TV news from Metronews.ca

Another finalist booted from 'American Idol'

Derrik J. Lang, The Associated Press — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:30:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - It wasn't a laughing matter for Heejun Han on "American Idol."

The goofy 22-year-old non-profit organizer from New York who found his way back into the judges' good graces after weeks of silly on-stage antics was eliminated from the Fox singing contest. After receiving the fewest viewer votes, Han couldn't convince the judges to save him Thursday by reprising his serious take on Leon Russell's "A Song for You."

"Heejun, let the record show you knew this was coming yourself," said "Idol" judge Steven Tyler.

Han was joined in the bottom three by 18-year-old finalists Skylar Laine of Brandon, Miss., and Hollie Cavanaugh of McKinney, Texas. Laine was lauded by the judges during Wednesday's idol-themed performances for her energetic rendition of Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead," while Cavanaugh failed to light up Tyler and Randy Jackson with Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel."

The eight remaining singers will return to the stage to perform 1980s tunes for viewer votes next Wednesday.

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Fox is a unit of News Corp.

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Online:

http://www.americanidol.com

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.

CBS expands 'Face the Nation' to 1 hour on Sunday

David Bauder, The Associated Press — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:56:00 -0400

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Five years ago, just off a bout from cancer, Bob Schieffer was set to retire from CBS's "Face the Nation." That never stuck, and now he's doubling his workload.

Starting Sunday, the public affairs program expands to an hour. Vice-President Joe Biden, whom Schieffer interviewed Thursday in Milwaukee, is the featured guest. Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are also booked.

With a presidential campaign under way, it's an attention-getting time for the Sunday morning shows. The landscape changed already this year when George Stephanopoulos returned to the helm of ABC's "This Week" in January.

Although the voluble Biden would seem the perfect guest for a newly expanded show, Schieffer said the move doesn't mean all interviews will be twice as long. Rather, it offers the show a better chance to react to the news, have more guests and feature CBS correspondents Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson more.

"I don't think you're ever going to see the same kind of 'Face the Nation' twice," said Mary Hager, the show's executive producer. "We've got a lot of flexibility and we're going to take advantage of that flexibility."

Shortly after Schieffer started as host two decades ago, he said his competitor, the late Tim Russert of "Meet the Press," went to his NBC bosses to urge that the show be expanded to an hour. Give me three months, Russert said, and if the ratings don't improve we'll go back to a half-hour.

They never looked back, and Russert dominated Sunday mornings until his death in 2008.

"Tim was the best of the best," Schieffer said. "But the fact of the matter is what propelled them to No. 1 is they went to an hour and they were the first to do that. When they did that, it left us in the dust."

Schieffer repeatedly nagged his bosses to follow suit. He made the same speech when Jeff Fager and David Rhodes took over last year, not expecting much. When they gave the go-ahead, Schieffer said, "I nearly fainted."

(The approval has some strings attached. Rhodes said it will be reviewed after 20 weeks before it is made permanent.)

Ratings and election news figured in the timing. "Meet the Press," now with David Gregory, averaged 3.3 million viewers during the first three months of the year. "Face the Nation" was a close second with 3.09 million, the Nielsen company said. "This Week" had 2.53 million and "Fox News Sunday" averaged 1.15 million. "Face the Nation" is the only broadcast to see its ratings improve over last year.

Betsy Fischer, "Meet the Press" executive producer, said she's all for more Sunday morning TV time.

"When we went to an hour 20 years ago, I remember the big advantage was that it gave us much more flexibility in programming the show," Fischer said. "I suspect it will be beneficial to CBS in that respect as well."

Schieffer said he most felt the disadvantage of a half-hour slot when a guest would be booked mid-week and subsequent news would change what needed to be on the show. Schieffer said he hated to "bump" a guest off in these circumstances. Now, a person could be moved to the second half-hour.

CBS is hoping the change will improve ratings. Some rivals wonder if it might actually hurt, suggesting "Face the Nation" gets a big boost because it follows the popular "Sunday Morning" and that some of that show's viewers may leave "Face" over the course of an hour.

Schieffer, who turned 75 in February, had long planned to retire shortly after he turned 70 in 2007. He even announced it publicly. But he was persuaded to stay for the 2008 election, and retirement never happened.

