I have nothing against, Katharine McPhee. She is pretty, talented, and very charming. Here is the thing, she is also very dull on screen.

She simply doesn’t pop, there’s no fire, no passion, no thing. She is just as pretty and talented as that sweet girl who goes to your church, or lives in your neighborhood that a really sweet voice.

For a show that advertises in the commercial , Debra Messing saying “she just glows”, it just doesn’t seem like any of the face time Katharine is given adds up to anything more than ‘average’ to ‘okay’. Where is this supposed glow? Does Katharine McPhee make you feel like you can soar when you hear her sing like Christina Aguilera, or Jennifer Hudson? Are her dance moves so astounding that you simply cannot take your eyes off her?

No, that is not gonna happen, sorry guys, but they should have casted someone with more punch, who had that factor “X”, that undeniable thing that easily shows the audience watching there is no question your a star and stand apart from all others.

Maybe once the show premieres I will change my mind, and if I do I will own up to it. But I predict a painfully short run of Smash, unless they immediately switch lead actresses. Just my opinion, but something about her just isn’t gonna sell.  The tag line “Stars aren’t born, their made ” would be a pretty honest way to describe this mess.

Watch the full pilot episode for Smash and tell me what you think?

No related posts.

CNN weekend anchor T. J. Holmes is leaving the cable channel at the end of the year, TVNewser has confirmed. Richard Prince  first reported the move in his daily media column.

Holmes began his career as a producer for KSNF in Joplin, Missouri, and would go on to work at local stations in Little Rock, Arkansas and San Jose, California before joining CNN in 2006.

Holmes’ destination is unclear, though one CNN staffer says he already has another gig lined up. In a memo to staffers this afternoon. CNN director of programming Janelle Rodriguez says Holmes is leaving “to pursue other opportunities.”

 

T. J. Holmes is headed towards BET.

 

T.J. Holmes, the affable CNN weekend anchor who told colleagues on Sunday he was leaving the network at the end of the year, is heading for Black Entertainment Television, according to a source familiar with Holmes’ situation.

BET plans to build a show around Holmes, 34, the source said. Holmes was not available for comment.

BET made the announcement official later Wednesday.

BET Networks has inked a multi-platform talent agreement with award-winning journalist and television personality T. J. Holmes, as announced Wednesday,” it said. “The deal with Holmes includes a new show on BET as well as content on BET.com in which he can bring his many talents to some of what BET says it regards as ‘the most important and interesting stories’ for the BET audience.

” ‘We are simply ecstatic to have T.J. Holmes coming to our fold. He’s been an outstanding news anchor and we look forward to working with him in a variety of new ways on BET,’ said Stephen G. Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials at BET Networks. ‘It’s now upon us to develop vehicles that capture his intelligence, curiosity about the world, warmth, humor and compassion. It’s a challenge that we are happy to have.’ “

Related posts:

1. T. J. Holmes

Ryan O’Neal was set to join the cast, but his publicist said the actor had not yet fully recovered from recent knee-replacement surgery.

The new cast members will perform their first dance routines on the season premiere on Sept. 19. The first celebrity contestant will be eliminated on Sept. 20.

No related posts.

“Red Hook High” may be the antidote to all that. Instead of stick-thin blondes toting $3,500 Hermes bags, there are black boys toting bags of drugs. Instead of postcard-perfect mansions and cityscapes, there are cramped apartments and construction zones. Part drama, part documentary, “Red Hook High,” a new pilot that premiered at the New York Television Festival (NYTVF) this week, shows a high school experience few network and cable series touch on, one that unfolds in a gritty Brooklyn community among teens with the odds stacked against them. Forget prom queens and valedictorians. “Red Hook High’s” stars include a budding drug dealer, an emerging gay crusader and a possibly pregnant teen.

“It’s the opposite of ‘Gossip Girl,’” said director Trac Minh Vu. “It’s not a glossy Hollywood fashion show. There are probably people who actually live lives like what is portrayed on ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘The OC.’ But they’re fantasy shows. They’re about showcasing high fashion and the small population of people who can live like that.”

“But my own high school experience is not at all reflected in the current crop of teen dramas,” he continued. “Part of this is trying to show that the teen experience is far wider than what’s portrayed on TV, especially for kids of color.” Vu came to the United State from Vietnam at age 2. By day, he’s a video producer for an investment bank. Nights and weekends, he works on independent projects: Last year, his teen drama about the Upper East Side’s wannabe Ivy Leaguers, “Dear Harvard,” picked up three major awards from the NYTVF, which showcases independent pilots (those not backed by an established studio).

This year, Vu channeled his experience as a nonwhite student in an Oregon Catholic school, his time working as a teaching artist at South Brooklyn Community High Schoo and his affinity for classic coming-of-age dramas like “My So Called Life,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “Felicity,” into a pilot portraying teen life on the other side of the East River.

Beyond a basic story outline, Vu left the dialogue and development of “Red Hook High” up to his actors, students from Brooklyn high schools with an interest in performing arts. They rehearsed over the course of seven weeks and shot the pilot in four days, on a sub-$20,000 budget financed out of Vu’s pocket, pennies compared to the average $3 million budget networks allot for pilot production. For many of the stars, their story lines mirrored their real-life drama.

“They told us to write down what kind of characters we wanted to be. I said, I just want to be gay because it’s just going to be like, stupid if I’m trying to be straight,” said Michael Maldonado, who’s openly gay and plays a teen coming to terms with his homosexuality.

Read The Entire Story

No related posts.