George Lopez brings a glitzy street party to late night talk on TBS

If Wanda Sykes' new show was a funky, televised sit-down with a few friends, comic George Lopez went the other direction for his late night talk show -- bringing a giant-sized, raucous street party on a stage outfitted like a neon-trimmed boulevard, backed by some of the biggest names in show business.

Promising to bring change to late night, Lopez offered a debut show Monday filled with energy and gentle jokes about race and culture (one segment asked audience members to guess if people off the street fit certain stereotypes, including asking if an Asian man was, um, well endowed).

It was a bit of a change -- the only white performer to appear on Monday's show was comic Ellen DeGeneres, who made a surprise appearance in pajamas and slippers to greet the crowd -- with jello shots.

Months before the show's debut, Lopez cited long-gone talk host Arsenio Hall as his inspiration. Looking at Monday's show, you could see the influence -- as Lopez took Hall's vision of a funky good time and blew it up to enormous proportions, filling his studio with hundreds of guests who seemed to remain standing for most of the show.

Lopez's monologue felt like a snippet pulled straight from his standup act, with references to his tough mother and love life. A joke about shirtless rapper 50 Cent's new cologne was the most topical reference, with the comic cracking: "I hear it smells like illegitimate children and gunpowder."

Otherwise, Lopez offered a standard, if entertaining hour, with sit-down interviews featuring longtime showbiz buddies such as Eva Longoria Parker (he pulled out a stripper pole for her to strut on, referencing a bet they made when she appeared on one of his test shows) and Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant. But the chats weren't about much, beyond all the cool events Parker and Lopez visit together and how cool Bryant was for even deigning to stop by.

The evening's standout may have been a performance by rock guitar legend Carlos Santana, who offered blistering versions of Oye Como Va and Marvin Gaye's The World is Rated X,  backed by Lopez's band, which features several members from Michael Jackson's backup band in the film This Is It. 

It's a formula nearly old as TV itself, tweaked to serve Lopez's animated, multicultural style.

But if a successful talk show is a relentless marathon, this was a good first step, serving notice that a new voice had come to late night -- even if he was just reiterating what's been said before with a different flair.

Check my words of wisdom on the issue, tapped by National Public Radio:

St. Pete Times staffers perform in Battle of the Media Bands tonight in Tampa

When I first started organizing the area's Battle of the Media Bands years ago, I turned a party organized once as a fond farewell for a local journalist/musician into a fundraiser allowing all us weekend warriors to strut our stuff.

Since then, we've held the BOMB at just about every cool venue in Tampa -- including the long-gone Frankie's Patio, the Cuban Club, The Orpheum and Jackson's Bistro.

We've had WFTS-Ch. 28 anchor Brendan McLaughlin showing off his guitar chops, former WFLA-Ch. 8 anchor Bob Hite jamming on the harmonica, WTSP-Ch. 10 anchor Reginald Roundtree singing Carlos Santana and most of the female reporters at WFTS making like Bette Midler's Harlette backup singers.

It's always a great time, allowing local media types to show a different side of their talents. And though I'm not organizing this year's event, it promises to be the same fun time (at left, me, Kerry and Adam playing Skippers' Smokehouse earlier this year).

 We're kicking it off at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Jackson's Bistro across from the Marriott Waterside hotel in downtown Tampa.

There are bands from four different media organizations in the competition this year -- each playing a 40-minute set -- including The Bone 102.5 FM featuring Cowhead, a combo Bay News 9/103.5 band featuring former Bay News 9 anchor Jenny Dean, a band from WTSP/10 Connects featuring Holly Sinn from Studio 10 and a St. Petersburg Times/Clear Channel band featuring me (bass and vocals), TBT general manager Kerry O'Reilly (sax, vocals), former Times music critic Tony Green (guitar), radio news guy Dennis Pavlik (drums), guitarist Adam Coovadia and radio traffic guru Daisy Ash (keys and vocals).

Some participants really get into the competition part of it all, but I've always enjoyed the fellowship end -- hanging out with a bunch of media people who also love music and living out our rock 'n' roll dreams (you gotta hear our funkified version of Nine Inch Nails' Closer!)

And we're raising money for the Bay Area Media Network's contribution to Tampa Best Buddies program, so everybody wins.

My band plays last, around 10 p.m. or so, but I encourage all to come early and see their local media idols in a different light.

 

Lost, Fringe suffer from Grey's Disease; shows with supporting casts more interesting than stars

Here's what I thought while struggling to get through the two-hour season debut of Grey's Anatomy a few weeks ago: Why don't I care more about the stars?

Ostensibly, this super-popular series is focused on Ellen Pompeo's fumbling Dr. Meredith Grey and her affair with (and later marriage to) Patrick Dempsey's Derek "Dr. McDreamy" Shepherd. But co-stars such as Sandra Oh, Isaiah Washington, Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight kept stealing the spotlight.

