Results tagged “tv”

Still in its embryonic stage, please join SF Appeal's Eve Batey and your SFist editor at 4 p.m. today for SF Views, live from the stained heart of SOMA! It's an interwebs show about -- you guessed it -- San Francisco. And other stuff.

Although we find this season particularly listless -- for reasons we can't put our finger on, exactly -- Top Chef will return for another cycle of fast-paced cooking and egregious under-salting. And with that, Bravo will hold open casting calls for folks interested in competing in the foodie competition. Chefs in the Bay Area interested in trying out, listen up: season Top Chef auditions will happen on Sunday, October 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Parlor at 2801 Leavenworth.

Another view after the jump.

Folsom between 11th and 12th Streets will be closed today in order to produce another explosive episode of Trauma. If you need to dart down Folsom this afternoon, expect delays.

Tonight marks the first episode of NBC's Trauma, filmed right here in San Francisco, an hour-long drama about paramedics and explosions. Oh, and Jennifer Siebel Newsom will, we think, be in this episode.

For those who want to join together to watch tonight's premiere of the likely ironically epic Trauma, which was filmed in San Francisco, you're in luck. North Beach's Upper Grant Avenue bars will be having a block party simultaneously screening the show at 9 p.m., hosted by JE Talent, LLC. Participating bars include Mojito, Royale, Maggie McGarrys, and Grant & Green Saloon. There will be live music by Jugtown Pirates, "industry networking," and themed cocktails, featuring Grey Goose Vodka & Bacardi Rum. The party runs from 7 to 11 p.m.

Current and/or former San Francisco crooner Spencer Day (his Facebook lists him as living in both San Francisco and Topanga Canyon) will appear on tonight, making this evening's show an explosion of pop-jazz tunes and handsome men. Day's appearance on the CBS late show -- which follows David Letterman -- will be a taped one. Why? Because, starting tonight, the award winning singer will appear at The Razz Room. Spencer Day's tenure at the Razz Room runs until 9/20.

Next to La King, Ross McGowan is one of our favorite local on-air personalities. Why? Because he smolders. Also, that low, appropriately condescending voice of his makes "Mornings On Two" that more special. And just look at those arms and broad shoulders! He's the kind of guy you would've wanted to split a baggie and open a bottle of poppers with back in the day. Smart dashing.

      

NBC's somewhat anticipated fall drama series "Trauma" filmed a presumably nail-biting scene in Duboce Park yesterday, one that involved a helicopter landing (!) and Halloween decorations (!!).

Although Julie Chen described Russell as being a "Mixed Martial Arts Fighter from San Francisco," this hot-tempered Commercial Real Estate Broker from Walnut Creek was evicted from the Big Brother house last night by a unanimous 3-0 vote. San Francisco, Walnut Creek. Same difference, right Julie? (Since she's from Queens, we're guessing she frequently tells people she's from Manhattan.)

Sadly, we failed to catch this morning's episode of LIVE with Regis and Kelly!. We're sad because View from the Bay's Janelle Wang helped Regis with hosting duties. Wang was a guest host on the morning chatfest "after winning an online contest where viewers, nationwide, voted for her." At the start of the show, reports to KGO, Philbin asked Wang about her plans post-Regis/Kelly appearance. "You're doing very well with your career, what is your next step? When do you dump Spencer Christian?" asked Regis. "Spencer and I are partner and crimes," Janelle replied. Taking another stab at busting her chops, Regis poked, "Oh now, your network bound, big thing. Diane Sawyer can't hold on forever." To which Wang responded, "Thank you, but San Francisco is my home." (Aw!) Anyway, we've heard from several View from the Bay guests that Janelle is "super smart," "surprisingly funny," and "totally sweet," so she's aces in our book. To catch her in action, be sure to watch View From the Bay every weekday at 3 p.m. on ABC 7 or streamed live on viewfromthebay.com. To watch a clip of Janelle from this morning's Regis/Kelly, go here.

