The Makeover with Nate

First Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, Dr. Oz and now Nate...

Finally Oprah’s resident makeover guy, Nate Berkus (Seen in photo on right), is getting his own show. Inventively titled, “The Nate Berkus Show” it will be of course, be produced by Oprah’s Harpo Productions, and will finally be revealed on the airwaves this fall (Final agreement on the deal was the result of Harpo spending all night negotiating with NBC Universal and Sony Television).

Berkus was first discovered after doing interior design work for Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Barneys New York, the W Hotels (My favorite) and singer/songwriter, Billy Joel. Most recently, Nate has been featured on the “Oprah” show providing room makeovers and interior design for viewers. Ah, it certainly pays to be liked by Oprah. (Photo/ Scott Wintrow for Getty Images)

TV In Review

Bienvenido!

The mid-week is upon us and that always calls for celebration.

Indeed, there were a number of events that had transpired over the past two weeks on the small tube.

Last week we discussed the Jon Stewart (Daily Show, Comedy Central) 'Beat Down' of Jim Cramer (Mad Money, CNBC) - Thank you for your generous comments - Glad you enjoyed my 'Rundown' of the 'Beat Down'.

Alas, there are a few other items that you may have seen worthy of today's visit:

1. Oprah: Oprah decided to take on the subject of Domestic Violence on her daytime talker with the help of Tyra Banks.

Although Oprah had decided to tackle the issue, as a result of recent Celebrity events, the message was timely and well received. Here is the best part, when Oprah has an opinion - it becomes a movement! Press On! Now about that Network...

2. Kings (NBC): A new night-time dramatic series called Kings premiered on NBC; an unusual choice before Don Trump's Celebrity Apprentice.

The first week debuted to less than stellar numbers, however is managing to rebound with higher ratings this past Sunday - proving once again there could be a renewed interest in night-time Drama and that is certainly great news for those of us who like to write for television!

3. Project Runway: Despite popular inquiry, Project Runway still remains in the limbo of legal wrangling.

The always charming star of the show, Heidi Klum, has been out and about encouraging fans to protest outside of the home of Harvey Weinstein (The EP and Creator of the show). Heidi is an amazing person, but I just do not want to encourage such behavior for a number of reasons I am sure you could imagine.

Of course, I understand the concerns of the fans and furthermore encourage support. This matter is well beyond any fan protest as it is a matter of legalities and rights - many cases in this town have been won and lost over the issue of contracts...To clarify further, there is not anything that can be done by outside forces to resolve these types of perilous matters as it is between the parties and their legal teams involved.

Perhaps I am saying way too much, but I am pulling favorites for Harvey and Lifetime - Now, let's get this show on the road!

4. ER: Did you see George Clooney return in the reunion? Neither did I...Well, I really like George (He is my Queen), but more importantly, I am impressed the show has managed a solid following over the years.

The good news is that the show should have an equally impressive life support in syndication on your local station.

5. ANTM: Model melee - You may have seen or heard about the literal Mob Scene that ensued at a recent casting call for America's Next Top Model. Who knew there so many aspiring models and just as the modeling industry, the ruckus almost seems un-natural (?).

Again, good news is that none of the aspiring were actually injured during the mosh and Tyra is already busy scheduling another call to the masses.

Yikes, I do hope there will be Officers clad in full Riot Gear and Body Armour also in attendance to manage this group of unruly beauties - these events are out of control. You just can't have hair, make-up and heels go to waste...

Never to miss an opportunity to speculate, my guess is surely, Ms. B will have a number of shows on her daytime talker as well about the dangers of mass model casting calls - I think we have another Daytime Emmy Award on our hands!

Talk Soon...

*All of the above photo images are the properties of their respective owners.

Tom Cruise Control?

Greetings Friends!

It is the start of the weekend and another busy week has just passed - can there ever be a week without something happening?

