Pop Idol is a British television music competition which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer in the UK based on viewer voting and participation. Two series were broadcast - one in 2001-2002 and a second in 2003. Pop Idol was subsequently put on an indefinite hiatus after "Idol" judge Simon Cowell announced the launch of the The X Factor in the UK in April 2004. The show has become an international TV franchise since, spawning multiples of Idol series worldwide. In the mean time a legal dispute arose with the makers of Popstars, which eventually led to the word "Pop" being excluded from the titles of all the spin-offs, such as American Idol, Australian Idol, Indonesian Idol, New Zealand Idol, Latin American Idol and Idols.
Hollywood Squares is an American panel game show, in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The "board" for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host, or "Square-Master", and the contestants judge the veracity of their answers in order to win the game. Although Hollywood Squares was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers, often given by the stars prior to their "real" answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given question subjects and plausible incorrect answers prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. In any case, as host Peter Marshall, the best-known "Square-Master" and the man in whose honor the show's first announcer, Kenny Williams, actually "coined" the term, would explain at the beginning of the Secret Square game, the celebrities were briefed prior to show to help them with bluff answers, but they otherwise heard the actual questions for the first time as they were asked on air.
Best Week Ever is a weekly television program on the United States cable/satellite network VH1. It started airing in 2004 and was put on hiatus in the summer of 2009. In January 2010, it was announced that the show was cancelled. On August 3, 2012, VH1 announced the return of Best Week Ever. New weekly episodes began January 18, 2013. On the show, comedians analyze the previous week's developments in pop culture, including recent happenings in entertainment and celebrity gossip. The show's tagline is, "It's everything you love, everything you missed, and all the stuff you need to see again."
The Games is a British reality television series that ran on Channel 4 for four series, in which 10 celebrities competed against each other, by doing Olympic-style events, such as weight lifting, gymnastics and diving. At the end of the series, the contestants with the most points from each round were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze medal. The show was mainly filmed in Sheffield, at the Sheffield Arena, Don Valley Stadium and Ponds Forge. In later series, the English Institute of Sport – Sheffield, iceSheffield and in series 4 the National Watersports Centre in Nottingham were used for the first time. The Games was presented by Jamie Theakston for the entirety of its run, with track-side reports from Jayne Middlemiss in series 1–3 and Kirsty Gallacher in series 4. The Games also had an after-show called The Games: Live at Trackside, aired on Channel 4's sister channel E4. The first series was presented by Dougie Anderson, whilst the second was hosted by Gamezville presenters Darren Malcolm and Jamie Atiko. Justin Lee Collins and Caroline Flack took over as presenters for the third and fourth series. For the final series an extra one-hour show was added on E4 in the afternoon called The Games: Live at the Heats, and the evening show changed title to become The Games: Inside Track.
Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave was a reality television show produced by Fernando Hernández for Music Television. It followed the lives of Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro through the events leading up to their anything-but-traditional wedding, culminating with the marriage ceremony and reception. The show first aired on MTV on January 21, 2004 and ran for 7 episodes. The final episode aired on March 3, 2004. Electra and Navarro were married on November 22, 2003. The couple separated on July 18, 2006, and Electra filed for divorce on August 10, 2006. On February 20, 2007 their divorce was finalized.
Super Password is an American game show, hosted by Allen Ludden, Bill Cullen and Tom Kennedy, that aired on NBC from aired from January 8, 1979 to March 26, 1982.
Hilary Duff: This Is Now is a two-part MTV reality television series about singer Hilary Duff, broadcast in April 2007. It followed Duff during a promotional tour for her album Dignity in Spain, and her first performance of her single "With Love" in Europe. It showed Duff participating in photo shoots, her personal affairs, and interview segments. The first episode aired on April 3, and the second on April 9, 2007. The show took two weeks to film, and an MTV crew followed Duff around, filming her preparations for the release of the Dignity album.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.
Ashton Kutcher punks his unsuspecting A-list celebrity friends with over-the-top pranks.
Nashville Star is an American reality television program. It was last produced and transmitted during mid-2008 on NBC, following five seasons on USA Network. It premiered on March 8, 2003, and its five seasons on USA made it the longest-running competition series on cable television. In Canada, the show aired on CMT through season 5, but moved to E! beginning with season 6. CMT in the United States reaired each episode in season 6. It was similar to American Idol, in that performers had to sing to impress both celebrity judges and the public via call-in and/or internet votes. Unlike American Idol, however, the performers were limited to country music. This restriction was relaxed for Season 6, allowing for the finalists to choose from many genres of music, but the songs were arranged to maintain a country sound. On March 13, 2009, it was confirmed that the series had been canceled by NBC and would not be returning for a seventh season.
Stephen Fry and John Bird star as spin doctors Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe as they bring the popular and satirical Radio 4 comedy Absolute Power to BBC Two. Stephen as Prentiss and John as McCabe are an unscrupulous pair who run the blue chip PR agency Prentiss McCabe. Dealing with commercial as well as personal PR, their remit covers everything from political communications to celebrity media relations. Their manipulation skills are tested to the full as they frequently find that their work brings them into conflict with political parties, newspaper editors and celebrities.
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960, and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. Its original network title was The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the first season, and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Presents The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the following seasons. It was the successor to the classic comedy, I Love Lucy, and featured the same major cast members. The production schedule avoided the grind of a regular weekly series. Desilu produced the show, which was mostly filmed at their Los Angeles studios with occasional on-location shoots at Lake Arrowhead, Las Vegas and Sun Valley, Idaho. CBS reran the show under the "Lucy-Desi" title during the summers of 1962-1967, after which it went into syndication.
Jonathan Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band.
2DTV is a British satirical animated television show that was broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from March 2001 to December 2004. Lasting a total of five series and thirty-three episodes, 2DTV became the successor of popular 80's TV series Spitting Image, and the predecessor of 2008 ITV satirical animation Headcases.
Film star Vince Chase navigates the vapid terrain of Los Angeles with a close circle of friends and his trusty agent.
Set in the year 2031, this mockumentary looks back at events that ostensibly happened during the first 30 years of the 21st century. The series follows a format that co-creator Armando Iannucci previously used in his satirical year-in-review programme '2004: The Stupid Version'.
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries. The series was created by Eric Fogel; with the pilots airing on MTV on January 1 & 25 1998. The initial series ran from May 14, 1998 to October 20, 2002, and lasted for a 75-episode run. There was one special that did not contribute to the final episode total, entitled "Celebrity Deathmatch Hits Germany", which aired on June 21, 2001. Professional wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin gave voice to his animated form as the guest commentator. Early in 2003, a film based on the series was announced by MTV to be in the making, but the project was canceled by the end of that year. In 2005, MTV2 announced the revival of the show as part of their "Sic 'Em Friday" programming block. Originally set to return in November 2005, the premiere was pushed back to June 10, 2006 as part of a new "Sic'emation" block with two other animated shows, Where My Dogs At and The Adventures of Chico and Guapo. The show's fifth season was produced by Cuppa Coffee Studios and the premiere drew over 2.5 million viewers, becoming MTV2's highest rated season premiere ever.
UK-produced partially improvised comedy based on the original Australian show with the same name. In the show, four guests are placed into a scene they have no knowledge about and have to improvise. The series is hosted by Paul Merton, who also acts as judge and performs his own improvised scene.
A fly-on-the-wall series showing Louis Theroux spending time with guest celebrities.
Chain Letter is an American game show produced by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions that aired on NBC during the summer and early-fall of 1966. Comedian Jan Murray hosted this game show, while Wendell Niles did the announcing.