Disney has confirmed last Firday that “Hannah Montana” will be airing its last season on 2011. Whether this is Miley’s call or purely Disney’s decision is still open to speculation.
What we do know though is that coinciding with Hannah Montana’s soul searching phase (this season’s finale is said to be titled “Is Miley Saying Goodbye?”), Miley Cyrus is also openly saying that she is personally trying to figure out who she really is. In an article by Jocelyn Vena of MTV Miley said that she wants to do edgier movies as well as record a new album. According to Miley, “I’m doing a record now that’s another pop record, and then I want to come out with an album that’s really who I am. I don’t know exactly who that is yet.”
All I can say about this is that anyone who has anything bad to say about anyone’s efforts to try to figure things out it stupid. So more power to Miley on that.
However, with the track record of Disney’s past big stars and the recent sensationalized tidbits on Miley that has been circulating the past year I can only hope for her that the “Miley Cyrus” that she ends up wanting to be is worth becoming a real model for her present fans. I guess someone should tell her that it really isn’t finding out who you are but striving to be who you want be.
As for “Hannah Montana” her future is a lot more certain. Whether she ends up choosing her rockstar persona or just being Miley, we can be sure that Disney’ll maintain her squeaky clean character.
Wait and see. That’s all we can do till Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and NBC comes up with a compromise that will make them happy (or at least less unhappy).
Just a few months back I was one of the eager well wishers for Jay Leno’s move to primetime. I guess all that good luck and positive energy just didn’t work. Viewership for the Jay Leno Show did not go up (compared to his viewership for the last season of the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno”) and ended up disgruntling NBC’s affiliates, whose local late newscasts’ viewership depend a lot on the previous show. Compared to the viewership of the top show in the 10pm time slot, Jay Leno’s 5.8 million viewers is definitely a far cry from CBS’s “The Mentalist” viewers of 17.5 million. Guess how many people bother to change channels just to watch late news? Definitely not that much.
Because of this, even though talk shows are far cheaper to produce, it is obvious that NBC’s revenues are taking a big hit from the “mistake” of moving Leno from late night to primetime. Their problem now is how do they move Leno back to late night? What will they do with Conan (put him back to 12mn?) and what will they show for the 10pm slot?
According to Jay Leno, “NBC is working on a solution.” What that is, as I said, we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, Conan promises that “We’ve got a great show for you tonight. I have no idea what time it will air — but it’s going to be a great show.”
Good news! Good news! Tyra Banks has announced that the Tyra Show will retire after its fifth season.
The show has been getting a pretty good viewership and even won Daytime Emmy Awards twice (2008 and 2009) for being the outstanding talkshow (informative) category. As Tyra said, “Most times, a show leaves the air because not many people are watching. Well, you all are watching, in record numbers.” However, she will be focusing on other projects at her company Bankable Studios and says that the company will be making movies.
Honestly I don’t really care why Tyra will be going off air because though I do find myself riveted to the weirdly fascinating “informative” episodes of the Tyra Show I get too irritated by Tyra’s “know-it-all” attitude most of the time to get through an entire episode. Give me Chelsea Handler anytime of the day!
As for Tyra’s other shows she says that she will be continuing with “America’s Next Top Model” as well as “True Beauty.”
As for her goal to empower girls (I do root for her goal, I just wish she won’t be so irritating in the process…) she says that her “next huge steps will allow me [her] to reach more women and young girls to help us all feel as fierce as we truly are.”
Holidays are great for watching reruns. Today we’re having a “Weeds” marathon. We’re still on Season 1 and I’m wondering how many seasons we’ll finish this weekend.
Though I still like “Weeds” I do have to say that Season 1 is still the best season to watch over and over again. Of course that is just me but I do like its lighter tone. I guess I will be having the theme song playing endlessly in my head for the next few weeks. After several episodes all I can say is that I am so glad that Weeds will be back for yet another season (Season 6) next year. Hopefully it won’t be the last.
