Topic: TV Watch Online
My View 1/4 - Topics: Barack Obama, 2008, Gina Glocksen Gets Married, Regis & Kelly in HD, 2009, My Book List
After a long hiatus, I am back with My View! There were many newsworthy events throughout 2008, and not just with the historic presidential election, where we elected Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States of America, and our first African American President. He's picked his cabinet (now with the exception of Commerce Secretary Nominee, Gov. Bill Richardson, who has withdrawn citing an investigation in his home state of New Mexico) and he and his family are in the middle of moving to D.C. as I type this. It's an exciting time as he prepares to lead the country, but obviously a tough time as well, as he and his team finalizes their agenda to improve the economy.
2008: The election of President-Elect Obama was the top story of 2008 to most of us, including myself, but I also wanted to take a moment to list some big stories in the entertainment industry this last year: Heath Ledger tragically dies of an overdose (which creates an even bigger buzz surrounding his role as the Joker in the biggest movie of 2008: The Dark Knight), Stephenie Meyer releases her first non-Twilight Saga book The Host and finishes the Twilight Saga with Breaking Dawn as well as suspending Midnight Sun, America whittled down the field to the two Davids on American Idol, and David Cook triumphed over Archie in a landslide, Iliza wins Last Comic Standing and becomes the first female winner, Ellen DeGeneres marries Portia DeRossi, Tina Fey returns to SNL to hilariously and accurately portray VP-Nominee Sarah Palin ("I can see Russia from my house"), Amy Poehler has her baby and gives a final farewell to SNL, Clay Aiken and producer-friend Jaymes Foster have a baby and Aiken announces he's gay (congratulations, Clay!), Warner Bros. decides to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two movies (initial reaction: hmm...; now: excited!), Warner Bros. delays Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July 2009 (initial reaction: boo!; but now I'm fine with it), Desperate Housewives jumps forward five years and changes the show for the better, Jennifer Hudson's mother, brothers and nephew die in a tragic situation, J.K. Rowling wins in court against RDR Books over copyright protection, Brooke Smith is fired from Grey's Anatomy by ABC in a controversy that makes me say "First the passing of Prop 8 and now this? We're supposed to be advancing gay rights, not turning back time," Britney Spears' comeback, the movie release of Twilight sees an enormous box office return, J.K. Rowling releases The Tales of Beedle the Bard for charity (which becomes the fastest selling book of 2008), Jay Leno lands his own primetime talk show, Catherine Hardwicke (director of Twilight) and Summit part ways leaving Summit to hire a new director for New Moon (Chris Weitz), controversy surrounds Summit when rumors indicate that Taylor Lautner will not return as Jacob Black in New Moon (we still don't know what will happen), ABC announces that Desperate Housewives will continue to be on the air for at least four more years (two years longer than creator Marc Cherry had initially proposed), and Disney decides to stop co-producing and co-financing The Chronicles of Narnia leaving Walden Media to search around for another movie company to pair up with (reaction: boo!)
Whew! And that was just a handful of what happened in 2008.
Disney Bails Out: Before I move on, I want to discuss Disney's Christmas Eve announcement that they will not be working with Walden Media on The Chronicles of Narnia. First off: why Christmas Eve?! What a great holiday announcement, wasn't it? Not. I can understand that their reason is the lower-than-expected sales of Prince Caspian at the box office, but to bail entirely? Come on. It's their own fault, really. First off, they released it in May. Wrong move. Narnia 1 was released in December, which is what they should have done with #2. Second, they marketed the movie entirely wrong. Yes, it was darker than LWW, but they should have marketed it as a family movie and shown more of those aspects of the film in the promos. Actually, they did do that for the DVD/Blu-ray release, but by that point it was obviously too late. Word has it that Fox may be interested in teaming with Walden for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. From what I have heard, they would probably do a great job of protecting the material, so I hope an announcement will arrive this month. But to make one final thought: I think Disney did this prematurely, because outside of LWW, Dawn Treader is the fans' favorite book in the series. If DT does do well, I hope Disney will regret the decision.
Since we are still coming out of the usual slow news period from the holidays, I only have a few recent news items to discuss.
Gina Glocksen Gets Married: American Idol alum Gina Glocksen got married on New Year's Eve. Congratulations Gina! Fellow season 6 alum Jordin Sparks and Haley Scarnato were in attendance. If I remember this correctly, her husband proposed to her during one of the Idol Tour stops.
Regis & Kelly in HD: Starting tomorrow, Monday, January 5, Live with Regis and Kelly will be broadcast in high definition, along with a new opening and new theme song. I usually watch Live when I am not in school (winter break, summer, etc.). I am so used to their theme song and opening that I am unsure of what to think about have it be all new. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see and hear for myself. But no matter, I am excited to see that they will be in HD. They're finally catching up to everyone else.
And now a look at what's to come in 2009: we will see the return of The Celebrity Apprentice (March 1), Kyle XY (next week, January 12), American Idol (next week, January 13, with a new judge and many changes), and Lost (January 21). Heroes will air Volume III: Fugitives, beginning February 2. Kelly Clarkson will release her fourth CD; we will hear a preview of it when the first single, "My Life Would Suck Without You," is released to radio on January 19. Melinda Doolittle will release her debut album, Coming Back to You, on February 3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will finally be released July 17. And New Moon, the sequel to Twilight, will be released November 20.
Before I sign off, it's time for...
My Book List: On New Year's Day, I began reading Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. If you haven't heard about it, it is about the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, where she came from, and how did she become evil. You can see the musical of Wicked on Broadway right now. I am 116 pages into the book now, and so far, I am loving it. Maguire is one of those authors who know how to capture your attention with his writing style and sense of humor. After I am done, I plan on reading the two sequels, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men. To buy your own copy of Wicked, click here.
Time to sign out...
Visit TV Watch Online every day for the latest entertainment news, then read My View weekends right here on the BLOG.
See ya next time, and this has been My View.
