
Who’s still reeling from that Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion (part one) on Monday? The Teresa blow-up topped her table-flipping tantrum from season one, but my favorite part was host Andy Cohen telling her how strong she was when she pushed him (!) into a chair. Teresa was laughing as he said it, but his light tone turned serious when he told her, “Don’t cross me.” Best quote of the night, followed by Caroline’s comparison of Danielle’s thuggy friend Danny to a Sweathog. Classic.
The first part of the reunion (part two airs on Sept. 6, 9PM ET) was the highest-rated episode in the Real Housewives franchise with 3.9 million viewers, and that’s not the only Housewives news the network has shared this week:
- Not surprisingly, The Real Housewives of NJ has been renewed for a third season.
- The Real Housewives of New York City is also returning – for a fourth season – but Bethenny Frankel, arguably the most popular cast member, will not be returning. She is expected to return for a second season of her spin-off series, Bethenny’s Getting Married?, though presumably with a name change, since she did get married.
- The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the sixth entry in the franchise, premieres on Oct. 14, and the cast includes sisters Kim and Kyle Richards, who are aunts to Paris Hilton. They’re both also former child stars, with Kim having starred in Escape From Witch Mountain, James at 15, Nanny and the Professor and Hello, Larry, and Kyle on Little House on the Prairie and ER. But the real reason a lot of viewers may tune in: The cast also includes Camille Grammer, a.k.a. the soon-to-be ex-wife of Kelsey Grammer, who’s already moved on to another woman (who is already reportedly pregnant with Grammer’s baby). That little scandal is sure to factor into the new show …
- The Real Housewives of Atlanta, season three, premieres on Oct. 4, and it promises to be that show’s most dramatic season yet, especially since scene stealer NeNe Leakes 1) has had so much work done that she almost looks like a different person, 2) she’ll be fighting with her one-time BFF Dwight and 3) she and husband Greg are on the outs.
- The Real Housewives of Orange County will also return for a sixth season (no premiere date yet), and Lynne Curtin will be replaced by newbie Peggy Tanous, a friend of last season’s newbie, Alexis Bellino.
- Bravo is rumored to have The Real Housewives of New Orleans in the works for next summer.
- And, even though it’s not a Bravo show, the series unofficially known as the gay version of Real Housewives of New York, The A-List: New York, premieres on Logo on Oct. 4. Among the so-called A-List is Reichen Lehmkuhl, famous for winning the fourth season of The Amazing Race and dating ‘N Syncer Lance Bass.
Which, if any, of the Real Housewives shows will you be/are you watching?

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …
- Is Lost star Josh Holloway stepping into the role of Jim Rockford for yet another NBC attempt to get that Rockford Files revamp going? I know lots of TVScreener readers are probably still hoping Joe Flanigan’s name will pop up again
- Everything you wanted to know about the Britney Spears episode of Glee, including the first photo from her guest appearance.
- More great guest star news: Michael J. Fox has signed on to guest as an attorney in the new season of The Good Wife, which begins its second season on Sept. 28.
- Another reason to love Stephen Colbert: On Sept. 8 and 9 (11:30PM ET), he’ll host Been There: Won That: The Returnification of the American-Do Troopscape, with the audiences for both nights made up of veterans and active duty service men and women in the studio, as well as by satellite audiences from Walter Reed Hospital, Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Is a work visa standing in the way of Piers Morgan taking over for Larry King at CNN? Could be. According to the New York Post, Morgan’s current visa only covers him for being in the U.S. to work on America’s Got Talent in the summer, and he needs a new, and difficult to get, visa to work in the country year-around.
- Spencer Pratt says he’s writing a tell-all book about his soon-to-be ex-wife, Heidi Montag. It feels like there’s very little we could possibly not already know about either of those publicity junkies.
- Teresa Giudice claims fame, the result of being on Real Housewives of New Jersey, is why she and her family are in the middle of major financial woes. Uh huh …
- More Housewives news: The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which kicks off its third season on Bravo on Oct. 4, will have a couple of new faces in the cast this season.
- Teen Mom, one of my favorite summer guilty pleasures, is the cover story on this week’s US Weekly, including interviews with Farrah, Amber, Maci and Catelynn.
