Justin Timberlake Hits TV Land
Justin Timberlake Hits TV Land
He’s conquered the world of Pop Music, and done pretty well for himself on the big screen. And last night Justin Timberlake was all about making his mark on TV Land.
The “Like I Love You” crooner was in the house for the 2008 TV Land Awards, held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
And he had the esteemed pleasure of presenting the Lucille Ball Legacy of Laughter Award to none other than “Love Guru” star Mike Myers.
Justin clowned around a bit with Mike as he came up onstage, with both gentlemen looking dapper in dark suits.
No Laugh-In Matter: Dick Martin Passes
Funnyman Dick Martin, best known as the cohost of the 1960s television hit Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, died Saturday in Santa Monica from respiratory complications. He was 86.
“He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago,” said Martin family spokesman Barry Greenberg.
On the pioneering sketch show Laugh-In, which mined humor out of hippie culture and other topical issues of the late 1960s, goofball Martin and his straight-man other half, Dan Rowan, helped launch the careers of, among others, Lily Tomlin and Goldie Hawn.
Martin also starred as Lucille Ball’s neighbor and love interest in her comeback sitcom The Lucy Show and, after Laugh-In’s run ended in 1973, went on to direct several television shows, including Newhart and Family Ties. He also appeared on The Love Boat and Diagnosis Murder.
He is survived by his wife, Dolly Read, and sons Cary and Richard. Rowan died in 1987.
Big Brother 9: PoV Competition #10
(S09E30) “I kept getting turned down for acting jobs. Then I realized God wanted me to go on TV and be me.” - Natalie
Well, I don’t know about that. The more I watch Natalie on Big Brother 9, the more I’m sure that Paula Abdul, Lucille Ball, and Chucky the killer doll had some sort of bizarre ménage à trois and came up with a love child named Natalie who has found religion and uses it as it suits her needs. Sure, she can play the game well. Oh, and she surely does a good Natalie. But I can’t see her ever becoming an actress. Read on past the jump for my full review of tonight’s show.
At the end of the last episode, we saw the tides turning against Natalie. Sheila had promised Ryan and Natalie she wouldn’t put them up on the block as they dropped out of the head of household competition letting her win. So she really doesn’t have any choice but to put Adam and Sharon on the block. She lets both of them and Ryan know her real target is Natalie.
Once again, the Diary Room segments editing was perfect. Sheila tells us that the worst case scenario is that Natalie will win the power of veto. (Of course, since it’s Sheila, she can’t come up with a line to use just once. She repeated the “worst case scenario” line twice more during the episode.) In her segment, Sharon told us that Natalie has no clue the whole house is against her. She’s pretty confident that she’s safe. Then it was time for Natalie’s segment. She gloated how she’s been playing both sides — Team Christ and the Girls Alliance — and she’s not worried at all this week. Adam, well liked despite his gross personal habits, is worried.
Natalie, as she usually does when one of her alliance buddies is HOH, went up to visit Sheila and get even closer. Surely Sheila is dependent on Natalie for running the Head of House, right? After all, she ran Adam’s to a point, Ryan’s … and it’s due to her that Sheila even won it. I think the girl might be in for a rude awakening.
Sheila started talking about what a baby Adam is being about being on the block and Natalie just ate that up. But, even though they’re the last of the couples, Natalie doesn’t know the extent of Sheila and Adam’s relationship. Sheila told us that she will do whatever she needs to do to protect Adam in the game. She’ll bash him in front of the girls, but she wants to be in the final two with him.
But then there’s a bit of a skirmish between the Natalie, Ryan, Adam, and Sheila alliance over Adam’s reaction to being on the block. I’ve noticed that Ryan has a bit of a bully side to him and, sure enough, he used it on Adam. He started in on how Adam put their alliance at risk last week by putting Sheila on the block while he knows darn well that they want to backdoor Natalie this week. I don’t care for bullies and the more Ryan pulls his Mr. Superiority act, the more I’d rather he not win this season. I can’t picture in my mind what the relationship with Ryan and Jen must be like. They both have aggressive personalities.
“I’m not calling you out, but you put our alliance at risk last week. You can’t blame Sheila,” Ryan said. Now, I didn’t see Adam blaming Sheila, did you? No, he wasn’t happy going on the block, but he’s more worried about the possibility of going home rather than placing blame on anyone. Ryan has to be the big guy, though. So Adam must listen. I guess.
