- Sunday, December 9, 2012

South Carolina’s governor appears to have closed the door on appointing Stephen Colbert to the U.S. Senate, all because the comedian didn’t know the state drink was milk.

During “The Colbert Report” on Thursday, Mr. Colbert urged his fans to send Gov. Nikki R. Haley messages on Twitter with the hash tag “Senator Colbert” telling her why he would make a great senator from his home state. The governor is appointing a senator after Jim DeMint announced he is resigning at the end of the year.

Mr. Colbert, who plays a mock conservative pundit on his show, also gave Mrs. Haley four reasons he was the perfect choice.

“You want somebody young, somebody conservative, somebody from South Carolina, maybe somebody who had a super PAC,” Mr. Colbert said, ticking off the choices by putting down a finger until the final one was left pointing at himself.

“Wait a second,” Mr. Colbert said, as his crowd cheered.

Thousands of messages poured into the governor’s official Twitter account. She responded on her favorite social media site, Facebook, writing on her page that she appreciated Mr. Colbert’s interest and all the tweets.

“But you forget one thing, my friend. You didn’t know our state drink. Big, big mistake,” Mrs. Haley wrote, adding a link to a video of her April appearance on Mr. Colbert’s show where the host did not know milk was the official state beverage.

On that same show, however, Mr. Colbert stumped Mrs. Haley with the state amphibian — the spotted salamander.

Mr. Colbert was born and raised in Charleston, and he still has family in the state. He gently mocks his home, and has made a couple of faux runs for president during the state’s early primaries. He also put on a crown and declared himself governor of South Carolina in 2009 when then-Gov. Mark Sanford disappeared for several days while visiting his mistress in Argentina.

On his show Thursday, Mr. Colbert also gave one other qualification he had to be a U.S. senator.

“When I look at the U.S. Senate, I say to myself, you know what they could use?” Mr. Colbert said. “Another white guy.”

’Good Morning America’ expanding show online

NBC’s “Today” show gradually expanded from two hours to four. Now competitor “Good Morning America” is stretching — if only online.

ABC said Thursday it will launch a 15-minute “GMA Live” program online that will “bring everyone backstage” right after the television show ends at 9 a.m. Josh Elliott, Lara Spencer, Sam Champion and Amy Robach will be the hosts, talking about the day’s hot topics in a more conversational manner.

The show will stream on the “Good Morning America” and ABC News websites.

The morning show has been riding high in recent months, having wrested the ratings lead from its longtime competitor at NBC.

CBS announces midseason replacements

CBS is giving a special platform to a new cop drama that it will premiere in February.

The drama, “Golden Boy,” features Theo James as the youngest police commissioner in New York City, examining what he needs to do to get the opportunity.

The series is debuting on Tuesday night, Feb. 26, taking advantage of the network’s big audience that night with “NCIS,” television’s most popular drama. It will air on Tuesday the next week, too, before being moved to its regular time slot on Friday nights.

“Golden Boy” will be paired with “Blue Bloods,” another show about a New York police commissioner.

CBS also will bring back the comedy “Rules of Engagement” on Feb. 4. It replaces the now-canceled sitcom “Partners.”

Frank Ocean, Pakistani teen honored by mtvU network

The mtvU network is honoring a rap superstar who detailed his love for another man and a Pakistani girl shot for her education advocacy as its Man and Woman of the Year.

Frank Ocean, who earned six Grammy nominations Wednesday, published a letter online about his first love, a man, just as his “channel ORANGE” disc was being released. MtvU on Thursday called it “an incredibly brave move for an artist on the verge of superstardom.”

Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai blogged about her support of education for girls in Pakistan. For that, Taliban militants stormed her school bus and shot her in the head and neck, but she survived.

The mtvU network is geared toward college students and is seen on more than 750 campuses.

’Duck Dynasty’ delivers record ratings for A&E

As the holidays approach, “Duck Dynasty” is the gift that keeps giving for A&E.

The unscripted effort centered on the Robertson family business delivered 6.5 million viewers for its hour-long second-season finale Wednesday, the network’s most-watched telecast of all time.

The episode was watched by a network record 3.9 million adults ages 18 to 49 and an impressive 2 million adults ages 18 to 34, making it the most-watched series telecast in A&E history among all key demos.

” ’Duck Dynasty’ represents the best of A&E’s unique brand of storytelling, showcasing authentic and engaging characters,” said Bob DeBitetto, president of A&E Network and BIO Channel. “It’s extremely gratifying to see more and more viewers flocking to the series week after week.”

The news, which had “Dynasty” topping cable and broadcast fare for the night, follows a particularly stellar second season of the series, which has grown 139 percent in total viewers, year over year. It joins other cable efforts including FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and AMC’s “Walking Dead” in its ability to outrate its broadcast competition this year. New episodes of “Duck Dynasty” will return in early 2013.

Compiled from Web and wire reports

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