Best of the Springs...

I swung by Clear Channel this morning to hand out "Best of the Springs" awards to Captain Dan and Paul at K-Lite and Val Hart at Y96. Warren was over at KOAA giving Laura Rojas her "Best teeth" honors (OK, she wasn't actually there, but I think Georgiann did get the reader's pick for "hottie"). And there are a few hundred other categories on gazette.com or in your morning paper.

Here are the broadcast categories. You can't complain about the readers' picks - 'cause that's democracy in action - but if you think we blew the staff picks, feel free to pipe up:

BEST RADIO PERSONALITY
VAL HART, KCCY (96.9 FM)
Hart returned to the Springs last summer after a year with a country station called "The Wolf," up in Seattle. Evidently, the espresso IV drip they issue at the Seattle airport didn't agree with her. In any case, we're happy to have her back - and glad somebody's around to keep her morning co-host, Willie, in line.

READERS' CHOICE - BEST RADIO PERSONALITY
CAPTAIN DAN AND PAUL, KKLI (106.3 FM)
Paul Richards and Captain Dan Jackson are like a warm pair of slippers for your ears. They’re comfy, broken-in and make easing into another day just a wee bit easier.

BEST RADIO STATION
KILO (94.3 FM)
KILO is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year — 30 years of head-banging, eardrum-busting, turn-that-noise-down rock.

READERS' CHOICE - BEST RADIO STATION
KRCC (91.5 FM)
The Springs' favorite radio station just keeps getting better. This year, it added digital subchannels chockablock with more of the music and public radio programming that keeps this community supporting the analog mothership. In a radio world filled with narrow formats and niche programming, KRCC offers something for everyone.

BEST TV NEWS PROGRAM
KOAA/CHANNELS 5&30’S 5 P.M. NEWS
The numbers don’t lie, and KOAA’s 5 p.m. team of Georgiann Lymberopoulos and Rob Quirk was the top local newscast, beating out KOAA’s 10 p.m. team of Rob Quirk and Lisa Lyden by the slimmest of margins in the latest ratings. In your face, 10 p.m. Rob Quirk!

James Jarman is making his mark on KOAA/Channels 5&30.
BEST TV REPORTER
JAMES JARMAN, KOAA/CHANNELS 5&30
Jarman’s turned into the Springs’ very own Chris Hansen (who made his name with “To Catch a Predator” on NBC’s “Dateline”) with his series of reports on local sex offenders.

READERS' CHOICE - BEST TV REPORTER
TAK LANDROCK, KRDO/CHANNEL 13
As KRDO’s investigative reporter, Land-rock takes on a lot of serious stories: “Former councilman accused of drugging his date,” “Bridging the racism gap,” “Prostitution problem in Colorado Springs,” “Investigation finds cotton candy sweet, sticky.” We kid. We kid because we love.

BEST TV ANCHOR
JEANNETTE HYNES, KXRM/CHANNEL 21
We renamed this category the “Lisa Lyden Memorial Award” last year so we could spread the wealth a little more. Jeannette Hynes recently left KXRM/Channel 21
[Note: This thing was written like two months ago, and so there were a few things that changed while it was at the printer's. Like, obviously, Jeannette. Also, we gave James Jarman the reporting nod before the whole Newsome thing, thereby missing out on a whole lot of really easy jokes.]

READERS' CHOICE - BEST TV ANCHOR
LISA LYDEN, KOAA/CHANNELS 5&30
You know, Lyden has won this for the last we-don’t-know-how-many years. We’ve completely run out of anything intelligent to say. Lisa, you rock.

BEST TV WEATHERPERSON
MARTY VENTICINQUE, KRDO/CHANNEL 13
It took us four tries to spell Venticinque right, so he'd better be worth it. Marty's geeky, but in a good way. You can tell he loves this stuff, even if he's not loving getting up at 3 in the morning.

BEST HOT NEWS HAIR — TEAM AWARD
KRDO/CHANNEL 13’S 10 P.M. NEWS
It’s a good-hair-day group, and they’re making Veda Salons proud.

