 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2023) |
Bobby Rivers | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953 |
| Died | (aged 70) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Television and radio personality, actor |
Bobby Rivers (1953 – December 26, 2023) was an American television and radio personality and actor. Rivers was the host of the Top 5 show on the Food Network, and Watch Bobby Rivers, a prime-time celebrity talk show on VH1.
Rivers, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles during the tumultuous 1960's, graduated from Marquette University in Wisconsin. Rivers' first television appearance was as a high school student on a 1970 syndicated classic-film trivia game show. During those times on The Movie Game, shot in Hollywood, he was the program's first African-American contestant, and its youngest winner.[ citation needed ] After working in Milwaukee radio, he made his professional television debut in 1979 on Milwaukee's ABC affiliate, WISN-TV, as the city's first African-American film critic on TV. [1] He did this as a contributor on Milwaukee's edition of PM Magazine, a syndicated show that had national hosts, such as Matt Lauer, Mary Hart and Leeza Gibbons. During that time, he was tapped to audition as a possible replacement as movie critic when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert left Chicago PBS for Disney syndication. In 1984, he had moved up to co-host and associate producer of a live weekday show on WISN.[ citation needed ]
After that show was canceled in 1985, Rivers was offered a job as an entertainment reporter for WPIX-TV in New York City. In 1987, he was hired as a VJ by the American cable television channel VH1. Executives there utilized his comedic and interviewing skills, which led to his own show on the network the following year called Watch Bobby Rivers. Stephen Holden of The New York Times called him "a master interviewer with a gift for banter". [2] On VH1, he interviewed Paul McCartney, Kirk Douglas, Meryl Streep, Mel Gibson, Carlos Santana, Raúl Juliá, Michael Caine, Mel Blanc, Jodie Foster, Liza Minnelli, Marlo Thomas and Norman Mailer, among others. He hosted veejay segments with the network's new addition, Rosie O'Donnell, until 1990. [3]
Rivers hosted two short-lived syndicated game shows, one of which was called Bedroom Buddies. In 1992, he was approached to be a lifestyles and entertainment reporter on local WNBC-TV's Weekend Today in New York and WNYW-TV's Good Day New York. For the latter, he was hired as a replacement for Australian personality Gordon Elliott, who had left.
Rivers performed onstage, and appeared on the television show The Sopranos . In 2000, he was the entertainment editor on Lifetime Live, an ABC News/Lifetime weekday magazine hour. He also worked on-camera with its hosts, Deborah Roberts and the late Dana Reeve. After the cancellation of Lifetime Live, he hosted Food Network's Top 5 in 2002. Production ended in 2004, but the show aired weekly with reruns until 2008.
Whoopi Goldberg, a one-time guest on Rivers' VH1 talk show, picked him to be the weekly film critic and entertainment reporter on her national weekday morning show for Premiere Radio, Wake Up with Whoopi. The show lasted from 2006 to 2008. Director Steven Soderbergh used footage of Rivers' VH1 interview with Spalding Gray in his documentary about the late monologist and actor. The 2010 release was titled And Everything Is Going Fine. [4] Rivers moved into comedic acting, playing "Professor Robert Haige" in In The Know, a satirical roundtable news segment in The Onion news network's video podcast.
Beginning in 2011, Rivers wrote a blog about television and films called Bobby Rivers TV. [5]
Rivers died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on December 26, 2023, at age 70. [6]
Live with Kelly and Mark is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the Live with... show formula has aired under various hosts since 1983 locally on WABC-TV in New York City and 1988 nationwide. As of 2016, it is produced by WABC.
WPIX is a television station in New York City, serving as the de facto flagship of The CW Television Network. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, the station is operated by CW majority owner Nexstar Media Group under a local marketing agreement (LMA). Since its inception in 1948, WPIX's studios and offices have been located in the Daily News Building on East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The station's transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.
Mario Lopez is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on Saved by the Bell, Saved by the Bell: The College Years, and the 2020 sequel series. He has appeared in numerous projects since, including the third season of Dancing with the Stars and as host for the syndicated entertainment news magazine shows Extra and Access Hollywood. He has also hosted America's Best Dance Crew for MTV. In 2012, he co-hosted the second season of the American version of The X Factor with Khloé Kardashian, and was the sole host for the third and final season.