- LOVE the Wall Street Journal story today about how TV writers use their pens (more like laptops) to get even with those who’ve wronged them. Fun, fun read. I asked Psych creator Steve Franks about the Ken Tucker “shout out” when I interviewed him for AOL earlier this year, and he was coy, but didn’t deny it.
- That rumored DIY Network reality show with rapper Vanilla Ice as a home renovator? Not a rumor … The Vanilla Ice Project premieres Oct. 14 and finds the “Ice, Ice Baby” singer fixing up a six-bedroom, five-bathroom, 7,000-square-foot lakefront house in Palm Beach.
- And what do the Jersey Shore doofuses get by the truckload? CVT - condoms, vodka and tanner.

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …
- ABC is holding a live press conference, with reporters, during the Aug. 30 episode of Bachelor Pad, to announce the next cast of Dancing With the Stars. This better be soooome cast, with all that hubbub. Among the many names that have been rumored to be contestants for season 11: Betty White (who’s pretty much rumored to be cast in everything these days … wishful thinking, usually), David Hasselhoff, Real Housewives of New Jersey stars Teresa Giudice and Danielle Staub, Richard Simmons, The Situation from Jersey Shore, Hilary Duff, Brandy, Ali Fedotowsky, Jennifer Grey, NFL vet Kurt Warner and Ryan Seacrest (where would he find the time?).
- Speaking of The Hoff, last Sunday’s Comedy Central roast of David Hasselhoff was the network’s fifth highest-rated celeb roast ever. What did you think? I loved Seth MacFarlane as host — dude should have his own talk show — but the rest of it was a little low-key. And the ending, with The Hoff singing, was just weird.
- Another big ratings winner: Showtime’s premiere of The Big C on Monday, which was the network’s highest-rated premiere in eight years.
- And, speaking of Real Housewives Jerseyites Teresa and Danielle, they both may need jobs on DWtS, or anywhere else they can get paid. One of them — Danielle — reportedly hasn’t been asked to return to RHoNJ for the show’s third season (the season two finale airs Monday, Aug. 23), while the other’s (Teresa) bankruptcy case has taken another bad turn, as the court now has proof that Giudice and her husband went on a $60,000 home furnishings shopping spree after filing for bankruptcy.
- Betty White has signed a deal to write two new autobiographies.
- “More pie, Andy?” There’s definitely more Andy, Andy, as TV Land is asking viewers to vote for their fave Andy Griffith Show episodes, which will make up a 50-episode marathon to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, in September.
- The Kids in the Hall have reunited for a miniseries, Death Comes to Town, which aired in Canada earlier this year, but debuts in the U.S. on IFC this Friday.
- The Brits love them some Glee, apparently: A new Glee FM radio station in Oxford will play only songs from the show.
- And have you seen the new Glee Slushee poster?
- Did you know Lindsay Lohan is in a movie with the Shamwow dude? Me neither. The Hollywood Reporter, uh, reports, that her appearance in Vince “Shamwow Guy” Offer’s The Underground Comedy Movie is one of the many pathetic ways people, including Lohan, will be trying to capitalize on her downward spiraling life when she gets out of rehab.
- CBS’ Undercover Boss is getting a new companion series, which will pit two employees against each other in the name of getting a promotion.
- The big Lost auction is being held in Santa Monica this weekend, and among the many, many props and other Lost goodies that are expected to fetch a pretty penny: Claire’s creepy squirrel baby.
- E! Online reports that ABC wants recent Bachelorette runner-up Chris Lambton to be the next Bachelor, but he, sanely, wants to simply return to his pre-reality TV life. That actually kinda makes him an even more appealing Bachelor, no?
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, which kicks off its new season on Sept. 13, is getting some major changes. The biggest one: no more hot seat … the contestants will now stand for the competition.
- And, this is awesome: Rapper Wale has made another album that was inspired by Seinfeld. And it turns out everything from 24 and Lost to The Dukes of Hazzard and Married … with Children have also inspired rappers.

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …
- Must See TV tonight: The endearing, awesomely talented John Goodman, he of the recent incredible weight loss, on The Late Show with David Letterman. Guessing that his new healthier bod will be a major topic of conversation, so it’ll be cool to hear how he did it. Seriously, dude looks fantastic, and like 20 years younger.
