Real TV Critics

First Demi Moore dumps Ashton Kutcher.  That cougar relationship is over.  Now comes another break-up of an older woman who grabbed the sippy cup from a younger guy who then chased her in to la la land and now he’s headed back.

Oh that’s an awful line.  But you gotta love it!

54 year old cougar Katie Couric is starting a new career with ABC Television with a new daytime show and soon will be looking for a new boyfriend as her five year relationship with 37 year old Brooks Perlin is over.  In an interview with the New York Post prior to the split Couric told the newspaper “it’s good enough for Demi” which you gotta say it really is because both women are man-less as of this writing.

The Post also says the couple had been going through some tough times recently in their five year union which in this writer’s opinion should have led to a ring on finger by now.  Which is one of the reasons why my relationships only last around five months.  Anything longer, well that’s like a marriage.

Follow my lead here Brooks.  Ashton did.  I tell ya these kids never listen to their elders.

By Katie probably could care less as she’s working on the fall 2012 launch of her daytime show which quite frankly we’re all looking forward to watching since the Jeremy Kyle crap and the Bill Cunningham toilet in daytime TV is revolting.

OK back to the cougar gal.

The couple hooked up at a cancer fundraising event back in 2006 and have been an item ever since.  Since leaving the CBS Evening News after that career fatality she’s been on a mission to get her brand re-started which she has easily done.  She was the hottest target for all networks and cable news channels after leaving CBS in May.

About being a cougar…”just obnoxious,” she told People Magazine.   But on her relationship that just went bye bye with Brooks Perlin, “it’s complicated.”

Time to get that Match.com profile back up!

Rick Thomas

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Kris Humphries is a genius.  Yeah he runs around with that dumb look on his face on the Kardashian’s reality traffic accident but really he’s not as dumb as he looks.  He acted dumb though, marrying his way in to his own possible trade to another team outside of Los Angeles, but at least he got smart and got the hell away from reality TV.

Not good for a long term career in Los Angeles sports.  Ask Lamar Odom.  Kris Humphries married Kim Kardashian in a 72 day event that’s ending in divorce and may be the reason he may stay or be traded from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Khloe Kardashian Odom and Lamar Odom from 'Khloe and Lamar on E!

Doing reality TV and maintaining a career in pro sports is impossible.  Impossible.  Look at the losers who tried and died.  Terrell Owens got caught up in the reality TV drama and can’t find an NFL team that wants to keep him for more than a year.  Chad Ochocinco ended up in New England after being tossed out of Cincinnati and the NFL’s Bengals and pretty much has become a nothing wide receiver for one the best team’s in football.  Yesterday’s play against the Washington Redskins showed his limited value with that team as he only caught one pass for 15 yards.

Yeah Chad Ochocinco, catching one pass for 15 yards.  That’s all folks!

Then there’s Ron Artest, who has tried everything from music to television to comedy.  And with failures written all over his entertainment resume he’s done the smart thing in Los Angeles by getting his brand involved in community activities that pretty much have helped to solidify his position on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries - Khloe Kardashian's 27th Birthday Celebration at Chateau Nightclub in Las Vegas

Smart move by a guy that is considered certifiably crazy by his opposing players in the NBA.  But a smart move.

Athletes in professional sports make a lot of money.  Lamar Odom makes a lot of money in the NBA.  The last thing he needs is a part time job.  One making himself and his brand a part of a reality show.  That’s what my old boss used to call a “career-ender.”

The Los Angeles Lakers are America’s team.  Partly because they win championships.  Partly because they don’t take any crap from their players.  Your job, when you’re getting  paid millions and millions of dollars, is to be thinking about winning championships 24/7/365.

Period.

And when the Lakers got kicked out of the running for the NBA Championship last year the writing was on the wall.  There would be changes.  And those changes would start with anyone who does not have their eyes on the prize of an NBA World Championship.

