Fox's master foodie is at it again. Gordon Ramsay has conjured up a new show called MasterChef, only it's not really his idea. See, it's already been done in England and Australia, but Gordon will put his spin on this show. So for all intents and purposes, it's another Gordon Ramsay project. (Like the Alan Parsons Project without Alan Parsons and a small 'p').
In MasterChef, amateur chefs will compete to master the perfect dish. These will be everyday people, not sous chefs or short order cooks, but backyard grillers and homemakers who have a specialty at which they excel. Sounds to me a bit like the Food Network Challenge shows in which people try to make the best chili or the definitive hamburger.
My first thought whenever O'Reilly visits The View is Joy Behar. She always looks like she'd rather be anywhere else but sitting next to him. But I suppose she puts up with it -- and has no choice in the matter -- because O'Reilly and Barbara Walters have been friends for a long time, and Barbara, of course, has the final say on who gets on the show and who doesn't.
This is all speculation, of course. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Just reading the body language, which I've learned a little about while watching Tonya Reiman on O'Reilly's Fox show, The O'Reilly Factor.
Former According to Jim star Jim Belushi is moving to a drama series. He's been tapped to star in a legal drama created by Murphy Brown mastermind Diane English and Homicide and Oz exec-producer Barry Levinson. The show is loosely based on the memoir "How Can You Defend These People?" by TV commentator and lawyer Mickey Sherman.
This is an excellent way for Belushi to wash the stench of According to Jim from his person. If presented as a dramedy (much like many of the popular dramas today), this could be a winner.
Last night was the season finale of Greek, the somewhat-overlooked ABC Family show with the small but rabid fan base. If you have no idea what's going on in the picture above, the ZBZs competed in Songfest. There was also a battle of the bots between Rusty and Dale, which means it sounds like this show appeals to people who like both Glee and G4.
We really don't know much about what's going on with NBC's Chuck, plot-wise. We don't even know when it's coming back.
Televisionary has an interview with Yvonne Strahovski. She talks about how she's a little surprised the show is even coming back and reveals a little bit about where the show will be going after the last season finale (seems like so long ago...) where Chuck got his powers.
[Watch clips and episodes of Chuck and other shows at SlashControl.]
I consider this a huge coup for NBC. After traveling through time and space in the TARDIS the past several years, it looks like Doctor Who'sDavid Tennant is heading stateside to take the lead in Rex is Not Your Lawyer. Tennant will star as Rex, a top Chicago litigator who becomes so crippled by anxiety that he takes to coaching his clients into representing themselves.
The idea is completely madcap, but I think Tennant has just the right kind of wacky tenacity and cavalier bravado to pull off the role. In fact, it was apparently difficulty in casting the role that delayed the project until Tennant bounced in and nailed it.
It'll be interesting to see what they do about his accent. Tennant is Scottish, but adopted an "Estuary English" accent for his role as the Doctor. I think the Doctor's accent would work tremendously with the comedic role described here, but I can see the showrunners pushing him to make like Hugh Laurie (House) and so many others and go American with it.
The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog is reporting that Apple is having meetings with TV networks to see if they'd be interested in having their programs available on iTunes in a deal where viewers would pay a monthly flat fee to watch the shows.
Obviously, many networks already offer various shows on iTunes, but this would be a scenario where Mac and PC users of iTunes would pay a $30 a month subscription in order to watch TV shows. And that would be all shows, not just paying for each show that you want to watch.
You don't usually see Stephen Colbert talking about sports. He even addresses that a little bit in this clip from last night's show, where he talks about the winner of the New York City marathon and Olympic speedskating.
Oscar roulette is usually played when it comes time to figure out the nominations. However, this year there seems to be a wheel of fortune spinning with the names of possible hosts for the show. Of course, the folks running the show have intimated that they might want to have a few stars sharing the duties. Historically, that hasn't worked out too well.