Subject: Television

• Dat Phan

  March 19, 2009

• Popera

  November 4, 1999

• The real rockstars of Supernova win!

  As reported here (Rock Stars My Destination by Chris Ziegler) Costa Mesa's true Supernova started up the litigation machine to win their rightful name back from the come-lately Supernova put together for the CBS reality show Rock Star: Supernova. And today they won. Press release says: Under the terms of the settlement, the Orange County rockers will continue to retain the rights to the name "Supernova." [Reality TV magnate Mark] Burnett's band, which is anchored by drummer Tommy Lee and recent

  September 21, 2006

• Public Enemy American Idol No. 1

  Over at her Deadline Hollywood Daily column, Nikki Finke charts all the controversies swirling around American Idol contestant Tom Lowe. Her piece begins: American Idol 6 would be nothing without its controversy. The latest: 28-year-old ex-British boy-band'er Tom Lowe is the target of not just one but four controversies, which is a rarity even for that Fox show. Allegations include that Lowe is too successful, or too well-connected, to compete fairly on the show. Then there's the fact this runn

  February 13, 2007

• Long Beach Colbert-o-scam?

  On the October 16 episode of Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, television news anchor and Emmy nominee Stephen Colbert announced that he was "officially considering" whether or not he would announce if he was considering running for President of the United States, and would make that announcement "on a more prestigious show." Fifteen minutes later Colbert announced his candidacy on his own show, The Colbert Report, saying he will run in the South Carolina primary as both a Democr

  October 24, 2007

• Yo Gabba Gabba contract -officially- renewed

  Feature writer Shawn Smith has the latest on the psychedelic kiddie show scene: The gamble paid off. Yo Gabba Gabba creators Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz (our cover boys a few weeks back) got the news they’ve been waiting for. Yo Gabba Gabba, the frenetically fun kids show with the dancing Cyclops and infectious beats that airs during the pee-wee hours on Nickelodeon, just got its 20-episode renewal. After years of struggling to see their vision of a Utopian dancey-dance world come to

  December 18, 2007

• If Anyone Cares About Bowling Or OC Reality Shows

  Last night some new fancy schmancy bowling alley called Strike had a grand opening party in Tustin. Yes, bowling alleys are the next thing to hop on the glam wagon. And several reality show stars (or former stars) from The Hills and Real Housewives Of OC showed up because... hell, who knows. Here's the link if this strikes(!) your interest in the least.

  June 6, 2008

• Garden Grove's Korean District In New Cooking Show on KOCE

  Before The Food Network came along , there was Martin Yan, Jacques Pepin, Tommy Tang, Jeff Smith (a.k.a. The Frugal Gourmet) and of course, Julia Child.  As a kid, I watched their shows every Saturday morning on PBS's KCET 28 when other kids watched cartoons.  I'd stare with rapt amusement at how Martin Yan's cleavers seem to move at a blur; how Julia Child turned raw ingredients into meals like it was magic. None of today's Food Network "stars" are fit to carry their sauce pans*.

  November 26, 2008

• Before it Gets Old: Lazytown/Lil Jon Mashup

  UPDATE: The original video has disappeared, thanks to "a copyright claim by Lazy Town Entertainment." What, they don't like lines like "grab a dick, it's yours bitch" associated with their kids' show? Bizarre! I put up another (still-extant as of 4:26 p.m. PST on Dec. 4) upload of it, but I doubt this one is long for the world either, sadly.Sure, the mashup has been passé since around 2004--though Party Ben's "Single Ladies (In Mayberry)" makes a strong case for its revival--but this mix of "Co

  December 3, 2008

• Backyardigans

  October 30, 2008

• NBC's Last Comic Standing Live Tour at The Grove

  October 2, 2008

• Child’s Play

  March 13, 2008

• The Importance of Being Earnest at South Coast Rep

  February 21, 2008

• Fuzzy Wuzzy

  December 6, 2007

• No Deal

  Robbie Miller thinks inside the box

  July 26, 2007

• Mixed Breed

  The Number 12 Looks Like You

  April 26, 2007

• Rob Riggle

  April 16, 2009

• Discovering Yourself

  Sesame Street Presents the Body

  February 15, 2007

• A Royal Flush

  OnDVD: Marie Antoinette
  

  February 15, 2007

• Dopey and Sleepy

  October 5, 2006

• Denim, Diamonds and Dudes

  September 21, 2006

• Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand

  June 15, 2006

• Talk to the Hand

  April 13, 2006

• Timothy Leary Meets the Muppets

  March 30, 2006

• It's About Time for a Time Lord

  March 16, 2006

• This Week in 'Hey, You Guuuuyyyyyys!'

