It’s a slow news day so far, but here’s all the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– What did you think of Ellen DeGeneres‘ big premiere as an American Idol judge last night? Check out my full review at AOL TV, but bottom line: I think she was awesome, and will really freshen up what was threatening to become a very tired show.

– Portia De Rossi, star of Better Off Ted and wife of the aforementioned Ellen DeGeneres, is writing a book where she’ll dish on her relationship and her struggles with bulimia. Here’s hoping she’ll give readers scoop on her time on Ally McBeal, where most of the female cast seemed to be anorexic.

– The Bachelor host Chris Harrison confirms we haven’t seen the last of Ali, who left the show to return to her job in Monday’s episode.

– You’ve been warned, South Beach: The Jersey Shore cast is heading your way for season two.

– Sad news from the Discovery Channel: Deadliest Catch‘s Captain Phil Harris died Tuesday after suffering complications from a stroke.

– Emmy-winning Survivor host Jeff Probst has signed on for two more seasons of hosting and exec producing the CBS reality series.

– And American Idol season four winner Carrie Underwood has already won more awards and sold more records than her fellow AI alums, and now she’s going to become the first AI-er to inspire her own Sesame Street character: Carrie Underworm.

• No Comments
• Filed in American Idol, TV News
• Tags: American Idol Ellen DeGeneres, Deadliest Catch Phil Harris, Jeff Probst Survivor contract, Jersey Shore season 2, The Bachelor Ali

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Great ratings for last night’s Grammy Awards – the viewership numbers were up 32 percent vs. last year, and it was the highest-rated Grammy telecast in six years. Six was also a lucky number for Beyonce, who was the night’s biggest winner, as she became the first female artist to win six Grammys in one night. As for performances, I think Pink stole the show … what was your fave?

– Jersey Shore season two is a go, with the same cast! The big change: It won’t take place at the Jersey Shore; rumors suggest the guidos and guidettes may head to The Hamptons, instead.

– MTV has also renewed Teen Mom for a second season, set to air this summer. Season two will follow the same four girls – Amber, Maci, Catelynn and Farrah – as they continue life after teen pregnancies. In the meantime, we’ll find out what the girls are up to now when MTV airs a Teen Mom reunion special with Dr. Drew Pinsky on Feb. 2 (10PM ET). Sadly, a teaser suggests Amber, who was on track to get her GED and juggle raising adorable Leah with a job and having her own apartment, might be preggers again, by the hapless Gary.

– ManCrunch.com says CBS is discriminating against the company by rejecting its Super Bowl ad, and CBS says it was a credit issue … take a look at the ad and you make the call. One thing’s for sure – people definitely would have been talking about the commercial the next day.

– Meanwhile, as the Christian Science Monitor points out, CBS opened the door to the controversy when the network made the financial decision to change its policy on “advocacy” ads, including the anti-abortion spot that will air during the Super Bowl.

– Those cheesy, over-the-top original movies that SyFy airs on Saturday night will soon include the network’s spin on classic fairy tales like Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.

– Former TV teen stars Melissa Joan Hart and Joey “Whoa!” Lawrence will star in a new ABC Family comedy series about a female politician and the male nanny who helps her raise her live-in niece and nephew.

– Bollywood’s coming to the small screen? The Hollywood Reporter says Indian-themed sitcoms are a mini-trend among fall TV pilots.

– Neil Patrick Harris, game show host? Indeed. NPH can do it all.

– It doesn’t make up for the fact that Sal won’t be back for season four, but Mad Men star Michael Gladis‘ reviews of his co-star’s off-season beards are worth a chuckle.

– By the way, Mad Men star Jon Hamm‘s second Saturday Night Live hosting performance? Excellent. The “Hamm and Buble” skit with musical guest Michael Buble makes me laugh every time I think about it.

