Reports of the death of the TV hospital drama—foretold by the end of “ER” last season after 27 years on the air—were apparently premature.

Showtime has “Nurse Jackie”; TNT has “HawthoRNe” and NBC is back with a new one that adds an “M,” a “C” and a “Y” to “E” and “R” and that gives us “Mercy.” (Oh, stop groaning—you saw that one coming a mile away.) (“Mercy” Website)

But alert Nurse Hathaway! In this network show, the nurses—not the doctors—are running the asylum. Starring Taylor Schilling, Michelle Tractenberg and my guest today, Jamie Lee Kirchner, “Mercy” lets viewers know who’s really in charge on the floors.

“Mercy” airs every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on NBC.

AUDIO EXCERPT: “It’s a friendship show. It’s like ‘Sex and the City’ with cheaper footwear. There’s a lot of comedy; just when you think you know who these people are, they make a hard left turn.”

Hear it now!

You can LISTEN to this interview with JAMIE LEE KIRCHNER, co-star of NBC’s MERCY, by clicking HERE!

Image via Wikipedia

How do the movie studios follow the humongous, year-after-year success of the Harry Potter movies?

That is, where do you find a character and situation that will grab the imagination of everyone from elementary school students on through your grandmother? And craft tales that will make audiences come back for more? Again. And again. And again.

The answer wasn’t Lemony Snicket, although a lot of people thought it would be.

Maybe Rick Riordan’s got it. Riordan created a young adult novel series called Percy Jackson & The Olympians about the mythological gods and monsters coming to life in modern day circumstances with only a trio of unusual high school students standing between us and them.

CRAIG TITLEY AUDIO EXCERPT: “The Lightning Thief is rich with imaginative material. But from day one, you know things have to go. It’s honing in ont things that move the story frorward, that are the most exciting. It’s always hard; it’s the hard cold reality of adapting that not everything can make it into the movie. But it still feels true to the spirit of the book.”

I smell a formula, but the kids love the series. Now a movie based on the first book, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, opens in theatres on Friday, February 12. The trailers look very cool and any resemblance to Harry Potter, the Hogwarts School and all the rest is surely intentional—and who could blame the producers?

Joining me today is one of the poor bastards upon whom the cinematic weight of the world is apparently resting, one week out from the picture’s debut. But I suspect screenwriter Craig Titley, who adapted Rick Riordan’s story for the silver screen, can handle the pressure. Maybe you’ve seen some of his previous films, including the original Scooby-Doo live-action film—it grossed more than $100 million. He also co-wrote the Steve Martin movie, Cheaper By the Dozen—which also grossed a hundred mil.

Hear it now!

You can LISTEN to this interview with CRAIG TITLEY, screenwriter of PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF, by clicking HERE!
• • •
Order Percy Jackson and the Olympians Paperback Boxed Set (Books 1-3)
Order Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief Movie (Holding Lightning) Poster

Cover via Amazon

ELISHA CUTHBERT AUDIO EXCERPT: “When you come from a show like ‘24,’ the bar is raised pretty high. Working with Christian before, I knew I was coming into a professional place and I knew it would be a lot of fun… My commitments to ‘24′ are completed now. I think the door is still open, but it’s trickier for them because they have to work around ‘The Forgotten.’”

It seems like movie star Christian Slater has at last found solid footing on network television. His ABC series, “The Forgotten,” got off to an admittedly slow start in the ratings when it debuted last fall, but the network stayed with it and so has a growing audience.

Now the show stands to get a boost from the addition of a familiar face: Elisha Cuthbert, who we saw grow up over eight seasons—or days, if you will—of the Fox series, “24.” She’s joining “The Forgotten” as of Tuesday, February 9 in the recurring role of Maxine Denver.

The sound you hear is a million Elisha fanboys around the world giving thanks to God.

See Elisha Cuthbert photos in Maxim

Hear it now!

You can LISTEN to this interview with ELISHA CUTHBERT and CHRISTIAN SLATER, co-stars of THE FORGOTTEN, by clicking HERE!
• • •
Order The Girl Next Door, on DVD, starring Elisha Cuthbert

Order 24, Season 7, on DVD, starring Keifer Sutherland and Elisha Cuthbert

Order True Romance, on DVD, starring Christian Slater

“Shark Tank” panelists Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec, image by Getty Images via Daylife

“Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran has a sense of humor. She must: an incredibly successful real estate mogul, she’s the author of three books, including my favorite title, If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails.

Yikes!

On her ABC show, which airs its second season finale this Friday, February 5 at 9 p.m., Barbara is on a panel of experts assessing potential business investments. There are some great ideas; and there are some horrible ideas.

Barbara is the only woman on the panel and presents some of the best “Are you out of your mind?” facial expressions to the deer-in-the-headlights, wannabee capitalists.

But she’s also invested in a few good ideas along the way.

(Website: Shark Tank)

AUDIO EXCERPT: “Think of the opportunity and the sheer entertainment value of ‘Shark Tank’! We’re working 11-hour days, listening to pitch after pitch and we’re never bored. It is so fascinating! And then you go home with new business partners. Who would say no to something like that?”

Hear it now!

You can LISTEN to this interview with BARBARA CORCORAN, real estate mogul and panelist on ABC’s SHARK TANK, by clicking HERE!
• • •
Order If You Don’t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails: And Other Lessons I Learned from My Mom by Barbara Corcoran

Order Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life by Barbara Corcoran

Order Use What You’ve Got, and Other Business Lessons I Learned from My Mom by Barbara Corcoran

Cover of Whisper That Way

I have to share this story; it made me laugh.

I don’t know too much about the boy bands of the late 1990s and early 2000s except that they were extremely popular and that, because my daughter was born in 1996, I missed that entire era of pop.

So I went online to school myself on 98 Degrees, in anticipation of today’s guest, singer Jeff Timmons, joining me on the show to talk about his latest work.

I clicked on a Google link to the band’s official website, 98Degrees.com, but it never materialized. My second choice was to read the Wikipedia page on the band.

Before I could read anything else, the following disclaimer appeared:

“This article is about the band. For the body temperature, see 98.6.”

Apparently there are only point-six degrees of separation between the band and normal human body temperature. Wonder if Kevin Bacon knows this?

(And, incidentally, there is no redirect on the 98.6 Degrees site back to the band 98 Degrees, just in case you were wondering.)

So where was I?

Oh, Jeff Timmons, of course. The founder of 98 Degrees was part of a singing act that sold more than 10 million albums and scored several Top 40 singles, including “Because Of You” and “This Gift.”

The group’s successes were eventually overwhelmed in the public eye when one of its members, Nick Lachey, married singer Jessica Simpson. Their short-lived marriage was memorably chronicled on MTV’s “The Newlyweds.”

98 Degrees released its last album, The Collection, and toured in 2002. Jeff Timmons released a solo album, Whisper That Way, two years later and is now readying to release a third. You can download cuts from it for free for a limited time at ReverbNation.com.

AUDIO EXCERPT: “When you dream about being a pop star, it’s about having all of these crazy girls after you. The first two or three months, when we were on the road, I was excited, hanging out with different girls. At a certain point, though, it wasn’t that interesting to me anymore. It lacks a little bit of depth. That phase didn’t last too long for me.”

Hear it now!

You can LISTEN to this interview with JEFF TIMMONS, founder of 98 DEGREES, by clicking HERE!
• • •
Download Jeff Timmons first solo album, Whisper That Way

Order 98 Degrees final album, The Collection