Cynthia Littleton On The Air

This and that: Planet Green at the Greek; panelizing on health care and LGBT issues; 4th annual Fred Rogers scholarships

Discovery Channel takes over the Greek Theater Wednesday night for a concert and party to tubthump the June 4 debut of its Planet Green channel (the channel formerly known as Discovery Home). Perfs are skedded to include Ludacris, Tommy Lee, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Blue Man Group and others. Proceeds will go to a fund established to help rehab areas around Griffith Park that were torched by recent wildfires....

Thursday's a day for serious yakking. In the afternoon, the Hollywood Radio and Television Society hosts a luncheon event at the Beverly Hilton devoted to how the biz can help keep health care issues at the top of the nation's public policy agenda. Sally Field and Jeffrey Katzenberg are set as speakers. Leeza Gibbons will moderate a panel that is set to include top showrunners of shows that work in scrubs: Neal Baer of "Law & Order: SVU" (who really is a licensed physician), Bill Lawrence of "Scrubs" and John Wells of "ER"... In the evening, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences parses LGBT issues in TV with a sesh at its North Hollywood HQ that will include thesps Billy Baldwin, Billy Crystal, Ron Rifkin, "Dirty Sexy Money" creator Craig Wright and Showtime's Robert Greenblatt. Bruce Vilanch is sure to keep things interesting as moderator...

On Sunday evening, Elmo's in town for the fourth annual presentation of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarships, also at the Leonard Goldenson Theater at ATAS' NoHo home base. Three $10,000 scholarships will be presented by ATAS and Ernst & Young to three grad students pursuing careers in children's media, in honor of the late host of PBS' enduring "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Also on hand for the 5 p.m. presentation will be Mrs. Mr. Rogers, Joanne Rogers, and actor David Newell, aka Mr. McFeeley.

Fox gambles for a good cause

I was too beat to make the green-scene at Area on Monday night for the Fox Fall Eco-Casino Party, but a  splendid time was had by all, I'm told. A little too splendid, perhaps, for Kiefer Sutherland, who got arrested for investigation of drunken driving after leaving the event and making a U-turn where he shouldn't have, according to the AP. (Who among us hasn't been tempted to take those kind of shortcuts after a long night of work-related schmoozing?)

The Fox soiree was a eco-friendly, carbon-neutral fundraiser that brought in more than $25,000 for enviro-charities the Nature Conservancy, Habitat for Humanity and Earth Share, all in keeping with the net's tubthumping this season for a "Cool Change." Event drew about 500 people to the club, which was decorated entirely with recyclable and renewable materials. Partygoers left with a baby tree ready for planting, and swag bags made out of recycled Fox billboards.

(Yes Virginia, some good did finally come of all those "Happy Hour," "Standoff" and "Justice" marketing materials.)

The show of force among Fox execs included the dynamic duo of Peter Liguori and Kevin Reilly, exec veeps Marcy Ross, Preston Beckman and Joe Earley, and a talent roster that included Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Rashida Jones (pictured above with Reilly), Emily Deschenal, Omar Epps, Thomas Dekker (pictured right with Liguori), Joely Fisher, Spike Feresten, Jennifer Morrison, Lisa Edelstein, Seth MacFarlane, Kal Penn and John Cho.

Emmys: Odds and ends

Some Emmy tidbits I really should have written up Sunday night before going off to parties:

Consistency, thy name is David Chase. "It's open to interpretation," the "Sopranos" creator said backstage at the Emmys when asked, inevitably and more than once, about the series' famed blackout finale. In a convoluted way, after being pressed by multiple questioners, Chase seemed to say that he knew in his mind what happened to the family, but he had no intention of sharing it with the intimate room full 200 or so reporters. Chase did say that he'd had the notion to take the show out in the way that he did for a long time....

Earlier in the night Alan Taylor told us backstage scribblers that Chase was pleased by the fact that even members of "Sopranos'" production crew debated what the finale really meant. Chase wanted it to be something people would chew over and talk about, Taylor said...

And as for the Emmy snub of James Gandolfini after the tour de force he turned in? Paulie Walnuts had his back, backstage on Sunday. "I think it was a shame. He should've won tonight...but we won all around (for drama series)," Tony Sirico (pictured right) said. "We've been honored. I speak for Jimmy when I say he can handle it." .....

America Ferrera was such a doll in the backstage quip room. She displayed her usual humility and gratitude for the career-making break that "Ugly Betty" has been for her. And she's happy that her star turn has come on a show that is light and frothy on the outside but meaningful on the inside, where it counts, by challenging the conventional notions of beauty and body image for women.
"It's fun and it's funny and entertaining and I feel so incredibly blessed," Ferrera said. "To be acknowledged for it, to know peep are watching it and enjoying it -- it's just a dream for me. This is what I have wanted to do since I was 5 years old. It just reassures me in the power of dreaming. Now I can set my (career) heights even higher." And she was channeling the self-assured Betty Suarez when a questioner tried to pry into her love life. "I don't talk about my personal life. Thank you," she said in a Betty-esque polite-but-firm tone....

Don't ask Terry O'Quinn what's going on in "Lost" in its upcoming fourth season, because he doesn't know. Is John Locke really Jacob? Is he going to somehow kill Jack? Will he ever get near a shower again? I'm telling ya, don't ask because Quinn doesn't know. (And no, winning an Emmy doesn't entitle him to a few free plot points.) Backstage after his win for supporting drama actor, Locke showed off his hot pink shirt and black tie with glittery rhinestones. When asked, Quinn admitted that early on in the show's run he would go on the Internet to see what the fans were speculating about the Deeper Meaning of it all and where the castaways were headed. But not any more. "I'm sated," he said....

