Jeff Pfeiffer, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Where to watch (and who to watch for): White House Correspondents’ Dinner 2012

April 27, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Jimmy Kimmel is headlining the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this Saturday, the 98th installment of the venerable event that is traditionally attended by the President and First Lady, as well as many other senior government officials and members of the press corps. Proceeds from the dinner go toward scholarships and awards aimed at supporting aspiring journalists and recognizing excellence in the profession. Last year’s event was notably headlined by Saturday Night Live‘s Seth Meyers, and also featured President Obama getting in a few tweaks at Donald Trump, who at the time was mulling a presidential run while making […]

Discovery special presents details on classified bin Laden intel

April 27, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

On May 1 — one day before the first anniversary of Operation Neptune Spear, the special operations mission that led to the killing of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden — Discovery Channel will premiere the one-hour special Secrets of Bin Laden’s Lair. The program reports on currently classified intelligence seized during the May 2, 2011, raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan (pictured above the day after the raid), and is narrated by NBC News correspondent Harry Smith. When the United States Navy SEALs killed bin Laden during the operation, they captured a prize far greater and more valuable […]

More “Live Action” for Turtleman with new “Call of the Wildman” episodes in June

April 25, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Today, Animal Planet confirmed that Ernie Brown Jr. (a.k.a. “Turtleman”) would be back in 16 new half-hour episodes of the network’s hit series Call of the Wildman, beginning June 3 at 10pm ET/PT. The daring, bare-handed animal rescuer is busier than ever, this time finding even more critters than just turtles — including muskrats, river otters, beavers, squirrels, nutria and even wild coyotes. And this time, Turtleman isn’t staying within the state lines of his home Kentucky. Accompanied by his backwoods buddies, including Neal James, handyman Jake Ison and Squirrel Brady (and, of course, Turtleman’s canine companion Lolly and his […]

Jaleel White puts competitors into Syfy’s “Total Blackout”

April 25, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Syfy’s fun-looking new game show Total Blackout, based on a hit international format, pits contestants against not only each other, but against their own fears, as they face a series of challenges that are played out in complete darkness. At a press conference promoting the show a few months back, we watched via night-vision cameras (which is how the action of the series will be shown to viewers) as some fellow critics and assorted TV personalities underwent what contestants likely would experience on the show. In this case, they were in a pitch-black room, and were asked to place […]

Tonight’s “Giuliana & Bill” follows couple’s latest baby news

April 24, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Yesterday on the Today show, Giuliana and Bill Rancic announced that they are having a baby via a gestational carrier. For the past five seasons on their hit reality show Giuliana & Bill, viewers have followed the couple as they have struggled to conceive, going through three rounds of in vitro fertilization, a miscarriage and then Giuliana’s battle with breast cancer. On tonight’s episode of the show, premiering at 8pm ET/PT on Style, audiences will get a behind-the-scenes look at their decision to proceed with a gestational carrier, and the moving phone call that informed them that they are, in […]

NGC to premiere special about James Cameron’s Mariana Trench dive

April 24, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

I almost had the thrill of my professional life to date a few months back when it looked like I was going to interview Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron about a Titanic special he had coming up on National Geographic Channel. I had to stay close to my phone, as I was told Cameron may call within a certain time frame during a given day, since his availability was limited due to the fact that he was “on the other side of the world.” No more than that cryptic info was given. Cameron never called, but given what we have since […]

FOX celebrates 25th anniversary tonight

April 22, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Although it may be hard for even those of us who were around at its launch to recall, FOX really was an upstart network and the butt of many of jokes in the wake of its primetime debut in April 1987 (it continued to be the punchline of some jokes regarding dubious programming for years afterward, even into the 2000s, but what can you expect when you greenlight shows like Man vs. Beast and The Littlest Groom?). There was also plenty of criticism of some of its “edgy” program choices early on. Married…With Children was an early success for the network and […]

“Doomsday Preppers” closes its first season as NGC’s highest-rated series ever

April 19, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

The Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence has called it a “guilty pleasure,” and apparently many others agree. National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Preppers just ended its first season, and the numbers have it closing as the network’s highest-rated series ever. According to NGC, this past Tuesday’s season finale of Preppers had 861,000 people 2+ tuning in, with 541,000 in the P25-54 demo, and averaging P25-54 0.6 rating, which is on par with the show’s successful P25-54 0.6 for the full 11-episode season. Next week, NGC will air a bonus “Best Of” compilation episode (“Extreme Prep Edition”) focusing on individuals preparing for […]

Celebrities on Time’s 2012 “100 Most Influential People in the World” list

April 18, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Today, Time released its 100 Most Influential People in the World list (The Time 100), an annual ranking of “breakouts, pioneers, moguls, leaders and icons” who “inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world,” according to the magazine. Each year, the list features a wide array of people, from political leaders and scientists to athletes and actors, accompanied by a brief writeup of each person by another well-known personality who admires the influencer. The 2012 list is no different, and below, we have compiled a list of the notable entertainment and sports celebrities who were included among the […]

Tim and Tickle of “Moonshiners” star in “Cannonball Run” spinoff special (video)

April 17, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

Discovery Channel’s series Moonshiners follows the real story of those who brew their “shine” — often in the woods near their homes in Appalachia using camouflaged equipment — and the local authorities who try to keep them honest. Two of the more popular characters from the show will be featured in an upcoming special on the network, in which they are billed as a “real life Bo and Luke Duke.” Tim and Tickle (hey, it could be worse; they could be named Coy and Vance) star in Cannonball Run, premiering April 18 at 10pm E/P on Discovery Channel. On the […]