Laura Hobson, Coordinator, Integrated Marketing, Viacom Entertainment Group

When Laura Hobson found out she won a walk-on role on TV Land’s hit sitcom “Hot in Cleveland,” she was shocked beyond words.

“I was laughing because I didn’t know what would come of this and I was overwhelmed by everyone calling and emailing me about the news,” said Hobson, Coordinator, Integrated Marketing for Viacom Entertainment Group.

Hobson, who won the unique opportunity at the network’s annual All Hands meeting, soon learned that she wasn’t the only special guest — the episode also featured guest stars Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Jean Smart.

“When I arrived at rehearsal, Betty (White), Carol and Jean were going over their lines in casual clothes,” said Hobson. “It was wild.  I walk in and look over and right in front of me they are working on a scene and going through it.  It was in that moment that it really hit me that I was witnessing people known for their craft and really practicing and working on it.”

In her scene, Hobson was seated behind White and Burnett in a bar, giving her a first-hand experience of watching the two Emmy®Award-winning actresses interact.  During rehearsal, she even had the opportunity to watch Conway give Burnett a hard time about her lines.  “It was just great to see them interact as people, peers and friends, especially since there is such a background there professionally and personally.”

After rehearsal, Hobson went to prep, change, and pick up her cousin — a huge Golden Girls fan — who would be attending the taping with her.  Since she wasn’t scheduled till the last scene, Hobson watched most of the taping from the Green Room, where she was pleasantly surprised to meet Burnett, who was spending some downtime there was well.

Once it was call time, Hobson took her place with the other extras.  “I’ve never done this before, so I asked the extras next to me ‘do I really speak out loud or do I mime this conversation?’ to which they laughed at me,” recalled Hobson.  “Thankfully, they taught me the ropes and everyone nailed their scenes.”

After a long, exciting day, Hobson’s scene wrapped and the taping was over.  But not before she had an opportunity to get up close and personal with the entire “Hot in Cleveland” cast and guest stars for a post-show group photo.  The photo is one she will cherish for many years to come. “I couldn’t sleep that night. I called my family after the show and kept trying to replay what had just happened.”

While it was a day Hobson will never forget, she is nervous to see the episode air.  “I’ll probably have my hands in front of eyes the entire time the first time I watch the episode.”  While she may be covering her eyes, the rest of TV Land will be tuning in to see their friend and coworker make her television debut.

TV Land’s Hot in Cleveland returns on Wednesday, June 19 at 10pm ET with a LIVE episode.

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Age is nothing but a number.

91-years-old today, Betty White breathes life and validation into this saying. Happy birthday, Betty – you’re an inspiration… and you look fabulous!

If you’re in L.A., fans can celebrate with free cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, until 9 p.m. tonight.

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For those who missed out on the action-packed day, we took some notes on what we overheard:

“If “Best Week Ever” is the wine cooler to get the Friday party started, then Jenny McCarthy is our cosmo.” - Jeff Olde, EVP, Original Programming and Development, VH1, on upcoming pop culture comedy series, “The Jenny McCarthy Show.”

“I made a point of being a sexpert, and ten years later, here I am.” – former adult film star Katie Morgan on her credentials as a panelist on “That Sex Show,” Logo’s upcoming live, late night relationship and sex advice show.

“Sometimes we’re giving you some very simple basic answers that you think everybody should know, and sometimes we’re going to talk about the strangest fetish you’ve ever heard of.” – shrink and “That Sex Show” panelist Dr. Mike Dow.

“Today I’m pleased to announce that Logo has just signed a development deal with Cher — yes, Cher, and veteran TV writer, producer, cult fan favorite Ron Zimmerman – for a pilot script set in Hollywood in the early 1960s.” – Brent Zacky, SVP, Original Programming, Logo.

“It includes all of the reality TV stereotypes that we’ve come to love, we’ve come to hate, including Lorenzo Lamas starring as Lorenzo Lamas.” – Sharon Levy, EVP, Original Series, Spike, introducing reality series, “The Joe Schmo Show.”

“I said, ‘Well, how many times do you want me to wear this blue Speedo?’  And without missing a beat, [the exec producer] just said, ’As many times as you feel comfortable.’  And that kind of opened the whole, you know, adventure up to me.  And from that moment on, I just embraced the idea, the concept.” – actor Lorenzo Lamas on signing up for Spike’s “The Joe Schmo Show.”

“There’s a loose arc to a lot of it… I think that’s one of the things we were trying to do and differentiate us from other sketch shows in that there is a really strong narrative thread and that you learn more about these characters with each episode.” – Nick Kroll on Comedy Central’s upcoming sketch comedy,  Kroll Show

“He does so many different, diverse characters in such a convincing way, you will probably agree with me that he has some sort of personality disorder.” – Kent Alterman, Head of Original Programming & Production, COMEDY CENTRAL, on star Nick Kroll of Kroll Show

“We’re trying to steal as much as we can from [HBO show] Girls.” – Workaholics star Adam Devine on finding inspiration for the upcoming season.

