I’d say that whatever NBC pays the people responsible for the promos for “Smash,” they need to quadruple it — they’ve been everywhere, including all eleventy-three of NBC Universal’s stations, magazines, and probably the inside of your eyelids (they can do that now, we hear. No unused advertising space). Even before it bows on Super Bowl Sunday, you probably know that it’s the behind-the-scenes story of a fictional musical about Marilyn Monroe, from the conception to auditions to rehearsals and the actual show, with all the soapiness and drama that surreal talent, ego, bright lights and competition can bring.

It’s gonna be soapy. But is it realistic? I know a little something about show business, having written about it for almost two decades, and being an occassional performer myself (My Ariel in the the 1999 Dreamworks production of “The Tempest” in a park in York, Pennsylvania was a triumph of will and a particularly smug flame-painted body stocking). Also, my twin sister Lynne has been a professional in musicals and theater in general, including two tours with Children’s Place for the Kennedy Center. But I wanted to get the opinion of someone who’s spent a lot of time on both sides of that auditioning table — so I watched the first few episodes of “Smash” with Donalda McCarthy.

Donni started as a performer and is now a professional theatre educator, having worked both domestically and in Hong Kong (fancy!). She’s the Artistic Director of Acting UP! Performers’ Academy (www.ActingUP.webs.com) and works with developing playwrights with her monthly New Playwrights’ Workshop at the S.D. Spady Museum in Delray Beach. She’s also a friend, dryly hilarious and a scream to watch TV with. We watched the first two episodes, which introduce fresh-faced newcomer Karen (“American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, who the show insists it’s introducing you too almost 10 years after she became famous) and jaded, competitive and deadly-talented chorus vet Ivy (Megan Hilty), and then she watched the next two on her own and told me what she thought.
Read the full story

Alligator hunters, raccoon wranglers and crawfish catchers in Louisiana’s critter-filled swamps and bayous are increasingly common on television.

Since the introduction of the History Channel’s wildly popular “Swamp People” in 2010, roughly a dozen other Louisiana-based reality shows have made their television debuts, among them the Travel Channel’s “Girls, Guns and Gators,” CMT’s “Crawfish Cowboys” and the Discovery Channel’s “Ragin’ Cajuns.”

The reason for the recent boom in Louisiana-based reality TV is two-fold, said Louisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne. Not only do reality shows filmed in Louisiana take advantage of the state’s TV and film tax credit program, but Louisiana has a rich culture that makes for great entertainment, he said.

“There’s no question it’s a combination of the two,” said Dardenne, who sponsored the original 2002 bill granting tax credits for television and film production in Louisiana.

While some reality shows are far-fetched or have little to do with Louisiana, some are actually good for the state’s image, Dardenne said. Shows such as “Swamp People” and “Ragin’ Cajuns” feature aspects of Louisiana life not found in any other state. They also educate people on issues including coastal erosion and conservation, Dardenne said.

Read the full story

Jersey Shore stars Jenni “JWoww” Farley and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi are on their way to becoming the modern day Laverne and Shirley — that is if Laverne and Shirley cruised the boardwalk for guidos and first-pumped their way across the globe.

The reality TV twosome are set to begin filming their own spinoff, and they’re ready to show their fans a softer side.

“It’s not going to be so much of the partying that you see on Jersey Shore,” Snooki told Parade.com “You’re going to see a different side of us when it comes to our relationships with our boyfriends and just our normal lives.”

“Hopefully people will see that I’m not always the party girl and I’d rather not drink and stay in and play board games.” she added.

The pair have taken their shenanigans from the Jersey Shore to Miami to Italy, but where their new spinoff will take place is still up in the air.
Read the full story

This is a hearwarming moment.

This is not.

Dear “Glee” children:

Well, looky here!

I was all set to be all annoyed with “Glee”‘s special Michael Jackson episode, because they have proven not only to do a disappointing theme episode now and then (that Madonna episode was lacking, and the less said about the Christmas episode and its outing to sing depressing guilt-inducing songs about starving Africans to homeless children.) And they seem to have a habit of taking older music and singing it without seeming to be listening, you know, to the words they are singing, and then making a concerted effort to have it make sense in the story. You know, like you should.

So I didn’t hold out much hope. OK…no hope. Negative hope. A hope account with a negative balance and checks bouncing all over the place. Imagine my surprise that “MJ” was not only one of the better episodes of the season, musically speaking, but managed to make at least a minimal effort to tailor the songs being sung to the action of the episode – action that actually compels the season’s biggest stories forward. And they were gorgeously done – Artie and Hot Mike Chang (this is his new name) danced their way through the anime space-time continuum of “Scream,” and the surprise cast face-morphing in “Black and White,” just like Michael did it, was a sweet tribute. Also, Mercedes and Sam’s “Human Nature” was sexy, well-harmonized and romantic.

Just a couple of things – because you knew they were going to be:

- The lyrics of “Smooth Criminal” were creepy enough when Michael was singing them and we weren’t sure what he was saying. Hearing an attractive teenage girl doing a menacing duet about “blood stains on the carpet,” with a guy who’s just blinded one of her friends with a toxic slushie, is a wee unsettling. And creepy. Nice hat, though, Santana.

- No matter how much you frame “Ben” as a sweet song about a true blue friend, and no matter how adorable and accurate the harmonies are, and how cute Darren Criss looks in an eye patch, it’s still a song about a friendship with a rat. A murderous rat leader of a rat gang who will reward your friendship with gentle chewing on your face.

Look it up.

But overall, good effort, kiddies.

