June 2009 Archives

With all this Michael Jackson news I'm feeling very lonely around the Access Hollywood offices. Everyone is busy and in newshound mode while little old me is still in Dish of Salt mode. Frankly, I like it that way. You know I can't live without my TV!

 

Last night was like sensory overload. After yet another doctor appointment (someone please figure out what's wrong with me soon!) I was not allowed to go to the gym. So, I arrived home at 6 PM with nothing to do. Fortunately, my TV was calling my name with tons of goodies. "Weeds" was on at 7 PM on Showtime  I ponder - do we want Nancy with the evil mayor slash drug lord or should she and Andy, brother-in-law of dead husband, hook up? I can't decide.

 

"Nurse Jackie" followed at 7:30 PM. How can Jackie be cheating on that adorable, hunky and might I add younger (Go Edie Falco!) husband with the balding pharmacist guy!? I don't get it.

 

Then it was two hours of "The Bachelorette" on ABC, which was by far the MOST craptastic episode ever. Fans of the show will get that joke. Jillian goes on her hometown dates. I decided I need to marry into Kiptyn's family who clearly have some moolah. She zips through three other hometown dates in record time. At this point it's 8:50 PM and I'm wondering how they will fill the next hour and ten minutes. Then pilot Jake returns to stalk Jillian in Austin.

 

Last week was obviously a trying week with the loss of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and yesterday Billy Mays (with whom I had a personal connection.) So, I wasn't able to get this story up until now. Tanner made me laugh though. So I wanted to make sure I gave him a little Dish of Salt love. Things get a bit racy towards the end so click away if you are not old enough to attend R rated movies.
 
Well if you recall, I made a blunder when I wrongly reported, a month or so before "The Bachelorette" started airing, that Tanner was a single dad. Fortunately, Tanner forgave me for this mistake after I re-canted. We had a lovely conversation about shoe size, pedicures and whether he's now a stud back in Dallas where he lives. 

Yesterday was by the far the craziest day I have ever experienced working for Access Hollywood. We have had shocking, unexpected deaths come along in the 13 years we have covered the world of celebrities from big to small - JFK Jr., Sonny Bono, Aaliyah, Phil Hartman, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger. Never have we seen the death of two pop cultures icons in one day, just five hours apart. I wasn't in the trenches the way our producers and full-time Web staff were. They were working furiously to get the information out and my buzzing blackberry said it all about what was happening in our offices and continues to be happening. It's going to be a long week ahead and my hats off to everyone here for their dedication.

 

This morning I was up early doing back to radio interviews with stations across the country to talk about the latest news and the impact Michael had in people's lives. The one question that kept coming up was, "What are your best memories of growing up to Michael Jackson or covering him over the years?"

 

Two stories came to mind.

What did God say when Michael arrived?  DID he arrive? Was he consoled and embraced and ultimately released from all of his childhood pain or was he admonished for what many suspect but thankfully don't have confirmed? 

 

There is an inescapable question mark as to the ethics and balance of Michael Jackson that goes with him to his grave. It is most assuredly not what Michael had in mind when he set out to be pop music's "P.T. Barnum", the man in the middle of the circus.

 

Although, let's be real, anyone who reportedly invites a gossip tabloid to shoot him in a hyperbaric chamber courts the bizarre.

 

I was the last person to get Michael Jackson to go on camera. Technically, it was his last interview as I asked some questions and he answered them, but its not one I'd choose to hang my hat on.  Michael was alternately petrified and obsessed with my camera. He loved the small HD handheld 24P size camera and demanded to know where he could get one. But, before the cameras got rolling, while sitting in the small kitchen of his temporary Irish countryside cottage, Michael asked, "Is 5 minutes ok?"

There has been a lot of joking around the last couple of weeks at work about how much TV I watch. For some people this could be the road to a pink slip... but fortunately, for me, it's my job to watch television. I have to know who is who on what show, which show is hot, which showed jumped the shark, what's the next "Gossip Girl," who died last night on "Desperate Housewives" or which reality star is having a meltdown at any given moment on any given cable channel.

 

I'm sure at one point in my life someone probably asked me what I wanted to do for a living and I mostly likely said, "Wouldn't it be great if someone would pay me to watch TV all day?"  Who could have guessed that one day they would?!

 

I've always been a TV addict -- ever since I can remember. My mom would plop me in front of "Sesame Street" as a toddler where I would sit mesmerized by Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Later, as a pre-teen I would fight with my brothers about watching "The Brady Bunch." They wanted to watch "M*A*S*H" so I would steal the dials off the living room TV so they couldn't change the channel. I could not miss a minute of the wholesome family fun that Greg, Peter, Jan, Cindy, Bobby and, of course... Marcia, Marcia, Marcia cooked up. 

Dave's apology last night was heartfelt and as soon as I read the transcript from the East Coast taping, I "Tweeted" that it felt sincere and more than adequate. But... as I watch it again I perceive something more in Dave: anxiety and urgency. This cannot go horribly wrong for Dave at THIS time.

It's been reported that one major advertiser, Embassy Suites Hotels, has distanced itself from "Late Show." That's a problem, but short-term. What is even potentially worse for Dave is damage to the way people perceive him at a time when he is trying to overtake "The Tonight Show" in the ratings.

Jay Leno beat him every night because of his mainstream monologue and overall jovial likeability. Dave is known to be more like Johnny Carson - funny but a little snarky and not so approachable, i.e. life of the party off camera, he is not.

Gov. Sarah Palin called Dave's joke about her daughter last week "sexually perverted." If people perceive Dave as perverted, he's dead. And it's been proven all too clearly, Palin has a base that is strong, conservative, outspoken and unafraid of standing up. If they rally and ultimately redefine Dave, it's lights out...or at least 2nd place yet again.


Your thoughts?

Billy@BillyBushshow.com

I was on vacation last week but couldn't miss the opportunity to hear "Bachelorette" reject David Good explain his Jekyll and Hyde behavior on the show. So I forwent some beach time to listen to reporters drill him for answers on Thursday morning. Of course, as you can see, I wasn't willing to give up beach time to actually write this up! But better late than never, right?

 

Not surprisingly, David blamed most of his bad behavior on the editing, claiming what we saw was only, "1 percent of me as a person and that 1 percent was the bad part of David Good."

 

If that's the case, I'd hate to see the other 99 percent of David Good. I don't think he really did the best job of convincing reporters on the call that he wasn't that angry guy. The only thing I believe is that he regrets how he acted now having watched it back. He says, "I was very upset with myself the way I behaved. I thought I brought a lot more to the show than that. I had to call my grandparents and apologize after the show aired." 

While the ratings for NBC's revamp of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!" continue to be unimpressive, the media coverage of the Heidi and Spencer debacle continues.

I watched the first episode of the show and found myself gagging as they were eating live bugs and rat tails. Its train wreck TV at its best but even I can't stomach the creepy crawly stuff. I have no idea why anyone would want to put themselves through this nightmare. I know they are giving money to their chosen charities but these celebs have got to be getting paid to do this!

 
Now viewers may not be tuning into the show in droves, but they are interested in reading about the drama online courtesy of Heidi and Spencer. As it stands now, "The Hills" stars have quit "ten or twenty times," according to Angela Shelton, the first celebrity eliminated from the show on Thursday night.
 
Their fate will be determined on Monday night's episode whether or not they will be allowed to return to the show, again. Angela believes her fellow celebs will allow them back without holding a grudge, but as for her, she is done with the duo.
 
"I don't think they should be able to go back at all," Shelton told reporters in a conference call on Friday. "I think he [Spencer] is very unhinged. I'm trying to figure out how he passed the pysch evaluation and by what margin."

"American Idol" is back already.
 
Here it was I thought I was going to have a nice little break from all the insanity, but it turns out it was short lived.
 
I got an e-mail this morning announcing that "American Idol" auditions begin June 14th in Boston, Mass. My eyes bugged out like a cartoon character and I could hear horns blowing in my head when I read the date. What? June 14th? I thought, 'Wait, am I reading this right? Shouldn't it be July 14th?' Alas the date was correct.