Well good for Paris Hilton. Not only does she take a pot shot at Senator John McCain’s backhanded pot shot at her, she actually shows that she can do comedy…with cue cards of course.
But seriously, good for Paris for making this little video as an answer to McCain’s “Obama’s just another celebrity” ad. Here’s the McCain ad:
And here’s the link to Paris’ response.
Personally, I think her energy policy’s got potential. Vote Paris in ‘09!
If you’re in the New York City area and even if you’re not, check out the blog Filming In Brooklyn.com. I met FIB’s blog mistress, Amy at BlogHer ‘08 last weekend.
With all kinds of TV shows, movies and commercials being shot in New York City these days, now’s the time to keep up with a site like FIB where you can get pix and info about what’s going on film-wise in my old hometown.
The CW’s “Gossip Girl” is shooting in Brooklyn Heights these days and FIB has some exclusive pix taken by some fans of the show.
And before you think Amy’s like a stalker-razzi or something, she’s very conscious that an on location set is a workplace and acts accordingly.
In related news, “Ugly Betty” and “Damages” are both shooting around New York City and bringing in valuable industry dollars to Gotham. FIB got some shots on the set of “UB” as well. I’m not sure if Patty Hewes has made her way to Brooklyn yet, but I’m sure if she does, FIB will be there.
“Project Runway” is back and we all now have a new crop of designers to pick apart ad nauseum. I still haven’t sorted all sixteen…er after two episodes, fourteen designers, but I’m starting to pinpoint some of my favorites.
The premiere episode involved the designers making an outfit from materials bought at the local Gristedes grocery emporium. Most of the designers took the easy way out and headed straight for the picnic aisle. There they found tablecloths—so many that Tim warned them during his pep talk visit that the judges might think they were all a bunch of “slackers.” You can check out the finished designs here.
The worst garment? The garbage bag ensemble put together by Stella. She’s obviously never taken out the garbage before or she would have known those bags are thin as air and not compatible with a sewing machine.
Though it’s a testament to a good model that Kendall actually wore the thing as if it were a couture gown from the House of Chanel.
My favorite outfit was the fresh and kicky number by Jerell. He’s one I’m watching closely. Poor Jerry was auf’d for his psycho slasher rain gear.
Week two involved a challenge where the models became the clients. They were sent out to purchase the fabric and the designers had to use the resulting finds to create cocktail dresses. I don’t know why, but several of the models came back with this ugly, brown satin fabric. The ones who didn’t get the brown version, got a cream version. The cream version had more potential and Suede, the winner of the challenge, was the only one who made something special out of it.
Wesley got dumped for his brown, satin nightmare, but before you feel too sorry for him, he announced this week that he and Daniel are an item. So he might not have won the “Project Runway” grand prize, but he did with the “Project Runway” love prize.
Rush and Molloy at the New York Daily News are reporting that former ‘N Sync heartthrob Lance Bass is this close to signing on for the next season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
According to R & M:
But we hear network execs are already fretting over whether or not to pair the openly gay pop star with a male or female dance partner.
See now I think this is a great dilemma to have. We’ve gotten to a point, on TV anyway, where the big deal isn’t whether or not a celebrity is openly gay but which sex dance partner he should be paired with.
The thing is, if you know anything about ballroom dancing, the basic steps of any dance are different for the man and the woman. The man leads and the woman follows.
So which would Lance dance? The woman’s steps or the man’s? Would he dance on the woman’s competition night or on the man’s? I guess it would depend on the steps he was dancing. But then how fair would that be if he was competing against the women? Makes you think doesn’t it?
Personally I think it’s a made up dilemma. Gay or not, he’s a man and should dance the man’s steps and have a woman partner. Just because he’s gay doesn’t mean he should get away with not having to lead. And if he were to dance the woman’s role he should have to wear those foot busting heels and those ball busting costumes.
Now that I’d like to see.
Have you heard of the New York Reality TV School? According to their website:
Every week thousands of people audition for Reality TV shows, the competition is fierce and the odds of making it past the first round of submissions are very slim. Do you know what it takes to get noticed? And if you are fortunate enough to be called in, will you be able handle the pressure of this once in a lifetime opportunity?
Well if you don’t think you can handle the pressure of “this once in a lifetime opportunity” the NYRTS swears they can help you. They have one time workshops and get this, five week workshops. Does someone really need a five week workshop to know how to audition for a show where you’ll be required to sit in a hot tub and spout phrases like, “I didn’t come here to make friends?”
The NYRTS evidently thinks so because they’re willing to charge you $300 for the five week privilege.
Does anyone else find this as weird as I do? I seriously think it’s now time to stop calling Reality TV, Reality TV. How about calling it Unreal TV? Or Fake TV? Or TV For Aspiring Actors and Actresses Pretending To Be Real People?
Personally I prefer my reality show contestants to be as naive as possible. I want to watch people who are totally ignorant to the wicked, wicked ways of the reality TV world. I want contestants who will be shocked and stunned when they watch the show and discover the producer’s have edited them to look like the reality show equivalent of Attila the Hun. Now that’s television.
Via TV Tattle
The 60th Annual Emmy Awards will be held on September 21st at 8pm on ABC, but before then, we have to have some nominees.
Those won’t be announced until July 17th, but the Academy did announce the top ten drama and comedy finalists.
The top ten comedies are: “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Entourage,” “Family Guy,” “The Office,” “Pushing Daisies,” “30 Rock,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Ugly Betty” and “Weeds.”
