The Friday Five

1. Hard Rock Hollywood/VH1 Save the Music:  Last week, I had the opportunity to fill-in for my friend, Leah Cevoli, who co-hosts a VH1 Save the Music event each Thursday.  VH1 Save the Music raises money to bring back instrumental music education in public schools.  They have raised $48 million for 1800 schools in over 100 cities. Pretty impressive, right?  To learn more about the program, click here.  I also want to thank Jimmy Alvarez of TNN Radio for the photos.





2. Up All Night:  I spent my Tuesday night at the Paley Center interviewing the cast of NBC's freshman comedy, Up All Night for Red Carpet Report.  At the time, they still haven't heard if they were getting a Season 2 pick-up (They are!), but they were in rare form on Tuesday night.  Insider scoop, Christina Applegate had a makeup stain on her jacket that was pretty noticeable.  She totally didn't care either.  I like that.  I also think Will Arnett is our generation's George Hamilton, he is perpetually tan.  See the interview and the makeup stain below:

3.  Instagram:  My favorite photo of the week:  This is for all of you who my job is always glamorous.  I was sitting on a floor for over an hour waiting with the rest of the media for the cast of Up All Night to arrive.  Sexy, right? (Follow me on Instagram:  @KristynBurtt)

4.  Article:  I always love to share articles with people. It's probably why I love Twitter so much.  I read a great article from Slate Magazine that featured Mad Men costume designer, Janie Bryant, and her overall vision for Season 5 of the show.  Take a gander here.

5.  Lip Gloss:  I have a new lip gloss to recommend:  Buxom Lips.  I know many of you try it for its lip plumping qualities to get your inner Angelina Jolie on, but here's why I like it:  No Parabens, sulfates, Phthalates, GMOs, or Triclosan.  That means, no crap went into making this lip gloss.  I purchased "Dolly" which is a muted plum. It's pretty awesome and you can buy it at Sephora for $18.  

Have a great weekend, you can always follow my weekend adventures on Twitter or Facebook.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway which ends Wednesday, May 16th.

Or Shop My Closet.  It's spring cleaning time and I'm selling my some of my wardrobe.

Person of Interest at the Paley Center

Michael Emerson and Jim Caveziel. Jim is a very serious, polite guy.

Last night, the Paley Center for Media honored a breakout CBS show from this past television season, Person of Interest.  The show came out of the gate as one of the highest rated pilot of the season by critics and one of the highest testing pilots for CBS in the last fifteen years.  The show quickly received a full first season pickup order of twenty-two episodes and then receive a Season 2 pickup order in March of this year.  It's a show that the network has confidence in and the fans have spoken by awarding it the People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama in January.  With a strong cast and crew behind the show and names like JJ Abrams, Jonathan Nolan, Jim Caveziel, and Michael Emerson leading the way, Person of Interest stands to become a legacy show for CBS.

Executive Producers:  Greg Plageman and Jonathan Nolan

The cast promises a dramatic season finale, but they were pretty tight-lipped about what was going to happen.  Check out the interviews for Red Carpet Report and see what you can glean from my probing questions.



Yes, I did get a Dark Knight question in here........

For more Hollywood scoop, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and on Google Plus. 

Paley Fest 2012: American Horror Story

Jessica Lange

We go back to our regularly scheduled program since we have laid Oscar to bed for 2012......welcome to Paley Fest 2012!  This is an incredible annual series the Paley Center puts on honoring some of the best series in television.  Last night, the festival kicked off with a tribute to American Horror Story, an anthology-based series on FX that has become a television game-changer this season. The big question of the night involved cast members and character who would be returning for Season 2 given the fact that many characters were killed in Season 1.  Jessica Lange has already signed on for Season 2, but I was curious about Sarah Paulson and I think I nailed it in my first question. Yep, she's returning.  Check out my interview with her, Jessica Lange, Alexandra Breckenridge, Connie Britton, and Frances Conroy on the red carpet last night. (And come back tomorrow for my interviews with the cast of NBC's Community.)

 Alexandra Breckenridge

 Sarah Paulson

 Connie Britton

Frances Conroy

PaleyFest: Fall TV Preview Parties: ABC

Last night, I made it out the Paley Center for Media for the preview showings of ABC's new fall slate.  New shows like No Ordinary Family, Better with You, and My Generation plus the season premiere of The Middle were shown along with several cast members of each show participating in a Q & A session throughout the evening.  While the evening was filled with free drinks, popchips, and TV Guide, it really was a mixed bag on the boob tube.

The red carpet from up above.  I had the night off!

