Clip of the Day: Holly Blows Celebrity Family Feud
The rules, like some guests, of Celebrity Family Feud seem to be pretty loose. She unshockingly gets it wrong, but we’re pretty certain Holly Madison from The Girls Next Door has an unfair advantage when asked about Hugh Hefner. Then, the other ladywho is in some way or other related to someone from The Sopranosis awarded control for what is clearly an incorrect answer. Hmmph. Someone call Charles Van Doren. We haven’t seen television this fishy outside of The Deadliest Catch.
Behold, the Mighty, Giant Bouncy Balls
Splash, splat, waaah…
The sounds of summer TV are distinctiveand popular, with solid premieres last week for Wipeout, I Survived a Japanese Game Show and The Baby Borrowers, per Nielsen Media Research stats.
ABC’s Wipeout, a slippery, sloppy obstacle course fit for American gladiators, but tackled by American Joes and Janes, was the most watched show among TV’s prized, but ever-dwindling pool of 18-to-49-year-olds.
Overall, it averaged 10 million viewers, posted its network’s biggest summer premiere in three years, and ranked second behind NBC’s veteran summer show, America’s Got Talent (11.7 million).
I Survived a Japanese Game Show, an ABC offering fit for a Survivor-chosen island, but set on, yes, a pads-and-helmets-required Japanese game show, pulled in at 10th place (8 million).
NBC’s Baby Borrowers finished 11th, and averaged 7.9 million people who wondered what sort of people would let teens play parents to their children.
Add in 60 Minutes (third place, 9.4 million), So You Think You Can Dance (sixth place, 8.8 million for Thursday’s show; eighth place, 8.3 million for Wednesday’s show), Million Dollar Password (seventh place, 8.5 million for Sunday’s show) and NBC’s all-new Celebrity Family Feud (fifth place, 8.8 million), and there was little room in the Top 10 for any show that didn’t involve hot seats, buzzers or judges.
If the summer ratings stay strong, can giant bouncy balls be far behind for the fall?
Sure would keep Desperate Housewives hopping.
Other ratings highlights from the TV week ended Sunday:
- With all the premieres, Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen (14th place, 7.8 million) got a bit lost, though not by young adults. In the 18-to-49 demo, the cooking competition heated up to second place.
- NBC’s Last Comic Standing (44th place, 5.3 million), likewise, looked bigger in the demo standings, where it ranked 16th.
- ABC’s Hopkins is billed as a documentary, not reality, serieshence, no giant bouncy balls, and, hence, no eye-popping ratings (34th place, 5.9 million). Still, it won the most eclectic time slot of the season, opposite CBS’ Swingtown (36th place, 5.6 million) and NBC’s Fear Itself (56th place, 4.5 million).
- Swingtown did top Hopkins among younger, more open-minded viewers, finishing 25th in the 18-to-49 demo.
- Ratings-wise, ABC’s Dance Machine (73rd place, 3.6 million) is a throwback to The Ex-Wives Club and other reality-show bombs of last summer.
- In cable, pro wrestling on USA ruled (6.2 million).
- The BET Awards took second, with 5.8 million viewers, but also suffered a 9 percent drop from last year’s telecast.
- Lifetime got a solid premiere out of its new movie, The Tenth Circle (3.1 million). Disney Channel got an even-more solid rerun out of Camp Rock (4.2 million).
- USA’s In Plain Sight (4.5 million) was the most watched new scripted series, followed by USA’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent (4 million) and Lifetime’s Army Wives (3.8 million).
- Michelle Obama’s June 18 appearance on The View helped the ABC daytime show to its biggest week in three months. Among all the White House-aspiring Obamas and McCains who have appeared on The View since March, Michelle Obama drew the biggest crowd (4.5 million), followed by husband Barack Obama (4.1 million), John McCain (3.9 million) and wife Cindy McCain (3.5 million).
Looking at the overall network numbers, ratings continued to do the oddest thinggo up.
ABC and NBC had especially big weeks, thanks to their new summer shows, up 11 percent and 9 percent, respectively, over a year ago. Still, CBS finished on top in total viewers, averaging 6.6 million. Fox won the demo crown.
In cable, USA was the top prime-time network (3.1 million), followed by Disney Channel (2.4 million) and TNT (2.1 million).
Here’s a look at the 10 most watched broadcast network prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:1. America’s Got Talent, NBC, 11.7 million viewers
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 11.7 million viewers
- Wipeout, ABC, 10 million viewers
- 60 Minutes, 9.4 million viewers
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9.2 million viewers
- Celebrity Family Feud, NBC, 8.8 million viewers
- So You Think You Can Dance (Thursday), Fox, 8.6 million viewers
- Million Dollar Password (Sunday), CBS, 8.5 million viewers
- So You Think You Can Dance (Wednesday), Fox, 8.3 million viewers
- CSI: Miami, CBS, 8.2 million viewers
- I Survived a Japanese Game Show, 8 million viewers
50 Cent Restrained, Sues Ex for $20 Million
Welcome to Family Feud: 50 Cent Edition.
