Carol Burnett, Don Cornelius, Bob Newhart and Aaron Spelling Among Honorees at Third Annual TV Land Awards: A Celebration of Classic TV
Awards Show Honoring the Best of Television to Tape at Santa Monica's Barkar
Hangar on Sunday, March 13 and Premiering on Wednesday, March 16
NEW YORK, Feb. 24 -- TV Land announced today that The Carol
Burnett Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Soul Train and legendary producer and show
creator Aaron Spelling will all be honored at the third annual TV Land Awards:
A Celebration of Classic TV, being taped at The Barker Hanger on Sunday, March
13. The 90-minute special will premiere with a special simulcast on TV Land
and Nick at Nite on Wednesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT). The annual
celebration recognizes shows and stars from television's rich history and is
presented by Revlon.
Several awards will be bestowed upon some of television's legendary
series' and stars. Celebrated film and television producer Aaron Spelling will
receive the Pioneer Award, The Carol Burnett Show will be recognized with the
Legend Award, The Bob Newhart Show will receive the Icon Award and Soul Train
will be honored with the Pop Culture Award. TV Land will also present awards
in several other categories, including The 2004 Future Classic Award -- which
TV Land unveiled in 1998 and is presented annually to the one new show from
the past calendar year which best exemplifies the qualities of an emerging
television classic. Last year's recipient was FOX's critically-acclaimed
comedy series Arrested Development.
Also slated to appear at the show include: legendary cast members from The
Carol Burnett Show (Tim Conway, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner)
as well as fashion designer Bob Mackie, who fitted Burnett with her glamorous
gowns for the show; Peter Bonerz, Bill Daily, Suzanne Pleshette and Marcia
Wallace of The Bob Newhart Show and Joan Collins, Peggy Lipton, Luke Perry,
Jason Priestly and Tori Spelling, who will all be on hand to honor Aaron
Spelling. More talent to be announced shortly.
The tribute awards include the following:
PIONEER AWARD
This award is given to a television creator who is an industry leader, a
visionary who is able to bring together all the disparate elements that lead
to great television -- wonderful ideas, skillful craftspeople, charismatic
actors and talented writers. This year's recipient is Aaron Spelling.
The most prolific producer in television history according to The Guinness
Book of World Records, Aaron Spelling knows his audience. From westerns to
Emmy-winning television films on the atom bomb and AIDS to detective series
and escapist fare, soaps, glamour, and family shows, Aaron Spelling has met
the needs of his television viewers. Since selling his first script to Dick
Powell in 1956, he has produced a record 4,500 plus hours of television
programming, including 300 hours of movies for television as well as a dozen
feature films.
In 1978, Spelling was the first producer to have four series
simultaneously ranked in the top ten: Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch,
Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. Spelling, Chairman and CEO of Spelling
Television, a Paramount/Viacom Co, is currently represented on television by
the WB hit series, 7th Heaven, just renewed for a 10th season, making it the
longest running family show in television history, and Charmed and Summerland,
both popular series for the WB.
Spelling partnered with another TV legend -- Danny Thomas -- and together
they produced three series -- The Danny Thomas Show, The Guns of Will Sonnet,
and The Mod Squad -- as well as six movies-of-the-week for ABC-TV. In 1971, he
formed a partnership with Leonard Goldberg and over the next eight years,
Spelling produced 38 television movies and the top-rated series Charlie's
Angels, Starsky & Hutch, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, and the highly
acclaimed, award-winning series Family.
Always at the forefront of relevant and current social issues, Spelling
proved himself a pioneer in breaking new ground in the television arena. He
was the first to sensitively portray gay characters with Steven Carrington and
Matt Fielding on his mega-hit shows Dynasty and Melrose Place. Other series
produced by Spelling adding to a virtual guide to television history include
The Colbys, Hotel, The Love Boat, T.J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Vega$, The
Rookies, Beverly Hills 90210, (which would launch the current wave of youth-
oriented shows and ran a record 10 seasons), and its mega spin-off, Melrose
Place, among others.