“The new season is so good, it’s going to make a lot of people in the audience feel like total idiots for liking it before.  It’s that much better.” – Kent Alterman on the upcoming season of Workaholics

“We are in production on more shows than ever before, and in April, we’ll open a new night of originals anchored by a new ten‑episode series starring two of the most bankable stars on the planet, Duane Chapman, aka “Dog,” and his wife Beth.” – Jayson Dinsmore, EVP, Development and Programming, CMT, introducing new bounty hunting reality series, DOG (wt).

“We’re on a mission from God.” – Duane “Dog” Chapman on devoting his life to bounty hunting.

“If you’re not your authentic self in today’s TV, you’re not going to last… So that’s what I’m hoping to do, is be my authentic self.” – star Jenny McCarthy on The Jenny McCarthy Show

“We have so many new shows coming, I think, more original shows than we’ve had in our history, and I think a couple of them are going to be pretty good.” – Kent Alterman

“Funny is funny and men are going to be men ‑‑ white men, black men, Indian men ‑‑ we all do the same stupid stuff over and over again, and that’s why it’s called ‘Real Husbands.’  We just happen to live in Hollywood.” – cast member J.B. Smoove on BET’s new original series, Real Husbands of Hollywood, a semi-scripted, reality-TV satire skewing all things “Housewives”-like.

“I watch the Basketball Wives and I’ve watched the orange — the ones with the orange wives… Pretty much every state has a “Wives” show that I’ve watched.” – Real Husbands of Hollywood star Kevin Hart on his guilty pleasure shows.

And to finish off strong, Smoove closed out our presentation by asking Hart whether his feet dangle when he sits on the toilet.

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We’d like to give it up big-time for the incredible teams behind the creation and production of all of Viacom’s Emmy-nominated programs. From the more seasoned The Daily Show (now a 44-time Emmy nominee) to newer shows like Victorious and iCarly, our programs raked in a total of 21 nominations.

We’re proud and thrilled to see the hard work that goes on (on- and off-screen) recognized with so many nominations for one of television’s highest honors. It’s a coup across our Music, Entertainment and Nickelodeon groups — and it’s wonderful reaffirmation of the creative excellence that thrives here at Viacom.Congrats to everyone who made the following nominations possible.

Comedy Central
Futurama “The Tip of The Zoidberg” — Outstanding Animated Program
Futurama — Maurice LaMarche as Clamps, Donbot, Hyperchicken, Calculon, Hedonismbot & Morbo — Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
6 Days To Air: The Making of South Park — Non Fiction Special
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart — Outstanding Variety Series
The Colbert Report — Outstanding Variety Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart — Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series
The Colbert Report — Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart — Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series
The Colbert Report — Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart “A Love Supreme — Profanity & Nudity On TV” — Outstanding Picture Editing For Short-Form Segments and Variety Specials
The Colbert Report “Stephen Colbert Occupies Wall Street” — Outstanding Picture Editing For Short-Form Segments and Variety Specials

Comedy Central Digital
The Daily Show Correspondents Explain — Outstanding Special Class — Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs

MTV (in partnership with LOGO)
It Gets Better — Outstanding Children’s Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program

Nickelodeon
The Penguins of Madagascar “The Return Of The Revenge Of Dr. Blowhole — Outstanding Animated Program
iCarly  — Outstanding Children’s Program
Victorious  — Outstanding Children’s Program
Victorious — Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series or Special
Victorious — Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosethetic)

TeenNick
Degrassi — Outstanding Children’s Program

TV Land
Hot in Cleveland “God and Football” — Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series
Hot in Cleveland “Bridezelka” — Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series or Special (Non-Prosethetic)

Presented by the prestigious Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Emmys recognize excellence in national primetime programming. The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards will be presented in two ceremonies.  The first, primarily for creative arts categories, will take place on Saturday, Sept. 15, while the balance of the Emmys, primarily for the performing arts, will be announced before a black-tie audience during a primetime telecast on ABC on Sunday, Sept. 23 at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles, CA.

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COO for Viacom Entertainment Group John Cucci, President of TV Land Larry Jones, actor Shirley MacLaine, Viacom Entertainment Group Executive Vice President Casey Patterson, Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs Melissa Bear and President of Viacom Entertainment Group Doug Herzog during the awards presentation at TV Land Presents: AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Shirley MacLaine at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)

Hollywood’s biggest names turned out to see Shirley MacLaine receive the prestigious American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award at a recent black tie gala at Sony Pictures Studios, the taping of which will air on TV Land tomorrow.The festivities began with MacLaine’s spirited entrance into the historic Stage 15, where more than 1,000 invited guests were on hand to celebrate her storied career. Warren Beatty, MacLaine’s younger brother and fellow AFI Life Achievement Award recipient, began by explaining the award’s purpose of ensuring that “the great masters of film may take their deserved place in history beside leaders in other arts.”

