The cast was named for this season’s Big Brother 8 earlier today. The twist for this season was described by producer Alison Grodner as “What’s going to happen on opening night [is that] some of the houseguests are going to find out that they will be locked in this house with the last person they’d ever want to see walk through that door,” This is sounding very reminiscent of the Ex-Factor of season four. There is something new this season that is called “America’s Player”. This will give America’s Player a chance to win money if they do stuff that is requested by viewers at home. The report that I read revolves around there being basically a player that will do things that viewers request such as voting for someone to be evicted or just mess with the game in general from what I can tell. They can’t tell the others though that they are working for America. I’m still kind of confused about the whole concept though on how it is going to work.
Here is the clip from The Early Show this morning that reveals the houseguests and the twist in the game.
Also, TV Guide has posted exclusive pics of the new Big Brother 8 house. You can check them out at this link. Pretty cool!! http://www.tvguide.com/special/bigbrotherhouse/default.aspx#_self
Big Brother 8 begins next Thursday night on CBS.
Movie box office numbers for last weekend. 1. Evan Almighty – $32.1 million. 2. 1408 – $20.18 million. 3. Fantastic Four – $20.2 million. 4. Ocean’s Thirteen – $11.3 million. 5. Knocked Up – $10.6 million. 6. Pirates Of The Caribbean – $7.2 million. 7. Surf’s Up – $6.7 million. 8. Shrek The Third – $5.8 million. 9. Nancy Drew – $4.5 million. 10. A Mighty Heart – $4 million.
Live Free or Die Hard opened up yesterday and 20th Century Fox is reporting a $9.1 million opening for the day.
The season finale of The Real Deal/The Real Estate Pros aired this last weekend. The name change appears to be a deal where another real estate company was called The Real Deal and requested TLC to change the
name so they did. I really enjoyed having Trademark back on TV. Favorite episodes were Buy George! (Trademark helps their IT guy George get a house of his own), The Keeper (fixing up Richard’s first bought
property), War Hero’s Welcome Home (Trademark fixes up a WWII Veteran’s home and give him a memorial tribute), Back To School (Trademark fixes up the concession stand at the local high school), Life’s Little Surprises (Trademark and Gus reunite on TV). We’ve gotten used to new characters on this new show including Carlos, the painter. I really find him entertaining. I hope they pay him well for how many times he’ll have to repaint things. Great Richard oops moments this year such as the hilarious chlorine pool incident in the first episode and Richard doing his own demo on windows only to find out that they don’t make that size of window anymore to replace it. Another one of my favorite moments of the season revolved around Vance trying to fix that water leak in under an hour while screaming that he has an appointment in (insert here) minutes. LOL. Funny stuff. The season’s episodes will continue to air as reruns on TLC.
The Reality TV Convention is being held in Nashville this weekend. The convention is taking place at the Radisson Hotel at Opryland. Hours of the convention are 10am to 5pm on Saturday and then 10am to 4pm on Sunday. Some of the shows represented with stars will be Big Brother, Survivor, American Idol, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, Real World, Real Gilligan’s Island, and plenty more. I’ve recently watched some You Tube videos that people took last year with some of the Big Brother cast and it looked like a good time was being had by all. Here is the schedule for the reality TV panels:
Saturday, June 30
12:00 to 12:45 Various Shows (TBA)
1:00 to 1:45 Casting & Production Panel
2:00 to 2:45 Various Shows (TBA)
3:00 to 3:45 Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search
4:00 to 4:45 Big Brother
Sunday, July 1
12:00 to 12:45 Survivor
1:00 to 1:45 American Idol
2:00 to 2:45 The Biggest Loser
3:00 to 3:45 Various Shows (TBA)
For more info about the convention and how to get tickets, head over to www.realitytvconvention.com
CBS has pulled the show, Creature Comforts, from its schedule after only three episodes.
ABC in a surprising move is bringing back According To Jim. The show will get a 7th season of 18 episodes.
The NBA extended their TV contracts with TNT and ESPN/ABC through the 2015-2016 season. The details of the current contract will roll over with how many games each network will get to show.
