Posts tagged as NBC
What Other Cable Shouters Are Going to Get "Put On Leave Indefinitely"?
So yes, Keith Olbermann is getting an unpaid vacation, for making donations to Democrats. Shocking right? This would have been the first time I ever watched his show, if he was going to go on the air and rip his NBC bosses a new one for being morons. And now there will be an audit of all the world's network employees. (Except at Fox. Which is owned by a political entity.)
Lady Pilots: Chelsea Handler, Molly Shannon
Chelsea Handler's Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea is getting a pilot at NBC. That book is a memoir of her time before she began dating the CEO of Comcast. One blog commenter responded: "Chelsea is the funniest woman alive! Her talk show makes all the others seem irrelevant. Perhaps she can now save the world of network sitcoms!!!! Great move by NBC!!!!" In other news, HBO is doing a pilot for Molly Shannon in which she plays a nun leaving the convent.
"Outsourced": The Reviews Are In, and They are Sweary!
Last night, NBC premiered "Outsourced," the show that I am not going to watch about call centers and labor inequity and how weird Indians are, the latter two things definitely being stuff I'm not up to being amused about. Sorry, humorless! Also, what, they couldn't find a role for my high school buddy Ajay Naidu? Hell no then. But others watched! READ MORE
Betty White: Not Dead
The Internet's desire to kill any celebrity was at its peak last summer [Ed. note: "The Summer of Death"], in the wake of Michael Jackson's passing; in recent months, Twitter-borne rumors of dead celebrities had mostly gone dormant, perhaps waiting for the days to get longer and peoples' internal BS detectors to grow more sun-addled. The fake-death spectre did, however, rear its head last night, when some joker at the multiheaded gossip hydra Oh No They Didn't decided to mock up a TMZ screenshot claiming that Betty White had gone to the Miami retirement complex in the sky. READ MORE
Iced Out: These Olympics Are Totally Awesome!
"These Olympics have just been a complete disaster," said a coworker the other day with the sort of learned gravitas that can only be acquired via a force-fed nightly diet of Chris Collinsworth's zip-up-necked sweaters (stitched, per the suddenly saucy Wall Street Journal, "entirely out of Phil Simms's hair.") READ MORE
Ben Silverman Ditches NBC, According to... Ryan Seacrest
Holy Jesus, a giant bomb just went off in L.A. and it's only 6:25 a.m.-according to the News Source that is Ryan Seacrest's Twitter, Ben Silverman, the boy wonder noodlehead of NBC, is finally out and off to a whole new (yet not new) world. (Thank God someone follows Seacrest's Twitter.) According to Seacrest (and I can't believe I had to write that), Silverman is going off to form his own studio. Thing is... he already had his own studio. Which sold TV shows to NBC. Here's Ryan's take! "This means better shows from our favorite stars in u.s. and around the world." Hey, wow, he is my favorite entertainment reporter. Also Nikki Finke is going to crap her pants when she finally rolls out of her pink sateen bed. Says TMZ, Silverman is going into business with Barry Diller.... and hiring Ryan Seacrest. Yay America! Ben Silverman is the new Tina Brown!
Jersey TV Critic Saves "Chuck"
Alan Sepinwall has saved "Chuck"! That's right-the Star Ledger TV critic's campaign even got him name-checked by NBC's Ben Silverman at the upfront today, where "Chuck"'s return was announced. I guess they don't really mind that Alan trashed NBC in December on the Times op-ed page for becoming the Jay Leno network! Anyway, rejoice, nerds! All hail your Sepinwall.
In (Sort Of!) Defense Of Ben Silverman
Broadcasting and Cable has a good laugh at those who were shocked by the Times profile of NBC boy-honcho Ben Silverman this weekend past. It's true: any Silverman story, even one as unrevealing and friendly as Carter's, can sound shocking if you're not accustomed to The Silverman Way! READ MORE
Blago Does Press For NBC Reality Show
Jesus Christ, Rod Blagojevich is at NBC's press day for "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" According to people present: "Blago on the other things happening in his life: they 'suck' and 'are scary.' He is five feet from Sanjaya."
