Hosts Alec Baldwin/Steve Martin. abc.com photo

The Oscars breed trivia of all sorts. Who won, who lost, who did they wear, what did they say?

But what about the hosts? This year’s duo, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, will be attracting much more attention than, say, the cinematography winner. Did their jokes work? Did they work well together? Will they sing? Will they dance? Might they wear something other than standard issue tuxedos during the long and winding night?

The Sunday, March 7th telecast on ABC will mark the 82nd annual Academy Awards ceremony. Over the years, many hosts have done so multiple times. Others, including David Letterman, have never been asked back. So let’s take a closer look via a Q&A in which yours truly will both ask and answer some questions that hopefully will have you saying, “Hey, I didn’t know that.”

Has any solo Oscar host ever actually won an Oscar before accepting the job?

Yes, but it’s a rarity. The last host with an Oscar on the mantle was Whoopi Goldberg, in 2002. She had earlier won for best supporting actress in the 1990 film Ghost.

The 1985 solo host, Jack Lemmon, had won two Oscars at that point, for 1955’s Mister Roberts and 1973’s Save the Tiger. Plus, in 1963, Frank Sinatra presided over the Oscars after winning in 1953 for his supporting role in From Here to Eternity. And that’s all, folks.

Who’s hosted the most?

That record likely will always belong to Bob Hope, who presided 11 times by himself and another seven times with other hosts. Billy Crystal is No. 2 on the list with eight solo acts.

Women, on the other hand, have very seldom been asked to emcee the Oscars without any male accompaniment. Goldberg is the runaway record-holder, with four stand alone appearances as host. The only other woman who can say as much is Ellen DeGeneres, whose sole appearance to date was as 2007’s solo host.

What’s the funniest opening line from a host?

I’ve always been partial to Chevy Chase, who began the 1987 shebang with, “Good evening, Hollywood phonies.”

Johnny Carson gets the consolation prize for his 1979 greeting to the assembled Hollywood phonies. “I see a lot of new faces,” he deadpanned, “especially on the old faces.”

Was David Letterman really that bad when he hosted the 1995 Oscars?

Ya know, he really wasn’t. But Letterman then immediately began beating himself up night after night on his CBS Late Show, fostering the impression that he had utterly bombed. On his first post-Oscars late nighter, he told viewers, “Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised.”

In reality, the Letterman-hosted Oscars had the highest ratings in more than a decade, perhaps helped a bit by the popularity of the best picture winner, Forrest Gump. Still, everybody seems to remember his “Oprah/Uma, Uma/Oprah” riff, directed at the less than amused Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman. And Letterman’s done nothing to dissuade them.

Baldwin and Martin should be good together. But when was the last time the Oscars had more than one host?

It was back in 1987, when Chase shared the stage with Goldie Hawn and Paul Hogan. And in 1989 there was no official host at all, the last time that’s happened.

Who hasn’t hosted yet who should?

In his prime, I would have said Robin Williams. But it’s likely too late for that now. Tina Fey also might be a terrific choice, especially since women have had so few opportunities. But the optimum Oscar host, in this day and age, would be George Clooney. And I think someday he will.

]]> http://www.locatetv.com/blog/oscar-hosts-often-are-remembered-more-than-most-winners/feed/ 0 http://www.locatetv.com/blog/british-imports-are-gifts-that-keep-on-giving-with-more-to-come/ http://www.locatetv.com/blog/british-imports-are-gifts-that-keep-on-giving-with-more-to-come/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:34:51 +0000 Ed Bark http://www.locatetv.com/blog/?p=2008

Regis Philbin/ABC photo

Where would American TV be without an ongoing British invasion from hitmakers other than The Beatles or The Stones?

Well, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox all would be without their most popular — and most profitable — unscripted series.

We bring this up because another long-running United Kingdom show, Who Do You Think You  Are?, launches on NBC this Friday, with former Friends star Lisa Kudrow as its executive producer. Perhaps you’ve also heard that Simon Cowell will be leaving American Idol after this season to helm and star in The X Factor when it materializes on Fox in fall 2011.

One or both of these series may end up being a long-distance runner in the U.S. But they’ve both got miles to go before matching the successes of our Top 10 list of most successful British imports. Let’s start counting them down.