Laura Rojas of News First Now boasts a dazzling smile.
BEST TV TEETH
LAURA ROJAS, NEWS FIRST NOW (COMCAST CHANNEL 9)
Rojas, host of the 4 and 9 p.m. news on KOAA’s cable sibling News First Now, has network-quality teeth.

READERS' CHOICE - BEST STATION FOR TV NEWS
KOAA/CHANNELS 5&30
KOAA has been the top-rated station in town for years — no small feat for an NBC affiliate, since that network has been struggling.

READERS' CHOICE - BEST FEMALE NEWS HOTTIE
GEORGIANN LYMBEROPOULOS
Is it just us, or is Georgiann looking hotta than evah these days?

READERS' CHOICE - BEST MALE NEWS HOTTIE
MATT MEISTER, KRDO/CHANNEL 13
Those eyes, those teeth, that hair . . . that weak system developing over Montana that could bring a trace of snow to the higher elevations. Matt gives us all these things.

BEST RADIO SHOW
TRON SIMPSON, MORNINGS, KCMN (1530 AM)
Although Tron’s a pretty funny guy all by himself, what’s really amazing are the guests he gets (by phone, but still . .

More comings and goings

CBS' "Shark"? Jumped. Didn't see that one coming.

"Moonlight"? Eclipsed. Did see that coming.

"Rules of Engagement"? Rules. Really?

And "The New Adventures of Old Christine" gets another season (nothing semi-clever to say about that). Somewhat surprised, but I think it benefitted from the strike - CBS doesn't have a bunch of new sitcoms to throw on the schedule.

More HD from Comcast

Comcast is adding six channels to its HD package today:

Disney HD 763
ABC Family HD 764
TLC HD 765
Food Network HD 766
HGTV HD 767
Science Channel HD* 768

Comings and goings

"Reaper" is now definitely coming back.

"New Amsterdam" is gone.

"Til Death" is coming back.

“Eli Stone,” “Pushing Daisies” and “Dirty Sexy Money” - all coming back.

“Boston Legal” coming back.

And “According to Jim” (good lord why? Why!?)

Jimmy Fallon officially replacing Conan O'Brien (in 2009).

Springs mom takes on the "Gladiators"

"That was awesome. You've got to bring me something bigger - bring on the Wolf!"

"Some girls like puppy dogs and pink bows, I like speed and fire. Bring it!"

Yeah, Colorado Springs mother of three/Air Force Major Vanessa Warren had some pretty good lines on "American Gladiator" Monday night, but it was my wife who had the line of the night, about Warren: "I kind of want her defending my country, but she scares me a little."

Hey, the thanks of a grateful nation and the chance to become a Gladiator? Not a bad night.

October Road hits the road

This has been in the cards for a while, but ABC officially took the axe to "October Road." That means both of Manitou Springs' Stults brothers (OK, technically they're from Cascade) are now out of work. Geoff Stults played Eddie Latekka on the show, the main character's best friend. His brother George was a regular on "7th Heaven" until that show got canceled last year.

Actually, don't cry for either of the brothers. Geoff has two movies on his post "Road" credits, according to his imdb page. And George has three.

Also in ABC news, "Women's Murder Club" is out and "Eli Stone" is in. I hated "Club" and was lukewarm about "Eli Stone," so, meh.

At last, the World Fishing Network in high def!

Dish is launching another round of additions to its HD lineup. Still no word on HD local channels for Colorado Springs, though.

If you have Dish's HD package, you should have these new channels as of today:

ABC Family HD
Disney HD East
ESPNews HD
Biography HD
Hallmark Movie Channel HD
Bravo HD
Cartoon HD
MGM HD
Cinemax 5 Star
Sci Fi HD
Cinemax HD West
Smithsonian HD
Comcast Sports Network Bay
Tennis Channel HD
Area HD
Toon Disney HD
Comcast Sports Network New
Travel Channel HD
England HD
USA HD
CNBC HD
Weather Channel HD
CNN HD
World Fishing Network HD

Back to You backed out, CW sells out on Sundays

Some odd items from the wire this morning:

- Fox axed the Kelsey Grammar-Patricia Heaton TV news sitcom "Back To You"

- The CW killed the critically beloved "Aliens in America," but appears likely to renew "Reaper"

- The CW has turned over its Sunday night lineup to an independent production company, lock, stock and barrel. What's interesting about that is that the impetus was Tribune Company's local affiliates saying they wanted an older audience as a lead-in for their 10 p.m. news shows. Anytime anyone goes against TV's youth-obsessed culture, it's noteworthy, although I suspect this will be as big a disaster as everything else the CW has tried. Or maybe not.

