Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > July > 24
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
7/24: TV updates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can you picture Drew Carey as the host of “The Price is Right”? It’s not a bad selection but he’s definitely going to bring a different vibe to the show, a smart alecky tone that isn’t terribly offensive but distinct from Bob Barker’s warm persona. Clearly, he’s a more acceptable choice than Rosie O’Donnell.
And [here’s an interesting story]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i78ed7fdd05f8f5f53c3edbd23e2717ac) about that popular reality show on Discovery “Man v. Wild” in which host Bear Grylis is supposedly airlifted into a tough terrain (say, the Everglades or Iceland) with just a few survival items and a camera man. But there’s evidence he has occasionally bunked out overnight in motels and staged some of the survival tactics (like wrangling “wild” horses). Will this cause Discovery to abandon him? I doubt it. I always wondered how the camera guy managed to get around on some of that terrain, like crossing a freezing river, and such.
FX’s latest hard-edged drama “Damages” debuts tonight and it opens with Ellen Parsons, bloodied and battered, exiting an elevator and wandering the streets of New York City. What happened to her? Flashback six months and we start to find out. Unfortunately, the actress Rose Byrne, who plays the naive lawyer hired by powerhouse litigator Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), conveys no depth, no feeling that she’s all that brilliant or all that interesting. While she’s the weakest link, Close is the bulwark in this affair. She’s amoral, she’s tough, she’s well aware she’s a bad mom. It’ll be interesting to see if viewers will find her an acceptable weekly presence like FX fans have embraced Tommy Gavin on “Rescue Me” or Vic Macky in “The Shield.”
And that BET show “Hot Ghetto Mess” that nobody has seen yet but are raising a fuss about? The network just changed its name to “We Gotta Do Better.” The web site mocks “ghetto” stereotypes but some feel glorifies them. The show debuts tomorrow night at 10:30 p.m.
Shows that have been renewed: a fourth season of both Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Hell’s Kitchen.” Plus, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” was given 13 more episodes.
HBO has renewed “Big Love” for a third season, too.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment |
7/24: March of Dimes promo this morn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Every major Atlanta radio station this morning solicited money for the March of Dimes. I wanted to visit at least three locales where radio stations were raising cash.
Some stations put more effort into it than others. Star 94’s Steve & Vikki gave it a lot of airtime and had call ins from bacon-lovin’ Tom Sullivan at the White House restaurant in Buckhead. V-103 had its entire morning show at Gladys Knight’s Waffle & Chickens. Dave FM’s Orf and Holly Firfer hit a Starbucks in Marietta. “Southside” Steve Rickman at Eagle went to four different Chick Fil A restaurants. B98.5’s Kelly & Alpha stayed in the studio and directed people to the Web site and auctioned off some Airtran tickets for $4,000. 99X and Q100’s the Bert Show were on vacation and playing “best of” tapes this week so the March of Dimes wasn’t able to leverage the talent there.
I figured once I left my home at 7:40 a.m., I’d be lucky to hit three spots given the traffic — and I was right. I first hose Hot 107.9’s A Team at the Camp Creek Parkway Chick Fil-A in East Point first, but only Griff (below) was there. He said the station couldn’t get an ISDN line there, preventing a full live remote show.
Later, I dropped by Gladys Knight’s in Midtown, where Frank Ski and Wanda Smith were interviewing some dude who was ousted from “Making the Band 4” the night before. Ski said he’ll be leaving for the trip to the Galapagos Islands with 11 kids later this week, followed immediately by a trip to Mexico with a bunch of V-103 listeners.
At another corner of the restaurant, sister station morning host Lorraine Jacques-White (the longest-running personality on WAOK-AM) was at the helm promoting the “Breakfast for Babies”promotions.
And with only a few minutes before 10 a.m., I caught Lance Houston, afternoon jock at 94.9/The Bull, at the corner of 10th and Piedmont outside of Flying Biscuit where several March of Dimes volunteers were soliciting funds on the sidewalk.
As of early afternoon, the stations had raised more than $40,000 through a common Web site. This doesn’t include donations through the various participating restaurants.
