Credit: Rick Maiman/AP

This is the big week. Yes, the week when literally 20-plus new and returning shows flood the airwaves.

Many of TV’s top shows are back, including “CSI,” “Desperate Housewives,” (left, with Drea Matteo joining the cast) “Grey’s Anatomy,” “NCIS,” “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Mentalist.”

Plus, TV viewers seeking new climes will have plenty to sample. Among the most promising: CBS’s “The Good Wife”on Tuesday, ABC’s “Modern Family” on Wednesday and ABC’s “Flash Forward” on Thursday.

MONDAY

“Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” 1 p.m. WAGA, 8 p.m. CMT (syndicated debut) — Jeff Foxworthy’s show in sped-up form.

“Dancing With The Stars” 8 p.m. ABC (ninth season debut) — Tom DeLay, put on those dancing shoes!

“Heroes” 8 p.m. NBC (fourth season debut) — A mysterious carnival clan arrives.

“How I Met Your Mother” 8 p.m. CBS (fifth season debut) – Barney and Robin? Boyfriend/girlfriend? Or not? Lily tries to clarify.

“House” 8 p.m. Fox …

Continue reading TV best bets with return of ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ ‘CSI,’ ‘Desperate Housewives,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘NCIS’ »

It felt like deja vu tonight at the Emmy’s. AMC’s “Mad Men” and NBC’s “30 Rock” won the two drama and comedy awards respectively – just like a year ago.

The drama actor and actress went to Bryan Cranston of “Breaking Bad” and Glenn Close from “Damages” – again. (”I’m thankful Glenn Close is a woman, Cranston cracked during his victory speech.) And Alec Baldwin took home the best actor in a comedy role for a second time, too. The only newbie is Toni Collette for best actress in a comedy.

By being repetitive, perhaps folks might remember these winners in two weeks. But probably not.

The bottom line: the Emmys don’t matter to the average viewer. They have not shown any influence whatsoever on what people watch. This contrasts to the Oscars, which frequently fuel the box office gross, and the Grammys, which can stoke CD (and now, download) sales.

But they can give struggling shows a bit of prestige and helps the resumes of the winners.

Take the first person who won: the charming …

Continue reading It’s like 2008 all over again at the Emmy’s »

Football is back in full and Atlantans ran with it.

Most of the top 20 primetime shows last week featured various football matchups. Naturally, the South Carolina/Georgia game on ESPN was the biggest draw last Saturday night at 599,000 viewers. Clemson at Ga. Tech last Thursday Sept. 10 brought in 375,000 and came in fourth, sandwiched by two NFL games Sunday.

Also, Marietta’s Melanie Oudin’s efforts at the U.S. Opoen brought in a big crowd on ESPN2 last Wednesday: 166,000 viewers.

Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” in the meantime, had one of its stronger local outings yet with 215,000 viewers Sept. 10. Nationally, it drew 3.2 million veiwers, the second best outing this season after seven episodes.

It just beat out MTV VMA’s awards, which drew 9 million nationally and 212,000 locally.

BET’s Atlanta-based “Frankie & Neffe” rebounded from a big dropoff week two to 1.3 million in its third week. In other shows shot in Atlanta, Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” drew its …

Continue reading Football dominates Atlanta ratings, Gucci Mane, U2 top radio acts »

Irina's winning newspaper coat (MyLifetime.com)

Aha! Finally, a solution to the ailing newspaper industry: make fashion out of all the unread newspapers that are lying around. It promotes recycling; gives you plenty of time to catch up on your reading; and now it justifies fashion as a disposable industry!

Only on this show is “wearability” a plus one week and a dreaded mistake the next week.

Gordana’s dress was gorgeous – it caught my eye coming down the runway. And yet the judges thought it commonplace.

On the other hand, Irina crafted what started out to be a fantastic coat – an extremely wearable one too, IMO – but I just thought it looked unfinished. It had a dramatic shape (even if it did instantly remind me of everything designed by Laura from Season 3), and that was it.

(As well, Shirin’s dress was way less origami than it was Leanne from Season 5 – all repeating folds.)

But it was a good week overall. The designers excelled at making newspaper look and …

Continue reading Project Runway: Dinosaur Chic »

Kim sings! Kim falls! Kim whines! Kim cries!

Yes, this episode became a Kim Zolciak spectacle. Surely, she wouldn’t consider this one a “snoozefest.”

She hooks up with R&B producer extraordinaire Kandi Burruss, who has turned “Tardy for the Party,” some lame country tune into a hot dance/pop tune. Kandi also made it so Kim only has to sing three notes.

But when Kim arrives at Kandi’s home to record the song, she freaks out. She acts as if she’s about to go skydiving or drive a stock car for the first time at 180 miles an hour. She compares her fear of singing to giving birth. “I’m not wanting to sing,” she tells Kandi.

Um… so why is she doing this? Kandi is a class act, coaxing nervous Kim into the studio and gets her to sing. Kandi then autotunes Kim so she sounds as good as Britney.

Kim (and everyone else) was impressed with Kandi’s re-do of the song. “This superseded my expectations a million percent,” Kim said.

Kim’s singing ambitions are modest: “I want to be a one-hit …

Continue reading ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ recap, episode 8: Kim takes a fall »