Lamar Odom had his eyes on his part time gig doing reality TV and that’s why his new address is in Dallas, Texas.

“I am curious as to how I am the cause for any trade,” Tweeted Lamar’s wife Khloe Kardashian.  Don’t take all of the credit Khloe.  The whole reality television genre is the cause for the decline of many pro athletes.  The smart ones, like Michael Vick, get real smart and tend to focus on their on field careers rather than their off field activities.  And even Michael Vick, who has had a sub-par season with the Philadelphia Eagles, may have suffered from his short term reality show on BET.

Kris Humphries, you might be a really smart dude.  Getting yourself out of this reality TV mess is a real good thing.  Hollywood should be left for Jack Nicholson at the Lakers games and Billy Crystal at the Clippers games.  It might be a real good idea to stay away from anything connected to reality TV if you’re a professional athlete.  A short term ego gain of being on TV is nothing more than a long term loss of making millions of dollars a year.

“I can survive anywhere,” Khloe Kardashian kept Tweeting.  “As long as I’m with Lam, I’m good.”

I don’t think Khloe’s ever been to Dallas, Texas.  Yeah Dallas, Texas.  I’ve been to Dallas, I’ve seen Dallas and Dallas is no Los Angeles.

Rick Thomas

Once again there is no such thing as a ‘reality star.’  Let me repeat there is no such thing as a ‘reality star’ no matter how much we in the media keep saying it or how many of those in the reality TV business keep thinking that they are, well ‘reality stars.’

OK no more quotes of the two words reality star or stars again.

Jill Zarin who spent four years on Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York City before being sent packing still thinks that time on the reality show gets her free reign to bully her way around town.

Nope!

No more for Jill Zarin.  According to the Examiner.com one of America’s old school divas sent her staff after Zarin when she uploaded parts of her concert on YouTube.  Oh, and by the way Barbra Streisand was that diva and Barbra Streisand, well you just don’t mess around with Barbra Streisand.

This is Jill Zarin, 'Reality Star!'

Zarin attended a benefit in Hollywood where Ms. Streisand performed and had her video camera running recording the singer’s act and then took that content and uploaded it to YouTube.  Zarin, not smart enough to realize the problems that mistake would cause her, got hit with a cease and desist by Barbra Streisand’s people…and Barbra Streisand definitely has people.

Zarin of course Tweeted this response from Barbra’s “people” telling her to “take down my YouTube video or they will sue me.  Is that nuts” she continues.

Noooooooo you dingbat.

That’s just one issue Zarin had where she had to be put in her place.  The prior incident is when she went to a New York city restaurant and tried to get a free meal for herself and her group of friends.

Once again, nope!

She was told she’s have to cough up the cash because, and I apologize once again for using the phrase reality stars but she was told she was no longer a reality star.  Pay up or wash dishes in the kitchen to pay for your meal.

God I love writing this blog!

Rick Thomas

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Well thank goodness no network is even listening to Sarah Palin or her buddy Mark Burnett 0n this one.  TLC, which carried Sarah Palin’s Alaska on their network and A&E have told the dynamic duo to take a hike on their new idea.

Ready for this one.

Sarah Palin and Mark Burnett are pitching a show that would highlight the professional career of Todd Palin as a championship snowmobile racer.

Huh?

OK let me repeat.  Or hell just read what I wrote above, as you will need nothing more than that paragraph.

Yes, let’s repeat all at once, who cares!!!!

With TLC jettisoning the idea.  Gee I wonder why.  Sure Sarah Palin’s Alaska did 5 million viewers at launch of the show but to be honest that like playing a Rascal Flatts song on a rap radio station.  Think of the number of viewers who decided never to to watch a minute of any TLC programming knowing that this show or even a promotional mention of Sarah Palin’s Alaska would pop  up on your screen.

Plus TLC is owned by Discovery, yeah the same people who did such a wonderful job of launching OWN.  With four people watching Oprah’s fledgling network, the price to Discovery was a million bucks per episode.

