July 1, 2008
Bite Me
Visit www.channel4.com/bite to see the latest episode of the UK Channel 4 show, bite. This week the bite girls get steamy, sparkly, silly, and spunky!
– Charlie Bettice, bite producer
June 24, 2008
Thairin in Vancouver
Pam: Girl on the Loose producer Thairin Smothers is still traveling with his star. He sent these photos and a note from Vancouver:
Here are some shots from our ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria. Amazing views and people. I swear that is Heath Ledger in the black motorcycle outfit! I'll be here till Friday before I fly back to LA for my solo show at the Storefront Gallery.
June 16, 2008
Snaps of London Chaps
Thairin Smothers is back from his trip to London with Pamela Anderson and has brought us these photos.
June 15, 2008
Snap!
WOW editor Drew Forni says he was minding his own business today, "reading some random internet stuff and up pops t-smothers and pam in london by papazzos!" So t/y Drew for sending it in. (Photo: Earl/Clements/Splash News)
June 11, 2008
Coffee, Tea, or Pamela Anderson?
Just back from Abu Dhabi, lucky Pam: Girl on the Loose producer Thairin Smothers is off with his star to London, where she'll appear on a Saturday Night Live-type TV show. True to form, the notorious foodie has sent photos of his Air New Zealand in-flight meals. With captions:
First coach in-flight snack. Casaca veggie crisps. • First in-flight meal. So gourmet. Boneless chick thigh in mushroom sauce with potato au graten. Served on glass dishes. With a glass (not plastic) of New Zealand pinot noir. Lovely.
Approaching London. Simple clean breakfast. Wait till u see the dessert / boy photos.
Bite Me
Check out bite, the weekly UK Channel 4 show. In this week's episode, the bite girls have a drink, get the dirt, and do it doggy! Visit it here.
– Charlie Bettice, bite producer
June 4, 2008
June 3, 2008
Bite Me
This week's episode of the UK Channel 4 show bite has it all: retail, risk, rubber, and a roasting! Watch it here.
– Charlie Bettice, producer
Quote Unquote
"I'm an exhibitionist. Some people are afraid of being filmed. I'm afraid of not being filmed. Yesterday I was in the bathtub shaving my legs and having an interview. There's something sexy about shaving your legs in front of your boyfriend – not necessarily the whole world, but we'll see." – Pamela Anderson, to EW, about her upcoming WOW-produced TV show, Pam: Girl on the Loose.
Letter from Abu Dhabi: Goodbye
Thairin Smothers' last batch of photos from the capital of the United Arab Emirates, where he traveled with Pamela Anderson for her observational documentary series for E!.
June 1, 2008
Letter from Abu Dhabi
As you know, World of Wonder's Thairin Smothers is in the United Arab Emirates on assignment with Pamela Anderson for her upcoming observational documentary series on E! (see p 64 of the current EW). He said he was shooting B-roll today in Abu Dhabi, and took some stills for the WOW Report. In the morning, says Smothers, he and Anderson will journey two hours in a car to Dubai, then two hours back to catch a plane for the States tomorrow night. More of his pics after the jump.
May 30, 2008
Letter from Abu Dhabi (En Route)
Our sound guy Dustin Bath took this camera phone shot of the body cavity search I had to go thru in Germany during our layover. I just wanted to take that damn water bottle on the plane. No, it was not a six pack of Voss water. We had to go thru two security points and at the first one the guy wearing rubber gloves loudly snapped them with a smile when we came thru. It's nice to be in Abu Dhabi, nothing like that at all. I'm writing this drinking my water in peace. Stay tuned.
– Thairin Smothers
May 28, 2008
Bite Me
View the latest trends at bite, the weekly UK Channel 4 show. See the bite girls get high, sticky, hairless, and flirty.
– Charlie Bettice, producer
May 20, 2008
Bite Me
This week's episode of the UK channel 4 show bite is hot! Watch the girls pump some balls and get very wet!
– Charlie Bettice, bite producer
May 18, 2008
Clooney Set to Stare at Goats
It's been top secret till now, but the upcoming movie of Jon Ronson's book, The Men Who Stare at Goats, based on the World of Wonder-produced three-part series, Crazy Rulers of the World, will star none other than George Clooney. Meanwhile, in the screen version of the prequel series, Secret Rulers of the World (the basis for Ronson's book, Them), the author has been turned into a woman. But which Hollywood hottie will play him has not been announced yet. If there was a third series and a movie about that, too, the female Ronson and the male Ronson could meet and.... Crazy Fuckers of the World anyone?
