Stop. Collaborate and listen. Vanilla Ice (Ice, Baby) is back and this time he's making himself over as an Echo Park hipster and working on his indie rock street cred.
Vanilla Ice Moves to Echo Park to Hang With the Hipsters and Get Some Indie Street Cred
TV Junkie: Media Coverage of Occupy LA; 'The Soup' Moves to Wednesdays Tonight
We eagerly followed last night's developments at Occupy LA and while the event was resolved through mostly peaceful arrests the implied threats from police and curtailment of media access was troubling. --- E!'s "The Soup" moves to Wednesdays. --- The TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan.
TV Junkie: A Quick Convo With 2011 Spirit Awards Host Joel McHale; Oscar Weekend
Since we're big fans of Joel McHale's work on both "The Soup" (E! tonight @ 10pm) and "Community" (Thursdays at 8 on NBC) we were elated to hear he was hosting the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards (Saturday, 10pm on IFC). We had the chance to ask him a few questions about his preparation so check out the interview. We predict the Spirit Awards will be more entertaining than Sunday's Oscars. Review our TV Junkie Must-Watch Plan.
TV Junkie: Genndy's New Cartoon Network Show; 'Boardwalk Empire', 'Mad Men' Sunday
Ok, so yeah, "Boardwalk Empire" premieres this Sunday on HBO. Even though Sunday evening is a crowded slot, this show should percolate to the top of your viewing options (if you have HBO).
TV Junkie: Independent Spirit Awards on IFC Tonight; Sunday is All-Day Oscars Madness
We will be reporting live from the Independent Spirit Awards this evening with photos and video to be posted this weekend. You can watch the official UStream red carpet feed starting at 5pm before the live broadcast begins at 8pm on IFC. Follow the TV Junkie on Twitter and check back here often.
TV Junkie: A&E's Michael Jackson Widget; And the Snow Goes to.... Florida; 'Crash' Finale
Weekend Edition: Perhaps you forgot that Michael Jackson died earlier this year but A&E certainly didn't, they've launched a web app that let's you watch Jackson 5 clips and dedicate/send them to friends via Facebook, Twitter, or email - check it out at "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty".
TV Junkie: LA's 'Southland' Axed; Uh Oh 'Hawaii Five-O'
From tsunami-watch to bad-acting-watch, news has it that Hawaii will be subjected to a CBS reworking of "Hawaii Five-O". Since "Fringe" co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are writing the pilot, we will give it at least that shot, but unless they have continued involvement, we don't have a lot of hopes for the show.
TV Junkie: The Kids in the Hall are Back! In Canada....
Weekend Edition
"The Kids in the Hall" have reunited to shoot an 8-part comedy-mystery for Canadian television. The series will air on the CBC network in January 2010 but no word on if/how/when the series will air on US TV.
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The TV Junkie will be going on hiatus next week to rest his weary eyeballs. We'll post a "must-see" list for the week along with some other recommendations. Thank you so much for reading! We'll be back by the 30th.
TV Junkie: 'Mad Men' Season Premiere on Sunday, no duh
Weekend Edition
What we can't ignore, even if we wanted to, is this Sunday's season premiere of "Mad Men" on AMC at 10pm. The "Mad Men" hype machine has been in overdrive for over a month with Banana Republic promotions, avatar generators, Esquire pictorials, Wall Street Journal profiles, Jon Hamm et al appearances on Conan/Fallon/etc. and tonight cast members of "Mad Men" will make a (doubtless hilarious and self-deprecating) appearance on E!'s "The Soup" at 10pm. We're going to be watching the premiere on Sunday - watch for the trending topic on Twitter fo sho. We also thank Jah there is no programming conflict between "True Blood" and "Mad Men".
TV Junkie: True Blood for Sale; 'Seinfeld' Reunion
Weekend Edition
HBO will be renewing "True Blood", "Hung", and "Entourage" - speaking of which, sneak previews have shown that this Sunday's "True Blood" will be epic! And speaking of speaking of which, you can now order bottles of True Blood online.
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At the TCA press tour in Pasadena, Larry David revealed details about the "Seinfeld" reunion that will be happening in the upcoming season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".
TV Junkie: More 'Pain' from Perry; Wanna Be on 'Mad Men'? Weekend Summary
While we are excited to geek out with a new "Doctor Who" on Sunday, we're also looking forward to Fallon tonight which has two guests that we've interviewed for LAist: Bob Saget and John Mulaney.
Chris Hardwick: Nerdism For Fun and Profit
Chris Hardwick is a nerd. He humbly embraces this now, and he’s happier for it. The trick was to align his career with his passions -- even if they’re frowned upon by jocks.
The comic/writer/TV personality has a deep affection for science, technology, and his love affair with “Dungeons and Dragons” is in its third decade. While Hardwick isn’t the type of nerd whose busted eyeglasses are fastened with Scotch tape, when meeting with LAist he sported mismatched shoes -- one sneaker, and a blue soft cast.
