For cinephiles, this is the week to mull over the Oscar pool in preparation for Sunday’s big event on ABC, hosted this year by the esteemed duo of Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (left).

While “The Hurt Locker” is the presumed leader, the complicated process in which the ten films are winnowed down could ultimately lead to another victor, be it “Up in the Air” or “Avatar.” Most of the other major categories are dominated by presumed favorites such as Mo’Nique for best supporting actress and Jeff Bridges as best actor.

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Otherwise, there’s plenty to watch this week. You can bid farewell to FX’s groundbreaking and often surreal “Nip/Tuck,” in case you knew it was still on the air. The show, along with “The Shield,” helped establish FX as an “edgy” basic cable network that could take …

Continue reading TV best bets with the Oscars, ‘Parenthood,’ end of ‘Nip/Tuck,’ ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘Big Love’ »

NBC is hoping it has struck gold with Jerry Seinfeld a second time. He is the executive producer and occasional guest judge on a new show called “The Marriage Ref.”

The simple set up: celebrities mull over specific married couple’s dilemmas and debate who is right. Comic Tom Papa makes the final “judgment.”  The disputes are mostly lighthearted, not marriage breakers. There may be some prizes related to the dilemma itself.

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NBC did not give us advance copies of episodes but gave us some arguments. For instance, one  involves a husband who wants to park his motorcycle in the living room. Another spouse wants a dead family dog stuffed.

Greg and Dianah Hunter of Gainesville, GA will appear this Sunday in the debut episode airing after the Winter Olympic closing ceremonies in Vancouver, scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. …

Continue reading Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘Marriage Ref’ Sunday features Gainesville couple’s rift over a stripper pole (poll added) »

Two weeks, two Atlanta crews flushed down the toilet on MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew.” Royal Flush came up with a losing hand Thursday night a week after Swagger Crew swaggered home.

Royal Flush was among two groups with the fewest votes. They competed in a “sudden death” dance competition with Blueprint Cru. The judges made the final call.

Lil Mama, Omarion and JC Chasez, based on their critiques, were split but Blueprint Cru had a tougher job, especially with a handstand move. It was a close call. Royal Flush, paying homage to Cascada’s “Evacuate the Dance Floor,” opened strong, lost a bit of steam, featured a corny card trick, then ended it with a cool card trick featuring one dancer spitting out cards.

So that just leaves the strongest of the three Atlanta crews: Jungle Boogie.

Stone Mountain’s Jungle Boogie were told they were safe early on. They needed to imitate steps from Shakira’s video of “Give It Up To Me.” The lone female Raqi Carter was placed front and …

Continue reading Another Atlanta crew bites the dust on MTV’s ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ »

B98.5 has decided to end the Steve and Vikki Show less than two years after a ballyhooed launch in 2008.  Steve McCoy is out for sure, confirmed a Cox Radio official close to the situation who declined to be identified because he wasn’t authorized to give out such information.

Tony Kidd, Cox Radio market manager, said he wasn’t ready to discuss the situation just yet.

The pair’s contract is up June 30. B98.5 decided to take them off the air early because the soft-rock station had a deadline to give Steve & Vikki a third year. Management has chosen not to take the option.

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A friend close to Vikki Locke said she has an offer to stay on, perhaps as a solo morning host, starting July 1. She has not made up her mind but has until next week to say yes or no.

If she doesn’t, B98.5 could bring back Kelly Stevens and Alpha Trivette, …

Continue reading B98.5 nixes the Steve & Vikki Show »

Lisa Wu Hartwell of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” played a fitness instructor last night on “Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns,” and she did not embarrass herself.

Hartwell showed up 14 minutes into the episode. Mr. Brown was diagnosed with diabetes so he joins an exercise class. Derek, to get him to go, said he’d do it with him, then reneges. But Hartwell’s character Jenny walks in so Derek decides to stay in the class.

Hartwell showed off her fit body in a light blue tank top and darker blue pants.

Her exercise moves quickly tucker out Brown, who collapses in a heap. Cut to commercial.

Later, we see Brown getting tested by docs at the hospital fitness center. He finds out he could stay off drugs if he maintains a decent exercise and diet routine. Derek tries to hit on Hartwell’s character one more time. She tells him to do 50 pushups and she’d consider it. While he is doing it, she leaves with a bulkier and hunkier dude.

“You’re on the those desperate housewives anyway!” Derek …

Continue reading Lisa Wu Hartwell on ‘Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns’ »

Former WSB-TV sportscaster Chuck Dowdle has quickly landed a new job helping host the post-game Atlanta Braves shows on the Atlanta Braves radio network.

Dowdle retired from WSB in December 2009 after 24 years.

