Tim Allen must think Thomas Wolfe was full of crap. In a television sense, Allen is proving you can go home again – home to the network where you scored your greatest career success nearly two decades ago, back to the tried-and-true sitcom format, a return to the millions of viewers who loved you in...
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One last chance. That’s all Billy Gardell was willing to give Hollywood two years ago before packing his bags and returning to the three rivers and Primanti Bros. sandwiches of his native Pittsburgh. Had fate not let him claim the winning ticket to a prime-time TV series, the surprising CBS hit sitcom Mike &...
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In a victory for small-minded ultraconservatives everywhere, TLC announced it has canceled the Dearborn-based docuseries All-American Muslim after only one season. Laurie Goldberg, spokeswoman for TLC, the network that provides America with such informative programming as Toddlers & Tiaras, DC Cupcakes and My Crazy Obsession, confirmed March 7 that the show’s eight-episode run, which...
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Big news bombshells keep exploding fast and furious around All-American Muslim, the controversial first-season TLC reality series filmed in Dearborn. In the latest salvo, in the aftermath of Lowe’s pulling its commercials from the show under pressure from an ultraconservative Christian group, hip-hop megamogul Russell Simmons says he has bought all the remaining ad...
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Only halfway into its inaugural eight-episode season, the set-in-Dearborn national reality series All-American Muslim on The Learning Channel (TLC) already is stirring up its own unique jihad. On Wednesday, Nov. 30, a Los Angeles production company called Visionaire Media filed a lawsuit against TLC, alleging the network stole the idea it pitched them for...
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All American Muslim, the new eight-part TLC reality series taped on location in and around Dearborn, doesn’t premiere until Sunday, Nov. 13. But you can get a live sneak peek of sorts this week. Billy Amen and Nader Aoude, sketch comedians whose lives are featured in the series, are part of the bill for...
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The slogan of Detroit’s massive American Jewelry and Loan on Greenfield is “Where Detroit Cashes In.” Apparently the pawnshop’s owners, the Gold family, take their message to heart: The overwhelming success of Hardcore Pawn, the reality TV series set within their store and the most-watched show on truTV, has motivated them to cash in...
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10-7, over and out, Detroit 1-8-7. Though the “official” word won’t be announced until ABC makes its fall season upfront presentation to advertisers Tuesday, May 17, it’s impossible to keep a secret in the television business: According to numerous media sources, 1-8-7, the first-year police procedural drama starring Michael Imperioli and James McDaniel and...
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A footnote in television history will be written Monday night at 9 when Law & Order: Los Angeles returns to NBC (Channel 4 in Detroit) with a two-hour episode – and a totally revamped cast. While NBC will never admit its mistake in prematurely canceling the original Law & Order last May after 20...
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People rarely think of Ann Arbor as the real world, but it will be this Saturday. Casting directors from MTV’s longest-running series, The Real World, will be in A-Squared from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 12 looking for fresh young faces to bunk together and ultimately create juicy reality-TV conflict for the show’s 26th season....
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