Watching VH1

If you are anything like me, you can’t stand all of the commercial breaks during your television viewing time. Sure, a commercial now and then is great so you can use the bathroom, grab a drink or a snack, or in my case, see what your kid just broke. Viacom, the parent company of VH1 and other networks such as MTV and Comedy Central, are experimenting with their commercial breaks to hold the attention of the viewer with the itchy remote control finger.

Some ideas that have been tossed around are ads playing over the top of the shows, one very LONG commercial per break, or more breaks, but less time in each. The New York Times reports:

The changes include creating commercials that last for an entire break, integrating stars from programs into the ads and developing story lines that run through the ads. MTV and VH1 have recently decided to change from two commercial breaks each half-hour to three, so that each one can be shorter.

Hey, Viacom. As a loyal viewer, PLEASE don’t break into my show more than you already do. 3 commercial breaks in a half hour is too many. Just when the show starts flowing, a commercial would be thrown in there. 2 per half hour is enough, so don’t up it–even if it makes the breaks shorter. I understand you have to pay your bills with the commercials, so breaks are a necessary evil, but don’t give me MORE breaks. That just sucks.

What do you think? Leave some comments as to what you think the best solution is for the company.

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From time to time, I hope to update you on the whereabouts and current projects of former VH1 CelebReality stars. I mean, where do you go after you have been on the has-been list that is VH1 CelebReality shows? I do love me some of these crazy shows, but let’s face it–CelebReality isn’t exactly A-List.

I’m starting off this new feature with model, and Surreal Life 4 star Marcus Schenkenberg. After laying low for a few years doing commentary on an Italian soccer television station, it seems Marcus has hit the big time. “Terminator 4″ is now casting, and since Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken that “other job”, it needs a new star. Well, it looks like that star will be none other than Mr. Schenkenberg (what is it with the “Terminator” movies and stars with hard to spell last names?). Comingsoon.net reports:

The male model Marcus Schenkenberg was on a Dutch tv show and mentioned he went to Cannes last week and booked four new movie roles. One thing that stood out was Terminator 4 and he also mentioned that Schwarzenegger would have a 30-sec cameo.

No other cast members have been announced, but the movie is set to come out in 2008 or 2009 and will be written by the “Terminator 3″ team.

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The Flavor of Love Girls just can’t keep their clothes on…or wear very little of them, anyway. This time, current Charm School bad girl Larissa Aurora (Bootz from Flavor of Love 2) has released a calendar of racy pictures. TMZ.com has some pictures of the calendar up on their website.

The 22 year old isn’t the first of the Flavor of Love/Charm School girls who has come out with a naughty product. Jennifer Toof (Toasteee) has a recently released porn video on shelves. Undoubtedly, these young women are trying to stretch their fifteen minutes of fame from their stints on VH1 CelebReality shows.

What do you think of these ladies and their “career” decisions? Are you all for it, or do you side more with Florence Henderson and her thoughts when she was on the Surreal Life (if you didn’t catch that season, Florence was forever trying to get Playboy Playmate Andrea Lowell to keep her clothes on)? Leave me some comments about this.

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Can you handle yet another awards show? Well, VH1 hopes you can. The television station has just inked a three year deal with the Critics’ Choice Awards to air their yearly awards ceremony. Instead of taping and editing the show as the WB and E! Channel have done in the past, the awards will air live on VH1. Next year’s show will air on January 7, 2008 in Santa Monica, CA.

For those of you not familiar with the CCA, Reuter’s describes it as such:

The Critics’ Choice Awards, founded in 1995, annually honors achievements in filmmaking and is touted as the first major awards show of the season. The BFCA claims that it consistently picks nominees and winners that go on to garner more Oscar nominations and wins than any other of the movie awards shows, last year picking 30 of the 35 nominees and six of the Oscar winners in the top seven categories, including best picture, acting, directing and writing. The show also is attended by a range of high-profile talent.

VH1 is hoping to expand the show by including elements on VH1.com and also Mobile alerts. The goal is to keep the awards show fresh on the minds of viewers year-round.

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Drug addiction problems continue to plague Tom Sizemore, most recently known for his reality show “Shooting Sizemore” on VH1. The cameras caught Tom in all sorts of states of conciousness due to drugs and alcohol. This time, methamphetamines were the problem. The Gossip Girls reports:

Bakersfield police arrested Sizemore and his friend, actor Jason Salcido, when they were caught in a car with drugs and drug paraphernalia. At around 7:00 a.m. Tuesday, the pair had attempted to check into a room at the Four Points Sheraton in California. After the clerk was unable to find a reservation, Jason allegedly threatened violence on the staff member - resulting in a call to the police.

Since he is currently on probation for previous drug busts, he is likely facing jail time. It is sad to see the “Blackhawk Down” actor so far under the influence. Here’s to hoping this will serve as a wake up call and help him truly get straightened out. It’s a shame to see such great acting abilities go to waste.

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My heart leaps with joy, dear readers, as I pull together this post. You see, I am an unabashedly huge fan of boy bands. I have seen every major boy band since the late 80s in concert, except Backstreet Boys (the concert I was going to attend was cancelled because AJ went into rehab). VH1 has brought together 4 ex-boy band members to create the world’s first “man band”. The group is called Sureshot and their show “Totally BoyBand” (working title) will air sometime this summer. One of their known gigs was singing at halftime of an Orlando Magic game in January, as well as entertianing at Superbowl XL while VH1 cameras rolled. This “band of men” includes Chris Kirkpatrick of NSync, Rich Cronin of LFO, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees, and Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd.

I let out a little squeal whenever I talk about the new show coming up this summer on VH1. I’m excited to see what they have the guys do and how it goes. It is going to be interesting to see how they sound together and whether or not a group of grown men can step out of a boy band shadow…or maybe they don’t want to leave that spotlight.

Who is your favorite boy band? I personally love NSync (I’ve seen them in concert 5 times) so I’m rooting for Chris to do well. What do you think of this concept? Leave me some comments!

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Oh, heck. Please let this be a hoax. I love watching New York choose her man, and I love the always entertaining Sanjaya from American Idol, but I just don’t think I can handle them together. It seems as if Sanjaya has applied to be on “I Love New York 2″ according to TMZ:

TMZ has learned that “Flava of Love” diva New York has attracted a wild-haired suitor for the new season of VH1’s “I Love New York” … and it appears to be exiled “Idol” Sanjaya Malakar! *roaring crowd noise*

While TMZ has not been able to confirm whether or not it was the real Sanjaya who sent in the audition tape, they have a clip of the strange video their website if you’re interested. I’m not sure what to think, so tell me what you think in the comment section below.

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Best known as the rapping part of the TLC trio, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was in a fatal car accident in Honduras 5 years ago. A documentary called “The Last Days of Left Eye” is set to air on VH1 on May 24th. The documentary is narrated by Lisa herself as she was filming her pilgrimage with friends and family to heal “physically and emotionally”. The film opened in her hometown of the Atlanta Film Festival last month and received critical acclaim. The airing on VH1 will mark the first widespread showing of the documentary.

In addition to her final days, the film showcases her early life and days in TLC. Of course there will be footage of her tumultuous love affair with NFL star Andre Rison which ended when Left Eye burnt his Atlanta home to the ground. The documentary promises to be honest and fill in some gaps that may have been questioned since her death.

A box set of TLC’s greatest hits is also slated for release on Tuesday, May 15th in honor the 5th anniversary of Left Eye’s death. “The Last Days of Left Eye” will air on May 24th at 9 PM ET/PT.

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It seems as if Charm School’s latest expelled student, Jennifer/Toasteee is experiencing more problems due to her pornography past. Pilly’s Daily News is reporting that a hardcore pornography tape starring Jennifer will be released soon:

Vivid Entertainment announced yesterday that it has obtained a 40-minute sex tape featuring Toof and an unidentified male, which it plans to release as a DVD called “Toastee Exposed,” on May 16. A trailer is posted at Toastee Exposed.com.

The reason Flava Flav kicked her off of “Flavor of Love 2″ was because she lied to him about not having a porn past and he found pictures that proved otherwise. Jennifer is claiming to have no stake in this tape being leaked and it was released without her permission, but she doesn’t seem to be trying very hard to stop it, either.

What do you think about this latest “celebrity” releasing a porn tape? Does it ever help them or does it hurt them? Sound off in the comments section below.

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Are you ready to watch the former “Happy Days” and “Charles in Charge” star desparately try to find dates and chronicle his life for a VH1 CelebReality television show? I sure am! What a delicious disaster “Scott Baio is 45…and Single” (tentative title) is sure to be. He was definitely a teenage heartthrob, but has Scott Baio’s looks and charm stood the test of time? It will definitely be enjoyable finding out.

