Why “Bethenny” failed

Lack of experience, awkwardness, and arrogance kept viewers away from former Real Housewives star’s daytime talker In a project that never should have seen the light of day, Warner Bros. (or Telepictures, or Lorimar, or whomever) decided last week to put former Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel’s talk show out of its misery after just five months on the air. […]

Chicago media just keeps serving up the has-beens

On the old PI Feedback forums at the former Mediaweek.com, a poster named “Twins12” often referred to the hit reality TV series Dancing With The Stars as Dancing With The Has-Beens, noting the program’s inability to land A-list celebrities, but those whose best days were behind them. In Chicago media, being a has-been can be beneficial – even if no […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: “Survivor” tackles race and fails

              Last week’s episode told what a lot of us already know: Hollywood really doesn’t respect people of color On Grey’s Anatomy, they had the Ferry Boat accident. For The Simpsons, it was changing the backstory of the series to create a lame plot on how Homer Simpson “discovered” grunge music. For this show, […]

Trump’s got bump

Last night’s debut of The Apprentice: Celebrity Edition on NBC notched a 4.5 adults 18-49 rating, up 9 percent from last January’s edition. The good opening numbers for the reality program marks a continued trend of such shows with increased ratings for The Bachelor and Survivor, two once-struggling reality shows that are hot again. With the absence of scripted programs […]

Worst Person in Media This Week – 11/30/2007

We’re back this week with the Worst Person in Media This Week award, after a break last week (because of the Thanksgiving holiday). Although Carson Daly (for crossing the picket line) is a worthy nominee, handing out this week’s WPIMTW award is a no-brainer… Usually we give these awards to media people and politicians who are involved in the business […]