  February 2, 2006

• The Real Housewives of Orange County

  January 5, 2006

• All the Things That Make Us Laugh and Cry

  September 15, 2005

• Pop Will Eat Itself

  June 9, 2005

• They Report. You Deride

  August 26, 2004

• Blended Burgundy

  August 12, 2004

• Corrupted Youth

  June 17, 2004

• The Presidents Conservative Critics

  February 26, 2004

• Idle Worship

  February 12, 2004

• Total Recall

  October 2, 2003

• Shock and Awe and Shuck and Jaw

  April 3, 2003

• Only 20 Minutes

  January 30, 2003

• Your Soul in a Thimble

  June 20, 2002

• The Cutting Board Is Sacred

  June 14, 2001

• Blow Hard

  March 2, 2000

• La Habra Octomom Nadya Suleman Is Ready to Rocto Your World

  May 14, 2009

• Daily Show's Jon Stewart Eviscerates Birthers, Orly Taitz, Lou Dobbs and Especially Congressman John Campbell

  The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

  July 23, 2009

• Dishney: Disney Profits Drop 26%, Conan O'Brien Laughs

  The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien - Disney CutbacksA few weeks ago, the Walt Disney Company reported a 26 percent drop in profits, thanks to a decline at its many theme parks and media networks like ABC and ESPN.  Conan O'Brien, meanwhile, offered his own suggestions on how Disneyland should handle cutbacks--think Hose Mountain and Mr. Toad's Wild Handicap Ramp.

  August 13, 2009

• OC Reality TV Produces (At Least) 6 Who've Drawn Police Calls [UPDATED]

  Too much reality for Orange County law enforcement (clockwise from top left): Ryan Alexander Jenkins, Josh Waring, Renzo Gamboa, Dennis Rodman, Jason Wahler and Matt Keough.​ UPDATED TO REFLECT MURDER CHARGE, CRIMINAL BATTERY COMPLAINT AGAINST JENKINS. If anyone in Orange County with a Hispanic surname, baggy jeans and a tattoo can be branded "gang affiliated" and therefore subjected to a life as a suspect in any goddamn local crime, then why the hell can't scofflaws tied to reality TV

  August 20, 2009

• Top 5 Reasons Why I Like "Top Chef Masters" More Than "Top Chef"

  Bravo TV1. They don't live together. The first shots of the show isn't of the cheftestants waking up from bed in their undies, yawning, and brushing their teeth. Another plus of not having them shoved into the same living quarters: No possibility of head shaving incidents, hidden-camera kanoodling, and other Real World-type histrionics. The least interesting part of regular Top Chef happens when they go home. 2. No sobbing, farewell confessional. There is none of the played-out, teary-ey

  July 13, 2009

• Top Chef Masters To Return For Second Season

  Bravo TVIt was Restaurant Wars last week in Top Chef: Las Vegas, and finally this season, things got interesting. Now I've never been a fan of Top Chef when the show focuses on the extracurricular antics of the cheftestants -- the head shaving incidents of Season 2 and the hidden-camera canoodling of Season 5 come to mind -- but when there's tempers flare during the heat of competition, like what transpired between Robin and Michael Voltaggio on this episode, now that's entertainment!  A

  October 27, 2009

• Top Chef: Just Desserts...ANOTHER Top Chef Spin-Off

  ​ Hot off the announcement that Top Chef Masters is going to be getting a second season, Bravo is developing ANOTHER spin-off. What is it? Take the original Top Chef recipe, add a pinch of Ace of Cakes, maybe a few telegenic hotties that look like Jennifer Aniston and BAM! (with apologies to Emeril), you get Top Chef: Just Desserts, which is a delicious pun, I admit. The new show, of course, will feature pastry chefs, and is now holding auditions. Desserts, as you know, has never been th

  October 28, 2009

• Sesame Street Going on 40: Top Five Lessons We've Learned

  ​ If you were born a baby boomer or younger, chances are that, as a result of being raised by television, you grew up along side Big Bird, Bert, and Ernie. Come November 10th, the Sesame Street gang will have been coaching generations of Americans through their ABCs and 123s for nearly 40 years.The only thing more impressive than its title as the longest running US children's program, is the way Sesame Street continues to remain relevant throughout the decades. So celebrate early by watching o

  November 5, 2009

• See Dick Run . . . Away From Indoctrination Into the Gay Vegan Godless Proletarian Revolution!

  ​Katharine DeBrecht, a Fox News favorite who has already foisted onto young minds Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!, has written a follow-up titled Help! Mom! Radicals Are Ruining My Country!, an anti-Obama screed she boasts is "a hilarious and entertaining way for parents to sit down with their children and teach them the origins of the new Tea Party movement and the importance of standing up for liberty and the American Dream." DeBrecht explains in the pre

  November 11, 2009

• Network

  November 19, 2009