Stevie Wonder can see that you can’t make your money back putting a reality show featuring Todd Palin on your network.  There are not enough advertisers in the world to even think a million bucks is worth this show.

A&E, well a show featuring Todd Palin would surely go well next to Steven Seagal’s Lawman.

But nothing would surprise.  Won’t see a million dollars an episode but there’s some half brain out there that will think this is a brilliant asset to their network.

Rick Thomas

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Clearly there are some sick people in the world.  In America.  Certainly there are some sick people in Hollywood and we’re not talking about those in the entertainment business.  We know we’re sick the second we wake up in the morning and deal with each other in the entertainment business.

But that’s not the story behind last Friday’s shoot out in Hollywood’s Sunset and Vine area.  It’s about a girl.  A girl.  Tyler Brehm went crazy over a girl and you  just have to ask one question.

Why would anyone go crazy over the break-up of a relationship with a woman in Hollywood?

This is what comedian Paul Mooney calls a “sick white f#*@.”  Really sick.  I mean picking up a gun and shooting at two people, injuring one critically and the other with a gunshot wound to the leg, over the breakup of a girl in Hollywood.

So who is this girl?  Does she have some magic sex potion going on to drive this stupid person to do what he did last Friday?  Watching this unfold on television was really surreal as they say in the journalism and pop culture world.

Sunset and Vine is a hangout for me.   The 24 Hour Fitness.  Had a lunch, a few dinners and some drinks at Boho before that restaurant closed.  The Borders Book Store on the corner there.  A couple of media events as the W Hotel right up the street.

Where you take people from out of town because you’re right down the street from Hollywood Boulevard, the Capitol Records building.

And then this sick dude shoots up the neighborhood all over a girl.  And takes in about five or six bullets himself, all over a girl.

There’s not piece of tail in Hollywood worth getting shot for, not one.  I’ve dated a few really hot ones too.  One actress, on fire for the Lord.  Another model and TV actress who decided that she was going to go celibate of course when she started dating me.  A few down in Orange County, you know I dated a couple of blonds just to piss off the Southern California Republican bastion.  Oh yeah they were fun.

But I ain’t shooting anybody over any of them.

This guy is one sick you know what.  And ruined any semblance of reality for living and loving Los Angeles.  Cause that’s all we do is break up with people we date here in LA.  Let’s hope we can get back to plain old keying of a car, cops showing up to remove someone from the residence or just breaking up and subscribing once again as a member on Match.com.

Rick Thomas

Speaking of changes going on in television one of the biggest rumors running around every nook and cranny at NBC and CBS is the future of two iconic programs.  NBC’s morning monster, yet declining slowly in viewers, the Today Show.  And the CBS Sunday night monster in itself, 60 Minutes.

Both programs are the talk of television with Matt Lauer heading in to the last year of his contract with Today and the Ryan Seacrest rumors of being his replacement.  And that if that scenario takes place, CBS News has interest in grabbing on to Lauer for 60 Minutes..

Wow!

Ryan Seacrest has probably become the hottest talent on television.  With American Idol‘s audience on the decline, Seacrest has built his own empire as the lead talent at E! cable network along with several shows he produces for E! and other networks.  Throw in his morning radio program and this is one very busy man.  Now that NBC is chatting with him about maybe replacing Matt Lauer at Today along with doing other projects for NBC, his brand is going to do nothing more than explode.

Replacing Lauer would be huge for Seacrest and a great move for NBC.  The network is in need of a boost in many ways.  With Good Morning America growing slowly yet consistently, the viewers getting older on Today and the ongoing stale component of the show each day, adding Seacrest to the mix would brighten up a relatively boring show.  And Today would benefit long term if NBC can capture a younger viewer with increased viewership from people who like Ryan Seacrest.

Seems like a no brainer, right?