Here's a list of other shows that suffer from Grey's Disease, where you care about everyone on screen but the supposed stars.

Lost: Let's be honest: Ben Linus, John Locke, Sayid Jarrah and Sun Hwa Kwon have always been more compelling than the super-mopey characters at the show's center: Jack Sheppard, Kate Austen and James "Sawyer" Ford.

How I Met Your Mother: Neil Patrick Harris' charismatic womanizer Barney Stinson steals every scene he's in, but the show is supposedly centered on how Josh Radnor's Ted Mosby he met his wife.

Fringe: Forget about Anna Torv's tortured FBI agent Olivia Dunham. I'm always waiting for any scene featuring oddball scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and the Icky Villain of the Week.

American Idol: Opened Entertainment Weekly and saw a story on the guy who didn't win the show this year, Adam Lambert, along with a nice blurb on another nonwinner, Alison Iraheta.

Ditto with reports about Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and former judge Paula Abdul. When's the last time you heard something about winners Ruben Studdard or Taylor Hicks?

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: He's a charming guy who does the best Philbin this side of Dana Carvey. But let's be honest: From house band the Roots to his cheeky reality TV satire 7th Floor West, everything surrounding Fallon on this show is more interesting than he is.

B.J. Harris admits cocaine addiction led him to leave WFLZ-FM and Tampa

It took awhile -- braving a missed connecting flight and a long limousine ride from Atlanta -- but former WFLZ-FM morning jock B.J. Harris finally reached his old stomping grounds this morning, admitting on air that a raging cocaine addiction led him to quit the station more than eight years ago.

"I had to leave Tampa or I was going to die," Harris told former morning show partner Todd "MJ" Schnitt this morning, diving into a detailed story of how an addiction to cocaine led him to walk away from the town's top morning radio station and top management jobs in Clear Channel Radio.

"There's no one to blame but me...I'm the one who hurt people, embarrassed people," said Harris, who now co-hosts a successful morning show in Denver. "I put people's careers at risk in this room; that's where I had taken it. (Schnitt) had nothing to do with me leaving. it all stops right here with me."

Harris is back in town today and Friday for a reunion with Schnitt he said was aimed at celebrating the 20th anniversary of the "Power Pig" format -- an in-your-face attitude adjustment which helped vault WFLZ to the top of local ratings back in the mid-'90s. By the time he left the city in 2001, Harris was operations manager for two area radio stations and a top programming director for Clear Channel, having hired many of the people working at WFLZ back then/

His story also countered allegations made by rival shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, who has accused Schnitt of undermining Harris with Clear Channel management and taking advantage of his cocaine addiction to edge him out of the show. Schnitt has sued Clem, alleging his rival has made  defamatory statements about him on air and encouraged fans to badger him.

During today's broadcast, Harris talked about regularly missing work at their morning show, going missing to days in Las Vegas when they were scheduled to appear at a nationally televised music awards show. Eventually, he admitted his addiction to Schnitt and superiors at Clear Channel, going through rehab at the famous Hazelden clinic in Minnesota and locally.

Admitting he was under the influence during his last day at the station, Harris recalled how a minor argument blew up into a major fight with Schnitt which led him to quit the show (the unstated implication; perhaps this is what sparked rumors that Schnitt drove Harris off the show). Even after he moved to Cincinnati for a job at another Clear Channel station, Harris continued to struggle with his addiction and was eventually fired by the company.

The revelations may have explained a lot for fans of the MJ and BJ Morning Show, who weren't told much when Harris left the program back in February 2001. Saying that he realized a few years ago "if you continue to do this, you will die," Harris said he is currently drug-free and wanted to talk about his problem to help explain why their partnership disintegrated so suddenly years ago.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart," Harris told listeners and Schnitt toward the end of the show. "I'm to blame."

Tom DeLay leaves before he gets kicked off 'Dancing With the Stars'

(UPDATE: Though DeLay deserved to land in the loser's circle Tuesday, actress Debi Mazar was instead ejected from the show in a surprise vote.

DeLay bowed out anyway, admitting that his injuries kept him from practicing which could lead to looking like a fool out on the dance floor. Host Tom Bergeron was kind enough not to tell him that ship already sailed long ago.)

Given his lead-footed samba on Monday night, it's likely former House leader Tom DeLay would have hit the bricks tonight, anyway.

But E! Online is reporting that DeLay will quit ABC's monster reality show Dancing With the Stars tonight, presumably before the show reveals his likely ejection.

That last half-sentence is my doing. As a professional Dancing watcher, what I've learned is that the comic relief contestants only last so long before their severe lack of skill starts to turn the show into a joke. And the comic relief folks -- who, by the way, are most entertaining when they don't seem to fully realize they are the comic relief -- last about as long as their enthusiasm.

