TV Bulletin Board (Jan. 3)
01/03/07 13:20
By ED BARK
***The CMT cable network has tabbed Dancing with the Stars runnerup Mario Lopez to host the 2007 Miss America Pageant. Replacing last year's James Denton of Desperate Housewives, he'll preside on Jan. 29 from the somewhat un-Miss America-like Planet Hollywood resort & Casino in Vegas.
This is CMT's second year with the pageant, which ABC dropped after ratings kept dipping. Judges for the latest go-around include Delta Burke, Debbie Allen, Michael Feinstein and cripes, Chris Matthews of Hardball. Oh won't he be full of himself.
***Grease's most famous Sandy, Olivia Newton-John, will guest star on the first two episodes of NBC's new Grease: You're the One That I Want. The Peacock's made-for-TV search for Broadway's next Sandy and Danny premieres on Sunday, Jan. 7th (7 p.m. central, 8 eastern).
NBC says that Newton-John will "provide her words of wisdom and advice on what it takes to fill the lead roles."
***Has it really been that long? NBC will commemorate Matt Lauer's 10-year anniversary on Today with a special edition of the show on Friday, Jan. 5th. He first joined Today as news anchor in January 1994 and has been co-hosting since Jan. 6, 1997, says NBC.
Lauer will be feted with clips from his "newsmaker" and "A-list celebrity" interviews, with NBC promising to reprise his testy joust with Tom Cruise among others. Today remains No. 1 among the network morning shows.
***Demonic chef Gordon Ramsay is getting a second prime-time show on Fox. This time he'll visit restaurants "in crisis" and whip them into shape on Kitchen Nightmares, which starts production in February. A third season of Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen is slated for this spring, Fox says.