Day: July 8, 2010

Craig Kilborn left his CBS late-night talker, The Late Late Show, in August 2004 in what he called an "early retirement." But Kilborn — much like the athletes he covered in his years as an ESPN sportscaster, and played against in basketball when he was a student — has a different definition of retirement. So now there is his comeback.  Kilborn is in his second week of a short summer tryout on several FOX affiliates with The Kilborn File. It airs at 7 p.m. weekdays here in NYC. I've watched most of the episodes, and I've yet to figure out why he came back, exactly. Hence the headline. It seems like a warmed-over version of his previous Late Late Show and even his version of The Daily Show at Comedy Central. The set certainly evokes the aesthetics of the former, and his "5 Questions" is a holdover from both the former and the latter. He has a sidekick, Christine Lakin, who sits close to the desk but only gets a few lines each episode, and her role is largely undefined. He has taken a page out of other recent talkers (Chelsea Lately, Joy Behar, Bill Maher) with his "Power Panel" segment, essentially bringing in two comedians to deliver a couple of zingers on topical pop-culture headlines. You can look at clips on YouTube of The Kilborn File. When you...

The 2010 Primetime Emmy Award nominations were announced on live TV (and also Ustream, because it's 2010 now, so even the TV people recognize that people are watching their TV online) this morning. Nomination announcer Sofia Vergara did get a nod herself in the supporting actress category for her work on ABC's Modern Family (itself a big winner already in its rookie season), while her fellow announcer Joel McHale did not get recognized for his work on NBC's Community (which got snubbed outright in its rookie season; really?!?). Winners will be announced on NBC live in all American time zones on Aug. 29, 2010. Outstanding Comedy Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie, The Office, 30 Rock. Snubs: Parks and Recreation, which was by far the star of the NBC Thursday comedy block; The Big Bang Theory, which is the CBS comedy Americans have warmed up to, and critics also like; also mildly surprised, solely based on how the Emmys work, that they didn't recognize Party Down, because usually they recognize a show that critics love but got cancelled due to ratings. Speaking of which, Chuck fans, anyone? That show must still be a guilty pleasure. Notes: Curb benefitted from the Seinfeld "reunion," don't you think? I guess this means I need to watch Nurse Jackie??? At least we didn't see a nom here for Entourage, Two...