The Letterman/Leno Super Bowl Ad: Nah, They Haven’t Kissed and Made Up

Posted February 7th, 2010 by Kim

It’s only 15 seconds long, but is any commercial from Super Bowl XLIV going to be more memorable, or have a bigger impact, than the surprising David Letterman/Oprah Winfrey/Jay Leno Super Bowl party spot for Letterman’s Late Show?

The New York Times‘ Bill Carter has the scoop on the ad, which was Letterman’s idea, and was filmed in New York last week with extreme measures taken to keep it under wraps. How extreme? Leno and Winfrey arrived at the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman tapes Late Show while he was taping an episode, with Leno in a disguise that included a fake moustache.

But the ad, a take off on the spot Letterman and Oprah taped in 2007, doesn’t seem to mean there’s been a detente in the frosty relationship of former pals Letterman and Leno, which has been extra contentious as of late thanks to the Conan O’Brien/NBC debacle.

Letterman’s Late Show producer Rob Burnett tells the Times, “This wasn’t done to help Dave or to help Jay, though I think it does help both of them. It was just done because Dave thought it would be funny and would entertain people. Nothing went beyond that.”

Still, if viewers are as anti-Leno as those recent Oprah show polls suggest, being a good sport and flying to New York to do the Super Bowl ad (which promotes his competition’s show, don’t forget) can really only benefit Leno a lot, no?

Either way, as someone who is not at all a fan of Leno, I have to admit that this is a pretty cool move on his part, no matter how obviously self-promoting it is.

Whadda you think?

Super Bowl? OK. Puppy Bowl VI? Yes!

Posted February 5th, 2010 by Kim

Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIV between the Saints and Colts will be a fine game, The Who halftime performance should rock and it’s always fun to see what which company comes up with the coolest and/or most controversial commercial. But the thing I’m looking most forward to on Super Bowl Sunday? Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl VI.

This year’s doggie bowl (3PM ET) promises to be as cute as Puppy Bowls past, with one very notable, adorable addition: cheerleaders. Bunny cheerleaders! There’s also a new Twizzler’s Blimp – piloted by hamsters! – that will provide aerial shots of the action. So. Cute.

As for the starting lineup for the big game, it’s tough to decide who’s cuter: Bandit, the Border Collie mix; Blaze, the Australian Shepherd Mix; Chamomile, the Boxer mix; Chloe, the Labrador Retriever Mix; Dixon, a German Shepherd/Collie Mix; Duncan, a Beagle; Jake, a Chihuahua/Pug Mix; Jersey Boy, a Maltese/Yorkshire Terrier Mix; Mason, a German Shepherd/Collie Mix or Naomi, Akita/Labrador Retriever/Boxer Mix. Kitties, meanwhile, will provide half-time entertainment in an all-new Bissell Kitty Half-Time Show.

And, as usual, the puppies participating in the game are shelter pooches, and the Puppy Bowl Website provides a great resource list of animal shelters in the United States where more dogs and cats are available to be adopted into loving homes.

Check out the Animal Planet Puppy Bowl VI Website for cool behind-the-scenes clips on the making of the annual special, previews of the game and halftime show and pics of the complete Puppy Bowl VI starting lineup.

Channel Surfing – February 5, 2010

Posted February 5th, 2010 by Kim

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

- Howard Stern as Simon Cowell’s replacement on American Idol? It’s such an out-of-left field idea, but potentially interesting enough that I’d definitely watch. You?

- More Idol buzz: Fox released a snippet of footage of Ellen DeGeneres in action as the newest judge. Her official AI debut is Feb. 9 (8PM ET).

- It’s about time: The always awesome Gary Cole is getting his own series again. He’ll play a Philly homicide detective who partners with his rookie nephew in the TBS comedy Uncle Nigel.

- Who will fill James Arness‘ boots in the big-screen movie version of Gunsmoke? Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds are reportedly the top contenders.

- HBO is developing a comedy about a female Hollywood blogger.

- Start planning your send-off party now: The Lost series finale will air on May 23.

- Wish as we might, the Simpson family (not Homer and company) isn’t going away anytime soon: Papa Joe Simpson is developing an autobiographical comedy for Nickelodeon, while Jessica Simpson’s VH1 reality series The Price of Beauty debuts on March 15.

- Charlie Sheen’s legal woes continue, as TMZ reports that he’ll be charged with felony menacing re: that Christmas Day incident with his wife.

- The cast of Jersey Shore will guest on The View on Feb. 23.

- R.I.P. Days of Our Lives star Frances Reid, a.k.a. Grandma Alice Horton, who died on Wednesday at age 95. Reid’s last appearance on DOOL was in 2007, but her character will always be remembered for keeping her family together (she was always a key supporter of supercouple Bo and Hope) and for her homemade doughnuts.

- Rumor has it that Tiger Woods may return to golf later this month, in an Arizona tournament that will be broadcast by NBC. Who would have imagined the PGA tour turning into an US Weekly hotspot?

- It’s a bummer that Bryan Batt won’t be back on Mad Men as Sal next season, but the actor/interior designer is keeping busy: He just designed “The Hef,” a loveseat to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Playboy Clubs.

- Though its fourth season has some iffy storylines unfolding – really, you didn’t think anyone would find out about that whole polygamy thing until after the election, polygamist/state Senate candidate Bill?!? – Big Love has gotten a thumbs up for a fifth season at HBO.

- The next cast of Dancing With the Stars will be revealed during the March 1 season finale of The Bachelor, but rumor has it that Pam Anderson will be one of the D-list top tappers when the new season of DWTS premieres on March 22.