Then it turns on Natalie. As Adam and Sheila discuss her, Sheila complains that Natalie has never really communicated with her in the house. I recall she said the same thing about others — no one takes the time to know her. Well, perhaps if Sheila didn’t keep repeating the same things all the time, people might be a bit more willing to get to know her. It’s just a thought, but there you go. Adam starts spewing biblical — “False witnesses never profit. Natalie is Judas.”
Oh, perfect. An image of Adam as an evangelical television minister just wafted into my mind and I can’t get it out of there. I can see it now. “False witnesses never profit. You know whut I’m sayin’. Natalie is Judas! You know whut I’m sayin’ right?” Between the Jersey accent and repeating that “you know whut I’m sayin’” phrase which annoys the heck out of me … gack. I’m going to have nightmares tonight!
The houseguests were expecting the POV competition, but not one at night. Such excitement for the hamsters! Adam, in a Diary Room segment, told us he wants to be on and off and D-U-N. Will he get his wish? Remember, the worst case scenario is for Natalie to win. If she wins, the nominees remain the same. Anyone else winning will presumably remove one of the nominees from the block. Then Sheila will have no choice but to put Natalie up. Sheila gives Sharon her bleeping word that she won’t be going home.
Natalie is sure she’s going to do well. She has preemies. I’m not sure if she realizes that’s a word used for babies born before they’re due. She thinks it’s a cute nickname for premonitions. Either that or she has tiny babies hidden around the house who will leap out and help her win the power of veto. Yeah, that must be it!
The houseguests were separated into various rooms in the house and had to wait to be summoned to the yard. Once there, they found a huge TV screen and a table full of remote controls. The TV screen actually had nine individual screens. They had to use the remotes to flip puzzle pieces, complete the puzzle at hand, then hit the buzzer. If they’re wrong with their solution, they have to redo it until they get it right.
I know I’ve ragged on Natalie throughout this, but she’s so easy … er … but she was the funniest in this competition. “Where’s the top of Adam’s head? Where’s his head?” she shouted at the screen. She had likened the whole set-up to a 70s love shack. Um, I don’t recall any love shacks like that in the 70s. I think it was more along the lines of the VW microbus.
The images as they surfed the channels were of houseguests and guinea pigs with houseguest hair. Ryan claims he was mesmerized by the beauty of Jen’s image and it threw his timing off. Sharon was horrified that Jacob’s face was on Evel Dick’s body. Everyone was worried because Natalie has always claimed to be a puzzlemaster (not to be confused with being a puppermaster). But Adam had an efficient approach about it. He first set up his workspace and soon realized the correct solution to the puzzle was in the guinea pigs, not in the people. It wasn’t a good competition for Sheila. She saw Evel Dick’s image and got all hot and bothered — run, Dick, run! Run like the wind!
When the results came in, it was no surprise that Sheila had the worst time. Ryan completed the puzzle in 6.01 minutes, Sheila 15.30, Adam 3.20, Natalie 12.09, and Sharon had a time of 4.56 minutes. So, Adam won the power of veto and Sharon came in second. When Natalie saw her own score after thinking she did so well, she looked a bit like the Wicked Witch melting. Heh.
Adam was pumped! He strutted, he smiled, he laughed, he stuck his chest out. But it’s Big Brother, they had to get down to scheming. They all know he will take himself off the block and Sheila should be putting Natalie up in his place. Sheila told both Sharon and Adam that Natalie will not only go on the block, but she will go home. She gave her word she wouldn’t put her on the block, but she never said anything about not backdooring her. She wants everyone to play her and make her think she’ll be staying this week.
So Sheila plays Natalie. You see, Natalie is starting to get a bit suspicious of whatever is going on between Sheila and Sharon. “They’re talking smack about me. I know it!” Sheila calms her ruffled feathers and assures her she isn’t going anywhere this week. Oh my, how easily they lie to each other in the house. Sheila looked her right in the eyes and promised her she’d be safe when her goal is to get her gone.
The drama was broken up by Sheila’s birthday party. If you’re wondering why they sang “She’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” it’s due to those pesky copyright issues. Sheila cried. She got a letter from her mother and cried some more. Believe it or not, single mom Sheila was raised by a single mom. I wonder if her mother harped so much about being a single mom, but I digress. Sheila doesn’t have a great relationship with her mother and had no clue that her mother’s a huge fan of the show and has watched every season. Sheila cries some more. She thinks she will have a better relationship with her mom all due to Big Brother. Aww, almost brings a tear to my eye. Or not.
