Donald Trump wants the American Chopper team to build him a bike.
On back-to-back episodes of the Discovery hit airing this Monday, Trump stops by and meets Paul Senior and the crew. Senior talks to Trump about how his legendarily estranged relationship with Junior. Trump, naturally, thinks about the split in financial terms.
“Don’t leave him anything,” Trump advises. “Don’t leave him 10 cents.” See the exclusive video clip below. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
The man who believes his face should be in the dictionary next to the phrase ‘too much swag’is about to get his chance to shine: MTV will premiere Pauly D’s Jersey Shore spin-off, appropriately titled The Pauly D Project, on March 29 at 10:30 p.m. The series will take viewers away from Seaside Heights as Mr. Delvecchio pursues his DJ dreams, scoring a record contract with 50 Cent’s G-Note Records and opening for Britney Spears on her “Femme Fatale” tour, all while palling around with his closest friends from his home state of Rhode Island. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Fox
On the heels of EW’s exclusive interview with Fox about the X Factor shakeup, Extra’s Terri Seymour has landed an exclusive interview with the show’s executive producer and top judge Simon Cowell. Fox’s reality star debunks and praises some of the names floating around in the media as potential replacements for departing Factor judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger. The interview airs on Extra in two parts starting tonight.
Cowell gives his thoughts on…
Abdul’s exit: “I would’ve liked to have kept her. She was very gracious and I said that to her. She understands it’s business; it’s never personal.”
Whether he feels pressure to bring in A-lister music stars as judges: “No. Because when we first launched [Pop] Idol in the UK years ago, we didn’t think for one second there had to be an A-list star on the panel. Everyone on the panel was really unknown … Firstly, they are incredibly expensive – that is millions you lose on something else. Secondly, they have to make the time commitment and on my show, they have to work five days a week. Thirdly, they have to be interesting … I’m not playing this game where we have to compete on the level of A-lister stars … you can lose focus on what the show is all about, and at the end of the day the most important thing is the contestants.” READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Syfy
Syfy’s hit competition series Face Off is getting a third round.
Face Off will return for a 10-episode season, showcasing a new group of rising special effects make-up artists competing for the chance to showcase their imagination and creativity (and collect 100k). This week’s episode features appearances by Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day) and Being Human’s Sam Huntington.
Syfy is also set to announce LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG) as a guest judge for the episode airing Feb. 22, when the contestants will design aliens based on the work of series judge Patrick Tatopoulos.
Season 2 currently airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. where last month’s premiere generated the show’s biggest number yet — 2.5 million viewers. The first two episodes are averaging 51 percent higher than the first season, so clearly a pickup was fully earned. If you want to apply to be a contestant for season 3, go here. The third season will debut this summer.
Image Credit: Fox
The changes to Fox’s singing competition shows have only just begun.
After weeks of dramatic headlines about American Idol‘s slipping ratings and The X Factor‘s talent departures, Fox’s president of alternative entertainment Mike Darnell spoke to EW about the challenges faced by Idol and Factor — and his strategy for remaining on top. Given their large number of hours and consistent ability to win time periods, one could argue that Idol and Factor are the No. 1 network’s most important shows. So what does it mean when the bulk of the Factor cast abruptly gets pink-slipped and Idol has CBS’Big Bang Theory nipping at its heels on Thursday nights?
With Factor, the sudden exodus of host Steve Jones, judge Nicole Scherzinger and executive producer Simon Cowell’s longtime TV-spouse Paula Abdul may have stunned observers (L.A. Reid will return). Yet the move was somewhat less surprising to followers of the U.K. version, which sheds judges every few seasons. In a genre where tough-love auditions are the heart of the format, Darnell described being a star on Factor‘s debut as not entirely dissimilar to being a contestant.
“Season 1 was basically an audition act,” said Darnell late last week. “Simon got one big new star out of it — L.A. Reid, and that was great casting. There’s going to be a natural reassessment.” READ FULL STORY »
We are less than two weeks away from the annual explosion of insanity that is a new Celebrity Apprentice season. And to make sure you are primed and ready for the Feb. 19 premiere, we have an extended preview right here, including clips from the show and interviews with the cast. Yes, that is a woman bouncing up and down while she “makes it rain” dollars on Clay Aiken. Yes, that is Lou Ferrigno busting out some push-ups in the middle of a task for seemingly no reason whatsoever. And yes, that is Real Housewives of New Jersey star — and I use that word loosely — Teresa Giudice flipping over yet another table. In between these clips we are treated to lots of yelling, tough talk, and, naturally, discussion about throwing people under the bus. Add it all together and you have the makings of another classic Celebrity Apprentice season. Just click on the video player below to enjoy for yourself, and then hit the message boards and let us know whom you’re excited to watch go nuts this year.
For more reality news and views, follow me on Twitter: @DaltonRoss. READ FULL STORY »
An Iowa woman is charged with extortion in an alleged plot to get Discovery Communications Inc. to cancel the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting or pay her $10,000 in exchange for not revealing compromising photos of a cast member, according to federal court documents.
