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Stephen Colbert to Host Emmy Awards As Networks Keep Repurposing their Talk Show Stars

Roger Friedman
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Stephen Colbert to Host Emmy Awards As Networks Keep Repurposing their Talk Show Stars

Surprise! Not. The Emmy Awards are on CBS next September, so the host will be…Stephen Colbert, CBS’s talk show star.

Their other talk show star, James Corden, is hosting the Grammy Awards next month.

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon just hosted the Golden Globes on NBC. Jimmy Kimmel, of ABC, will host the Academy Awards on…ABC.

So far, Seth Meyers is the only late night host who hasn’t gotten a show yet. But if NBC can dig one up, he’ll get it.

What we won’t see for the time being are awards shows hosted by anyone other than a same-network employee. It’s hard to imagine that NBC’s Johnny Carson once guided the Oscars.

What’s next? A Corden return to the Tony Awards in June on CBS. Well, it’s not like we’d object. As late night hosts have become song and dance men (Fallon and Corden are incredible multi-taskers in that regard) old go to hosts like Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris are finding their jobs taken.

I love Colbert (actually, all of these guys are top notch). But he does seem like too erudite a choice for the Emmys. I doubt he watches much prime time TV. But he’s got months and months to bone up.

And then, of course, he’ll be hosting the next Kennedy Center Honors for CBS in December. That is, if the Center holds and anyone will accept an honor. But that’s another story.

Someone’s Already Registered “AlternativeFacts.Com” And It’s Not Kellyanne Conway

Roger Friedman
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Someone’s Already Registered “AlternativeFacts.Com” And It’s Not Kellyanne Conway

It really is a new world.

Shortly after Kellyanne Conway told NBC’s Chuck Todd that Sean Spicer had given “alternative facts” at the first Trump White House press conference, a meme was born.

It’s not just that hashtag-alternativefacts went wild on Twitter. Someone registered the new phrase as a website on GoDaddy.com. I say ‘someone’ because the identity of the owner is hidden. It’s unlikely Ms. Conway could have gotten to her computer that quickly after putting her foot– or both feet– in it, so to speak.

Right now “alternativefacts.com” redirects to a New York Times article about the whole Conway mess written by Nicholas Fandos.

Also taken: www.alternativefacts.net. The new owner is Annette Alvarez, a New York talent manager whose firm is called Multi-Ethnic Talent.  She registered the name with GoDaddy shortly after the Conway showdown. According to her website, Alvarez represents actors on shows like “Shades of Blue,” “Bull,” “Elementary,” and “The Magician.”

Alvarez registered a bunch of AlternativeFacts websites on Saturday, as soon as she heard about Todd and Conway. Today she began publishing her own satirical website at the dot-news location.

“My favorite movie ever is All the President’s Men,” Alvarez says. “I read the book twice I loved it so much.” Alvarez, a colorful character who’s from Brooklyn, was a student journalist whose father was a factory worker and numbers runner. Cuban by nationality she told me she was so depressed on Friday she had to go to sleep after the Inauguration. On Saturday she registered the sites. And now she’s off and running.

Surprise: Jay Z Comes Out a Winner as Sprint Buys 33 Percent Interest in Tidal Streaming Service

Roger Friedman
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Surprise: Jay Z Comes Out a Winner as Sprint Buys 33 Percent Interest in Tidal Streaming Service

Jay Z must be some persuasive negotiator. Sprint–a phone service rarely mentioned by anyone– has become an investor in his Tidal streaming music service.

Well played, Jay Z.

The rumor is that Sprint has become a 33 percent investor in Tidal, a music service rarely mentioned by anyone. But in order to get in the music game, Sprint may have paid Jay Z and his investors $200 million.

Sprint will offer Tidal and its exclusives to its 45 million customers. If you have Sprint, you will get Tidal on your phone, per the official announcement.

Well, it’s not like Spotify and Verizon have hooked up. Tidal is much less listened to than Spotify, the main streamer of music. And Sprint is rarely the answer when you ask someone “What service do you have?” But the agreement does give Tidal a much needed bigger audience.

To date, artists who took new music to Tidal exclusively wound up losing out on being part of the mainstream. This should help. I don’t know what it does for Sprint but at least they’ll have good music.

keep refreshing for updates…

Soap Actress Catherine Hickland On the Passing of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher: “Never in a million years did we see that coming”

Roger Friedman
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Soap Actress Catherine Hickland On the Passing of Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher: “Never in a million years did we see that coming”

You may not know it, but Carrie Fisher’s sister in law, and Debbie Reynolds’ daughter in law, is soap actress Catherine Hickland. Catherine is married to Todd Fisher, Carrie’s brother and Debbie’s son. She’s published a lovely remembrance on her website, which I’ve excerpted here. (I’ve added paragraph breaks.)  It’s still hard to believe that Carrie and Debbie are gone, but Hickland manages to put it in some perspective. Bravo!