LEGEND AWARD
This award is presented to a television series which has stood the test of
time and ranks among the most memorable and celebrated shows in TV history. TV
Land will honor The Carol Burnett Show as this year's recipient.
For more than a decade, Carol Burnett and the talented cast of The Carol
Burnett Show entertained America with song, dance and comedy in one of the
most successful variety series of all time. The show was, in fact, one of the
most successful programs in television history. In an era when variety shows
would come and go, the Emmy-award winning program remained successful, due in
large part to the chemistry between Carol and her supporting stars. Burnett,
one of television's most versatile variety performers who could sing, dance,
act, clown and mime was the cast's binding force.
ICON AWARD
This award is presented to a comedy show that made us laugh and keeps us
laughing, a timeless classic. A show of enduring popularity, whose humor came
not out of farce, wordplay and topicality, but from compelling stories and
engaging characters. This year's recipient is The Bob Newhart Show.
A hugely popular hit, The Bob Newhart Show garnered several Emmy
nominations and awards including nods for Outstanding Comedy Series. It
originally aired from 1972-78 on CBS. It featured one of the most beloved
casts in television history -- Suzanne Pleshette as Bob's wife, Emily; Bill
Daily as their needy neighbor Howard Borden; Marcia Wallace as the quick-
witted receptionist Carol Bondurant and Peter Bonerz as Bob's office neighbor,
the orthodontist Jerry Robinson. The cast also boasted a lengthy list of
well-known "patients" of Dr. Hartley, who became household figures in their
own right.
POP CULTURE AWARD
This award is presented to a show that has crossed the line from
television series to pop culture phenomenon. This year's honoree is Soul
Train.
The longest-running TV program of any genre in the entire history of
first-run, nationally syndicated TV programming, Soul Train became a national
sensation in the mid-1970s and broke new ground for African-American
entertainment. The brainchild of radio announcer Don Cornelius, he acted as
creator and executive producer of the show. The weekly series, which
originally premiered in October 1971, has featured performances by the top
R&B, Hip Hop, Gospel and Jazz recording artists in the industry. It has also
featured appearances by guest hosts and dance numbers from the Soul Train
Gang. Each week, the latest hits and coolest dances were served up in a slick
package that had kids of all ages and races dancing around the TV-room floor.
It is often remembered as the television show that did the most to bring
African-American popular culture into American households.
TV Land has also asked viewers to log on to tvland.com and vote for a
variety of fun categories including "Favorite Singing Siblings" and "Favorite
Sing-Along Theme Song" with the winners to be announced and presented at the
show. The voting is taking place on tvland.com, and will end on March 10. To
date, over 1.3 million votes have been cast and traffic to tvland.com
increased 23% in the first month after the voting began. While most of the
winners will be announced during the telecast, many will be announced
exclusively at tvland.com during the live, synchronized show companion.
Michael Levitt (TV Land Awards 2003 and 2004, Billboard Music Awards)
serves as Executive Producer, Emmy-award winning Glenn Weiss as Director (2003
Tony Awards, Christmas in Washington, Star Search), Greg Sills as Supervising
Producer (VH1 Divas, Billboard Music Awards), Michael Dempsey as Producer
(Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, mtvICON), and Sal Maniaci and
Larry W. Jones also serve as Executive Producers.
Now seen in over 85 million U.S. homes, TV Land's program mix features
popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential
interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind --
the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features
all-time Classic hits like "All in the Family," "I Love Lucy," "The Andy
Griffith Show," "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Bonanza."
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B),
owns and operates the following television programming services -- MTV: MUSIC
TELEVISION, MTV2, mtvU, VHI, NICKELODEON, NICK at NITE, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV
LAND, SPIKE TV, CMT, NOGGIN, MTV INTERNATIONAL and THE DIGITAL SUITE FROM MTV
NETWORKS, a package of 12 digital services, all of which are trademarks of MTV
Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint ventures, and
syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be seen
worldwide.
SOURCE TV Land
Web Site: http://www.nick-at-nite.com http://tvland.com
|