Matt Lauer and Justin Bieber

Not really.  Losing Lauer is losing a solid foundation to this show.  He is without question the best interviewer on morning television anywhere.  He can chat with politicians and murderers seemingly always prepared for each sit-down and can react on the fly to comments from those he interviews.  No one else on Today has that talent.  Ann Curry’s interview’s have always been lightweight and relatively condescending.  And she sounds more like she’s reading the questions rather than asking questions of her interview subjects.

Can Ryan Seacrest pull that off?  During the first half hour he may be lost.  Can he learn to do hard news chatting, sure.  But he’s no Matt Lauer.

Then Matt at 60 Minutes is interesting.  Seems that network is interested should he bolt from the Today Show but even being a solid interviewer will audiences accept him on this long running news magazine?

Why not?

This is another show that’s old in viewers that needs a boost of new blood.  Surely the age group of those watching Today on NBC are a bit younger than the 60 Minutes viewer and Lauer could bring in a more female friendly viewer.

Hmmm…isn’t that what we thought Katie Couric would do?  That worked out really well didn’t it?

Not!!!

There will be a lot going on as this story unfolds over the next year.  Hey Matt Lauer could stay which puts all of this on the shelf.  But change may be coming to a couple of networks which could adjust the landscape of television’s two massively popular show.

As they say in television, stay tuned.

Rick  Thomas

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And so it begins.  The plethora of daytime talk shows is on the decline.  Really just how many more shows in the talk genre can we take or even remember to watch since there seem to be so many of them?

Well one is headed to the RealTVCritics.com canceled bin.  That’s The Nate Berkus Show that just couldn’t seem to find any footing whatsoever with an audience in its first or second year on the air in syndication.

Nate Berkus

A product of the Oprah Winfrey group of guests getting a show of their own, Nate Berkus and his brand provided quality daytime content for viewers but may have been a bit too upscale for viewers available middays.  In other words “are you my baby Daddy” episodes are more attractive to viewers who also have to endure Romeo Miller commercials promoting ICDC College for those who can’t attend a real university.

“I’m incredibly proud of my hard working and talented staff,” Berkus said in a statement on the cancellation of his show.  And “proud of the shows we were able to produce.”

Expect more cancellations in daytime talk programming.  With Steve Harvey, Queen Latifah and Katie Couric coming along with Ricki Lake and Jeff Probst talkers the landscape of daytime chatters will change significantly.  And the next six months of viewer interest will determine if quality or quantity will enhance daytime programming.

I like The Daily Beast.  I always blog when I see a good story on their site.  Gotta admit it’s a cool site and they clearly have a staff of really good writers, one that put together the winners and losers of this new television season.

Jace Lacob does a great job outlining the layout of what shows have been successful and those that have missed the mark.  There is disappointment in his review.  Shows that I really like were on the missed the mark list.  I see problems with shows on the loser list that I thought would be winners but clearly audiences couldn’t see my brilliance.  And I am brilliant but clearly not so much to know that quality programs like Whitney and Prime Suspect are of couple pieces of content that really deserve another go round.

'PRIME SUSPECT' - Maria Bello as Det. Jane Timoney

Whitney to me is damn funny.  Every episode to me hits the mark.  But it may be too smart for today’s audience that pretty much wants really upscale content like Dancing With the Stars or The X Factor.  Yeah those shows really make Americans think.  But Whitney is creative and may be too over the top for people used to dumb content to manage.

Prime Suspect with Maria Bello is another disappointment.  Maybe a bit too gritty for network television but Maria Bello just keeps getting better and better every week.  She does a great job and although it took a minute to attach to the characters on Prime Suspect, this show is fantastic.   Would like to see both shows re-upped but it is what it is when it comes to how many people tune in to each program.

Jace hits it on the head with his content about this new TV season.  He really does.  And quite frankly once you take out Whitney and Prime Suspect he’s right on on the winners and losers.  He even has some in his draw category like Terra Nova which is suspect (no pun here) and Up All Night that I just think is awful.  And  AMC’s Hell on Wheels which I’m still wondering who green-lit this mess.