Just in case you missed the massive, saturating media coverage here is a recap of the major events (Again, related to television - not so much Celebrity Gossip, Politics, and whatever your topic of choice).

The Cruise In Control...Let The Brainwashing Begin?
Tom Cruise (Thomas Mapother IV) appeared in a two-part series on Oprah - feedback has been largely positive and we are now back on track with celebrity PR rehabilitation; All is right with the world again.

I have yet to view the ratings report, however it is safe to presume that both episodes (Very much hyped and over-speculated by the media) were more than likely the highest rated daytime programs of this past week.

Admittedly, in the office we did watch the show (We watch so very few programs in actual real-time thanks to TIVO) and aside from the Oprah episode with the cute, adorable little Jonas Brothers, the episode with Tom Cruise was the second-highest rated daytime show viewed here in the office - we all unanimously agree.

The first hour (Oprah at Tom's house 'Retreat' in Telluride), we were G-L-U-E-D to the television - the interview appeared candid, slightly guarded and a little remorseful.... Yes, 'Things could have been handled differently' was the conveyed theme of the first hour.

But Wait...There's More...
The second hour on Monday was Tom's 25 year retrospective and we were largely dis-interested as it played out more like an elaborate commercial promotion to go out and purchase Tom Cruise movies on DVD. Complete with free clips, customer (I mean 'Friend') testimonials, and sales talk - all we needed was an 800 order number and a few free bonus gifts for the first 100 callers.

Ah, you must largely acknowledge the similarities between Oprah's show and HSN (Home Shopping Network)- they both sell products or in Oprah's case: People as well; her show is just a differently disguised form of direct marketing. Get on Oprah's show and you have instant profits.

Attention Oprah Shoppers
In fact, when Oprah proclaimed that she was going to own a television network (As she was once a co-owner of the Oxygen Network) - I counter suggested that her new network should be a SHOPPING NETWORK, due to the reason that she is always pitching someone (Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray, Nate Berkus) or product (A book, a movie, cars) or a concept (Living well) on her show to an audience of predominantly savvy female 'Wonderwomen' - myself included within this group - an advertisers dream audience! Could you imagine if Oprah had her own TV Shopping Network - she just does not hear my masterful ground-breaking genius!

My Personal Tom Cruise
Back to our subject, I have never personally met Tom Cruise (ol' TC), but I have a close friend who looks just like him. The funny thing (I may have mentioned before) is that people (Mostly female) often mistake him for Tom and will often laugh, cry and scream...

However, I am largely puzzled and unclear as to the reason why - to me my friend closely resembles Tom, but he is NOT Tom. Besides if he were Tom Cruise, would one want to act in such a frenetic and hysterical manner when meeting him for the first time? Perhaps I am underestimating the power of what it is like to be a fan of a public figure.

The White Couch Cleaned
Basically, TC stated that he was not remorseful about jumping on O's couch, during the episode three years prior, as it was an expression. Quite frankly, I am one of the few who believed that all of the couch jumping was not really THAT big of a deal - We have all been witness to persons in love do far more unusual things. This was a rare instance of media hyperbole more than anything.

Most important, if I were Oprah, I would have been more annoyed - do you realize how difficult it is to keep a white couch clean? The last thing you would want is someone's dirty shoes all over your nice pristine furniture.

Mission Impossible 4.
With all of the repentance in the works - formal apologies were never aired, however Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone announced the welcoming of a possible Mission Impossible 4.

Personally, I rather enjoyed the Mission Impossible franchise. The last MI installment provided a more insightful, sensitive and more relatable Ethan Hunt and Phillip Seymour Hoffman was brilliant! However, MI 2 had the best action sequences. I would love to see a combination of both - dangerous action sequences combined with sensitive marital commitment for the next installment - This would clobber the James Bond franchise and give it a run for the money!

Oh, and Matt, Matt, Matt - something tells me you are next! Let the Cruise kiss and make-up continue...


*The photos above are the property of Harpo Productions.