Nik Wallenda”s Chicago skyscraper tightrope walk airs live Sunday with a 10-second delay
Discovery Channel has contingency plans in place, and if anything goes wrong, “nothing that is insensitive or inappropriate” will appear on their TV or online networks,” Discovery execs tell the NY Times. The newspaper notes that “the high-wire act illustrates the extreme risks some television networks are taking to attract lucrative, live audiences in the age of fragmented, on-demand viewing. Beyond sports and major pop culture events, luring mass live viewership is a challenge. Discovery is finding that extreme stunts – some so daring that there is a chance a person could die – are the exception.”
NBC gets Uma Thurman to romance “Gossip Girl”s” Penn Badgley on “The Slap”
Thurman replaces Mary-Louise Parker on the NBC miniseries. Parker had to bow out as she recovers from pneumonia.
Billy Crystal dresses as “Breaking Bad”s” Walter White for Halloween
“Have a cookin” Halloween,” tweeted Crystal. PLUS: Sarah Michelle Gellar went as Princess Lea in honor of her “Star Wars Rebels” hubby, Neil Patrick Harris went Gotham, and one guy created a “Sharknado” costume.
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Watch “Grump Cat” voiced by Aubrey Plaza
Here”s the trailer for Lifetime”s “Grumpy Cat”s Worst Christmas Ever.”
“The Simpsons” boss would”ve omitted “Family Guy”s” rape joke in the crossover episode
Exec producer Al Jean says he actually talked to co-creator Jim Brooks about asking that “Family Guy” omit the line. “He said – and I respect this – that's what they do and we don't want to be the heavy hand that censors them. But personally I would've omitted it,” says Jean. PLUS: “The Simpsons” will try to backtrack from celebrities playing themselves.
Alyssa Milano: I would be willing to wrap up my “Mistresses” character if she could film in L.A.
“I don”t think coming back for one episode is really going to do that storyline much justice,” Milano tells EW. “Okay, so she”s going to see them, and then she”s going to go off and disappear? Like, she”s going to kill herself? I don”t see how one episode is going to wrap that up… It”s a tricky thing for them.”
“24” producers sells President of the United States drama “POTUS” to Fox
According to Variety, “POTUS” “follows a renegade American president who decides to forgo traditional political practices to play by his own rules.”
How Allison Williams is training to fly for “Peter Pan Live!”
“I started flying two months ago, two-and-a-half months ago,” she says. “I started doing it right when I found out I got the part. I was like, 'I have to start flying now, so I can figure out what needs to be stronger.' The core needs to be really strong, your legs need to be really strong, so I've just been working on kind of fine tuning all of that stuff.” PLUS: Brian Williams on how he”ll watch his daughter.
Which movie will get the TV treatment next?
How about “Soul Man”? Or “Joe Versus the Volcano”?
Celebrate Halloween with the “Real Housewives of Horror”
Check out Nerdist”s spoof of the Bravo franchise.
VH1 has slowly transformed into the new BET – without the burden
VH1 is now known more for “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” than its beginnings as a sort of MTV for old people, says Danielle C. Belton, who examines VH1″s raunchy and riotous reality shows.
“Jane the Virgin”s” secret to success: It has the best narration on TV
The “Latin Lover Narrator” has the cleverest voice-over since “Arrested Development,” says Sonia Saraiya, adding that he”s “so engaging and funny as to make all other narrators this season feel blah by comparison.” PLUS: 4 more reasons “Jane” has been so great.
“Black-ish” tells us more than any other show what it means to be black today
“For all the controversy surrounding the show's premise,” says Terron Moore, “'Black-ish' is doing everything right in its portrayal of Dre. Like most men, he's just a hardworking guy trying to provide for his family and relate to his kids as they grow into an ever-changing culture. These are huge objectives on their own, and the specific challenges of doing them while being black can appear in unexpected ways. Sometimes they're incredibly difficult. But other times, they're just damn funny.” PLUS: Pops is America”s new grandfather.
Here are 8 cable channels that didn”t last long
From “Cable Music Channel” to “Puppy Channel.”
“Scandal”s” Bellamy Young on her “Smelly Mellie” period: “They were calling it 'F–k it Mellie””
“To walk around the halls of the White House – they loom large with propriety and beauty – to walk around in Uggs and a robe and thumbing my nose at all of that was a joy,” she says. “It was a very powerful feeling.” PLUS: Shonda Rhimes is Mellie for Halloween.
These TV characters deserve to have good stories
From Saul on “Homeland” to Quinn on “Scandal” to April on “Grey”s Anatomy.”
Germany”s “The Bachelor” is set to film in Florida
Producers this week scouted an upscale community with a private boat ramp.
Amy Poehler isn”t scared of being “unlikable” in her “Yes Please” memoir
As Tara Ariano explains, “For a woman who has arguably one of the most likable public personas in the whole entertainment world, it”s refreshing to see her put some of her less ‘appealing' traits–the bouts of anxiety, or self-involvement, or occasional impatience–on display.” PLUS: Poehler”s book is a mess.
“Olive Kitteridge” perfectly portrays the life and thoughts of a negative person
“Olive Kitteridge” is, says Hank Stuever, “a miniseries for the rest of us – and it”s a gloriously thoughtful wallow in the subtle and sometimes even insecure ways that families and friends relate to one another. Frances McDormand, who was instrumental in bringing the novel to the small screen, stars as the title character and delivers a performance as good as or better than her finest work on the movie screen. Olive is a role she was meant to play – 'resting bitch face' and all.” PLUS: “Olive Kitteridge” will leave you wanting more, it”s the deepest, richest and most daring miniseries on American TV since “Mildred Pierce,” Frances McDormand made the role her own, McDormand talks “Kitteridge,” and did we need another HBO project about middle-aged white people navigating a troubled marriage?