May 13, 2008
Bite Me
In this week's episode of Channel 4's UK show bite, watch the girls on the move as they stand up to the mic and take to the catwalk. Oh yeah, Ami flashes her bum too!
– Charlie Bettice, bite producer
May 12, 2008
The Case of the Administering Minister
Here's a clip from World Of Wonder's latest documentary, Reverend Death, written and directed by Jon Ronson. It's accompanied by a long article by Ronson in today's Guardian, in which Ronson agonizes over whether his subject is a man of God on a mercy mission or something darker. The film airs on Channel 4 in the UK on May 19 at 10pm. Currently, there are no plans for it to air in the States.
May 6, 2008
Bite Me
Check out the new episode of WOW's UK online show, bite. This week, Ami gets stripped, Zena gets her tongue out, Gemma swings a sword, and Laura talks testicles.
– Charlie Bettice, producer
April 29, 2008
Bite Me
In this week's episode of Channel 4's bite, the girls go back in time and look into the future. Watch it here.
April 25, 2008
Heidi Fleiss: Woman of Substance
Former Madame, Heidi Fleiss, will be one of the celebrities in Dr Drew Pinsky's Celebrity Rehab when it starts shooting in June. "My dream is to be on Celebrity Rehab," she told Radar Online. "How did I get so lucky? I hope there's someone interesting in there this time. The past cast made me want to get high." From the few brief journeys we've had with Fleiss in the World of Wonder elevator, she seems like a funny lady, and we wish her lots of luck getting clean. Heidi Fleiss in the WOW elevator? Yes. The WOW doc, Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madame of Crystal, premieres at the Los Angeles Film Festival in July. (Photo: Getty Images)
April 24, 2008
World of Wonder Times
World of Wonder's World of Wonder Times clues you in to this month's best WOW TV video, WOW Report post, Storefront Gallery show, and WOW television production.
April 22, 2008
Bite Me
bite is back on the UK's Channel 4!. A new season of the World of Wonder show brings new bite girl Gemma. This week, the bite girls put interesting meat in their mouths, Ami has her cake and eats it, Zena gets her back up, and Gemma kicks off in style by throwing a hot-tub party.
– Charlie Bettice, producer
April 8, 2008
Pam Anderson Back on the Boob Tube
The Hollywood Reporter has announced the return of Pamela Anderson to television. And it just so happens that the show she'll be returning in, tentatively called Pamela, is an eight-part series of observational half-hours produced by World of Wonder's Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, and Tom Campbell, along with Anderson herself and Jeff Pollack of Handprint Entertainment. The series, due to launch this summer on E!, will be co-executive-produced by video and commercial director Nigel Dick, who directed the Britney Spears "Baby One More Time" video.
March 28, 2008
Mad Man
Airing tomorrow and Sunday on BBC Four, a documentary production from World of Wonder's London office: David Ogilvy: Original Mad Man, the story of advertising and its self-proclaimed genius. (Click image to enlarge)
March 18, 2008
Bite Me
In this week's episode of bite from World of Wonder's UK office, the girls get some jeans on in London, then hurtle down a hill in a gigantic see-through bubble. And Laura pops over the Channel to Geneva and meets a man with an amazing mustache. What more could you ask for? Check it out on Channel 4 here.
– Rachna Suri, producer
March 13, 2008
Bite Me
In this week's Channel 4 bite webshow from World of Wonder's UK HQ, Ami and Antonya have a laugh, Zena J-turns, and Laura is a witness to the fitness. Find out more here.
– Rachna Suri, producer
February 27, 2008
Bite Me
Check out the new episode of WOW UK's Channel 4 online show, bite. This week, Antonya tries her hand at the trapeze, Ami sets fire to her record player, and Zena almost gets cryogenically frozen. Find out why at www.channel4.com/bite!
– Rachna Suri, producer
February 13, 2008
Bite Me
Check out the new episode of WOW UK's online show, bite. This week, Amy proposes marriage, Zena feeds a lemur called Zena, and the Hardcore Romantique love doctors teach the girls how to exercise the main muscles used in romantic interactions!
– Rachna Suri, producer
February 7, 2008
Heidi Fleiss Busted
Police in Pahrump, Nevada, reports TMZ, say they got a call today about a possible drunk driver. When the Nye County Sheriff's deputies pulled the car over, they discovered it was being driven by Heidi Fleiss. The onetime Hollywood Madame was arrested and charged with driving without a license, possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription, being under the influence of a controlled substance. and driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Her passenger, John Owen, was arrested for possessing a controlled substance and a small amount of weed.
