SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

The 25 bachelorettes hoping to lasso rich Texan Brad Womack were revealed today, and one of them is from Walnut Creek.

Sheena, 23, is an internet marketing executive who wasn’t in the promos for the show, which begins at 9:30 Monday (Sept. 24) on ABC.

SHEENA got a picture on the ABC site. Does that mean she’s in the 15?

They do, however, mention an eye-catching beauty who has a secret past, an outspoken vixen dubbed “McNasty” and a devout Christian woman who is also a streaker.

The 90-minute opener cuts the herd down from 25 women to just 15 potential soul mates. In the premiere, one introduces herself in Greek, two talk freak sports injuries, an acupuncturist diagnoses him by examining his tongue and a news anchor decides to interview the bachelor in order to wow him.

And one shows off her webbed toes. Creepy.

The 25 women are:

Bettina, 27, a realtor who currently resides in Washington, DC.

DeAnna, 25, a realtor who currently resides in Neunan, GA.

Erin, 25, a publishing sales executive who currently resides in Tampa, FL.

Estefania, 26, an executive assistant who currently resides in Atlanta, GA.

Hillary, 27, a registered nurse who currently resides in Philadelphia, PA.

Jade, 24, a boutique sales worker who currently resides in Nashville, TN.

Jenni, 27, a Phoenix Suns cheerleader who currently resides in Wichita, KS.

Jessica, 27, a news anchor who currently resides in Lady Lake, FL.

Juli, 24, a law student who currently resides in Chicago, IL.

Kim, 31, a realtor who currently resides in Woodbridge, CT.

Kristy, 29, an acupuncturist, who currently resides in Chicago, IL.

Lindsey, 25, a model who currently resides in Livania, MI.

Lori, 33, a biology teacher who currently resides in Annapolis, MD.

Mallory, 24, a nanny who currently resides in Honolulu, HI.

Melissa, 28, an event planner who currently resides in Westchester, NY.

McCarten, 26, an account manager who currently resides in San Diego, CA.

Michele, 30, a realtor who currently resides in South Brunswick, NJ.

Morgan, 24, a graduate student who currently resides in Tempe, AZ.

Natalie, 25, a law student who currently resides in Duncanville, TX.

Rigina, 31, an account representative who currently resides in San Diego, CA.

Sarah, 23, a bar manager who currently resides in O’Fallon, IL.

Sheena, 23, an internet marketing executive who currently resides in Walnut Creek, CA.

Solisa, 25, an esthetician who currently resides in Georgetown, TX.

Susan, 35, a project analyst who currently resides in St. Charles, IL.

Tauni, 31, an ER nurse who currently resides in St. Louis Park, MN.

First, let’s just say that those censors had their work cut out for them tonight. At first, I thought it was just because something was going wacky with the East Coast telecast I was watching.

And to think when we wrote about the Emmys going Code Blue, we thought it would just be a little Emmy winning song by Justin Timberlake. Justin was a no-show, but the Code Blue was in full effect.

First, Ray Romano, who seemed to think he was playing some comedy club, got a little frisky with language associated with having sexual relations when he accused his “Everybody Loves Raymond” wife Patricia Heaton of bestowing her favors on Kelsey Grammer, who plays her former lover on the new Fox series “Back to You.”

That got blacked out.

Then you had sweet Katherine Heigl mouthing a profanity when she was named Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. Oh, Katie, Katie, Katie.

Things kept going black and there were a lot of cutaways. You know when Jon Stewart gets away with saying bastard on primetime that the words others were saying had to be pretty bad.

Sally Field? Well, at least the ill-fated Oscar speech of “You like me. You really like me” now takes a back seat to her acceptance speech when she started forgetting her lines and ended with having the lord damn….well, we’re not sure what because it all went black.

Here’s a list of the winners, which didn’t include the big Sopranos win I had predicted. Look, if I could see into the future, I’d be living in Las Vegas right now.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy:
Jeremy Piven won again for his work as Ari, the abrasive agent in “Entourage.” You can’t argue with giving the statue to Piven, because he was great.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama:
Terry O’Quinn, who did a swell job as Locke in “Lost,” didn’t get my vote however. (I did like his speech in which he said that when he’s “rolling in the muc” he thinks about the “Desperate Housewives” baking cookies on Wisteria Lane. And getting a better paycheck. Yet, he still believes he has the best job in the world.
I chose Michael Imperioli because I thought, hey, last chance with “The Sopranos.” Guess the Emmy voters didn’t care.

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy:
Jaime Pressly of “My Name is Earl” took home the trophy and looked fabulous.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries/movie:

Thomas Haden Church for AMC’s “Broken Trail.” If you didn’t see the miniseries, you missed out on a great ride. Church choked us up with his teary tribute to his dad, who gave him his love for Westerns, and to “Wings” producer David Angell and his wife, who died on one of the planes on Sept. 11. But why does he insist on talking about his need to pee?