First up, was the highlight and the surprise of the evening, the sitcom, Better with You.  The show stars Debra Jo Rupp from That 70's Show, Kurt Fuller of every show of the last 25 years, and Joanna Garcia of Reba.  I am not a huge fan of the sitcom.  In general, I find it a tired format that suffers from the formulaic plot and a laugh track.  However, this show took off right out of the gate and the always amazing, Debra, knocked it out of the park.  This show is definitely worth a look on your DVR.

I was dying to see No Ordinary Family as I went to NYU with Julie Benz and I performed way back in the day with Michael Chiklis in a local production of The Nutcracker. (Yes, I just said The Nutcracker and Michael Chiklis in the same sentence.) The piece de resistance for me was the addition of Stephen Collins, the hot reverend from 7th Heaven.  Sigh.  It wasn't the show I wanted it to be.  Honestly, it is hard to imagine a guy like Mike married to a hottie like Julie.  It just doesn't exist in our world, even in LA.  It's basically The Incredibles brought to life, but without the Pixar heart.

My customized photo.  DJR=Debra Jo Rupp, KF=Kurt Fuller, AS=Atticus Shaffer of The Middle, HOT!=Stephen Collins, ?=Some guy from one of the new shows, but he wasn't very memorable.  Anyone know who he is?

The other two shows are barely worth a mention:  The Middle, a second season show with few laughs and My Generation, a new show this year that is a better idea as true life documentary versus a fictional documentary.  The show follows a whole generation of kids to adulthood from 2000-2010. Surely a busy decade with 9/11, Katrina, Enron, a rigged election, a war, and a recession, but the John Hughes stereotypes prevail:  the jock, the princess, the misfit, the nerd, and the criminal. Watch at your own risk, but you've been warned.

Parting shot of my BCBG suede ankle boots in eggplant and grey.  Yes, I bought both colors.  Yes, my friend, Maria, did too.  Yes, we both wore then on the same night.  Yes, we called to make sure we didn't wear the same color.  The End.

P.S. I might have a mini-crush on Stephen Collins, but it goes a long way back. Check out my interview with him for Focus Hollywood and a little behind the scenes scoop from our time on the red carpet. 

   

 

Paley Center: "House" and My Fashion Faux Pas

Hey Everyone,

It has been a busy week on the red carpet, so I have been digging around my closet for lots of outfits. Unfortunately, this one was not my best look. We were covering the panel for FOX's hit TV show, "House", at the Paley Center. These events are what I like to call, "snappy casual". I needed a simple dress with cute heels and an accessory or two. I decided to dig out a sundress that was a hand-me-down from Kristin Chenoweth. I think when I received it, there were still tags on it. It is an easy, black cotton sundress from Express from 2002. It has scalloped lace edges at the hem of the dress and at the neckline with white ribbon running through the spaghetti straps at the top. Sounds hard to mess up, right? Well, take a look at the picture and focus in on the length. I normally wear this outfit with cute flip flops and head out for the day where hemlines do not matter. Instead, I took the outfit and dressed it up thinking it would translate to the red carpet. Wrong! The hemline hits below the knee emphasizing my lack of waist and delivering a less than desirable potato sack look. I might have solved some of these issues if I had belted the dress, but, alas, my friends, it is one big fashion faux pas. Sigh.

I do love my accessories though. My shoes are orange!!! The sling backs with a 3.5" heel and pointy toes are another great find from Nine West. My earrings were made by a friend of mine, Betheny Zolt, who created a gold-dipped leaf design with copper accents. Finally, my bracelet is encrusted with semi-precious stones....colorful fall color accents to enhance my shoes and brighten up the black sundress. I cannot remember the name of the designer, but I bought it during my time as a home shopping host at ShopNBC. I remember that the line is also sold at Nordstroms, so if I think of it, I will add the name here. (And yes, I was a home shopping host, but that is another story for another time.....only if you are interested, so speak up!)

So, I guess not every outfit is a winner? Lesson learned. Regardless, the "House" red carpet was fun thanks to great interviews with celebs like Omar Epps (mighty handsome in person), Robert Sean Leonard (very witty), and the genius show creator, David Shore. It was also one of the most organized red carpets I have ever worked, so thank you, Paley Center! All of the footage can be found here at Focus Hollywood, if you are looking for more on the event.

Next up, my wardrobe from the Television Academy's "Father's Day Salute to TV Dads". Oh yeah, Reverend Camden is just as hot in person as he is on "7th Heaven".

Have a spectacular weekend, peeps!

Reporting Live from Los Angeles,

kb

PS Follow me on Twitter: KristynBurtt