– And tonight, in a ridiculously busy primetime: Barney tries to sleep with seven women in seven days on How I Met Your Mother (8PM, CBS); That weasel Vienna continues to tick off the other women – and seemingly further endear herself to Jake – on The Bachelor (8PM, ABC); Chuck has to train new Buy More employee (and his new love interest?) Hannah (Kristin Kreuk) on Chuck (8PM, NBC); Jack is back in full Jack mode – be warned, baddies! – on 24 (9PM, Fox); A new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race premieres on Logo at 9PM; There’s a major family reunion when Baze’s parents insist on meeting Lux on Life Unexpected (9PM, The CW); Ray J picks someone to hang out with ’til next season on the season two finale of For the Love of Ray J (9PM, VH1); Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson are among the performers on the BET Honors awards show (9PM); Sheldon gets a job at the Cheesecake Factory on The Big Bang Theory (9:30PM, CBS); Worst Cooks in America names a winner in the first season finale on Food Network at 10PM; Kell on Earth, a reality series starring ahem, outspoken, People’s Revolution founder and The Hills and The City star Kelly Cutrone, premieres on Bravo (10PM); Secret Diary of a Call Girl season three premieres on Showtime at 10PM; Anthony Michael Hall guest stars as a family killer – or IS he?! – on CSI: Miami (10PM, CBS); The guys try to get a date with Megan Fox for Ben and help a young girl deal with her fear of heights on The Buried Life (10PM, MTV); It’s the season two premiere of Ultimate Cake Off on TLC (10PM); History Channel has back-to-back new eps of Pawn Star at 10PM; Casey’s got a case of the guilts on Greek (10PM, ABC Family); and the day of the big talent show is here on My Life as Liz (10:30PM, MTV).

• 1 Comment
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: Beyonce six Grammys, Grammy ratings, Hamm and Buble, Jersey Shore season 2, Jon Hamm Saturday Night Live, ManCrunch.com Super Bowl ad, Pink Grammys, Super Bowl ads, Teen Mom season 2

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Will Jack Bauer be the first person to get his world-saving mitts on the iPad? Seems only fitting.

– J-WOWW and Ronnie have apparently caved, but TMZ.com reports that the rest of the Jersey Shore cast continues to hold out for more than $10,000 an episode to return for the guilty pleasure hit’s second season on MTV. I can see Snooki and The Situation getting more cash — love ’em or hate ’em, they’re the most outrageous buzzmakers on the show — but the others really should take the money and the perks they’re getting from being on the show and run.

– It looks like the first Bachelor wedding is finally going to happen, and, of course, it’s going to be broadcast on TV. Jason Mesnick, who was a reject on The Bachelorette and then became the first single dad Bachelor the next season, will marry Molly Malaney (the bachelorette he chose after dumping first fiancée Melissa Rycroft), and ABC will cover the wedding planning, bachelor party and ceremony in the two-hour March 8 special The Bachelor: Jason and Molly’s Wedding.

– Should Arrested Development producer Ron Howard‘s new Fox comedy pilot be called The Office: IRS? That’s where the show is set, in a regional office of the Internal Revenue Service. Certainly seems rife with comedic possibilities …

– Joe Dirt, the cartoon? Yep.

– Weird Al Yankovic is creating a live-action series for Cartoon Network.

– All those timeslot changes have spelled doom for Ugly Betty, which will end its run on ABC this spring.

– Among the new shows we may see on The CW next fall: another remake/update of La Femme Nikita and The Wyoming Project, a drama about a family who live on a horse ranch. Wyoming is being written by Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her hubby Dan Palladino.

– Is this the big Grammy-opening duet CBS keeps touting in its commercials for this Sunday’s awards show? Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Simon and Garfunkel‘s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with a joint performance of the song. The Blige/Bocelli duet will be available for download on iTunes the next day, with proceeds going to Haiti relief efforts.

– It’s guest stars a-go-go coming up in primetime: Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm, Jon Bon Jovi, Dean Winters and Jason Sudekis all head back to 30 Rock to mess with Liz Lemon’s love life, while J. Lo will hang with NPH as Jennifer Lopez guests on How I Met Your Mother in March.

– SyFy will celebrate the launch of Atari’s Star Trek: Online videogame with all-day marathons of Star Trek: Enterprise (Feb. 1, 8AM-5PM) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (Feb. 2, 8AM-9PM).

– Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is in talks to star in a Criminal Minds spin-off.

– And here are two great ideas: Lady Gaga as a judge on Simon Cowell‘s upcoming The X Factor, and Katy Perry as a permanent judge (bye bye, Kara!) on American Idol.

• No Comments
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: 24 Jack Bauer iPad, Jason Mesnick wedding, Jersey Shore season 2, Jon Hamm 30 Rock, Katy Perry American Idol, Lady Gaga X Factor, Mary J. Blige Andrea Bocelli Grammys

There will definitely be a second season of MTV’s guilty pleasure hit Jersey Shore, but the cast may be filled with fresh faces.

TMZ.com reports that today’s the deadline for The Situation, Snooki, Pauly D, J-WOWW, Ronnie, Sammi and Vinny to accept MTV’s new contract offer — $10,000 per cast member per episode, plus a $10,000 signing bonus — or they’ll be replaced with new Guidos and Guidettes.

The cast is reportedly sticking together, a negotiating tactic that was famously, and very successfully, employed by the Friends cast back in the day, with The Situation and Pauly D doing most of the talking. TMZ reports that MTV is willing to sign individual cast members, however, so we’ll see how committed the Joisey pals really are to keeping their little group together.

Meanwhile, in other Jersey Shore news:

– MTV.com has launched a “Jersey Shore Yourself” game, because, really, who doesn’t want to see themselves Ed Hardy-ied and hair gelled to the bejesus?

– In case these contract negotiations don’t turn out well, Television Without Pity has some clever suggestions for other reality shows the cast could join.

– And, even if there are new cast members for season two, we’ll always have Jersey Shore: The Movie, thanks to Craig Ferguson and a few famous pals.

• No Comments
• Filed in Reality, TV News
• Tags: Jersey Shore, Jersey Shore season 2

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Thursday nights will be, sadly, a little less cheesy when the first season of Jersey Shore comes to a close tonight (10PM ET, MTV). Snooki, we hardly knew ye (or what the heck ye was saying half the time). Meanwhile, two Joisey boys, filmmaker Kevin Smith and Time mag’s hilarious Joel Stein, are among the show’s many fans.

– It’s official: Conan‘s gone, Leno‘s back in at The Tonight Show. Sigh. O’Brien’s final Tonight Show will air Jan. 22.

– BTW, Leno in primetime tops Entertainment Weekly‘s list of the 50 Biggest TV Bombs Ever.

– Also gone from his latest series: Rob Lowe from the cast of Brothers & Sisters. The current season will be his last.

– Another scandal on The Bachelor this season? Yup, and Bachelor Jake says it’s even bigger than Rozlyn allegedly hooking up with a producer or “emotional” Michelle getting bounced before the rose ceremony.

– David Hasselhoff is starring in a new reality show, and no, it isn’t Celebrity Rehab. The Hoff will star in a 10-episode A&E series that finds him trying to help his daughters break into the music industry.

– Comedian Steve Harvey is taking over from J. Peterman, a.k.a. John O’Hurley, as host of Family Feud.

– GQ has an interesting little chat with Damages/Bored to Death/Curb Your Enthusiasm star Ted Danson, who talks about how fun it is to play a jerk.

– My fellow Lifetime movie fans have no doubt seen the Betty Broderick movies, A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story and Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, The Last Chapter, starring Family Ties mom Meredith Baxter as the San Diego socialite who murdered her ex-husband and his new wife in 1989. The real-life Broderick has her first parole hearing today.

– Famous celeb biographer Kitty Kelley, who’s penned bios on Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, the British royal family and the Bush family, will release a bio on Oprah Winfrey in April, based on more than 800 interviews she conducted (none with Winfrey herself).

– The Reno 911! crew is headed back to TV with a new NBC sitcom.

– And Billy Baldwin will play Serena’s (Blake Lively) papa on Gossip Girl.

• No Comments
• Filed in TV News
• Tags: Betty Broderick, Jersey Shore season 2, Jersey Shore season finale, Reno 911!, The Bachelor scandal