Here’s the five-day forecast: Weather Channel about to be bought by NBC
Richard told you earlier this year that The Weather Channel was for sale. Now it looks like recent rumors that NBC was going to be the one to buy the TV network are true. Reuters says that the deal should be closed in the next few days, and the reported price is between $3 billion and $4 billion.
If you haven’t noticed, weather is the most important part of a newscast now. I was just talking to my roommate about this yesterday. Every single local newscast opens with news about the weather. Not just tornadoes and hurricanes, but bad rain storms that might pop up later in the day (wow, rainstorms in the summer - shocking!). Weather is the lead story (death, war, and the election can wait), the follow-up story, and the actual weather segment halfway through the show is given another good 7 or 8 minutes.
This could be good for NBC though. Since they love crossovers and filling the screen with ads for other shows and stunt casting, maybe Howie Mandel can do the weather once in a while. Or maybe Donald Trump can do commentary on California wildfires (”You’re fired!”). Or how about Masi Oka in front of a green screen giving the weather? Better yet, create a new Heroes hero that controls the weather and promote it on the network.
Tough times for Ed McMahon
It’s no secret that the country is in severe financial straits, especially people who are caught in the real estate merry-go-round where they find themselves unable to pay their monthly mortgage. Amazingly, someone as seemingly well-heeled and secure as Ed McMahon is one of those people struggling. Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show is on the verge of losing his Beverly Hills home through foreclosure.
Published reports claim that Ed McMahon’s home on Mulholland Drive, part of the gated hilltop development called The Summit, has been on the market for sale since 2006. Unfortunately, moving real estate in a depressed market is very tough. Complicating matters for McMahon is the neighborhood, in particular, one neighbor: Britney Spears.
In one instance, while trying to show the house, potential buyers were faced with navigating streets teeming with paparazzi and TV crews. Would you want to move into a community where you’re facing that every other week?
Currently, he owes $644,000 on $4.8 million mortgage loans. McMahon’s spokesman, Howard Bragman, said that Ed and his wife have had “very fruitful discussions” with the bankers to resolve the problems — and keep them in the six-bedroom, five-bath house.
Ed’s finances have apparently suffered in the past year and a half since he suffered a broken neck. The 85-year-old TV mainstay has been unable to work because of his injuries. Back in 2005, he was touring the country doing speeches about working with Johnny for so many years.
It’s sad that someone as beloved a TV personality as Ed McMahon is going through such tough times, but then it’s just as sad if it’s someone you know personally or a member of your family. Here’s hoping Ed will be able to work again soon and be back on TV making some coin. NBC should give him a gig on one of their shows; he’s certainly as capable as Howie Mandel or Bob Saget as a game show host. Maybe CBS should book him; he’d be a welcomed guest on Million Dollar Password, if you ask me.
Game-Show Shocker! $100,000 Not Really $100,000
I love watching Deal or No Deal, but it drives me crazy when Howie says, "$100,000 is enough to change your life!" After taxes, won't the contestant only end up with half of that? Is Howie just out of the loop? Sarah, Cincinnati
Come, come. How can anyone who shares screen time with George W. Bush on national television be seen as out of the loop?
A Deal spokesman didn't return a call and an email asking for comment, but most game showssuch as The Price Is Rightdo not pick up a contestant's tax tab. The winnings count as nonemployee income on a tax return.
So let's say you have Mary Q. Coffeecozy from Racine, Wisc., and she makes $40,000 a year. Then she wins $100,000 from The Banker. Here's how her life changes:
Her income is then $140,000 total, which puts much of her in a federal bracket of 28 percent (if she's single, which, come on, she is). She will owe roughly to $33,000 to Uncle Sam next April, with $107,000 left over to buy new scrapbooking supplies at Michael's.
Does that kind of shopping change one's life, as Howie Mandel might say? I don't know. Can scrapbooking revolutionize anything?
And if you win even bigger, you pay even bigger. If game-show winnings end up boosting a contestant's total income to more than $357,700 this year, that playerif singlewill owe a whopping 35 percent of it in federal taxes. That, of course, doesn't include any additional dings provided by the state.
When game-show winners fail to pay those taxes, they go to prison. Take Richard Hatch, the very first winner of Survivor, who was found guilty in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on his $1 million jackpot. In his appeal, Hatch insisted that the show's producers had agreed to pay those taxes in some sort of stealthy quid pro quo deal. But the court didn't buy it, and Hatch remained slammerized. He is expected to be released from jail in October of 2009.
Let's just hope he can find a better accountant.
Reality TV hosts get their own Emmy category
Just when you thought awards shows couldn’t get any longer, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that reality show hosts are eligible to receive Emmys. This year’s 60th Annual Emmy Awards will include a category called Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.
The academy named popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Samantha Harris, and Howie Mandel as possible nominees. Ty Pennington, Tyra Banks, and Jeff Foxworthy are also eligible. I’m not surprised that reality hosts are getting this opportunity. The Emmys have had categories for Outstanding Reality Program and Reality-Competition Program since 2001 and 2003, respectively.
I’m happy that some of reality television’s hardworking hosts are getting their due. The hosts of live shows like Dancing With The Stars have particularly tough jobs. On the down side, this means that we’ll potentially see even more of Ryan Seacrest on Emmy night. Seacrest hosted the awards last year, after all. We might end up with the following scenario: Seacrest winning an Emmy at an awards show hosted by him, following an E! Emmys Red Carpet Special hosted by him, with commercials featuring Seacrest airing during breaks. Yikes. Fortunately, the Emmys are airing on ABC this year, so this terrifying scenario probably won’t happen.
Reality show judges, such as Paula Abdul and Carrie Ann Inaba, are not eligible. Simon Cowell will be furious if Ryan Seacrest wins an Emmy before he does. The 60th Annual Emmy Awards are scheduled for September 21 on ABC.