"I'm just having so much fun," he said. "I don't know what I would do. My wife, who used to want me to retire, has now decided she doesn't want me to retire. She said, 'You would drive me crazy if you retire.' Now that I've got her on the team, I'm going to hang around for a while."

Katie Couric to guest-host 'Good Morning America'

The Associated Press — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:07:00 -0400

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Katie Couric will be an early riser all next week.

ABC announced Thursday that the former "Today" show anchor will be guest-hosting "Good Morning America," the rival wake-up show at Couric's current workplace.

Beginning Monday, Couric will sub for the vacationing Robin Roberts. She will appear for the week alongside Roberts' regular co-host, George Stephanopoulos.

Couric was co-host of NBC's "Today" for 15 years before leaving the network in 2006. Before jumping to ABC last year, she was at CBS, where she anchored the "Evening News."

"Today" has long been the ratings leader, but recently "Good Morning America" has been nipping at its heels.

"Good Morning America" airs on ABC Monday through Friday from 7 to 9 a.m. EDT.

Testone, Ledet take on Zeppelin, Mariah on 'Idol'

Derrik J. Lang, The Associated Press — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:22:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Elise Testone and Joshua Ledet successfully channeled icons of the opposite sex on "American Idol."

Shaking her wavy blond hair and sporting a pair of tight bellbottoms, Testone delivered a faithful rendition of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," while Ledet soared by embracing Mariah Carey's vocal acrobatics on Badfinger's "Without You" during the Fox singing competition's idol-themed performance round Wednesday night.

"You made everybody get up," Jennifer Lopez told Testone. "It was crazy."

The 28-year-old teacher from Charleston, S.C., and the 19-year-old student from Westlake, La., both earned standing ovations from the panel — as did three other finalists: 16-year-old student Jessica Sanchez of San Diego with Beyonce's "Sweet Dreams"; 21-year-old pawn shop worker Phillip Phillips of Leesburg, Ga., with Jonny Lang's "Still Rainin'''; and 17-year-old student Deandre Brackensick of San Jose, Calif., with Eric Benet's "Sometimes I Cry."

"That's what your voice was made to do," Steven Tyler beamed to Brackensick.

Heejun Han, the goofy 22-year-old non-profit organizer from New York, found his way back into the judges' good graces after last week's silliness with a serious take on Leon Russell's "A Song for You." Tyler, the most critical of Han's wacky antics, said he made the song "come alive in such a way that no one else can."

"You don't make it this far by mistake," said Lopez.

This week's performances kicked off with consistency from a pair of front-runners: 20-year-old rocker Colton Dixon, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., with an emotional version of Lifehouse's "Everything," which he called his favourite worship song, and spunky 18-year-old country rocker Skylar Laine of Brandon, Miss., with Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder and Lead."

"You are a powerhouse singer," Jackson informed Laine.

Jackson and Tyler weren't as fired up about the song choice from 18-year-old singer Hollie Cavanaugh of McKinney, Texas. Cavanaugh tackled former "Idol" champion Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel" to mixed results. Jackson cited pitch problems, and Tyler claimed that it didn't show off her vocal range.

"I wish you sang a different song," said the Aerosmith frontman. "It was just OK for me."

One of the remaining nine finalists will face elimination Thursday.

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Fox is a unit of News Corp.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang .

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Online:

http://www.americanidol.com/

Discovery special to look at White House chiefs

The Associated Press — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:58:00 -0400

NEW YORK, N.Y. - White House chief of staff can be a thankless job, and the Discovery TV network is poised to explain why.

Discovery said Wednesday that it will air a special series "The Gatekeepers," about the people in charge of keeping a presidential administration running, sometime next year. Discovery isn't sure yet how long it will be.

Filmmakers are seeking interviews with all the living former chiefs of staff, and have talked with former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was President Ford's chief of staff, talks about what experience in that job he blames for his first heart attack.

French brothers Gedeon and Jules Naudet, who made the film "9-11," and former ABC producer Chris Whipple are behind the project.

First star bounced from new season of 'Dancing'

The Associated Press — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 22:31:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Martina Navratilova has done her last dance on "Dancing With the Stars."

The tennis champ was eliminated from the TV dance competition Tuesday and became the first star dismissed from the series' new season.