When Todd and I decided to get married, Carrie, Debbie and Carrie’s incredible assistant, Byron, planned our wedding. Debbie was not feeling well when we decided to get married, and so Carrie thought it was best if we got married at her home so that Debbie could come and go easily if she didn’t feel well enough to stay during the reception.

Carrie was Todd’s “best man.” Carrie did what Carrie wanted and everyone understood that, so I didn’t think a thing of it when she smoked an e-cigarette throughout the entire ceremony. At one point she spontaneously suggested that Todd, I, and our friend and pastor Henry Cutrona, take a hit off of the “peace pipe” to seal the deal. What were we going to say? We all took a puff. The guests howled.

During the prayer before the rings, when everyone’s eyes were closed, Carrie dropped the ring. Ping! It went rolling in a circle, causing a few people to crack their eyes open and sneak a peek to see what was going on, only to find her on all fours looking for the ring before the prayer ended. I admit, I was peeking. The look on her face was priceless. She found it in time.

On this last Christmas Eve, as I was tucking Debbie in, I asked her how she was being so strong amidst such a painful crisis, and she said, “all of this is very stressful, I am trying to keep my stress levels down, because if I allow it, it will take me.” Now thinking back, I realize at that time, there was still some hope that her daughter might somehow miraculously pull through, and if that happened, then by God, she was going to be here, strong of mind and body to be by her side.

After Carrie left for her next stop, Mom decided to go “Home” and be at peace with her girl.Losing one was enough of a shock, losing them both at once was unimaginable. Never in a million years did we see that coming.To say I will miss Debbie, and Carrie, two of the most powerful personalities I have ever known, seem like insignificant words. It will be much more than missing.

Fake News Network FoxNews Goes All in On Trump, Exits George Will and Ed Rollins, Hires Crazy Brit Nigel Farage

Roger Friedman
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Fake News Network FoxNews Goes All in On Trump, Exits George Will and Ed Rollins, Hires Crazy Brit Nigel Farage

The new bosses at Fox are same as the old ones. The Murdoch brothers are sticking to their doddering dad’s game plan and doubling down on Donald Trump.

According to reports, they’re letting go of George Will, Marvin Kalb, Cal Thomas and Ed Rollins. Will especially was quite critical of Trump during the presidential campaign and regularly clashed with Bill O’Reilly. Kalb is 86, and a seasoned vet. His older brother, Bernard Kalb, also a journalist, is still active. He’s 94.

Also leaving Fox: Damon Dash’s nutty cousin, actress Stacy Dash, who positioned herself as a black person who was right wing and who Fox viewers could hate. Stacy’s main credit is appearing in the film “Clueless,” a title that came to define her.

At the same time, the Murdochs have hired crazy Brit Nigel Farage, the politician who promoted Brexit and helped England turn into a backward country separated from the world.

Little by little, all of Batman’s villains and enemies are gathering together. Gotham City is in trouble, kids.

Farage isn’t the only former conservative British politician on Murdoch’s payroll. He’s still got Louise Mensch, an MP from 2010-12, working in New York. Mensch was hired to start the website heatstreet.com. But after months and months of crazed anti-Trump pro-Hillary Tweeting, Mensch– who apparently didn’t understand what was going on– was unofficially demoted. She is still vigorously Tweeting from somewhere in 1211 Sixth Avenue, raging against Putin and Trump seemingly unaware that they’re on the payroll too.

“Rogue One” Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide, “Hidden Figures” Surprises as Hottest of Oscar Films

Roger Friedman
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“Rogue One” Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide, “Hidden Figures” Surprises as Hottest of Oscar Films

Let’s get this out of the way: “Rogue One” crossed a billion dollars worldwide over the weekend. It’s a movie with no sequel! When I ran into Diego Luna and Felicity Jones at the Golden Globes dinner, they were laughing — ruefully. “Yes, we went up in a puff of smoke!” Felicity said. “Maybe there’s a prequel?” I asked. Neither one of them held much hope for that. But with “Star Wars,” you never know.

Somewhere in heaven, Carrie Fisher is smiling. Those last moments of “Rogue One” depended on our love for Princess Leia.

Meanwhile, “Hidden Figures” is such a hit– bigger than anyone could have guessed. Fox is up to almost $90 million. Is this a Best Picture nominee surprise on Tuesday morning? I think so. You know we’ve got La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester, Lion, Fences, Arrival but then– what? Hidden Figures would have drawn the live audience’s oohs and aahhhs in the old days. (Now there will be digital approval.)

Also in that line should be “Hell or High Water.” But some that seem gone include “Jackie,” “Loving,” and “Nocturnal Animals.”

“Fences,” by the way, has made a very nice $48 million leading up to Oscar noms. Very well played.

On the non-Oscar front: “Passengers,” which didn’t get great reviews and wasn’t thought to be much of anything, made a shocking $270 million worldwide including $95 million in the US. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are movie stars! And they should get two sequels out of this. So you see, Sony isn’t dead and gone yet. Studio fortunes are cyclical, which is often forgotten.

