After Italian-American groups railed MTV last week for airing Jersey Shore, a demeaning (or celebratory) series about Italians who feast on hair gel and fist pumping, a new demographic is joining the attack. Only instead of eloquently phrased press releases, this wave of anti-Shore-ers is assaulting MTV staff with abusive "e-mails, phone calls and Facebook messages -- many of which involved death threats." To read one of the incriminating threats and to find out whether MTV is hiring additional security for Snooki or its staffers, follow us after the jump.
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· While the alleged mistresses of Tiger Woods continue dropping onto the media fairway, Nielsen is reporting that broadcast and cable networks silently pulled all of Tiger's advertisements from primetime, late-night and weekend sports programming November 29. According to reports, the golfer, who was recently dropped from Gatorade, was last shown in a 30-second ad for Gillette. There is still one media icon willing to broadcast Tiger in the daytime, but he should probably work on those fake tears first. [AP]
Naomi Campbell considers reality television, Kate Gosselin might replace Bonnie Hunt, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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On the eve of tonight's Biggest Loser finale, The Wrap broke a story about a halted 20/20 investigation into the dangerous risks (dehydration and bloody urine galore!) that NBC's contestants take to lose weight for the reality competition. ABC News allegedly put the brakes on the story when the Loser contestants who had previously agreed to talk were threatened with $1 million lawsuits. So wait, do we have this right: You mean there might be ugly, health-threatening side effects to losing half of your body weight in two months? [The Wrap]
I'm not sure if a salon proprietor's woes are better answered by Frankie Avalon or Bravo's Tabatha Coffey. With Frankie, you get the dulcet tones and clear, palatable instructions: Drop out of beauty school, amateur. With Tabatha Coffey, you receive a piercing grimace and the designation "unprofessional jackass," but you also gain a bunch of moneymaking business ideas. You have to evaluate how much your self-esteem can handle -- and if your best girlfriend rides in a flying car that can take you away, if need be.
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Just two months after CBS aired its final episode of Guiding Light, the Tiffany network has announced that its other Procter & Gamble-produced soap opera, As the World Turns, will end its 54-year run in September. Producers are rumored to be shopping the series, which broke several daytime barriers by depicting the first gay male character and first gay relationship, to different outlets. But a network crossover is unlikely given fledgling ratings and growing production costs, especially compared to the relatively cheap game shows that your favorite improv comedians could host. Paging Diedrich Bader!
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It is rare that Jay Leno claims the most spontaneous moment in the after 10 P.M. line-up, but his fallen (and still unidentified) ping-pong champion clinched him last night's title. The other late night legends tried valiantly to match the Sarandon segment -- Jimmy Fallon even donned head-to-toe spandex -- but the second most interesting moments arose from unlikely guests Kato Kaelin and Shirley Manson. Click through for their strangely nostalgic appearances, as well as the other moments you missed while icing your long, Leno-grazed limbs.
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Recent Saw sequels and Diane Keaton projects validate that film mockery is necessary to our lives. A real shame, because the practice was mastered, patented, and cemented in time on the finest cult TV show of the 1990s, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Beginning as Twin Cities public access programming in 1988 before expanding to The Comedy Channel (which became Comedy Central) and ending its run on Sci Fi, MST3K followed a space-traveling adventurer -- first creator Joel Hodgson, then Michael Nelson starting in '93 -- who was forced to watch terrible movies with his snappy robot pals. The payoff for viewers included 90 minutes of real cinematic trash and the hostages' sarcastic film commentary. Now that five fabulous episodes have appeared on Hulu (including the infamous jet-fighter doozy The Starmaster), let's start wishing for our favorite celebrity-laden episodes to appear. Related: Why, Raul Julia, why?
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· Yes, this is really happening. For the first time since 2002, Saturday Night Live is hosting a holiday special and letting Kristen Wiig's mischievous character Gilly host. The two-hour SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas, airing December 17 at 8 P.M. will feature special guests Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin in reprisals of their popular segments, "NPR's Delicious Dish and the Schweddy Balls" and "A Holiday Wish." Sorry? [Washington Post]
Jack Donaghy gets a new love interest, Shaq's wife scores her own reality show, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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With only six days until the fast-tracked premiere of The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty, A&E has released new preview clips and sent the show's stars (Jackson, Tito, Tito's impressive collection of bowler hats, Jermaine and Marlon) on the promotional circuit. And while Family Dynasty is centered on the Jackson brothers rehearsing for an upcoming tour, each clip -- and each promotional appearance -- without fail, stars the memory of Michael. But the most interesting moments occur when the brothers forget about the cameras and Michael to just fight.
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TNT knows its demographic: the older male who's been ditching Holly Hunter's chump-snapping thighs for the USA network. In an attempt to reclaim some over-40 glory, Ted Turner's channel premieres its garishly titled "dramedy" Men of a Certain Age this evening after The Closer, and it's no surprise that dependable network stars like Ray Romano, Andre Braugher, and Scott Bakula front the proceedings. What's more than surprising, however, is how Romano outshines his co-stars.
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Order up a deep dish pizza and draw yourself a bath. You'll need some comfort after this news: PerezHilton is reporting that after two long seasons, The Bonnie Hunt Show has been canceled. The Chicago comedienne's afternoon talk show premiered in 2008 with Robin Williams as her first guest. Since then, Bonnie Hunt was nominated for three Daytime Emmys including Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling.
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It's about time an American Idol winner fronted her own holiday special. Kelly Clarkson's too busy with artistic decisions to pander to Fox viewers, and Kris Allen's aw-shucks grin is too busy being its own holiday (for me), so the next logical step is that girl who kind of implied a hatred of the Dixie Chicks during the Grammys.
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While waiting for that mythic Arrested Development script to fall from the frozen banana stand in the sky, David Cross penned a pilot for himself called The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. The series stars Cross as a hapless employee who flukes himself into a promotion abroad, Will Arnett as his brazenly inappropriate boss ("If I wanted to see you wear jeans, I would have gone to your sh*tty house!"), Spike Jonze in his first substantial role since Three Kings, and a cameo by Cross's real life girlfriend, Amber Tamblyn. On top of that star power, a three-minute clip (after the jump) proves that the series is funnier than Parks & Recreation. Alas, the series is being aired exclusively on UK's Channel 4. So which U.S. network is going to step up and purchase what could be the best overseas office comedy since The Office? Movieline investigates.
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Adam Lambert just racked up another TV appearance, and unlike his pre-taped performance alongside Sherri Shepherd's unimpressed snarl, this one is live. The slicked-up crooner will sing on the So You Think You Can Dance finale, which will make accomplished gyrator Danny Gokey feel a little under-loved. I look forward to Adam's ballad, which will make us tear up during the emotional "Couples' Forced Fellatio" segment. [THR]
· Only a week after casting Sendhil Ramamurthy in comedic drama pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, NBC has replaced the Heroes regular with real life Southwestern Law School student and actor, Jerry O'Connell. Rex stars David Tennant as the title character, a Chicago litigator who begins suffering from panic attacks and coaches his clients to represent themselves in court. O'Connell will play an "ambitious but good-natured lawyer who was in Rex's shadow until Rex's career switch and whose friendship with Rex becomes complicated when he falls in love with his pal's fiancee (Abigail Spencer)." That Introduction to Legal Writing seminar will come in handy after all. [ABC News]
ABC forgives Adam Lambert, reality television stars eat rats, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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