Actually, although Fleiss lives in Pahrump, she's opening her male brothel in Crystal, Nevada. That and a number of other interesting facts will be revealed when Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madame of Crystal airs on HBO this summer.
February 6, 2008
Bite Me
Have you ever seen a piano being smashed up with a sledgehammer? If not – or even if so – check out this week's new bite and see Ami trashing the place, Zena getting lashtastic, and Amy getting her belly out. It's bellies and bullies on bite!
– Rachna Suri, producer
February 1, 2008
Ouch! That Feels Good
Hooray! We hear from World of Wonder's London office that bite, their trendy music-and-fashion internet-only show that airs every Tuesday on Channel 4, has passed the million-hits mark, with 1,090,591 cumulative views so far. Since its launch, the site has had up to 180,000 hits a week, with about 70% of those hits from returning viewers. So, basically, the five chicks who host the show can truthfully say, "bite me."
January 30, 2008
Bite Me
Get your Lindy Hop on! Dancing like John Travolta doesn't have to be a trial, as Zena finds out in this week's new bite, World of Wonder UK's online show for Channel 4. Hollywood-style Lindy Hop classes are fast becoming the hippest ingredient for London's coolest nights, cos obviously all us Brits really want is to be Yanks. You'll be triple-stepping in no time.
– Rachna Suri, producer
January 24, 2008
Bite Me
"A new bite is over from WOW UK now!" exclaims the show's producer Rachna Suri. "This week, Zena hula hoops, Ami talks cherry blossom and impotence with London's 'antifolk' bands, and Amy and Antonya have a little tiff." For those who don't know, bite (they love the lc in the uk) is World of Wonder's Channel 4 internet-only show. Each Tuesday, a new show goes live, during which five girls, armed with only a camera and a car, test the latest music, fashion, and trends – just for you.
January 16, 2008
Warhol TV
WOW TV's Warhol TV channel will run two full, raw interviews from World of Wonder's 2001 three-part docuseries Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture each day through February 22, the anniversary of the artist's death and the conclusion of WOW's art show, "Warhol Dead at 21." More than 60 talking heads contributed to the series, including Debbie Harry, Julian Schnabel, Joe Dallesandro, The Dandy Warhols, Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover, Nan Kempner, and The Velvet Underground's John Cale. Above, Homer Simpson is interviewed, sort of; at the top of the page, artist Peter Blake.
January 15, 2008
Warhol TV
WOW TV's Warhol TV channel will run two full, raw interviews from World of Wonder's 2001 three-part docuseries Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture each day through February 22, the anniversary of the artist's death and the conclusion of WOW's art show, "Warhol Dead at 21." More than 60 talking heads contributed to the series, including Debbie Harry, Julian Schnabel, Joe Dallesandro, The Dandy Warhols, Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover, Nan Kempner, and The Velvet Underground's John Cale. Above, Archihe Gilles is interviewed.
Warhol TV
WOW TV's Warhol TV channel will run two full, raw interviews from World of Wonder's 2001 three-part docuseries Andy Warhol: The Complete Picture each day through February 22, the anniversary of the artist's death and the conclusion of WOW's art show, "Warhol Dead at 21." More than 60 talking heads contributed to the series, including Debbie Harry, Julian Schnabel, Joe Dallesandro, The Dandy Warhols, Dennis Hopper, Crispin Glover, Nan Kempner, and The Velvet Underground's John Cale. Above, Paul Warhola, Andy's brother is interviewed.
December 1, 2007
Comments Get Read
Transgender activists Calpernia Addams and Andrea James read from a sampling of negative comments found on Perez Hilton and ABC.com regarding their World of Wonder dating game, Love Transamercan Style, which begins on Logo in February, and is hosted by gay actor/comedian Alec Mapa. They spin straw into gold, baby.
November 29, 2007
Love Transamerican Style
LOGO network announced today the new series Love Transamerican Style, a competition dating series centered on transgender activist, artist, actress, and author Calpernia Addams. The show is hosted by our favorite gay comedian Alec Mapa and also features Calpernia's best friend and fellow transgender activist Andrea James. We at World of Wonder are so excited by this show not only because we're producing it, but also because, as Perez Hilton says, it's a first for US television.
We spoke to Calpernia shortly after the announcement and here's what she said: "My text messages and email box blew up this morning and I've heard from some old friends who I haven't spoken to for years. Andrea and I have been laughing about the comments on all the blogs....both the cool things and the bitchy things. It's all good!"