10. America’s Got Talent (NBC) — Cowell’s got his fingers in this one, too, although he’s not an on-camera presence. America’s runaway most popular summertime series will return for a fifth season in June with Howie Mandel replacing self-destructive David Hasselhoff as one of the judges. Cowell created the show, but an intended British version, Paul O’Grady’s Got Talent, never got off the ground. Britain’s Got Talent eventually premiered a year after the American version.

9. Sanford and Son (NBC) — Aging standup comic Redd Foxx became a huge TV star as cantankerous, lecherous junkyard owner Fred Sanford in a sitcom that ran from 1972-’77 and ranked among prime-time’s 10 most popular shows for five consecutive seasons. It originated as the long-running Steptoe and Son, first telecast in the UK in 1962. Wilfrid Brambell starred as the foul-mouthed Albert Edward Ladysmith Steptoe.

8. Big Brother (CBS) — Still a star player in CBS’ summertime lineup, the low-overhead U.S. version launched on July 5, 2000. Julie Chen remains as host, and she’s pretty much cemented in place as the wife of CBS chairman Leslie Moonves. The original Big Brother was first seen in The Netherlands, but didn’t become a hit until its UK incarnation a year later.

7. Three’s Company (ABC) — The late John Ritter burst into prominence as pretend gay guy Jack Tripper, whose sexy roommates were played by Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt. Premiering in 1977, it spent six straight seasons in prime-time’s top 10. The original British version, Man About the House, dawned in 1973 and starred Richard O’Sullivan as Robin Tripp.

Archie Bunker: Buy at Allposters.com

6. The Office (NBC) — Ricky Gervais immortalized himself as imperious boss David Brent in the classic British original, which premiered in 2001 and ran for two seasons and 12 episodes, plus a Christmas special. NBC has gotten a bit more mileage out of its Emmy-winning version, currently in its sixth season. Steve Carell has very ably picked up the Gervais baton as clueless bossman Michael Scott. Never a mega-hit in the U.S., The Office nonetheless is one of the few continuing bright spots on the problem-plagued Peacock.

5. Survivor (CBS) — It’s now celebrating its 10-year anniversary and 20th edition in the U.S. with an all-star Heroes vs. Villains go-around. And CBS already has ordered two more of ‘em, which will take Survivor through the 2010-’11 TV season. The show never developed into a hit in the UK, but its creator is Britisher Charlie Parsons, who devised the concept way back in 1992. It first appeared in Sweden under the title Expedition Robinson.

4. Dancing with the Stars (ABC) — This one was borrowed from the hit British series Strictly Come Dancing, which premiered in 2004 and is still hoofing and puffing. ABC launched its version a year later, with soap opera star Kelly Monaco emerging as the first celebrity champ. A 10th edition is coming on March 22nd. Contestants this time around range from reality TV star Kate Gosselin (Jon & Kate Plus 8) to reigning Olympic men’s figure skating champion Evan Lysacek.

3. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (ABC) — No series has ever dominated U.S. prime-time TV to this extent, although its reign was short-lived. Hosted by Regis Philbin, whose “Is that your final answer?” became a much-parroted tagline, Millionaire ranked one, two, three in the prime-time ratings during the 1999-2000 TV season. ABC then got even greedier, expanding the franchise to four editions that rated third, fourth, eighth and 11th in the following season. But over-exposure and tinkering with the format quickly deflated Millionaire’s ratings and knocked it off the air after the June 17, 2002 telecast. A daytime syndicated version is still humming, though, with the Today show’s Meredith Vieira as host. The original Millionaire premiered in the UK in 1998, with host Chris Tarrant at the controls. Its never-used working title was Cash Mountain. Kinda like that, though.

2. All In the Family (CBS) — Archie Bunker, played by the late Carroll O’Connor, may be the most iconic TV character in U.S. history. Bigoted, boisterous and occasionally semi-enlightened, he drove this groundbreaking comedy to unprecedented ratings heights. All In the Family was prime-time’s No.1-rated series from the 1971-’72 through the 1975-’76 seasons. Its eventual spin-off, Archie Bunker’s Place, also prospered as a Top 20 show for three seasons. The Jeffersons, Maude and Good Times all were headed by characters who first appeared on All In the Family. It all began, though, with the British series Till Death Do Us Part, which ran from 1965-’75 and also spawned a successful spin-off, In Sickness And In Health. The original Archie Bunker was a character named Alf Garnett, played by Warren Mitchell.

