For a long time, we had trouble distinguishing between Forbes and Fortune. They both start with “For,” both cover business and are both kind of boring.
But over time, we learned that Forbes is the one that puts out web hit generating lists and Fortune is the other one. Forbes love of lists has extended to a partnership with E!. Forbes 20 Richest Women in Entertainment wasn’t exactly the Frontline quality TV journalism.
If Forbes wants to let E! siphon off its gravitas, so be it. Until now.
Forbes put New York as the fourth most miserable American city to live in. Have their editors even visited the rest of the country? CONTINUED »
The exiting Us Weekly veteran is "in final negotiations with E! with Ted [Harbert, the network president] who loves him and Ryan Seacrest pushed to get him this job," says the inbox. "Ryan has made it easy for his friend to get a job there. No official announcement yet but he is already working stories for them. He's very excited about his new role thanks to the one friend he has left in Hollywood. With Ryan's help he is negotiating for a big role and the top guns at E! love Ryan and love Ken."
The much-talked about – as in, we've been talking about them much – rumors of AMI editorial director Bonnie Fuller meeting with TV folks and taking meetings in LA are once again causing a stir among the top tabloid set.
We're told that, among other outlets, she's met with the E! channel. Except rather than focus on her own projects – such as a reality show about her family or something that her NYU film student son would spearhead (?) – the latest gossip suggests she's simply trying to raise her profile among David Pecker's set before Ron Burkle's takeover of the company.
She's been working with a "TV trainer" to help avoid her oft-mocked awkward presence on screen. "Apparently she's much better on camera now as a result," says a source.
Even more evidence of a new Bonnie? She's been meeting with Star's reporters ("something she hadn't done for a long while until recently") and even calling her own contacts to report stories, which we've already seen her do once.
Congratulations, Rumer Willis. The spawn of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis will be Miss Golden Globe 2008.
While it might not seem like a big deal that Rumer Willis will be handing “you’re probably going to win the Oscar” awards, E! insists that it is. And if E! doesn’t know about these things, who would?
Having appeared a few times on Emmy caliber shows like 25 Celebrity Near Death Experiences on E! – where we practice how to say Jason Priestley "was nearly torn to shreds and burnt alive" gingerly – we've met the fine folks who produce these shows. We even have an intimate relationship with the guy who reaches under our shirt to attach the mic and "accidentally" brushes up against our nipples.
These fine folks are the best in the business. Or at least deserving of our sympathy: None of them receive health insurance from E!
Until now! After meeting with the Producers Guild of America over concerns that freelancers might fall into one of Hillary Clinton's health care pie charts, the network decided to offer health benefits to freelance producers who clock 200 consecutive days of work, as well as make some 100 associate producers eligible for overtime.
Obvs, this isn't going to be good for profit margins. Nor will it be good for the inescapable negotiations with writers' guilds, who want their reality TV members to receive the benefits that go along with constructing a story-line out of boring pretty people.
Who knew that moments after posting bail O.J. Simpson would be stalked by a crazed E! online reporter seeking to chronicle EVERY SINGLE BORING DETAIL of his four hour and 20 minute plane ride (US Airways Flight 888!) from Las Vegas to Fort Lauderdale, FL.? According E!'s breaking news report:
O.J. purchased a $3 snack pack for himself (the pack included chips, salsa, fruit bar, chocolate bar, cheese and breadsticks) and a $5 chicken caesar sandwich for his girlfriend and paid for the meal with a $50 bill. O.J. drank Coca-Cola and ice water while in flight, while Christie drank a small $5 bottle of red wine.
Worse still? He actually sat in coach, where he reportedly fit in nicely with all the other homicidal maniacs.
Fox and E! don’t have a legal leg to stand on for censoring Sally Fields and Kathy Griffin. Goddamn repression. [Queerty]
NBC may have paid $1 million for Paris Hilton's interview – outbidding ABC by some $900k – but what did Ryan Seacrest and E! have to pay for access?
Nothing. CONTINUED »
Steve Kmetko is leaving the confines of E! for the more riveting realm of … academia. The openly gay (because that's always important to mention!) news anchor has been with the network for something like a decade, where he came over after an 11-year stint at KCBS in Los Angeles. Now he's taken up an invitation from alma mater Columbia College in Chicago to begin teaching in the school's television department.
Because when you try and fail to hit on Mark Malkin, the only logical recourse is to hit up the new batch of frosh.