So DeLay, suffering from two stress fractures in his feet and already grousing publicly about having to wear ruffles and frilly costumes for the dance numbers, was getting close to ejectionville, anyway (especially after Monday's dance, in which you could actually see him counting out his steps during the number).

No word on whether the show will also eject someone, particularly if the person who was due to leave isn't DeLay. I'm betting they'll just tell that person that they have gotten a reprieve -- after stretching out an episode already robbed of suspense because we know The Indicted One is already gone.

Check out his painful -- for viewers! -- samba from Monday, below.

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Tom DeLay on Dancing with the Stars: "That was surreal."

Washington D.C. is often described as Hollywood for geeks.

So it was no surprise when former U.S. House leader Tom DeLay popped up on Dancing with the Stars Monday as one of the least co-ordinated, dare I say it -- geekiest -- contestants in the game.

"That was surreal," laughed judge Carrie Ann Inaba, struggling to find nice words for a cha-cha that consisted mostly of DeLay strummnig a non-existent guitar and shaking his hips off time to the music. When you can't play air guitar in time to Wild Thing, you got a serious problem.

The early performances in Dancing are just scene-setters, anyway -- mostly a way to figure out who's so bad they're going home early, who's the comic relief that may stick around a while and who has a real shot.

Featuring just the guys, Monday's show revealed that former NFL star Michael Irvin needs to chill with the competitive intensity. A few cycles ago, Warren Sapp survived a few lackluster performances by surprising the crowd and having as much fun as possible; how you come across to the audience at home, voting to keep the dancers they like, is almost as important as how you perform on the floor.

So far, former pop star Aaron Carter is the best natural dancer, followed by Iron Chef "chairman" Mark Dascacos, thanks to his fluidity and martial arts training. Donny Osmond is always going to be dangerous, because he's popular and a hard worker used to pushing himself as a performer.

But DeLay gets the Jerry Springer award for schlubbiest competitor; he won't be gone first, but he will be gone soon.

Check out the train wreck below:   

Obama vs Kanye: The diss heard round the world may be a journalism teaching moment

First, let's just admit that the president was right on this one.

But the very fact that we know President Obama called rapper Kanye West a jackass during an off-the-record portion of an interview with CNBC is an interesting journalistic turn.

ABC reporter Terry Moran tweeted :""Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a "jackass" for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential."

But it was, in fact, a statement made when the president thought he was not being quoted. According to USA Today, it was a remark the president made during small talk as his microphone was being adjusted for the interview -- a portion of the interview traditionally treated as off the record by journalists.

But in today's media environment, there seems to be no such thing as off the record -- especially for a president whose every word has seismic political, pop culture and racial overtones.

Even though Moran likely knew he wasn't supposed to quote the president, he probably also knew the audio would find its way to someone who would.

Moran eventually deleted the Twitter post and ABC released this statement (h/t to Politico):

"In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again."

So, the easy availability of Twitter and the rush to get out a tidbit of news on something "everyone's talking about" bites another journalist.

Of course, since none of us who received the tweet agreed to keep his conversation off the record, we can talk about it as much as we like.

Wonder if West really knew what he was stepping into when he jumped up on that stage.

Watch the rapper struggle through a semi-coherent apology on The Jay Leno Show below:

Reviewing The Jay Leno Show: Who knew being funny would be his biggest challenge?

Is it a bad sign for a new talk show when the first guest comes up with the best line of the night?

“You know, in the ‘90s, when we quit a show, we actually left,” cracked comic Jerry Seinfeld Monday night, injecting a brief bit of actual comedy into the floundering, listless exercise that was the first Jay Leno Show. “But not in the Brett Favre, Lance Armstrong double 00s.”

This was about the point where fans who had turned up to watch Leno try forging a life beyond the Tonight Show may have wondered whether Seinfeld had the right idea.

Much as industry types obsessed over how the new Jay Leno Show might reshape television, nobody really considered things might turn out the way they did Monday night.

What if the show just isn’t funny?

That was an unthinkable prospect three months ago, when Leno left the Tonight Show after having maneuvered NBC into giving him 25 percent of their entire primetime landscape. After all, this was a comic’s comic, who had led television’s top late night comedy show for the past 17 years.

The last problem anyone expected was the funny.

But that's exactly what proved most troublesome Monday night, mostly because too much of this new show felt like shadows of old late night programs. Walking through a set of glass doors, Leno strode onstage to shake hands with the audience, just like he did on the old Tonight Show, backed by longtime bandleader Kevin Eubanks and the old Tonight Show band, working under a new name.

Leno’s monologue felt like a rerun, too – centered on the president’s speech to Congress last Wednesday and jokes about the long gone Cash for Clunkers automobile purchasing program. (“I made $5-billion,” cracked the comic, referencing his passion for collecting old cars).

