Posts tagged with “Keith Olbermann quit”

Whatchoo Talkin’ ‘Bout, Willis?: January 24-30, 2011

In TVScreener.com‘s new week-in-preview column, here’s what Willis, and everyone else in TV land, will be talking about in the week ahead …

1. The Big O’s Big Secret
Does she really have a child? Is the guy she thinks is her father not really her father? Oprah Winfrey has promised to reveal a big family secret – one she says she herself learned only recently – on her daytime talk show on Monday (check local listings for time and channel). In what she has called the “miracle of miracles,” a teaser for the episode finds Oprah telling viewers, “I was given some news that literally shook me to my core. This time, I’m the one being reunited.” Winfrey has confirmed she had a baby as a teen, but that the child died; meanwhile infamous biographer Kitty Kelley claimed in her 2010 bio of Oprah that Vernon Winfrey, the man the media queen has known as her father her whole life, isn’t actually her dad. Of course, the Twitterverse thinks there could be something far more salacious afoot.

UPDATE, MONDAY 1:30PM: If you can’t wait, or don’t care enough to actually tune in, here’s Oprah’s big reveal from today’s show.

2. Regis Definitely Wants to Be a (Multi)Millionaire
It didn’t take long for more details to spill out on Regis Philbin‘s surprise announcement last week that he’s leaving Live with Regis and Kelly (Monday-Friday, 9AM ET, ABC), the morning talk show he hosts with Kelly Ripa. Regis insisted he wasn’t retiring, but was moving on to other ventures, and “sources,” according to TMZ.com, say it’s because Reeg was very unhappy with a pay cut ABC execs wanted him to swallow. Initial reports had Regis staying through September, but in the face of these new details (including allegations that he sorta blindsided co-host Ripa with the news), things might be pretty tension-filled at the ol’ Live studio. Will Regis address the situation, and the new rumors, on the air? Will he really stick around until the fall if things do get ookie? And who should (or can?) replace The Reeg when he bounces? Ryan Seacrest? Neil Patrick Harris? Survivor host Jeff Probst? Ripa’s affable, but kinda boring hubs, Mark Consuelos? My two fave (alleged) contenders: Wayne Brady and Bravo exec/Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen.

UPDATE, MONDAY 9:05AM: Regis is on a previously-scheduled vacay all week, so we’ll have to wait ’til next week to see if he talks about the new money drama on the air.

3. The Final Countdown
MSNBC Countdown host Keith Olbermann is also out at his network, and his departure came even more abruptly than Regis’. We certainly have yet to hear the whole story of how his last show came about so quickly, or where he’s going next.

4. The Housewives of Beverly Hills: Reunited and It Feels So Crazy
Speaking of @BravoAndy, he has his hands full this week with part one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion special (Jan. 27, 9PM ET, Bravo). Last week’s season 1 finale featured the shocking blowout between former child star sisters Kim and Kyle Richards, plus the postscript that Kim had entered (and fled) rehab after filming on the season stopped. That is but one of the contentious relationships that will be dished on the gathering, along with, of course, the tornado of drama that is Camille Grammer.

5. David Brent Visits The Office
Hollywood types (crybaby ones) are still ticked off at Ricky Gervais because of his Golden Globes jokes, but the rest of us will finally get to see his David Brent, from the original Office U.K., meet The Office U.S. boss Michael Scott (Steve Carell) on this week’s episode of The Office (Jan. 27, 9PM ET, NBC). Buzz is that the David/Michael meeting comes in the episode’s opening moments, so it may be wise to set your DVRs a few minutes early to make sure you catch it.

6. American Idle?
The “kindler, gentler” American Idol hasn’t wowed viewers yet. Last Wednesday’s season premiere was down 13 percent vs. season nine’s premiere (and a whopping 28 percent among teen viewers), while the second episode of season 10, on Thursday night, continued the drop, down 20 percent from the previous night’s ep, and 23 percent from last season’s second episode. Meanwhile, though newbie judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler did give the show a breezier vibe, Tyler also gave it a bit of a creepier vibe, as he and Randy Jackson turned into Beavis and Butthead when any remotely attractive (or non-conservatively-dressed) female entered the audition room, her age be damned. Ew. Can Idol bounce back as the season rolls along? And, save Caleb Hawley, who may just have the best potential rock star name ever, will the talent start to wow us in week two?

7. The Skinny on Skins
All the hubbub about the naughtiness of MTV’s remake of the British teen drama Skins (Mondays, 10PM ET, MTV) may be the best thing that could happen to the show, even if it has meant advertisers like Taco Bell and General Motors pulling their spots from the show. Skins U.S. lead actor James Newman definitely has potential to be a breakout star, but so far, the most remarkable thing about the show is that it’s been kinda boring, so any publicity is probably good publicity at this point.

8. Oscar Morning
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Christian Bale (The Fighter), Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and The Social Network are probably locks for nominations (and maybe even the statues themselves) as nods for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards are announced Tuesday morning (8:30AM ET). The nominations announcement will stream live at Oscar.com.

9. The SAG Awards
There’s nothing people in Hollywood love more than giving awards to each other (which is why you might think they’d have a sense of humor about themselves, though, as Ricky Gervais found out, that isn’t always the case). The Screen Actors Guild Awards (Jan. 30, 8PM ET, TBS and TNT) is yet another of the elaborate events at which they’ll do that, though the national treasure that is Betty White is among the presenters, so there’s that.

10. Betty Love
And speaking of Betty White … a Sunday night CBS made-for-TV movie that doesn’t star Tom Selleck? Pass. Except for next Sunday night, when Betty teams up with Jennifer Love Hewitt (who’s not starring as a hooker mom this time) for The Lost Valentine (Jan. 30, 9PM ET, CBS), a sweet Hallmark movie about a widow who impresses a reporter with her dedication to honoring her MIA pilot husband, more than 60 years after World War II.

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