One day after Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper signed off as hosts of “At the Movies,” Disney ABC Domestic Television announced their replacements along with a new format for the Chicago-based syndicated movie-review show.
Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz were named Tuesday as co-hosts of show when its new season begins Sept. 6.
Ben Lyons top right and Ben Mankiewicz bottom right will replace Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert and columnist Richard Roeper as co-hosts of At the Movies beginning Sept. 6. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on July 22, 2008 at 2:11 pm · Permalink
“Golden Girl” Estelle Getty has gone to the big lanai in the sky and died at the age of 84, just three days shy of her 85th birthday.
Estelle passed away at 5:35 AM this morning at her L.A. home surrounded by her family and caregivers. Getty had been suffering for years with Lewy Body Dementia.
Although one year younger than Bea Arthur, Estelle is best known for playing her wise-cracking Sicilian mother Sophia Petrillo on “The Golden Girls.” Co-star Betty White is also one year older than Estelle.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper says he is leaving the nationally syndicated show “At the Movies With Ebert & Roeper” after eight seasons.
Roeper said in a statement Sunday that he had failed to agree on a contract extension with Disney-ABC Domestic Television so his last appearance on the show will air the weekend of Aug. 16-17. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on July 21, 2008 at 11:44 am · Permalink
The producer of the hit reality series “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” has been sued in Los Angeles by his former business partner.
Conrad Riggs filed the lawsuit against Mark Burnett on Monday. Riggs claims he is owed more than $70 million for his contributions to their joint efforts.
The two met in the 1990s when Burnett was trying to pitch the “Survivor” concept and Riggs worked for Walt Disney Co. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on July 8, 2008 at 9:43 am · Permalink
It was bound to happen sooner or later: Generation X nostalgia and modern technology have come together in the “Knight Rider” Global Positioning System from Mio Technology.
The Knight Rider GPS (www.knightridergps.com) takes both its sound and style from the 1980s television show about a computerized talking 1982 Pontiac Firebird named KITT. William Daniels, the actor who was the voice of the sleek black car, narrates the unit’s driving directions. The device, which sports a black exterior and flashing red lights, can be personalized to use one of 300 common names in the greetings and random phrases it utters.
Although it does not offer real-time traffic updates, the Knight Rider GPS comes loaded with maps of the United States and is ready to go out of the box. It weighs about six ounces, and has a 4.3-inch color screen. It will cost an estimated $270 and is expected to arrive in stores in August — the month before a retooled version of the “Knight Rider” TV show crashes back onto the airwaves with Val Kilmer cast as the new voice of KITT.
I’ve never wanted a GPS more than now. Anyone know where I can buy a vintage black Trans Am to go with it?
The NFL Network and Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN are in talks about forming a partnership, The Wall Street Journal reported. A deal could end a long standoff between the league and cable carriers, some of whom said the NFL was asking them to pay too much for its programming.
New York—Disney Channel kicked off the promotion machine for its movie Camp Rock with a star-studded premiere of the flick at the legendary Ziegfeld Theatre Wednesday night.
The stars of the telepic, most notably the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, arrived at the midtown event to be greeted by screaming young fans captured in this online photo gallery. Disney Channel broke out of the box by having a white carpet, not the traditional red carpet, for its talent to strut out on.
Walt Disney Co. honchos were out in full force for the event as well, including Rich Ross, president of Disney Channels Worldwide, and Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group, and Ben Pyne, president of global distribution for Disney Media Networks.
Ross introduced the film, and also had the movie’s cast stand up and take a bow as he called out their names. After the screening, guests piled into the restaurant Remi across the street, where the chow included camp-like food such as toasted marshmallows and corndogs.
At the party, Lovato took to the stage and performed several songs, joined at one point by her co-stars the Jonas Brothers—Joe, Kevin and Nick. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Dr. Disney on June 13, 2008 at 2:02 pm · Permalink
In the world of broadcasting, PBS shuns commercials. On the Internet, things are different.
The publicly supported, not-for-profit television network just announced a deal for several programs to be streamed on the Hulu Web site. These include “Nova,” “Wired Science,” “Carrier” and “Scientific American Frontiers.”
Hulu will place a 30-second advertisement before each program, splitting the revenue with PBS. Andrew Russell, the senior vice president who runs PBS Ventures, the network’s money-making arm, said the company is trying to balance its need for revenue with its noncommercial heritage.
“It is very important to carry the principles of public television into these environments,” he said. Most significantly, he said the network will allow commercials only at the beginning of its shows.
“We do not allow interruption of our programs,” he said. Also, it won’t allow the companies to sell commercials on its programs to certain types of advertisers, such as tobacco companies or politicians.
Mr. Russell said PBS is looking for any complaints from viewers. It hasn’t heard any, but the program is new.
It’s fanboy week on Deal or No Deal. Tonight (April 28), Star Wars takes over the popular game show adding stormtroopers and models posing in slave Leia costumes… with Darth Vader as the banker!
Then, on Wednesday (April 30), Hellga, Titan, Mayhem, and Wolf from the new American Gladiators join in a 2-hour special episode of the show.
With DoND’s recent failed attempt at finally having a million-dollar winner (they had up to half the cases with $1,000,000 in them and still no success), it’s becoming increasingly clear that the show needs gimmicks to continue to draw viewers, since we all now realize that it’s nearly impossible to actually win big. Regardless, I’ll be tuning in this week… or at least recording and fast-forwarding through it.
Season 2 of the new American Gladiators is coming in May and tapings begin on Tuesday, April 8th.
This time around, it’s being treated more appropriately as a sporting event, rather than a studio TV show, as AG will be shot at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
IF YOU GET FREE TICKETS THRU 1IOTA.COM, YOU WILL BE SEATED IN THE V.I.P. SECTION OF THE AUDIENCE. THE BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE AND A SPECIAL V.I.P. ENTRANCE
[…]
Doors open at 4:00pm and close at 5:00pm. Early arrival is recommended. Should you arrive before the doors are scheduled to open, please be aware that you will wait outside until check-in begins.
Taping dates are as follows:
April 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, & 30
May 1, 3, 4, & 6
I wanted to attend last season’s tapings, and was in the LA area at the time with tickets, but ended up not going due to horror stories about slow, boring tapings with very little action. This time around, tapings will still be 4-5 hours long, but it seems like they’ll be better equipped to ensure audience members enjoy their time.
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