No premiere date has been set as of yet, but it is likely to air sometime this summer or later in the fall. Scott’s willingness to do a Reality TV show comes as somewhat of a shock since he once gave the following interview to Radar Online when asked about being on The Surreal Life:

No. I just think it’s very indulgent, self-serving. It’s just not what I want to do with my life. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t have to be that guy. I know this is a cyclical business, and I’m not going to do something that’s going to hurt my future work. Plus, I just hate those shows. I can’t comment on why anyone else would do it. I just don’t know.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens here. I remember watching “Charles in Charge” wishing he could be my babysitter when I was growing up. Let’s see if my opinion changes after this show airs. What do you think? Will you watch “Scott Baio is 45…and Single”?

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Two more great acts, Alice in Chains and Queens of the Stone Age, will appear on stage at VH1’s Rock Honors award show to be broadcast on May 24th. These bands will join Keane, Gretchen Wilson, and Nickelback as they pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, Heart, ZZ Top, and Genesis. Keep checking back for more up to date information on the Rock Honors show as it becomes available.

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The ratings are in from this weekend’s big CelebReality premiere night on VH1. “Charm School”, the latest “Flavor of Love” spinoff, broke all VH1 records for a debut bringing in 5.1 million viewers. It was able to grow its audience from its lead-in the “I Love New York Reunion Show” which held steady at 5 million viewers. The other new offering of the night, “The Springer Hustle”, was also a nice surprise pulling in 2.3 million viewers at the 11:30 PM time slot. All three shows also were strong in the coveted 18-49 year old viewer demographic that advertisers love.

This week, “Celebrity Fit Club” will premiere on Sunday night at 8/7c before “Charm School”. The teams will be divided men vs. women this season and the overweight stars will compete for even bigger prizes. VH1 is hoping for big numbers again as the CelebReality genre finds its niche in primetime television.

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Here is what’s going on this week in music, video clips, concerts, contests, and more at VH1:

** NEW MUSIC ON VH1.COM
VH1.com has some cool music you can listen to before the discs come out.

Live @ VH1.com: Katharine McPhee
The American Idol star gives her kiss-off hit “Over It” a soulful, downbeat treatment in our studios. Watch the entire session.

VH1 Soul Player: Beyonce
Jay-Z helps her out in the hot new joint “Get Me Bodied.” Watch!

Mat Kearney
Watch the Top 20 premiere of “Undeniable” and more vids from artists on the rise!

New Video: Hinder
It’s really over this time. Watch “Better Than Me” and other cool clips in Hot Group Action.

Test Your Reflex
The California quintet has perfected power-pop. Listen to their debut in its entirety.

15 Most Slammin’ Bodies
Hot artists with exceptionally hot bods. Watch Pussycat Dolls & others work it!

New Video: R. Kelly
Don’t bring your girl around the player. Watch “I’m A Flirt (Remix)” feat. T.I. and T-Pain.

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Yes, VH1 reruns its CelebReality lineup into the ground as their respective season airs, and then again in marathon form when new seasons of the shows are premiering, but if you miss the “classic” seasons of these shows, then this deal is for you.

Early reports are saying that the TV Guide channel is paying out $6.7 million dollars for the exclusive three-year rights of old episodes of shows like “My Fair Brady”, “The Surreal Life”, “Flavor of Love”, and “Strange Love”. The channel will also get first dibs of “I Love New York” and “Charm School” after they’ve run their course on VH1. During those three years, VH1 will not be allowed to show any of those episodes.

What do you think about this deal? Are you excited to see some of your favorite CelebReality shows getting new life, or do you prefer a surprise marathon on VH1 every now and then? Leave me some comments and also check out the full article about this deal.

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Remember that Surreal Life 5 challenge where CC Deville and his castmates had to out rock the Poison tribute band called “Posin”? You know, that was the show when Andrea Lowell got drunk, gyrated around the stage, and took off her clothes much to the chagrin of Florence Henderson. Oh, wait, that was every show that season. Anyway, the tribute band Posin is apparently going to have their time in the spotlight with their own reality show on VH1. According to this article, Posin will be filmed tonight at the WIMI Monsters of Mock Concert in Ironwood, Michigan for a future episode of this yet unnamed reality show.

What do you think of the concept behind this new show? Will you tune in to watch the behind the scenes action of a tribute band? Do they really qualify as “CelebReality”? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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