Deadliest Catch behind the scenes - VIDEO
If you turned on your TV over the weekend, you probably noticed that Discovery had gone all Deadliest Catch, all the time. That was, of course, because the new season is upon us today. That’s a good thing, because it really is the best of the deadliest, scariest, dirtiest, frozenest job-based programming. To get ready for the big event, I thought I’d toss up this little video from youtube.
As part of the background filming for the show, the Discovery crew headed out to one of the local watering holes, J. R. Phinickeys, with Josh from the Cornelia Marie. After the jump, you get a look at a whole lot of flaming monkey shots being set ablaze. You’ll also see the Discovery camera man on the left, and Josh coming in to high five the bartender at the end. One more reason to order up that Discovery HD.
Idol Secrets: Amanda, Robbie and David H.
It’s that time of year again. The time when American Idol settles down with it’s Top 24, we start singling out our favorites, and the media starts digging into these people’s pasts and presents looking for juicy secrets like they’re presidential politicians, too. Other than the expected mug shot discovery, two have surfaced this week that are certainly generating a lot of buzz.
One features Robbie Carrico, who has been called out as inauthentic in his attempts to be a “rocker” week after week thus far on the show. The other, the handsome but otherwise dull David H., who had a great week. Of course, Idol and FOX aren’t saying anything about it. In order to not spoil the fun for those who like to avoid this kind of thing, you’ll have to follow me to know more.
If this rumor is right, than Simon is absolutely right in calling Robbie out as a fake. And if Simon knows, as it is hinted that most of the Idol staffers know, then it makes sense why he keeps drilling it in. According to TMZ, Robbie Carrico wears a wig. Now, this is one of those things that’s easy to just laugh off; after all I thought David Cook’s hair looked decided wiggish on this week’s performance show, especially when they zoomed in on a side shot of his head. In this picture, however, it does look less than authentic. And I could totally picture him with male pattern baldness.
The thing is, as Chris Daughtry proved, you don’t need long luxurious locks to look like a rocker. Maybe to squelch these rumors he’ll get an impromptu “haircut” and explain it away as he was trying to get a makeover. Of course, if he does have severe baldness, then he’d better shave it pretty close because those HD TVs don’t miss much. Robbie’s pretty popular with viewers right now, so it’ll be interesting to see if this story has any impact on that. Or if it will be addressed directly on the show.
The next rumor that I guarantee won’t be addressed on the show is the apparently secret past of David Hernandez. As first rumored on VotefortheWorst.com, apparently David Hernandez was a gay stripper at a club called Dick’s Cabaret. Now, David also has apparently been calling out for the “single ladies” in at least one local news interview, so clearly he’s either bisexual or now hiding his homosexuality for some reason.
Since they first posted the story, VFTW has been getting hit with various posts confirming his presence and expounding on the story with similar details among various posters. Purportedly, his stage name was Caden and he danced there and other places with his boyfriend. You can check out various pictures (SFW) of David working in the bar at their site.
As for that mugshot, well it looks like everyone’s favorite rocker Amanda Overmyer got a DUI in October 2006. The article goes on to say she has a string of vehicular offenses, including going 100mph in a 45mph zone and running a red light. Generally, traffic tickets aren’t anything to get too worked up, but a DUI is always a serious thing and exceeding the speed limit by 55 mph is pretty serious business, too. One can only hope that Amanda has learned from her mistakes and won’t be repeating them. And, as crass as it is to say, this kind of story can only improve her “bad girl” rocker image, if that’s what she’s wanting to do.
The bottom line is these contestants are people, too. They’ve lived lives and made bad choices and mistakes just like the rest of us. We just don’t have anyone digging into our pasts trying to find them. Welcome to stardom, kids!
Is possible strike end too late for the current season?
As Bob detailed earlier, it looks like there may be an end in sight to the three-month old writers strike. In fact, Variety reports that now it’s just a matter of crossing the T’s, dotting the I’s, and voting on the new contract. As for the rest of this season and next? TV executives had slated February 15th as the “Do or Die” date. If a deal could not be made by that date, this season was pretty much done and pilot season for next year was at risk as well. But now it looks like this thing may be over by the end of this week.
Compromises were made on both sides, but the streaming revenue the writers were fighting for has been addressed, with scribes getting a flat fee for for the first year (excluding a limited free initial 2-3 week window for promotional purposes) followed by a percentage of distributor’s gross. What this means is that networks will be able to stream all shows for several weeks after their initial airing for free, and they can keep a whole season online for a year for a single flat rate, but for deals like the current streaming of the entire Lost run in HD on abc.com, a percentage cut would go to writers. Download residuals closely followed the earlier DGA deal, which nearly doubles writer residuals there. Hopefully, they can wrap this up soon and we can get our full Lost season in this year. And maybe a late start to 24 as well?
T-Mobile: “Chuck and Dwayne”
This was a really funny commercial, especially because it was so well-performed by basketball players Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley. Charles Barkley (Chuck) puts Dwayne into his “Top Five” on T-Mobile, so he can call him anytime. At first, Dwayne is delighted and tells Barkley to go ahead and call him. Flatter soon turns to frustration as Barkley calls to talk game tips, the definition of HD (High Definition), and because he is bored. Wade resorts to ducking “Chuck’s” calls and hiding to get away from him.
Maybe you have to see it. It’s right under the jump.