1. American Idol (Fox) — It originated in the UK as Pop Idol, which debuted in 2001 and gave way to The X Factor in 2004. Fox began cashing in on Idol during the summer of 2002, with inaugural champ Kelly Clarkson eventually becoming a pop superstar. The two — and sometimes three — weekly editions of Idol have ranked at the very top of the ratings ever since, with the show currently in Season 9. Other successful Idol alumni include Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daughtry and Clay Aiken. But can the show survive the acerbic Cowell’s departure after this season? And who will be his replacement? Stay tuned.

The silver screen is jam packed with new releases this month, most notably Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, The Bounty Hunter and Hot Tub Time Machine.

The Bounty Hunter is due for release on the 19^th this month; it’s an action rom-com that leads bounty hunter, Gerard Butler to track down his bail-hoppping ex-wife, Jennifer Aniston. All is not so simple though, as they continually strive to ‘up’ one another and end up running for their lives!  A must-see movie this month which caters for the guys as well as the girls.

More March Movie Releases: 

Brooklyn’s Finest, Green Zone, Remember Me, She’s Out Of My League, Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, The Runaways, Repo Men, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Our Family Wedding, How To Train Your Dragon.

This month sees the 2010 Oscar awards on March 8^th. Avatar and The Hurt Locker are leading with a staggering 9 nominations each and Inglorious Basterds with 8. Meryl Streep has been nominated for a record-breaking 16^th time and Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) is the fourth woman ever nominated for Best Director. So, what’s your money on? Don’t miss the fun, the Oscar dresses, the red carpet and the speeches, all on ABC at 8pm.

Brand new series V is released this month. It’s a fantastic re-make of the sci-fi ‘80’s series created by Kenneth Johnson. The drama unfolds as aliens arrive on earth, bearing superior technology. Don’t miss Elizabeth Mitchell and Morris Chestnut defend our Earth against these surreptitious aliens.

Two Dreadful Children is released this month, the FOX animated comedy series circles round a redneck family with evil twins! And new series Sons of Tucson, sees Tyler Labine act as a father toward 3 wealthy boys who rope him into the role when their own father is jailed.  Look out for brand new series: Parenthood, The Pacific, Jessica Simpson: The Price of Beauty and Planet Sheen, Who Do You Think You Are, High Society, Justified and Fly Girls this month too, new stuff to keep you entertained!

Law and Order:Criminal Intent

It’s never out with the old when in with the new in TV land, and March doesn’t disappoint those hunkering after new seasons of their ‘old’ favourites! Flash Forward is back on the 18^th, the fresh sci-fi series will be airing 14 episodes as well as the opener and the finale as 2-hour instalments! 10 Things I Hate About You will also return on ABC Family on March 29^th and brand new episodes of Law and Order: Criminal Intent will premiere as season 9 on the 30^th.

More new Seasons for March: 

Southland, Rules of Engagement, The Boondocks, Nurse Jackie, Breaking Bad, Sonny With A Chance, Saving Grace, The Apprentice, Dancing With The Stars, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,  

There are more new sports events this month too – the NASCAR Sprint series, WWE Raw Live, the first round of the Davis Cup and the Paralympics in Vancouver are just a few to mention! Don’t miss out on cheering on your favourite team and getting into the spring sporting spirit!

Enjoy a jam-packed March – just don’t get square-eyes now!

Steph W

Top of the mornin’ to ya! Shwmae! Or Hello Locaters! It’s gonna be a rather patriotic month this March with St. David’s Day and St.Patrick’s Day and it’s not going to be hard to stay loyal toward your TV either as March is full to the brim with new series, specials and films to entertain you all.

Alice in Wonderland

The eagerly awaited Alice in Wonderland is released on the 5^th! Tim Burton’s adaptation of the classic stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Alan Rickman to name but a few of it’s glittering cast. I for one can’t wait to grab an XXL tub of popcorn (which will probably be finished before the trailers end!) and take in Burton’s eccentric and stunning characters and visual effects.

March Movies not to miss:

Green Zone, She’s Out Of My League, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, How To Train Your Dragon, Crazy Heart, The Bounty Hunter, Shutter Island, I Love You Phillip Morris, Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang and The Blind Side.

March is also celebrating film by the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards (The Oscars to you and me!) Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will be presenting the awards where 50 Oscar statuettes will be given out to the winners of 24 competitive categories. So who will be walking out with one of ‘those’ awards? Mr. Clooney? The UK’s own Dame Mirren? Matt Damon? The bets are on!

