Media Life Magazine - Celebrating Hollywood's leading man

Homepage

Alternative media

Cable

Classifieds

Magazines

Media economy

New media

Newspapers

Out of Home

People

Rachel speaks

Radio

Research

Television

TV Reviews

Webinars

Media Economy Newsletter

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Last week

Yearly Archives

About us

Subscribe

Advertise

Contact us

Write to the editor

Press releases

Post a classified

Celebrating
Hollywood's leading man

The timing could not be better for a sitdown with George Clooney

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Jan 31, 2012

Share |

Just as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has become the handsome, self-assured face of the NFL heading into this weekend's Patriots-New York Giants Super Bowl, George Clooney has become the face of Hollywood heading into next month's Oscars.

The former "ER" star seems to be everywhere these days, from the cover of Entertainment Weekly to making dirty jokes at the Golden Globes to trading stories with James Lipton tonight at 7 p.m. on Bravo's "Inside the Actors Studio."

There's a reason for Clooney's ubiquity.

He's the favorite to win best actor at the Feb. 23 Academy Awards after sweeping virtually every major acting award in the two months prior to the ceremony for his performance as a cuckolded husband in "The Descendants."

It's years like this that the Academy must be rejoicing. They really have something to sell: Clooney is handsome, popular both in Hollywood and with regular folks, and humble enough not to take the whole thing seriously.

He's the ideal actor to promote as a draw for the big show, unlike some recent best actor favorites, like Sean Penn, who seems to barely tolerate the Oscar season hoopla.

Tonight Clooney shares stories with Lipton about his many acting jobs, including early stints on "The Facts of Life" and "Roseanne," as well as his penchant for pulling practical jokes on movie sets.

The subject should give "Actors" a boost in viewership, an area where Bravo has been doing quite well. The network was up 9 percent in adults 18-49 in primetime last year, to 587,000 viewers, according to Nielsen, No. 14 on basic cable.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, JANUARY 31
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	Bravo	"Inside the Actors Studio" (T)	Special two-hour edition featuring George Clooney.
8 p.m.	NBC	"The Biggest Loser" (R)	The players take part in a trampoline challenge.
9 p.m.	Fox	"New Girl" (C)	The woman Nick is dating doesn't want to label their relationship.
9 p.m.	CW	"Ringer" (D)	Siobhan is surprised how well Bridget has adapted to her new life.
10 p.m.	Comedy Central	"Tosh.0" (C)	Season premiere. Tosh shows us how to meet European men.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	"America's Supernanny" (R)	Season finale. Deborah helps a family in Minnesota with four wild boys.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	"Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials" (A)	Re-airing the best commercials from Super Bowl past.
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	More hopefuls try to make it to Hollywood in preliminary auditions.
8 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Oklahoma City takes on the Mavericks in Dallas.
9 p.m.	Discovery Channel	"Beast Tracker" (N)	Series premiere. The first episode looks at alligators and other swap creatures.
10 p.m.	MTV	"The Challenge: Battle of the Exes" (R)	One of the players makes bad decisions while drunk.
10 p.m.	Syfy	"Face Off" (R)	The contestants compete in a challenge at an abandoned hospital.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	Still more early auditions.
8 p.m.	TNT	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Eastern Conference battle between the Bulls and the Knicks.
9 p.m.	NBC	"The Office" (C)	Jim returns to the office after a stint on jury duty.
9 p.m.	HBO	"The Union" (N)	Looking at the relationship between Elton John and Leon Russell.
9 p.m.	VH1	"Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam" (A)	Gym Class Heroes and All-American Rejects are among the performers.
10 p.m.	MTV	"Jersey Shore" (R)	Mike tries to be nice but only becomes more annoying.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	"Who Do You Think You Are?" (R)	Season premiere. Martin Sheen examines his family history.
8 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	The Knicks face off against the Celtics in Boston.
9 p.m.	CBS	"CSI: NY" (D)	A role-playing game ends with the death of one of the players.
9 p.m.	DIY	"Man Caves" (R)	An ex-Marine wants a room where he can escape from the women in his family.
9 p.m.	Showtime	"Paul Mooney: The Godfather of Comedy" (C)	The comedian delivers a stand-up performance in Atlanta.
10:30 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	The Lakers visit Denver to take on the Nuggets.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Time	Network	Program	Description
2 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	Huge Big Ten matchup between Ohio State and Wisconsin.
8 p.m.	Fox	"Cops" (R)	Cops in Vegas hunt a suspect who runs from a traffic stop.
8 p.m.	Lifetime	"Secrets of Eden" (M)	John Stamos plays a minister who questions his faith after a church member is murdered.
9 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	Big 12 rivals Kansas and Missouri face off.
9 p.m.	NBC	'NFL Honors" (A, S)	Alec Baldwin hosts the event live from Indianapolis.
10 p.m.	HBO	"Boxing" (S)	Middleweight title fight between undefeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
10:30 a.m.	Fox	"Soccer" (S)	Live coverage of an English Premier League match between Chelsea and Manchester united.
1 p.m.	NBC	"Super Bowl Pregame" (S)	Yes, the pregame show is longer than the game.
1 p.m.	CBS	"College Basketball" (S)	Big Ten rivalry game between Michigan and Michigan State.
3 p.m.	Animal Planet	"Puppy Bowl VIII" (A)	Once again featuring the kitten halftime show.
6 p.m.	NBC	"NFL Football" (S)	After all the talk, it's Giants versus Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI.
10 p.m.	NBC	"The Voice" (R)	Season premiere. Christina Milian joins the hit show this season as social media reporter.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.