The Royal Mail in the U.K. have decided against producing a series of stamps based on The Benny Hill Show which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the British channel ITV. The subject matter of the show was deemed to be too politically incorrect for the purposes of putting on a stamp.
Anybody who watches the show nowadays would acknowledge that the show contained sketches that were blatantly sexist. Somehow I doubt ITV or the Royal Mail or anyone would put any of the racier scenes of the show on the stamp. It would just be Benny himself mugging for the camera, so to speak.
For the Royal Mail, it likely boils down to this: when you have a program noted for women whose clothes fly off at any given moment and they're left running around in their underwear and that show is put on a stamp, the last thing you want to ask people to do is lick it.
I saw that cover of the December issue of O magazine that was revealed today. Congrats to Ellen DeGeneres. She's been campaigning to get on the cover since last March, and it's good to see her goal become a reality. It proves that even regular folks with a daily daytime talk show and a million Twitter followers can realize their dreams too!
I'm not sure if this is the right venue for this, but I'll just come out and ask: can I be on your cover too? I don't have to be paid for it and you can dress me up any way that you like. I just want the honor of being on the cover with you.
This is a picture of FOX News host Sean Hannity at the Yankees/Phillies game the other night (congratulations Yankees, blah, blah, etc). Ordinarily this wouldn't be a big deal, but it's who's taking the picture that makes it interesting. It's...Keith Olbermann! And Hannity is taking a picture of him, as the photo shows. No, they're not going to use the photos in some court case against each other, they actually get along (well, at the ball game anyway -- America's pastime!).
There's some good news and some bad about The Golden Girls. First the good: Betty White will be returning to The Bold and the Beautiful to resume her recurring role as Stephanie's mother, Ann Douglas. She'll be appearing on a few episodes of B&B, but it could be extended even longer depending on storyline developments.
Sadly, the bad news is that Betty's Golden Girls costar, Rue McClanahan had to cancel a Castro Theater event in San Francisco on November 14 -- a salute in her honor called "Golden: A Gala Tribute to Rue McClanahan" -- because she's had to undergo heart bypass surgery in New York.
Yesterday there was a story on Deadline Hollywood that Oprah Winfrey would be ending her syndicated talk show in 2011 in order to move over to her OWN cable network. She'd still have a talk show, one based on Los Angeles, but it would not be syndicated. It would be on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), formerly Discovery Health.
Well, after the news was reported all over the place, Oprah's company Harpo, Inc. issued a statement that there would be no announcement until the end of the year. They didn't deny it; they just said the announcement about the switch would be later in the year.
To the average fan, if Oprah stopped her syndicated show, it probably wouldn't matter too much. Most people have basic cable and OWN would probably be a major addition to most cable systems, as well as DirecTV and Dish. Longtime fans would be able to watch Oprah on cable or satellite. No biggie.
Let's see: Bravo is owned by NBC and Bon Jovi is appearing on several NBC shows exclusively for a while, including SaturdayNight Live, The Jay Leno Show, and Today (and doing a promo for all of the USA Network shows that feature a "hero"), so it's a natural that the band would appear with James Lipton on Inside The Actor's Studio, right? Right?
I don't actually watch The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but as I have a pulse and an internet connection, I am all to aware of housewife Kim Zolciak and her uh, club jam, "Tardy for the Party." For those of you who may not be totally up on the whole Atlanta saga, Kim is the one who's dating a married man named Big Papa and wears a wig, which she said was due to a battle with cancer-- until she admitted that she had never actually had cancer; she just thought she might one time until she actually went to the doctor.
So anyway, The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion, hosted by Bravo exec Andy Cohen, is airing on Thursday, and part of the festivities involve Kim singing her "hit." You guys, there are two important items to note about this performance: 1) she has dancers and 2) she is not lip-synching.
Have you ever had a drunken friend or relative get up and sing a really inappropriate karaoke song, and you just smiled uncomfortably and prayed for it to be over quickly? This is like that-- except it is most definitely not over quickly.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't get culture and literature from TV Squad. This is the second post about poetry today. (Tomorrow: e.e. cummings.)
I saw Suzanne Somers on Rachael Ray this morning, and then I go to Best Week Ever and see video of SNL's Kristen Wiig reading excerpts from Somers' book of poetry! Unlike the post link above, these words really are from Somers.
Lopez Tonight, George Lopez's new late night show on TBS, premieres this Monday at 11 p.m. His first guests will be Eva Longoria Parker, Ellen DeGenres, and Kobe Bryant. A bunch of other celebs are part of the video below, wishing Lopez luck on his late night talk show adventure.
Each celebrity was paid $10 for their shout-outs to Lopez. Just kidding!
William Shatner has appeared on The Tonight Show to give his typically awesome take on the Twitter messages that Sarah Palin posted to her account when she was Governor of Alaska. Last night he appeared again to recite the Twitter "poetry" of her arch-rival Levi Johnston.
Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade thanks to NBC's territorial attitude. Still, that doesn't mean we won't be watching on Turkey Day. NBC, in fact, will feature one of their own prominently that morning -- 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski will be singing an original song on a float.
It will not be a typical Jenna floppola, either. It's a song being written by the Emmy nominated team of Wesley Whatley and William Schermerhorn. And in case you don't know, Jane's a Tony-winning star who is not only hilarious as Jenna, but a really fine singer/dancer/actress.
That's not all. Alan Cumming is also set to perform in the parade, and it sounds like a doozy, too. He'll sing the Sinatra classic, "That's Life" on the M&M float. What the song, Cumming and Sinatra have to do with M&M candies is anyone's guess.
This is either great news if you like Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray or a warning if you don't like them, but it's interesting news nonetheless: Martha is going to do Rachael Ray's show and then the very next day Rachael will be on Martha's* show.
Yup, Martha will appear on Rachael's show on November 12 to show Rachael how to make a Thanksgiving centerpiece, and then on November 13 Rachael will appear on Martha's show and Martha will teach her how to make a Thanksgiving dessert. Notice that on both shows it's Martha who will be doing the teaching?
The Royal Mail in the U.K. have decided against producing a series of stamps based on The Benny Hill Show which will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the British channel ITV. The subject matter of the show was deemed to be too politically incorrect for the purposes of putting on a stamp.
Dear Oprah:
There's some good news and some bad about 
Yesterday 
Let's see: Bravo is owned by NBC and Bon Jovi is appearing on several NBC shows exclusively for a while, including Saturday Night Live, The Jay Leno Show, and Today (and doing a promo for all of the USA Network shows that feature a "hero"), so it's a natural that 
Well, we know that the singers from Glee were not welcomed into the 
Syfy has a Legend of the Seeker marathon all night.
This is either great news if you like Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray or a warning if you don't like them, but it's interesting news nonetheless: Martha is going to do Rachael Ray's show and then the very next day Rachael will be on Martha's* show.
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