Sally Field was feeling strong, confident and not ready to suffer any cliches on Sunday. She made fast work of a question about actresses of a certain (out-of-the-demo) age enjoying a renaissance on cable ("The Closer," "Damages," "Saving Grace," etc.) and why aren't there better roles for women in features and blah blah blah...."I don't listen to any of that stuff. You guys are the ones who are listening to that," Field shot back.

Where fore art thou, Oscar? Jon Stewart had a cheeky response for the reporter who just had to know what it meant to him to be asked to host the Academy Awards a second time. "Whatever emotional hole I had in my soul vanished at that moment and I was complete," he deadpanned. "That's why I decided to do it."...

And thus brings to a close this inaugural edition of live blogging at the Emmys. I'd be remiss without giving a special thank you to the shooters of WireImage, who moved Emmy photos lickity-split last night and thus livened up this blog considerably. Honorable mentions go out to Steve Granitz, Jeffrey Mayer, John Shearer, Jeff Vespa and Todd Williamson.

Emmys: The facts and morning-after figures

For as much fun as we all had backstage at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday night, it seems that America (the country, not the actress) didn't play along. Viewership of the Emmycast fell to near-record lows with only 13.1 million viewers. For the details click here for Variety's Sunday night ratings report. And don't take my word for it: For a complete rundown of the winners, click here.

Emmy loves America

Another big win for a frosh ABC show. "Ugly Betty's" America Ferrera besting tough competish for lead comedy actress. She's earned it, she deserves it and like her character Betty Suarez, she's always demonstrated nothing but a fantastic attitude toward her work. Here's to you, America.

Al Gore shows his funny side

Al Gore looked real happy as he and partner Joel Hyatt came backstage to talk up theirr win in the interactive TV category for cabler Current TV. First question lobbed at Gore was whether he, as a survivor of many controversies and media flaps, had any advice for Britney Spears, and did he plan to run in '08?

Gore didn't miss a beat, and got a big laugh with this quip: "I kinda figured the first question would be about Britney Spears."

Helen Mirren: Dinner with QEII?

Finally, a probing question of an actress that elicited something we really wanted to know.

No, Helen Mirren hasn't met up with Queen Elizabeth in the year since she triumphed on screen with her role as QEII in Miramax's "The Queen." But, Mirren did say that she had received a royal invite but had to turn it down because, as befitting a great actress, she couldn't make it because she was working.

"It was very sad for me; it was probably not so sad for her," Mirren joked, adding later that she's not sure if she gets a raincheck or not. "I guess only time will tell."

Mirren won her Emmy for PBS' "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," was a good sport about the obvious non-question thrown at her about 'Wow you've had a good year" after winning the Oscar earlier this year for "Queen." "I call it my amazing year. I don't believe in astrology but I'm curious to see what my astrological sign said about this year. 'You will meet disappointment,' probably."

Jeremy Piven: For the record, I'm...

Jeremy Piven, supporting comedy actor winner for the second year in a row for HBO's "Entourage," was feelin' sweet backstage (kinda like the Ari Gold aw shucks moment in most "Entourage" segs), expanding on his remarks about how much his parents, the late Byrne Piven and Joyce Hiller Piven, influenced his life with the "corner theater" they ran in Chicago, in which he grew up steeped in a life of trodding the boards.

"He's a man who worked his entire life to find a brilliant role, and his last role was "King Lear" so he found it," Piven said of his dad. Piven noted that his mother was busy directing a play in Chicago so she turned him down as his date for the Emmys for a fifth time in a row.

"And for the record, I'm straight. I'm the only straight man to bring his mother four times and now his sister. You can look it up."

Back to the serious side, Piven noted when pressed on the "what does it all mean to you, Jeremy" question, especially being a back to back win. "For a guy from Chicago, the dream for me was getting on stage in Chicago, not being celebrated like this. So I'm having an other-worldly experience."

Emmys: Oh Joy

Good for Jaime Pressly! She won for supporting comedy actress for her bravura turn as a trailer prima donna Joy Turner on NBC's "My Name is Earl." Backstage she admitted that Joy is an amalgam of four or five people she grew up with in North Carolina. The win is important to her because after toiling for 13 years, "I finally changed everybody's mind...and had the opportunity to show what I could do."

I'm especially happy for her because I went out on a limb on Friday and noted that I was rooting for her in the category. I was also rooting for Rainn Wilson in the supporting comedy actor heat, but it went to Jeremy Piven. I'm 1-2.

At left, Julia Louis-Dreyfus hands Pressly the trophy for the category that she won once and was nommed seven times for during her "Seinfeld" days.

"It's Hi-gull"...and a sweet shout out to David and Lynn Angell

Pity the poor Emmy announcer. She mispronounced the surname of "Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl, who joined the achingly handsome Kyle Chandler on stage to present the trophy for supporting actor in a movie/miniseries. First thing Heigl sez as she hits the mike: It's "Hi-gull."

Winner in the category added a heap of sweet to Heigl's sour. Thomas Haden Church (pictured below), a victor for the AMC oater "Broken Trail," thanked "David and Lynn Angell, who were there at the beginning." Sweet of him to remember David Angell and his wife. David, of course, was part of the Angell-Casey-Lee triumvirate who created the show, "Wings," that provided Church's breakthru role. David and Lynn died in one of the hijacked planes on Sept. 11, but their legacy, clearly, remains strong.

This just in: Katherine Heigl (that's Hi-gelle) has won in the supporting drama actress category for her role as the mixed up Izzie on "Grey's Anatomy."

Emmys: the 90-minute countdown begins

OK,  we're here. Backstage at the Shrine. Stuart Levine and I are in place in the winners quote room, trying to get adjusted to tight squeeze that they have reporters in and we're both vowing to work hard not to knock our water bottles over into our computers. Mercifully, I'm having no tech problems (that I know of!) and it's not 100 degrees in the tent yet, so by the standards of Emmys past, I've no reason to complain. Gonna head out to the red carpet and see what's up. I can see by the pics that are already posted on WireImage (thanks Jeff Vespa) that stars, such as best drama actress nominee Edie Falco pictured at left, are starting to arrive.

Emmys: Good fun at NBC U's Spago party

NBC Universal's pre-Emmy party at Spago on Saturday night was as relaxed as a shoulder-to-shoulder schmoozefest can be. Place was hopping with NBC U execs, agents, scribes and helmers and stars of NBC U productions -- it seemed everywhere you looked there was a staffer from "The Office" or a savior from "Heroes" holding court.

"Heroes" trouper Hayden Panettiere looked particularly fetching in a white minidress that flattered her cheerleader-worthy figure. Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" was surrounded by a hub of well-wishers and back-slappers. Kathy Griffin picked up compliments while in line in the ladies room for her win  (unveiled at the Creative Arts ceremony) for Bravo's "My Life on the D-List"; there was some discussion of whether her show's title needed to be adjusted in light of her victory. And there was much chatter throughout the night at Spago of the goings-on the previous night at the private affair thrown by new NBC U co-chairman Ben Silverman and impresario Brent Bolthouse. (Among the more talked-about elements of the affair at a rented 10,000-square-foot mansion in the Hollywood Hills: the caged tiger that greeted guests, the number of bikinis running around, and of course, Paris Hilton).

NBC U graciously pushed back the start time of its Spago party to 8:30 p.m. to accommodate the dance cards of those who also attended Saturday's "Evening Before" benefit in Century City for the Motion Picture Television Fund home, co-sponsored by Variety. Among those who took in both parties on Saturday were "Top Chef" star Tom Colicchio, whose new Century City restaurant Craft pitched in with "Evening Before."

(Sorry, no pics posted yet of the NBC U party. Above shot of Kathy Griffin at the Sept. 8 Creative Arts ceremony by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com.)

Emmys and M-e: A love-dread relationship

Here it comes, the big night. By midday Sunday showbiz journos will converge in tents at the Shrine Auditorium for the 59th annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

Seems like there's been precious little pre-show buzz for the kudofest this year. Is it because it looks like a cakewalk to the top of Mount Emmy this year for the dearly departed "The Sopranos"? Is it because ratings for the show have ebbed precipitously in the past decade? Who knows. Really, the most pre-Emmy buzz I've heard this week is about the bash that NBC Entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman is throwing late tonight (Friday) with the help of L.A.'s premier nightclub dude Brent Bolthouse (who's also handling DirecTV's inaugural Emmy night party) at a rented mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The guest list and the security plans are said to be super-tight.

I've always had kind of a love-dread thing with the Emmys. Love because I do love the smallscreen and its players and it's fun to see your colleagues all dressed up in their finery. (As my old boss at UPI used to say: It's prom night for the media.) Dread because of course a big awards show means a looooong work night for showbiz reporters, especially those of us who file live on deadline and have to get everybody's name and award category right, etc., or there'll be snickers the next day.

The Mt. Rushmore of reality TV mavens

POSTED BY JOSEF ADALIAN

Yes, that was Mark Itkin walking around the corridors of CAA Thursday night. But no, the William Morris Agency’s dean of unscripted programming isn’t defecting.

Itkin made a trip to what he called “enemy territory” in order to appear on a CAA/BAFTA-sponsored panel dubbed “Another British Invasion.” Powwow brought together six of the biggest names in the reality biz, ostensibly to discuss the past and future of Blighty-produced TV in the States.

Night actually turned into a broader discussion encompassing the history of the biz and the challenges it faces, with “American Idol” showrunner Nigel Lythgoe (pictured left) moderating a lively hourlong-plus conversation.

Panel also included CAA reality chief Michael Camacho, unscripted superlawyer Jeanne Newman, Fox alternative prexy Mike Darnell, CBS reality guru Ghen Maynard and Lifetime supremo Andrea Wong (who until recently headed up unscripted programming for ABC).

Group of Six repped a sort of Mt. Rushmore of the modern reality age, collectively repping some sort of involvement in just about every major unscripted skein since “The Real World” kicked off the alternative boom.

Itkin talked about putting together the deal for “Real World” (MTV wanted a soap but didn’t have the coin to pay for actors), while Newman (pictured right)outlined how she got all the major nets to bid on “Big Brother.”

“We had a true bidding war, not like the ones we make up,” Newman quipped.

Emmys: For Joan and Melissa, it's come to this

It's come to this for Joan and Melissa Rivers. After losing their berths on E! and more recently, TV Guide Channel, on Emmy night they'll be nowhere near the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium but live blogging in New York for VH1Eyecandy.com. That site is described by its mothership cabler as "VH1's recently launched site that offers a host of tools for users to grab, embed, blog and remix photos, videos and news stories," and VH1 boasts that it has 150,000 photographs and 5,000 hours of video housed on the site for users' mash-up pleasure, with more coming every day. (It's part of MTV Networks' new bid to grab, embed and remix many more pairs of youthful eyeballs to its cablers and websites.)

