Jeff Pfeiffer, Author at StayTuned Magazine

British phenoms One Direction performing at 2012 MTV Video Music Awards

August 1, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

The nominations for the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards were announced yesterday, along with the first two performers for the event, which will air live on MTV Sept. 6 at 8pm ET from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. British boy band phenoms One Direction, who are first-time VMA nominees, will also make their first VMA performance at the event. RELATED STORY: ONE DIRECTION TO HOST VMA SPECIAL Also announced as a performer was Alicia Keys, who will again be debuting a new song at the VMAs. “Debuting a new song at the VMAs is definitely special,” says Keys. “I […]

Steve Harvey ends stand-up career with live Pay-Per-View Grand Finale special

August 1, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

After more than 27 years in stand-up comedy, Steve Harvey will be headlining his last stand-up comedy show Aug. 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The two-hour farewell performance, called Steve Harvey’s Grand Stand-Up Finale, will also be available to viewers via live Pay-Per-View (PPV) telecast on cable systems around the country Aug. 2 at 11pm ET/8pm PT. After the live show, fans will still be able to access the special via cable PPV for several months, and also on Video On Demand (VOD) beginning Aug. 3. The show is available in both standard and high-definition […]

Discovery Channel’s Shark Week turns 25

July 31, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Most sharks need to keep swimming to survive, and just as these fascinating fish keep on moving forward, so too does Discovery Channel’s annual summer programming event honoring them — Shark Week, which celebrates its 25th anniversary when it kicks off Aug. 12. The first ever Shark Week program, Caged in Fear, aired on Discovery July 17, 1988. In the still-young world of cable TV in the late 1980s, Discovery was looking for innovative ways to draw viewers in to the network, eventually playing off people’s intense curiosity about the natural world — in particular, predators such as sharks — […]

Jenni Rivera’s daughter Chiquis is all grown up and “n Control”

July 28, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

“Being a Latina,” Janney “Chiquis” Marin told me during an interview at the TCA press tour last week, “you’re used to being cooped up and being protected up until you get married. Well, my mom and I made the decision that now it’s time for me to spread my wings and become a woman.” During our interview, Chiquis certainly sounds confident and in control of where she wants her life to go, so it’s fitting that her new series is called Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis ‘n Control. The hourlong show is a spinoff from mun2‘s highest-rated and most popular original reality […]

New PBS Bob Ross mashup continues network’s digital salutes to past icons

July 27, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Last weekend, at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour PBS panels, network president and CEO Paula Kerger explained the importance of digital in PBS’ future efforts. “We are looking for ways to connect to our audiences both on air and across Internet, video, and mobile platforms,” she said, “as we are investing in new content and finding new ways to connect with our audiences. … As we saw demonstrated most recently with the viral explosion of the Fred Rogers mix up [sic], ‘Garden of Your Mind,’ which we commissioned for YouTube, it is indeed possible to break new ground across […]

Telemundo bills itself as “U.S. Home of the Olympic Games in Spanish”

July 27, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Yesterday, Telemundo Media, part of the NBCUniversal family, began its Spanish-language coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympic games in London with Olympic soccer coverage of Honduras vs. Morocco, Mexico vs. Korea, United Arab Emirates vs. Uruguay, and Egypt vs. Brazil. And that was just the beginning, according to Telemundo, which is offering up as its self-descriptive tagline over the next few weeks: “The U.S. Home of the Olympic Games in Spanish.” The network released its programming lineup for the first few days of the games, which will highlight a wide variety of sports of interest to Hispanics, including boxing, swimming, […]

TCA: Reporters go a little rogue following Sarah Palin’s NBC party appearance

July 25, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Yesterday’s NBC day at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer Press Tour ended with a cocktail party around the pool area of the Beverly Hilton, where the network gathered the stars of its new late summer/fall broadcast and cable series to mingle with reporters. While the guest list included the likes of Matthew Perry (of the new sitcom Go On); Anthony Anderson and Tempestt Bledsoe (the new sitcom Guys With Kids); Style Network’s Bill and Giuliana Rancic; Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells (the new Ryan Murphy sitcom The New Normal); and the stars of J.J. Abrams’ new drama Revolution, there […]

TCA: Even critics get misty-eyed in final “Fringe” panel

July 24, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

At an executive panel on Monday’s FOX day at the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer Press Tour, FOX Entertainment president Kevin Reilly addressed a question about his decision to let Fringe — which, while not a mega-hit like an American Idol, has a more-than-devoted fan base — go out with dignity in an upcoming final season, rather than just yanking it from the air. “I hoping this puts to bed the ‘ghost of Comic-Con’ sentiment,” Reilly expressed, “if you will, which is, ‘Damn you, FOX. You put these shows on and then break our hearts.’ I think, at least hopefully, we’ve […]

TCA: Mindy Kaling will return to “The Office” for season premiere

July 23, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

At the Television Critics Association (TCA) Summer Press Tour this morning to promote her new fall series The Mindy Project, premiering Sept. 25 on FOX, Mindy Kaling confirmed that she would be back on the season premiere episode of her former series, The Office, and maybe another episode. Kaling also said that her former boss, The Office executive producer Greg Daniels, would direct an episode of her new series. “Who’s the boss now?” the actress, who also co-executive produces The Mindy Project, joked. ________________________ ©2012 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Autumn De Wilde/FOX

TCA: Dean Geyer and Jacob Artist join “Glee”

July 23, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

As FOX’s hit series Glee enters its fourth season this fall, it will be back to school for newcomers Dean Geyer (pictured bottom) and Jacob Artist (pictured top) as they join the show when it returns on a new night — Thursday, Sept. 13, at 9pm ET/PT. In the season premiere, Rachel (Lea Michele) lands in New York City to attend NYADA and meets Brody Weston (Geyer), a handsome upperclassman who shows an interest in her. Meanwhile, back at McKinley, Puck’s (Mark Salling) bad boy younger half-brother, Jake Puckerman (Artist), tries out for the glee club, but his attitude […]