For those who don’t watch “Weeds” the series in a nutshell centers about the life of widow Nancy Botwin (Mary-Louise Parker) and her family. Nancy lives with her kids in an affluent suburb neighborhood and for all appearances seems to be an ordinary single-mom struggling to make ends meet. Of course what makes the whole show totally quirkily interesting is that she sells marijuana (bakes them and sells her goodies) to make a living.
My “summary” doesn’t do it any justice so if you don’t believe me that it’s a must-watch show then just believe the awards show because it been consistently nominated since 2005 and has even won several some of them.
As for me its time to stop writing because “Weeds” marathon break is over and the next episode is about to start.
…Little boxes, little boxes…
It’s Christmas Eve and here I am writing about Simon Cowell. Got to figure out what that means. ^_^
Simon’s making waves yet again (Last week I wrote about his internet reality show – If I Can Dream) after his older brother Tony announced in his podcast, The Cowell Factor, that next year’ll be his last as a judge in American Idol. According to Tony, “Simon will leave Idol at the end of 2010 to concentrate on bringing the American version of X Factor to U.S. TV in 2011.” This means that Simon will still have a very hectic schedule sans Idol. Good for him but that still leaves his fans with many questions.
Will he be appearing on screen for either of his shows (X Factor and If I Can Dream) or will he be staying in the background?
Who will be replacing him in Idol? With Simon leaving, Randy Jackson will be the only remaining original judge. Not that I don’t like Randy but the dynamics just simply won’t be the same. How sucky will Idol be with only Randy, Ellen and Kara?
What will this mean for Idol? With X Factor, also a very successful singing competition (albeit in the UK), coming into the scene we’ll just have to wait and see what the impact to Idol will be.
As for now I leave you with this to mull over while you pretend to sleep with all the racket Santa’s making while delivering presents – Is it right to be thinking of Simon Cowell’s impact on our viewing habits on Christmas eve?
Have a happy Christmas everyone!
I just saw Avatar yesterday and I think that I’ll be seeing it again sometime this week. I need to take my dad with me because I promised to take him with me the next time I saw a good 3D movie. This means a wallet that looks like it’s been on a diet till the next paycheck. But hey, It’s almost Christmas and Avatar is reaaaalllyyy good that I actually don’t mind seeing it a second time (and maybe even third or fourth!).
Anyway, I find myself getting realy into the 3D experience. I remember when we saw Beowulf and my dad said he couldn’t wait till the characters appeared more realistic. So I’m taking him to see Avatar. We also daydreamed a bit about having 3D TVs but agreed that it’ll probably at least a decade more before we see that becoming reality. So I’m really glad to be proved wrong this time.
Sony announced that it had been accelerating its efforts to allow us to watch 3D movies and play 3D games in our homes. In fact, they’re dead set on getting things done by next year – 2010. In their press release last September Sony said that they’ll be developing 3D compatible Bravia LCD TVs. In additiona to this they “will also develop 3D compatibility into many more of its devices, such as Blu-ray Disc products, VAIO and PlayStation®3, to provide a multitude of ways in which 3D content – from 3D movies to stereoscopic 3D games – can be enjoyed in the home.”
Oh yeah! Now that leaves us with only one problem. When will they make TV shows in 3D? Or will they ever find that feasible? Hopefully with 3D TVs they will be!
Reality show and real-time interaction is what Simon Fuller has in mind with the new show he’s developing for the internet. The show, called “If I Can Dream”, is a reality show focusing on the lives of five people – 2 actresses, an actor, a musician and a model – who want to make it in Hollywood. The show will be streamed live 24/7 at IfICanDream.com. Hulu will also show weekly highlights that are 30 minutes long.
What makes the reality show different is that as the group of artists rehearse and live their daily lives viewers can give their feedback real-time. According to the announcement, “Innovative camera and sensor technology will allow a global audience to interact with the aspiring performers through text, blogs, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook as the action unfolds in real-time — something that has never been attempted on a global scale before.”
Simon Fuller is of course excited about the whole deal and thinks that it is “is the dawning of a new age.”
