Mygazine

Madonna Comes to NBC This Wednesday Night

Catch a quick preview of the Madonna concert scheduled to air this Wednesday night on NBC. I can't imagine why she chose to have it air on NBC instead of a less restrictive outlet like say...HBO or Showtime. Either way, you know I'll be watching.

 

Who is Michael Urie Anyway?

If you haven't already added Ugly Betty to your Thursday night must-see list (or at least your DVR record list), then your are missing out. The show is a clever skewering of the magazine and fashion worlds and is bringing quite a bit of attention to several once up-and-coming actors.

My personal favorite is Michael Urie, aka Marc. As the conniving, hilarious assistant to MODE magazine Creative Director Vilhelmina Slater, Urie is bright star in an already stellar cast. Just a couple months ago we saw him in the indie film WTC View. Now his great comedic timing and bitchy wit are being beamed into our living rooms on a weekly basis. The Dreamgirls inspired scene in last week's episode was one of my favorites to date.

I am also happy to Eric Mabius, aka heir apparent to the Meade Publishing fortune Daniel Meade. He was a favorite of mine on The L Word (returning to Showtime January 7) and he is still looking great and burning up the screen.

Vanessa Williams, America Ferrera, Alan Dale (who you might recognize as Caleb Nichol from The OC) and many others round out the cast. Like I said, if you aren't watching this show, start.

Long Live Jackie Woodman

If you haven't been watching IFC's excellent new show The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman, all I can say is your bad.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. It is a great reason to fire up your DVR on Friday nights. This week's season finale, which found Jackie on a designer drug bender pledging her allegiance to a right-wing radio host, didn't disappoint. In fact, it was my favorite episode of the season. Catch the replays this week!

Five quick Laura Kightlinger talking points:

1) Born June 13, 1969 in Jamestown, New York.

2) Kightlinger worked as a writer and consulting producer on Will & Grace, and had a recurring guest role on the series as Shelia, a nurse in the fertility clinic.

3) In 1999 she released Quick Shots of False Hope, a collection of short autobiographical stories.

4) She dated comedian Jack Black for several years.

5) She attended Emerson College.

A Reason to Fire Up the DVR on Friday Night

Friday night isn't a bit TV night for me, but this week I checked out the frist episode of the IFC's new show, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman. Just when you thought you seen all the we-are-gonna-make-it-in-LA shows you could take, current faves including Entourage aside, in steps Laura Kightlinger of Will & Grace fame, with this quirky, dark, clever show.

To Live and Die in LA

Oswald's campaign to take America continues. After mounting a successful catwalk show (as he calls it) at the V&A in London, Oswald takes off for LA to scout locations for his first US shop. After poking around Melrose and Robertson, a perfect location for him, he is starting to zero in on possible spaces for his store. He also takes a few minutes out to meet with potential new client, American Idol host, and Kathy Griffin nemesis, Ryan Seacrest.

Back across the pond, Oswald stops by his offices at Givenchy to put the finishing touches on his catwalk show for that brand before refocusing on his real estate hunt in the US. Will Oswald find a cool space in Meat Packing District or NoLita? We'll see next week.

Two by Two

If, like me, you couldn't get enough of the boys of "Noah's Arc," then you'll want to log on to Logo's web site and order up a copy of the Noah's Arc Season One DVD.

The creator and executive producer of the series, Patrick-Ian Polk has described the show as Sex and the City meets Soul Food meets Queer As Folk.  Call the story lines shallow and simple if you will, but it's hard not to love Noah, Chance, Ricky and Alex. And it is great to see a show explore a less visible portion of the GLBT community.

The big news for Noah's Arc fans is that Logo has ordered eight more episodes which will premiere on August 9. Fire up your DVRs boys.

TV.com views give Noah's Arc an overall score of 9.1.

Catching Up With Kathy

With the holiday weekend and all I am a little behind on my D-List Diva posting. Keeping herself out there in the media spotlight, Kathy got herself a spot on Larry King on July 4--until Kim Jung Il decided to launch a missile test. So, sadly we will have to wait to see her taped interview. Of course that didn't stop someone from dropping an item to Page Six from the interview.

" Kathy Griffin decided  it was time to split from her husband, Matt Moline, when she discovered he'd been stealing her money. " Apparently his sticky fingers netted him $72,000 from Miss Kathy's coffers.

In more D-List news, the last two episodes of her show have been all about her trip to perform in Iraq. Playing the dutiful aunt, she also played hostess to her nephew and niece. In an extra cool move, she even scored a visit from Talan (of Laguna Beach fame) to help make the trip special for her niece.

House of Boateng

With its new show, "The House of Boateng," The Sundance Channel is making a play to jump on the success that Bravo has had bringing "Project Runway" and the drama of the fashion industry to the small screen. And if saw any of the "Iconoclasts" series The Sundance Channel did, you know they can pull together high-powered personalities and deliver an interesting show.

An eight-part documentary about tailor to the nattiest of stars Oswald Boateng, the episodes tell the story of his attempt to cross the pond and crack the American market. I know where I'll be on Thursday, June 22 at 9pm EST when the show premieres. Or, at least I know what my DVR will be taping that night.

Cleveland Rocks?

I am a very behind in posting my comments on this week's installment of one of my favorite television shows, none other than La Griffin's My Life on the D-List.

Despite her best efforts to press the flesh and work the talk show circuit, Kathy's hopes of raising big bucks for vaginas (V-Day) were dashed when her e-Bay auction only netted her $5,000. (What am I talking about? No one would pay $5 to spend the weekend with me so I shouldn't throw stones.) It was easy to tell that Kathy and Matt were disappointed that the prizewinner from Cleveland was less than enthusisatic during his weekend stay chez Kathy and Matt.

Needless to say, Kathy made the best of the weekend and I can't wait to see what happens next Tuesday when we follow Kathy on her trip to perform for the troops in Iraq.

If you can't wait that long for your dose of Kathy, check out the short video on the Bravo site and learn why Kathy gives up on her idea of adopting a Namibian baby and brings home a beautiful baby Roomba instead.

D-List Diva

Tuesday night I caught the second night of Kathy's stop here in NYC at the Nokia Theater. I haven't been in the theater before and I have to say it isn't my favorite. The ceiling is a little too low. If you get stuck in the far back, like we did despite our efforts to buy tickets the day they went on sale, there is a good change at least part of your sight light will be obstructed. And where are the projection screens so you can see the performer up close and personal?

Despite the challenges of the venue La Kathy delivered like Dominos (as she says). She did 10-15 minutes on her morning escapades on the Today Show and Howard Stern. In case you are wondering, she is happy that Katie Couric left the show and that she ended up sitting across from Al Rokre for her interview instead of Matt Lauer. But hey, she has product to sell, right.

After the show I had to rush home and catch the premier of the second season of My Life on the D-List that I had, of course, DVR'd. I won't ruin it for you in case you haven't seen the episode. I'll just say it is Kathy at her cooky best. Now that we know her so much better from the first season of her show, there is a new, slightly more familar quality to Kathy and her show. I can hardly wait for next week's show.