Back to scheming now … the boys (will they ever be MEN?) realize that once Natalie goes on the block, they’ll be in charge. They’ll have the only votes to decide eviction. Natalie is already on them reminding them what a great partner she is of theirs. Sheila is telling them how she wants Natalie out. Sharon thinks they’re keeping her. After Sheila gets mad at Adam and threatens to put his boy on the block, the only hurdle they face is making sure that Natalie goes on the block and not Ryan. As long as Natalie goes up, Ryan says they’ll run the house and the vote from here on in. They don’t have to vote the way anyone wants them to and can make up their own minds.
The POV meeting itself held no surprises. Adam went through the formalities and asked Sharon why he should use the veto to save her. She told him he shouldn’t. He won it, he deserves it. I got a kick out of him saying, “Motivated by Sharon’s speech, I’ve decided to use the veto to save myself.”
Sigh. Then came more tears. Sheila started saying how difficult the decision was, the hardest one she’s had to make so far in the house. I thought her nominations last week were. Oh, this must supercede that, gotcha! Trembling, shaking, and tearing up, she nominated Natalie in Adam’s place. Now, who could have seen that coming? I can’t believe her drama when everyone in the house already knew she’d be putting Natalie on the block!
Next episode: Boys Gone Wild, it’s eviction time!
Fifteen great New York TV shows
New York, New York — a place so big that had to name it twice. Isn’t that what they say about the Big Apple? Recently, movie critic Leonard Maltin, host of the ReelzChannel original series Secret’s Out named his picks for the 15 greatest New York scenes in movie history. That got me thinking about the television shows that are intimately tied to New York, series that are inextricably New York shows. Whether they are — or were — filmed in the city, here’s 15 absolutely, positively New York TV shows (in the order in which they debuted!). You don’t have to agree with me — and I may have overlooked one or two (which I urge you to comment and let me know) — but I have good reasons for every one of my choices!
1) The Honeymooners (1955) - Ralph and Alice Kramden, forever struggling to get out of that crummy Bensonhurst apartment, could there be a more New York story? Ralph was a bus driver, driving on the streets of the city, always looking for a get-rich-quick scheme to make a bundle. And his best friend, Ed Norton, was in on every scheme, because his daily grind was toiling under the street — in the New York Sewer System. As played by Jackie Gleason and Art Carney (as well as sharp-tongued Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph as their spouses), the emphasis was on a realistic reflection of working class New Yorkers.
2) I Love Lucy (1951) - When Lucille McGillicuddy married Ricky Ricardo, a Cuban musician and singer, they settled down in New York City where he was a regular at a nightclub called the Tropicana. Their home was a one-bedroom apartment at 623 East 68th Street, which technically was in the East River, but why quibble with facts? The fact is that Lucy and Ricky were a typical New York couple of that era, enjoying many of the things the city offered, like the theater, but still struggling to make ends meet. But for Ricky’s career, New York was the place to be. Interestingly, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz could have put the show in L.A., where they lived and filmed the show. They chose New York because it was more realistic. It was even realistic when Lucy and Ricky decided to move to the suburbs — Connecticut — after having Little Ricky.
3) The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) - Technically speaking, Rob and Laura Petrie lived in New Rochelle, outside New York. City But Rob was a commuter and much of the show revolved around The Alan Brady Show, which was broadcast from Manhattan and that’s where the writers — Rob and Sally and Buddy — put the show together. Creator Carl Reiner based the show on his experience as a writer/performer on Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar, so the series was imbued with New York-isms. A character like Buddy Sorrell was pure New York pastrami on rye.
4) McCloud (1970) - This series was inspired by the Clint Eastwood movie Coogan’s Bluff, plunking a westerner into New York City and seeing how he’d use his cowboy ways solving crimes. It had a real western star, Dennis Weaver, who’d earned his spurs on Gunsmoke, and the sight of him riding a horse and wearing a Stetson in the streets of Manhattan was a beautiful oxymoron — and a hit show.
5) Kojak (1973) - Who loves ya, baby? Telly Savalas as Theo Kojak. The series was set in a New York City detective squad and was gritty and real long before NYPD Blue. It also had a good feel for the ethnic mix of the city, reflecting the Fun City era of New York really well.