It was a busy day for the rapper, who was slapped with a restraining order barring him from coming anywhere near his estanged baby mama but then retaliated with a petition to hold her in contempt of court andthe coup de grâcea $20 million defamation suit.
A Long Island judge signed off on Shaniqua Tompkins’ order of protection, requiring Fiddy to avoid any contact with his former paramour. Tompkins has maintained the rapper was behind a fire that forced her out of the home they once shared, a charge 50 Cent vehemently disputes.
Additionally, the order stipulates that on the days he’s scheduled to see the couple’s 11-year-old son, Marquise, all pickups and dropoffs must be done “at curbside.” Last, Fiddy (whose real name is Curtis Jackson) must forfeit any and all firearms he owns.
“I will not let this man break meI won’t,” the 32-year-old Tompkins said in court.
The rapper is in Canada on business and did not attend the hearing.
Fiddy attorney Brett Kimmel called the order “a retaliatory and vindictive move.” In response, his team filed the contempt petition, alleging Tompkins is not living up to the terms of their custody agreement. (View the petition.)
“Ms. Tompkins is refusing to permit my client to have any contact with his son at all, even to the extent of not revealing his location to him. So we’ve asked the judge to order that access be given,” Kimmel told News.
Per the petition, Tompkins “made it practically impossible” for the rapper to see his son. Affter the inferno destroyed Marquise’s cell phone, the rap star sent a replacement, but she refused to give it to the youngster, per the court papers.
Kimmel claims Tompkins’ behavior could have damaging effects on Marquise’s welfare. The attorney said that she didn’t need to attend the hearing, but did so anyway, bringing the boy with her and giving media interviews in his presence.
“This was all right there in front of him,” he noted.
50 Cent’s camp also served Tompkins with the defamation suit outside of court. (View the lawsuit.) Kimmel said the rapper opted to take the action because he could no longer stand her accusations that he was behind the suspicious fire that gutted her Long Island home on May 30.
She and Marquise were forced to flee through a second-floor window as the fire spread and were treated for minor injuries along with four other people. Not long afterward, Tompkins told the press that 50 Cent had threatened her in the week prior to the blaze.
Kimmel refuted those allegations before Suffolk County Family Court Judge David Freundlich, leading to some lively sparring with Tompkins’ counsel.
“Mrs. Tompkins is promoting the idea that my client is trying to kill her and her son,” Kimmel told the judge.
“Your honor, are you going to listen to these baseless allegations?” responded Tompkins’ attorney, Paul Catsandonis.
Afterward, Catsandonis told News that the fire and legal squabbling has taken a toll on his client and Marquise, who’s caught up in the middle.
“Clearly, [Tompkins] has been traumatized from what’s happened with the fire and now with this defamation lawsuit. [50 Cent] has also made a motion for a visitation order from family court. That’s going to make Marquise a subject of litigation now,” the attorney said.
“Marquise is trying to recover from a traumatic experiencehe’s going to have to be interviewed, serve as a witness, and it’s unfortunate. 50 and his camp, they’re the ones who are initiating these things.”
Fiddy has been in a bitter legal battle with Tompkins for sometime now over the $2.4 million residence, which he purchased in January 2007. He even sought to have her and Marquise evicted unless she ponied up $4,500 in rent. That subsequently led Tompkins to fire back with a breach of contract suit, alleging he promised to put the house in her name.
Investigators suspect arson in the blaze but have yet to make any arrests. At the time of the fire, the performer was in Louisiana filming the movie Microwave Park with Sharon Stone and Val Kilmer and is not considered a suspect.
Kim Kardashian and Family Go To France
Kim Kardashian and Family Go To France
Following a Sunday afternoon television appearance, Kim Kardashian and her co-star family jetted out of Los Angeles - landing in Nice, France on Monday (June 9).
During their Sunday afternoon appearance on Celebrity Family Feud, the Kardashian/Jenner clan found themselves matched up against NFL showman Deion Sanders.
Kim recently posted about the experience in her personal blog, but refused to shed any light on who came out on top, writing:
“When we got to the studio, we finally found out that we were going to play against NFL superstar Deion Sanders’ family. It was quite a contentious match, bringing out Bruce’s famous competitive side! We all got really into it. You will have to tune into NBC to see who won, because I will never tell.”