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?

• No Comments
• Filed in Real Housewives
• Tags: Bethenny Frankel, NeNe Leakes, Real Housewives, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Real Housewives of New Jersey, Real Housewives of New Orleans, Real Housewives of New York City, The A-List: New York

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 …

Stencil a Cake?

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 11

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/

• No Comments
• Filed in Real Housewives, TV Books, TV on DVD, TV Toys, Ya Gotta See This!
• Tags: Gilmore Girls, Jack Bauer, Jen Lancaster, Mother's Day gift ideas, Real Housewives

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Bravo has announced the dates for the two-part Real Housewives of Orange County reunion special (March 10 and 11), and teases that Tamra “drops a bombshell” in the season five finale on March 4. I’m guessing we already know what it is since her soon-to-be-ex-husband Simon spilled the details in a Bravo Website blog.

– Speaking of the Real Housewives, cast members from all the spin-offs are making guest appearances on the Meredith Viera-hosted syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this week.

– Kathy Griffin as the leader of a lesbian rights org, Mischa Barton as a hooker, Jaclyn Smith as a cop and Sharon Stone as a D.A. … just some of the upcoming guest stars for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

– Katee Sackhoff, who’s been mucking up the new season of 24 with her wooden acting, has signed on to star in an ABC crime pilot next season, which hopefully means she won’t return to CTU (assuming CTU, or rather 24, returns to Fox) next season.

– Growing Pains actor Andrew Koenig is still MIA, and one of his friends’ description of his recent behavior makes his disappearance sound all the more troubling. But the latest: Radaronline.com reports that police in Vancouver believe Koenig is still alive.

– The First Lady and First Daughters are reportedly big Glee fans, which is why the cast will likely be performing at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll in April. By the way, beginning on Thursday, you can submit your entry to try and snag tickets for your 12-years-old and younger kids to the Easter egg event.

– Jamie Foxx, Lindsey Vonn, Sarah Palin and the cast of Jersey Shore will be among Jay Leno‘s guests during the first week of his return to The Tonight Show.

– Conan O’Brien fans, meanwhile, think he should be the first guest on the new (or is that the new, old?) Tonight Show. I’d rather see this rumored live show Coco is putting together.

– I love the Twitter musings at Shit My Dad Says and I love William Shatner, so here’s hoping when the two meet, it will result in a hilarious sitcom.

– On the flip side, Jim Belushi as a Las Vegas defense attorney with a bad marriage and a drinking problem in a CBS hour-long legal drama? Just sounds painful.

– It’s likely that Scrubs is really headed to that big sitcom graveyard in the sky after a pair of March episodes air on ABC. Oh well … we’ll always have the Turk “Poison” dance. And in honor of The Todd, cancellation high-five.

– And, sure, Pam and Jim are having their baby next week on The Office (March 4, 9PM ET, NBC), but when V returns to the ABC line-up at the end of March, human Valerie is going to give birth to a lizard.

• No Comments
• Filed in Real Housewives, TV News
• Tags: Glee White House, Real Housewives

Don’t miss tonight’s new Real Housewives of Orange County (10PM ET, Bravo), not only for the OC cast’s own drama, but for a sneak peek at the new season of The Real Housewives of NYC, which premieres on March 4.

On RH: OC, the women have a sleepover and Lynne confronts Gretchen about her chat with Lynne’s daughter, which Lynne took as Gretchen suggesting Lynne is a bad mom. As if having mother-daughter plastic surgery didn’t speak volumes on her parental fitness …

Meanwhile, the RH: NYC clip hints that not only are old rivalries still going strong – i.e. Ramona calling The Countess out on her fakeness – but it looks like one-time BFFs Bethenny and Jill may still be verbally girl-slapping each other, too. Bethenny, by the way, will also star in a RH: NYC spin-off series, Bethenny’s Getting Married?, which follows the preggers chef as she prepares for the arrival of her first child and a wedding to babydaddy Jason Hoppy.

And in one more potentially delicious bit of Real Housewives news, SoapCentral.com reports that Victoria Rowell, the former The Young and the Restless‘ Dru Winters, may join The Real Housewives of Atlanta next season.

Rowell is notoriously outspoken, about her life and the showbiz industry, so just the possibility of a NeNe Leakes/Rowell meet-up … one reality show might not be able to contain two divas of that magnitude. And oh, just imagine the possibility of an Andy Cohen Watch What Happens Live episode with NeNe and Rowell …

• No Comments
• Filed in Real Housewives, Reality
• Tags: Bethenny Frankel spin-off, Real Housewives, Real Housewives of Atlanta, Real Housewives of New York City, Real Housewives of NYC, Real Housewives of Orange County, Victoria Rowell Real Housewives of Atlanta

The Thanksgiving Day TV marathon … it’s probably responsible for thwarting more family dramas than we’ll ever know. When the fam gets to be too much, the boob tube can provide a bit of solace (i.e. escape), whether it be from a Brady Bunch marathon (“My nose, my nose, my nose!”) or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or NBC’s annual National Dog Show, hosted by the not real J. Peterman.

Whatever’s your TV pleasure – and your family drama to avoid – there’s surely something on TVScreener.com‘s Thanksgiving Day (and Friday, for nursing those tryptophan hangovers) Viewing Guide to make your Turkey Day less of a turkey. And don’t call me Shirley.

