TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV (also known as TMZ on Fox or simply as TMZ or TMZTV) is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007 (its major carriage is among Fox's owned television stations). It is essentially a television version of its sister operation, TMZ, a news website with a heavy emphasis on gossip of celebrities' personal lives, which debuted in December 2005.
| TMZ on TV | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Harvey Levin Jim Paratore |
| Starring | Harvey Levin (for information on other TMZ staffers appearing on the program, see On-air cast) |
| Theme music composer | Jason Brandt |
| Composer(s) | Michael A. Muhammad Michael Egizi |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Harvey Levin (2007–present) Jim Paratore (2007–2012) Charles Latibeaudiere (2013–present) Evan Rosenblum (2013–present) Stuart Alpert (2014–present) |
| Production location(s) | TMZ headquarters, 13031 W. Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles, California |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | TMZ.com TMZ Inc. Harvey Levin Productions Paramedia Telepictures Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox Broadcast syndication |
| Picture format | |
| Original release | September 10, 2007 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | TMZ Live |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The television program is produced at studio facilities that serve as the headquarters for the parent website, located at 13031 West Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.[1] TMZ is an insider term ("thirty-mile zone" or studio zone), referring to the film studio area of downtown Hollywood.
In November 2019, Fox Television Stations renewed TMZ on TV through the 2022–23 season.[2]
Format
TMZ on TV is broadcast in two formats: the weekday edition is broadcast as a half-hour program; a one-hour weekend edition, composed of select stories featured in each of the weekday editions from the previous week, is also produced; during major holidays occurring on a weekday, that episode may feature a format similar to the weekend edition but featuring a compilation of stories from past editions centered around a particular theme (for example, a Christmas episode may center on celebrities who have been bad or good in the past year).
Unlike most entertainment news programs, TMZ on TV does not use a format of anchors in a studio delivering the stories and correspondents reporting on many of the stories in each edition; instead, most story packages are delivered via an announcer, and "in-studio" segments are taped during a morning staff pitch meeting at TMZ's Jefferson Boulevard headquarters, with some TMZ staffers delivering story pieces themselves.
The series delivers most of its stories in a humorous manner, mainly about certain celebrities, and features tongue-in-cheek jokes and double entendres, though more serious entertainment stories (such as a breaking entertainment story or celebrity death) – which appear on the program sparingly – often warrant a serious tone. Pieces often feature archived clips from television series and movies often for comedic effect, though they may sometimes be used to reference a project that an entertainer is known for performing in. Many pieces are shown in the "man on the street"-type question and answer format synonymous with paparazzi, though some celebrities do not answer certain questions asked to them by the videographer; a common recurring reference within the program is how certain TMZ videographers sometimes ask extremely trivial or bad questions to their subject.
In lieu of regular daily segments such as a rumor mill segment, the program often shows recurring segments that appear over several episodes that feature a humorous or satirical introduction (for example, after the Tiger Woods adultery scandal broke in November 2009, all stories involving Woods began with the introduction: "TNN: The Tiger News Network", using a logo and name parodying that of Cable News Channel (CNN) – a sister company to TMZ.com and the distributors of the television series, Warner Bros. Television and Telepictures, all owned by Time Warner); however for the first few weeks of the show's run, the series carried a daily segment called "Full Frontal Fashion", featuring celebrity fashion blunders, but it was dropped after roughly one month.
On-air cast
- Harvey Levin – executive producer
- Adam Glyn – comedian, camera guy from NYC
Notable former cast members
- Ben Mankiewicz – former co-host of the Air America/XM radio show The Young Turks; currently hosts weekend daytime film presentations on Turner Classic Movies
- Deborah D Greene from Tampa FL currently works in life insurance and hosts a YouTube channel about cats
- Teresa Strasser – comedian; co-host of The Adam Carolla Show
- Countess Marina von Bismarck – comedian, celerbityologist on VH1, Logo Gossip Queens, under Mike Dinow
- Anthony Scaramucci – was a guest host for one episode after his dismissal as White House Press Secretary
Criticism
TMZ was criticized for purchasing stolen items pertaining to the fourth Indiana Jones film. On October 2, 2007, IESB reported that a number of production photos and sensitive documents pertaining to the production budget had been stolen from Steven Spielberg's production office.
According to IESB, TMZ.com obtained some of the stolen property and was on the verge of running the story on the TV show until Paramount lawyers stepped in. After IESB broke the story, TMZ on TV broadcast details about the Indiana Jones production budget on the October 3, 2007, program.[3][4]
Parodies
- On August 26, 2009, 3rd Degree Films released a pornographic parody film based on TMZ called TM Sleaze, featuring Ron Jeremy, Lisa Ann, Tori Black, and Faye Reagan.[5]
- Originating in 2009 on the short-lived NBC primetime talk show The Jay Leno Show and used from 2010–2014 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, comedian Mikey Day performs a sketch called "JMZ"; in it, Day and his "camera crew" track down celebrities (some actual celebrities appear in the sketch, while impersonators whose faces are not shown are shown sometimes in the sketch), which end up with Day involved in strange situations.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote a song in 2011, "TMZ", about the website and TV show on his album Alpocalypse.
- A 2016 episode of Inside Amy Schumer titled "Madame President" opens with a parody of TMZ called "AMZ".
- A Progressive Insurance commercial did a parody of the show called "Look! Famous People!" in which the photographers all take pictures of spokeswoman Flo doing her grocery shopping, then catch her in a car with a man whom they assume to be her new boyfriend; he is instead a potential customer.[6]
International broadcast history
In Canada, TMZ is shown on E!. In Australia it was broadcast on cable/satellite channel Arena until October 2008. It began broadcasting on the digital-only free-to-air channel GO! on August 9, 2009. The show was taken off the air in September 2015 to make way for expansions for children's content.
In the Philippines, Jack TV aired the show until the network's closure in April 2020.[7]
References
- "TMZ to Exit West Hollywood Headquarters for New Westside Office". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
- Albiniak, Paige (November 4, 2019). "Fox Renews Five Warner Bros.' Syndies". Broadcasting & Cable.
- "When It Gets Interesting", backup on archive.org from mcnblogs.com; accessed May 06, 2015.
- "Why Won't They Tell The Indy IV Theft Story Accurately?", backup on archive.org from mcnblogs.com; accessed May 06, 2015.
- TM Sleaze DVD, cduniverse.com; accessed February 11, 2015.
- Look! Famous People! - Progressive Insurance Commercial Progressive Insurance Official YouTube channel
- San Juan, Ratziel (March 25, 2020). "Jack TV, which carried 'Survivor' shot in Philippines, to go off-air starting April 1". Philstar. Retrieved April 9, 2020.