entertainment

Weinstein's 'Myspace For Millionaires' Was Not The Greatest Idea

Hamilton Nolan · 07/22/08 09:16AM

Page Six today brings news of a faaabulous bash in St. Tropez on the yacht of Denise Rich, the Clinton pal and wife of disgraced financier Marc Rich. And to help her bring out the real stars to her party, Denise has teamed up with Erik Wachtmeister, who runs A Small World, the much-hyped "Myspace for Millionaires" social networking site for the rich. How symbolic! Two years ago, fading mogul Harvey Weinstein invested in ASW, which got a bunch of press casting both of them as the vanguard of the Next Big Thing. Now, they're more like a coalition of the washed-up.

Evil Omarosa Makes Wendy Williams Look Reasonable

Hamilton Nolan · 07/22/08 08:22AM

So what's going on with hip hop radio queen Wendy Williams' new morning TV talk show these days? Strife, anger, and war, that's what! You can't say Williams isn't a pro. She knows she has a reputation for evil herself, so she went out and found one of the most widely despised semi-celebrity figures in America-ex-Apprentice star and insane person Omarosa-and invited her on the show yesterday. Chaos ensued! Highlights and the very special video, after the jump.

MTV Buys College Humor Show

Hamilton Nolan · 07/21/08 01:52PM

MTV has bought the pilot for a TV show from the gentlemen behind CollegeHumor.com. The deal is for six episodes, scheduled to air this fall, we hear. No word yet on exactly what the content will be, how much MTV paid, or what role supermogul and College Humor owner Barry Diller may have played in making the deal happen. But needless to say, it will add a much-needed dose of humorous frat-boy hijinks to MTV's current schedule of sober public affairs programming. [UPDATE: We hear the show will consist of comedy shorts, wrapped in a storyline, set in the CH office]. (Pictured: CH co-founder Ricky Van Veen)

British Geraldo Meets British Tony Soprano

Hamilton Nolan · 07/18/08 10:01AM

Can there ever be too many British gangster movies? The answer is no. So we fully support the new documentary A Very British Gangster, which is being released in the US today. Not only has the filmmaker, Donal McIntyre, been described as "the British answer to Geraldo Rivera," but the subject of the film, Manchester crime boss Dominic Noonan (pictured), has been compared to Tony Soprano, and his English thugs are accused of having bad teeth and being reminiscent of Trainspotting. It's satisfying to see every single English crime journalism cliche in one place. But the film itself sounds entertaining; anything starring a guy who gets his point across by chopping off the heads of rivals' pets can't be all boring. The trailer is after the jump.

Jingles To Scare Children

Hamilton Nolan · 07/17/08 04:14PM

The predicted awfulness of CBS' upcoming American Idol-style ad jingle show Jingles has been confirmed, months before it actually debuts. It seems that-incredibly-hundreds of people have already auditioned for the show, and many of the audition tapes are available on YouTube. Ad Age has viewed them, and predicts a "trainwreck." We only have the stomach to bring you one of the auditions; below, a sample jingle for "Fruit It Up" candy, from a bizarre pink-clad singing duo. What would Gene Simmons have to say about this?

iTunes Steals Mad Men's Smokes

Hamilton Nolan · 07/17/08 03:25PM

The image you see on top is a standard ad for Mad Men, AMC's series about hard-paryting admen in the good old days that conveniently advertises itself everywhere. The image on the bottom is what you see when you visit iTunes to purchase the full season of Mad Men. The difference? On iTunes, the man has had his cigarette taken away. Steve Jobs does not understand the point of this show at all. Click to enlarge the Apple-approved scrubbing of our culture.

CBS Makes Poorly Conceived 'Jingles' Show Even Less Reputable

Hamilton Nolan · 07/17/08 08:27AM

If you didn't think reality television could get any better than a show about people singing ad jingles and being judged by scandal-plagued former Wal-Mart marketing chief-turned ad world fameball Julie Roehm, think again! Roehm-whose flirting once cost an ad agency a $580 million contract-can't judge all those jingles by herself. So CBS, in full scrambling mode, has selected another judge who is equally respected in the advertising industry: KISS burnout and sex tape star Gene Simmons!

Boy Band Hustler Needs To Make License Plates Faster

Hamilton Nolan · 07/16/08 12:44PM

Who knew that robbing the Backstreet Boys could have so many financial rewards, on top of the emotional satisfaction? Lou Pearlman, the sleazebag boy band promoter who managed Backstreet and N'Sync, among others, has been ordered to repay $300 million to hundreds of people that he swindled in a Ponzi scheme that played out for decades. But uh, according to our forensic accounting, he might have a little trouble making full restitution:

Scandal-Plagued Former Wal-Mart Exec Headed For Reality TV Infamy

Hamilton Nolan · 07/16/08 11:50AM

Remember Julie Roehm, the fabulous woman that Wal-Mart hired to be its head of marketing, then fired because she was fucking around with her married subordinate and hitting WM ad agencies up for jobs and being unwilling to become a part of the "Wal-Mart culture" by painting her office grey or whatever? Then she sued them in a huge, public, scandalous lawsuit. Emily Gould dubbed her the "Wal-Mart Ho," which I am too classy to endorse but not too classy to repeat. Anyhow, Roehm is about to become a reality show star! Is she the "next Paula Abdul"? Or just the Julia Allison of advertising?

Weinstein Boots Halston Designer For Lack Of Sexiness

Hamilton Nolan · 07/16/08 10:56AM

Lovers of moguls and fashion house revivals pay heed: Halston, the 70s luxury brand that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is attempting to restore to its former glory, has lost its creative director! Marco Zanini, who came to Halston from Versace a year ago to revive the brand, has reportedly been shown the door. Apparently he didn't have the "sexual charge" that Weinstein craves. Don't worry Harvey, you still have Project Runway!

Josh Hartnett Will Make You Sigh For The Web's Good Old Days

Hamilton Nolan · 07/14/08 04:04PM

This one isn't brand new, but the current economic turmoil means it's a good time to watch the trailer for August, the upcoming Josh Hartnett flick dramatizing the dramatic dot-com world of August, 2001-a dramatic time. Josh Hartnett is sitting in board rooms! Delivering speeches! Furrowing his brow! And sexing a sexy woman or three in the process! Enjoy the sight of Web boom 1.0, just as Web boom 2.0 may be going over a cliff with the rest of the economy. Side note: Hartnett, who also portrayed a web guy in 40 Days and 40 Nights, is set to corner the market on playing dotcom heroes. Luckily he bears a passing resemblance to Nick Denton! Watch the trailer below and comment freely.

Rapper Wants Millions For Losing Battle To Biggie

Hamilton Nolan · 07/14/08 11:24AM

If you were a totally unknown rapper who suddenly appeared in a documentary rhyming alongside the late Biggie Smalls, one of the greatest and fattest men to ever pick up a microphone, wouldn't you be happy for the publicity? (Yes, if you were smart). Not if your name was Supreme, a Brooklyn rapper who is suing some documentary makers for $20 million (good luck) for using footage of the Notorious B.I.G. battling Supreme in 1994. It caused him "mental distress," the poor lil guy! The Post says the suit "neglects to say who won the war of words between Supreme and Biggie," but we're gonna go with "Biggie by a mile," based on classic clips like this one:

Is Madonna's Lying Publicist Scaring Away Coverage Of Her Brother's Book?

Hamilton Nolan · 07/14/08 10:26AM

Christopher Ciccone is Madonna's brother and the author of America's most important new book, his "extremely graphic and devastating," tell-all about his sister's life. But Ciccone seems to be getting a woefully scant amount of press from the usual celebrity-slobbering suspects. Perhaps that's because Madonna's rep Liz Rosenberg-one of America's foremost lying flacks!-is putting the hammer down on any outlet that wants to keep covering the old blond "singer."

Rampant Product Placement: Bad Problem, Bad Solution. Drink Coke!