I got a flashback to my childhood over the weekend when I watched the E True Hollywood Story on The Mickey Mouse Club. I actually found out about this special completely by accident when I was looking around on the E website a couple of weeks ago and saw the advertisement for it. When I was a kid, I had a TV tradition of after school programming, Kids Incorporated and MMC. This True Hollywood Story focused mostly on the 90’s version of MMC but did do a segment on the 50’s and 70’s MMC. I knew quite a bit about the 50’s version but it seems like the 70’s version is the never talked about one. For instance, I had no clue that Lisa Whelchel of Facts Of Life fame was a 70’s mouseketeer. My worry about this special and knowing that it was going to be about the 90’s version of the show was the worry that this was going to focus on the more famous mouseketeers toward the end of the show’s run and leave out the others. I’m happy to say that although it did focus a lot on Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Keri Russell, and Ryan Gosling, that it did also focus on the rest of the show’s run. Interviewed for the show were Lindsey, Jennifer, Tony, Dee Dee, Chase, Ricky, TJ, Damon, David, Mylin, Fred, and Mowava. They mixed in old interviews from recent years from Britney, Christina, Justin, Ryan, and Nikki. Glad to see Nikki get some airtime on the show. I have actually met and talked to Nikki. She was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Happy to see Lindsey and Jennifer get interviewed cause they should have been considering that they were on the show for the whole seven seasons. They had no footage from the actual show to put into this True Hollywood Story. They instead used home video footage of the show from over the years. That was fine with me cause there was very little of the footage that I had actually seen. It is talked about with how the producers would pick out the kids from the auditions. They were very picky about it and wanted “ordinary kids”. The original cast members talked about how they had three hours of school in the morning and then would do show stuff for the rest of the day. It really sounded like a whirlwind of a schedule. The cast and their parents also lived in the same complex so not only did they work together but also basically lived together. There was a moment early on in the show’s run where Damon fainted during work on the 100th episode that featured the 50’s mouseketeers returning for a tribute. I have never heard about that incident and the producers were criticized by the media on the possibility that they were working the kids too hard. Remember the episode clearly but never heard the back story of it. The show then discusses how The Party was formed. They picked out 5 of the kids to be in the group. I also did not realize that The Party was the first act under the Hollywood Records label. Damon commented that with them being the only act that they could pretty much do whatever they wanted and the label would pay for it as far as getting an artist that they wanted to collaborate with. The 4th season was kind of a new beginning for the show. It is discussed how it was a fight with the producers to get Keri on the show cause they didn’t feel like she was a good singer. The response was that she was a great dancer and actor so they’d let the others sing. Good decision cause she was very good on the show!! That brings us to season six which saw the new younger kids come in with the names of Britney, Christina, Justin, Nikki, Ryan, and Tate. Tony jokes in his interview about wondering what they were supposed to do with these kids on there. I do remember at the time how odd it was that this group had grown together and were older. Suddenly, we had these kids come in that were quite a bit younger than the others. One thing was clear immediately and that was the amount of talent that they had. I also remember at the time thinking that the show would be in good hands for years to come as this group would get older. We didn’t get to see that happen though which I’ll get to in a minute. Tony and Keri were looked up to by the younger group. Keri was idolized by Britney and Christina and they were always wanting to be her. Tony had the same influence on the younger guys. TJ jokes in his interview that he and Justin would always ask where Tony shopped cause they wanted to dress like him. TJ was Tony’s mini-me. All sorts of romances on the show and there would have to be with a group that is around each other that much. Tony/Keri. Duh. Everyone knew that one. Britney/Justin. Duh. Jennifer does talk about the differences between Britney and Justin at the time saying that Britney was very quiet and polite saying “yes maam” while Justin was more animated and energetic. Season seven came along and some big format changes. Gone was any sort of Mickey Mouse stuff as the show was also changed to just MMC. The format was changed to a “SNL style show”. The show was canceled after season seven. The reactions were mixed. Tony and Dale were happy cause they felt it was time for themselves to do something else. Tony and Keri ended up doing the show Malibu Shores shortly after which I thought was a pretty good show. The others had mixed emotions with the show ending as Ricky was upset and Lindsey was as well as she had been on the show from age 10 to 