VH1Eyecandy.com promises to have a dedicated emmyswithjoan.com site running start at 5 p.m. ET on Sunday, which will include their live blog snark about the action on the red carpet and during the ceremony. It'll also have Joan's red carpet video podcast recap and Emmy podcast recap. It's the on-demand part of this equation that people might have trouble with. But in a funny way, for awards-season vets it's good to know that on some level, the tradition of groaning over what tumbles out of Joan Rivers' mouth on Emmy and Oscar day hasn't completely gone away but is safely out of the way on the red carpet.

Joan and Melissa Rivers pic from this year's Oscars by Dan MacMedan/WireImage

David Letterman returns to Ball State

You just know he did this for his mom. David Letterman's appearance on the campus of his alma mater Ball State University was big news in Muncie, Ind. today. He was there to attend the dedication of the school's new $21 million communications building, which is named after its famous alumnus.(Click here for Ball State's coverage)

As the pics on the (Muncie) Star Press website make clear, the normally press- and publicity-averse Letterman endured all the big to-do because it made his mom, Dorothy Mengering, proud. And given the fact that she's been a contributor to his latenight shows over the years (he sent her to cover the winter Olympics in Nagano, fer chrissakes) TV shows over the years, it's the least he could do.

Here's the Star Press' take on Friday's dedication ceremony ("If reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible," Letterman observed to the SRO crowd, per the paper), but even more amusing is the paper's set-up story detailing all of the preparations and anticipation for this state visit from a beloved native son. It was covered live by local TV outlets and streamed live on the school's website.

(Full disclosure: Pic above was filched from the Ball State website.)

"The Bob Newhart Show" holds a reunion love-in at Paley Center

I walked out of the Paley Center for Media in Bev Hills a tiny bit unsatisfied after taking in "The Bob Newhart Show" reunion tonight. The discussion among the core cast members (minus Peter Bonerz) was fun and funny, but low key. There were no jaw-dropping anecdotes or side-splitting stories of episodes gone wrong or saved in the clutch by a quick-witted crew member, etc. But it hit me by the time I got to my car. In all of its low-key-ness, it was the perfect tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show."

As discussed by Newhart and panelists Suzanne Pleshette, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley and helmer Dick Martin, "Bob Newhart" was a quiet ground-breaker in its 1972-78 run on CBS. While "Mary Tyler Moore," "All in the Family" and "MASH" soaked up the headlines for being convention-busting and envelope-pushing, Bob and Emily Hartley quietly shot scenes in bed together, with the emphasis on together. Newhart staked his claim to "Bob Newhart" being the first TV comedy to eschew twin beds for a more realistic queen-size mattress. And as fans of the show know, those talking-in-bed scenes are some of "Bob Newhart's" greatest moments.

Also unusual for the era was the concept that from the get-go, there were no kids in the picture for Bob and Emily, despite the fact that they obviously had the hots for each other; maybe Emily a little more so than Bob. As Pleshette put it in her trademark gravely-snarky voice, "If you listen quietly (in the bedroom scenes) you can hear me sticking my foot up his ass" to get her co-star going in the intimate setting.

Pictured above left: Suzanne Pleshette and Bob Newhart. Above right, clockwise from top, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley, Pleshette, Newhart and Dick Martin. Pics courtesy Paley Center/Kevin Parry Photography.

"Bob Newhart Show" reunion tonight

Looking forward to "The Bob Newhart Show" event tonight at the Paley Center for Media, which happens to fall on Newhart's 78th birthday. (Happy birthday Bob).

Panel promises to reunite Newhart with cast mates Suzanne Pleshette, Peter Bonerz, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Jack Riley and director Dick Martin for clips and Q&A and "gawsh I just loved doing that show" oratory. But it outta be a good, clean fun. Event is timed to TV Land's extensive 35th anniversary tribute to the show, which has been a staple of the vintage TV cabler for more years now than the series had in its original run on CBS (1972-78). (Pictured from left in 2005, Wallace, Pleshette, Newhart and Tom Poston, Pleshette's late husband, longtime friend of Newhart's and co-star of Newhart's other long-running CBS sitcom, "Newhart.")

On Monday, TV Land plans a marathon of eight Newhart-selected favorite segs, starting with "Last TV Show," in which Newhart's group therapy group urges him to accept an invite from the local PBS outlet to conduct a session live on air. The 10:30 p.m. seg "Some of My Best Friends" in which a young and swinger-looking Howard Hesseman joins the group, is not to be missed. Also next week, TV Land.com plans to stream those eight episodes, through Sunday, plus a bunch of other Newhart-ana, new and old.

This and that...

Among the guests on the next seg of CNBC's "Conversations with Michael Eisner" is the peacock's Ben Silverman. Episode is set to air Sept. 26 and also features L.A.'s hizzoner Antonio Villaraigosa and celeb blogger Perez Hilton....

Among the events of particular interest (to me) on the Paley Center for Media (fka the Museum of Television & Radio) sked of events for the 2007-08 season include seshes at the New York outposts with the writers from CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," set for Nov. 9; a so-long-farewell-Auf-Weidersehn-etc. to "Scrubs" (Nov. 10); and an "Evening with" sitdown with the inimitable Angela Lansbury (Nov. 14), pictured left. At the Bev Hills branch, good times outta be had at the Oct. 1 "Inside 'Robot Chicken' panel -- that's gotta be a bizarre 90-minutes; the 100th-seg salute to "Two and a Half Men" (Oct. 3); and the "Lou Grant" reunion (Nov. 16)...