Derek Luke

It’s that time of year to get up, get out and do something for Sport Relief. Are you being sponsored? Taking part in a competition? Well you can see the fruits of your cash raising power by watching Sport Relief, broadcast March 19^th – 21^st. The appeal show is on BBC1 and 2, March 19^th at 7pm as well as Let’s Dance for Sports Relief which begins this Saturday on BBC 1 and Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man on the 4^th BBC 3.  So, on your bike and raise some cash!

If you’re all out of steam from all that Sport Relief activity, then have no fear as there are plenty of new series you can relax to this month. The Gemma Factor, a new comedy drama starring Anna Gilthorpe is released on BBC3 on the 9^th and Trauma will be out in the UK on the 1^st. This action-packed series sees a San-Francisco based paramedic’s team face medical emergencies starring Derek Luke, Anastasia Griffith and Taylor Kinney.

New TV series and documentaries for Marvellous March:

A-Z of Bad Boys’ Wheels, Pethe,

Lambing Live, A Band For Britain, Inside John Lewis, Women, Generation Jihad, Music Academy 2010, Wonders Of The Solar System, The British Family, Generation XXL, Single, Together, Whatever, Who Are We?, Fake Britain, Undercover Princesses, New Directors, Stunt Stars, House Guest in the Sun, GBH, Into The Pride, Castle Farm, Manhunt: Search for a Killer, Country House Cooking Contest, Dirty, Sexy, Funny: Olivia Lee, Space Hoppers.

There’s another excuse for patriosm this month as your teams will still be playing. The 6 Nations Rugby gives you Scotland vs England on the 13^th and France vs England on the 20^th, the Davis Cup will begin its first round and the Cheltenham Festival starts on the 16^th. Don’t forget the international friendlies too with England vs Egypt on the 3^rd and the beginning of the England Cricket tour, starting in Bangladesh on the 2^nd.

Enjoy the delights that March TV has to offer!

Steph W

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Melody Gardot/Sundance Channel photo

Unduly imperiled for a while, the much-venerated Abbey Road Studios seem to be on safe ground again after the British government wisely bestowed protected status as a historic building.

This good news comes just in time for Sundance Channel’s third season U.S. premiere of Live From Abbey Road, which returns on Friday, Feb. 26th at 8 p.m. eastern time.

The first  of 12 new weekly hours is a tribute to The Beatles’ Abbey Road album, released 40 years ago. Participants include Seal, Counting Crows, Matchbox Twenty and Sugarland. But the standout interpretations of tunes from  Abbey Road are done by the lesser known Melody Gardot and Paloma Faith.

Also on hand is Sir George Martin, the venerable and now deservedly legendary Beatles producer. He agreeably gabs a bit between performances, initially reminiscing about the album’s famed cover, in which the four Beatles traversed the nearby “zebra crosswalk.”

“I don’t know who had the idea, but it was a very simple one,” Martin says. It also was “just coincidence” that Paul McCartney was barefooted, triggering rumors of his death that thankfully took wing before the Internet age. Martin of course says he was irked by such nonsense. But imagine what would happen today.

Martin later recalls what a rotten time everyone had recording Let It Be, which subsequently was shelved for a while and became the last Beatles album released. He agreed to produce Abbey Road only after McCartney assured him that everyone would get along, Martin says. “We all kind of knew that this was going to be our last album. And we made it a very happy one.”

The program has no archival footage of the Beatles recording at Abbey Road Studios. But viewers can glimpse the very first session in 1931. The artists were Sir Edward Elgar & the London Symphony Orchestra, all of them in formal wear.

Martin notes that producers used to wear suits and ties in the earlier days while engineers were all in white coats for recording sessions. It’s loosened up a bit since.

The special’s first of eight performances is from Seal, who does a nice job with “Something” before yielding to Counting Crows’ interpretation of “The Huge Melody” (”Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End”).

Perhaps this somehow hit the cutting room floor. But the Crows’ very abbreviated version is without the signature guitar riff exchanges among McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. That’s a bit like leaving Roger Daltrey’s primal scream out of “Don’t Get Fooled Again.” So all in all, this is the show’s most disappointing reincarnation.

On the other hand, Matchbox Twenty adds a rousing jam to the end of “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.” Throwing in this kitchen sink turns out to be a great idea. More, more.

Gardot earlier contributes a dreamily beautiful version of “Because.” But Faith has the show-stopper, which fittingly closes the program. Wearing an ornate black dress and high-feathered matching hat, she prances her way through a hard-driving “You Never Give Me Your Money.” Three female backup singers add to the ambience, with a broadly grinning Faith concluding, “That was better than expected.”