Love, and I almost mean it this time,

A (not that bitter) Gen-Xer

P.S. Nice Andrew McCarthy reference.

Image via Wikipedia

The city of Frank Sinatra’s birth has denied a request for a spinoff of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” reality show to film in the city.

Hoboken, N.J., Mayor Dawn Zimmer says the Film Commission’s decision was made based on safety and quality of life concerns for residents of the city along the Hudson River.

Hoboken officials say 495 Productions was seeking a 24-hour filming permit to follow two “well-known reality television celebrities” who would live in the city.

It’s not clear who the personalities would be. But The Jersey Journal reported last month that MTV was scouting locations for Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley.

The company, which has filmed “Jersey Shore” in Seaside Heights, Miami and Italy, can appeal the decision to the Hoboken City Council.

Jay ate the veggies.

First lady Michelle Obama cajoled Jay Leno into nibbling on apples, sweet potato fries and a pizza made with eggplant, green peppers and zucchini on the “Tonight Show,” breaking his long-held aversion for all-things-healthy in his diet.

Leno once told a magazine he hadn’t eaten a vegetable since 1969, and he insisted he tasted his last apple in 1984. That didn’t dissuade the first lady, who’s promoting her “Let’s Move!” campaign to get kids excited about fitness and healthy eating habits.

Earlier, Obama poked at him in a Twitter post, hinting she’d “get Jay to eat some veggies” on the NBC show.

He did.

“That does smell very good. I assume this is sausage-pepperoni,” the comedian quipped as he eyed the pizza made with a whole-wheat crust.

She convinced Leno to dip an apple in honey made from beehives in the White House garden: “It will help it go down easier,” she assured him.

“White House honey? That sounds bad,” Leno told her. “You know, with a different president that could mean a whole different thing, ‘a little White House honey.’”

The first lady is on a two-day swing through California where she’ll promote her initiative while attending two events to help Democrats raise money for the upcoming elections.

Read the full story

Ian Abercrombie, a veteran British stage and screen actor whose TV roles included Elaine’s boss Mr. Pitt on “Seinfeld” and the voice of Chancellor Palpatine in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” has died. He was 77.

A website statement from LucasArts said Abercrombie died Friday. A friend, Cathy Lind Hayes, told the Los Angeles Times that he died at a Los Angeles hospital from complications of kidney failure and recently had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

“Though he played a villain on our show, you would be hard pressed to meet a kinder person,” said Dave Filoni, a supervising director for “Clone Wars.” ”He loved to laugh and his sense of humor always lightened our record sessions. I will miss his stories, I will miss his performances, and I will miss his contribution to our show.”

Abercrombie began his career as a dancer and made his American stage debut in a 1951 production of “Stalag 17.”
Read the full story

Image via Wikipedia

The geeks have bragging rights over the superstar strivers.

The CBS comedy “The Big Bang Theory” had a slightly larger audience than Fox’s “American Idol” during the half hour when the shows were in head-to-head competition on Thursday, the Nielsen Co. said. The advantage was slight — 16.13 million to 15.56 million — but significant. It is believed to be the first scripted series to beat the Fox juggernaut in head-to-head competition.

That speaks to a slow start for “American Idol” this year, even though the show’s Wednesday edition was the top-rated program of the week.

“The Big Bang Theory,” meanwhile, is up 15 percent in viewership this season in what has been a strong year for comedy. Syndication may be a big factor in its success. It’s the first year reruns of the comedy from past seasons are being shown elsewhere on the TV dial, and that often attracts more viewers to the fresh episodes.

The comedy’s success is also helping Rob Schneider’s new sitcom “Rob,” which immediately follows it on CBS’ schedule. “Rob” finished among Nielsen’s top 10 last week.

Fox News Channel is celebrating a milestone. The end of January marks 10 years since it eclipsed CNN as the top-rated cable news network, a status it has not relinquished. Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes said he was “extremely proud” of the achievement and recognizes how difficult it is to sustain such a level of success.

Read the full story

Patrick J. Adams, star of USA Network’s legal drama, “Suits,” says he was teased when he was a teenager for being interested in theater.

“When you’re the guy doing the school plays, that’s not necessarily as cool as some of the other people,” Adams said in a recent interview. “I got bullied a ton. I got pushed around a lot.”

But things changed for Adams.

“By the end of high school, the same guy who was beating me up in the ninth grade and causing me so much strife, by the end of high school was the guy who was asking me how to write a play,” Adams said. “Now he’s my friend on Facebook and he’s always sort of asking me questions about how he can break into the business and (for) my suggestions to become a better actor and writer.”

Adams recently visited a high school in St Louis, Mo., and talked with students about their experiences with bullying. The visit was part of USA Network’s Characters Unite program, which is designed to stop intolerance.

The network has named February as its second Characters Unite Month. As part of the campaign, various stars from its prime-time shows like “Suits” and “Covert Affairs” have taped public service announcements and are interacting with the public to start a dialogue about discrimination.

Read the full story

Former 'X Factor' cast members: Steve Jones, Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul. (Jones/Scherzinger photo by AP; Abdul photo courtesy Fox)

There will definitely be changes on Fox’ The X Factor next season.

Judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones have all left the show, which had consistently good ratings in its first season, but never reached the popularity of American Idol.

USA Today is among those reporting that Abdul and Scherzinger have followed Jones out the door. Jones reported his exit on Twitter on Monday.

Abdul was initially asked to join the show by X Factor executive producer and fellow judge and Idol cast mate Simon Cowell. Scherzinger replaced Cheryl Cole, who was brought over by Cowell from the British version of X Factor but left early on.

Read the full story