Entertainment Tonight is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. Having premiered on September 14, 1981, it holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-running entertainment news program on television.
Access Hollywood, formerly known as Access from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel and is currently executive produced by Maureen FitzPatrick and directed by Richard Plotkin. In previous years, Doug Dougherty, Christopher A. Berry and Kim Anastasia directed the program. Access Hollywood primarily focuses on news in the music, television, and film industries.
WNYW is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship WWOR-TV. Both stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood, while WNYW's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
WTMJ-TV is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Kenosha-licensed Ion Television station WPXE-TV. WTMJ-TV's studios are located on Capitol Drive in Milwaukee, and its transmitter is located approximately four miles (6.4 km) north of downtown Milwaukee.
WITI is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, WITI maintains studios on North Green Bay Road in Brown Deer, and its transmitter is located on East Capitol Drive in Shorewood.
WISN-TV is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, it is the second-oldest television station to remain with the company in all of its various iterations behind flagship WBAL-TV in Baltimore. WISN-TV's studios are located on North 19th Street on the west end of the Marquette University campus, and its transmitter is located at Lincoln Park in the northeastern part of Milwaukee.
WCGV-TV was a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, which operated from 1980 to 2018. In its latter years, it was owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV; it had common ownership with CW affiliate WVTV. WCGV-TV's operations were last housed at WVTV's studio facilities on Milwaukee's northwest side; the station's transmitter was located on the Milwaukee PBS tower on North Humboldt Boulevard in Milwaukee's Estabrook Park neighborhood.
Inside Edition is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is not strictly focused on hard news. Though it does feature the latter, the rest of each day's edition mainly features a mix of infotainment stories, entertainment news and gossip, scandals, true-crime stories and lifestyle features.
Extra is an American syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine that is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution and premiered on September 5, 1994. The program serves as a straight rundown of news headlines and gossip throughout the entertainment industry, providing coverage of events and celebrities; however, since 2013, it has also placed an even greater emphasis on interviews and insider previews of upcoming film and television projects. As of 2023, the program's weekday broadcasts are anchored by Billy Bush, with the weekend editions co-anchored by Melvin Robert and Mona Kosar Abdi.
Arthel Helena Neville is an American journalist, television personality, and weekend anchor for Fox News, based in Manhattan alongside co-anchor Eric Shawn.
WRNW is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, known as "97.3 The Game." It airs a sports radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on West Howard Avenue in Greenfield.
WISN is a commercial AM radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It broadcasts a conservative talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The studios are on Howard Avenue in the Milwaukee suburb of Greenfield.
Sway Calloway is an American journalist, radio personality, executive producer and former rapper. Known as Sway, he is known for hosting music, news, and culture programming. He was an on-air reporter and host for MTV News and occasional non-news hosting, including numerous red carpet MTV award pre-shows, and reports on major events, concluding his tenure with the network as host of the short-lived TRLAM. He is co-hosting the nationally syndicated radio show The Wake Up Show as as one half of the duo Sway & King Tech; and hosting Sway in the Morning on SiriusXM Shade45.
WSSP is a commercial radio station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, owned by Audacy, Inc. It airs a sports radio format known as "1250 AM The Fan." Most of its programs are from CBS Sports Radio and the BetQL Network.
Ryan Jay is a TV and radio film critic, Oz historian, director, writer and producer.
Sharon Lee Carpenter is a British broadcast journalist, television host, and producer. She has worked as an on-air personality for a number of top American television networks including CBS, BET, Sean "Diddy" Combs' REVOLT TV, and VH1. Currently, she is a host for BBC America and often contributes on CNN, Good Morning America and UK morning show "Lorraine." She also co-hosts a pop culture podcast with Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter, "Loose Lips." Carpenter recently won both a Telly Award and a Webby Awards honor for an Instagram Live series she created during the coronavirus pandemic - a celebrity interview show called "Let's Go Live!"
Movies! is an American free-to-air television network, owned by Popcorn Entertainment, LLC, a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corporation. The network's programming emphasizes feature films but also Modern E/I programming on Sunday mornings produced/distributed by Storrs Media/Telco Productions. The network's programming and advertising operations are based in Weigel Broadcasting's headquarters on North Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois.