If you aren't a regular commenter on the blog of Newark Star-Ledger television critic Alan Sepinwall, then you probably haven't realized that Chuck, of all series, has become one of the most polarizing shows on television. The perennial bubble-dweller (where it dwells once again) is well into its third season, and yet lead couple Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) are still playing a game of will-they-or-won't-they-or-what-other-obstacle-can-they-throw-in-their-way. And you thought the courtship of Jim and Pam was drawn out.
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· Who did not see this coming? After the Hallmark Channel inked a deal with Martha Stewart to give the home guru seven hours of air time a day, Crown Media, the network that owns both the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movie Channel, is now considering forking over an entire one of its networks to Stewart. If that is the case, the syndicated talk host would be following in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey, whose highly anticipated OWN will replace the Discovery Health channel in January. Please broadcasters, just spare us the Rachael Ray Network. [NYP]
Jon Heder parachutes out of a Gary Sanchez production, Fox plans to keep Punking viewers , and more TV Bites after the jump.
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Betty Draper's deceased dad may still haunt AMC's Mad Men, but the network has opted to explore actually undead people in the form of Walking Dead, the comic book about post-apocalyptic zombies and a group of human survivors. AMC will re-imagine the books in October as a six-episode serial in fall with up-and-comer Jon Bernthal announced as a cast hire. But does Walking Dead offer anything to make it a companion series to AMC's other ventures? You'd be surprised.
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Have you ever found yourself watching a Desperate Housewives rerun while wondering, "Why can't I ask Teri Hatcher for advice on the affair I'm having with my neighborhood plumber?" Well, now you can thanks to a new project launched by ABC's parent company Walt Disney Co. called "A Chick's Guide to Life." The actress (and a panel of experts) will offer real life housewives "solutions to the needs and obligations of today's modern woman" on the website GetHatched.com. [AP]
If you were under the impression that A&E's new reality series Kirstie Alley's Big Life would chronicle its star's extraordinary efforts to shed a hundred pounds while simultaneously launching her Organic Liaison weight loss plan, Movieline regretfully informs you that you were wrong. The series actually documents a few random plots pulled from Kirstie's Howard Hughes-ian day-to-day life, only instead of watching as she stacks that hundredth empty milk bottle in her projector room, cameras follow Kirstie as she berates her staff, pathologically obsesses over her weight and counts the pug-sized rats she rescues from the walls of her home. After the jump, Movieline adds up the fat content from last night's episodes of the series that should have been titled Kirstie Alley's Claustrophobic Life Inside a Lemur-Infested Mansion.
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You have to hand it to these Olympic-size fools: The contestants on Celebrity Apprentice pad the show's 120-minute runtime with enough self-doubt, theories about Cyndi Lauper's medicine cabinet and idiocy to make this schmaltz kamikaze bearable. Last night, medal-decorated athletes Summer Sanders and Michael Johnson led their teams in campaigns against identity theft (worst challenge ever, by the way), but the No. 1 moment of the night has nothing to do their middling Powerpoint presentations. Quick, pile in after the jump before Don Trump Jr. slicks you into his gelatinous 'do, compromising your identity forever.
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If a part of you died when MADtv was yanked off the air in 2009, and your heart grows heavy every time you hear the name Bunifa Latifah Halifah Sharifa Jackson uttered in conversation, then Jamie Foxx has got the project for you. In between urbanizing Laverne & Shirley for the big screen and romancing Kirstie Alley long-distance, the Oscar-winner is planning to reinvigorate the "urban-flavored sketch comedy show" genre that he helped pioneer during his days on In Living Color. Details after the jump.
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Buried in the middle of a Washington Post survey of the friction Glenn Beck inspires at Fox News, find this jaw-dropping nugget: "More than 200 companies have joined a boycott of Beck's program, making it difficult for Fox to sell ads. The time has instead been sold to smaller firms offering such products as Kaopectate, Carbonite, 1-800-PetMeds and Goldline International. A handful of advertisers, such as Apple, have abandoned Fox altogether. Network executives say they believe they could charge higher rates if the host were more widely acceptable to advertisers." Yet another excellent reason to invite James Cameron over. Just saying. [Washington Post via THR]
Another week, another televised opportunity for Conan O'Brien that his $40 million exit contract from NBC prohibits. This time, the Conan-event that could have been is the 2010 Tony Awards. CBS reportedly approached the patron saint of screwed Tonight Show personalities to host and Coco was forced to graciously decline, citing contractual obligations to his former employer. Only now, NBC is responding to the claims, saying it was your darling Coco who did not want to host the June 13 ceremony.
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More breaking news from Australia, where the entertainment-industry action is so hot right now that people will do just about anything to break in. Take Brenton Jarrett, an industrious 38-year-old bloke whose impersonations of Skeet Ulrich and Johnny Depp's brother have gotten him into various mix-ups with the law over the years. Now police say he's back as Joshua Hitchcock -- grandson of Alfred (whose only child, as it happens, turns 82 this year) and mastermind of a fake Cheers remake that's a better aphrodisiac than you might think.
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· As tax season peaks nationwide, Fox is filing a few extensions to the cast of its upcoming comedy pilot, Tax Man. The latest addition to the workplace comedy, set in a Fresno IRS office, is Martin Short. The actor, fresh off an arc on FX's Damages, will play the loud jerk supervisor -- the Jack Donaghy or Michael Scott of the tax world -- and will be joined by David Krumholtz and Judy Greer. [THR]
CBS figures out how to say Sh*t My Dad Says, the Salahis return to a nightmare near you, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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Nerds in love? it could happen when The Big Bang Theory adds erstwhile Blossom star Mayim Bialik to the show's season finale. She'll play a potential love interest for the so-far sexless Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons, and Michael Ausiello describes the character as a female version of the character. No word yet on whether her backstory includes a slight autism that's lent itself to meticulous hat collecting. [EW]
Hey kids! Nickelodeon has a lesson to teach you, and it goes like this: If your friends are more popular than you, it's only fair to punish them. At least, that's the way Nickelodeon is handling tonight's Kids' Choice Awards, where Nick executives are trying to undercut the rival Disney Channel by keeping Disney stars out of the press line, the spotlight, and (potentially) the broadcast.
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...So says the show's own Mary Lynn Rajskub, who was notified today. This may call for an unusually basso "Dammit" from Jack Bauer. [Twitter]
Still grieving after the elimination on last night's Project Runway? At least we've got one last blast of the latest castoff's special mix of candor, sage advice, and refreshing personality here in our day-after Movieline interview. Still, though the eliminated designer is a fan favorite, some not-so-sweet things are said about two Runway judges, including one who is "a big contradiction."
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