Celebrate the 4th by watching television!
It’s another holiday, and that means more TV marathons and specials! Here’s a handy guide to the 4th (and the 5th and 6th).
July 4
- AMC has Planet of the Apes movies all morning, then the Jaws movies starting at 10:30am.
- At 6am, USA has a Walker, Texas Ranger marathon.
- TMC has episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (80s version) at 6, then Hitchcock movies all day.
- At 7, ESPN2 has coverage of Wimbledon Tennis.
- At 8, A&E has a marathon of Paranormal State.
- Biography has a City Confidential marathon starting at 8.
- There’s a Twilight Zone marathon starting at 8 on Sci-Fi.
- At 9, TruTV has a Beach Patrol marathon.
- FX has a King of the Hill marathon at 9.
- At noon, NBC has more Wimbledon.
- At 2pm, TV Land has an I Love Lucy marathon.
- At 3, HGTV has a Design Star marathon.
- At 8, PBS has A Capitol Fourth.
- At 9, NBC has the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular.
- At 10, CBS has the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular.
July 5
- At 8am, Bravo has a Top Chef marathon.
- At 9, NBC has the Wimbledon Ladies Final.
- At 11, Discovery has a Deadliest Catch marathon.
- At 1:30pm, ABC Family has the Harry Potter movies.
- At 2, A&E has a Criss Angel Mindfreak marathon.
- TV Land has a Hogan’s Heroes marathon starting at 2.
July 6
- At 9am, NBC has the Wimbledon Men’s Final.
- At 11, Food Network has a marathon of Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee episodes.
- At 3pm, CBS has the final round of the AT&T National Golf Tournament.
What’s next for Rachael Ray? Her memoirs
According to that journalist without peer, Ted Casablanca — yeah, I’m sure that’s his real name — Food Network diva and Emmy-winning talk show hostess Rachael Ray is working on a new project.
No, it’s not a new cookbook or anything about food or travel, her two specialties on FN. Rachael Ray is writing her memoirs, the story of a kid from upstate New York who’s made in big on TV.
Rachael, who turns 40 on August 25, has had a meteoric rise on TV, and as I wrote last week, she’s one of five TV stars I think have exceeded expectations. In a very short time, she’s become a force with which to be reckoned.
Her first TV show, 30-Minute Meals, debuted in 2001, just seven years ago. She’s equally popular and unpopular with the masses, which has done nothing to diminish her success. She’s done TV shows, DVDs, cookbooks, cookware, commercials, a monthly magazine, a comic/cookbook for kids — even a Christmas CD (not singing; it’s just her favorite songs)!
One thing that I can tell you will be in Rachael Ray’s memoirs will be self-deprecating humor and graciousness. When I interviewed her in 2007, I asked her about her success on the talk show and she told me, “It’s all been terrific. I’m very, very proud of all the people who work on our show, and our viewers. I never saw me being on TV for any reason whatsoever. That’s what’s been so cool about this. It’s been an organic, fun thing.”
Her being asked to write a memoir, even this soon in her career, is not too surprising. Everything she’s touched has turned to gold. Somebody will make a lot of money publishing her story, including every EVOO, stoup, garbage bowl and sammie.
Also, if she doesn’t write her memoirs first, somebody out there will write a biography that’s likely not to be authorized. In fact, I can hear the keys clicking now from some PC far, far away.
Food Network cooks up six new summer shows
Summer’s here and that can mean only one thing — food! Okay, maybe that’s only what it means at the Food Network. The Food Network will kick off six new shows for the summer beginning right after the Fourth of July. Here’s what’s on tap:
• Grill It! with Bobby Flay - This is the latest from Iron Chef and master griller Bobby Flay. It’s sort of a competition/fantasy show, but not a Throw Down (that’s another show). Bobby will introduce 13 viewers who’ve sent in their videos showing their grilling expertise and why they should be on air to grill alongside BF. The show premieres on July 6 at 9 o’clock a.m. with a shrimp episode.
• How’d That Get On My Plate? - From the field to the plate, hostess Sunny Anderson — who just started on FN in April with Cooking for Real — shows how the things we eat make it to our tables. The first episode is July 6 at 11 p.m. The food in question will be strawberries.
• Road Tasted with the Neelys - The Neelys are also new stars for the network. In this show, Pat and Gina are on the road, visiting family-owned specialty food businesses. Think of this as Feasting on Asphalt meets The Love Boat. The eating and smooching starts on July 22 at 9:30 p.m.