In lieu of posting the actual question -- we've received several written and oral inquires regarding the matter -- we'll just go ahead and ask: are there any Mad Men viewing parties happening on Sunday night? We want to know. So does Yelp. So does... anybody who enjoys magnificent TV.

SFGate 'City Bright' Rich Lieberman has word that, behind the joy that is Darya Folsom and Gary Radnich in the morning, turmoil is brewing behind the scenes at KRON 4. (Which would make sense since they've got creditors on their tail, filed for bankruptcy, can't find a decent buyer, and have an estimated worth between "$150M and $200M.") According to Lieberman, "Three independent sources said the relationship between staff personnel and news management; notably news director, Aaron Pero and assistant news director, Stacey Baier, couldn't be more 'toxic.' The sources, who have been at the struggling SF TV station for several years, requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the story." (Gulp.)

God. Anthony Bourdain. What's going on, dude? You've turned into that guy. You know, the guy in class who tries too hard to look punk. The reality show contestant who looks into the camera and declares, "I tell it like it is, and people have a problem with that." The guy at the party who prattles on about the glory that is bacon (in addition to your badassery of smoking and drug taking, of course.) Let's take a look at your most recent weblog post.

       

NBC's gripping drama Trauma did a little bit of filming at One Bush this morning. While there were no choice star-sighting on the wattage level of SF First Lady Jennifer Siebel -- remember: let Jennifer be Jennifer, you Hollywood bastards -- it was still quite the scene for little ol' downtown San Francisco.

Two-time Olympic figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano makes his Food Network debut next month. Taking a cue off of that South Park song that made him a household name, it's called What Would Brian Boitano Make? (Our guess? Probably protein shakes and lots of meat, or whatever else it is that sports types eat.) The Food Network describes the new show like this: "Brian hosts unpredictable get-togethers at his San Francisco home and creates amazing menus focusing on innovative but accessible dishes. He feeds an all-girl roller derby squad, plays matchmaker for a friend, wins over his handyman’s supper club, and plans a surprise party celebrating new motherhood." Needless to say, we're very excited to see this. Not only will it mark the return of our favorite figure skater, but it also means the Food Network stopped hiring hosts with -- how should we put this? -- unique physical attributes.

Is Bravo's new show, School Livid About Bravo Reality Show").

Billy Mays, 50, famously loud and bearded informmercial spokesman, died this morning. (Egads! First Ed, Farrah, Jackson, now this. Too much to bear, folks.) According to reports, Mays finished wrapping up an Oxiclean commercial in Philadelphia the other day, and returned home to Florida. He was found dead early this morning in his Tampa, Florida home by his wife. No word yet on his exact cause of death. But Deborah, Mays' wife, released the following statement, "Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

In non-SF news: Did any of you catch NYC Prep last night? If not, let us explain it to you: NYC Prep follows around a group of Dwight School students who will be shot and killed execution-style in a public setting when the socialist revolution comes.

Over 3 million people, and an estimated 600,000 Bay Area residents, aren't prepared for today's analog assassination. See, digital TV will reign supreme at midnight tonight. And unless you want to end up as one of those pretentious types who claim to use their television sets strictly for rental videos -- you know, the talent-free trustifarian kind who prefer the East Bay; frequent awful venues like 21 Grand; laugh a little to hard at Shakespearean comedies; read books? You do not want that to happen to you -- you antenna types will need to a) get yourself a expensive digital TV, b) get cable, or c) get a converter box so that you can watch Intervention, the best show on TV right now. To get a coupon for a digital converter, go here. Go here for more information. Or call 1-877-DTV-4YOU (1-877-388-4968) when your TV goes a midnight.

As SFist Deborah and your editor took advantage of Orson's first-ever lunch service today (we both recommend the fried chicken sandwich on parmesan bun, complete with expertly fried dark meat that made us binge), we got word from our regular bartender, Jessie, that they're having a quasi-screening party for tonight's premier episode of . See, famed SF chef Elizabeth Faulkner (executive chef/owner of Orson and Citizen Cake) will be a contestant on the show. So, we recommend you heading over to cheer her on to victory.