Even the much-anticipated appearance by rapper Kanye West, who asked for a short interview before performing with Rihanna and Jay-Z to apologize for dissing Taylor Swift at MTV’s Video Music Awards Sunday, fell flat.

“Just dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took something away from a talented artist…it was rude,” said a barely coherent West, who had been castigated all day for snatching the microphone from Swift during an acceptance speech to tout singer Beyonce’s video.

Leno got one good question in – asking West what his now-deceased mother would have thought of his display. Unfortunately, the result was to make the rapper choke up even more, making an uncomfortable interview even more awkward.

A succession of taped comedy bits filled out the hour – the same kind of silly gags that Leno’s successor Conan O’Brien has been using on the Tonight Show over the past three months.

The end of one sketch – where the comic appears on the confrontational reality show Cheaters to catch Eubanks in the park with a Leno look-alike – was actually given a better ending by folks posting on Twitter. And they didn’t have a summer to work on it all.

Of course, the first episode of any late night comedy show is rarely funny (if you doubt that notion, try watching Saturday Night Live’s first episode sometime). The best you can hope for is a strong framework; a percolating template for a show that can eventually be filled with quality comedy, once everybody settles down.

Who knew that might be the biggest challenge for guy once known as the King of Late Night Comedy? 

Scandal pays off: MTV's Video Music Awards draws nearly 27-million viewers on three channels

Looks like the unruly extravaganza that was Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards paid off in ratings: nearly 27-million people watched the show on MTV, MTV2 or VH1, according to MTV.

On MTV, 9-million people watched the VMAs, which MTV touts as the largest audience on the channel since 2004.

The ratings may fuel speculation that rapper Kanye West's now infamous diss of singer Taylor Swift was preplanned. But gossip site extraordinaire, TMZ.com reports that Beyonce's father reached out to Swift immediately after she finished her performance in a subway car Sunday, apologizing for West's comment and trying to find a good way to allow Swift to complete her acceptance speech.

One unfortunate result, now that ratings have risen year-to-year, expect to see lanky Brit vulgarian Russell Brand returning as host.

Here's more ratings info, courtesy of MTV's press release:

MTV’S LINEAR TV SUCCESS

--The 2009 Video Music Awards was watched by over 26.9 million viewers on MTV, MTV2 and VH1 on Sunday night.  This is up +17% from the 23 million who tuned in to MTV/MTV2 last year.

--Airing on MTV, MTV2 and VH1, the 2009 VMAs averaged over 11 million total viewers.  This is up +21% from MTV and MTV2’s coverage in 2008 (9.1 million) and the largest VMA audience since 2002. On MTV, The 2009 VMAs averaged just under 9 million total viewers, the largest audience since the 2004 awards.

--Up +6% year to year (8.97 million vs. 8.43 million). On MTV2, The 2009 VMAs averaged 749,000 total viewers, up +11% year to year (749,000 vs. 674,000).

--Among P12-34, The 2009 VMAs on MTV, MTV2 and VH1 averaged 7.2 million P12-34 viewers. This is up +16% from MTV and MTV2’s coverage in 2008 (7.2 million vs. 6.2 million).

--On MTV, The 2009 VMAs delivered a 7.5 P12-34 coverage rating, its strongest rating since the 2005 VMAs.

--The 2009 VMAs is the #1 show on cable this year among P12-34. 

--On VH1, The 2009 VMAs averaged 1.3 million total viewers, improving its time period by +21%.  Among P12-34, VH1 averaged a 1.03 rating, up 8% in its time period. 

Source:  Nielsen.  Live+SD Coverage ratings/000s.  Time period improvement = vs. QTD average.  Cable rank = 000s.  Watched = reach, 1+ minute qualifier. 

The MTV VMA moment everyone will be talking about tomorrow: When Kanye lost his mind

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Come tomorrow morning, we won't be wondering why MTV started its grand anti-awards show with a five minute speech by a non-singing, non-dancing Madonna talking about how much Michael Jackson's life resembled hers.

We won't be talking about the clunky Michael Jackson tribute which mostly featured a cast of no-name dancers (okay, we might spend a few minutes on the guy who almost fell over during Smooth Criminal).

We won't wonder why MTV rehired the perenially unfunny, totally potty-mouthed Russell Brand to deliver a monologue that was mostly bleeped out anyways. And we won't spend much time marveling at some of the grand performances on the night -- including Lady GaGa's gothic club gig. Beyonce's cast-of-dozens rendition of Single Ladies, Green Day urging a mob to take over the stage or Muse rocking hard.

We will, instead, remember the moment Kanye West climbed onto MTV Video Music Awards stage and ruined a young artist's moment of triumph -- no wonder the crowd broke into boos at the mere mention of his name afterwards.

Later, Beyonce asked Swift to come back on stage and complete her acceptance speech:

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