Access Atlanta > Entertainment > Radio Talk > Archives > 2007 > November > 08
Thursday, November 8, 2007
11/8: “24” postponed due to writers’ strike
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The impact of the writers strike has already begun with repeats of most late-night talk shows and the delay of ABC’s “Cashmere Mafia.”
Now we are losing Fox’s “24” for the time being. Fox has decided to hold off on a premiere date until the writers strike gets resolved. The show, Fox figures, needs to run in order in its entirety and the show has only filmed about 9 episodes so far, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The launch date for “American Idol” hasn’t changed: two hours a night on Wednesday January 15 and two more Thursday January 16.
Several new scripted shows are joining the lineup in the winter/spring including “The Sarah Connors Chronicles” (an offshoot of the “Terminator” films), “New Amsterdam” (originally set for fall but pushed back about a man who has lived for centuries) and “The Return of Jezebel James,” a comedy from the creator of “The Gilmore Girls.”
11/8: Dancing With the Stars tour coming to Gwinnett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The “Dancing With the Stars” tour hoofs its way to the Gwinnett Arena January 25 with Marie Osmond, Wayne Newton, Monique Coleman, Joey Lawrence and Sabrina Bryan as confirmed celebrities. There may be guest appearances by others such as Drew Lachey. Among the pro dancers include Cheryl Burke, Mark Ballas and Edyta Sliwinska.
While Pop Tarts sponsors the “Idol” tour, Soft Scrub sponsors this one. Here’s more info at Ticketmaster..
Prices range from $51.50 to a whopping $167. There’s a pre-sale Friday but most tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m.
The show on ABC held up well in its fifth incarnation, averaging about 20 million for the performance show and 18 million for the results show. Jane Seymour was ousted this past Tuesday. “Cheetah Girl” Bryan, an early favorite, was the shocking ouster last week.
11/8: On Star’s Tom Sullivan, Bert, Drudge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Star 94’s Tommy Sullivan yesterday said he will not be part of the new morning show with Marco, Shannon and Mikey set to come on January 2. He said his last day doing mornings will be mid-December. He is still in discussions for another possible job at Star 94 but if that doesn’t work out, he’s ready to move on. He at least has his “Atlanta & Company” job, which he said he hopes will lead to other opportunities as well. Heck, the guy has been at Star 94 since he was a teenager, going back the disco era. And that in and of itself is incredible. (Star 94 is starting its Children’s Healthcare radioathon today and understandably, Steve & Vikki chose to leave last week instead of, say, Thanksgiving, because they didn’t want to go through the radiothon.)
Sullivan was also in the New York Times Sunday in a story about people who spend mucho bucks trying out for reality shows. (“It was awesome!” he said.) He was the lead anecdote, noting that he spent $8,000 in travel, hotel, video production, et. al, trying out for CBS’s “Survivor” for five years. He said he attempted to get on the show from cycle 2 to cycle 11. He made it to the “semifinals” five times but never made the cut. He said “Survivor” casting folks said Tom came across as “too nice” for the show. Sullivan said he did a farewell casting video in which he insulted the staff, a basic middle finger to “Survivor.” “I was fed up,” he said. He has not watched an episode since.
Q100’s Bert Show took a caller this morning who asked the crew about Steve & Vikki. Bert Weiss repeated what he told me last week, that he has nothing but respect for their longevity and success. And even Jeff Dauler held back on mocking them as he has in the past because as he noted, he sees Steve and sees a mirror, that this could and may eventually happen to them. Everybody in radio has a shelf life and Bert said a bar friend compared them to a vodka brand at a bar. People will enjoy them for awhile, then move on to another brand. “We’re a commodity,” Bert said. That’s not necessarily true. That implies that the Bert Show is interchangable with anything else. They are unique and they have created their own success. When a caller was about to explain why she liked the Bert Show and why she no longer listened to Star 94, the Bert Show cut her off, saying this wasn’t the right place to do that, that they didn’t want to go there. Jeff predicted that Steve will be back on the radio “like a ninja, kissing some” you know what.
Meanwhile, 640/WGST is no longer airing the Drudge Report on the radio because Matt Drudge has dropped his Sunday night radio show, saying he wants to focus on the Web site. WGST is now using Bill Cunningham out of Cincinnati.
