the late shift
Tom Bergeron: A Man's Guest Spot Is His 'Castle'
'Dancing With the Stars' main man Tom Bergeron is playing Bobby Mann -- a late night talk show host who gets canceled permanently on the April 12 episode of 'Castle,' which airs on ABC immediately after the 'DWTS' two-hour performance show. It's up to series star Nathan Fillion and his TV detective partner, played by Stana Katic, to find out who killed Bobby. AOL spoke with Bergeron, who weighed in on 'Castle,' the current -- and arguably most-talked about -- cast of 'Dancing With the Stars,' and how he handles those pesky TMZ.com interviews.
Read the interview after the jump.
'The Late Shift 2': Who Should Play Whom?
News that New York Times reporter Bill Carter is working on a pseudo-sequel to his groundbreaking book The Late Shift' made a smile creep across my face. I haven't yet read the book, but the buzz it caused and the weird stories that came out of it just by word of mouth gave it an aura of mysterious wonder that made the television industry infinitely more fascinating than it already was. It also spawned a pretty decent made-for-TV HBO movie. Now I don't know what kind of craziness "Round Two" has to offer, but the players involved are definitely going to have all sorts of wild secrets revealed from Carter's work and when it does, HBO is going to want the movie rights. So here's who should play who in this new tragic merry-go-round of television programming hilarity that shall be called 'The Late Shift 2'.
New 'Late Shift' Book in the Works
If you've never read the 1994 book 'The Late Shift' by New York Times media writer Bill Carter, you've missed one of the great television books. It's a fascinating, odd, and most importantly, true (truth really is stranger than fiction when it comes to late night) look at the late night wars (the first one, not the second) that happened after Johnny Carson left 'The Tonight Show.' Now Carter says he's working on a sequel.Carter told Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's 'Countdown' (video after the jump) that he couldn't tell him everything about what's going on in late night because he had to leave something for the book. He then said a sequel was in the works. If it's anything like the first one it will be a must-read.
'The Late Shift' was made into a goofy but entertaining film starring John Michael Higgins as Dave and Daniel Roebuck (Arzt on 'Lost') as Jay.
TV Squad Ten: The best movies about television

As much as there have been movies about the theater and movies about movies, the films that have been made about television are some of the best ever. This year alone, there are two movies nominated for Best Picture of the year by the Academy Awards that are all about television -- Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon. Without TV, neither of these films would exist. Looking back, here are the films about TV that set the standards by which Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon are measured.
Letterman speaks up for Leno
While NBC is carefully plotting Jay Leno's exit from The Tonight Show, David Letterman is talking about staying on the CBS Late Show beyond 2010. And since the subject of Leno came up, Dave thinks the guys at NBC are nuts to treat Jay the way they are, especially since he's done such a great job in the 11:30 slot. Letterman even said he wants Jay on his show the day after his Tonight Show tenure ends.Letterman, who was once the heir apparent to Johnny Carson's desk but was passed over in favor of Leno, has thrived on CBS even though he was crushed to lose The Tonight Show. The supposed feud between Letterman and Leno, and their competition for The Tonight Show, was depicted in the HBO film (and Bill Carter book) The Late Shift. (If you've never seen it, buy or rent it; it's one of the best films ever about how TV works behind the scenes.)
HBO's Recount: A review
After the first 15 minutes of the HBO movie Recount, I was so upset, so filled with rage that I wondered if I wanted to watch the rest of the movie. Did I want to relive the events of November 7, 2000? Did I want to watch what happened, the craziest election fiasco in the last 25 years? I was compelled to stick with it because I had lived through it and I was dying to know what I didn't know when it unfolded in real time. I thought the HBO movie might teach me something, and, in fact, it did. For those who don't want to know what happened in Recount, I won't reveal any spoilers until after the jump. Of course, if you don't already know how the election turned out, you've either been in a coma or are woefully out of touch. Suffice to say that Recount doesn't rewrite history. The ending is exactly as it was in 2000.
%Gallery-23538%
Another celebrity feud: George Lopez vs. Jay Leno
Now someone in Hollywood has confirmed what I've thought for several years.
George Lopez, comedian and star of his own ABC sitcom, told Florida radio station WOMX hosts Scott and Erica that Leno is "the biggest two-faced dude on TV," and went on to call him a back-stabber. He also said that Leno was bad at interviewing his guests.
Anyone who watches Leno knows that Lopez is right. He's an awesomely bad host, mumbling through introductions, laughing at his own jokes, and rushing through everything so fast he must want to get the hell out of there so he can either go home and write more jokes or maybe play with his car collection. In fact, the whole show is a mess, from the addition of Stuttering John as announcer to Leno's "bits." As for the back-stabbing accusation, I can't speak to that, except to say that everyone should read Bill Carter's book The Late Shift and find out about the Leno vs. Letterman Tonight Show feud.
[via TV Tattle]
Late Shift author explores historic 2004-05 season in new book
One of my all-time favorite books is The Late Shift, a
blow-by-blow account of the machinations involved in the late-night wars of the early 1990s. Bill Carter of The New
York Times put together such a vivid picture of the battle between NBC, Jay Leno and David Letterman, I almost
thought I was there during the book's pivotal scene: Leno, in a supply closet next to an NBC boardroom, eavesdropping
on NBC executives as they discuss dumping him in favor of Letterman, even though he had been hosting The
Tonight Show for only a few months.Hopefully, Carter can bring his sense of "you are there" style to his latest book, Desperate Networks, which is due out on May 2. In the book, Carter explores the eventful and historic 2004-05 season from a few different angles: the fall of NBC, the slow-and-steady rise of CBS, the great new ABC shows that came on the air (Lost, Housewives), the retirement/departures of all three network anchors, and that nutso FOX network. The publisher's blurb on Amazon promises that Carter will be giving readers a lot of behind-the-scenes dirt, so I'm looking forward to getting this book. Is a TV Squad book review in the cards...? We'll see...
[via Variety.com]
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- 'Doctor Who' Season 7 Finale Recap: The Tomb of the Doctor
- Summer Cookout: Recipes from Our Favorite Cooking Shows
- From Kelly to Candice: Ranking the 'American Idol' Winners
- 'The Vampire Diaries' Rankings: Who Was the Baddest Character in Season 4?
- 'American Idol': Ranking the Winners' Coronation Songs
- More From BuddyTV
- 'Doctor Who' finale Season 7 episode 13 review: 'Name of the Doctor' is a smashing finish
- 'Saturday Night Live' season finale: Ben Affleck and Kanye West win an otherwise forgettable 'SNL'
- 'Saturday Night Live': Amy Poehler is the best at everything, even 'Weekend Update'
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2013: Ann and Nancy Wilson bring the Heart
- 'American Idol' runner-up Kree Harrison to make her Grand Ole Opry debut on June 4
- More From Zap2it
- Ben Affleck Hosts Saturday Night Live: What Were the Best and Worst Sketches?
- Finale Ratings: Versus 2012, Shark Tank Surges, Nikita Is Steady and Undercover Boss Drops
- What to Watch This Weekend: The Doctor Is Out, Ben Affleck on SNL, Simpsons Finale and More
- Exclusive First Look: The Goodwin Games Cast Takes Part in a Violent Beatdown!
- TVLine's Performer of the Week: Nikita's Maggie Q
- More From TVLine