Kinda sad to see that Don Bellisario didn't appear to make it to the "NCIS" 100th-episode cake-cutting photo op on Tuesday. I never did figure out the story behind Bellisario's abrupt exit from the drama he created (one of many) at the start of last season -- some reports blamed it on a clash between him and star Mark Harmon. Oh well, Bellisario will soon (one day?) be able to take comfort in his syndie residual and profit-participation checks.

Jerry Lewis loses it during telethon

Tuesday p.m. update: Jerry Lewis has issued an apology for using a foul slur on air Monday during the waning hours of his annual MDA telethon:

"I obviously made a bad choice of words. Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard," he said. "The success of the (telethon) and all the good that will come from it shouldn't be lost because of one unfortunate word. I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses. I am sorry."

Tuesday a.m. update: It's widely reported on the wires today that Jerry lost it toward the end of the telethon on Monday and called someone an "illiterate fag" on air. TMZ.com has a clip of Lewis' unfortunate comment posted on its website, and it sure sounds like he's making that reprehensible statement, though it's unclear exactly who is the target of his ire. Why Lewis would sully his annual moment in the good-works spotlight by using such a slur on air is unfathomable, but then again, people have always said that Lewis is his own worst enemy.

   

Say what you will -- LA LA LA NICE LLLAAADDDYYY -- about Jerry Lewis, but every year he raises a boatload of money for a worthy cause with his Labor Day weekend MDA telethon, and there's no way that this is not a good thing in the grand scheme of things.

The haul from this year's 21.5-hour show, broadcast from Las Vegas, was $63.8 million, nearly $3 million more than last year, as detailed on the telethon's website. Lewis has been hosting the telethon for half of his life. (He's 81; the telethon is 42 this year.)

The live shots of a goggle-eyed Jerry panting, sweating, crying and yukking it up with Norm Crosby and Ed McMahon, et al, interspersed with cutaways to local news anchors in formal wear, is one of those TV traditions (for those of us born before the Ford administration) that we'll miss, sorely, when it inevitably ends.

"Friday Night Lights" gets the "High School Musical" treatment

I'm not sure if "Friday Night Lights" is the kind of show that lends itself to the "High School Musical" viewing-party treatment, but it's at least good to see that NBC is engaged in promoting the soph season premiere of the show.

Peacock has pacted with Houseparty.com to mount a viewing party contest for "1,000 lucky hosts" who'll get the chance to throw their own "FNL" themed affair complete with a sneak peek at the season premiere on Sept. 14. For people willing to apply at Houseparty.com for the privilege of promoting the show's Oct. 5 debut in its new Friday 9 p.m. slot, NBC will pick 1,000 of them to receive party kits full of "FNL" themed tchotskes relating to the show about a life in a small Texas town that is crazy about its high school football (megaphones, stadium cushions, rally towels, a DVD of the first four segs from last season with a special introduction from "FNL" stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton) and of course, a bonus DVD of the pilot of "Bionic Woman." (Don't know of the "FNL" crowd will be flocking to "Bionic" but you can't blame them for trying...)

Plans for the parties will be tubthumped all across NBC.com (it's already started on the "FNL" page), local affiliate stations' websites and each party host gets a page on Houseparty.com. (Gee, whatever happened to picking up some beer, wine and a few extra-big bags of potato chips and making an effort to vacuum before guests show up?)
NBC's longtime marketing guru John Miller sez it's all about (staged) word-of-mouth promotion:
"With word of mouth advertising being so effective, we wanted to create a natural venue for that kind of experience in the comfort of people's homes," he said.

Of course, fans who don't make the cut can strike back by downloading illegal copies of "FNL" episodes off the Internet, grabbing images of the show off of Google to scan on to T-shirts and generally getting drunk and unruly at their own "FNL" themed parties on Sept. 13. (Just a little joke. Don't send the piracy police after me, please.)

"High School Musical 2": Look who's watching

We knew going in that Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" was going to be the Super Bowl for kids this year. And in landing as the most-watched single telecast in the history of the medium among kids 6-11, it's fair to say that Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay and the rest of the East High gang didn't disappoint.

This time around, there were were nearly 10% more boys and a whole lot more adults tuning in to the tuner. Among the 6.1 million kids in the 6-11 age range, the gender breakdown for the Friday premiere airing was 62% girls, 38% boys, compared to a 70-30 split for "High School Musical," which became a not-so-sleeper hit early last year. This past Friday night, two out of three kids who were watching TV were tuned to "HSM2." In the girls 6-11, the audience share was an astounding 80, translating to four out of five girls in the vicinity of a TV set, as Variety's Rick Kissell reports in his detailed look at "HSM2's" perf. (And just wait until the Live-Plus-7 numbers accounting for a week's worth of DVR playback viewing roll in next week...)

But of all the impressive stats generated by the sequel, the sweetest number for Disney Channel stewards may be the fact that one-third of the telepic's aud was comprised of adults 18 and over. The number of young adults (18-34s) and older-younger adults (18-49s) who watched stand as empirical evidence for Disney Channel programming execs that their master plan is working. For a network oriented around grade-schoolers, engaging the attention of voting-age viewers is a coup. Getting kids and moms and dads to all sit still at the same time and gather round the electronic hearth as in the days of yesteryear and three networks (NBC, CBS and DuMont) is an absolute slam dunk in our frantically fragmented age, even even for a commercial-free cabler that isn't worried about selling soap.