Anyway check out his list.  It’s written really well.  And we’re all looking forward to the mid-season replacements.

I don’t care what anyone says that Whitney Cummings show on NBC is really funny.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/12/06/fall-tv-the-winners-and-losers.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=culture_cheatsheet&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bculture_cheatsheet&utm_term=The%20Yes%20List

Rick Thomas

Join RealTVCritics.com now. “Your moment for life!,” says Nicky Minaj!

Omarosa follows RealTVCritics.com to get up to date on really hot TV shows,   Kim Kardashian follows us as well to keep up on really hot reality TV shows, plus hot content on Internet TV and YouTube TV.   Even Yoko Ono is on board with RealTVCritics.com.

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Awful!  Just awful!  What the Occupy Wall Street protesters did to the production team at the Dick Wolf produced Law & Order: Special Victims Unit set in Manhattan.

They shut the production down.  Gone.

The NBC show was in the process of filming a segment with OWS protestors who were performers when the real Occupy Wall Street protestors who are the people really out of work cried “hell no, we won’t go” and “no justice no peace.”

OK I embellished a bit with that.

Anyway the production crew had signs saying ‘End War on Workers” and “Greed No” to enhance the SVU segment about Occupy Wall Street near the Supreme Court building when the real protestors chased them away from the area.

And this was at midnight.  100 plus cops were on hand as the number of protestors grew and officials found it best to tell the production company that their permit to film had been rescinded and crews began to take down the set.

“We are not part of corporate TV America,” one protestor told the New York Daily News.  “This is insulting,” said another to the News.  “This is bastardization going on.”

Once the cop on a bullhorn told the protestors of the permit pull, the crowd dispersed and when home if they had a home.  No further word if the segment or episode would ever be produced.

Rick Thomas

Today is a bad day for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  A real bad day.  In fact, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the second team in Southern California and now the team that has currently the most reviled owner in professional sports is really feeling the dagger in the heart from Frank McCord’s completely incompetent years of mismanagement in baseball history.

Albert Pujols (Photo Courtesy ESPN)

The mood now shifts south toward Anaheim.  As in the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Yeah they used to be called the Anaheim Angels but since they changed the name to get more influence in the City of Angels which is Los Angeles, LA Angels owner Frank Moreno smells blood in the water and he’s about to chew up the Dodgers on a day to day basis.

“Heaven sent” is how it’s being termed right now on MLB.com as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have landed two of the biggest names in the free agent circus in major league baseball.  Albert Pujols is leaving St. Louis and headed west and CJ Wilson from the Texas Rangers is giving up his cowboy hat to head west to join the Angels as well.

The Dodgers…well I’ve never been to Dodger stadium because I enjoy my life on earth and prefer not to mix with the thug element that attends games there.  But it will be worth the long drive to Anaheim, a much safer, family oriented environment to watch an Angels game.

Let’s hope that thug element can’t get the Toyota to Anaheim.

The Dodgers are in flux.  The team is for sale.  The owner stinks.  And the Angels have, in two free agent signings, taken the hearts of everyone here in Los Angeles who were looking for a quality, safe outlet for baseball.  I mean the Los Angeles Dodgers were, and I mean were, at the top of quality when it comes to baseball in the major leagues, especially here in Los Angeles.

Those days are simply over.  Gone.

Even the Los Angeles Lakers can’t get it right.  Chris Paul and the new look Los Angeles Lakers are now Chris Paul and the next team interested in Chris Paul.  The NBA nixed his trade to the Lakers and now they’re the same look Lakers.

In a word, the Lakers are old.  And let’s add another word.  Slow.

But it will be a long time before baseball here in Los Angeles gets back to the image of the past known as the Los Angeles Dodgers.  A real long time.

Go Angels!

Rick Thomas

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