16 so it was all that she knew. Jennifer felt it was the right time to end it. The young group was very upset as they felt that they hadn’t had enough time on the show and prove themselves. TJ was sort of insulted over the cancellation as he felt the producers had no confidence that the show could continue on with the younger group which he said is ironic with how the post MMC stardom has turned out. Some funny quotes on the show coming from Jennifer and Lindsey. Lindsey talked about Christina joking that she was a freak of nature cause the voice she has now, she had at 12. Lindsey commented on Ryan being “an adorable 12 year old womanizer”. Jennifer said that he had a crush on a different girl on the show every week. I think I had a crush on at least half of the girls at one point or another. Yeah, I learn more and more every day just how big of a nerd that I am. LOL!!! Jennifer talked about how they would talk to the producers about wardrobe and wanting to wear tighter stuff like Britney did. The producers responded saying that she can wear that stuff and get away with it cause she’s 12. Jennifer responded with “she doesn’t look 12 though”. What are the ones that were interviewed up to now? Most of these I already knew cause I got curious one day wondering whatever happened to some of the MMC crew and found a bunch of them on My Space. Tony is still doing music and is doing pretty well for himself as an indy artist. Chase is doing the same thing and he and Tony help each other with each other’s music including singing back up from time to time. Lindsey ended up in New York City and her, Keri, and Ilana ended up grouping back up together again. Lindsey said that she actually was a waitress at one point and ended up serving Justin in the last couple of years. Lindsey said that she felt a bit embarrassed serving him cause of the success that Justin had and they were on the “same kids TV show together”. She said Justin was gracious and just great when she talked to him. She is doing a stage act in New York. Dee Dee is doing theatre. Damon hosts a website for aspiring artists. Ricky writes music for artists. TJ is an assistant at a talent agency. Jennifer is singing on cruise ships and getting into theatre. David is a mortgage real estate agent and also is still singing. Mylin has done very well signing with a label in Japan and has released four albums there. Overall, I enjoyed the show quite a bit and learned some things that I didn’t know. Fun to see the old footage and see what they look like now. I would have liked to have seen some other things covered that was left out. Things that got left out was the breakup of The Party and there was no mention of the MMC studio album that got released in stores and the tour that went along with it. I have always wondered too why they would replace the kids. Did they just want out? Get too old? Show want to go with some new people? If I ever talked to someone on this show, I’d have a TON of why did this and that person leave? If you were a fan of the show, I think you’d enjoy watching this show and enjoying a ride down memory lane.
The Nashville Arena name is no more…..again. The arena has changed its name again and is now called The Sommet Center. Hmm, that will take some getting used to. So, there you go for anyone that is planning on going there for anything and have no clue where that is seeing it somewhere for ticket info.
I have recently found these new video clips on You Tube that I find to be funny and clever especially if you’re an old school video game fan. There is a guy that calls himself the Angry Video Game Nerd. He plays old games and reviews why some games were so bad. He also goes after systems including the Sega CD. I will tell you right now that the language is TERRIBLE. Do not watch this anywhere with kids or with someone around that will give you all kinds of weird looks cause of the bad language. LOL. He actually makes up cuss words too as part of his gimmick. I have found myself laughing so many times cause his video game reviews are right on with the ones I have watched. His review of Friday The 13th is very funny with a cameo by Jason. I love his Back To The Future video game review. Yeah, that game didn’t make much sense and was pretty lame. His review of how amazingly hard the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was is definitely right on. The review of the Atari 5200 is funny as well. If you want to check it out, go to the website: http://www.theangryvideogamenerd.com
Family Ties is set for another DVD release as season two will be released on October 9th. The great news revolves around extras for the set with new cast and crew interviews which is said to include Michael
J. Fox. That should be a lot of fun seeing the new stuff. One of my favorite shows of all time.
TV on DVD releases for Tuesday, July 3rd.
Baa Baa Black Sheep (Volume 2), Batfink (Complete Series), BraveStarr (Best Of), Chancer (Series 1), Degrassi: The Next Generation (Season 5), Eureka (Season 1), Ghostbusters (Volume 2), Slings and Arrows (Season 3).
You Tube Video Of The Week: What happens when an animator battles with what he created?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo1d6ttbAq8
That is it for another week. Have a great and more importantly safe 4th of July!!
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