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This Week on TV (7/14-7/20)

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Comedy, Drama, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, ABC, BBC, Bravo, Cable, CBS, FOX, MTV, NBC, TNT-HD, Degrassi

Saving Grace

(You can view TV Envy’s Summer Television Programming Schedule here.)

MONDAY (7/14)

  • Top Gear (BBC, 8pm):  Season premiere. “A game of car soccer is played.” No wonder kids are too fat these days. They can’t even get out of their car to actually kick a ball!
  • American Gladiators (NBC, 8pm):  “In the ladies tilt, a student tries to make the grade against a future figure skater.” As we’ve learned from , figure skaters come with an unfair advantage.
  • The Closer (TNT, 9pm): Season 4 premiere. “Fritz and Brenda’s new duplex forbids the presence of pets, but that doesn’t stop Brenda from keeping Kitty on the premises.” If Kitty is the pet, what’s Fritz?
  • Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm):  Season 2 premiere. “Grace gets busy on her day off: She works to unlock the secrets of her her haunted past, but instead ends up apprehending a criminal on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.” And I’ll bet she doesn’t get paid for doing all that work on her own time.

Click to continue reading This Week on TV (7/14-7/20)


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Can Disney Rock the Ratings Again?

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Cable, Gossip

Camp Rock

Lightning doesn’t strike twice...unless you build the right kind of rod. No one anticipated the runaway success of Disney’s High School Musical, and now the powers-that-be are determined not to be caught unawares a second time. Fanfare and fan participation became the bookends of the High School Musical 2 marketing campaign...and even this pales in comparison to the star treatment the network is giving the soon-to-be-released .

The promos have been going strong for weeks, the Web site is filled with glitter and pizazz, and the debut is scheduled for June 20. Are you itching to set your DVR?

With the co-starring and a crop of fresh-faced youngsters, Disney is treating Rock like it’s the heir apparent to the Musical throne (the stars of which are moving quickly past the high school stage of their lives). But...is it?

Click to continue reading Can Disney Rock the Ratings Again?

Read More | CNN

2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Games, Kids, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Hell's Kitchen, Desperate Housewives, Everybody Hates Chris, Family Guy, Grey's Anatomy, House, So You Think You Can Dance, The Office

The Bachelorette, DeAnna Pappas

A new season calls for a new schedule.

If you’re without anything to do this summer, this updated programming schedule may help keep you occupied.  Over the next few months, networks will be introducing a crop of reality shows (Celebrity Circus, Greatest American Dog), some experimental dramas (Swingtown, Fear Itself) and the usual horde of repeats.

This list is a compilation of the calendars for the five major networks.

Click to continue reading 2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule


High School Musical 4 Already Being Planned

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip, News

High School Musical, Zac Efron, Vanessa HudgensPlease don’t confuse this post with something we wrote earlier this month.  With production on High School Musical 3 just about underway, Disney has already moved on to its next project:  High School Musical 4.

The cable channel confirmed that they are already in scriptwriting mode for the franchise’s third sequel.  Although the current installment will be heading directly to the big screen, HSM4 will be another made-for-TV movie.  At least that’s what they’re saying now.

At this point, no cast has been announced for the latest venture.  (Most of the original actors have claimed they were done after three.) But who knows - if Tori Spelling is willing to come back to the 90210 spinoff, anything can happen.

My theory? This is all connected to the summer reality series based on the musical.  At this point, no one seems to know what the ‘winners’ will be getting.  I’m guessing it’s their opportunity to be the latest Disney stars.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

High School Musical 3 To Begin Shooting This Month

Posted by Jacci Lewis
Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Cable, Cable/Satellite, News

High School Musical 3Talk about a dream come true for fanatics who just happen to attend East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The third installment of the wildly successful original made for TV movie is set to begin shooting before the end of this month according to the Associated Press.

The two previous High School Musical films were shot primarily at East High School outside of the school year. School district officials say most of the shooting on this film, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, will take place before and after classes to minimize disruptions for actual East High School students. 

Click to continue reading High School Musical 3 To Begin Shooting This Month

Read More | Associated Press

Disney to Get Serious Musical Competition: How Spectacular

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip

Tammin Sursok can’t control the market on teen/tween musical movies for much longer, not if kids-based Nickelodeon has anything to say about it.