• Food Detectives - As we noted before, Ted Allen’s finally found a permanent spot on Food Network. His new Food Detectives begins July 29 at 9 o’clock p.m.
• Ask Aida - Fans have been sending in food questions to be answered by expert Aida Mollenkamp in this new “interactive” cooking show. Aida’s answers begin with the first episode, August 2 at 12:30 p.m.
• The Cooking Loft - A new face for Food Network, chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli, opens up her loft and teaching four students how to cook. The lessons commence on August 31 at 12 p.m.
Naturally, FN is psyched about the new food fodder; according to Bob Tuschman, SVP of programming, “The variety of new shows this summer will satisfy the wide-ranging interests and appetites of our viewers. We’re showcasing diverse talent, unique formats and new content areas to present fresh opportunities for viewers to dive into the world of food.”
Ellen, Tyra, Rachael Ray Share Daytime Emmy Glory
It’s going to take an armyor at least a stronger contingent than they’ve got over at The Viewto take down Ellen DeGeneres.
The master of witty self-deprecation won her fourth consecutive trophy for Outstanding Talk Show Host, once again besting Barbara Walters & Co. and Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, at the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.
“I never take this for granted…Every single year, I know people joke about it…It’s not what we do it for but it feels so good,” DeGeneres said while thanking her fans, crew, family and fiancé Portia de Rossi.
“We all know this has been a crazy year. On my show, we’ve done a lot of crying and a lot of laughing, and I’ve cried all by myself and people laugh, and then I cry some more…I know you’re counting me down but it’s the longest day of the year, I just read, so I can go on,” she continued, referring to tonight’s summer solstice.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show did not pick up its fifth win for Outstanding Talk Show, however. Instead, that honor went to the endearingly upbeat Rachael Ray, the first major win for the love-her-or-hate-her Food Network star’s syndicated strip.
Philbin, a winner for his talk-show hosting prowess only once in the two decades he’s been doing Live with Regis and Kelly/Kathie Lee, didn’t go home empty-handed this time around, either. The daytime stalwart was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his prolific career in broadcasting.
(Fun fact: The year he won, 2001, was also the year he snagged hardware for Outstanding Game Show Host for the eventually over-exposed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.)
“What a night,” Philbin told the crowd after accepting his award from Jimmy Kimmel. “Tyra Banks told me to kiss her big beautiful and I found out I’m older than the Guiding Light.”
In the backstabbing world of soap operas (we mean on camera, of course), ABC’s General Hospital sewed up its record 10th win for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as a sixth Lead Actor statue for Anthony “Luke Spencer” Geary.
Jeanne Cooper of CBS’ The Young and the Restless, which headed into the evening as the most-nominated soap, with 17 nods, picked up her first win in nine tries for Outstanding Lead Actress.
“I only made up my mind to come on Monday,” Cooper said backstage. “I’m glad I did.”
TYATR’s Kristoff St. John also won for Outstanding Supporting Actor, giving the series three wins overall.
One Life to Live was the most-honored drama of the night with six wins, including Emmys for its directing and writing teams, and Guiding Light was second, with four triumphant moments to its credit.
Despite being all gussied up in Top Model mode, a more serious Banks won the inaugural Emmy for Outstanding Informative Talk Show, a new category that allowed the former catwalker to avoid a showdown with Ellen and The View, both relegated to entertainment talk show status.
Instead, Banks’ two-hanky chatfest beat out Dr. Phil and the dual PBS educational series A Place of Our Own and Los Ninos en su Casa.
“I want to thank Oprah Winfrey for her inspiration,” Banks said. “She is the queen. She will always be the queen.”
“They said that The Tyra Banks Show would last two weeks and we are enterting our fourth season this September,” the outspoken media maven continued.
“I just have a message for everybody out there: When you have a dream, there are going to be so many people out there who tell you cannot do it, that you are not good enough. And I want you to tell them to kiss your dimply, flat, juicy, bootylicious, skinny, jiggly, saggy, fat ass!”
Winfrey’s last win for hosting came in 1995, her fifth consecutive win and sixth overall. She has benevolently been excusing herself and her show from their respective top categories since 1999.
I’m not going to take my name out,” DeGeneres told reporters backstage. “Oprah has made so many bad choices. Look at her career.”
Sherri Shepherd and Cameron Mathison hosted tonight’s ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood where, for the first time, ABC arranged the audience Golden Globes-style at banquet tables. Footage of the well-fed and boozy good times is available for watching on SoapNet.com.
Here’s the complete list of winners from the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.