6) Barney Miller (1975) - Like Kojak, Barney Miller was a New York cop show, but this was a comedy. Set in a Greenwich Village station house, it showed all kinds of crazies and characters that might need the services of Barney and company. As the sane center of it all, Hal Linden was the perfect straight man. With the Village as its backdrop, Barney Miller definitely channeled New York and only New York. You could not mistake it for Pittsburgh or Detroit.
7) Taxi (1978) - The group at the Sunshine Cab Company was as motley a bunch as Barney Miller. They were funny, ethnic, ramshackle and definitely city-dwellers. And the workplace, a cab company, was intrinsically New York. Add Louis DePalma, Alex Reigor and Latka Gravas to the mix and you have a Manhattan pot luck dinner.
Cagney & Lacey (1982) - Cops in New York are a running theme here, but you’re not going to find a better duo than Cagney & Lacey. And they were very New York; Christine with her Irish cop dad, cool loft apartment and procession of interesting dates; Mary Beth, a housewife and mother who lived in Queens and struggled to balance both her work and home life. They chased bad guys through the subway, went undercover as hookers, they were a part of the city.
9) Law & Order (1990) - In every version, Law & Order lives and breathes New York. Whether checking out a murder in Soho or driving to Riverdale in the Bronx to interview a suspect, the detectives are actually on the streets and interacting with New Yorkers.
10) Seinfeld (1990) - If this list were in order of New York importance, Seinfeld would rank number one. Its characters are like Woody Allen clones; they don’t function well out of the grime of the city. One weekend at Boca nearly destroyed Elaine (okay, it was the sofa bed, not Florida itself!) The diner, the parking places, waiting for a Chinese restaurant, standing in line for a marble rye — it’s all about New York.
11) NYPD Blue (1993) - Steven Bochco’s New York was more raw and real than the New York in Kojak or Law & Order. He showed much more of the dark side of the city, the horrible murders and shattering crimes. He also dared to show that the detectives investigating these crimes could not keep from being emotionally involved. NYPD Blue wasn’t ripped from the headlines. It ripped at your heart and conscience.
12) Spin City (1996) - How could a look inside the world of the New York City mayor, albeit a fictional one, not be on this list? Michael J. Fox was as energetic and spunky as the city. The opening of him roller-blading through the city is an indelible image of life in New York in the 1990s.
13) Sex and the City (1997) - Here was a show that was a love affair to New York. The women lived in, loved in and could only thrive in an environment like Manhattan. Carrie’s column was a reflection of life as a New York woman; you can’t write like that if you’re in the ’burbs.
14) The King of Queens (1998) - I struggled between putting this or All in the Family on the list; both are set in Queens and both are very New York. But what tipped the scales to King is that on that show, Carrie dreamed of moving to Manhattan. She was a Queens girl who wanted more. Queens was more than a place in which she lived, it was a mindset. She wanted to be a New Yorker. Doug just wanted a big-screen TV and wings. Archie and Edith really could have been living in Buffalo.
15) How I Met Your Mother (2005) - Although it’s only been on the air a couple of years, Mother is a very New York show. The characters are snobby about living in the city, sneering at bridge and tunnel people. McLaren’s is a Manhattan watering hole, as important to these five characters as Central Perk was to the Friends.
By the way, Friends missed the list by a smidge. They never completely convinced me that any of them could afford those apartments on what they were making. Also, when Joey got a job on Days of Our Lives, it made no sense because the show was filmed in L.A. He should have been cast on All My Children — a real New York soap (Editor note: But not an NBC soap. Mystery solved — Joel).
If this list could be longer, I’d add: 30 Rock, The Odd Couple, Mad About You, Rhoda, The Defenders, Make Room for Daddy, Car 54, Where Are You?, Family Affair, That Girl, The Patty Duke Show (”but Patty’s only seen the sights a girl can see from Brooklyn Heights”), The Jeffersons (”We’re movin’ on up to the East Side, a deluxe apartment in the sky!”), Welcome Back, Kotter (”Up your nose with a rubber hose!”), Kate & Allie, Beauty and the Beast (the sewers!!), The Nanny (”She was working at a beauty shop in Flushing, Queens…”), Will & Grace (argh — how could I leave it out?), Ugly Betty, New Amsterdam… Oy vey, there are too many. Go ahead, tell me what I missed.