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama:
Katherine Heigl takes home the statue. “My own mother said I didn’t have a shot in hell of winning this,” she says. Mom looked a little shocked, but it all worked out in the end.

Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series:
Late Night with Conan O’Brien”

Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program:
Rob Marshall for “Tony Bennett: An American Classic” on NBC.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a miniseries/ movie:
Who else? The man, Robert Duvall. First Emmy win, because he lost out in his first nomination in 1989 for “Lonesome Dove.” Duvall paid presenter Kiefer Sutherland a compliment for being “a good horseman.” Which he is. Everybody loves a Western, as Duvall says, “the Western is here to stay.” So let’s start making more.

Outstanding Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special:
Broken Trail

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series:
Alan Taylor, “The Sopranos.”

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series:
David Chase, “The Sopranos.”

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program:
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”

Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special:
“Tony Bennett: An American Classic”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a miniseries/movie:
Judy Davis, “The Starter Wife.” Not here, but sure she’ll be thrilled, ”says Marcia Cross.

Outstanding Made for Television Movie:
“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” Producer Dick Wolf, who thanked his very pregnant wife for not going into labor.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or movie:
Helen Mirren in “Prime Suspect: The Final Act.” “Oh, come on music. I’ve been talking enough.” Never enough, Helen.

Outstanding Directing for a miniseries/movie:
Phillip Martin “Prime Suspect”

Outstanding Writing for a miniseries/ movie:
Philip Deasy, “Prime Suspect”

Outstanding Individual Performance in a Individual Performance in a Variety, etc. :
Tony Bennett.

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series:
Richard Shepard, “Ugly Betty”

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series:
Greg Daniels, “The Office” Can we be any happier?

Outstanding Reality Competition Series:
“Amazing Race” wins again. Guess the category wasn’t fixed despite the Emmys being on Fox.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy series:
Ricky Gervais, “Extras.” He wasn’t there, so Stewart says, “Ricky Gervais couldn’t be here tonight, so instead we’re giving it to our friend Steve Carell.” Who should have won it in the first place.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series:
Sally Field. YEAH! Nice speech too until she started getting applause from those who thought she was done. She should have quit while she was ahead.
“I have to finish talking,” she says, then couldn’t remember what she wanted to say about the war. She babbled on until saying that “If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn’t be any God d…(blanked out of my broadcast).”

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series:
America Ferrera in her first Emmy win. Couldn’t happen to a nicer person. My only regret is that I didn’t go with my gut instinct and put her down as the winner.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series:
OK, the one guy I never thought would win it. James Spader, who won it for the same role on “The Practice.” But he gave a great speech. “I feel like I just stole a pile of money from the mob.” “I’ve been to a lot of concerts and these are the worst seats I’ve ever had.”

Outstanding Comedy Series:
“30 Rock” “I’d like to thank our dozens and dozens of viewers” says creator/star Tina Fey. Maybe there will be dozens and dozens more now.

Outstanding Drama Series:
Finally, Helen Mirren spins around the stage with the name of the series, “The Sopranos.”
OK, I finally got one right.

Only four vodcasts under our belt and I think we’re getting better.

I’ve been using writers at the paper for the first three, then a guinea pig, er, friend, agreed to be the beta for our first civilian interview.

Thanks Angie, who is a sophomore at Monte Vista High School in Danville, for helping out. You did a great job. Chick Chat video

Comments? Offers to volunteer to be on the show? C’mon down.

You can read the review of “Gossip Girl” on the TV page

As I speculated last week in my newspaper column, now that “Law & Order” is out of reruns, Fred Thompson has decided to declare himself a candidate for President of the United States.

And he announced it all on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” After all, as Fred told Jay, it’s a lot harder to get on the “Tonight Show” than it is to get on the ballot in the New Hampshire primary.

That Fred. He’s a hoot.

You can read the column at insidebayarea.com/tv

To see his Jay Leno apperance:

Yep, it had to happen.

“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” never, ever, claimed to be a real news show. But it has spurred more interest in real news than Couric, Williams and Gibson combined.

FAKE LOCATION

REAL LOCATION…CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?

Most of the fake news has gone on fake locations. But this week, “The Daily Show” actually took us to Iraq with comic Rob Riggle. Code name: Operation Fluffy Bunny.

Turns out all the good adjectives/noun combinations had been used.

If you didn’t catch it last week, here’s a quick rundown of what you missed click here

Yep, it’s all over for the perky little reality series “Anchorwoman” about former WWE diva and bikini model Lauren Jones’ new career as a news anchor for a Texas TV station.

After just a single airing, Fox took a look at the dismal ratings the day after and shuttled the show off its schedule.

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT A SERIOUS JOURNALIST LIKE LAUREN?

At 2.7 million viewers on Wednesday, the series brought in less than a third of the viewers who had been watching “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Jones seemed an unlikely anchor, even for the small town of Tyler, Texas, given her background. In addition to her WWE credit, she also served as a Barker Beauty on “The Price Is Right” and wore the crown of Miss New York.