Except for Matchbox Twenty, all of the opening hour’s featured artists will return in future episodes during Season 3. Live From Abbey Road also will have performances from the likes of Green Day (March 19), Lyle Lovett (April 9) and Michael Buble (the May 14 season-ender).

“There’s a sacredness to all of this,” Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles says of recording at Abbey Road.

Re-interpreting The Beatles can make it all the more daunting. And as always, some artists fare better than others at bringing it all home.

Simon Cowell/Fox photo

Simon Cowell still bends ears without even trying. It’s good to be king in your last season on television’s kingpin.

“It’s very, very flattering, and I really do appreciate it,” he says when it’s suggested he might be irreplaceable on Fox’s American Idol. “But like I said before, the show goes on. I’m going to be sad when it all ends. But it’s much nicer to be popular than unpopular.”

Cowell is on the receiving end of a heavily populated teleconference that lasts just 20 minutes. No personal questions are allowed and only one to a customer, please. It goes by in a hurry, with even Cowell remarking on the brevity of it all before adding, “I hope we cleared up a lot of the rumors.”

That’s an impossibility. But Cowell does make an effort to put out a few fires, including his supposedly rocky start with new judge Ellen DeGeneres and reports that the self-aggrandizing Howard Stern might be his successor.

“I know Howard’s name has been in there for awhile, but I’m fairly certain there hasn’t been an approach at any time for Howard to do the show,” Cowell says.

What about Perez Hilton? Cowell laughs but then says, “That could work.”

He later throws out Madonna’s name, but only to refute it.

“It will never happen, because it has to be a massive, massive time commitment” to be an Idol judge, he says.

DeGeneres, whose time currently is split between her own daytime talk show and Fox’s juggernaut, reportedly was miffed when Cowell allegedly shows up an hour late for one of Idol’s audition rounds.

“The truth is I showed up about 15 minutes late” after doing a press conference, he says. “There was no fallout” with DeGeneres.

Cowell emphasizes that his replacement ideally should have “managerial experience” in the music industry. “You’ve got to know what you’re talking about,” he says, noting that too many uninformed “personalities” are being named as judges on talent competitions. “Over the long run, that’s going to be a problem.”

A questioner later wonders whether that might be a veiled slap at DeGeneres. Cowell says he was thinking the very same thing as the words came out of his mouth. But no, DeGeneres was a good choice because “she is very responsible for (picking) the people who have been performing on her show. And she loves music. And she is an artist.”

Idol still uses music stars as “mentors” during some of its live performing rounds, which start next week with the show’s 24 semi-finalists singing against one another before viewers begin voting them off. Cowell has a dream mentor in mind.

“I think we should have Lady Gaga because she is the most relevant pop artist in the world at the moment,” he says. “So she should be No. 1 and she’s very smart. I like her.”

After this ninth season of Idol, Cowell will turn his attention to a U.S. version of The X Factor, scheduled to premiere on Fox in the fall of 2011. He’ll be both an executive producer and judge on the show, which has no age limits on competitors and allows groups to compete.

Until then, “I want to go out on a high” with Idol, he says. “I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.”

OK, fine. But the questions about his successor continue. Cowell, who made his reputation on being bluntly caustic, says he doesn’t want someone who is “gratuitously rude. I’m really getting tired of that now . . . The good news for them (Fox) is there is no shortage of candidates.”

The bad news for questioners is that Cowell won’t bite on who his personal choice might be.

“If I really knew the answer to that question, I wouldn’t tell you,” he says. But in a nice way.

Buy Poster at Allposters.com

Adapted from a long-running UK series — what else is new? — the upcoming U.S. version of Who Do You Think You Are? otherwise comes from an out-of-the-ordinary source.

The NBC series, premiering March 5th after the Winter Olympics, is from former Friends star Lisa Kudrow and her Is or Isn’t Entertainment company.

Kudrow, in a teleconference with TV writers, says she first saw an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? while vacationing in Ireland.

“And I wondered why we don’t get to have that show in the U.S.,” she recalls.

The celebrity-driven genealogy series premiered in 2004 on the BBC and has been picked up for an eighth season. NBC has ordered seven episodes of its version, which begins with Sarah Jessica Parker taking what the network describes as “not one, but two awe-inspiring journeys” to Northern California and then Salem, Massachusetts.

