Channel Surfing
by Laura Nachman
Bucks County Courier Times
March 30, 2004

Joan Rivers, 71, who isn't slowing down a bit, performed before an audience of mostly her own age group at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA Sunday night.  Some of Rivers' targets were recent newsmakers such as Whitney Houston, Madonna, the Bush twins, and Donald Trump.  However, she also trotted out old jokes such as going to the gynecologist. 

It was a little surprising to see glamour-puss Rivers, who stars in the red carpet shows on E! and mostly plays casinos, performing at the renovated movie theatre.

The audience who paid $47 for tickets, seemed pleased with Rivers' one-hour show (around $1.27 a minute for those who are counting). 

Stand-up comedian and Philadelphia native Kevin Hart, 24, is the star of the new ABC series "The Big House" on Fridays at 8:30 p.m.  The sitcom is set in Philadelphia, but filmed in Hollywood.

Della Reese and local and national NBC personalities will be at the "NBC 10 Fit Fest" this weekend at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.  Arlen Escarpeta and Rachel Boston of "American Dreams," and Jason Curis of "The Apprentice" will joine NBC10's Cherie Bank, Amy Freeze, and Denise Nakano Saturday and Sunday.  Admission is free.  Hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

KYW (CBS 3) will hold open auditions for the fifth season of “Big Brother” at the station’s studios at Fifth and Market in Philadelphia on Friday from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.  “CBS Early Show’s” Julie Chen hosts the summer reality show that has a grand prize of a half million dollars for the person who can live in the house for three months.  Applicants will be required to film a two-minute video.  Before the Philadelphia unions start to get riled up, this show is filmed in California.  Move-in day for the Philadelphia “Real World” house is scheduled for April 10.  As a former viewer of the show, who hasn’t watched in a few years, I will be interested again with the Philly locale.  The Philadelphia season is scheduled to start in September.  In a related MTV note, does anyone else remember when Jessica Simpson played halftime of a Temple football game at Franklin Field a few years ago?           

Elisa Zuritsky, not Lisa Zuritsky as was printed last week, will join her writing partner Julie Rottenberg for a lunch discussion of “Sex and the City” at the Gershman Y on 401 South Broad Street in Center City April 21.             

Philadelphia’s Heidi Bressler, who was fired from “The Apprentice” this month is appearing as a special guest in “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” here.             

“Wheel of Fortune” will be taping some episodes at the Wachovia Center this summer.   As one of the few shows that I can watch with my four-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter, I’ve come to have a greater appreciation for Pat Sajak and Vanna White.  They have been doing the same jobs for over 20-years, and Pat breezes through every show without a care in the world.  Both know they have great jobs and have no intention of leaving.  It still dominates its 7:30 timeslot here.           

WPVI won the battle of the “Implosion” last Sunday at 7 a.m. From 7-7:15 a.m., WPVI had a 9.1 rating, KYW followed with a 6.1 rating, and WCAU had a 5.4 rating.  Each rating point equals 28,743 households. Too bad this event wasn’t aired on TNT.