"High School Musical 2" : OMG! It's a cable ratings record

Humongous. Gi-normous. Cable record-setting. The Friday preem of Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" brought in an astounding 17.24 million viewers (17,240,884 to be exact) in its Friday 8-10:05 p.m. ET/PT preem. Take a bow, Disney Channel entertainment prexy Gary Marsh (pictured below), Rich Ross and the rest of the exec team that backed the notion of a kid-friendly tuner last year when most of us were going, huh?For the kids of today -- singing and dancing, Mickey and Judy style? Just goes to prove the industry cliche about zigging when others are zagging....and finding talent, good-looking comers a la Zac Efron to showcase.

"HSM2" tuner now ranks as the most-watched TV movie ever with kids 6-11, drawing 6.1 million viewers in that demo, and the most-watched ever with tweeners 9-14, drawing 5.9 million viewers in that demo, according to Disney Channel. In total households, pic drew a massive 9.4 million cable homes, putting the telecast behind only a handful of sports and news telecasts in cable history in total households deliver. The high total viewer tally also indicates that pic was a family viewing event in most of those 9.4 million households. And as Disney Channel's hard-working PR maven Patti McTeague observed this a.m., who knows how many were really watching given all the viewing parties set around "HSM2" last night.

Disney Channel followed "HSM2" with a sneak peek of the upcoming animated series "Phineas and Ferb," which held onto a healthy 10.8 million viewers from its windfall lead-in. And at 10:20 p.m., a fresh seg of Disney Channel hit "Hannah Montana" was socko enough to rank as Disney Channel's second most-watched telecast ever, with an average of 10.7 million viewers. "Hannah" also set all kinds of series records for Disney Channel and the basic cable biz in general, including most-watched seg with kids 6-11 (4.1 million), and most-watched seg with the 9-14 crowd (4.2 million).

"Pushing Daisies": Chuck and Ned smooch at the cemetery

I'm told a splendid time was had by all last night at the "Pushing Daisies" screening at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Pilot was said to have been enthusiastically received by the non-pros in the audience, just as it has been by industry insiders during the past few months since it was picked up by ABC back in May. Pilot helmer and exec producer Barry Sonnenfeld looks like he was having a good time, all decked out as a pink cowboy. And here's a pic at left of something we're unlikely to see anytime soon on the show -- stars Lee Pace and Anna Friel smooching!

"Daisies" revolves around a guy, Ned, with an unusual talent to bring the dead back to life with the touch of his hand -- with the catch that if he touches them again, they're back to .... pushing daisies. Chuck happens to be Ned's long-lost childhood sweetheart who Ned reconnects with, unfortunately a little too late when she's already been bumped off. He revives her and the flower of their youthful love re-blossoms in a big way...but only if they don't actually touch.

"Pushing Daisies" has a few tough tasks ahead of it. It's got great industry buzz that it has to live up to. It has to open a night for ABC (Wednesday) at 8 p.m.; and it has to build on the Ned-Chuck storyline without the "no touching" rule feeling tired, and it has to keep the franchise murder-mystery element of Ned reviving murder victims to catch their killers from running out of steam too. If anyone's up to the task, it's "Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller, a man with a naturally sunny-morbid disposition who spent the past season on "Heroes" and has a loyal cult following for his previous offbeat dramas "Wonderfalls" and "Dead Like Me." And he's got formidable help from fellow exec producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (who flank Sonnenfeld and Fuller in the pic at right, with Bruce on the far right). Go, Bryan, go...

(Group pic by Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com)

"Pushing Daisies" Hollywood Forever screening on Thursday

Now here's a clever promo idea. ABC has skedded a promo screening of its buzzed-about dramedy "Pushing Daisies" at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Thursday night. "Daisies" creator/exec producer Bryan Fuller will be on hand to introduce the screening, and ABC is promising "a limited number of special treats at the conclusion of the event for attendees." The Hollywood Forever midnight screenings of movies, morbid-themed and otherwise, have been a local treat for a few years now. With its focus on a guy who has the ability to bring people back from the dead, briefly, the lighthearted (really) "Daisies" is a perfect fit with the Hollywood Forever series, especially now that billboards for the show are sprouting up all over town. "Pushing Daisies," starring Lee Pace and Anna Friel, bows at 8 p.m. on Oct. 3.

For more info on "Pushing Daisies," read this On the Air column with Bryan Fuller from a few months ago, and this dispatch from TCA last month.

"American Idol's" first born -- Welcome Jamil!

Yes, she named him Idol. A preggers woman who toughed it out Monday at the Dallas open-audition for next year's "American Idol" competish wound up going into labor while waiting her turn in Texas Stadium. Antoria Gillon wasn't about to give up her hard won spot in line, so she braved the long wait (doing the 'hee-hee-hee-ho' breathing exercise the entire time, no doubt) and finally got her turn, in between contractions. (Would love to know what her audition number was. "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now"? "Be My Baby"? "Get Ready"? ).

Undoubtedly impressed by her fortitude and determination, the local judges invited her to come back for the next round of auditioning. On the heels of that good news, Gillon got herself to a local hospital, and in the wee hours of Tuesday, the world welcomed Jamil Labarron Idol McCowan, all six pounds and seven ounces of him. (Wonder what Simon would've made of her performance in the delivery room? Paula surely would've gushed.) Just think, in another 18 years, he can audition for the 2025 edition of "Idol."

"Survivor": It's all in the cards

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

If it's Saturday night, then shuffle up and deal.

Yours truly was invited to a charity poker tournament at UCLA for the Scleroderma Foundation, a group that does its best to create awareness and raise funds for this nasty and debilitating autoimmune disease.