Kudrow herself is the subject of the third episode (on March 19th), in which she travels to Belarus to uncover her family’s history with the Holocaust. She knew, from her father, Lee, that her great grandmother, Meri, had been murdered by the Nazis. But she had never been to the site of the atrocities.

“In some ways I was in denial for a long time,” Kudrow says. “My family, they got out. They didn’t go through any of this. So I didn’t feel like investigating it . . . I was afraid just to explore the massacre of my great grandmother and her friends and neighbors. I was afraid of what I would feel.”

Kudrow’s father had researched much of his family’s past, but unanswered questions remained. Who Do You Think You Are? solves most of the puzzle, with Lee Kudrow telling his daughter at episode’s end, “You did good. You did good.”

Might her dad be more impressed with her diligence in this endeavor than with her signature role as Phoebe Buffay on Friends?

“I think he felt I did this for myself, but also for him,” Kudrow says. “I didn’t audition for Friends for my father. But this is something that’s a gift to him. I think that’s how he felt about it anyway. He was getting all this information he didn’t have after working so hard on it. He also knew that it was hard what I did. He got pretty emotional because he was seeing me in pain.”

Kudrow says that she and and her production company partner, Dan Bucatinsky, “initially went to friends to see if they were interested” in tracing their family trees for the purpose of a TV show. “And a lot of them said, ‘Sure.’ ”

No former Friends castmates are in the first seven episodes, but that’s a possibility if NBC renews the series, Kudrow says. Besides Kudrow and Parker, the participants are Matthew Broderick, Emmitt Smith, Brooke Shields, Spike Lee and Susan Sarandon.

Research was done beforehand, to ensure that the celebrity’s family history was interesting enough to entertain a television audience. Otherwise, “they’re all learning as they’re going along,” Kudrow says. “That’s why everyone was nervous.”

She emphasizes that the series is life-affirming and inspirational, a trait not always associated with reality TV programming.

“We’re not looking for dirt on anyone,” Kudrow says. “We’re not looking to make anyone cry. We’re just giving them information that they never knew about before. Susan Sarandon, she didn’t fall apart at all.”

NBC is giving Who Do You Think You Are? a heavy dose of promotion during its Olympics telecasts, which so far are drawing 25 percent more viewers than the 2006 Winter Games from Torino, Italy.

“More is better in getting the word out to the audience that a show is going on,” Kudrow says. “I love that NBC is getting back to basics and putting on quality programming. I just want them to shout it from the mountaintop.”

And during the Winter Olympics especially, that’s decidedly do-able.

The network’s telecasts of the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver begin with Friday’s opening ceremonies and stretch all the way to Feb. 28th. This means that sizable numbers of viewers actually will be watching NBC and perhaps even taking note of the new shows the network will be launching after the Olympics subside.

It’s not true that Jay Leno’s ample chin will be used for the ski jump competitions. But U.S. viewers otherwise can expect to see a lot of him during commercial breaks. The Tonight Show is anything but new. But Leno’s return to host it for a second time — beginning on March 1st — will be one of next month’s biggest news stories.

Can he go home again — and resume outdrawing CBS’ competing Late Show With David Letterman? Or has Dave entrenched himself as the new late night king after thumping Conan O’Brien? NBC no doubt will be using its Olympics promotional platform to re-sell and hopefully re-position Leno as a man for all seasons.

The Peacock also will be making Olympics viewers well aware of The Marriage Ref, a new “comedy panel” show whose principal executive producer is Jerry Seinfeld. It will be “sneak-previewed” following the Feb. 28th closing ceremonies before moving to Thursdays at 10 p.m. (eastern) as one of the replacement hours for The Jay Leno Show. Seinfeld will be making periodic on-camera appearances, but the Ref in the title is comedian Tom Papa.

During a recent interview session with TV critics, Seinfeld said there’ll be no intrinsic therapeutic value to Marriage Ref, in which celebrities debate the merits of couple squabbles before Papa makes the final call. In one instance, it’s an argument over whether a deceased pet dog should be stuffed.

“There’s no fighting fair,” Seinfeld said. “There’s just fighting. It’s fighting funny. That’s what we are interested in.”

Celebrity guests — who will be weighing the pros and cons of arguments — include Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria, Charles Barkley, Tina Fey and Larry David.