Trump Unites All the Celebs In the World Against Him After None Showed Up for His Inauguration

Roger Friedman
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Trump Unites All the Celebs In the World Against Him After None Showed Up for His Inauguration

Who Trump had at the Inauguration: Jon Voight, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Stephen Baldwin.

Who came to Washington the next day to protest him: his son-in-law’s brother, Josh Kushner. Josh’s brother is Jared, new White House adviser.

So many celebrities at all the rallies in all the cities. Probably a lot of people who don’t usually talk to each other. Trump has united all the famous people in the world against him. That’s quite a feat.

In Washington: Cher, Madonna, Michael Moore, Marisa Tomei, Patricia Arquette, Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Jessica Chastain, America Ferrara, Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Alicia Keys, Janelle Monae, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. among others.

In Los Angeles: Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Jackson Browne, Frances Fisher, Miley Cyrus, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rosanna Arquette.

At Sundance: Charlize Theron, John Legend, Maria Bello, Laura Dern, Jennifer Beals, et al.

In New York: Helen Mirren, Rosie Perez, Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Nixon. And that’s not counting Robert DeNiro and Alec Baldwin, who appeared the night before.

Is Trump getting the message? At this rate, he will have an empty room at the end of April for the White House Correspondents Dinner. (Doubtful they will have it, or invite him, or ask him to speak.)

Maybe “the red states” hate celebrities, hate smart people, resent everyone. But this is no way to start your presidency.

March: Millions Turns Out, Madonna Gets Attention, Sean Spicer Lies Like a Rug, Trump Insults the CIA

Roger Friedman
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March: Millions Turns Out, Madonna Gets Attention, Sean Spicer Lies Like a Rug, Trump Insults the CIA

Oh Madonna. Keeping it classy at the Women’s March. She said she thought about bombing the White House. She dropped her own bombs– the F kind. All those reasonable speakers, and then the inarticulate Madonna.

Madonna says she’s angry. We are all angry. The new Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, has chosen lying for a living. On the first day! Then Trump went to the CIA and insulted them. (I think this is probably a mistake. What do you think?)

Trump and Spicer are now focused on how small or large the Inauguration was– it was dwarfed by Obama 2009 and by Saturday’s March. Plus the TV ratings– except on Fox News– were bad bad bad.

Box Office: Inauguration Sent People from Real Life Horror to Movie Horror Hit “Split”

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Inauguration Sent People from Real Life Horror to Movie Horror Hit “Split”

The horror of what we saw last night drove people to the movies– to a horror film. M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” took in over $14 million on Friday. Those people could have stayed home and watched the end of the world for free. But they went out and spent $10 a pop to get away from it.

Second was “XXX: Return of Xander Cage,” which made $7.1 million. Again, escapism ruled.

Oscar favorites “La La Land” and “Hidden Figures” continue to do well. “Lion” hit $15 million. (Go, “Lion”!)

But Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” expanded to 1,580 theaters and tanked. The average per screen was $201. The total through today is $4.3 million. This is a tragedy. One day this movie will be ranked as a classic. Its release, however, has been a disaster. Try and see “Silence” before it’s out of theaters. A gorgeous, important film.

Watch 81 Year Old Legend Sam Moore Save the Embarrassing Inaugural Performances

Roger Friedman
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Watch 81 Year Old Legend Sam Moore Save the Embarrassing Inaugural Performances

The Inaugural concert is a disaster, filled with D listers and a wedding band singing bad Sinatra. The whole thing is a Reagan esque white fantasy. We’ve gone back in time to a bad bad place that I thought was over. Trump welcomes the Branson era of corny Caucasian crap. “Hee Haw” is next.

So thank God then for Sam Moore, one of the music biz’s legends, who Bruce Springsteen calls “The greatest soul singer on the planet.” With Dave Prater (died in 1988) Sam had dozens of hits and earned a Grammy Award. On his own he’s sung for all the living presidents. He was the star of a PBS special on Memphis music recorded live at the White House. Michelle Obama loves him.

Sam has two solo albums. “Pretty Good Lovin'” was recorded in 1972 with Aretha Franklin on keyboards, produced by King Floyd. You can find it online. In 2006 he recorded “Overnight Sensational” produced by Randy Jackson with special guests Springsteen, Sting, Bon Jovi and Wynonna Judd.

In September 2015, Sam fit into his schedule a special honor on the Memphis Music Walk of Fame. Justin Timberlake joined him live on stage to sing the Otis Redding hit “Dock of the Bay.”

Moore was pressed into action when Jennifer Holliday dropped out of the Inaugural welcome concert. He performed a magnificent “America the Beautiful.” Then tonight on national TV he sang his greatest hit, “Soul Man.” (Waiting for the clip.) At 81, his voice is extraordinary. He was a diamond in the rough the last two days. What a treat. Something good came out of all this.

What Sam needs now: a Kennedy Center honor and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

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