Playing their cards close to the vest were not one, not two but three ex-"Survivor" contestants — Alex Angarita, "Survivor: Fiji" (left); Cristina Coria, "Survivor: Cook Islands"  (second from right) and Bruce Kanegai, "Survivor: Panama" (right), pictured with exec director Brian Adams of the Scleroderma Foundation (not Bryan Adams of "Cuts Like a Knife" fame).

Typically, I lost early on a bad river beat but, more importantly, money was raised for a good cause … and we got to find out what former "Survivor" contestants do after their TV fame has come and gone.

With their torch on being a celebrity long ago flamed out, it was nice to see these folks use their Andy Warhol moments for such a good cause.

For more information, check out www.sclerodermasocal.org.

— Stuart Levine

David Letterman: Pride of Ball State

He is a very special young man. Muncie, Ind.-based Ball State University is naming its new communications building after its most famous alumni, David Letterman.

Letter-mom Dorothy Mengering was on hand Monday for the announcement with Ball State prexy Jo Ann Gora (click here for cute pic of Dorothy, known to viewers for her occasional work as a "Late Show"/"Late Night" correspondent). The $21 million, 75,000-square foot facility houses all kinds of state-of-the-art digital media stuff, a surround sound recording studio and post-production facility, is set to open on Sept. 7. Letterman and his mom are expected to attend the ceremony.

"I'm so thrilled that David finally let them do this for him," Mengering told the AP. "He's a very special young man, and I'm proud of him."

Gora noted that Letterman's frequent mentions of the school on his NBC and CBS late night shows have exposed Ball State to millions of people who otherwise never would've heard of it. He's also quietly been a huge supporter of its various institutions, from the Letterman Scholarships established in 1985 to the checks he's written to help launch the school's radio station, among other initiatives. Letterman graduated from Ball State in 1970.

"I'm proud to have been a student at Ball State, and I'm deeply honored to have this recognition for me and my family," Letterman said in a statement.

(Pictured above: Letterman, right, and George Clooney. No, Clooney didn't go to Ball State but I found this nice shot on the CBS press Web site and let's face it, Clooney livens up any post.)

NATPE LATV Fest

NATPE's inaugural LATV fest celebrating the smallscreen gets underway in earnest tomorrow. I'm planning to start my day on Wednesday at Hollywood & Highland moderating a panel, "Blowing Up the Boob Tube: How the Digital Frontier Has Changed our Relationship with TV," that aims to make sense of what all of the new digital options available to the masses mean for the old-fashioned business of television. (Wish us luck!) Panels, seminars, NATPE Boot Camp (TV producing/pitching/selling 101) sessions are going on all day Wednesday at H&H, and all day Thursday at House of Blues. Here's Variety's story from a few months back on why NATPE decided it was high time this town had its own TV industry-themed panel sesh-fest.

TCA: Hugh Laurie does the bumper cars

A fantastic time was had by all at Fox's post-TCA party on the Santa Monica pier on Monday night, as evidenced by this pic of "House" star Hugh Laurie in action on the bumper cars. The network took over the whole pier and gave TCA-ers the run of the joint, which had to fulfill childhood fantasies of anyone who ever spent time on the pier as a kid and ran out of quarters. TypePad's power-outage woes and a busy day back in the office kept me from weighing in on much of anything today. But this Laurie pic was too cool to pass up.

TCA: "Friday Night Lights," "Dexter" get a high five from scribe tribe

What Emmy didn't giveth on Thursday morning, the TCA Awards bestowed on Saturday night at the Beverly Hilton.

NBC's "Friday Night Lights," conspicuously snubbed by Emmy voters, got its due in nabbing best new program. Michael C. Hall of Showtime's "Dexter," another near no-show in the Emmy derby, was deemed best drama actor at the ceremony hosted by "Daily Show's" John Oliver.

Overall the Peacock swept the Television Critics Assn. kudofest with four trophies, including best comedy for "The Office," natch, and Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" for top dog among comedy actors.TCA-ers didn't overlook NBC's other big frosh drama of last season, picking  "Heroes" the program of the year.

(Pictured: Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler of "Friday Night Lights")

Emmys: Wouldn't be the same without Mike and Carolyn

It wouldn't be Emmy noms morning without running into a sleepy Mike Darnell, Fox's exec vp and guru of all things alternative and specials, and his super-nice wife Carolyn (pictured right on the Emmy red carpet in 2005), who works as an awards consultant to HBO and Fox, among others. Mike staked out his usual spot on the stairs in the lobby of the Leonard H. Goldenson Theater where all the hubbub goes on at 5:40 a.m. "I can't believe we're here," Mike chuckled as he slouched against a huge planter. "We look pretty good for this time of the morning, don't you think?" He had an omelet-looking item on a paper plate next to him but he didn't seem to be hungry. Carolyn noted that this year makes it an even 20 years that she's been rising before dawn from their home in Calabasas to take in the Emmy noms announcement.

Mike was happy, of course, to see "American Idol" in the running for reality series though it will once again face four-time winner "Amazing Race." He was disappointed for "So You Think You Can Dance" (especially with ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" nabbing a series nom alongside "Idol," "Race," "Project Runway" and "Top Chef") but hey, at least it's a contender for choreography.

As I kept running around the theater lobby trying to find a spot that would grant me four precious green bars indicating a WiFi connection (no such luck), I also did my best to drag details of the Sept. 16 Emmy telecast out of Mike, who is overseeing the show for Fox. The big question is, who's going to host?

