Robin Roberts has thanked her viewers for their support as she faces a bone-marrow transplant.
The “Good Morning America” co-anchor sent a video message taped from her New York hospital bed for airing on the program Thursday, which is the day she’s set to have the transplant.
Declaring that “thoughts are so powerful,” Ms. Roberts told her audience, “I feel the love and I thank you for it.”
Ms. Roberts’ transplant comes after 11 days spent in the hospital and eight days of chemotherapy to prepare her for the procedure. The donor is her older sister, Sally-Ann Roberts.
In June, the 51-year-old Ms. Roberts disclosed that she has MDS, a rare blood disorder.
Her last day on “GMA” before she began extended medical leave from the ABC morning show was Aug. 30.
Host Jimmy Kimmel has Emmy prank up his sleeve
After rolling out the red carpet Wednesday morning in anticipation of Sunday’s Emmy ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel warned he’s planning a prank on folks not watching the show.
“I have an idea for a prank, and if it goes well, will be great,” the first-time Emmy host teased after ceremoniously unraveling the red carpet. “If it goes badly, it won’t be so great. I think it will go well. If you’re watching, you’ll be in on it. If you’re not, you might get caught up in the prank.”
Mr. Kimmel, whose “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” received its first nomination for outstanding variety series this year, said he is looking forward to seeing what TV stars look like out of costume on Sunday.
“There’s certain shows you watch, like ’Game of Thrones’ for instance, and you see these people in their medieval fantasy garb,” Mr. Kimmel said. “I don’t know what these people look like in real life. I’m kind of anxious about it.”
For the fifth year, the show will be held at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. The massive red carpet — more like a red sidewalk — will cover the entire plaza across the street from the Staples Center for Sunday’s TV extravaganza.
“I think that you’re going to see a fresh point of view on the television industry, the year in television and some trends in television, which is going to be coming from Jimmy Kimmel,” said Emmy executive producer Don Mischer. “I think his point of view is unique and quite distinctive. There will be irreverence and humor — a lot of humor.”
Mr. Kimmel said the most difficult thing about emceeing the 64th annual Primetime Emmys is juggling hosting duties with his day job.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Mr. Kimmel said. “I’ve been up very late working on this stuff. You have to write every presenter intro, and then the presenters change or the combinations change, and then you have to change those things. What I’m trying to say is, this is a real pain.”
Super Bowl ad winner can work with director Bay
Doritos is upping the prize for its annual “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, bringing in Michael Bay, a big-name movie director who is no stranger to crashes himself.
The Frito-Lay snack-chip brand’s seventh annual contest invites viewers to submit their own Doritos commercials. Fans vote on their favorites to appear during the big game.
If the ads score well on the USA Today Ad Meter, which measures the popularity of Super Bowl commercials, contestants win cash prizes of up to $1 million. But this time, winners also will get the chance to work with Mr. Bay, known for such films as “Transformers, “Pearl Harbor” and “Armageddon,” on the next “Transformers” movie.
“We realized entrants sometimes want a shot at breaking into the entertainment industry more than the $1 million prize giveaway,” said Ram Krishnan, vice president of marketing for Frito-Lay North America, which is owned by PepsiCo Inc. “So we’re giving them that chance by working on the next ’Transformers’ move.”
Another change: Doritos will debut a Facebook app that will let anyone volunteer to help others create an ad. Users of the ad can donate their time, props, or locations to help make the ad.
“Consumers told us ’I would love to participate but I have no interest or the talent to make a video,’” Mr. Krishnan said. “The app lets anyone pitch in.”
There were 6,100 entrants last year, up from 4,500 the year before. Mr. Krishnan expects even more this year.
The Super Bowl will be played Feb. 3 in New Orleans and will be broadcast by CBS.
People can submit ads for the contest between Oct. 8 and Nov. 16 at www.facebook.com/DoritosUSA. Five finalist ads will be announced in January, and consumers then will be able to vote for their favorite online.
• Compiled from Web and wire reports
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