Posts Tagged ‘E!’

Authenticity continues as the theme o’ the day. Dina Lohan, the Momager and “White Oprah” snags a deal at E!. Tabloid Baby has the entire press release:

E! Entertainment Television will debut a new nonscripted series starring celebrity mom extraordinaire Dina Lohan and her youngest daughter, up-and-coming teen star Ali Lohan (14). Viewers will go inside the Lohan’s Long Island home for the first time to follow Dina as she works double duty as mom and manager to help Ali try to follow in her big sister’s famous footsteps and pursue her own shot at stardom. Co-produced by Bunim-Murray Productions and Maloof Television, “Living Lohan” (Working Title) will debut summer 2008 on E!

Why whore out one or two kids when you’ve got a whole litter?

The Lohans are one of the most intriguing families in the entertainment industry today, said Lisa Berger, Executive Vice President, Original Programming and Series Development for E! “This is a family that knows how to roll with the punches and come out on top. Dina is an incredibly hard-working, passionate mom that I think our viewers will find both relatable and highly entertaining.”

Show Biz is back:

ABC: pickups of nine primetime shows: Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who? and Ugly Betty. How many of these are keepers?

CW: new episodes for five series: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Supernatural, Reaper and Smallville. One of these is not like the others.

A&E: new scripted drama series–Cleaner starring Benjamin Bratt as a guy who makes a deal with God to control his addictions and dedicate his life to help others. Remember when Bratt was sexy?

FX: season two of The Riches, starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver? Remember when she was everywhere?

E!: new reality show with Denise Richards, from Ryan Seacrest Prods. There’s a match made in heaven.

Remember Brad Refro? In all the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth over Heath Ledger, Brad Renfro’s death has been almost an afterthought (E! couldn’t even get his name right). But in this astute culture/profile piece, Rachel Abramowitz makes you remember that another actor suffered a tragic death recently — and that, likely, there are more to come.

There Goes The Neighborhood: In light of a legal tussle Leonardo DiCaprio is having with his neighbors over a backyard basketball court, the LAT Picture Book Team put together an amuse-bouche of celebs you don’t want to live next to. (They should ask a copy editor to move in next door, though. Their captions claim Paris Hilton is still in jail, and we think the Steven Spielberg item is missing a few words.)

Stuff You Already Knew About The Writers’ Strike: The WGA is meeting at The Shrine Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow to brief the writers.

Per Defamer: Pity poor Guiliana. We’ve made our own mistakes in our day, but the E! “news” person is likely blushing beneath her fake tan about delivering the obit for, um, the wrong guy.

Ken Baker, the editorial director of Usmagazine.com, and quite possibly the most senior employee of Us Weekly (he’s been there eight years — longer than Janice Min) sent a surprising e-mail to friends.

The e-mail:

Friends,

I’ve decided that Golden Globes weekend is a good time to join the Hollywood writers and go on strike!

Kidding aside, I just wanted to let you all know that I was recently asked to relocate to NYC and continue my editorial director work for Us Online. As a family, however, we decided that now wasn’t a good time for a move. So, after nearly 8 amazing years on staff at Us Weekly, I am moving on to some new and exciting opportunities. Seeing Us grow over the years into a celebrity media powerhouse — and then watching Usmagazine.com almost double its audience since I helped relaunch the site last January — has been gratifying and humbling beyond words.

It has been a really fun ride at Us, and I am so grateful for all the doors it has opened, and I must give many thanks to Jann, Janice, Gary, Mark, Kathryn (to name a few), and the mag’s super-talented edit crew, especially in L.A. Not to mention Lindsay, Britney, Paris and Nicole!

You’ll be seeing my new work very (very) soon, and when I can share all the exciting details I will let you know everything.

Best wishes,
Ken

Ken (pictured here with his family) doesn’t reveal what his next move will be, but the guy’s a staple on both CNN and E! so smart money is on him ending up parlaying one of those regular gigs into a full-time venture. And this here exclusive kinda smells like a clue.

Good luck, Ken!

Now! In Skank-O-Vision!

MTV renewed A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila for a second season.

E! returns on January 7th with a second season of Chelsea Lately, starring Chelsea Handler.

When’s the Theme Park Opening?

Dick Wolf and NBC Universal are talking about developing a Law & Order: London for ITV.

News for the Dim

TV Guide.com launches a Strike Survival guide so that viewers won’t get stuck watching an episode they’ve already seen. (In the case of Brothers and Sisters, how can anyone tell?)

Whether you think Snoop Dogg is a loveable children’s role model, a talented rapper, or a criminal with a drug problem, there is no denying that he’s a friggin’ cool co-worker.

Unlike Ryan Seacrest and Kim Kardashian, Snoop Dogg showed up to the E! Holiday Party last night at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City to eat mini-cheeseburgers (when is this comfort-food-as-haute-cuisine trend going to end?) and gossip with his colleagues. Except, of course, that none of his colleagues could get near him. Standing on an elevated V.I.P. section (in what appeared to be a woman’s fur coat), Snoop had a majestic view of the party.

He even deigned to wave when a too-excited D.J. Clinton Sparks gave Snoop a shout-out and started mixing a medley of his songs. But security was too tight around the D-O-Double-G for any lowly segment producer to get close, and he mostly kept to his posse (for anyone keeping track: He seemed to be rolling about 20 deep).

As he left, surrounded by a crush of security, FBLA overheard one E! employee say, “That’s as close to Snoop as you’re ever going to get.”

“That’s close enough,” his friend replied.

Despite news that Ellen DeGeneres canceled her NY tapings, everyone is mad at her for crossing the picket line. It’s a little more complicated for Ellen than for some of her daytime brethren, so we’re going to withhold judgment. But we’re in the minority.

Huffington Post: “Writers angry that Ellen DeGeneres crossed the picket line can find solace in the knowledge that she is struggling to fill time without them. (snip) Before the first commercial Ellen teased an upcoming segment as if it was new. (snip) Despite pretending the package was taped this past weekend, Ellen looked noticeably different as she kidded her way through a day as an NBC page. For starters, her hair was both longer and darker than it was either today or last week. The taped piece is old. More likely is Ellen and her producers going into the vaults to dust off bits of footage that have never aired and using them to fill time, now that her writers are out and her monologues aren’t so fun.”

E!: “Former WB star Keri Russell has canceled an upcoming appearance on the daytime chatfest, reportedly in protest of the decision to keep producing new episodes while its Writers Guild of America-bound employees are out on strike.”

Hollyrude: “Ellen Is A Mean Old Lesbian.”

While E! is enjoying the success of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Vivid Entertainment is enjoying even more of the ample charms of Kim K. The adult entertainment powerhouse is re-launching the Kim Kardashian Superstar website, which promises:

over 60 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage including never-before-seen sex

The uncut DVD of Kim Kardashian Superstar arrives in stores Nov. 21, just in time for Thanksgiving. Not everyone likes football.

E! has certainly become celebrity-friendly, if you define celebrity as “random naked person” and friendly as “semi-soft core porn”. Think Maria Shriver will ever sign a deal with Comcast? Think again.

The November issue of W is out now, giving readers interested in other people’s messy divorces the opportunity to put in their two cents. Or their $4.50, as it were.

The magazine is publishing two separate covers — one with Jennifer Aniston and one featuring Angelina Jolie. It’s about as tacky as a fashion mag can get. And for those of you wondering which will sell the most (as the news puppies at E! apparently are doing), here’s a hint: Jennifer Aniston. By a lot.