Oprah: Behind the Scenes of Final Shows

Yours truly was lucky enough to be invited to the taping of two of Oprah’s last shows. (The final episode was taped yesterday and airs today.) Thanks to Dove, I was able to take part in history making tv.

I sat in the audience that was at least 20,000 strong at Chicago’s United Center. Oprah’s Surprise Spectacular was injected with a slew of celebrity pals that all droned on about how fabulous O is and how they have touched her life.

Where else can you see Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Dakota Fanning, Patti LaBelle, Beyonce, Katie Holmes, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Aretha Franklin, Maya Angelou, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Maria Shriver and Alicia Keys all in one place?

Thing honest thing is…this was a once in a lifetime thing. Some people would trade an organ for tickets to two of the final episodes Oprah that started as a talk show and grew into an empire.

As for the real factor…here is my honest view of what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling.

[Read more...]

Conan O’Brien Back On TBS Tonight!

It’s been 10 long months but finally Conan O’Brien is back!! He will debut is his new show ‘Conan‘ on TBS tonight at 11pm. What can we expect? (To catch you up — Conan has been off the air since January, when NBC canceled Jay Leno’s prime-time hour after the ratings went south. NBC bought out O’Brien and his team for around $40 million to clear the way for Leno to reclaim the position as ‘The Tonight Show‘ host. It was the same position handed off to O’Brien last year.)

Tonight, Conan will debut with sidekick Andy Richter making a comeback along with a new band leader Jimmy Vivino. Guest on Conan will include Seth Rogen, ‘Glee’ star Lea Michele as well as a performance by Jack White. Week 1 guests include Tom Hanks and Jack McBrayer on Tuesday, Jon Hamm on Wednesday and Michael Cera on Thursday.

Per Showbiz Spy:

“I want to talk to people who are good at a craft, people who work with their hands. We’re going to talk to a lot of upholsterers. And we may have financial penalties. If Jim Carrey or Tom Hanks accidentally mentions his project, I think the viewer should be compensated in some way. That would be a way to turn this economy around.”

Should be a good one! Will you be tuning in?

Click here to see who is endorsing credit cards for kids!

[Keep Clicking Thumbnails for a Larger Image]

Images Via: WENN.com

Tom Cruise is Boring and ‘Weird’ About Gays

Tom Cruise

Balki Bartokomous is talking smack y’all! I love waking up in the mornings and finding this in my mail box.

Bronson Pinchot played Barry alongside Tom Cruise in “Risky Business” and is spilling the details on how awful it was to work with Tom. It was his first film and he thought the star was such a “bore” that the movie would bomb.

“We didn’t know it was going to be a big hit. We thought Tom [Cruise] was the biggest bore on the face of the Earth. He was tense and made constant, constant unrelated homophobic comments, like, “You want some ice cream, in case there are no gay people there?” I mean, his lingo was larded with the most… There was no basis for it. It was like, “It’s a nice day, I’m glad there are no gay people standing here.” Very, very strange.”

Cruise wasn’t the only one Bronson squealed on. He constantly played a side not in films with several other well known actors.

Tom Hanks – “He is a wonderful and genuine and lovely and down-to-earth person. I don’t know how he does that.”

Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop) – “Eddie was going through his period at the time of doing movies that were not hits, and he was very low-spirited, low-energy. I said to him, “All anyone ever wants to know when they meet me is what you’re like.” And he said, “I bet they don’t ask that anymore.” And then when we did a scene, we were shooting, and he was so low-energy that John Landis sent him upstairs and said, “Just rest, Eddie, and I’ll do the scene with Bronson.” So whenever you see my face in the movie, I’m not really talking to Eddie, I’m talking to John Landis.”

Denzel Washington (Bruno) – “That was a low point, because Denzel Washington was behind the incredibly cowardly bullshit of “This is my character, not me.” He was really abusive to me and everybody on that movie, and his official explanation was that his character didn’t like me, but it was a dreadful experience.”

Bette Midler (First Wives Club) – Bette Midler was such a bitch to Hugh Wilson (director). While he was directing, she would be rolling her eyes, pantomiming with her favorite actors, and she made it very difficult. And he was at his wit’s end. He was actually a very nice man, but she was very unkind to him on that movie.

How I miss the good ol’ days tv in which John Tesh would cry silent tears on Entertainment Tonight while looking jealous as they did the dance of joy.