Author Archives: Allison Lips
Cool TV Video of the Day: Stephen Fry Talks about Hugh Laurie’s Accent
Everyone knows Hugh Laurie as House, but many people forget that he is British because his American accent is so accurate. In today’s video, Stephen Fry talks about his visit to the House set and how strange it is for his old friend to keep House’s accent while talking to British people.
Cool TV Video of the Day: The Performance that Got Elvis Costello Banned From SNL
Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ infamous performance of “Radio Radio,” which NBC and Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels did not want played because is a protest song about the media, took place on December 17, 1977. Ironically, the performance and the ban probably would not have happened had the originally scheduled guests the Sex Pistols, who were even more controversial, been able to obtain passports.
At the beginning of the performance, Costello and his band start to play their song “Less Than Zero,” but then stop to consult. This ends with a full performance of “Radio Radio.”
The ban only lasted 12 years. Since 1989, Costello has appeared on SNL 3 times. Lorne Micahels even invited Elvis Costello to perform “Radio Radio” with the Beastie Boys for Saturday Night Live‘s 25th anniversary special.
Weekly TV Update: July 23
Each week we bring you stories from around the Internet that you might have missed.
WWE Raw reaches its 1,000th episode. It will feature a look back the shows 19 years on air.
Aaron Sorkin lets go of more than half of The Newsroom’s writing staff.
The Olympics opening ceremony is Friday. Find your local Olympics schedule at NBC Olympics.
Mindy Kaling is returning to The Office for at least one more episode.
If you missed the Teen Choice Awards, Jen Chaney of The Washington Post has a summary of what happened.
Mariah Carey Joins American Idol
Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez vacated their judging positions only last week, but one seat on the American Idol judging panel has already been filled by Mariah Carey. Meanwhile, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said at a Television Critics Association meeting that since Lopez told Ryan Seacrest that she was only “99 percent sure” she was leaving, there is a 1 percent chance she will return. Then, Lythgoe went on to contradict himself. He also expressed a desire to keep the show fresh with new judges each season.
Over at The Hollywood Reporter, there are some interesting American Idol related charts, such the following one.
Do you think Mariah Carey will make a good judge? Does American Idol even matter anymore? Tell us what you think in the comments.
The Anticlimactic Finale of Food Network Star
From left to right: Yvan Lemoine, Justin Warner, Michele Ragussis
As this is a review of the finale, naturally, it contains the winner. If you have not seen the finale and want it to remain a surprise, please stop reading now.
The finale of Food Network Star brought all of the season 8 contestants, their mentors, and the judges together for one last time. In what amounted to a glorified talk show clip show, the contestants shared their thoughts and behind-the-scenes footage and flashbacks aired between the conversations.
Most of the show consisted of high school superlatives and gossip. Viewers found out that Team Alton liked being called the nerds, Giada didn’t mind that her team was called the cheerleaders, and Bobby felt that “the jocks” was an accurate term for his “take no prisoners” team. Then the show went into how annoying Michele and Nikki found retro-rad Emily because she would wake up the house with a shrill good morning, which was followed by Malcolm being voted cockiest and Nikki being voted the most competitive.
Cool TV Video of the Day: The First Good Eats Episode
Last night, Food Network Star crowned a new winner. In honor of Alton Brown’s team winning, today’s video is the first Good Eats episode, which is Steak Your Claim, in its entirety.
DirecTV and Viacom Reach an Agreement
DirecTV customers will get back the 17 Viacom channels that they lost during the 10-day standoff between the two companies. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, the deal gives DirecTV subscribers the ability to see Viacom programming on various electronic devices via the DirecTV Everywhere platform. It also includes an option for DirecTV to carry Viacom’s premium movie channel EPIX.
The 2012 Emmy Nominees
Earlier today, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the 2012 Emmy Awards nominees. HBO (81 nominations) and CBS (60 nominations) lead the networks in nominations. Mad Men and American Horror Story (tied with 17 nominations) were shows nominated for the most awards.
Here is list of shows nominated in the major categories:
Best Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Girls
Modern Family
30 Rock
Veep
Best Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Mad Men
Wait! What's A Dial? 