The VICIOUS TV News Wrap 03.13.07

Posted by Steve Vicious on 03.13.2007

Rosie O’Donnell’s next target: “American Idol”. Star Jones, Jerry Springer and Marisa Tomie are all making 2007 comebacks? Kevin Federline wants a reality show? A “Law & Order” star thinking about running for President in 2008? And Marisa Tomei is your TV Babe of the Week! Find out why inside!



- Written in front of a not-so-live audience @ 411studios in California

Opening Segment - Introduction
Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Vicious TV News Wrap. I'm currently working on changing the TV News Wrap up a bit. Some segments may be dropped or reworked in order to keep me from feeling it has gone stale. In fact, I have been planning for a few months to debut a new look for the TV News Wrap, but I haven't come up with any GREAT ideas. But until then, we'll keep working with what we got. Roszilla strikes again this week, and that's today's top story...

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Top Story

Rosie versus "American Idol"
It looks like the Rosie Monster strikes again. This time, O'Donnell attacked "American Idol" because of what she believes is "racism" and "weightism" when it comes to controversial contestants Frenchie Davis and Anntonella Barba. Rosie believes in her sick and twisted mind that the producers of AI kept Barba on because of her attractive look. And I hate to say it, but I think she is practically right. Frenchie Davis was recently interviewed by FOX News Channel anchor Bill O'Reilly about the matter. O'Reilly asked Davis if she believes she was booted off from Idol due to the color of her skin. Davis responded with a somber "I don't know." But we have to keep things in perspective. Barba is obviously very attractive and Davis is a more "diverse" female.

Davis, of course, had an amazing voice and many believe, like I believe, that had she not been booted off of Idol she would have easily won the competition. On the other hand, Barba's singing leaves a lot to be desired. Hell, she was being rooted by the online website that encourages American Idol viewers to vote for the worst singer on the show. Their belief is that AI completely ignores all of the good singers during the audition process (not shown on air) and chooses the worst singers in order to exploit them. Basically, their belief is that reality shows are all about exploiting people at their worst moments in order to entertain us. And I cannot disagree with that. I mean, I'm hooked on shows like "Flavor of Love" and "I Love New York" because I want to see what stupid things these people will do.

Getting back to Rosie's comments about Idol, I think she does have a point. It kills me to have to agree with that bitch. However, I think she wrong about her accusations. The obvious way to disprove her claim is simple. The winner of American Idol 2 is Ruben Studdard, a very heavy black man. So I'm not sure why Rosie was bitching last week, but I guess it's just another reason why she's now turned herself into a media whore.

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The News Feed

"Law & Order" star going to the White House in '08?
Fred Thompson, currently starring on NBC's long-running "Law & Order," is tossing around the idea of running for the White House in 2008. Thompson, who was once a GOP Senator for the state of Tennessee, thinks Americans want something "different" than the usual wooden stiffs that run for President. The only problem that Thompson would possibly face in his bid for the GOP nomination in 2008 is the stiff competition he would deal with. You have two great GOP candidates in Arizona Senator John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Guilliani are the top candidates for the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination. Thompson would also have to deal with former Massachuesettes' Governor Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Ginrich. Nope, Thompson should definitely stick with acting.

Jerry Orbach Way
The widow of the late, great "Law & Order" star Jerry Orbach was recently rejected in her bid to get a street named after her late husband in New York City. Had the bid gone through, the great Jerry Orbach's legacy would have lived on in Jerry Orbach Way. Unfortunately, it did not happen and will most likely never occur. This is a terrible situation because Orbach should be remembered, but I'm not sure if he was important enough to garner the enormous honor of getting a street named after him in New York City.

The ½ Hour News Hour gets picked up
The Conservative political news satire on the ½ Hour News Hour has received an additional 13-episode order from the Fox News Channel. The news satire program, which is FOX's attempt to balance the fake news business against Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" has generated decent enough ratings on Sunday nights. FNC has been trying for months to get their weekend lineups to dominate the cable news world like their weekday lineup has done since 2002.

Law & Order: SVU's guest stars for season finale
While the season finale of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is a few months away, the show's producers have been signing up guest stars left and right recently. Aside from another guest appearance by rapper Ludacris, SVU's season finale will see former "View" co-host Star Jones-Reynolds and controversial CNN anchor Nancy Grace will also make cameos. Both guest appearances are shocking, but both Jones and Grace are experienced attorneys, so at least they should come off as believable. No word yet on whether Grace's questioning will lead to a death. Also, Star Jones-Reynolds will head over to work for CourtTV.

K-Fed wants a reality show
Britney Spears' future ex-husband, Kevin Federline, has been recently pitching an idea for his own reality program. The program will likely follow his attempt to become a rapper, although if the producers go in that direction the show will bomb since no one really bought his first CD. I mean, what else could make K-Fed interesting? Reality programs are all about making people look bad for our entertainment. No word yet on whether any network is interested in picking up the idea for production, but I wouldn't be surprised to see VH1 or MTV pick it up.

Springer replaces Regis
It looks like NBC's standards has decreased yet again as Jerry Springer has signed on to replace Regis Philbin as the host of the summer talent competition "America's Got Talent". Springer is, of course, best known for his infamous talk show "The Jerry Springer Show," which I didn't think was still on the air but it is. "America's Got Talent" is produced by "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell.