This is 35 kinds of awesome.

Stephen Colbert appeared on Martha last Friday (repeated tonight at 8 on Fine Living Network) and now the video is available online (after the jump - might take a minute to load). Stephen and Martha talk about his new Christmas special and even make a mistletoe ball together. Colbert gets a lot of good lines in (when Martha says she's upset he didn't call her to be on the show, Colbert says he did and she told him "to go to hell") and it's just really funny to see Colbert's persona go up against Martha's prickly persona. It's also great how Colbert says a simple phrase like "hot fudge." (I love the part - and so does the audience - where Colbert puts glitter on the mistletoe part, though I think Martha is kinda ticked he's using so much.)

I want a red and green sweater with a giant "S" on it. Though I fear people will think I'm making some sort of Superman reference and not a Christmas reference.

Martha Stewart is re-purposing some of her craftier segments for a new series on DIY network. Her new show is called Martha Stewart Crafts and a press release from Marth Stewart Living Omnimedia describes it as a "best-of compilation". She'll be showing viewers how to do all sorts of things, from scrapbooking, hand-made gifts, holiday decorations, etc., etc.

The series premieres on Thanksgiving Day. So far, 39 episodes are scheduled. Each one will have a theme, but the content will be grabbed from segments she has already produced over the years on her various shows. Coinciding with the new show is a line of paper-based craft and storage products over at MarthaStewartCrafts.com.

I was going to do a post on how odd it was that Barry Manilow appeared on both Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray the other day, at the same time (live on Martha's and taped on Rachael's show), but one thing happened that I didn't realize when I was switching back and forth between each show.

Martha actually called Rachael out on it, live on the air!

According to the NY Post, Martha said this:

On the heels of the firing of her executive producer Rob Dauber comes word that NBC Universal has granted Martha a third season.

Oddly enough, the show is actually down 24% from the same time last season, which seems like a big number to me, but the article points out that it recently got the best ratings since May and the numbers in larger cities are going up as well. As for Rachael Ray and her new show, the ratings are very impressive. Maybe the 2007-08 season will be the ultimate Martha vs. Rachael battle. I'd like to see each of them on each other's shows. That would be worth watching.

I'm kinda glad that the show was renewed. It's not a show I watch every single day, but a world in which Martha Stewart doesn't have a TV show would be a weird world indeed.

[via TV Tattle]

Martha Executive Producer Rob Dauber has been fired from the show after several weeks of being at odds with the domestic diva.

The most interesting part of this story isn't that Dauber was fired, but that Mark Burnett is a producer of the show. I knew that he was the producer of Martha's version of The Apprentice, but I didn't know he was also doing her daily syndicated show. And Dauber? He worked with Burnett on The Restaurant, NBC's reality show for a couple of years ago. That was a show I really wanted to like, because I worked in the restaurant biz for many years, but it just got to be tedious and cringeworthy after a handful of episodes.

[via TV Tattle]

Are you a Martha Stewart person or a Rachael Ray person?

I don't know if it's on the par of Mac vs. PC or Coke vs. Pepsi, but when it comes to their TV shows, I think we lean towards either one or the other. They're on at the same time in the Boston area, and I've been watching them the past week to see what the differences are, what their strengths are, their weaknesses, etc. Here's my special investigative report.

Oh, I wish I had this on tape.

Andy Dick was the guest on Martha Stewart's show today, and it was...surreal. When she announced that he was on the show, the first thing I thought of was, who booked him? She's actually going to have a conversation with Andy Dick? They're actually going to let him handle sharp knives and glue guns? This was going to be some interesting daytime television.

I'm not one to buy books about crafts and home decorating or entertaining. Oh, I'll buy recipe books of course, but not those Martha Stewart ones where she not only tells you how to make an appetizer, but also how to build the tray it's served on, the table you put them on, and maybe even how to decorate the room you're serving them in. Having said that, I'm buying Amy Sedaris' new book, I Like You: Hospitality Under The Influence the moment I get through typing this.

It's a book of recipes and crafty type things, but written and presented in a very Amy Sedaris type of way. Amy Sedaris Rocks has all the details, including an interview, some recipes from the book, pictures, an audio sample, and news on the book tour. Alas, she's not coming to the Boston area. I guess I can take a plane to see her in Minnesota. Right, Adam?

Sedaris will also be on Letterman this Friday night.