Drew Brees and the Saints come to the Georgia Dome Thursday night and it will air on the CW/69. CREDIT: Johnny Crawford/AJC.com

You normally find the Atlanta Falcons games on CBS or Fox on Sundays (and ESPN when they land on “Monday Night Football.”)

But with the Falcons playing the New Orleans Saints on “Thursday Night Football,” CBS is obligated to air its popular Thursday night lineup of “The Big Bang Theory,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Person of Interest” and “Elementary.”

So it’s moving the game to its sister station, the CW 69. That station will air a local “Thursday Night Football” pregame Show at 6 p.m. hosted by 92.9/The Game’s Bob Neal, Kordell Stewart and Ovie Mughelli.  From 7 p.m. on, the station will be running the NFL Network pregame and game.

Or you can watch it on NFL Network if you get NFL Network.

“The Vampire Diaries” and “Beauty & the Beast” will air immediately following the Falcons game on the CW.

The Falcons (10-1) have lost only one game to date against …

Continue reading Atlanta Falcons’ Thursday Night Football airing on CW 69 »

Melissa Rycroft won "Dancing With the Stars: All Stars." CREDIT: ABC

“Dancing With the Stars” has had 175 different stars, 288 nights of competition and now 15 different winners.

Last night’s victor was someone who came in third season eight: “The Bachelorette” Melissa Rycroft. In an unprecedented (and surprising) all-female finale, she beat out two former champions Shawn Johnson and Kelly Monaco.

ABC should be thrilled. They basically created her stardom.  If you never watched “The Bachelor” or “Bachelorette,” you’d have no idea who Rycroft is.
Entering the season, very few people (including Rycroft herself) expected her to win. But she showed a killer combination of dance skills, athleticism and personality that kept her getting plenty of 9s and 10s from the judges.

There was no obvious favorite going into the finals.

Rycroft helped herself with a perfect score of 60 Monday night with her freestyle and samba. “Deliciously irresistible Brazilian bombshell!” said Bruno …

Continue reading Who won ‘Dancing With the Stars: All Stars’? »

Callie Thorne is the central character on "Necessary Roughness," which was given a third season. CREDIT: USA

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USA has renewed “Necessary Roughness” for a third season, according to the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment office.

It was a close call, like winning a football game with a 50-yard field goal just inside the goal posts with 5 seconds left to play.

I wrote about why USA was vacillating in mid October.

The show, shot primarily at EUE Screen Gems studios near Lakewood Amphitheatre, will return next year, but at a reduced 10-episode run, Deadline.com said. The show aired 12 episodes season one and 16 for season two, with five of those episodes returning over the winter.

The drama lost a significant chunk of audience between season one and two, from 4.2 million to 2.7 million this past summer although fans generally agree the …

Continue reading USA renews ‘Necessary Roughness’ for a third season »

Kim Zolciak waves bye bye to "Real Housewives "and is back in spinoff land. CREDIT: Bravo

Atlanta is already home to several reality shows: “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta,” “Auction Kings,” “Big Rich Atlanta,” to name a few.

Bravo, home to “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” is acting all BET on us by setting up three more reality shows here, all variations on the same theme of rich women generating drama and conflict.

One we already know about: it’s the continuation of Kim Zolciak’s life, post “Real Housewives of Atlanta.” She had a successful spinoff earlier this year about her wedding. She’s currently taping her second spinoff. (Her final appearance on “Real Housewives” is set for this Sunday.)

Here’s the press release description of what you can expect from her series (working title” Don’t Be Tardy,”) which certainly would not surprise anyone who has been following her travails with her family. (Her dad last week called her a “pathological liar” and …

Continue reading Bravo greenlights three (count’em three) Atlanta reality shows: ‘Don’t Be Tardy,’ ‘Married to Medicine’ and ‘Taking Atlanta’ »

Cindy Simmons' new sidekick Jimmy Alexander will be joining her later his week on Star 94. CREDIT: Star 94

Star 94 morning host Cindy Simmons, who recently returned from a brief maternity leave, has signed a new multi-year contract with the station, according to her agent Norm Schrutt.

Simmons, who now has two daughters, has been with Star 94 for eight years, the past three-plus years hosting mornings. She worked with Ray Mariner until May, when he was dismissed with no explanation. (I still have no explanation. In a poll I posted earlier this month, 69 percent of respondents say they miss Ray.)

