC show, launched in September, has been wildly successful, not least because of her good humor and outsider credentials. She plays well with Pat Buchanan, and still snags a...