Fan Fare

Oscar beckons Sarah Palin … for shopping.

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit)

What a difference a year makes! Last year, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was catching flak for her shopping habits during her 2008 campaign. This year, she’s strolling around Hollywood’s Oscar gift suites with family members having items given to her — leopard print sandals to match her leopard print jacket, for instance.

The morning after her appearance on “The Tonight Show”, and amid reports she was in Hollywood talking to TV executives about a possible TV show (see below and here on the blog), the former Alaska Governor turned up at the Silver Spoon gifting suite in West Hollywood with daughter Willow, grandson Trip and an entourage of about seven people, according to the suite’s organizers.

The gifting suites, in case you don’t know, are set up by merchants to promote their products during Hollywood’s Oscar week when the town is filled with A-list  celebrities. The idea is to have your product photographed or in some way associated with a celebrity and, as a result, people will want to buy it. And who better to help sell a product than politician-turned-celebrity Palin?

So, what did Palin get? Well, right from the start she wrote a check for $1,750 to the American Red Cross, which was collecting donations at the suite for Haitian relief. “That was the first thing she did before even checking in and saying ‘hello,’” said The Silver Spoon’s Lorena Bendinskas. She said suite organizers had invited Palin because she had been a big supporter of the Red Cross. Notably, Palin and her entourage came and left before the suite opened officially on Wednesday morning.

Then, Palin and family got down to the business of shopping — Oscar style. They went to each vendor and were “gifted” items including hats and sunglasses by Perry Ellis, Jenna Leigh Lingerie, Stone candles, Wembe soaps, skincare products from Bloom.com and eyelash condition from Lash food. Stopping at fashion line C&C California, she picked out a tanktop for daughter Willow. At Bandals Footwear, she found those leopard sandals to match her jacket, and she seemed especially excited about Danish-designed Aiaiai headphones for traveling and exercise.

Meanwhile, on its Hollywood Insider blog late Wednesday night, Entertainment Weekly magazine reported that Palin and reality TV producer Mark Burnett have been making the rounds of Hollywood production houses and TV networks pitching a TV docudrama about Alaska. Several reports described it as a Planet Earth-type look at the state from Palin’s point-of-view. You can read about it here.

Tina Fey hearts NBC

NBC has suffered terrible press of late from the forced departure of late-night host Conan O’Brien, but at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, the network got a big wet kiss from “30 Rock” star Tina Fey.

After taking the stage to claim her award for best actress in a TV comedy, Fey had nothing but good things to say about the network behind her show, even though “30 Rock” is itself no stranger to spoofing NBC.

“I just want to take a moment to say to everyone at NBC, we are very happy with everything and happy to be there,” Fey deadpanned, as the audience laughed.

It was more than just a joke, as the awards-laden “30 Rock” has in the past struggled to survive on NBC due to lackluster ratings. But in the wake of one of the biggest public relations disasters in the last-placed network’s history, during which O’Brien and other comedians lambasted NBC, Fey got some laughs for going the reverse route.

Last week, at the Golden Globe Awards, NBC fared much worse, even though the show was broadcast on that network, as Fey joked that the rain was “God crying for NBC” and host Ricky Gervais quipped, “Let’s get on with it (the show) before NBC replaces me with Jay Leno.”

Now that NBC has officially replaced O’Brien with Leno, and given O’Brien a $32.5 million payout, really laying into the network with a biting quip might have looked like kicking a dog, and the network escaped unharmed. This year’s SAG Awards were broadcast on cable networks TBS and TNT.

Backstage after winning her award, Fey was earnest and not quick to joke about NBC.

Emmy winners line-up looking like a repeat

They’re rolling out the red carpet in Los Angeles for television’s prime time Emmy Awards on Sunday but some experts are already predicting a winner’s line-up  in the main categories that looks much the same as last year.

That means that popular favorites like hospital drama “House”, animated comedy “Family Guy” and the “Law&Order” actress Mariska Hargitay could again lose out to shows like “Mad Men”, “Damages” star Glenn Close and the Tina Fey comedy “30 Rock”.

With the exception perhaps of “30 Rock” and the reality series category that acknowledges the mass appeal of shows like “Dancing With The Stars” and “The Amazing Race”, the Emmy awards seem to be moving away from mainstream viewing in the same way as the Oscars has done with mainstream films in recent years.

Public opinion polls are showing big differences between what the vast American public would like to see win, and the shows like “Breaking Bad” and “Little Dorritt” that are winning lots of prizes but small audiences. Yet, the Emmys are supposed to honor the best of the best, rather than the highest-rated shows and the stars that appear most on celebrity websites.

So on Sunday, will you be paying more attention to the winners on the podium, the red carpet fashion, or the entertainment which will be hosted by “How I Met Your Mother” actor Neil Patrick Harris and includes a live band for the first time since 2004, as well as a dance segment?

Which stars are you most excited about seeing? And is there anyone, in your opinion, who shouldn’t be there at all?

Tina Fey’s mystery scar explained

  Tina Fey’s husband has revealed something about his comedic wife that she has been guarded about, the story behind the scar on the left side of her face.       A Vanity Fair magazine article tells how Fey was attacked by a stranger wielding a knife when she was 5 years old.      “It was in, like, the front yard of her house, and somebody who just came up, and she just thought somebody marked her with a pen,” Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond, told the magazine.       “That scar was fascinating to me,” Richmond said. “This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life.”      Fey herself rarely talks about the scar, telling the New York Times in 2001 that it resulted from a “childhood injury” she would not discuss.      “It’s impossible to talk about it without somehow seemingly exploiting it and glorifying it,” Fey told Vanity Fair.      Fey stars in the comedy “30 Rock,” and her fame skyrocketed this year when she impersonated Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in “Saturday Night Live” sketches.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Tina Fey hangs up her Palin wig

 It’s official!

Comedian Tina Fey has gotten her wish and will no longer play Alaska governor Sarah Palin on the comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” after the Republican contender for vice president lost out in Tuesday’s U.S. elections.       Fey’s dead-on impersonations of Palin drew record ratings for “Saturday Night LIve” and became almost as talked about nationally as the maverick politician and hockey mom herself.

But Fey, who stars in the NBC show “30 Rock,” told the magazine Entertainment Weekly that she has no plans to play Palin again.        “I have to retire just because I have to do my day job,” Fey told the magazine.        Fey, 38, went the extra mile by suggesting a replacement if “Saturday Night Live” needs someone to play Palin again, suggesting that ”SNL” cast member Kristen Wiig should carry the torch from now on.  “Maybe we could get a real torch,” Fey told Entertainment Weekly. “Or I could give Wiig the Palin wig.”      Before the election, Fey made clear she was hoping not to have to play Palin after November 4, saying she planned on “leaving Earth” if  the Republican was elected.  (Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

Election politics: The ultimate reality TV

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)

In one more sign that the current presidential election campaign has drawn increased interest among pop culture watchers, Entertainment Weekly magazine released a survey on Thursday showing respondents, ages 18-24, estimated spending one-third of their TV time watching election coverage.

Of those surveyed, 1-in-5 Americans is watching more election coverage because they are dissatisfied with reality TV.

Fully half of all Americans said they are tuning-in to fewer primetime shows due to the election coverage they are watching, and 6-in-10 think the presidential face-off between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is entertaining.

When asked if they prefer vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin or comedian Tina Fey’s impression of Palin on the NBC show “Saturday Night Live,” 37.4 percent of respondents said they prefer Fey’s version of Palin, but a nearly equal 37 percent said they prefer Palin herself.

As for celebrity endorsements, 53 percent of respondents said those have some influence on the candidates’ appeal.

