Roger Catlin | TV Eye

'Real World' Awards Bash

Ever been to one of those reunions where you didn't recognize anybody? It happened if you caught the more than 100 cast members of "The Real World" who gathered around a pool for an weird combination of awards show and roast. Held a couple weeks ago, an edited version premiered Wednesday on MTV.

It wasn't that the dozens of former cast members all looked so different, though some of them clearly did. It was more that you didn't know that many of them to begin with.

It was strange to have Jeffrey Ross, the comedian more often seen on "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" who sort of specializes in roast humor, hosting the event. Clearly the guests, all liquored up, didn't know where he was coming from as he cracked lines like  "Now you have one thing in common, complete and total obscurity."

But if "Real World" people didn't seem to know much about roast humor, they did understand fights. So they pushed him in the pool.  Pretty soon they just went to the awards. And with 10 nominees in every category and a clip to match, it took up a lot of the rest of the show.

Most who were awarded for things like Biggest Playa or Best Fight were embarrassed about their accomplishment. More than one chucked their award shaped like a fishbowl into the pool as well. But there was time to remember Pedro Zemora from the San Francisco cast who died shortly after that series ran, and the lesser known Frankie from San Diego who died last June from her cystic fibrosis.

Mostly, though, they paused to introduce the young looking cast for the upcoming season in Hollywood, who have learned only too well what's expected from them from the previous seasons.

Peabodys for Colbert, 'Dexter,' 'Mad Men' and '30 Rock'

"The Colbert Report," "Mad Men," "Dexter," "30 Rock" and "Project Runway" were among winners in the 67th annual Peabody Awards announced Wednesday.

The annual awards from the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication honoring the best in electronic media will be awarded June 16 at a ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York hosted by Brian Williams.

Largely, the awards went to documentary and news specials of 2007. But the entertainment awards went to Tina Fey's NBC comedy, the first season series about Madison Avenue advertising world circa 1960 from AMC, the dark and nuanced thriller from Showtime (that has lately been airing on CBS as well) and the venerable Heidi Klum-helmed reality competition for hopeful fashion designers. It's the first time a reality show has been so honored by the Peabodys.

Colbert, for his part, was called "one of electronic media's sharpest satirists." And a Peabody went, too, to the series on small town life in Upper Peninsula Michigan, "Nimrod Nation," that ran on Sundance Channel.

Discovery's popular "Planet Earth" series got a Peabody,

Personal reports from correspondent's seriously injured while covering Iraq won awards for ABC News' Bob Woodruff and his "Wounds of War" and for CBS News' Kimberly Dozier's "The Way Home." CBS' "60 Minutes" also won for its exposure of a deadly chapter in Iraq, "The Killings in Haditha."

CNN's controversial six-hour, three night "God's Warriors" from Christiane Amanpour was also a winner.

Even more controversial, "Taxi to the Dark Side," the Academy Award winning film on U.S. uses of torture that was dropped by the Discovery Channel, also got recognition with a Peabody. HBO picked it up for a screening it plans for September.

PBS did particularly well, with awards for its "Frontline" report "Cheney's Law"; the series "Craft in America," "Design Squad," an episode of "Nature" on the bee crisis; the "Nova" on intelligent design; the series "Art: 21" and two films that appeared on "Independent Lens," "Billy Strayhorn -- Lush Life" and "Sisters-In-Law" about female lawyers in Cameroon.

There were also some radio recipients as well including an episode of American Public Radio's "Speaking of Faith" featuring Persian poet Rumi; the series "Just Words" from the Center for Emerging Media; a retrospective of rockabilly "Whole Lotta Shakin'" from the Texas Heritage Music Foundation; Michael Tilson Thomas' series on music, "The MTT Files," and the quiz show "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me" from Chicago Public Radio.

The full list follows:

Jack Black SquarePants

Jack Black returned to host Nickelodeon’s raucous Kid’s Choice Awards Saturday, promising the "slimiest, starriest, chociest award show ever."

Because stars and choices are only two aspects of the show, that drew 88 million votes online, there was nearly as much emphasis on slime, the green goo that is something of the network’s trademark; it’s even marketed the stuff.

Black’s bit was to "become the slime" in a Zen kind of way; he then appeared on stage in a kind of slime superhero’s costume with white bottoms such that he looked a bit like Captain Underpants.

He was hyping up a big slime throwdown at the end, which made you think the awards themselves weren’t that much a big deal.

What was a big deal was hyping new projects for the big young audience. Black himself has an impending movie, and the reason Harrison Ford allowed himself to be doused by slime was because of the impending Indiana Jones sequel.