She came into the results episode in last place and was disappointed, but apparently not surprised, at her dismissal. She said she gave it everything she had but confessed that she made mistakes during her jive routine Monday.

Returning to compete next week will be actors Jaleel White, Roshon Fagan, William Levy, Jack Wagner and Melissa Gilbert; singers Gladys Knight, Gavin DeGraw and Katherine Jenkins; TV personalities Maria Menounos and Sherri Shepherd; and football star Donald Driver.

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Online:

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/index

Celebrity chef Bourdain loves Montreal food

Donald McKenzie, The Canadian Press — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 19:35:00 -0400

MONTREAL - When celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain was compiling his list of international cities to feature on the TV show "The Layover," Montreal was a no-brainer for inclusion.

That's because the city's cuisine is "uniquely crazy, uniquely individualistic and rugged and excessive and wonderful," according to the New York City native.

"It says Canada to me," he added during a recent telephone interview.

The premise behind the "The Layover" was simple but highly challenging: Bourdain spent between 24 and 48 hours in each of 10 cities and packed in as much hard living as the liver and the rest of his body could take.

Viewers are taken off the beaten track as Bourdain, who has also written several books and stars in "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations," shows them where to visit and where to stay around the globe.

The Montreal episode also includes debate on whether its bagels are better than New York's, as well as adventures involving dragon boats and surfing on the St. Lawrence River.

"We were looking to do something fast and different, and a little scary, something that challenged and pushed us," says the 55-year-old.

But was it fun?

"Most of the time," is his immediate reply.

"It was difficult. Essentially, it's eight days of serious eating and drinking compressed into two (for the purposes of) the show.

"That's tough. It was very physically demanding and a little intimidating, a little frightening to embark on a bold new venture like that, especially when you're eating and drinking as much as I was."

The series has aired in the United States and gets its Canadian debut on Travel + Escape on April 11. The Montreal episode is set for broadcast May 2.

Bourdain has fond memories of Montreal dating back to a book tour in 2001 when local chefs took him under their wing.

"I knew we could make a good show there and have a good time doing it. It's my favourite city in Canada.

"I love the chefs there," he says, ringing off the names of Martin Picard (Au Pied de Cochon) Normand Laprise (Toque) Frederic Morin and David McMillan (both Joe Beef) as some of the outstanding ones.

"It's the most uniquely Canadian food in Canada. In Vancouver the cuisine is very strong mix of great Asian food from all over Asia, a lot of great homegrown stuff, but the cuisine in Montreal could exist nowhere else other than Quebec.

"It looks and tastes different from food anywhere else and the chefs, particularly when you're talking about Martin, or Fred or Dave, are unlike chefs anywhere else."

The other cities where Bourdain lived large for the series were New York ("the greatest city in the world," he says unabashedly), Singapore, Hong Kong, Miami, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Bourdain has plans to do another season of "The Layover" this summer and Canada's largest city will be getting in on the fare.

"Toronto will be on the list for sure," he says of a city he has visited several times but never featured on any of his shows.

Bourdain says that when he talks to journalists and chefs from elsewhere in Canada, he always hears trash talk about Toronto.

"I feel sort of an obligation to highlight that there is indeed good food there and good people, as I know from personal experience," he says.

Jimmy Kimmel to host 64th Primetime Emmy Awards

Sandy Cohen, The Associated Press — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:09:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel just got a prime-time gig: Host of the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards.

The star and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will host the Emmy Awards ceremony on Sept. 23 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

"I hope to be able to do for the Emmys this year what Eddie Murphy did for the Oscars," Kimmel joked, referring to the comic actor who pulled out as host of this year's Academy Awards. This is Kimmel's first time hosting the Emmys.

Kimmel's namesake show is in its 10th season on ABC. He previously hosted the American Music Awards and the ESPY Awards and is set to host the White House Correspondents' dinner next month.

ABC also announced that director and producer Don Mischer will executive produce the Emmy telecast. Mischer recently directed and produced the Academy Awards. This is his 12th time at the helm of the Emmys.

He said he's "thrilled" to produce the Emmys again.

"We love television and look forward to working with the television academy and ABC in creating a show that is fast-paced, humorous, unpredictable, and at times irreverent, but clearly celebratory of our incredible industry," Mischer said in a statement Monday.