Her new co host Jimmy Alexander, who is also represented by Schrutt, will be joining her on air later this week. Monday was his first official day in the office. Alexander was a sidekick at a top 40 station in Washington D.C. (I’m trying to get an interview with Alexander, whose contract length is the same as Simmons, in hopes that they stay as a duo for a long period of …

Continue reading Star 94’s Cindy Simmons signs new contract; new co-host Jimmy Alexander joining her this week »

I talk with CineStars’ Brittany Umar about Kim Zolciak’s exit on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” the passing of “Dallas” star Larry Hagman and the latest from Jenn Hobby.

Continue reading Video: Talking Kim Zolciak, Larry Hagman, Jenn Hobby »

Hines Ward will show off his cooking skills on "Celebrity Cook-Off" on Food Network starting January 6, 2013. CREDIT: AP

Two metro Atlantans Hines Ward and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC will be competing in the kitchen on the upcoming season of Food Network’s “Rachael Vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off,” which returns for a second serving Jan. 6.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips beat singer Coolio in the finals of season one earlier this year, enabling Phillips to win $50,000 for his favorite charity No Kid Hungry.

Ward, who played for both the UGA Bulldogs and the Pittsburgh Steelers, won “Dancing With the Stars” last year. Chilli is part of one of the best-selling girl groups of all time in TLC and had her own VH1 reality program for two seasons called “What Chilli Wants,” which aired in 2010 and 2011.

The other six celebrities are stand-up comic Gilbert Gottfried, socialite and designer Cornelia Guest …

Continue reading Atlantans Hines Ward, Chilli of TLC competing on ‘Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off’ »

Phillip Phillips performing outdoors at the Mall of Georgia Nov. 22. PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

I drove up to Buford Wednesday evening to catch a bit of Georgia’s first “Idol” winner Phillip Phillips on a chilly but pleasant evening at the Mall of Georgia’s outdoor stage. About 2,000-plus people were there to see him, mostly young girls and teens.

Phillips was his usual humble self, comfortable on stage and giving the crowd a taste of cuts from his new album, including “Hold On,” “Gone Gone Gone” and his hit single “Home” (of course.)

He then signed CDs for two hours. (I missed that part to go see “Lincoln” with my wife.)

Here he is performing “Gone Gone Gone”:

And here are more photos from the event:

Phil admires the crowd.

Here’s season 3 winner Fantasia (looking good and covering Aretha Franklin) and 12th place finalist Leah LaBelle (doing a Teena Marie cover) performing on the Soul Train Awards, which aired last night on Centric. I wasn’t even aware that …

Continue reading Phillip Phillips visits Mall of Georgia for CD signing, concert »

Jenn Hobby's final day is Dec. 7 on Q100's Bert Show. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

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Jenn Hobby is leaving Q100’s The Bert Show after nearly a decade, she announced this morning.

“It’s going to be a whole new chapter of life,” she said on air. “I wouldn’t be the woman I am without the Bert Show.”

Hobby got married two years ago and is pregnant with her first child.

Her voice cracked when she said that the Bert Show is how she met her husband Grant Rivera, who is a high school principal. She first met him when he showed up in studio when his school band came in. They later fell in love.

She will be officially leaving in two weeks. Her final day on air will be Dec. 7. Bert Weiss on air said he is in no rush to replace Hobby’s spot.

“I didn’t cry during the whole thing,” she said …

Continue reading Jenn Hobby leaves Q100’s The Bert Show after nearly a decade »

Tony Dovolani and Melissa Rycroft are in the finals of "Dancing With the Stars: All Stars." CREDIT: ABC

Most regular series are airing new episodes this week and two major series are closing shop this fall: ABC’s aging ‘Dancing With the Stars” Monday and HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire” Sunday.

Both series will be back next year.

And TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland” comes back Wednesday for a fourth season although ratings are far below what they were when the show debuted a couple years ago.

MONDAY

“Bones” 8 p.m. Fox — A street artists plastering his work on a billboard falls into his glue — and onto a corpse.

“Dancing With the Stars” 8 p.m. ABC (15th season finale) — Surprise! It’s an all-female finale with Shawn Johnson, Melissa Rycroft and Kelly Monaco.

“How I Met Your Mother” 8 p.m. CBS — Who was the most notorious teenage delinquent?

“The Voice” 8 p.m. NBC — The top 8 perform.

“2 Broke Girls” 9 p.m. CBS — Max and Caroline try to raise money to rent a …

Continue reading TV best bets with return of ‘Hot in Cleveland,’ season finales of ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ ‘Dancing With the Stars’ »