Barb Oates, Author at Channel Guide Magazine

What’s Next for the Cody Clan as ‘Animal Kingdom’ Returns?

July 12, 2021 Barb Oates 0

Animal Kingdom makes its Season 5 return to TNT Monday, July 11 at 9/8c. Spoilers are ahead, so if you’re not caught up, stop reading, you’ve been forewarned. Killing off the main character is never an easy decision on any TV drama, but what a wallop it was when cancer-stricken mama queenpin Smurf Cody (Ellen Barkin) got taken out by her grandson J (Finn Cole). But we didn’t have much time to grieve before we learned that she really stuck it to her boys by leaving her fortune to a mystery woman named Pamela Johnson. With only two seasons left […]

Inmates and Friends Spill the Dirt in “Cellmate Secrets”

June 4, 2021 Barb Oates 0

Uh-oh, the tea is about to be spilled. Lifetime’s new six-episode documentary series Cellmate Secrets (Fridays beginning June 4) is like the TMZ of true crime, as it tracks down former friends, prison guards, cellmates and lovers of some of the most famed felons and defendants of today to reveal new insights and information about them. Casey Anthony. Drew Peterson. Joyce Mitchell. Jodi Arias. All of their stories are told in a new light, along with an enhanced re-airing of the Lifetime original movie that followed their true story. Rizzoli & Isles’ Angie Harmon narrates the series and couldn’t be […]

Jon Taffer of ‘Bar Rescue’ on His Most Emotional Season Ever

May 2, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Jon Taffer returns to help struggling bar owners in the most emotional season yet of ‘Bar Rescue’ on Paramount Network. […]

Meet Chad! TV’s Most Awkward Character That You’ll Never Forget

April 6, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Comedian Nasim Pedrad introduces us to her jarringly awkward 14-year-old Chad. No, Chad isn’t Pedrad’s son. But he is her baby, as she’s the creator, writer, showrunner, executive producer and star of the cringey, funny comedy Chad debuting on TBS April 6 (Tuesdays at 10:30/9:30c). Pedrad, who gave us many memorable parodies as Kim Kardashian and Arianna Huffington on her five-year run on Saturday Night Live, spent the past five years developing the character of Chad. “Well, it’s been quite a journey,” she tells us. “I do feel somewhat like I’ve been pregnant for five years, and the birth is […]

Race to the Center of the Earth — One of the Biggest Global Races in History

March 29, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Race to the Center of the Earth is an epic seven-part competition series; a nonstop sprint across the globe for a $1 million prize. […]

Catching Up With the ‘Outlander’ Lads for ‘Men in Kilts’

February 27, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Imagine the pitch meeting. Two fun-loving superstars from your biggest hit series — Outlander — tell you about a project they developed, where they travel around in a camper van, engaged in witty banter, while exploring the scenery, culture, cuisine and people that make Scotland amazing. The meeting took all of about 30 minutes and the answer was an immediate yes. For Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish (Heughan plays 18th-century Highlander Jamie Fraser; McTavish was his now-dear-departed uncle, Dougal MacKenzie), their adventures were amazing and are chronicled in Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip With Sam and Graham (Starz, Sundays 9/8c). […]

Best Addictive Binge of 2021 — Lily Rabe and Amy Brenneman in ‘Tell Me Your Secrets’

February 19, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Consider yourself warned. The title is Tell Me Your Secrets. The issue is once you start, you aren’t going to be able to stop. And the less you know about it, the better. Amazon Prime Video drops all 10 episodes of Tell Me Your Secrets on Friday, Feb. 19, so your plans for the weekend have been made. This intense, morally complex psychological thriller from creator/writer Harriet Warner stars Lily Rabe (American Horror Story), Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy), Hamish Linklater (Legion) and Enrique Murciano (Without a Trace). Richard Thomas (The Waltons) also stars in a more unusual role. The series […]

Celebs Share Their Fast Food Favorites; Chefs Compete to Make It in ‘Fast Foodies’

February 4, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Taco Bell’s Nachos BellGrande. Culver’s ButterBurger. Chick-fil-A’s Chicken Sandwich (extra sauce, please). McDonald’s Sausage McMuffin With Cheese. Name a fast-food restaurant, and most people can tell you their favorites in seconds. Surely, everyone has a guilty pleasure go-to item, right? Well, truTV’s new series Fast Foodies (Thursdays at 10:30/9:30c) puts a fun spin on that premise. The initial idea for Fast Foodies was based around people’s love of fast food, and a subculture that exists of people who are trying to re-create it at their homes. “We’re leaning into the fact that fast food, if you eat it or not, […]

Wendy Williams Opens Up About Her Career And Personal Life In Lifetime Documentary

January 29, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Ever since her early days in the ’90s as a New York radio DJ, Wendy Williams has been telling it as it is. The self-made Williams has used her raw and unfiltered honesty to amass millions of fans (along with some haters), launch a nationally syndicated talk show (which has been airing since 2008), pen a bestselling autobiography (as well as six other books), and ultimately become the savvy media mogul and businesswoman she is today. Williams shares her life story — and she admits it’s a mess — this month on Lifetime in the two-hour biopic film Wendy Williams: […]

Vanna White Talks ‘Celebrity Wheel of Fortune’

January 14, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off

Who’s going to be asking to buy a vowel is yet to be known, but the dynamic duo of Pat Sajak and Vanna White will be hosting a new version of the classic game show during primetime in Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (Thursdays on ABC, beginning Jan. 7). A slew of celebs will spin the iconic wheel for their chance to win up to $1 million for their favorite charity. After 38 seasons of watching Wheel of Fortune, it’s about time we get a spinoff (no pun intended)! We caught up with Vanna just hours before filming, where she was […]