Exclusive
In our never-ending mission to chronicle the philandering of top level executives at media companies, we're pleased to bring you word that E! network president Ted Harbert is said to be sleeping with Chelsea Handler, the host of The Chelsea Handler Show, which appears on – you guessed it – the E! channel.
But don't get too excited: It's not like Harbert is cheating on his wife of nearly 30 years or anything. Well, technically he is, but they're separated and on their way to a finalized divorce in the coming months. But it's certainly worth noting that it was Harbert who personally greenlighted Handler's show, which, ironies of ironies, carries the tagline "From one-night stands to kinky classrooms to a spa day with Gary Coleman, this broad's not afraid to get to the bottom of things."
And here you thought Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng owned the media-chieftan-sleeping-with-talent scandal.
Turns out running 425 profiles of Hollywood types gets a little old after a while. Sure, E! is still producing new episodes of True Hollywood Story, but now the network is kicking off a sister show called Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which will chronicle the life of a rising star who got knocked off the path to fame for one reason or another.
Among the series' subjects are Sean Penn's younger brother Chris, who died at 40 after fighting drug and alcohol addiction; former TV news anchor Christine Chubbuck, who shot herself in the head on live TV; and former Judging Amy actress Tara Correa-McMullen, who was shot and killed in a drive-by, gang-related shooting.
That's right, kids. On this TV show, you need to die before you can relive your fame.
Today marks a new day for E! Online, the website for the television network grappling to beat VH1 at its own Best Week I Love Flavor game. The website's new design – looking strikingly similar to the New York Post's makeover – however, is more than just a playground for Flash animation and Top 10 lists: It's also the new home of Marc Malkin, the ex-Insider gossip (and marathon runner), whose Planet Gossip column kicks off in full this morning. Lindsay recovers her BlackBerry! Brooke Hogan's publicist gets her press! And, of course, party reports!
Planet Gossip [E! Online]
It's going to weird to say Marc Malkin's name without saying "The Insider's" before it … but we guess we're going to have to get used to it.
The longtime gossip vet is packing up his bags and moving to his new home at E!, where he will write daily column for E! Online, co-host an online gossip show, and continue to reign on-air at E! News, The Daily 10, and any number of shows on E! and Style.
A veteran entertainment reporter, Malkin is widely recognized as the journalist who first broke the news of Christie Brinkley's recent marital break-up, the second pregnancies of both Gwyneth Paltrow and Brooke Shields, and Lindsay Lohan's recent controversial hospital visit, among many others.
Hollywood better watch out. Actually, we hear Ryan Seacrest was last seen filing his nails into really, really, sharp points.
E!'s zany Saturday afternoon staple, The Soup, hosted by the funny 'cuz he's not Joel McHale, is taking this side dish to the next level.
For those of you who just feel like blogs require too much reading, this new "online channel" based on The Soup's popular Cybersmack segment, will now be offered online in all its quickie glory. Pairing with YouTube, the "goofy amateur videos satirizing pop culture" hit the Internet yesterday, through E!'s broadband video platform, The Vine @E! Online.
The best part? E! actually wants to give you money.
To promote Cybersmack, E! has partnered with the increasingly popular user-submitted video site YouTube.com to launch consumer sweepstakes inviting fans to submit potential clips for the channel, with the winner receiving $25,000. As part of the deal, YouTube will both feature Cybersmack clips on its home page as well as drive users to The Vine platform.
25,000 smackers? We bet Joel is entering his submission right now.
E!'s The Soup Extends to Web [Mike Shields, Mediaweek]
$21 million dollars might seem like a crap load of money to be paid for standing there and asking celebrities a bunch of pre-programmed questions. But if anyone deserves it, it's totally Ryan Seacrest.
His new contract with the E! Network will span three years, and will make Seacrest the executive producer of the network's Live from the Red Carpet awards show, including the Jan. 16 Golden Globes. Seacrest will also be the managing editor of E! News, and will produce and host celebrity interview specials. Nope, not done yet.
In March he will start as E! News's lead anchor, and he may even fill in for Larry King once in a while — more your tie is bigger than my tie convos TK.
E! is also priming him to become the permanent host of New Year's Rockin' Eve. (It's pretty obvious Dick Clark won't be able to keep this up for very long.)
Well, we're pretty exhausted (not to mention jealous), but bet your bottom dollar we'll take Seacrest over Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff any day. Yep, because we're bloggers.
Editorial Director