PS – A general channel surfing rule of thumb: Lifetime Movie Network … always something worthy of your guilty pleasure viewing hours there.

THURSDAY (all times ET)

MARATHONS:
Cake Boss (TLC): 6AM-3AM Friday

Supernanny (Style): 6AM-3AM Friday

House (USA): 7AM-7PM

The Godfather I, II and III (AMC): 7:30AM-8PM

Cool Tools (DIY): 8AM-4AM Friday

First 48 (A&E): 8AM-11PM

Genius of Photography (Ovation): 8AM-2AM Friday

James Bond movie marathon (SyFy): 8AM-5:30AM Friday (includes Dr. No, License to Kill, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, For Your Eyes Only and The Man with the Golden Gun)

House Hunters and House Hunters International (HGTV): 8:30AM-6PM

The Brady Bunch (TV Land): 9AM-6PM

Cats 101 and Dogs 101 (Animal Planet): 9AM-7PM

Food Paradise (Travel): 9AM-8PM (including episodes on donuts, breakfast, ice cream, sandwiches, hot dogs, steak, hamburger, bar food, barbecue and more steak)

MythBusters (Discovery Channel): 9AM-3AM Friday

Top Chef (Bravo): 9AM-4:30PM

Band of Brothers (Spike): 9:30AM-9PM

The Closer (TNT): 10AM-6PM

My Fair Wedding with David Tutera (WE): 10AM-5PM

Snapped (Oxygen): 10AM-2AM (Saturday)

Biography on CNBC (CNBC): 11AM-6PM

Lockup (MSNBC): 11AM-5AM Friday

Home Alone (FX): Noon-midnight (is Home Alone the new A Christmas Story with this all-day airings?)

World’s Strictest Parents (MTV): Noon-8PM

Real Housewives of Orange County (Bravo): 4:30PM-11PM

Pawn Stars (History): 8PM-3AM Friday

George Lopez (the sitcom) (Nick): 9PM-6AM on Friday

AND:

– Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (NBC): 9AM
– Tommy Boy (a classic) (TBS): 10AM
– The National Dog Show (NBC): Noon
– The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Nick): 3PM
– A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (ABC): 8PM
– Beyonce: I Am … Yours (ABC): 9PM
– CNN Heroes: An All-star Tribute (CNN): 9PM
– Elf (USA): 9PM
– Love Actually (Lifetime): 9PM (PERFECT holiday movie. Trust me)
– Martha Stewart’s Christmas Special (FLN): 9PM
– NBC’s People of the Year (NBC): 9PM
– Punkin Chunkin (Science): 9PM
– Paul McCartney: Good Evening New York City (ABC): 10PM
– Great Performances with Mary J. Blige, Andrea Bocelli and David Foster (PBS): Check local listings for time and channel

FRIDAY (all times ET)

MARATHONS:
Say Yes to the Dress (TLC): 6AM-10PM

NCIS (USA): 6:30AM-12:30PM

Criminal Minds (A&E): 8AM-11PM

James Bond movie marathon (SyFy): 8AM-5:30AM Saturday (includes Thunderball, From Russia With Love, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever, Casino Royale, GoldenEye, Goldfinger and Never Say Never Again)

Real Housewives of New Jersey (Bravo): 8AM-5PM

That ’70s Show (FX): 8AM-5PM

Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (Travel): 9AM-8PM

Deadliest Catch (Discovery Channel): 9AM-3AM Friday

Mission: Organization (FLN): 9AM-3PM

Moonlight (Chill): 9AM-5PM

Sanford & Son (TV Land): 9AM-4PM

Everybody Hates Chris (BET): 10AM-6PM

Caught on Camera (MSNBC): 11AM-5AM Saturday

Law & Order (TNT): 11AM-7PM

Golden Girls (WE): Noon-7PM

Seinfeld (TBS): Noon-4PM

100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the ’80s (VH1 Classic): 1PM-6PM

Beverly Hills 90210 (SoapNet): 1PM-9PM

I’m Alive (Animal Planet): 1PM-10PM

White Collar (USA): 1:30-7PM

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Food Network): 2PM-11PM

Ultimate Factories (NGC): 2PM-8PM

The Andy Griffith Show (TV Land): 4PM-10PM

100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (VH1): 6PM-11PM

Til Debt Do Us Part (CNBC): 6PM-9PM

AND:

– Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas (PBS): 9AM
– Storytellers: Foo Fighters (VH1): 11AM and 11PM
– Toys We Grew Up With (HGTV): 1PM
– 25 Great Holiday Ideas (HGTV): 3PM
– Bowfinger (my al-time favorite movie about Hollywood – Fake Purse Ninjas!) (Comedy Central): 4:45PM
– SpongeBob SquarePants (new episode) (Nick): 8PM
– Monk (penultimate episode of the series) (USA): 9PM
– White Collar (new episode) (USA): 10PM

• 2 Comments
• Filed in Holiday Programming, TV News
• Tags: Brady Bunch, Cake Boss, CHarlie Brown Thanksgiving, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, MythBusters, Real Housewives, Thanksgiving TV marathons, Thanksgiving TV schedule