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Guiding Light Snuffed After 72 Years

CBS recently announced that the last episode of Guiding Light will air on September 18, 2009.

Guiding Light ran for 72 years and had over 15,000 episodes. A statement on CBS didn’t disclose the reason for pulling the series of off the air and didn’t give further information on what will fill the time slot.

The show stars Tina Sloan as Lillian Raines, Ron Raines as Alan Spaulding.

CBS Entertainment president Nancy Tellem said, “Guiding Light has achieved a piece of television history that will never be matched; it has crossed mediums, adapted its stories to decades of social change and woven its way through generations of audiences like no other, this daytime icon will always be an indelible part of CBS’s history…. Its contributions will always be celebrated and never be forgotten.”

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Reality TV Haven For Has-Beens

If you’re a celebrity who’s career is washed up, fear not. There might still be a role for you on reality television. That genre has restored the career of many a near-forgotten celebrity and will likely do do so again.

The real money, though, often lies in what comes after. “It’s all about the endorsements and other appearances. There’s a lot of heat coming off that show,” one TV agent said.

Lauren Conrad has gone from nobody to television mega-celebrity by committing her young adult life to video on the MTV series “Laguna Beach” and its follow-up “The Hills.” No longer simply an aspiring fashion designer, she has launched her own clothing line on the back of her cable network visibility.

Her fellow cast members Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge and Whitney Port have similarly diversified into music, film acting, fashion design, earning themselves millions of dollars in the process.

Even though the money might not be great, the exposure is enough to open the door for higher-paying opportunities. Reality TV is a bridge back to fame.

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Spencer Duhm - Openly Gay Survivor Voted Off

Spencer Duhm (rhymes with “Boom”) has been voted off Survivor: Tocantins, the fifth member to be cast away. Spencer was the youngest member of the cast at 19 as well as the only openly gay contestant.

“I didn’t see it coming at all; it all changed that last day. The [ immunity ] challenge put the target on me, then I got the target off me, then [ ultimately ] it was back to me,” he said.

“It was very disappointing,” he said. “Being a fan [ of the show ] , you think, ‘Man, I couldn’t even save myself past three tribal councils; that’s pretty pathetic.’ But it’s OK, though I never would have guessed that a challenge would have put a target on my back.

“Overall, it was an incredible experience. Had it lasted [ only ] three days, it [ still ] would have a dream come true. So 15 days is amazing. And I still got the whole experience—just a condensed version.”

Duhm is a student at the University of Florida. He has no returned to his studies.

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Jim Cramer Jon Stewart Confrontation Has Tongues Wagging

Jim Cramer’s appearance on Jon Stewart’s TV show has the web abuzz. There’s a lot of anger built up concerning Wall Street, so it’s not surprising that some people would achieve acute joy from seeing Jim Cramer, a vocal proponent of stock buying skewered.

Although most people are saying Jon Stewart got the best of the encounter, others seem to think that Cramer isn’t all that bad.

This is purest poppycock. Jim Cramer had no influence over the twin manias that afflicted America in the last ten years: the madness of homebuyers for ever more expensive houses, and the madness of bankers for buying bonds based on those homes. Jim Cramer did not persuade the Asian savers to pour moronic amounts of capital into oversaturated American markets. He did not talk up MBS or CDOs to any level that could be vaguely said to have meaningfully increased the amount of leverage in the system. If you want a television host, or network, to blame all of our troubles on, you’d do better to cast your ire on Home and Garden Television, and Flip This House. They’re the ones who told Americans, over and over and over and over, that it was possible to get rich by installing granite countertops.

It’s an easy opinion to understand. One thing that Jim Cramer said that I have to agree with. When the Chairman of Lehman Brothers comes on your show and lies to you, it’s not completely your fault for believing him.

That said, it will be very interesting to see the tenor of financial reporting in the coming years. I assume it will be tempered with a lot more tamped-down rhetoric that it has in the past.

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Mischa Barton Returning To Television

It was from Television she rose and it’s to Television she shall return. Mischa Barton, who rose to prominence with her role on “The OC” is making a return to the small screen.