The Emmy Awards, put on by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, honour the best in TV.

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Online:

http://www.emmys.tv/

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

Animated show tells kids be healthy, don't worry

Lynn Elber, The Associated Press — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:12:00 -0400

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Many TV shows have dispassionate origins, recycling a well-worn format or piggybacking on a trend. But the roots of "Doc McStuffins," an animated program for children ages 2 to 7, are downright maternal.

Chris Nee, creator of the series, wanted to ease her toddler son's experience with doctors and hospitals after he was diagnosed with asthma.

"It was me as a mom, more than as a writer first, saying, 'What can I do to make this better for him?'" Nee recalled.

The result is a fanciful, music-filled show ("Wash Your Hands" is among the original songs) about Doc (voiced by Kiara Muhammad), a girl who converses with her stuffed animals and toys and treats their scratches, sniffles and whatever ails them.

Doc and her pals share tips about staying healthy and offering care and compassion to others. The show also attempts to demystify what happens in a doctor's office to make visits less scary for its audience.

Among those in the cast: Loretta Devine as a reliably competent plush hippo named Hallie. Ty Burrell ("Modern Family") is a guest actor in the debut episode, voicing a jack-in-the-box dad who takes his son for a checkup.

Nee, who received a prestigious Humanitas Award for an episode of Bill Cosby's Daytime Emmy Award-winning "Little Bill," intends "Doc McStuffins" to be spirited as well as heartfelt.

"It's got a different flavour than usual in the (TV) preschool world," she said, offering kid-friendly humour with a touch of sophistication and bold characters that Nee said harken back to those that she enjoyed on "Sesame Street" as a child.

There is, for instance, a snowman who's a hypochondriac on the series (produced by Dublin-based Brown Bag Films and the Disney Channel).

"Kids love that character. They don't understand the full implications but they find it really funny," said Nee, who sees value in aiming a bit over a young viewer's head.

"We know kids are watching shows over and over again. Trying to create shows so that a kid gets every moment on the first viewing is shortchanging them," she said.

What does her muse, son Theodore, now 5, think of "Doc McStuffins"?

"He calls it his show. I'm at least trying to get him to use 'ours,'" Nee said.

"Doc McStuffins" will premiere on Disney Junior in Canada on Sunday, April 8th at 10 a.m. ET.

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http://disneyjunior.ca

‘It’s about an era of lounging poolside’

Kenya Hunt, Metro World News — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:11:25 -0400

The new season of Mad Men has been shrouded in CIA-like secrecy. As the premiere date draws closer, we try our best to extract a few clues about what to expect from costume designer Janie Bryant.

Now that we’re just days away from the season premiere and the cast photos have been released, what can you reveal about the look of the characters? How has their wardrobe evolved since last season?

Honestly, I’m sworn to secrecy until the premiere on March 25. You’ll have to wait and see!

OK, how does the new Mad Men collection for Banana Republic reflect the look of Season 5?

Our second collection was inspired by the characters while at the club because of the fun contrast to the home and office settings. It’s about an era of lounging poolside or attending a 4th of July barbecue in a crisp blue polo shirt and stunning the crowd in a lush ivory dress.

When creating the collection, were you obligated to design it in such a way that wouldn’t give away too many details about the actual show?

For this collection, [Banana Republic creative director Simon Kneen] and I talked a lot about the characters and scenes that inspired us, the roles they were playing, the emotions they’re going through, and worked to translate all that context into beautiful design. We stayed with the traditional Mad Men look that viewers have come to love.

The new collection manages to feel both vintage and very 2012.

It was about taking a vintage look and updating it with a modern twist. We took some of our favourite trending colours and prints, like the bright pinks and large florals in some of the women’s pieces, and fit them on a ’60s silhouette, like a capri pant or nip-waist dress.

The first four seasons of Mad Men helped spark a global obsession with the mid-century way of dressing, influencing an entire season of ready-to-wear collections. Do you think Season 5 will do the same thing for late ’60s dressing?

People identify with the costume design of the characters and there has already been a clear resurgence of 1960s trends on runways this spring. Beautiful, dressed-up tailoring with emphasis on the waist; bright colours for ladies; and tailored, slim-cut apparel for men are all making a comeback. But as far as Season 5 goes I really can’t comment!