TVSquad

In the Lame Title Department, ABC's annual New Year's Eve show will now be called Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

I dunno...couldn't they have come up with something snappier? Like maybe Dick and Ryan's New Year's Rockin' Eve ... oh never mind.

Anyway, it's old news that Ryan Seacrest has been co-hosting the show for the past three years with Dick Clark, who suffered a stroke several years ago. But now Seacrest has his name in the title, so I guess it's official.

The 2008 Teen Choice Awards nominees are in and if you're a teen (that's between 13 and 19 years old for the math impaired among us), you can get your vote on once a day over at www.TeenChoiceAwards.com. If you've just put in a turkey to roast and have some time, you can follow the link to the complete list of Teen Choice Awards 2008 nominees, of which I can only say ... damn, that's a lot of categories. Do teens really have that kind of attention span anymore to make it through these categories and vote?

As reported earlier, Miley Cyrus has been signed to host with the show airing Monday, August 4 at 8pm ET. I've dropped in the TV-only categories and nominees after the jump, and there are a ton of categories covering a much wider range of television shows than really any of the major television awards do. There are oodles of reality show categories and more specifically, a category for "looking for love" reality shows. Really? And still only one category for animated shows?

We scoured the earth (and the archives at various record companies for failed projects that showed vocal promise) to create the greatest assemblage of singing talent American Idol has ever seen! So what happened? After last year's virtual snooze-fest, how did a season that truly did give us perhaps the greatest depth of talent we've ever seen (an argument could be made for Season Five) give us such lackluster shows?

After Sanjaya-gate last year, the biggest controversy to come out this year was that finalist David Hernandez used to be a stripper and David Archuleta's dad might be a Mr. Meany-Pants. And we got to be pissed that Kristy Lee Cook outlasted the likes of Michael Johns. Not until we got to the finale of Davids did things get really intense.

The battle of the Davids has come to a close, with David Cook emerging as the victor for the seventh season of American Idol.

The highly anticipated finale had everyone -- bloggers, fans and even celebrities -- buzzing about which David would be the next Idol. But even after David Archuleta's much-praised performance Tuesday night (and Simon Cowell's endorsement), many were predicting Cook to win the title.

Still, backstage at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the result had the press gasping. Cook himself seemed surprised that he received the majority of 97.5 million votes cast. "I walked into this competition with no expectations and I'm walking out with out any," Cook told the press.

Are you a "momma's boy"? Or are you a mother who is really overprotective about who your son dates? Well, if you are, you might want to try out for Ryan Seacrest's (American Idol) and Andrew Glassman's (Average Joe) new show Momma's Boys. NBC's new reality series will air after the Summer Olympics in Bejing. The show will center around a group of mothers choosing the perfect woman for their sons. According to the press release, "drama ensues when numerous mothers and their eligible bachelor sons are housed together with several single women." So, they have to live together too? This sounds like The Bachelor meets Sister Patterson from I Love New York.

Just when you thought awards shows couldn't get any longer, The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced that reality show hosts are eligible to receive Emmys. This year's 60th Annual Emmy Awards will include a category called Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

The academy named popular hosts like Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Samantha Harris, and Howie Mandel as possible nominees. Ty Pennington, Tyra Banks, and Jeff Foxworthy are also eligible. I'm not surprised that reality hosts are getting this opportunity. The Emmys have had categories for Outstanding Reality Program and Reality-Competition Program since 2001 and 2003, respectively.

You've heard of Ryan Seacrest, right? Well, one of the most reliable news source in the world, The Globe, tells us now that the folks behind Live are courting Ryan Seacrest to replace Regis Philbin on their morning staple. It makes perfect sense. Consider that Regis, who turns 176 this year, has racked up more hours on television than anyone in history, but now has announced he'll be cutting back his television work to three days a week. Then we have Ryan, who can be seen and heard everywhere from his work on E! to American Idol to New Year's Rockin' Eve to his radio show to American Top 40. Maybe he'd give up his morning radio gig for a morning TV gig. Or maybe record one during the commercial breaks of the other.

I almost missed this story, though, because that same issue of The Globe promised to show me how to win the Lottery and I'm busy spending all the money I'm gonna win! So for now, we'll say the rumor's unsubstantiated but if the Weekly World News or The Onion picks it up, then it's official!

[via AOL]

All you kids who were out buying up posterboard and markers to make your "Ellen DeGENEROUS" signs so you could wave them at next week's Idol Gives Back special need to stop before you waste all that paper. Think green, people. Due to a scheduling conflict, Access Hollywood says Ellen DeGeneress dropped out of co-hosting the special. The special is set to tape this Sunday, and apparently that conflicts with production on her own show.

I think we need to make a controversy out of this. I'm going to say she dropped because Danny Noriega was eliminated from the competition and she thinks it was a homophobic move by producers. Now, run with it! I'd help but I need to keep my schedule clear and wait for that phone call. I've always wanted to meet Ashley Tisdale -- er, I mean Robin Williams, and Bono and other big names like that. You know, like Annie Lennox, Miley--I mean, Heart! ... Dammit!

In a press release today, FOX announced that Ellen DeGeneres would again be taking on co-hosting duties with Ryan Seacrest for the 2nd "Idol Gives Back" special, airing Wednesday April 9 7:30 - 10:30 pm ET. Just like last year, Ellen will host from the Kodak Theatre while Ryan covers from the American Idol stage.

The talent roster continues to expand as well. The complete list (so far) now includes Maroon 5, Heart, Gloria Estefan, Boyz II Men and The Clark Brothers along with already announced Bono, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Miley Cyrus, Mariah Carey, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Fergie, Chris Daughtry, Carrie Underwood, Annie Lennox, John Legend and Snoop Dogg. Most of these will be the pre-recorded "Give, give, give" but I'm looking forward to seeing Boyz II Men back in action.

Do you like American Gladiators? How about a version that has kids competing instead of adults?

That was a concept of Gladiators 2000, a spinoff of the original version of American Gladiators. It aired for a couple of years in the mid-1990s (which is odd, considering it had "2000" in the title - maybe they were optimistic), and now it's coming back to syndicated television because of the success of NBC's remake of the original AG. If you don't remember the show, it was a little bit like the Nickelodeon show Guts. Contestants would engage in all these tests of strength and speed and accuracy while at the same time learning why carrots were good for you and too much pizza wasn't.

The real gem about the video clip from the show (after the jump) isn't the game itself, it's the host -- American Idol host Ryan Seacrest co-hosted the show. Check out his hair

With Daughtry, fronted by American Idol alumnus Chris Daughtry, and former Idol winner Carrie Underwood each taking home three trophies at this year's American Music Awards (AMAs), it's clear that the music landscape continues to be shaped by the dominant FOX reality competition. Daughtry, who didn't win his season of AI but has gone on to more commercial success than any of his season's compatriots thus far, picked up awards for favorite pop-rock album, breakthrough album and adult contemporary artist for his band's self-titled debut Daughtry. While Daughtry acknowledged the show's role in his success, as reported on AOL.com, he insists "the show didn't make me who I am. It just gave me a chance to show everybody else who I am."

Underwood, meanwhile, continued her award show success with trophies for favorite female country artist, country album (for Some Hearts) and the T-Mobile text-in award. For the first time in its 35 year history, winners this year were chosen by online voting. With the AMAs being essentially a "popularity contest" it should come as no surprise that two of the most popular artists ever on one of televisions most popular television shows ever would have a good showing.

All the recent talk about Ryan Seacrest reminded me of a video that a friend sent me.

The video was shot by a group of young people who took a trip to New York city for New Years Eve. For most of the video, they are trying to get the attention of Carson Daly, who they were there to see. Before the end, they manage to get Carson to glance their way, however briefly.

As my late friend Adam Finley reported last month, Ryan Seacrest has been picked to host this year's Emmy Awards. I'm sure that most of you, like me, have already spent enough time lamenting the fact that Seacrest really has no business hosting a show like The Emmys. I guess the producers thought that after American Idol and America's Top 40, The Emmys were the next logical step.

Well, now the producers have decided that Seacrest hosting wasn't bad enough, there's a chance that he may do a number at the beginning of the show.

Think it can't get any worse? Read on.

Get this: not only is Ryan Seacrest going to host The Emmys later this month, he actually might sing as well.

This is all part of Seacrest's plan for world domination by the year 2019. He's already hosting The Super Bowl and New Year's Eve coverage on ABC and doing various weekly radio shows and shows on E! He also waits tables three nights a week at the T.G.I. Fridays in Glendale, CA. How does the man do it?

Ryan Seacrest + Super Bowl = Is Nothing Sacred?

When you think about the Super Bowl, does the name "Ryan Seacrest" come to mind? Probably not. I'm pretty sure I know more about football than Ryan Seacrest (which isn't saying a heck of a lot). Yet somehow, Fox has awarded Super Bowl hosting duties to their American Idol golden boy.

As master of ceremonies for football's biggest game, Ryan will host pregame red-carpet events, as well as the halftime show. Super Bowl XLII is set to take place in February at the University of Phoenix stadium in Arizona. And while halftime entertainment has not yet been announced, I'm starting to suspect that we might see a couple of American Idols perform.