- And, as I wrote about in the Life section today, Colorado Springs mom Vanessa Warren will appear on "American Gladiators" tonight

Well, she's still Ft. Carson's favorite mom

Fort Carson sergeant Melinda Gintilis, who was a semifinalist on NBC's "America's Favorite Mom" contest, fell a little short in the voting and didn't make the prime time finale on Sunday night. Instead, she got to spend another day driving convoys in Iraq. Some runner-up prize. Her husband, Adam Gintilas of Fountain, said Melinda finished second in the voting from the "Military Moms" category.

Still, Melinda's tour is up in August, so at least she'll be home soon.

More Newsome

You might have missed this interesting little story inside today's Metro section, so I'll pass it along here:

GOP CHAIRMAN CALLS MEETING TO DISCUSS ‘PREDATORY PRESS’

By PERRY SWANSON THE GAZETTE

Republican elected officials in El Paso County will meet in private Saturday to discuss the “predatory press,” in the wake of a television report that showed District Attorney John Newsome drinking alcohol and then driving.

Party Chairman Greg Garcia announced the meeting in an e-mail Thursday to elected officials that was obtained by The Gazette. Garcia said the e-mail “was not meant for public scrutiny,” and he wouldn’t discuss it because The Gazette declined to identify who forwarded the e-mail.
The e-mail said: “In light of the recent immoral and unethical reporting by KOAA about our outstanding district attorney, John Newsome, I would like to invite you to an hour-long meeting on Saturday, May 10, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at party HQ to discuss and brainstorm the issue of the predatory press. What has happened to John could happen to us all.”
Most elected officials in the county are Republicans.
The meeting is not open to the public, said Nathan Fisk, executive director of the El Paso County Republican Party.
The KOAA reports aired Tuesday. Newsome has apologized for the perception his behavior created and said he won’t do it again.

I'm back

Sorry, I've been in computer training all week and haven't had more than a few moments to think about TV (aside from certain KOAA investigations, which I thought about a lot).

I can't decide which is my favorite comment on that story:

"drinkin n drivin aint aceptable but neither is nosin' around with camras like KOAA did without a verry verry good reason & so far I don't see one."

or

"I'm not saying that driving under the influence is not a big deal, but this whole story has a childish and shallow "gotcha" quality to it. This Gazette article also shows that, like actors, journalists' favorite topic of conversation is themselves."

- Bitchin' "Lost" last night, huh? Nice pace. I thought killing the doctor and the captain required more build-up, but aside from that I have no complaints. Really, I very rarely have complaints when Jack gets that little screen time. I thought the cabin was appropriately creepy, I liked that Desmond isn't stupid enough to get off the boat. Plus the return of Richard Alpert and Matthew Abbadon (BTW, according to various sites "The test Richard gave Kid Locke is the same test given to prospective Dalai Lamas."

- Not a great "Office," but the Pam and Jim stuff was really interesting. Are they setting Pam up to turn down Jim's proposal, or is she going to accept and then come to regret it as Jim becomes more Michael-like? It's still one of the most real relationships on television.

- "30 Rock," on the other hand, was great. Funny, but more than that, a little moving. Alec Baldwin did another acting master class just in that short scene where he's listening to Liz's voice mails without saying a word. Plus, bull semen. I'll never not find bull semen funny.

Carson soldier may be America's Favorite Mom

Here's the "Today" show segment on "America's Favorite Mom" which includes Fountain soldier/mom Melinda Gintilas:

Christina Salvo replaces Grace Polanski on KXRM weekends

That is all.