The top ten dramas are: “Boston Legal,” “Damages,” “Dexter,” “House,” “Lost,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Tudors,” “The Wire,” and “Mad Men.”
According to the Academy announcement:
Step two in the process will be the Blue Ribbon Panel screenings, which will be conducted throughout this weekend of June 28-29.
The results of those panels, who will watch and judge the work of each finalist, represent 50 percent of the vote. Both results will be averaged together to come up with our five nominees in each category.
Now I have to admit, the only show I watch on the comedy list is “Ugly Betty.” So my final five comedies would be “Ugly Betty,” “Ugly Betty,” “Ugly Betty,” “Ugly Betty,” and “Ugly Betty.” I would have included “Desperate Housewives,” but it seems the Academy didn’t find “DH” worthy this year. Boo on them.
My top five dramas are much more interesting because I watch everything on that list except, “The Wire,” “Boston Legal,” and “Friday Night Lights.” So my drama nominees would be “Dexter,” “House,” “Lost,” “Damages,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “The Tudors.”
Oh wait…that’s six. Too bad. I can’t choose just five.
I’ll leave that to the Academy and then rip them apart when they get it wrong.
You guys know I’m in love with Hulu and Veoh and that some classic TV shows that haven’t seen the light of day in years, can be found there. Well, one of my favorite TV critics, Robert Bianco of USA Today has an article worth reading, “A Web Dozen For Your Viewing Leisure.” In it he suggests twelve shows worth watching online.
I have a couple of more shows I would add to that list. First off, “Angel” on Hulu. Though it’s only the first season and not the best by far, it’s still worth watching to see David Boreanaz as the tortured vampire, Angel. Next up, “Remington Steele,” also on Hulu. Starring Stephanie Zimbalist and a very young Pierce Brosnan, this show about a female private investigator (Zimbalist) who hires a front man for her firm (Brosnan) was classy, witty and a fluffy good time.
Over at Veoh, get yourself ready for this fall’s remake of “Beverly Hills 90210″ by checking out the original. And of course as Bianco points out, if you’re looking to view videos of a current show, take a look at the show’s network’s website. It’s becoming a welcome standard that if you miss a show when it airs, you can catch up online.
If you’re interested in submitting a film for Lifetime Movie Network’s Every Woman’s Film Competition, you better get cracking because the deadline is July 8, 2008. The grand prize is $5,000 in cash and valuable exposure for a talented woman filmmaker.
According to the Lifetime website:
If you win this competition, your movie will not only be viewed by celebrity judges but will also be shown at the Hamptons Film Festival and the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Breakfast — and you’ll be attending both events as the special guest.
After quoting the disgraceful statistic that “women made up only 15% of all directors, executive producers, writers, cinematographers and editors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films,” the website had this to say:
Lifetime Movie Network — the only movie channel dedicated to women and the #2 network for women, second only to Lifetime — is working to change those statistics by offering you, the next generation of female filmmakers, the chance to be discovered.
Now if they can just get some of the males in Hollywood to hire some of that female talent they’d really be doing something.
I’ve seen the first two episodes of Showtime’s “Secret Diary Of A Call Girl,” starring Billie Piper and for something that was touted as a sexy romp in the call girl trade, it doesn’t deliver. Piper plays “Belle” an expensive escort who loves sex, money and the power of having her customers at her mercy. “Escort, hooker, prostitute, whore. I don’t care what you call me,” she says. “That’s just semantics.”
Though it’s supposed to be a comedy, it didn’t make me laugh. Though it’s supposed to be an exclusive look into the “glamorous” life of the sex trade, it didn’t feel very exclusive, or for that matter very exciting. Sure, Belle gives us tips of the trade like she uses men’s deodorant because, “a professional never lets her client leave smelling of woman.”
Why does she do it? “I love sex and I love money. And what I really like is being my own boss. Or pretty much my own boss.” Her boss is an “agent” who vets all her clients and takes a cut for the privilege.
Belle’s normal life is as Hannah, a supposed legal secretary, with a clueless boyfriend and family. And Belle is very careful to keep pure, sweet Hannah from her impure alter ego.
The show is only half an hour and it’s shot in a kind of washed out haze. Belle’s oh, so knowing asides to the camera are too smug for words and they only make me want to see her slapped down a peg. Or Two. Or three.
Maybe by the end of the series run, the clueless boyfriend and family might catch on to Belle’s act and things may then really heat up.
Your choices for online TV viewing just got wider. As of today, ABC shows like “Lost,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Ugly Betty” will be available at the online video site Veoh.
According to the ABC Press Release:
Veoh will also offer select short-form programming from ABC via an embedded short-form player, which will launch on the site later this year. In addition, Veoh now features highlights from major sporting events through a multi-sport embedded ESPN video player, as well as original ESPN programming, including “SportsCenter Right Now” — a twice-daily capsule of top sports stories, highlights and breaking news — and clips from ESPN programs such as “Mike and Mike in the Morning,” “Pardon the Interruption” and “Around the Horn.”
After I told a friend of mine about this news he said he’s seriously considering dropping his cable service, since there’s so much he can watch online for free.
I’m not ready to go that far. After all, as much as I hate writing out that monthly check to the cable company, it’s a little premature to be pulling the plug altogether. But since my friend is getting most of his sports from ESPN360 and now a lot more of his primetime programming online, I envy him the money he’s going to save by cutting out cable all together.