The survey involved a national OmniTel telephone poll by GfK Custom Research North America among 1,004 adults ages 18 and up on Oct. 17-19. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

SNL spoofs Palin vs. Biden debate

No one could blame actress Tina Fey if she was privately hoping for a McCain-Palin victory in November.

The former “Saturday Night Live” star has been back on the show three times with her her dead-on, ratings-stoking spoofs of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The latest skit on Palin’s debate with Democratic Rival Sen. Joe Biden poked fun at the Alaska governor for dodging specifics by repeating the Republican ticket’s “maverick” theme.

“We’re gonna ask ourselves what would a maverick do in this situation, and then ya’ know, we’ll do that,” Fey-as-Palin responded when pressed on how to deal with the financial crisis.

Palin dismissed climate change as ”this climate change, hoozie-what’s-it” and said she  wanted to talk about taxes instead: ”We are not afraid to get mavericky in there.”

The sharpest barb came when she was asked about benefits for same-sex couples: “I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers,” Palin replied, in a clear reference to her pregnant, teen-aged daughter who is due to marry the child’s father.

The SNL skit also ridiculed Biden, picking on his friendship with Republican candidate John McCain.

Doggone it! Fey to reprise Palin role on SNL

Which lifeline will she use this time?

Tina Fey is expected to be back reprising her devastating impression of  Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live this weekend following the Alaska Governor’s performance in Thursday’s widely-watched vice presidential debate.

Actress and singer Queen Latifah has also been tapped to play journalist Gwen Ifill, who moderated the debate between Republican Palin and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported on Friday.

It will be the third time that Fey has skewered the self-described hockey mom on SNL, which has seen its ratings soar thanks largely to the Emmy-award winning “30 Rock” actress’s uncanny resemblance to Palin.

Fey’s Palin skits have racked up more than five million viewings on the official SNL website alone, and hundreds of thousands more have watched on YouTube in the last three weeks.

After Fey/Palin asked last week whether she could “phone a friend” while struggling in her interview with journalist Katie Couric/Amy Poehler, which lifeline might Fey/Palin use this time?

Ask the audience, maybe?

Tina Fey wants to “be done” with Palin after November

Tina Fey’s hit comedy series “30 Rock” may have picked up 4 Emmys, but backstage at the TV awards show the show’s creator and star faced almost as many questions about her recent portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” as she did about her award-winning show.

As it turns out, Fey would rather not see Palin become a regular character on “SNL.”

“I want to be done playing this lady November 5th,” Fey said when asked backstage about how she feels about the election. “So, if anyone can help me be done playing her on November 5th…”

The U.S. presidential election is November 4th.

Fey added that Palin “seems like a perfectly nice lady,” but that she had been reluctant at first to admit that they look alike.

“I was very resistant to acknowledge that there was a resemblance,” Fey said. “Then my kid saw Sarah Palin on TV and said ‘That’s Mommy.’”

As for “30 Rock,” Fey said co-star Alec Baldwin had told her that her award for best actress in a comedy series meant she could now “stop apologizing for being an actor and being on the show.”

Emmys Red Carpet: Who was best dressed?

Braving blistering afternoon heat and more than a little sweat, the world’s top television stars rolled onto the red carpet at the Emmy Awards in downtown Los Angeles in all their finery.

Once the arrivals wrapped up and the show got started, it was left to us onlookers to decide who looked great and who, well, didn’t.

Supermodel and “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum was no doubt the flashiest star on the carpet in a crystal-studded Armani gown with massive butterfly-shaped earrings.

“30 Rock” creator and star Tina Fey, meanwhile, looked understated but elegant in an eggplant-colored strapless dress.

Yellow was a popular color, donned by both Mariska Hargitay of “Law and Order: SVU” and Teri Hatcher of “Desperate Housewives.”

But once all the stars had strutted their stuff, who looked the absolute best? Or worst, for that matter?

“30 Rock” actor Judah Friedlander thought he deserved the “best dressed” award, but we’re guessing people may have something to say about that. Sorry, Judah.