Anthony Williams, the most quotable designer on this season’s “Project Runway” on Lifetime, also won a recent challenge in which his blue dress is on the cover of Marie Claire, worn by host Heidi Klum. The magazine is out now. If you want to meet the designer, he’s going to sign copies Friday, March 19, at the Brookwood Place Borders on Peachtree Street at 5 p.m.

Borders – Brookwood Place
1745 Peachtree Street, Suite A
Atlanta, GA 30309
404.810.9004

He is currently in the top 8. He has finished on top that one time but has also been in the bottom three three times.

- Bravo, the former home of “Project Runway,” is also promoting its annual “Top Chef” tour featuring former “Chef” contestants. It has set two dates for Atlanta, April 18 and 20. But there are no details in terms of locations or who will actually show up. Richard Blais, our very own near winner, has made Atlanta appearances for the show twice. With three contestants from the most recent season (Hector Santiago, Eli …

Continue reading Anthony Williams (’Project Runway’) at magazine signing Friday, ‘Top Chef’ tour coming to Atlanta »

Adam Bomb, who recently left his night jock job at Q100, has a promotion: new morning host at i93 in Dallas.

He began at the beginning of the month, writing the following to Dallas listeners:

What an exciting time to be in DFW! This was a lifelong goal of mine to live in Texas and I’m excited to finally make it here. I’m comin from Atlanta Georgia, where football Is a religion like Texas, so I can’t wait to hit up the Cowboys games and since summers comin I’m pumped to hit up Rangers games. I love dogs, drink my share of coffee and am addicted to college basketball, and anything on Tru Tv and E! Can’t wait to get settled in to the metroplex! Check out my blog below…

This is a great promotion for Adam, although the new top 40 station is only ranked 30th in Dallas, far behind the standard-bearer top 40 station in town Kiss.

Q100’s extra monies must have gone to Jeff Dauler’s salary because the station did not fill Adam’s spot with a paid salaried jock. Instead, it’s using the …

Continue reading Former Q100 night guy gets morning gig in Dallas »

Nearly four years ago, Atlanta became a “metered” TV market, which means ratings are measured daily using a continuous sample of Atlantans.

ABC affiliate WSB-TV has been the market leader in local news for many years, possibly decades. That did not change under the “meter” system. WSB-TV’s ratings since 2006 have remained remarkably steady.

Since 2006, the Fox and NBC affiliates (WAGA-TV and WXIA-TV) have lost steam while CBS affiliate WGCL-TV has made some gains from very low levels.

WSB-TV in many time slots doubles the second-place TV station, sometimes more. Its strongest news time period is the 6 p.m. news anchored by Monica Pearson and John Pruitt, based on ratings from July 1, 2009 through March 4, 2010. The station at that hour generates a 9.1 rating vs. 4.4 for WAGA-TV (Fox 5), 2.9 for WXIA-TV (NBC) and 1.3 for WGCL-TV (CBS).

For the same period from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007: WSB-TV (8.5); WAGA-TV (5.1); WXIA-TV (4.9); WGCL-TV (1.3)

Fox 5’s 10 p.m. news …

Continue reading TV news ratings in Atlanta show WSB-TV’s continued dominance »

L-R: Owner Paul Brown, manager Cindy Shook, and assistant manager Jon Hammond CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

Small businesses nationwide may be suffering along with the rest of the economy. But for a few lucky entrepreneurs, getting a reality show is like a cash machine that keeps on giving. Examples include TLC’s “Miami Ink” and “Cake Boss,” TruTV’s “Full Throttle Saloon,” and History Channel’s “Pawn Stars.”

Now Atlanta’s own Gallery 63 could be the next rising star thanks to the Discovery Channel. The cable network is using the shop as a window into the world of auctions, tentatively calling it “Auction King.” Think PBS’s “Antiques Roadshow” meets ‘Pawn Stars.” It’s set to debut in the fall.

Energetic owner Paul Brown liquidates estates, warehouses, storage buildings and sells off hundreds of items during live auctions twice a month. His store is packed floor to ceiling with vintage furniture, high-end jewelry, paintings, firearms, you name it.

He opened the business, now …

Continue reading Discovery shooting new reality show in Atlanta at Gallery 63 »

[NBC Photo: Mitch Haaseth.

For some reason, I thought “Celebrity Apprentice” debuted on March 21, a week later than it actually did. I had seen the episode a month early and had interviewed Bill Goldberg, former Dawg, Falcon and pro wrestler, a couple weeks ago.

If you’ve already seen the first episode (and even if you haven’t), Goldberg does survive week one. A low-wattage stand-up comic Carol Leifer didn’t get along with the other ladies and was fired.

