Jersey Shore's reigning guidette Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi learned last week that reality infamy comes at a price. Like that cushy job back home: "I was a receptionist at a corporation...I was getting good money, like $13 an hour. I got fired when I asked for time off to go to L.A." Look at the bright side though, Snooks: You met Mike Tyson, pitched a dating show on Conan and learned some valuable advice from that new clubbing buddy of yours, Kristin Cavallari of The Hills: "She told the girls not to read the stuff online...You're going to have haters and you're going to have lovers." [E!]
No one can deny that of all the current Saturday Night Live cast members, Kristen Wiig deserves to host the show's Christmas special most. This season, she has appeared in 90% of the show's skits and probably holds cue cards on the rest. But out of all the Kristen Wiig characters (Target Lady, Penelope, Suze Orman even?), why Gilly? Hopefully NBC has some grand plans for its verbally-restricted, mischievous schoolgirl.
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Though it's well-known that Simon Cowell's contract with Fox expires in May 2010 after the ninth season of American Idol, the stalwart snarker is set to announce a new deal regarding his future with the show -- and alleged plans for the American spinoff of his British hit X Factor. X Factor is ostensibly Idol, but with more contestant ballyhooing from the judges. The best possible scenario: Simon Cowell announces that Idol will go on, just under the name X Factor, and voters can elect to eliminate Kara DioGuardi or Randy Jackson and replace them with a free-flying Union Jack at any moment. [NY Post]
Beware, reality stars are taking over late night television. First, the three Jersey Shore cast members with the best nicknames -- "The Situation", Snooki and Pauly D -- hit Jimmy Kimmel Live! to recreate the Christmas story and then they blew Jay Leno's mind during Jaywalk All-Stars, which is basically an SNL Jeopardy sketch. Also featured in a late night doubleheader was Adam Lambert, who visited Chelsea Lately and the Jay Leno Show. For each of those reality star moments, plus the other highlights you missed while rethinking your awards campaign, join us after the jump.
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The SAG television nominations may seem trivial when compared to the Golden Globes (which seem trivial in comparison to the Emmys and the Oscars, which both seem trivial in comparison to the work), but the 2009 honorees include a bunch of actors and TV shows shafted by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The biggest redeeming nomination: Bryan Cranston's work on Breaking Bad. But after the jump, we outline where the SAGs differed from the Globes, including the new drama that landed a big nomination for Best Ensemble Cast, and the minimal love for the cast of Glee.
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It's been a wild ride for the bronzed cast of MTV's Jersey Shore with advertiser complaints, sucker punches, more complaints from Italian-American groups and death threats. But last night, Pauly D., "The Situation" and Snooki put the negativity out of their blown-out and poofed heads to celebrate the birth of Christ on Jimmy Kimmel. Outfitted in robes with easy ab access and joined by a camel, the three wise guidos performed the Story of Christmas. Video after the jump.
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· Showtime is opening its arms to another dysfunctional family with Shameless, John Wells' pilot based on the long-running British series. Emmy Rossum has been tapped to play 18-year-old Fiona, a working-class Chicago daughter forced to raise her five younger brothers and sisters when her mother goes AWOL and her alcoholic father (William H. Macy) heads down a path of destruction. Tripling its chances for an Emmy, the series has cast Allison Janney as a love interest for Macy. [THR]
The Beautiful Life has found a savior, CBS wants to take on overeating, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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Avatar Mania (Avatranche?) is set to infect TV tonight via So You Think You Can Dance musical performances and a sit-down interview on The Jay Leno Show. Also: The movie that inspired the top-selling soundtrack of the 2000s makes a splash on country TV. Nope, it's not Coyote Ugly 3: Time to Get Off the Bar.
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As Mark Lisanti broke down into raw data for you a little earlier, two MTV personalities have distanced themselves from their guido pack this week: Snooki and "The Situation." Maybe it's their catchy names or that scandalous guido-on-guido act of violence, but last night the tanned pair made their late night debut on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. After the jump, video of "The Situation" christening Conan, along with the other moments you missed while honing those evil Harvey Weinstein mannerisms.
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Last season Kyle Buchanan guessed the plight of each new Project Runway contestant (and very correctly identified Mitchell!). Judging by the new materials on Lifetime's website, it's time to slay Season Seven's competitors. Big news: I like almost all of them. While Tim Gunn has yet to release his thoughts on each contestant, Movieline has gleaned their personalities, quirks, and instability through their bios. I voice my (few) lingering cautions on each contestant after the jump.
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Last Friday, MTV took an uncharacteristically moral stance in their decision to not air the "guido punch heard around the world." The conclusion was reluctantly reached when viewers flooded the network with complaints after repeatedly seeing the Jersey Shore promo in which Snooki is knocked out by a male stranger; MTV consulted "experts on the issue of violence," pulled the sequence from last week's episode, and hinted in a statement that they would be taking the issue of violence much more seriously in the future. Now, MTV has a history of teasing its viewers (for instance, the network's name still has the word "music" in the title), but would MTV really reverse its standing on a little excessive violence after spending over a decade building its empire around macho reality personalities smacking each other around? Like an abused housewife who has heard "I'm sorry honey, it won't happen again" one too many times, I'm guessing no. Let's take a look at the evidence.
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True Blood already has a ridiculously sprawling cast filled with vampires, shapeshifters, were-vampires, shape-wolves, and drunken hayseeds (the most dangerous of all!), but it seems like every day brings with it a new casting notice for Season 3. Who are all these new people? Who will they be playing? And most importantly, how naked will Alan Ball make them get? Here's Movieline's handy-dandy guide to help you make sense of it all:
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This morning, the New York Post published part of the conversations between Robert "Joe" Halderman and David Letterman's wire-wearing lawyer in November, when the two met to "negotiate" the terms of Halderman's screenplay based on the Late Show host's staffer affairs. Records reveal that Halderman planned to sign a confidentiality agreement but still hold onto all of his proof in the event that someone fire him, burn down his house or kill him: "As I said to you, the only way to be sure that I never talk to anybody is for somebody to kill me. Well, you know, I don't want that to happen." [NYP]
Simon Cowell plans to bring David Bowie out of retirement, SpongeBob SquarePants is renewed, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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Jersey Shore's Snooki is gaining ground as a recognizable one-name personality, mostly thanks to the left hook to the face she suffered in the coming attractions (even if MTV has promised to cut the moment from the series entirely). But the network's beehived "guidette" is quick to point out the silver lining in her shiner: "It definitely brought us closer together. It definitely brought us together as a family. We have each other's backs and it was a positive." See that, girls! [People]
The Good Wife heats up today with a sinister twist, and So You Think You Dance winds down with the first part of its finale. Be prepared for Better Off Ted to get even better, and make sure you seek out Joe Pesci on ABC Family, where he gives the performance of a lifetime as a wise-cracking thief who tries to murder an 11-year-old, all in the name of the holiday spirit.
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