For those three of you who happened to like the show, Fox won’t let you down _ as long as you have an internet connection. Unaired episodes of “Anchorwoman” will be available on Fox’s website through Fox on Demand.

We’re not saying anything against Mandy Patinkin, we’ll let his co-stars like Shemar Moore do that.

Shemar railed against Mandy when he decided to simply not show up for work, quitting and leaving the cast and crew in the lurch.

“I don’t think it’s right. He left us hanging… no warning, no nothing. We all showed up to work on Day 1, and he didn’t,” a testy Shemar told a group of reporters during a CBS party last month. “He needs to take responsibility for his actions. (We’re) an ensemble, a team. We just want the courtesy and the respect that we deserve. And we felt like if he had given us that initially, this would be much easier to deal with. He essentially just slapped us in the face.”

Mandy will never work in this town again. Except maybe. Because he quit CBS’ “Chicago Hope” in 1995 after one season, then returned in 1999 for the final season. And CBS execs say he’ll come back to do at least a scene that ties up his character.

But enough about the old, now we’ve got the new: Joe Mantegna will join the cast as FBI Special Agent David Rossi, making his first appearance in the fifth episode of the season.

Here’s our Joe!

“We are all THRILLED (yep, they used capitals in the press release) to have Joe Mantegna joining our family. He’s an incredible actor, a genuinely nice person and, as a fellow Chicagoan, I can tell you he makes fantastic Italian Beef sandwiches and Chicago Style Hot Dogs,” said Executive Producer Ed Bernero.

Special Agent Rossi is an original member of the Behavioral Analysis Unit who took early retirement to go on lecture and book tours, and has volunteered to return to the unit.

Joe wowed us this summer in the miniseries “The Starter Wife,” which earned him an Emmy nomination. He also won a Tony Award for her performance in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

His credits include the CBS series “Joan of Arcadia,” and we’d like to note that he has never once walked off a TV series.

There’s a big black and white picture of Merv Griffin in Elizabeth Jardina’s San Mateo home, a gift from the realtor who sold them Merv’s childhood home.

As Elizabeth, a former ANG features writer and now Sunset magazine researcher, tells it, she could hardly wait to get the opportunity to meet Merv and tell him that he was living in his house.

Merv died today at 82 after a long battle with prostrate cancer.

Merv was born in San Mateo, the son of a stockbroker, on July 6, 1925. His aunt, Claudia Robinson, taught him how to play the piano when he was just 4 and soon he was staging neighborhood productions on what is now Elizabeth’s back porch.

“Every Saturday I had a show, recruiting all the kids in the block as either stagehands, actors and audience, or sometimes all three,” he wrote in his 1980 autobiography. “I was the producer, always the producer.”

At first, Merv stayed close to his hometown roots. He studied at San Mateo Junior College and the University of San Francisco before bagging college for a gig as a vocalist at KFRC radio in San Francisco.

It was there that he caught the ear of another Bay Area bright light, Joan Fontaine, who was married to RKO honcho Wiliam Dozier. Merv soon chucked the Bay Area to seek his fortune and while touring, grabbed Doris Day’s attention, which led to hs film career.

After some success, Merv moved on to host a TV talk show in 1962 and stayed on for more than 20 years. He sang, schmoozed and mostly just listened. He would always say in interviews that “if the host is sitting there thinking about his next joke, he isn’t listening.”

Here’s a few clips from his show, including Whitney Houston’s TV debut, courtesy of YouTube:

While the talk show was all good fun, he made his fortune in the game show world. After a suggestion from his then-wife, Julann, he came up with the idea for “Jeopardy” in the 1960s and “Wheel of Fortune” in the 1970s. He later sold the rights for $250 million in 1986 but retained a share of the profits.

Merv went on to become a real estate tycoon, spiffing up such landmarks as the Beverly Hilton.

Merv and his wife divorced in 1976 after 18 years of marriage. He never remarried. He is survived by his son Anthony, 49, daughter-in-law, Tricia, and two grandchildren.

Oh, and Elizabeth finally got a chance to meet Merv a few years ago when he came back to San Mateo for yet another hometown boy honor.

She mentioned that she had bought his childhood home, and he countered with the fact that the family had lost that home after his father’s fortunes tumbled in the years following the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression.

Perhaps that’s what sparked his drive that turned a small town boy into Hollywood heavyweight.

Press tour ended on July 26 and after working for almost three weeks straight without a break, I’ll be taking a few days off.
Enjoy reading some of the posts here and I’ll be back with fresh stuff on Wednesday, Aug. 1.
Thanks for reading,
Susan

You’ve gotta love the new NBC co-chairman, or whatever the hell title they are handing out these days.

Bottom line is that this is the guy who makes the decisions about what you’re going to be watching on the network. He talks about a mile a minute and, right now, likes talking to critics.

That could change.

But what we really like about him is that his ringtone is “This Is Why I’m Hot” and he still thinks it’s funny when David Spade takes shots at him.