Teresa Hunt, of Bettendorf, is accused of threatening to release photos of a cast member in “apparently intimate situations” to a magazine.
Hunt was arrested Feb. 1 after she apparently sent television executives typed and handwritten letters demanding the show be canceled, along with a business card for “Perfect Pictures.”
The reality show follows Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 children. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: NBC
Wow: You expected NBC’s post-Super Bowl season 2 premiere for The Voice to be big.
But not this big.
The Voice returned to 37.6 million viewers and a 16.3 rating among adults 18-49. That’s — and here’s the killer claim — the highest rating for a non-sports telecast on any network in six years. It’s the biggest number since the post-Super Bowl telecast of Grey’s Anatomy in 2006. It’s also up 47 in the demo versus Fox’s post-Bowl airing of Glee last year.
Can NBC’s ratings victory continue tonight with the premiere of Smash?
More to come…
Read more:
‘The Voice’ recap: Mickey Mouse Club Redux
Where have we seen these ‘Voice’contestants before?
‘The Voice’: 10 Best/Worst Performances of Season 1
Image Credit: Kim Holcombe/Animal Planet
Some people love Super Bowl Sunday for the big game. Others, for the commercials and the chip-n-dip selection. But a bunch of you look forward to the footballiest day of the year because it also happens to be the cuddliest. On Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. ET, Animal Planet will unveil Puppy Bowl VIII, the annual spectacle in which little pooches scurry about a mini-football field and drag chew toys across the goal line. Before you watch this year’s contest, stick your nose in these facts about Puppy Bowl and those fetching canine athletes. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images
The recent news that there are plans in the works for a possible Dwight Schrute spin-off from The Office had us thinking two things. (1) Why? And (2) What are the best and worst TV spin-offs ever? Kristen Baldwin, Jessica Shaw, and I reveal our picks on the latest edition of the InsideTV Podcast. Which spin-offs were actually worth it and became classics in their own right? And which abominations (The Tortellis! Booker! Golden Palace! Joanie Loves Chachi!) made our list for the worst of the worst? Listen in and find out!
Speaking of problematic television, we also break down the recent X Factor bloodbath, with Paula Adbul, Nicole Scherzinger, and Steve Jones all getting the boot. Out of the kindness of our collective heart, we provide the Fox network and Simon Cowell with a plan to get the show on track, offering up our dream judges and host to join the program and make it the buzz-worthy event it most certainly was not last fall. See if you agree with our picks, or offer up your own. READ FULL STORY »
The rivalry between American Idol and The Voice shows no signs of cooling down any time soon. On Friday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Voice coach Adam Levine took Idol‘s Randy Jackson to task for Jackson’s comments last month during TCA press tour that NBC’s upstart singing competition show is more for “second chance people” than true musical discoveries. “The winner of The Voice, I will remind you,” Jackson added, “was an artist who had a deal at Capitol Records for several years, a failed contract.”
“Shame on Randy Jackson for saying that,” Levine told DeGeneres, herself a former Idol judge. “Because he of anybody should know that if you’re in this business you need second, third, fourth and fifth chances. So we love and embrace having that being part of the show.” Levine, who was joined by fellow The Voice coaches Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton, does credit Jackson for being “a working musician [who's] had a lot of success,” but he contends Jackson’s comments were “irresponsible.”
Check out video of Levine’s comments below: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Fox
What is this, cooking reality show renewal day?
First Bravo’s Top Chef gets a 10th season. Now Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares is being renewed.
Okay, so technically Kitchen Nightmares is more of a makeover show than a cooking show, but you get the point. Fox has ordered a 16-episode fifth season of the Gordon Ramsay screamer. “It’s great to be back for a fifth season… who knew there were that many nightmares to be had?!” said series star and executive producer Ramsay. (Yes, he put both the exclamation point and the question mark in his statement.)
Personally, the Fox version has never held the same charm for me as the UK version, and I prefer Fox’s MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen for my Ramsay fixes. But what do you think about KN returning?
Read more:
Gordon Ramsay scores new Fox reality show: ‘Hotel Hell’
Gordon Ramsay’s ‘MasterChef’renewed for third season
Photo Gallery: Rage Before Beauty: Reality TV’s 19 Biggest Blowups
Steve Jones … out!
The X Factor host is leaving the Fox singing competition series. “I won’t be hosting next seasons X Factor which is a shame but I cant complain as I’ve had a great time,” Jones wrote on Twitter. “Good luck to everyone on the show.”
Sources close to the show confirm Jones is exiting the program. Fox and executive producer Simon Cowell are determined to make adjustments to the series after a first season that performed solidly, but fell short of what many thought was the show’s high potential given its dominance in the UK. Critics considered the British personality Jones a likely candidate to get the boot given his reviews. READ FULL STORY »
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
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