Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s new show airs tonight at 10PM on ABC. The show, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, actually aired a sneak peek on the 21st but I missed it. After seeing Larry King last night though my interest was peaked, not because it seemed a particularly entertaining show, but because I am eager to see how well the “revolution” will be accepted.

According to Ryan Seacrest (He’s the executive producer of the show. That guy is getting busier and busier by the minute!), he was “embarrassed as a teenager” because of his weight. Like Bill Clinton he thinks that by changing the kind of food served in school cafeterias he would probably have been less fat and reap better health as he grows older.

The revolution starts in Huntington, WV where Jamie helped change the daily menu from serving processed foods like pizza, frozen chicken nuggets, ready-to-eat eggs and corn dogs for breakfast and lunch to healthier foods made from fresh ingredients. Not surprisingly his first few weeks was met with resistance from the school cooks (They should be thankful it’s Jamie Oliver and not Gordon Ramsey that’s “revolutionizing” their kitchen) and the children. However, it seems that they are already warming up to the idea and other schools are starting to look into the possibility of making changes.

Jamie Oliver is also taking his advocacy to the White House where he wouldn’t be hard pressed to find an ally since we all know that First Lady Michelle Obama has made reducing childhood obesity a priority.

The Assault

The newest housewife, Kelly Bensimon, is doing a great job of making them look more sensational. She was arrested March 5 for punching her fiancé in the face and giving him a black eye and a laceration on the left cheek. She is now facing misdemeanor third-degree assault charges and is due in court on March 31. According to Kelly, Nick Stefanov is delusional and that they are not really engaged. Friends say that Kelly is really embarrassed and upset about the whole incident. In the meantime co-star Betheny said that she’s really surprised about the whole thing and said that, “I honestly can’t believe that it’s true. I can’t imagine that, it’s just really wild with everything that’s going with Chris Brown and Rihanna.”

The Unemployment

On the other hand housewife Alex McCord is still definitely lovey dovey with her hubby but she has been hit by the economic crisis and has been laid off from her visual merchandising job at Victoria’s Secret. They wouldn’t be homeless any time soon since husband Simon Van Kempen’s job as hotel is enough to pay all their bills. What they do plan on doing though is to cut back on shopping sprees in case they need to. And now Alex is a true blue housewife.

TV networks are really happy about the Nielsen Company’s latest report but I’m pretty sure parents and developmental doctors wouldn’t be. According to the report TV watching has increased by up to 151 hours per month. That’s around 5 hours a day!

The statistics were gathered during the last three months of 2008, which was when the US elections was really intense and the economy crisis was much felt. However, the people watching the news to keep track of these significant events are not solely to blame for the sudden rise in TV watching since the rise is, according to Gary Holmes of Nielsen, actually a long term trend. Factors that really contribute to the rise include…

more cable channels – This means a greater variety of shows to choose from at all hours of the day.

Technology – TiVo and DVR has made TV watching a lot more convenient even for the busy people, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to watch TV.

Economy – The news watchers is not to blame this time but the fact that people are trying to save money thus turning to the cheaper form of entertainment, at least compared to movie going and eating out, which is the television.

What isn’t taken into account with this study is the viewers’ habits so that the actual time spent in front of the television watching instead of doing other things while it is on is not really known. On the energy/environmental friendly note please refrain from doing this and turn off your TV set when not watching. Remember it will also help lower your electricity bills!

I have no set plans for New Year’s Eve, do you? I am looking at going out of town to celebrate at some strange place. An alternative would be to go to one of those New Year countdown parties in the city. Another alternative would be to go home to my parents again (as we did for Christmas). I really do not know which option we are going to take but we might very well end up staying at home and having our own little party and if that is the case, we would probably tuned in to one – or two, or three – televised countdown parties. In the event that like me, you end up watching the tube on New Year’s Eve, here are some shows that you can look out for, courtesy of The Associated Press:

The granddaddy of New Year’s Eve entertainment is “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009,” the title made even more torturous by the baton-passing between the two entertainment utility players. The show has a prime-time hour at 10 p.m. ET, breaks for news, then returns with Swift, the Jonas Brothers and Lionel Richie in Times Square. Fergie will host a Hollywood segment with the Pussycat Dolls and others.

Carson Daly is hosting his fifth New Year’s Eve special on NBC, with the same format: an hour in prime-time, a break for news, and a longer party. T.I., Ludacris, Katy Perry, the Ting Tings and Elton John all join Daly.

Daughtry and Scott Weiland are featured players on Fox’s late-night special, with Spike Feresten and Mark Thompson as hosts. It airs at 11 p.m. ET.

One recent trend is partying news networks: if you want to jam with Anderson Cooper or Bill Hemmer, you can. Cooper, teamed with comic Kathy Griffin, is in Times Square for CNN, which boasts a surprisingly cool lineup of Lil Wayne, My Morning Jacket and Hinder. Fox’s “U Party 2009″ has LoCash Cowboys and Chuck Hicks.

The hardest workers of the night? Try the classic rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd — they’re booked on both CNN and the Fox broadcast network.

Do stay away from CBS as they are resting that night. Instead of a full blown New Year’s Eve telecast (or even half blown, mind you) they are airing reruns of the Late Show with David Letterman.

Christina Aguilera loves being a mom. The pop star — once famous for her shocking hair styles and bizarre fashion statements — has obviously changed priorities. During her guesting on the Ellen deGeneres show,she talked about nursing her son and all the fun “mommy things” she’s now into.

Not that Christina could ever be the “typical, conservative” mom. “For decorations we put up penis balloons all over the place. It was really fun, it was really great.”

Guess they were out of Beatrix Potter poster?

You go, girlfriend. Tyra Banks’ show, self-titled Tyra finally tackled a topic most TV shows skirt around: the vagina. She’s been wanting to do this for 2 years, having observed that women can freely talk about sex, or watch sexually explicit scenes, but still feel uncomfortable about saying the “V Word”.

“We should be able to talk to our daughters, sisters, mothers and friends about our bodies and not be embarrassed. I hope after this show women will not be ashamed about what’s up down there.”