Executive producers include Randy, Fenton, Tom Campbell, and Joe Del Hierro; co-executive producer is Julio Kollerbohm; senior producer is Sara Jandrian
November 28, 2007
Shameless Plug: Accept No Substitutes Edition
World of Wonder management would warn you that there's a website called Perez Sez that should not be confused with what Fenton Bailey calls "our delightful series of What Perez Sez specials" on VH1, the next of which airs December 13, with Perez Hilton putting 2007 in perspective. The two Perezes are mutually exclusive and have never met.
Perez Envy?
Last night, as the team on What Perez Sez raced to finish the next episode (What Perez Sez... About 2007, which airs December 13 on VH1 at 10PM), Perez decided to have fun with the telestrator and get all penis-centric on it. These were the results:
Left, Perez sends a cute little valentine to What Perez Sez producer Cooper Green and producer-director Glenn Gaylord. • Right, Perez has a special message for Ben LeVine, one of the What Perez Sez editors.
– Glenn Gaylord
October 15, 2007
Pete's PA
Pete Burns is on the hunt for a personal assistant. Hundreds were called, but who will serve? Who can put up with Pete's diva tantrums and caustic put-downs? In episode two of Pete's PA, airing tonight at 10 on Living, only in the UK, Pete and the panel lose their cool during the tense elimination process. Well, mostly Pete.
September 18, 2007
Here and Makeup
World of Wonder was a kind of makeup base today as seemingly hundreds of hopefuls lined up on the sidewalk in front of the building to audition for the position of assistant to billy b, famed makeup artist to the stars– and to be part of billy b's upcoming reality-TV project. (Photos by Thairin Smothers)
August 28, 2007
Shelf Life
Matt Damon's top-five books, as revealed on Australia's Stars on Sunrise morning talk show:
1. Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
2. Freakonomics by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner
3. The End of Poverty by Jeffery D Sachs
4. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
5. The Men Who Stare At Goats by Jon Ronson
If you're a longtime WOW Report reader, you'll know that book #5, the one about staring at goats, was the basis for one of the segments of WOW's investigative documentary series in the UK, Crazy Rulers of the World. (t/y Lindy)
August 21, 2007
Good Vlog
Perez Hilton, with newly green hair on his head and newly grown hair on his lip, reveals that he's going to start vlogging (is this the first of them?) in addition to his blogging because he figures "you really wanna see my fat face more often." Also, says he, he just saw some of the rough cuts from his upcoming (Tuesday, September 11) WOW-produced VH1 show, What Perez Sez – and he's so excited. "It's awesome," says the Gossip Gangster. "It is so amazing, you guys are going to love it!" We at WOW, of course, are excited too.
August 2, 2007
Punch Lines
David Punch, the executive producer of IFC's The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman, which he also cowrites with its titular star Laura Kightlinger, is the subject of a not so minor piece by Michael Shaw in the LA Times "Calendar" section today. In it, Kightlinger says of Punch:
"I'm a commoner digging a hole in a large rest area. I'm sweating, digging, lamenting my fate. Then an arrestingly handsome country gentleman in tweed boxer shorts and vest, sprouting guns the size of well-fed corgis, takes the shovel from my hands and says, 'Laura, my good man, what say we decide where to put the filling station before digging holes all over God's creation?' And that's Dave. He brings logic, light and good breeding to the situation. He's also the innately funny, imaginative, politically current concept person."
And of Kightlinger, Punch says:
"It's not every day that you meet someone who looks like a model, who's as smart as Lenny Bruce and funnier than a barrel full of Jerry Lewis."
July 30, 2007
CONTEST! REMINDER!
The WOW Report is presenting a minor contest to coincide with the August 5 season premiere of IFC's original comedy series, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman (Sundays at 11:30PM). If you saw the first season, you know that Laura Kightlinger's Jackie Woodman character is a mostly surly would-be screenwriter in LA who, with her galpal who works at a production company, has some dryly hilarious, mildly wacky "industry" adventures. Both bitchy and blasé, Jackie and Tara are like Lucy and Ethel with low blood sugar. And they hate LA – thus the tagline "LA sucks. Jackie sucks back." We'd like to hear why you think LA sucks, and we'll send the two best whiners cool little stainless-steel Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman flasks like the one pictured above, flasks that, until now, only the show's cast and crew were privy to carry. Send your hate mail to wowreport@worldofwonder.net before August 5, and write "Jackie flask" in the subject line. (Photo: Thairin Smothers)
July 24, 2007
Wherefore Art I?
