TV Blog
Host Kaley Cuoco is seen during the People's Choice Awards on Wednesday, in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/AP)
Big winners at People's Choice Awards: Katy Perry, 'Harry Potter,' despite ratings drop (+video)
Wednesday evening, Hollywood stars walked the red carpet at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles for the 38th annual People's Choice Awards.
The awards are voted by the people. Fans cast their vote for their favorite TV shows, movies, and musicians on the People's Choice website.
Funny girl Kaley Cuoco from TV's "The Big Bang Theory" hosted the event, following in the steps of previous five-year host Queen Latifa. Cuoco was also nominated for Favorite TV Comedy Actress for her role as Penny. Even though she didn't win, reviews on the web say that she didn't do a bad job as host. Maybe next year we'll see Kaley again.
IN PICTURES: People's Choice Awards
Performer Katy Perry was the big winner of the night, topping five categories, including favorite female artist, tour headliner, song of the year for "E.T." with Kanye West, music video for "Last Friday Night," and TV guest star for "How I Met Your Mother." Although Perry was unable to attend the event in person, she tweeted after the show aired on CBS, "THANK U to every1 who voted for me for the @peopleschoice tonight! We won so many! Now I need to get more books 2 successfully display them!"
The second big winner was the last of the book-to-film series "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," with four wins.
Among the highlights of the evening, "Hot in Cleveland's" Betty White was recognized for her 90th birthday. And Demi Lovato and Faith Hill both performed.
As the show went up against ABC's "Modern Family," which had 12.33 million viewers, the People's Choice only reached 9.85 million viewers, coming in second for the hour. That made it the lowest rated edition since 2008, when the show aired during the screenwriter's strike.
Did you watch the PCA's last night? Check out this video recap below:
Here is the list of winners from the evening, reported on the People's Choice website:
Favorite movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Favorite Movie Actress: Emma Stone
Favorite Daytime TV Host: Ellen DeGeneres
Favorite TV Comedy Actress: Lea Michele
Favorite TV Drama Actress: Nina Dobrev
Favorite TV Comedy Actor: Neil Patrick Harris
Favorite Pop Artist: Demi Lovato
Favorite Comedic Movie Actor: Adam Sandler
Favorite Movie Star Under 25: Chloe Grace Moretz
Favorite Band: Maroon 5
Favorite Album of the Year: Born This Way, Lady Gaga
Favorite TV CelebReality Star: Kim Kardashian
Favorite Book Adaptation: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Favorite Drama Movie: Water for Elephants
Favorite Cable TV Drama: Pretty Little Liars
Favorite TV Drama Actor: Nathan Fillian
Favorite TV Crime Drama: Castle
Favorite Comedy Movie: Bridesmaids
Favorite Late Night TV Host: Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Favorite Cable TV Comedy: Hot in Cleveland
Favorite Movie Superhero: Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern
Favorite Movie Icon: Morgan Freeman
Favorite New TV Drama: Person of Interest
Favorite New TV Comedy: 2 Broke Girls
Favorite Network TV Comedy: How I Met Your Mother
Favorite Network TV Drama: Supernatural
Favorite Movie Actor: Johnny Depp
Favorite TV Competition Show: American Idol
Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show: Supernatural
Favorite Action Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Favorite Action Movie Star: Hugh Jackman
Favorite TV Guest Star: Katy Perry, How I Met Your Mother
Favorite Comedic Movie Actress: Emma Stone
Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Favorite Animated Movie Voice: Johnny Depp as Rango, Rango
Favorite Male Artist: Bruno Mars
Favorite Female Artist: Katy Perry
Favorite Song of the Year: E.T, Katy Perry featuring Kanye West
Favorite Hip Hop Artist: Eminem
Favorite R&B Artist: Rihanna
Favorite Country Artist: Taylor Swift
Favorite Music Video: Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), Katy Perry
Favorite Tour Headliner: Katy Perry
IN PICTURES: People's Choice Awards
William Shatner says "Star Trek" is better than "Star Wars" (video)
William Shatner believes without "Star Trek," there would not have been any "Star Wars."
In a video released online by the actor last week, Shatner said while "Star Trek" dealt with human relationships, "Star Wars was special effects....was [Lucasfilm visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic] at its best."
"Star Trek," the television series created by Gene Roddenberry, was originally broadcast on NBC beginning in 1966.
A short-lived animated series, four other live-action television programs, and nine feature films make up the "Star Trek" library.
"Star Wars," created by George Lucas, first came to movie theaters in 1977. The "Star Wars" movies became known as a franchise and broke new ground with their merchandising tie-ins, a business model that has been replicated on every blockbuster film since. Only the Harry Potter and James Bond films have been more lucrative as a series.
While the acting style and dialogue of "Star Trek" bordered on the erudite, "Star Wars" appealed to broader tastes with its archetypal good guys and bad guys. It also drew from traditions of knighthood and chivalry, and contained spiritual themes with its mysterious Force. Yet another classic movie metaphor was employed with the space dogfights, modeled after World War II films.
Perhaps the clearest legacy of "Star Trek" to "Star Wars" were the diverse and fascinatingly formed aliens, limited only by the imagination of the makeup department, and, later, CGI animators.
But, in Shatner's mind, "Star Wars" was 'derivative' of "Star Trek," and therefore the better of the two.
Dolores Hope leans over to talk with her husband, entertainer Bob Hope, as they ride in a car as Grand Marshals for a parade in his honor in Toluca Lake in this 1998 file photo. Dolores Hope died on September 19, according to her publicist. (Fred Prouser/Reuters/File)
Dolores Hope, widow of Bob Hope, remembered as singer and philanthropist (video)
Dolores Hope, who passed away Monday, had a tough job.
Being married to comedian and entertainer Bob Hope meant sharing her husband with most of the free world.
Hope, after making his name on stage and radio in the 1930s and later cementing his legend on television, spent lots of time entertaining US and allied troops around the world during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait.
Dolores Hope stayed home to raise their four adopted children, but would accompany her husband on some of his USO tours, usually singing "Silent Night" to a rapt audience of soldiers.
Mrs. Hope, who also spent time raising money and awareness for charity, passed away at her home in southern California.
Below is a video of Bob and Dolores Hope on a tour of England 50 years after D-Day.
In this 2006 file photo, "Nick News" host Linda Ellerbee(l.) leads a discussion of a show topic with kids. (PRNewsFoto/Lucky Duck/Nickelodeon)
Linda Ellerbee hosts 9/11 anniversary TV special for kids, wins praise
Thursday night, the children's cable network Nickelodeon presented a special version of 'Nick News with LInda Ellerbee,' entitled 'What Happened? The story of September 11, 2001.'
According to reviews of the program, it tells the story of what happened in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., so that children too young to remember, or not even born, could better understand that day in US history.
And most reviewers say Ellerbee, executive producer of the show, did a great job.
Matt Roush of TVGuide.com said, "Essential TV, highly recommended for families to watch together."
In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review with the headline 'Linda Ellerbee takes right approach in 9/11 special,' Maria Sciullo writes, "Linda Ellerbee is the calming voice of history in the "Nick News Report on 9/11."
Carina Adly MacKenzie of Zap2It.com adds, "We particularly appreciated the inclusion of Jamie Jones, a young man who was seven years old that day and a member of the class that President George W. Bush so famously read to on that fateful morning."
In an interview with the New York Daily News, Ellerbee puts the program in context.
"We're telling kids what happened and why it's important," says Ellerbee. "It's a foundation they can, and hopefully will, expand as they get older."
In case you missed the program, Jodi Davis, Nickelodeon Networks vice-president for communications, tells the Monitor in an email, "Beginning Sept. 6, the special will available on Nick.com, on iTunes as a free podcast and in Nick's video-on-demand offering."
You can also check out the Nickelodeon website for more information on talking about 9/11 with your children.
Here's the beginning of the show, just to give you an idea of the approach the program took.
Georgia Ewing, 3, from London, shares a bench, but not her ice cream, with the Minions from "Despicable Me," in New York, November 22, 2010. The Minions are in New York to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and celebrate the December 14th DVD release of "Despicable Me." (Diane Bondareff/Universal Studios Home Entertainment/Handout/Reuters)
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2010 a holiday tradition
A big part of many families' Thanksgiving Day tradition is to take in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Once again, NBC will televise the parade from New York City live across the US, beginning at 9 AM ET Thursday.
Some of the live musical acts scheduled to perform during the parade include Arlo Guthrie, Gladys Knight, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, Macy Gray and Mannheim Steamroller, in addition to a number of marching bands from around the country.
Giant balloons are another feature of the annual event. Snoopy the Flying Ace, Diary of A Wimpy Kid, 'Super Cute' Hello Kitty and SpongeBob SquarePants are just a few of the big names who will be floating through Manhattan on Thursday.
Related: Thanksgiving quiz: there's more to it than just knowing how to cook a turkey
ESPN baseball announcers (L to R) Joe Morgan, Jon Miller, and Orel Hershiser joke around before a game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on June 6. (Bill Greenblatt/UPI/Newscom)
Jon Miller ESPN: Cable sports network parts way with longtime baseball play-by-play man
After helping ESPN establish itself as Major League Baseball's Sunday night cable television home, the network has decided to let play-by-play announcer Jon Miller and analyst Joe Morgan go.
In showing the longtime duo the door, ESPN did give them a tip of the cap.
"Over the last two decades, Joe went from Hall of Fame player to one of his sport's top analysts and Jon's Hall of Fame voice and tremendous knowledge of the game have connected with baseball fans everywhere," ESPN executive vice president Norby Williamson said in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday. "We owe them our deepest thanks for an outstanding body of work."
There's no news on who might replace Morgan and Miller. Speculation could start with former Dodgers and Indians pitcher Orel Hershisher, who worked several Sunday night games this past season as an analyst for the network. Versatile ESPN play-by-play announcer Dan Shulman has also filled in for Miller in the past.
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