- Must At Least TiVo TV tonight: The premiere of Hot in Cleveland on TV Land. It’s a very, very broad comedy (and I’m not talking about the all-female cast), of which I am not usually a fan, but how do you not watch a show that brings Betty White back to the tube on a weekly basis?
- That chick that wowed you with her rendition of “At Last” on last night’s America’s Got Talent? She’s the mom of Precious Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe.
- My friend Scott and I were just discussing how we’re experiencing Bachelor/Bachelorette overkill, and here comes yet another entry in the franchise line-up: Bachelor Pad, the Big Brother-meets-The Bachelor spin-off, will debut on ABC on August 9 and include hosts Chris Harrison and Melissa Rycroft, as well as Bachelor alumni Tenley Molzahan, Wed Hayden, Craig McKinnon, Gia Allemand, Jonathan Novack, Michelle Kujawa (last season’s “emotional” Jake Pavelka bachelorette) and Kiptyn Locke among the contestants.
- Speaking of overkill, I have to ‘fess up to watching every incarnation of the Real Housewives series, but the upcoming D.C. batch are kinda boring me before the show even premieres. There’s already so much drama, real drama that actually affects most of us in some way, in D.C., that it’s hard to even pretend to take these particular reality star wannabes too seriously, ya know?
- Speaking of boring, TMZ.com reports that Sammi and Ronnie, last season’s Jersey Shore lovebirds, have proven to be so boring in season two that MTV is considering replacing them for season three. Meanwhile, can you imagine we’ll still care enough/be amused by enough these people to tune in for a third season?
- You have to give him this: he’s committed. A professional cartographer, and presumably huge Lost fan, has created a very cool map of the Lost island.
- Here’s a Sons of Anarchy fan’s visit to the SOA set, complete with Q+A with series creator (and portrayer of Big Otto … and real-life husband of series star Katey Sagal) Kurt Sutter.
- Syfy is developing a fun new show about Hollywood memorabilia.
- And if you’re in Los Angeles this week, try to hook up with USA Network’s Emmy promo ice cream truck, where the network is handing out ice cream sandwiches for each of their shows, including “The Monk” (vanilla bean), “The Psych” (brown butter candied bacon), “The In Plain Sight” (chocolate chipotle) and “The Royal Pains” (balsamic fig and mascarpone).
If you’re still looking for a great Mother’s Day gift and you’re tired of giving the same old Godiva/flowers/random book/random DVD/gift card presents, here’s a quick guide to some great alternatives (several TV-related, of course), including crafty goodies, retro sweet treats, the best mother-daughter TV show ever and the funniest Jack Bauer and reality TV-lovin’ author alive …
Sorta ... it's like electronic stenciling a cake. You may have seen the regular Cricut on those ubiquitous infomercials. It's the cool crafter's machine that cuts shapes, letters, borders, numbers and pretty much anything else you'd want to cut out, from paper, cardstock and pretty much any other material you can get the Cricut blades to cut through. Now, the company has launched a Cricut Cake, which cuts through gum paste (as well as modeling chocolate, soft candy, cookie dough, etc.) to create cool designs you can use to decorate cakes, cupcakes, cookies and other fancy treats. Cool, right? The Cricut Cake. http://www.cricut.com/cricutcake/
A slew of TV DVDs, an Xbox 360 game and a tote bag full of cool stuff from the BlogHer Conference I attended earlier this month … that’s the latest TVScreener.com giveaway!
The DVDs include some fun, family-friendly ‘toons (like A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, on Blu-ray!) and the BlogHer goodies — more fun stuff, given to [...]
New bonus features promise to answer more lingering questions!
There’s a scene where (Da Maniac) takes a helmet out of his station wagon, and it has barbed wire all over it, and I inadvertently hit Charlie in the groin with it.
Ethan on Bullet, the Dog Who Watches ‘Family Guy’
My dog prefers South Park...continue
Mario D on WIN THIS! A Prize Pack of DVDs & BlogHer Conference Goodies
Construction Intervention...continue
Judy on WIN THIS! A Prize Pack of DVDs & BlogHer Conference Goodies
I would say How I Met Your......continue