Fox is always in something of a bind when it gets its quadrennial Emmycast because it doesn't have too many host-type talents a la the other nets. Ryan Seacrest? Jeff Foxworthy? Wayne Brady? who's now on Fox's air as host of "Don't Forget the Lyrics." "House" star Hugh Laurie would also be a good choice -- he's nominated this year (after inexplicably being left out last year) and so is the show, and Laurie's very much on record as being a funny guy from his "Bit of Fry and Laurie" days in Britain. Mike smiled and shuffled his cowboy boots a little but wasn't about to give me any insights on the host, but he did drop a big hint that the Emmycast set is getting an extreme makeover and will look very different this year.

TCA: NBC's Hall of fame football lineup

POSTED BY STUART LEVINE

Following the frantic exec session with Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff, NBC's next panel focused on the network's Sunday Night Football package. And, despite Silverman's success on "The Office" and "Ugly Betty," this was a group with just a few more accomplishments between them.

Sitting in the front row of the stage were NBC Sports topper Dick Ebersol, John Madden (pictured right), Al Michaels, Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth and Keith Olbermann. Behind them were producer Fred Gaudelli, reporter Andrea Kramer, future Hall of Famers Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber, and production exec Michael Weisman.

Michaels, forever known for his 1980 Winter Olympics call "Do you believe in miracles" on the U.S. upset of the USSR in hockey, is an announcing institution. He's appeared in more live primetime network broadcasts than any person in history.

Madden coached the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl win but that almost seems an afterthought at this point. His gravelly signature voice has become ingrained into the minds of football fans that the week's big game only matters if he's doing the color. That's not true, of course, with Fox and CBS also doing a steller job covering the league, but Madden's presence always raises the game up a notch.

Costas has won 19 Emmys and feels old school ... in a good way. There's no doubt about his first sports love, which is baseball, but his football acumen remains strong.

The lightning rod of the NBC football shows this year will be Olbermann, who has become a champion for liberals over the past few years. On his increasingly popular MSNBC "Countdown" show, Olbermann pokes and prods the Bush Administration. Whether he does the same thing to Peyton Manning and Terrell Owens remains to seen.

"If I say something negative about Reggie Bush, then I have to say something negative about Clinton Portis," Olbermann joked.

He'll get that chance early on. The network's first game is Thursday, Sept. 6 when Bush and his New Orleans Saints travel to Indianapolis to face the world champion Colts.

But, certainly, his appearance will bring in viewers who might not be as much fans of the game as fans of him.

"With Keith, there comes an interesting heat," said Ebersol. Referring back to Olbermann's days on "SportsCenter," "With Dan (Patrick), he changed the way generation of fans looks at highlights."

-- Stuart Levine

TCA: Nick teaches, CMT struts

POSTED BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK

Now debuting on U.S. cable--either the vanguard of 21st century diversity or another weapon in the arsenal of overbearing parents.

That would Nick Jr.'s bilingual animated show "Ni Hao, Kai-lan," which the net unwrapped during Friday morning's cavalcade of TCA announcements and sessions from the many channels in the MTV Networks family.

"Ni Hao" aims to do for Mandarin what "Dora the Explorer" did for Spanish -- that is, give parents another language to fret that their children are (or aren't) learning. Nick execs said that the net chose Chinese because they were trying to reach out to diverse creators. Another unspoken reason might be a desire to appeal to a certain breed of ultra-ambitious, upscale parents who read statistics about the ascendancy of Mandarin as a global language.

The sesh that immediately followed the Nick stuff may have been an education in a more commonly spoken language, and probably a whole lot more intriguing to the overwhelmingly white male demo of TCA-ers. To tubthumb the next season of "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team," CMT trotted out a clutch of the show's white-booted, high-kicking, smile-wearing stars.

Setting aside the eye candy factor, the clips and interviews for "Cheerleaders" underscored (as did CMT's follow-up presentation for "Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge) how strong a genre nonscripted can be when it's done straight-up, docu style with the right subject.

"Cheerleaders" will offer no contrived contests or made-for-TV eliminations, just a video-verite peek into how a thousand dancer-athletes go through the rigorous paces of making an elite squad.
And not to avoid the obvious, but they're cheerleaders, fer chrissakes. What's not to like?

--Steven Zeitchik

TCA: Once more unto the breach

Here we go again. The summer Television Critics Assn. tour is upon is. Ken Burns is the big draw at the Beverly Hilton today, talking up his 14-hour mini "The War," which looks at World War II from the homefront perspective of four American hamlets: Waterbury, Conn.; Mobile, Ala.; Sacramento, Calif.; and the tiny farming community of Luverne, Minn. "The War," produced and directed by Burns and Lynn Novick, has been six years in the making. It's also been the project that put Burns in the unfamiliar position of fielding some pretty harsh criticism for his take on history, from Hispanic and Native American advocacy groups who claimed his mini overlooked their contributions to the war effort. (According to the AP, Burns addressed this issue during his TCA sesh, saying he's added nearly a half-hour of material featuring Hispanic and Native American stories to the doc.) I just got my screener copy on Monday and am eager to set aside some time to watch it. If nothing else, Burns is meticulous about his research and has surely turned up some amazing images to tell this tale, like the one at left from somewhere in the South Pacific in 1944. PBS is bolding going to "War" during the thick of fall premiere week, rolling out the series in seven parts across two weeks beginning Sept. 23.

After PBS wraps up today, the wired-world takes over on Thursday for four days of cable-iscious fun. The presentation sked to the best of my kno