Spectacular, a new musical comedy set in high school, will begin shooting on April 21 - move over, . Newcomers Tammin Sursok, Nolan Funk, and Simon Curtis will star in the film, along with Zoey 101’s Victoria Justice. The film will focus on the school choir and one preppy, pretty female student in particular. A new rock-n-roller joins the group, however unwittingly, and soon enough musical romance is borne between them. Sounds a little familiar…but I can’t quite recall which musical movie plot this might be similar to. Hmmm.

Nick’s high school musical movie is not the classic, cookie-cutter musical film. The numbers in this flick are performance-based rather than random singing insertions. Think more Dreamgirls and less My Fair Lady. Right now, the Viacom-owned network isn’t planning on any sequels - though there are contractual options open for just such an occurrence. 

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

High School Musical Spawns a Reality Series

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Gossip, News

High School MusicalHave you ever wondered what it would look like to see young wannabes stab each other in the back for a reality prize?  Well, you may soon have your chance!

Disney - with sister channel ABC - has just now come up with a new way to milk the franchise to death.  Apparently a big screen version of the triquel wasn’t enough; the series has now become the inspiration for a TV reality competition.

After a nationwide hunt for vocal talent, competitors will attend a ‘music conservatory’ to finesse their singing chops.  (I’m guessing this would be equivalent to American Idol‘s Hollywood Week?) Details beyond that are quite hazy.  Although we should be expecting appearances from HSM stars, what the show’s winner will ultimately receive has not been disclosed.  But really - shouldn’t they all just be happy with bragging rights?

is hoping to get the program produced in time for their target audience’s summer break.

Read More | Variety

Celine Dion: That’s Just The Woman In Me

Posted by Jacci Lewis
Categories: Music, Prime Time, Specials, CBS, Editorial

Celine DionWhen it comes to singer , most people fall into one of two categories: the ‘It’s the soundtrack of my life’ group or the ‘Please God, make it stop...MAKE IT STOP’ group. There is a third, smaller category of people though who don’t care one way or another about her music but just enjoy how delightfully, over-the-top cheesy she is. (There is a reason certain celebrities are satirized on .)

Friday night aired Dion’s one-hour primetime special, Celine Dion: That’s Just The Woman In Me.  The show was taped in front of a live audience at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre back on January 12. It was the 5-time Grammy winner’s first concert since wrapping up her 5-year run in Las Vegas.

The title of Celine Dion’s new album, Taking Chances, describes the show fairly well. It was a one hour mix of glitzy dance numbers, power ballads, celebrity duets and cameos, a somewhat staged Q&A session and heck, even an appearance by one of the stars of !

The opening act featured Dion in a sparkly, gold mini-dress in a very Vegas-esque song and dance routine. Her dancing features a lot of little kicks and chest pounding motions. One might describe it as spastic. One might even question why such an accomplished singer needs to be part of such an over-choreographed dance routine. But something about Celine Dion’s sincerity makes the whole scary scene a bit more forgivable.

Click to continue reading Celine Dion: That’s Just The Woman In Me


Zac Efron Rushed to Hospital

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip

Zac EfronChalk up another one for Cedars-Sinai..

The LA hospital welcomed another celebrity today when star was admitted to the hospital.  The 20-year-old was apparently suffering from a case of appendicitis.  According to his rep, the actor has since had his surgery and is now recuperating.  (Maybe can shoot a few new photos to keep him company?)

Efron, who has already been confirmed for the big-screen version of , is currently shooting the Freaky Friday-esque comedy, .

Read More | TMZ

Vanessa Hudgens Talks About the Nude Photos

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip

Vanessa HudgensFor a while, seemed to be the Golden Girl for . Female lead of the mega-successful franchise, girlfriend to heartthrob —it seemed Hudgens could do no wrong. Until she did.

of the star surfaced, a scandal broke, and abounded. Now, Hudgens is being candid about the revealing shots for the first time.

The young star bared it all (figuratively speaking) to Seventeen magazine, saying the pics were taken for someone she was dating at one time. She called the experience “traumatic,” thanked her fans for their continued support, and expressed desire that others might learn from her mistakes. Hudgens also glowingly reported on boyfriend and co-star Zac Efron, though gossip suggests the pair have a somewhat on-again, off-again affair. 

Read More | MSNBC

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