Mischa will play a part on “A Beautiful Life”.

Barton will play Sonja, a supermodel and veteran of the high-fashion circuit who is struggling to keep on top and is in danger of slipping.

Barton can bring personal experience to the role as she has modeled for such companies as Calvin Klein, bebe stores, Aeropostale, Monsoon Accessorize, Dooney & Bourke and JC (Jeans and Clothes).

Barton used to play troubled teenager Marissa Cooper on “The OC.”

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Canceled Show Jericho To Return As Comic Book

“Jericho,” which developed a cult following for its post nuclear tale, isn’t coming back as a TV Show, but the series will live on in the form of a new comic book.

The show was extremely popular with hardcore viewers who may remain interested in the franchise.

The show, which centers on the residents of a fictional town of Jericho in the aftermath of nuclear attacks, was initially canceled after its first season due to low ratings. It was later brought back after the network was convinced by loyal fans, but was canceled for the second time after seven episodes.

The comic book series will pick up where the TV show left off a year ago.

The shows creators are happy it will live on.

“Jericho is alive and well, thanks to the amazing fans who’ve driven us to fund new and fresh ways to tell the Jericho story,” said Co-executive producer Dan Shotz.

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The Hills Finale - Will Be Back For Fifth Season

The Hills had its’ season finale, and the word is the show will be back for its’ fifth season. “The Hills” is a “reality show” that has become increasingly more scripted as the years have rolled on and producers realized that reality can be pretty damn boring.

MTV has steadfastly refused to show the Hollywood success side of the show’s stars, and it appears they’re rapidly running out of material. It looks like “The Hills” has jumped the shark.

Of course, Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag are at the center of the drama.

Yes, folks, it’s true: Spencer and Heidi did not go through with their supposed marital confirmation at the courtroom last night, and because of that, I’m voting it my Up Hill Moment of the evening (DVR users can save time and brain cells by fast-forwarding to the 35:00 mark). Last week, rumors were spreading faster than Spencer’s facial hair that everything about the entire courtroom scene was faked— from the judge to Heidi’s boobs the actual courthouse itself. Plus, no one could find any record of a marriage license being filed under Pratt or Montag, though Spencer repeatedly insisted to the media that was because he’d checked the “confidential” box when they filed

No one has been able to find any confirmation that the two are legally married in the US, so it’s probably safe to say they aren’t. Speculation concerning the legitimacy of their marriage has arisen since day one.

What will they come up for “The Hill” next season? Time will tell.

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Simon Cowell Expects Men To Shine On Idol

Simon Cowell thinks 2009 will be the year men win American Idol. It’s not the first time he’s made such a prediction, but he thinks 2009 is the year of the Male.

“The guys overall, maybe about five or six of them, were just stronger and stood out more than the girls,” Cowell told reporters on a conference call yesterday. “But I’ve said this in the past and been wrong. Anything can happen.”

He added that last year’s crop was a bit too similar for some. With four judges this season, Idol promises to hold a bit more excitement than it did last year.

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Digital TV Switchover Nearing

The future of digital TV is nearly upon us. Wilmington, N.C. will be the first city in the United States to go all digital when they switch over this week.

At noon today, Wilmington’s five commercial broadcast stations are scheduled to become the nation’s first to permanently switch to all-digital signals, serving as a test of the government-mandated transition that other stations across the country will make in February.

“It’s like landing on the moon,” said Constance Henley Knox, general manager of CBS affiliate WILM. “We’re making history.”

The switch to digital TV is the biggest change in television viewing history. The switch in Wilmington was fairly easy due to the fact that only 8% of the home relied on antennas.

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Production Halted On “24″

It was recently announced that production on the Fox TV series 24 has been halted while writers
rethink the story line for the upcoming season.

Executive producer, Howard Gordan told Ew.com, “We had a couple of scripts that we weren’t happy with. We just couldn’t get this direction to work, and we found another one that we liked better, so we wound up retooling it.”

Despite the delay, the drama is ahead of schedule and set to air the seventh season in January 2009. This season won’t be affected by the production halt.

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