NBC also will using the Olympics as a platform for Who Do You Think You Are?, which premieres on Friday, March 5th at 8 p.m. after originally establishing itself in the UK.

The seven-episode series, which takes various celebrities on “a journey through their family tree,” likewise has a famous TV star behind the camera. Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame is one of the show’s executive producers, and also will be featured in the March 19th episode. The other participating celebrities are Sarah Jessica Parker, her husband, Matthew Broderick, Emmitt Smith, Brooke Shields, Susan Sarandon and Spike Lee.

Another new NBC series, Parenthood, debuts on Tuesday March 2nd at 10 p.m. Co-executive producer Ron Howard not only helmed the 1989 movie headed by Steve Martin but also sold NBC on a short-lived 1990 TV series starring the likes of Ed Begley, Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio and David Arquette.

The latest Parenthood, which probably could use a marriage ref, features Lauren Graham, Peter Krause and Bonnie Bedelia.

Finally, the Olympics likely will find ample promotional time for Minute to Win It, a new big money game show premiering at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 14th and hosted by Food Network personality Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives).

NBC will sell all of these newcomers, plus Leno’s Tonight Show return, as surefire gold medalists with widespread audience appeal. After all, that’s the way the Games are played.

According to the Beatles, ‘All you need is love’ but come February 14^th you may find your sweetheart is looking for a little something more. So you’ve got the standard card and chocolates, perhaps you’ve planned a romantic meal, but how to set the mood? Well that’s where our love of TV comes in! LocateTV has poured our hearts into your Valentine’s weekend viewing and has picked out our top 10 movies and shows airing this holiday for the loved up and the loveless. Pucker up for some sexy TV…

1. French Kiss is a rom-com starring Meg Ryan and Kevin Klein. After Kate’s (Ryan) heart is broken when her fiance leaves her for someone else, she goes on a trip across France with an unlikely stranger to win back her man, not realising she is falling for someone else instead. Get ready for some French kissing!

French Kiss

2. The Holiday is a great pick-me-up for all those women who are down in their luck in the love department. After suffering heartbreak, Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Iris (Kate Winslet) agree to swap houses (that are on either sides of the pond). Both have a second chance at love in their respective new homes courtesy of Jude Law and Jack Black.

The Holiday

3. Sextistics: Your Love Life is a guide on how to maintain a healthy relationship with your partner, or how to find your one true love if you’re single. The statistics include divorce rates, number of sexual partners and orgasms. Oooh la la!

Sextistics: Your Love Life

4. I Love You, Man – bromance starring Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. For all the heterosexual dudes out there who want that special bond, you may want to take some tips from these guys. Rudd plays Peter, a newly engaged man who realises he actually has no male friends and is on the hunt for a best man.

I Love You, Man

5. Tiger Wood’s sordid love affairs shocked the world in December last year, with countless women coming forward saying they have slept with the world’s No.1 golfer. The life he did away from has been made into a documentary entitled The Secret Life of Tiger Woods. I wonder who he will be sharing Saint Valentine’s Day with…

The Secret Life of Tiger Woods

6. Romantic comedy from 1959, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Pillow Talk (no it’s not THAT kind of pillow talk!) is about two individuals sharing the use of a phone line and disagreeing on who gets to use it when. Doesn’t sound romantic huh? It’s a classic example of a love-to-hate relationship where love ultimately prevails.

Pillow Talk

7. February 14^th is not everyone’s favourite time of the year. Love is all around and for some people it makes them feel nauseous. If you’d rather see the red of blood instead of red hearts and roses, the anti-Valentine horror flick, Valentine is right up your street. Starring Denise Richards and David Boreanaz.

Valentine

8.  Mr & Mrs Smith. The chemistry and sexual tension between the stars of this rom-com is undeniable, making it one sexy movie full of action, love and well, assassination attempts! Sounds like a normal couple to me! Unconventional rom-com starring the famous couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Mr & Mrs Smith

9. Do you dream of having a white wedding with that special person who is cuddled up on the sofa next to you? Need some inspiration or want to drop a huge hint? Platinum Weddings follows couples as they plan extravagant weddings. It’s the ultimate reality show marathon for the budding bride-to-be.

Platinum Weddings

10. OK so here is our last choice. For those love birds and singletons out there who want to watch their favourite medical drama, check out Grey’s Anatomy with the episode entitled Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 6 Episode 14

Ah amore! Get reminders for these and much more this Valentine’s Day at LocateTV!

LOVE, Ayla & Susie