Michael Jackson is 50 today! It's weird because you usually don't stop to think about how old the King of Pop is, but as it turns out the dude's ancient. Must be hard to tell under that mask face he has on.
In celebration of this glorious event, Good Morning America's Chris Connelly interviewed MJ (over the phone of course) about growing old. It's kind of a sad interview, doubly so since Connelly seems completely baffled by how weird Jackson is. You would think GMA would have the sense to know that wasn't going to be the greatest celebrity profile of all time, seeing as Michael Jackson is a nut-job and notoriously cagey around the press.
But just in case the report hadn't dampened your Labor Day enthusiasm already and instilled in you a fear of death and aging, there are is the strange melancholy of Jackson's voice itself, which Chris likens to "an old radio station that fades in and out when you're driving somewhere." Everyone loves it when it's John Updike Day at ABC.
The media circus has begun! Good Morning America today featured some People magazine pictures of trans man Thomas Beatie and his baby girl, Susan Juliette.
Miley Cyrus‘ Good Morning America performance today in Bryant Park further cemented the theory that she is a miniature Britney Spears in the making. The choreographed dance moves, the giggly interviews — she’s a pro at the ripe age of 15, which means she’s due for a rehab stint within the next three years.
As Christopher Ciccone's publicity tour hits full stride this week — the book drops today — you've got the two-part Good Morning America interview, where he spends some time defending his sister's extramarital reputation, to concern yourself with. But there are two places where you might not hear about his scandalous accusations about husband Guy Ritchie's homophobia and his sister's obsession with Kabbalah.
We're hearing reports that neither Entertainment Tonight nor The Insider, both produced by CBS Television Studios, will be airing specials about Ciconne.
How come? Because Madonna's rep had them killed. CONTINUED »
As of last week, NBC's Today scored its 655th consecutive week winning the ratings game, putting it in the top spot for 12 straight years and counting. "Since the start of the year Today is up about 3 percent, leading Good Morning America, which is down 6 percent, by about 1.2 million viewers a week." And in case you weren't wondering: "The Early Show on CBS trails far behind the other two programs." [NYT]
Is Good Morning America going easy on its celebrity guests? The morning shows have always been the place for creampuff interviews where talent can plug their latest TV and film projects while their publicists stand by ready to pull rank if an anchor so much dares as violate their "Do Not Ask About X" agreement. But perhaps ABC's morning show is all too eager to please A-list (and below) stars. CONTINUED »
That somebody would select James Frey's new book Bright Shiny Morning as a must-read this summer shouldn't be all that surprising — the reviews have been generally positive. That the somebody would be Gayle King, special friend to Oprah, is. When Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer asked her to recommend some sunshine-y reading material, King plugged two books: Scott McClellan's What Happened, and Frey's Morning, adding that she even liked A Million Little Pieces.
Frey spectators would be right to question King's motives.
It's almost impossible she would recommend the scandal-plagued author without first consulting Oprah; even more likely, King was acting as Oprah's agent, following direct orders to bring some appeasement, now that the Frey storyline – a demarcation in book publishing lore – has reversed itself to a degree, painting Oprah as the villain, and Frey as a complicit bystander.
This was not a casual, throwaway recommendation. Almost certainly, it was a calculated move from Oprah's camp to smooth some stones.
Is Good Morning America exec producer Tom Cibrowski, left, being shown the door? That's what what inbox insider claims. If our source is right, Cibrowski is meeting with ABC's top execs next week, before his contract is up, to see what can be done about his "his temper" which was "gotten so bad that the nastiness is starting to show on the air," which we already chronicled here.
Homosexual Bravo programming chief Andy Cohen, who blogs gay things on homosexual website BravoTV.com, outs Good Morning America weatherman and homosexual Sam Champion while writing about his uppity gay Hamptons weekend. [Gawker]
Might Good Morning America exec producer (and former Early Show producer) Tom Cibrowski – whose name we heard yesterday as one being floated around to take over The Early Show – not be as terrible a guy we said he was? One source told us Cibrowski, seen here with none other than Ben Sherwood, wasn't having his contract renewed when it's up this summer, because it might have something to do with his temper.
But someone has come to his defense! CONTINUED »
Somebody must have after this morning's massive disaster that was Mariah Carey's performance.
You know how Ashlee Simpson bungled her Saturday Night Live performance, with the sound engineer running the wrong background vocal?
On GMA, the correct Mariah vocal got played, but at the wrong time. And more than once. Ever the professional, in the middle of (actual) singing, she ad-libbed, "Stop singing my part now, baby." Brilliant.
Clip below. They'll need it as evidence. CONTINUED »
"I've taken my cue from people here and from viewers, especially [cancer] survivors . . . who said, 'When it's time to literally flip your wig, you'll know,' " Roberts said. "I am not my hair," she said, quoting from the song by India.Arie. "I am the soul that lies within and that's it - no more wig. That's it." Roberts will auction her wig to raise money for a charity that helps "those who don't have insurance and can't afford this." [NYP]
Some official movement on The Early Show front: Zev Shalev joins the show today as senior producer. Meanwhile, no word yet on the fate of executive producer hopeful Ben Sherwood (pictured), who, we're told, resigned from his post at Good Morning America before he could be fired, leaving a tidy severance package on the table to avoid industry ridicule.
Why the ouster? Not only were ratings an issue, but apparently some folks had problems with his nepotism. Rumor has it Sherwood secured on-air promotion for porn doc Inside Deep Throat, which just happened to produced by wife Karen Kehela's Imagine Entertainment, the studio founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
Meanwhile, reports a spy, Sherwood dined at Tribeca's Blaue Gans over the weekend with a large group when, supposedly, a former GMA staffer accosted him in front of his party and "gave Ben quite a piece of his mind." And what's this about the incriminating emails of Ben's that the employee saved?
In ditching the Today show at the last minute, and opting for ABC's Good Morning America, Mariah Carey has NBC execs pissed — except, as manager Benny Medina puts it, he never guaranteed the peacock network his client. The two parties were negotiating to have Carey perform as part of concert series, but Medina wanted all-out promotion for Carey, which meant a guest starring role on My Name Is Earl and promotion of her fragrance on Today. They agreed, but when her album needed retooling, NBC's promotion was pushed back. Now she's bailed on the gig altogether, but Medina hopes reneging on his verbal arrangement doesn't make Today "feel disrespected by me trying to do right by my client." No hard feelings, right kids?
On today's Good Morning America, Terry Moran's one-on-one with Barack Obama (actually a Nightline piece) was teased with the tagline "Frontrunner faces tough questions." Sure, he did have to address (at 2:15) his involvement with the shady Tony Rezko, but he also got plenty of lobs: At 1:26, "What's the one thing in your life that you think has prepared you best for that moment?"; and, at 4:00, "Is it possible [supporters' enthusiasm] could evaporate?"
Oooh, someone's playing hardball!
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