Hamilton Nolan · 07/14/08 08:11AM

"Unregulated product placement is out of control these days," said Hamilton as he took a long, satisfying sip of his Folgers-brand coffee, savoring the full-bodied flavor. "Particularly on television, where product placement is an increasingly necessary source of revenue for all your favorite and least favorite shows." Now the FCC is trying to regulate it in a hilariously heavy-handed way, and evil marketing geniuses are fighting back by, inexplicably, flaunting their scary power over everything you see. "We almost consider ourselves to be the junior writers on the show," says one. The government willl destroy everything to stop you, fiend!:

OMG! Gawker Q&A with Joss Whedon!

ian spiegelman · 07/12/08 11:09AM

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Serenity creator Joss Whedon's writers' strike project "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog"-starring Nathan Fillion and Neal Patrick Harris-premieres the first of three fun-filled acts Tuesday. To that end, the director has done the unthinkable-agreeing to a Q&A session with Weekend Gawker! Yaaaay! The totally biased interview after the jump.

Nasty Nas Enjoys Lying In Meadow, Looking At Sky, Eviscerating Fox News

Hamilton Nolan · 07/11/08 08:42AM

At one time-1994, specifically-Nas was the king of New York, and the greatest rapper alive. Over successive albums he got somewhat less great. But he did a good job of scoring free publicity for his new album by naming it "Nigger," then, predictably, being forced to change it. You have to like him though-he's the kind of guy who tells the WSJ that he envisions the hip hop nation growing old and "going to Snoop Dogg concerts in the meadow." And he has this sweet Fox News dis track out too. You all (meaning "Briganti & Co.") should have memorized it by now:

Wendy Williams Bringing Penis Discussion To Morning Television

Hamilton Nolan · 07/09/08 09:20AM

Wendy Williams, the queen of hip hop talk radio and sworn enemy of Method Man and his cancer-stricken wife, is in high demand these days. And not just by hitmen looking for work! Williams is about to launch a trial run of a morning talk show on Fox, for those who would rather watch a loud, be-wigged radio DJ first thing in the morning than learn some new summer smoothie recipes from Meredith Vieira. Television is a wasteland, let's face it. But at least Wendy is planning to keep things upbeat; the last long discussion her producer had was about "whether you can say penis."

The Real World: Congress

Hamilton Nolan · 07/09/08 08:26AM

Is America ready for a Real World cast member to serve in Congress? Don't worry, it's just Kevin, from season one! Back then Kevin Powell was sporting a high top and being the serious guy in the New York house with Heather B and the southern girl and the model guy and the other guy. Now, Powell has shaved his head and declared his candidacy for Congress from Brooklyn. And if young people can't relate to this guy, all hope for political engagement is lost. Observe Powell's stellar set of pop culture credentials:

A Cuddly Gay Icon For Fox News

Hamilton Nolan · 07/08/08 02:45PM

Fox News has been hammered with a good deal of bad publicity this week, all stemming from David Carr's takedown of the network's PR operation in Monday's New York Times. One downside to FNC's aggressive attitude toward the press is that their own stars get relatively less attention than other cable news icons like Keith Olbermann or Anderson Cooper. Rachel Sklar points out that Fox News anchor Shepard Smith is "a handsome, affable and hard-working straight-up news guy" who's been "under-covered." That's true, and also lends itself to a "straight-up" joke, considering our past coverage of him as a closeted gay man. As we enter the new, liberal age of Obama, America is ready for real diversity-and Smith's gay status has now become conventional wisdom .

May Intervention Continue Until We Are All Stone Cold Sober

Hamilton Nolan · 07/07/08 02:59PM

Intervention is the realest reality show on television. The A&E series is the starkest imaginable look at drug addiction and alcoholism that you'll find anywhere outside of, well, real life. I'm constantly amazed that the show not only finds addicts willing to be filmed smoking, snorting, and drinking their way to the depths of despair, but also that these same addicts keep on being surprised when the intervention is sprung on them. Too many drugs, not enough time watching TV. And it's heroic work; the show's creator, Sam Mettler, told the Washington Post that the heroin smoke in one subject's bedroom was so thick that Mettler eventually fell down on the bed and "could not stop shaking and drooling." Bear Grylls' job is a cinch in comparison! Keep on inspiring us all to be less fucked up, Intervention. Below, the first installment of the "Caylee" episode that turned Mettler into a temporary junkie: