Hmm … this is an interesting development. For weeks, it seemed that Simon Cowell was all set to snag his old ‘American Idol’ foil, Paula Abdul, for ‘The X Factor.’ That’s the new talent competition show Simon is launching on Fox in 2011. Reportedly, Simon wanted Paula as an ‘X Factor’ judge.

Simon now has competition for Paula. ABC has offered Paula Abdul a spot on ‘Star Search.’ According to the Hollywood Reporter, following another report in Entertainment Weekly, the latest incarnation of ‘Star Search’ will be a singing competition and Paula could be a host and a judge. That’s twice as much as she did on ‘American Idol.’

More importantly, it’s on ABC.

Continue reading Paula Abdul in Talks With ABC for ‘Star Search’

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This might be the minority opinion, but ‘Saturday Night Live’ has been doing some good things lately. Sure, they still have a lot of dreck mixed in with the good moments, but the last two episodes (with Zack Galafianakis and Jude Law) were quite entertaining.

Those are two good choices for hosts, and the show continues to make good choices in that regard. First came the news that Betty White will host the show in May, and now comes word that Tina Fey will come back and host too.

Fey will host the April 10 show. Will she do her Sarah Palin impersonation? Will she return to “Weekend Update” in some way? I think you can bet on both of those things happening.

The musical guest will be Justin Bieber, which means I’ll finally find out why “Justin Bieber” has been a Trending Topic on Twitter every day for the past three months.

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Here’s tonight’s TV lineup (all times Eastern).

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour ‘Bachelor’ episode of ‘20/20.’
• NBC has a new ‘Chuck,’ followed by new episodes of ‘Trauma’ and ‘Law and Order.’
• FOX has new episodes of ‘House’ and ‘24.’
• The CW has a new ‘Life Unexpected’ at 8, then a new ‘Gossip Girl.’
• ABC Family has a new ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ at 8.
• At 8:30, CBS has a new ‘Rules of Engagement.’
• FUSE has the ‘2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony’ at 8:30.
  
• At 9, USA has a new ‘Monday Night RAW.’
• Food Network has a new ‘Unwrapped’ at 9.
• TLC has a new ‘Ultimate Cake-Off’ at 9.
• History Channel has a new ‘American Pickers’ at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new ‘Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack’ at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new ‘TNA Wrestling.’
• At 10, ABC Family has a new ‘Greek.’
• FX has a new ‘Damages’ at 10.
  
• Showtime has two new episodes of ‘Secret Diary of a Call Girl’ at 10.
• There’s a new ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Continue reading What’s On Tonight: ‘Chuck,’ ‘House,’ ‘RAW,’ ‘Greek’

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This might be the minority opinion, but ‘Saturday Night Live’ has been doing some good things lately. Sure, they still have a lot of dreck mixed in with the good moments, but the last two episodes (with Zack Galafianakis and Jude Law) were quite entertaining.

Those are two good choices for hosts, and the show continues to make good choices in that regard. First came the news that Betty White will host the show in May, and now comes word that Tina Fey will come back and host too.

Fey will host the April 10 show. Will she do her Sarah Palin impersonation? Will she return to “Weekend Update” in some way? I think you can bet on both of those things happening.

The musical guest will be Justin Bieber, which means I’ll finally find out why “Justin Bieber” has been a Trending Topic on Twitter every day for the past three months.

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A moody Larry David gave fans of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ plenty of cause not to embrace the spirit of his hit HBO show’s title Sunday night — announcing that he’s planning on an upcoming eighth season.

David told a happy PaleyFest 2010 crowd that an eighth season “isn’t definite yet. But we’re working on some stuff. HBO definitely wants more of the show.”

It was a case of “What a difference one night makes…” at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, as a generally older, more subdued yet equally affectionate gathering of supporters replaced the giddy, screaming masses that greeted ‘Glee‘ the night before. That’s not surprising if you consider fans of a show called ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ are not likely to act like 1960s coeds watching The Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’

In fact, it’d be difficult to describe David as happy about his appearance at PaleyFest. Maybe he was playing to his TV show character or doing a deadpan bit, but nothing about his demeanor told me David was pleased to be up there with his costars and supposed friends.

Continue reading Larry David Working on More ‘Enthusiasm’ - PaleyFest Report

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Peter Graves died of a heart attack at his Los Angeles home today. He was an actor who seemed to do a little bit of everything, and where you know him from might depend on your age.

He was team leader Jim Phelps on ‘Mission: Impossible’ in the ’60s and also had a memorable role as the pilot Captain Oveur in the first two ‘Airplane’ movies in the ’80s. He was also the host of A&E’s ‘Biography’ for ten years and appeared in several commercials (”I’m Peter Graves…”). You might even know him from voice work he did on ‘American Dad.’ He had a recurring role on ‘7th Heaven’ and guest roles on ‘Cold Case,’ ‘House,’ ‘Diagnosis: Murder,’ ‘The Love Boat,’ ‘Fantasy Island,’ and other shows.

Graves wasn’t happy about Phelps being the bad guy in the big-screen ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie but was actually going to film a cameo in the fourth film in the franchise.

Graves was the brother of another TV icon, ‘Gunsmoke’s’ James Arness. After the jump, the opening to ‘Mission: Impossible.’

Continue reading ‘Mission: Impossible’ Star Peter Graves Dead at 83

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A moody Larry David gave fans of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ plenty of cause not to embrace the spirit of his hit HBO show’s title Sunday night — announcing that he’s planning on an upcoming eighth season.

David told a happy PaleyFest 2010 crowd that an eighth season “isn’t definite yet. But we’re working on some stuff. HBO definitely wants more of the show.”

It was a case of “What a difference one night makes…” at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, as a generally older, more subdued yet equally affectionate gathering of supporters replaced the giddy, screaming masses that greeted ‘Glee‘ the night before. That’s not surprising if you consider fans of a show called ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ are not likely to act like 1960s coeds watching The Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’

In fact, it’d be difficult to describe David as happy about his appearance at PaleyFest. Maybe he was playing to his TV show character or doing a deadpan bit, but nothing about his demeanor told me David was pleased to be up there with his costars and supposed friends.

Continue reading Larry David Working on More ‘Enthusiasm’ - PaleyFest Report

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Well, you have to give her points for persistence.

Missy Chase Lapine, author of the cookbook ‘The Sneaky Chef,’ is suing Jerry Seinfeld for remarks he made about her on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ a couple of years ago. I watched that episode, as Seinfeld made a few jokes about her, including calling her a ‘wacko’ and hinting that she might be a stalker and crazy because she goes by three names. As I mentioned a while back, it was obvious that was going to cause some trouble.

Lapine already sued the Seinfelds and their publishing company for supposedly stealing ideas from her book for Jessica Seinfeld’s book ‘Deceptively Delicious’ (both books had similar angles to them). That suit was dismissed.

I’m sure Seinfeld would like any promotion for ‘The Marriage Ref,’ but I’m equally sure he just wants this to go away as quickly as possible.

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Here’s tonight’s TV lineup (all times Eastern).

• At 8, ABC has a new, two-hour ‘Bachelor’ episode of ‘20/20.’
• NBC has a new ‘Chuck,’ followed by new episodes of ‘Trauma’ and ‘Law and Order.’
• FOX has new episodes of ‘House’ and ‘24.’
• The CW has a new ‘Life Unexpected’ at 8, then a new ‘Gossip Girl.’
• ABC Family has a new ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’ at 8.
• At 8:30, CBS has a new ‘Rules of Engagement.’
• FUSE has the ‘2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony’ at 8:30.
  
• At 9, USA has a new ‘Monday Night RAW.’
• Food Network has a new ‘Unwrapped’ at 9.
• TLC has a new ‘Ultimate Cake-Off’ at 9.
• History Channel has a new ‘American Pickers’ at 9.
• Cartoon Network has a new ‘Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack’ at 9.
• Also at 9: Spike has a new ‘TNA Wrestling.’
• At 10, ABC Family has a new ‘Greek.’
• FX has a new ‘Damages’ at 10.
  
• Showtime has two new episodes of ‘Secret Diary of a Call Girl’ at 10.
• There’s a new ‘Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations’ at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

After the jump, the late night talk shows.

Continue reading What’s On Tonight: ‘Chuck,’ ‘House,’ ‘RAW,’ ‘Greek’

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A moody Larry David gave fans of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ plenty of cause not to embrace the spirit of his hit HBO show’s title Sunday night — announcing that he’s planning on an upcoming eighth season.

David told a happy PaleyFest 2010 crowd that an eighth season “isn’t definite yet. But we’re working on some stuff. HBO definitely wants more of the show.”

It was a case of “What a difference one night makes…” at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, as a generally older, more subdued yet equally affectionate gathering of supporters replaced the giddy, screaming masses that greeted ‘Glee‘ the night before. That’s not surprising if you consider fans of a show called ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ are not likely to act like 1960s coeds watching The Beatles on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’

In fact, it’d be difficult to describe David as happy about his appearance at PaleyFest. Maybe he was playing to his TV show character or doing a deadpan bit, but nothing about his demeanor told me David was pleased to be up there with his costars and supposed friends.

Continue reading Larry David Working on More ‘Enthusiasm’ - PaleyFest Report

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