Remember this man sitting on an upended suitcase in a hotel room in New Orleans, because we'll be talking a lot more about him later.
June 25, 2007
We Wuz Framelined!
Steven Corfe writes:
This weekend was the closing weekend of the Frameline LGBT Film Festival, and a group of WOWers traveled up to San Francisco to support the screening of our film Sex Change Hospital and partake in the coinciding Gay Pride activities. SCH screened Saturday afternoon at the Roxie, and both of the subjects featured in the first episode, Vicki Estrada and Jim Howley, were there with family and friends. Not an easy feat for Vicki, one would imagine, sitting in a room with friends and strangers watching your penis being surgically transformed into a vagina on a 40-foot screen. As Jim said during the Q&A that followed, he usually has dinner bought for him before he lets people see him naked. But the subjects' bravery was the common theme of the post-screening chat, along with praise for director Chris McKim for striking a balance between the science of gender reassignment and the emotional journey of the people undergoing it. I sat behind Vicki, and was touched to see her daughter (from Vicki's earlier marriage, when she was Steve) hugging her during the painful parts of the film.
May 23, 2007
A Program(s) Note
Variety today announced three personality-based reality productions in the works at World of Wonder. That's us. "We've become big enough as a production company with the resources to be aggressive in finding real-life characters," said Randy Barbato, one of our two bosses here at WOW, the other being Fenton Bailey, who concurs. Allison Margolin: The Dopest Attorney in Town, will deal with a Los Angeles lawyer who specializes in medical-marijuana cases while working for her family's practice. Beauty School Dropout follows actor Jim J Bullock as he makes his way from beauty school to owner of a hair salon. And the eponymous star of Jeffree Star, the third show in production, is the internet's cross-dressing, pink-haired, singing and songwriting sensation, whom Bailey describes as a "digital polymath" and Cyndi Lauper will have as the opening act on her summer tour. (Variety)
April 20, 2007
Pot Luck
I've always been a fan of Fridays, for all the obvious reasons, and today, my friends, is no exception as, luckily, it pairs the great day of Friday with the special date of April 20. The birth of Hitler! The first pasteurization test! Pot smoking!
As I see it, this 4/20 is going to be a fruitful day. I've already had my java jolt, savored a delicious Rice Krispies Treat, and just puffed the tail-end of my third J. Now, if I could only snag WOW's development duo Ross and Tom away from that Allison Margolin sizzler shoot. Margolin, "LA's Dopest Attorney," is a 29-year-old Harvard Law grad and criminal defense attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases. She recently signed a development deal with WOW to chronicle her "weed crusade." Far out, man.
Unfortunately, rolling another, thinking, and typing simultaneously is no easy task so I bid you adieu but not without giving high hopes and cheer for this wonderful day!
– Liz Leister (ext. 420)
April 9, 2007
And a Small Diet Coke
People often ask when our sentence assignment here in West Virginia will come to an end. Sure, it's been three months of frigid, bone-chilling weather, and spending our per diem on nothing but cough drops & chicken noodle soup, but we love it here! We swear! Don’t believe us? You see, if you visit a little place called the Morgantown Mall and drop in to see a movie on a Tuesday, they feature BYOB night. Bring Your Own Bucket. That’s right, for a mere 50 cents you can bring a receptacle as big as you want (well, we hear six gallons is the cutoff) and they'll fill it with all the popcorn you can eat & more. 50 cents! Someone please tell me what 50 cents will buy you in LA, because it sure as hell isn’t a trash bag full of popcorn. So don’t pity us. But instead, the next time you head to the ArcLight and buy your $14 ticket & $5 paltry bucket of popcorn, just think of us out here in cold Mountaineerland, and smile at the thought that wherever we are, at least we have a shit-ton of popcorn.
– Angela Rae Berg and John Hill
(producers, WOW's upcoming series Show Choir)
February 19, 2007
Spears for Souvenirs
Since eBay took down their official listing, the owners of the California hair salon where Britney shaved her head have created their own website to flog the singer's hair. On BuyBritneysHair they inform us that "any hair for sale on eBay is a scam, pure and simple," and a quick look shows that there are indeed many scammers trying to make a quick buck selling unauthentic hair (including some blonde locks – duh). More interesting are the entrepreneurial types selling Britney hair-related products. Here are some of my favorites:
– Steven Corfe