During that debut episode, Goldberg didn’t get much airtime. The focus fell on his team captain and surprisingly strategic rocker Bret Michaels; disgraced, truly lame former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich; and endearingly sweet (but not terribly competitive) singer Cyndi Lauper. But I’m sure Goldbergl be making an impact soon enough.

Continue reading ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ interview with Bill Goldberg »

TV fans with 55-inch HDTVs who were glued to their sets during the lush documentary “Planet Earth” two years ago will be again enraptured by Discovery’s latest 11-part nature series “Life,” which debuts Sunday night.

From cheetahs to chameleons to seals, cameras capture more intimately dramatic stories than “Planet Earth.” Oprah Winfrey narrates.

AMC’s award-winning series “Breaking Bad” comes back the same night and fans will not be disappointed. Walter attempts to dig himself out of a big mess but his confessions to his wife do not go over well.

If you’re still hungering for dark and edgy, check out Tuesday’s “Justified” on FX:

But alas, there are laughs beyond Jessica Simpson (on VH1) and Kirstie Alley (on A&E). “South Park” is back for a 14th season Wednesday on Comedy Central, sure to attack sacred cows and not-so-sacred cows as usual. There’s no real trailer available because the creators are often updating the show until the very last second.

MONDAY
“20/20: Inside …

Continue reading TV best bets with returns of ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘South Park,’ season finales of ‘Scrubs,’ ‘Archer,’ debut of ‘Life’ »

Despite all his success on the road and on TV, Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy has always kept it humble. He downplays the success of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour as if it were almost a fluke, something that was more luck than pluck.

“There was a response to it,” he said by phone a few days ago. “People liked the DVDs and movies. And I guess when time passes and you get a little perspective, you realize it’s now part of the history of comedy. This was one of those cool little things, a little out of the ordinary.”

In reality, Foxworthy and his cohorts Ron White, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy sold millions of concert tickets and nearly 10 million DVDs, not to mention a TV show and massive ratings on Comedy Central and CMT. CMT, in fact, is airing a two-part retrospective Saturday night on the tour’s 10th anniversary.

A decade ago, Foxworthy recalled reading a story in the AJC about the Kings of Comedy tour featuring Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, the late Bernie Mac …

Continue reading Jeff Foxworthy talks about CMT special: ‘Ten Years Of Blue Collar Comedy’ »

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[This is Rodney, the main author of this blog. I usually reserve this space for Q to handle "Project Runway" but she's out of town. So I'm subbing this week.]

As we hit the halfway point of ‘Project Runway,” the remaining contestants are feeling pressure to lift their game. For some, risk-taking worked. Others bit off more than they could chew.

Several designers kept saying they were in a state of near panic as deadline neared. Even the usually gabby Anthony was quiet. Some barely finished on time – or didn’t really finish but made do with what they had.

The challenge: use one of four elements (air, water, fire, earth) for inspiration. It’s an open-ended concept and some interpretations were loose, to say the least. (Atlanta’s always delightful Anthony used fire and opted for black and gray, as in ashen, …

Continue reading Project Runway: Season 7, Episode 8: Four elements, panic and a jockstrap »

Conan O'Brien doing a tour of WXIA-TV last year to promote "The Tonight Show" PHOTO CREDIT: Rodney Ho

Conan O’Brien, as part of his exit agreement with NBC, can’t be on TV for the next few months. But he’s found a way to stay in the spotlight and keep his golden parachute, too: a live tour.

He will be doing a theater show across North America, hitting 30 cities starting April 12 and ending at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta June 14. Andy Richter and his old house band will join him.

“It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house,” O’Brien said in a statement.

O’Brien was booted from “The Tonight Show” in January, replaced by his predecessor Jay Leno. Leno’s poor ratings on his 10 p.m. show had the local affiliates on the verge of rebellion. O’Brien’s ratings were way down from what Leno was doing.

NBC’s solution? Management offered to give O’Brien a 12:05 a.m. spot and put Leno back at 11:35 p.m., but O’Brien declined.

During this whole brouhaha, …

Continue reading Conan O’Brien can’t be on TV but will be at the Fox Theatre June 14 »

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Bravo has decided to stick with what worked season two, keeping “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast the same.

So for better or worse, we get to see Lisa Wu Hartwell, NeNe Leakes, Sheree Whitfield, Kandi Burruss and Kim Zolciak again. (Season two featured DeShawn Snow dumped and Burruss added, a net positive from most people’s perspective.)

Production starts soon for season three and will likely begin airing in late summer, early fall.

The release below is worded in a way that it doesn’t preclude them from adding a sixth housewife. Among the candidates that have been bandied about: model Sybrinia Dean Stupart, model Cynthia Bailey, attorney Phaedra Parks and actress Victoria Rowell. Jonathan Jaxson, former Zolciak rep, said he …

Continue reading ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ season three will keep the same five ladies, doesn’t preclude a sixth »