He will join Don Sutton, Tom Glavine and Mark Lemke as the only person who had never played Major League baseball in the booth. Dowdle will host. Sutton, Glavine and Lemke will rotate.

He said Glavine called a few days ago and joked, “How’s retirement going?”

“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Dowdle said by phone today. “Ever since I worked the grounds crew with the Braves in the late 1960s, I’ve always had a love for the franchise. It’s a new challenge for me.”

He won’t pretend he knows more about baseball than Glavine, Sutton or Lemke. “As much as I’ve been around the game, I think this is going to be a great educational experience. My job will be to draw analysis out of them, what went right or wrong.”

His agent Jim Heilman said he will continue to host …

Continue reading Former WSB-TV sportscaster Chuck Dowdle finds a new gig working with the Braves »

“Real Housewife of Atlanta” cast member Kandi Burruss sat in the hot seat with Michelle Solgan, a housewife from South Orange, N.J. but ultimately was not much help.

Solgan took home $25,000, a respectable figure. (Burruss was not there to win any cash. She was only there to give Solgan suggestions if necessary.)

The segment was split over two days, airing in Atlanta 9:30 a.m. yesterday and today on WATL-TV.

On day one, the game show began with a clip of Kandi fighting with NeNe. Proof that host Meredith Viera does NOT follow the show, she mistook NeNe for Kim.

Michelle rolled through the first five questions without Kandi’s help and reached $5,000 painlessly. The looked to Kandi briefly for one question, but Kandi had no idea that Jewish folks dance the “hora.”

The next question for $7,000 was about fashion:

“Texas native Tom Ford established what Italian label as a top luxury brand after becoming its creative director in 1994.”

Kandi, though she owns a boutique, was a …

Continue reading How did Kandi Burruss do on ‘Who Wants To Be a Millionaire’? »

The Winter Olympics are doing well on WXIA-TV here in Atlanta, though given our Southern geography, not as well, as Northern cities.

In fact, “American Idol” (with Ellen DeGeneres) easily beat all Olympics coverage last week in Atlanta, though the Feb. 17 Olympics did defeat “Idol” nationwide. That’s the first time “Idol” had lost to any TV program after a 222-episode streak going back to 2004.

Other highlights:

-E! had its best ratings performance for any program in history when Kourtney Kardashian had her baby on “Keeping With the Kardashians.” The total: 4.8 million. Sign of the apocalypse? Just maybe…

-Fox News drew the most viewers to the Tiger Woods press conference last Friday with 2.1 million, 300,000 more than ESPN. and 1.2 million more than CNN.

-Many shows took a hit because of the Olympics. “Desperate Housewives” had a series low 10.9 million viewers Sunday. “The Amazing Race” drew 9 million viewers, a bit lower than a year ago. “Survivor” dropped to 12 million …

Continue reading Olympics, ‘Idol’ tops in Atlanta ratings while Michael Vick ratings fell; Lady Gaga biggest Atlanta song »

A year ago, on his radio program, self-described cheapskate Clark Howard said he had prostate cancer.

Fortunately, he said, it was not an aggressive version and he is not getting worse. “I’m in great shape,” he said by phone today on his way to one of his Habitat for Humanity home  sites (and after a stop at McDonald’s for a Southern-style chicken sandwich. Not as good as Chick-Fil-A, he noted, but good enough.)

In fact, he has not had his prostate treated, which often involves surgery and radiation. Rather, he is using the European model of “watchful waiting.” He takes a test to check for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) count every 90 days.

From cancer.gov:

It is normal for men to have a low level of PSA in their blood; however, prostate cancer or benign (not cancerous) conditions can increase a man’s PSA level.

Clark, who is now 54 years old but looks ten years younger, said he had elevated PSA levels over the summer, enough that doctors thought his cancer had …

Continue reading How is Clark Howard one year after prostate cancer announcement? »

Kandi poses with Dwight Eubanks and Kim Zolciak at November's opening party for her TAGS Boutique. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Sandra Rose, a local blogger who focuses on African-American pop culture with an emphasis on Atlanta, wrote a piece today saying “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kandi Burruss’ TAGS boutique was on the verge of closing.

Here’s an excerpt:

It looks like the bad economy has claimed yet another casualty. According to industry insiders, TAGS Boutique, owned by Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member Kandi Burruss and her business partner Hortense Chin, will be closing its doors for good soon.

Friends say sales of affordable clothing and accessories at TAGS aren’t brisk enough to keep the doors open. This, despite the fact that Kandi Burrus, who is listed as the CEO on the business license, is supposedly the most popular cast member on Real Housewives of Atlanta.

I just got on the phone with Kandi and she categorically denied the story. “It was …

Continue reading How is Kandi Burruss’ TAGS boutique doing? »