SFist's post on Gary Radnich's on-air blood loss made it on KRON 4 News this morning via the loverly Darya Folsom. (Woo hoo! Even though they don't read us! Ahem.) The newsteam (who, by the way, run neck-and-neck with Good Day LA to win the title of Most Entertaining Morning News) brought up yesterday's blood talk again. Why? Well, it seems TMZ ran a bit about it, and Inside Edition called to interview the KRON 4 sportscaster about the mini-hemorrhaging. (Radnich, in a stroke of genius, turned down the interview because he can't stand their shit.)

God, we love KRON 4 so very, very much. Here one reason why. (Not seen: Darya Folsom almost retching over Radnich blood.)

City Nights (or whatever it's called) web-log writer Rich Lieberman came up with a (definitive?) list of the top-ten Bay Area newscasters. While they are "in no particular order," he lists the anchors in convenient 1 - 10 numerical sequence. They are as listed: #10, Tom Sinkovitz, NBC11/Bay Area (crusty but benign; no nonsense, goddamnit); #9, Ken Wayne, KTVU/FOX2 (an "avid traveler"); #8, Dana King, KPIX/CBS5 (paltry English language words cannot describe our love for la King); #7, Ken Bastida, KPIX/CBS5 (allowed the privilege and honor of sitting next to la King); #6, Julie Haener, KTVU/FOX2 ("blonde, gorgeous, and beautiful," climaxes Lieberman); #5, Frank Somerville, KTVU/FOX2 (we saw someone who looked just like him at the Daly City In-N-Out recently); #4, Jessica Aguirre, NBC11/Bay Area (jumped ship at KGO/ABC7 before moving to San Jose); #3, Dan Ashley, KGO/ABC7 (calm under pressure, suspected redhead); #2, Carolyn Johnson, KGO/ABC7 ("no 'look at me' aura," claims Vinney), and #1 goes to.... well, you'll have to check out Lieberman's post to find out Moore. But what say you, readers? What with a glaring lack of CBS 5's Wendy Tokuda and the KRON 4 Morning Team, is there any on-air anchor talent you think should have made his list?

"If you are flipping through the channels. I will be on Rachel Maddow at 615 PST," read Mayor Gavin Newsom's prefered form of communication. And so he was, doing a decent job too. (Say what you will about Gavin, but he is as camera-ready as they come.) Newsom chatted with MSNBC's sharpest media darling about LGBT rights, same-sex marriage in Iowa, his run for governor, and more.

Let's face it: The Daily Show blows now, and not in a good way. Comedy Central's fake news has turned into The Capitol Steps for Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. It's the kind of programming progressives and over-educated ilk claim to find hilarious. That is to say, it's the kind of programming they all agreed en masse to find hilarious. And if you watch the show every night, you know that that's not a reactionary statement.

   

San Francisco First Lady Jennifer Siebel on the set right now at Laguna Honda hospital portraying "mildly-injured but unsullied car crash vixen" for the NBC pilot Trauma. The show will be directed by executive produced Jeffrey Reiner (NBC's Friday Night Lights).

Please see the video above for a live video feed of the California State Supreme court's Prop. 8 hearing, which will go down as a historic civil rights movement when ruled on. The feed will not become active until March 5 at 9 a.m., and is scheduled to last until noon.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher this weekend? Did you see it? Neither did we. This is the kind of Quality TV programming should be reserved for PBS.

KRON 4's parent company, Young Broadcasting, (finally) filed for bankruptcy today, according to sources. KRON, once the Bay Area's NBC affiliate, has been for sale since last year. Most recently, Young Broadcasting Inc., skipped out on a $6.125 million interest payment to lenders. Back in November of 2008, Young made public that "it had been unable to sell KRON and might have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection." Looks like that day has finally come for the beleaguered San Francisco station. KRON bills itself as "the Bay Area's news station," featuring original programming and syndicated shows (like Dr. Phil and Sex and the City reruns). We'll update as soon as we know more.