Major sponsors for “If I can Dream” include Ford Motors and Pepsi. Other partners include MySpace, which will be the the exclusive social-networking platform where fans can upload videos to audition for a spot in the series, and Clear Channel Radio.
Oprah isn’t set to say goodbye till September of next year but everyone’s already wondering who will inherit her throne in daytime TV. Maybe Geraldo’s time has finally come (*snort*)!
Seriously though, Scott Collins of LA Times says that the most likely contenders for the slot will be “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “The Dr. Oz Show”. Of course, Dr. Phil might get it considering his on #2 spot in terms of viewership and like Oprah “made” him. Dr. Oz though is also doing really great considering that the show is but a year old, and like Dr. Phil, Oprah also made it. However, if Ellen decides to launch a campaign, like she did with the George Clooney where his poor staff got continuously harassed till he appeared on the “Ellen” or like when she wanted to be on the cover of “O Magazine”, maybe the TV execs will get pestered enough to cave in and give it to her.
Whatever happens though the question is likely moot because daytime TV hasn’t been the same for a long time and with Oprah gone, probably never will. As Steve Farella of TargetCast, an ad-firm, said, “Daytime TV as supplied by the networks is really all but dead. [But] It’s not because the talent isn’t there. It’s because the business isn’t there anymore.”
As for me I truthfully don’t care much who takes the slot because I can just watch reruns of Oprah on the Sezmi (Hopefully the service will be good and they’ll be everywhere by 2011!).
CBS News has reported that award-winning CBS News producer Bernard Birnbaum passed away this Thanksgiving Day at the age of 89.
Birnbaum died from a heart attack at Stony Brook University Medical Center in Long Island. He is survived by Deborah and Amy Birnbaum (Amy has followed her father’s steps and is currently a CBS producer) as well as four grandkids.
Birnbaum is best known for his documentaries some of which include legendary specials spanning controversial and important issues and events such as the Watergate scandal (, Kennedy assassination (“CBS News Inquiry: The Warren Report” and “Who Killed Kennedy?”), the Vietnam War (“Vietnam: A War That is Finished”), and the plight of miners in Kentucky (“Christmas in Appalachia”) for which he won an Emmy. Actually, Birnbaum won 7 Emmys in all.
Some of the CBS shows that Birnbaum produced, whether as associate or senior producer, included: “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite”,”Adventure,” “Eyewitness to History,” “The American Parade”, and “Sunday Morning.”
During his stint as CBS he served as mentor to many aspiring producers and correspondents. According to Sean McManus, CBS News and Sports President, “He always had an encouraging word and was always available to help with a problem. No one who had contact with Bernie can forget his enthusiasm as he would present some little known or forgotten treasure from the CBS News Archives – many of which he had been responsible for filming or taping.”
Before finding his niche at CBS Birbaum studied cinema at Rome, served in Italy during the World War II, and worked as a photographer in MGM Italy.
My head is aching a little bit and my eyes are still a bit puffy. If you watched CNN Heroes several hours ago like I did I bet you know exactly why I still have severe side effects from that awards show.
Last year when I saw CNN Heroes it wasn’t planned and just happened to tune in to CNN exactly at the middle of the show during a replay. Needless to say I was hooked. So hooked that one year later I was one of the avid viewers who clicked repeatedly on my hero hoping for a win. My hero didn’t win but I am not at all bitter because Efren Penaflorida, the hero from the Philippines who taught children Saturdays from a pushcart classroom, deserved the win just as much as any of the 10 nominees did.
If you didn’t see CNN Heroes or don’t even know what it is, it is the best awards show right now. What CNN does is it asks people to nominate ordinary people doing extraordinarily heroic things every single day. This year CNN got over 9,000 nominations out of which their blue ribbon panel selected the 10 CNN Heroes of 2009. Each of the 10 I believe deserved the to be Hero of the Year but since there can only be one I can only be happy for Mr Penaflorida and all the children his pushcart classroom will reach because of the $100,000 grant.
There are no words for the emotions and the inspiration one will feel seeing people strive to make a difference get recognition, so just make sure you see the rerun of CNN Heroes.
