- Thursday, February 2, 2012

Letterman celebrates 30 years on late-night TV

As David Letterman and Howard Stern can attest, a 30-year anniversary celebration is a ripe opportunity to cringe at geeky haircuts.

Mr. Letterman marked three decades in late-night TV on Wednesday by bringing Mr. Stern, one of his favorite guests, onto his “Late Show” on CBS. They congratulated each other on age improving their looks.

Mr. Letterman then proved it by displaying a picture of them from when Mr. Stern first appeared on Mr. Letterman’s NBC show in May 1984. Mr. Letterman had a bushy head of hair. Mr. Stern had a mustache.

Mr. Stern advised burning the picture and recalled how grateful he had been for the invite.

“Back then, the fact that you asked me to be on a national television show was mind-blowing to me,” he said.

Mr. Letterman also brought some of his longtime employees onto the stage to present the night’s Top Ten list: “Top Ten Things Staffers Would Like to Say to Dave on his 30th Anniversary in Late Night.”

One of the cleanest, and most succinct, entries came from veteran executive producer Rob Burnett: “You’re incompetent.”

Snooki, JWoww say Hoboken would benefit from spinoff

The women of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” say they’re not angry that Hoboken, N.J., officials won’t allow a spinoff of the reality show to be taped in the city of Frank Sinatra’s birth.

But Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWoww” Farley told the Associated Press that the city would have benefited from the proposed show. They say officials likely based their decision on “stereotypes” about the show and its cast.

“The thing is we don’t go to a town to damage it. … We go to a town to help it out,” Miss Farley said Wednesday. “We wanted to help out Hoboken, we wanted to give them more revenue, we wanted to give [to] their stores.”

Mayor Dawn Zimmer said the local film commission’s decision was based on safety and quality-of-life concerns for residents of the city along the Hudson River. Hoboken officials said 495 Productions was seeking a 24-hour permit to tape the show. The production company can appeal the decision to the City Council.

Miss Farley and Miss Polizzi questioned Ms. Zimmer’s role in the film commission’s decision and said she eventually would regret not having the spinoff filmed in her city.

“I wish she would have met us first and maybe talked about what the show was going to be about before just being like, ’You’re not allowed in Hoboken.’ I think that’s really rude, to be honest,” Miss Polizzi said. “She was 24 once, she’s from Jersey, she was at the shore and she was doing the same exact thing we’re doing. She just wasn’t taped.”

’Kitchen Nightmares’ to get fifth season on Fox

Fox and Gordon Ramsay will continue their romance for the foreseeable future.

The network announced Thursday that it has renewed “Kitchen Nightmares” for a fifth season.

Based on a British series of the same name and airing on Fridays, “Nightmares” accompanies “Masterchef,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and the upcoming “Hotel Hell” in Mr. Ramsay’s large section of the Fox stable.

“Kitchen Nightmares” follows Mr. Ramsay to restaurants on the brink of closure. Through his guidance, intervention and fondness for four-letter words, he tries to revitalize the small businesses. So far, the show has taken him to 54 cities across America.

Katy Perry to perform on Grammy Awards

Katy Perry is set to perform on the 54th annual Grammy Awards, it was announced Wednesday.

The first presenters also were unveiled: Gwyneth Paltrow, Miranda Lambert, Drake and Dierks Bentley will take the stage Feb. 12 in the live telecast honoring the best in music.

Ms. Perry’s performance would mark the singer’s first televised gig since announcing her breakup with husband Russell Brand late last year. She is up for two Grammy Awards, record of the year and best pop solo performance.

She joins previously announced performers Adele, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson, Glen Campbell with the Band Perry and Blake Shelton, Paul McCartney, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift.

“NCIS: LA” star LL Cool J is hosting the awards show, which will air on CBS.

Compiled from Web and wire service reports.

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