TV Junkie: 'True Blood' Season Premiere on Sunday
Sure we have "The Soup" and a handful of choice regular programs this weekend, but what it's all about is the season premiere of "True Blood" at 9pm on Sunday on HBO. The buzz about this show has been building steadily since last season ended with most people catching up by either buying season one or renting it on Netflix. Here we are, the moment is about to happen - we've been invited to 2 viewing parties on Sunday, how about yourself? We're anticipating a lot of hungover viewers straggling into work on Sunday as there's something about vampires that makes people want to cut loose. Check out the HBO "True Blood" page, complete with a countdown counted in drops of blood.
TV Junkie: Network TV Takes A Hit in '08-'09
Memorial Day Weekend Edition
The 2008-2009 season which ended this week has seen the networks' ratings collectively drop 16%. FOX remained on top for the 5th consecutive year but even they fell 13% in viewership, a fall attributed to not having the Super Bowl as well as "American Idol" sinking in viewership. Only CBS saw an increase in viewership (11%) which was fueled by the success of "The Mentalist".
TV Junkie: 15+ Season Finales This Weekend; 'Primeval' Returns
Programming Notes for the Weekend: Saturday marks the return of "Primeval" on BBC America (@9:00pm). The well-produced science fiction series has been a major hit in the UK and today it's been reported that Warner Brothers will be taking the series to the big screen.
TV Junkie: Hasbro/Discovery TV; Disney/Hulu TV; Web Series News
Hasbro and the Discovery Channel(??) are forming a children's TV network together to launch sometime next year. I'm hoping to see the "MythBusters" guys blow up some My Little Ponys.
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In the kinda old news category, Disney has now bought 30% of Hulu which means ABC shows like "Lost" will now be available on the web network.
TV Junkie: Boston NBC Affiliate Says 'No' to New Leno Show
Unless you are a basketball or baseball fan, this weekend's options are kind of slim - feel free to sift through our picks - what are you going to watch? If it's not on our list, let us know and we'll talk about it.
TV Junkie: 'Battlestar Galactica' - Vaya Con Dios
Tonight marks the end of "Battlestar Galactica", for about 20 years until the geeks of the future resurrect it like they did the now-campy 1970s version. Some have complained that this final season swung the show onto a science-fiction track that was too science-fiction-y but the show had to return to its roots, its core, before wandering off into the cosmos.
TV Junkie: Baldwin on TCM; 'Breaking Bad' Returns! 'Ashes to Ashes' Debuts
Sunday @ 10pm features the return of AMC's incredible series, "Breaking Bad", with Bryan Cranston (pictured, right) as Walt White, the terminally-ill high school science teacher-turned meth cooker. We've been eagerly waiting for this show to resume and AMC has done a great job whetting our appetite with their sneak webisodes and other promos. Since the other stuff we like to watch on Sunday's @ 10pm are available on-demand, this is one of our prime picks of the weekend.
On the Set of Good Day LA with Jillian Reynolds
Every morning on Good Day LA, Jillian Reynolds (formerly known as Jillian Barberie) is ready to have a good time. Ask her about her job...she loves it. Ask about her husband and baby daughter...big smiles. Life in LA has been very very good to Jillian
TV Junkie: 'Flight of the Conchords' Returns on Sunday; 'The Office' and '30 Rock' Renewed!
A lot of programs return to or make their premiere on premium cable this Sunday including: "Big Love", "The L Word", "The United States of Tara", and "Secret Diary of a Call Girl". What we most eagerly anticipate is the season premiere of "Flight of the Conchords". The pair of musicians and their hapless manager, all hailing from New Zealand, might not have made a second season due to low viewership but their cult like following gave us one more. So enjoy every episode like a smooth New Zealand Merlot, savor it, because this might be their last run, on HBO at least.
TV Junkie: Weekend Edition - HBO Buys Obama Documentary
Looks like HBO will buy a documentary on president-elect Barack Obama and will air it in 2009. The documentary was produced by actor Edward Norton's production company, Class 5 Films, and was bought "in the seven-figure range". A nice bet by Norton paid off evidently.
Video of the Day: Britney Spears Hates Womanizers
When she is not costing the taxpayers thousand of dollars for expensive police escorts or having paparazzi arrested outside her home, Britney Spears still occasionally makes a music video. The Soup just couldn't help but get in on the action
LAist interview: Danielle Fishel of the Dish
When Rachel Bilson breaks her nearly perfect fashion sense record with an errant bowler hat, Danielle Fishel and the writers from The Dish can't help but lovingly tease her about her fashion misstep. From the producers of The Soup, the Style Network's new show, The Dish, celebrates the week's weirdest moments in fashion, as well as the lifestyles of the famous and infamous. Throw in some obscure and bizarre moments from home shopping show, plenty of reality TV zaniness ( can you spell T-Y-R-A?), and you have a heaping portion of crazy on your pop culture plate.
Midnight Movie: 'Nights in Rodanthe' on The Soup
The new Richard Gere, Diane Lane film "Nights in Rodanthe" opened this weekend. Joel McHale is very excited that the reviews are in and it sounds hot.
Midnight Movie: The W. Trailer Oliver Stone Doesn't Want You to See
If you thought you'd seen the controversial trailer for Oliver Stone's W., look again. The Soup offers their version for the upcoming biopic.
Video of the Day: iPhone 3G 'It Gear'?
Did you buy one? We are guessing that Mankini from "The Soup" is sticking with his LG.