Ads during the show hyped summer movies like "Iron Man" and even fall Nick movies like "Gym Teacher."

The news of the event was probably that Disney stars did well, particularly Miley Cyrus who won favorite female singer and TV star (and also performed). The Jonas Brothers won favorite band.

It was one of those "must be present to win" awards shows (winners are all there but disappointed nominees never are), so winners in each category were kind of given away in the opening list of stars present. Eddie Murphy won favorite voice of an animated character, of course. Why else would he be there? Likewise, it was Jessica Alba who won favorite female star and she just happened to be there.

Here's a list of the winners Saturday:

The Awards Show They Didn't Promote

Showtime has been heavily promoting its big night next Sunday, when it premieres a new season of "The Tudors" alongside a very funny new series from Tracey Ullman.

But early this Sunday, on Easter nonetheless, the network quietly presented a big awards show it hadn't promoted at all. "The 25th AVN Awards," recorded Jan. 12 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas is the biggest showcase yet for the adult film awards show with categories we can't even repeat here (though you can imagine them; the winner in one category thanked, in part, all the vegetable oil it took to do it).

Greg Fitzsimmons, the comedian familiar from VH1's "Best Week Ever," who more recently was an on-screen comedy consultant on the ABC reality show "Here Come the Newlyweds," returned to host (with the kind of language he doesn't get to use on his other networks).

It was surprising how many names from the show were familiar from mainstream reality shows, from Ron Jeremy, the godfather of the industry, who has been on "Surreal Life," to Mary Carey, most recently on "Celebrity Rehab" (she was nominated for crossover star of the year, but don't worry, Dr. Drew, I didn't see her actually attend -- avoidance of the adult industry is supposed to be part of her new sober life).

The crossover award is named after Jenna Jamison, who said she was up for 52 awards this year, which may actually be possible. She popped up on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" because her boyfriend, fighter Tito Ortiz, was a contestant.

Jamison caused a stir by announcing a kind of career turning point at the event: "I will never ever ever spread my legs again in this industry ever."

People booed.

Stormy Daniels, who won the award, assured the audience, by contrast, "I’m going to spread my legs a little longer."

Clearly these were not the kind of speeches you expect at most awards shows.

Starlets ruled at the event -- the best new star, and best actress are the big awards. The men often accompanying the women to the podium were oafish jerks from morning radio from Bubba the Love Sponge to Artie Lange and even less well known names from Howard Stern (who for his part stayed away).

It's a little odd that Showtime dabbles in the porn awards about the time its profile is rising from shows like "Weeds," "This American Life" and "Californication." It has some history in this area though, running several seasons of "Family Business" about the empire of Seymour Butts (not present at the awards).

Because it was the 25th anniversary of the event, there were clips from past shows, which looked a little more lively and with more entertainment.

"The AVN awards," co host Tera Patrick said at the outset, "honors outstanding achievements in adult moviemaking as well as being an annual celebration of our freedom as Americans to choose what we want to watch. In the privacy of our own homes."

(On premium cable, she might have added).

And all that home viewing has taken a toll on the industry. The winner of the best film noted sadly that this would be the last year for its category -- by now there are more awards for DVDs or downloads or maybe mobisodes.

Just their luck: Now that porn movies have become mainstream enough to stage its award show on Showtime, they're doing away with the movies.

Decline and Fall of the Brits

There are times when England seems the very edge of music. This is not one of those moments, judging from the overdone pop stabs from a parade of unknowns that populated the Brit Awards 2008.

Recorded last month in London, it made its way to the states Sunday in a two-hour version on BBC America.

Even people who pride themselves on keeping up with the current sounds must have been left scratching their head at the crazy opening medley by a screeching pop singer named Mika, who when he wasn’t channeling disco seemed infected by Freddie Mercury poisoning.

On a set as fussy as his preening singing, Mika suddenly produced Beth Ditto, an American punk singer (with the Gossip) who is something of a star over there. Well good for her.

Mika for all his excess wasn’t just a joke performer. He was also winner of the British breakthrough act, in a year when pop was so big that old acts like Take That and Kylie Minogue came back (the former won best live act and best single in "Shine"), the latter best international female singer (who also had time to perform the second-rate Madonna imitation, "Wow").

Mark Ronson got his due, though, winning best male solo artist and performing a little set with critics award winning singer Adele, Daniel Merriweather and Amy Winehouse, who returned to sing another song (but took away no awards at all.). She wasn't even nominated for best female solo artist, the category Kate Nash won.

What’s big in England? Apparently the big voiced, ultimately vacuous pop of Leona Lewis, who performed and was up for a couple of categories. She’s a winner of Simon Cowell’s "The X-Factor."

Rock would seem on the wane. Kaiser Chiefs were the only band to properly perform, on a set where model buildings grew.

Klaxons played (in their odd Renaissaince fair duds) only to back Rhianna, there to sing "Umbrella" yet another time.

Yet Arctic Monkeys won two major awards: best British group and best album of the year. Wearing hunting outfits and having the laugh at the podium they couldn’t get through a single normal acceptance speech. And unfortunately, they were not invited to perform.

Other "international" winners were all from the states: Foo Fighters, winning two awards, and Kanye West winning best male (neither act were there to accept personally).

For a show that seems insistent in going forward, its hosts were total throwbacks – the Osbournes. Ozzy, Kelly, Jack and the overbearing Sharon.

And the headliner was Mr. Reliable, Sir Paul McCartney with songs couldn’t have been more different then the overproduced hokum that preceded them. Compared to them, his ukulele rave up "Dance Around" almost sounded quant. But when they heated up the fireworks for the next one, "Live and Let Die," the bombastic stagecraft almost seemed to fit in with Mika.

Oscar's Worst Ratings

Numbers fell precipitously for the 80th Academy Awards Sunday.

Traditionally the biggest entertainment show of the year, and second only to the Super Bowl in ratings (and in ad rates), the post-strike Oscars Sunday drew only an average of 29.16 million viewers – lower than the season opener of "American Idol."

Its 9.8 rating with a 23 share in the 18-49 demographic compared with a 14.1 rating and 33 share last year, when 40.17 million watched.

Sunday’s was the worst rating for the Oscars since Nielsen began tracking its watchers in 1974.

Was it the dark themes of the nominated features, or their relative lack of commercial success at the box office? The lingering after effects of the writers strike? The use of those incessant clips? Keeping the major awards until the final minutes? Jon Stewart’s hosting ability? Regis Philbin’s red carpet? Gary Busey?

Next year, they’ll probably get Ryan Seacrest to host.

Live Blogging the Oscars

The dark and distinctively American "No Country for Old Men" won top prizes at the 80th Academy Awards Sunday -- including best picture, and best best directing and screen adapatation of the Cormac McCartny novel.

But it came on a night when the Euros showed their strength over the American currency in Hollywoood by sweeping the acting awards at gala event.

Javier Bardem, who won best supporting actor for his role as a menacing hitman in "No Country for Old Men," was from Spain. England was the home of both Daniel Day-Lewis who won for his portrayal of a ruthless Texas oilman in "There Will Be Blood" and Tilda Swinton, who won best supporting actress for her role as an ethically challenged executive in "Michael Clayton." France's Marion Cotillard won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose."

Joel and Ethan Coen were largely as silent in characters in their sweeping "No Country for Old Men" in accepting the awards. The latter hardly spoke at all, while Joel Coen thanked the academy "for allowing us to continue to play in our corner of the sandbox." 

In winning best screen adaptation, Coen said, "Whatever success we’ve had in this area, had been entirely attribute to how is how selective we are. We’ve only adapted Homer and Cormac McCarthy.” 

The Odyssey was the basis for their "O Brother Where Art Thou"; the brothers previously won an Oscar for their original screenplay for 1996's "Fargo."

It was Diablo Cody, a first-time American screenwriter and former part time exotic dancer who won best original screenplay for the most successful of the nominated best films, "Juno."

But otherwise, the most of the major Oscars will have to go through customs to get home with their recipients.

In accepting his second career Oscar, Day-Lewis bowed before the presenter, Helen Mirren, who won best actress last year portraying "The Queen."

"That’s the closest I’ll ever come to getting a knighthood," he said, before thanking the director Paul Thomas Anderson and accepting on behalf of his grandfather, father and sons, noting, "I’ve been thinking a lot about fathers and sons in the course of this."

Though she had already won a Golden Globe for her part of the French songstress and icon, Cotillard was a bit of a surprise as best actress, winning over a field that included lone American Laura Linney, Brit Julie Christie, the Australian Cate Blanchett (nominated in two categories and ultimately losing in both) and young Canadian Ellen Page in "Juno."

"Thank you life! Thank you love!," Cotillard declared, trembling, after saying she was speechless. "It is true there are some angels in this city!"

A bit more expected -- in fact a lock in every office pool -- was Bardem's win. After all, he had already won  the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Award for his portrayal of the murderous, coin-flipping Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men."

"This is great honor for me to have this," he said in his rushed speech, half of which was taken up with thanking his mother in Spanish.

In the English portion, he said, "Thank you  to the Coens for being crazy enough to think I was crazy enough to do that and put one of the most horrible haircuts on history over my head."

The BAFTAS were a good indicator, it turned out at least in the supporting acting categories. Swinton's work in "Michael Clayton" previously won best supporting actress in London before it did Sunday in Hollywood, where she remarked how her statuette looked a lot like her agent and teased star George Clooney about wearing his "rubber batsuit from "Batman & Robin" every day on the set.

It was striking how many of the winners even in lesser categories were also accented artists from other countries, in categories for makeup ("La Vie en Rose"), art direction ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"), short action film ("Le Mozart des Pickpockets"), short animated film ("Pater & the Wolf").

Naturally, a foreigner even won best foreign languate film -- "The Counterfeiters" from Austria.

"The Bourne Ultimatum," it was notable, won three technical Oscars, -- film editing, sound editing and sound mixing. The only other award for "There Will Be Blood" came in cinematography.

The reinstatemennt of a gala event was courtesey of the settlement of the writers' strike just two weeks ago, something that dominated host Jon Stewarts' middling monologue. "The fight is over," he said. "So tonight, welcome to the makeup sex."

Stewart was cool in his delivery, having done this gig once before. But he wasn't quite on top of his game in terms of material -- an average night's "Daily Show" monologue is better.

In general, he got political only as it related to filmdom. Noting that films made about Iraq War have not done well at the boxoffice, Stewart recommended, "if we stay the course, and keep these movies in the theaters, we can turn this around. "

He also noted that Oscar is 80, which  "makes him automatically the front-runner for the Republican nomination.”

Settling the strike meant the show could attain its normal glamour and array of stars on the red carpet, where the biggest event was Gary Busey stalking Ryan Seacrest during his coverage on the E! network.

But it also meant the producers of the show didn't have to rely on a pile of edited historical pieces tying into the 80th anniversary that they said would have otherwise filled the show.

But it seemed right away they'd be using an awful lot of the filmed packages anyway. Each major award was preceded with a clip of former winners accepting. Past winners from Barbara Streisand to Sidney Potier reflected on past wins. There was a filmed bit on how exactly the Oscars get voted on -- something E! wouldn't have aired in the eight hours of pre-show they had to fill.

George Clooney introduced a segment concerning the history of the show itself. Jack Nicholson introduced a segment that ran down every one of the 79 previous best picture winners, delaying further the announcement of the 80th.

Jon Stewart made fun of this time wasting with his own clip compilations he said the show would have used, "Oscar's salute to Binoculars and Periscopes" and "Bad Dreams, an Oscar Salute." But he showed the clips anyway, noting that they weren't worth dimming the lights for.

Everyone got into the act, with an animated Jerry Seinfeld from the un-nominated "Bee Movie" presented his own clip compilation of bees in movies.

It was the fault not of the strike but of those making nominations that made another part of the telecast drag -- the traditional performance of every best song nominee -- three bland songs from "Enchanted"; the fourth, a bland gospel number from "August Rush." There was just one honest performance, by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, reprising their roles in "Once" to sing "Fallling Slowly," which won.

"What are we doing here, this is mad," Hansard said in accepting. "Thanks for taking this film seriously, all of ya." He was from across the pond, as well, from Ireland, where he is normally lead singer of the band The Frames.

Irglova had been cut off by the music, but Stewart graciously gave her the microphone after the commercial break. "This is such a big deal, not only for us, but for all other independent musicians that spend most of their time struggling," said Irglova, who is Czech. "The song was written from a perspective of hope. And hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are."

"Atonement" won best score -- it was by Dario Marianelli, an Italian.

Meltdown on the Red Carpet

Ryan Seacrest was just chatting with his co-host Guilana Rancic about their style of presentation on the red carpet on E!

"It's almost like the less prepared you are, the better," she said, blankly.

Their blase attitude about whatever happens happens was shattered when Gary Busey approached the diminutive host of "American Idol."

"Ryan! Ryan Seacrest!" the odd actor bellowed. "You! I've been looking for you for years!"

"Wha, what have I done?" he asked him.

"It's what you haven't done!" he answered ominously.

Seacrest was clearly rattled as he tried to continue his interview with Laura Linney and Jennifer Garner. 

He was asking the most important question of the red carpet show -- what they were wearing -- before Busey crashed in again to introduce himself and kiss the clearly weirded-out starlets.

When Busey left once more, Secrest tried to pretend it all hadn't happened, asking about how Garner fit in mommyhood, yada yada.

"Are you going to ask me about that man kissing me on the neck right now?" Garner wondered.

The two women left quickly and Busey invaded Seacrest's red carpet space a third time saying he wanted to talk more with him later. Seacrest let him go and said later it was one of the strangest thing that happened to him on live TV.

Already the guy was sweating because the rain on Hollywood Boulevard meant the block-long red carpet had to be entirely covered in plastic tenting, making it about 90 degrees under there with the lights and fuss.

Despite saying he hadn't planned anything, Seacrest brought a box of props as if he were Carrotop, giving Patrick Demsey and Amy Adams action figures of themselves and Katherine Heigel some dishwear. He also had a bunch of odd scraps of gossip to throw out, the most embarrassing of which was something about George Clooney supposedly buying his girlfriend a Malibu beachside house on the spot on Valentine's Day.

"First time I heard about it," Clooney said, saying the two of them had never been on a Malibu beach and in fact were in Las Vegas that day.

Such is the result when reality crashes in on E! style daily gossip, like Gary Busey on a red carpet.

Countdown to the Countdown

I realize there’s some pent-up drive to cover glitzy awards show after a strike season that dried up some of them but the first coverage of Oscar Sunday began at high noon on E!

In Los Angeles that means standing forlornly on the carpet at 9 a.m. yammering on about something that will take place eight hours later. And you’d think these second tier E! reporters would be the only people there, but no, there were early comers to the grandstands, other hapless reporters who caught the early shift – most likely there to secure places in the press line. They could be seen schlepping by lugging equipment while incessantly talking on cell phones.

These early shows were dependant on pre-packaged pieces, and E! did its homework with little segments on each of the nominated films. But the films themselves are becoming an increasingly smaller part of the event, as odd as that seems. So there was all kind of talk about fashion, makeup, jewelry and shoe trends and – for no reason whatsoever – cooking (a chef’s competition for best Oscar show snacks).

Debbie Matenopolous is insufferable as an anchor to these things. She kept bringing in models that had little to do with anything – a Victoria’s Secret march of probable Oscar undergarments, a weird runway show co-hosted by a reject from "Project Runway."

But there was also all manner of E! shows to promote, so there was a segment about getting the Kardashian sisters all decked out – not for the Oscars, but for the E! Oscar after-party (not so tough to score invites to that, apparently). Ben Lyons was used quite a bit as E! movie critic – his was the only content that actually had to do with film. But he too was forced to compete in Oscar predictions with the Olly Girls – the dimmest bulbs in the E! reality series "Sunset Tan," who make the "Girls Next Door" look like Rhodes Scholars.

Things weren’t much better on TV Guide network, which ran a countdown clock not to the Oscars but to the Red Carpet coverage by Joey Fatone and Lisa Renna. As if we couldn’t wait.

Holding down the fort before then is Chris Harrison, the sort of creepy host of "The Bachelor" who was no less creepy in his Hollywood banter. When Jessica Alba’s pregnancy was mentioned, he quipped: "There's a lot of rumors that I'm the father, but it's not true."

Charming.

First star on the red carpet, who got there even before the 6 p.m. red carpet shows was Louis Gossett Jr, arriving three hours before the event. Hope he packed a snack.

'Juno,' Girl

"Juno" won best picture, its Diablo Cody won best first screenplay and star Ellen Page snared best actress at Saturday night's freewheeling Independent Spirit Awards.

"Juno" was the favorite going in, with the most nominations and could serve as poster girl for indie moviemaking down to its indie soundtrack, except it has also made $150 million and is not only the most successful movie at the Independent Spirits, but also the biggest hit among the five best Oscar pictures that will be awarded the following night.

Hey even the foulmouthed host Rainn Wilson is a cast member, so maybe "Juno" had an edge all along.

Nonetheless, at the event that works as the cool alternate event to the stodgy Oscars the next night, Julian Schnabel won best director for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" from which Janusz Kaminski also won best cinematography; Tamara Jenkins won best screenplay for "The Savages," from which Philip Seymour Hoffman won best male lead.

Chiwetel Ejilfor won best supporting male for "Talk to Me." He won't win tomorrow, but Cate Blanchett, who won best supporting actress for her role (as a male) in "I'm Not There" might. The Todd Haynes film also won the Robert Altman Award.

The presentation of the Independent Spirit Awards on IFC came without censorship or commercial breaks. But from time to time we were reminded that one of the sponsors was Netflix, which seemed fitting because so many of the nominees and winners were things you wanted to jot down and rent just from the clips they showed, from "The Lookout" (best first feature) to "Crazy Love" (best documentary) to "August Evening" (John Cassavettes award).