- And Jonas brother Joe is going to be a flashback guest on Brothers & Sisters, playing the younger version of Balthazar Getty’s Tommy Walker.

‘The Sarah Silverman Program’ Mans Up!

Posted February 4th, 2010 by Kim

She’s back for season three, and Sarah Silverman is as irreverent as she wants to be in tonight’s season premiere of The Sarah Silverman Program (10:30PM ET, Comedy Central).

The Emmy nominee has a whole season (10 episodes worth) of increasingly outrageous storylines and special guests (including Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg as Sarah’s imaginary childhood friend) ahead, beginning with tonight’s installment, in which Sarah takes sister Laura’s (Laura Silverman) advice to “man up” and take responsibility for herself waaaay too literally.

And let’s just say you’ll think twice about dropping your letters into a public mailbox after you see what Sarah, um, drops into one …

Here’s a preview clip of scenes from the entire season, which will also include Sarah getting personal with neighbors Steve (Steve Agee) and Brian (Brian Posehn), trying to fix a mayoral election and getting politically incorrect on Real Time with Bill Maher.

Channel Surfing – February 3, 2010

Posted February 3rd, 2010 by Kim

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

- The Lost season premiere … Smoke Monster … Locke is Jacob is Smoke Monster? … crazy stuff. Good stuff, but crazy stuff. Check out EW.com’s interview with producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for a tiny bit of scoop on the final season’s storyline. And, if you want to study the two-hour premiere, it’s on Hulu.com.

- It’s Jon Stewart vs. Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor, tonight and Thursday night (8PM ET, Fox News).

- Among CBS’ potential new fall 2010-11 series: A medical drama from ER producer John Wells and a New York City cop drama from The Sopranos producers Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green.

- Sounds like The Bachelor finalist Vienna may be even more rotten than most viewers – but sadly, not Jake – think she is.

- Ferris Bueller’s hitting primetime! Matthew Broderick has signed on to star in his first TV series, a Lorne Michael-produced NBC sitcom called Beach Lane. Broderick, a.k.a. as Mr. Sarah Jessica Parker, will play a celebrity author who’s hired to run a struggling Hamptons newspaper.

PS – It didn’t star Broderick, but remember the short-lived TV series adaptation of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? It starred Charlie Schlatter as Ferris, and a pre-Friends, pre-Leprechaun Jennifer Aniston as his sister Jeannie. Check out a clip here.

- Straight from the actor’s Twitter feed: Zach Galifianakis will host Saturday Night Live on March 6. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez will be host and musical guest for the Feb. 27 show.

- Jersey Shore star Mike Sorrentino wants to trademark the self-given nickname he tries to perpetuate for his abs, a.k.a. The Situation.

- Could The View be moving to afternoons when Oprah packs up her show? Maybe, though seems like a bad idea to mess with a show that’s working just fine, ratings-wise.

- And speaking of The Big O, she’ll star in her own, and OWN, reality series next January. When OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, debuts on cable in Jan. 2011, Oprah will star in Behind the Scenes: Oprah’s 25th Season, a weekly series that will document the making-of her last season of her syndicated talk show.

- Sex and the City’s Darren Star will direct an HBO biopic movie about beauty queen/orange juice pitchwoman/anti-gay activist Anita Bryant.

- CBS is sold out on Super Bowl ads, and the highest-priced spots reportedly went for more than $3 million each.

- Can’t wait to see the new comics-themed stamps the U.S. Postal Service will release this summer, which includes stamp homages to Dennis the Menace, Garfield, Beetle Bailey, Archie and one of my all-time faves, Calvin and Hobbes. By the way, The Cleveland Plain Dealer just landed an interview with reclusive Calvin creator Bill Watterson, the artist’s first interview in more than 20 years.

- It’s all about the Super Bowl this weekend, but next weekend is all about the NBA All-Star Game in Texas, where Alicia Keys, Shakira and Usher will be among the performers.

- And tonight in primetime: CBS counts down the best Super Bowl ads in recent years in its Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials special (8PM, CBS); James Van Der Beek joins the cast of Mercy (8PM, NBC) as a cocky new doc who ruffles feathers; new Human Target at 8PM (Fox); Mike gets a new job delivering snack cakes on The Middle (8:30PM, ABC); Minnie Driver guests on a new Modern Family (9PM, ABC), which finds Mitchell regretting his decision to give Gloria legal advice; The Man vs. Food Live special (9PM, Travel Channel) finds Adam in Miami and looking to embark on some major food challenges; Launch My Line picks a winner in the season one finale (9PM, Bravo); New Cougar Town at 9:30PM (ABC); It’s the third season premiere of Shear Genius (10PM, Bravo), with new host Camila Alves (a.k.a. Matthew McConaughey’s babymama); Steven Seagal Lawman wraps its series run on A&E at 10PM; Sean and Christian freak out when Escobar Gallardo’s daughter shows up and has lots of questions about her big bad (and sleeping with the alligators) daddy on Nip/Tuck (10PM, FX); Luke Perry guests as a faux psychic on Leverage (10PM, TNT); More fake psychic drama: Gus has a girlfriend, and Shawn suspects there’s more to her than Gus knows on a new Psych (10PM, USA); Ashley wigs during a play fight with Andrew on The Real World (10PM, MTV); The classmates try to convince Antanus to propose to his longtime girlfriend on High School Reunion (10PM, TV Land); and Vanessa Williams‘ real-life brother, actor Chris Williams, plays a drag queen version of Wilhelmina on Ugly Betty (10PM, ABC).

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