The evening featured in-person tributes by stars including Katherine Heigl who credits MacLaine for inspiring her own career, John Travolta who noted MacLaine as “a woman who does it all – but always first – a dancer,” and Julia Roberts who shared a story about MacLaine’s card playing days with the “Rat Pack” and Chicago mob boss, Sam Giancana.

Jack Black’s hilarious pre-recorded speech was among the many tributes of those who could not attend. Other video tributes came from James L. Brooks, Goldie Hawn, Nicole Kidman, and Charlize Theron.

In a room full of Hollywood’s most respected, and by all accounts, achieved, MacLaine closed the evening by saying, “to all of us who are overachievers: don’t worry, what we don’t get done now, we will the next time around – if we keep our feet firmly planted on the ground and our heads in the stars, and always listen to the mothers and the women in our lives.”

The women in MacLaine’s life were represented by her table mates: Jennifer Aniston, Sally Field, Melanie Griffith, Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep. Streep, who presented MacLaine with the award, may have said it best: “There are some performers who are indelible. You fall for them early. You fall hard. And you follow them the rest of your life. That’s our Shirl.”

You can catch “Shirl” and the rest of Hollywood’s finest this Sunday, June 24 at 9 p.m. on TV Land.

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Call it “reel love,” if you will.  TV Land’s “Coming Soon to a Theater Near You” explores the strong connection 40-54-year-olds have to the movies, revealing a rise in movie-going behaviors for this group. The research takes a look at their distinctive set of movie-going attitudes and preferences, and how impactful movie advertising is on their awareness of new movies.

The Findings

• While young adults represent a significant portion of the movie-going audience, more adults 40-54 are going to the movies than 10 years ago.
• Movie-going is considered “an occasion” and is a large part of this group’s total out-of-home entertainment.
• Adult movie-goers are especially open to movie advertising on television.

Movie-going Behaviors

For this group, there’s no place like out-of-home, with movies representing a significantly larger percentage of total out-of-home entertainment. Adults 40-54 are seeing more movies than before, with the number of movies seen per year increasing 6% between 2010-2011.

Opening Weekend

• Younger moviegoers are more likely to see movies opening weekend or within a week after it opens, yet 68% of adults 40-54 are open to seeing a movie on opening weekend.
• The leading deciding factor for seeing a movie on opening weekend is the cast of a movie (67%), followed by commercials and trailers on TV (58%).

Date Night: 40-something moviegoers are most likely to see movies with their spouse/partners, while younger moviegoers are more likely to go with their friends.

• Among 40-54s, 75% go see movies with their spouse/partner/significant other, 49% go with child(ren),  and 32% go with friends.
• The vast majority of 18-24s go see movies with their friends (72%), followed by significant others (54%).

Show Me the Money: Moviegoers 40-54 are more than twice as likely as those 18-24 to spend more than $20 at the movies: 64% versus 28%, respectively.

Movie-going Attitudes

Forty-54-year-old moviegoers have their own set of attitudes and values around the movie-going experience, distinctive from their younger counterparts.

That’s Entertainment! Moviegoers 40-54 look forward to seeing a movie in a theater more than nearly every other out-of-home entertainment option.

The Great Escape: The majority of adults 40-54 say going to the movies is an escape from everyday life (54%) and about half say it’s as an opportunity to spend time with family.

• 49% say it’s a good way to spend time with my partner/significant other.
• 45% say it’s a good way to spend time with my family.

Reel Love: 40-54 moviegoers have a strong connection to the movies, with a majority agreeing that, “I’ve always gone to the movies, and I probably always will.”

Awareness & Advertising

TV Commercials are the most common way that moviegoers 40-54 learn about new movies, while younger viewers use word-of-mouth and in-theater trailers just as often.

• 71% of 40-54 viewers learn about movies from commercials and 60% learn from friends and family/word-of-mouth.

This group expressed an openness and interest in seeing more movie commercials on TV.

• 78% of TV Land viewers are more interested in seeing more movie commercials on TV Land.

Most 40-54-year-old moviegoers (55%) recognize that the majority of movie ads are not targeted at them, but at younger people. A full 83% of 18-24-year-old moviegoers agree that most of the movie ads they see look like they are for people their age.

Implications:

Despite the rise in 40-54s going to the movies, movie advertising tends to target a younger audience. Marketers can tap into this group’s openness and interest in movie advertising, and maximize opportunities to tailor their messaging to this demographic.

The Methodology:

This study was based on one-on-one interviews with 42 adults aged 40-54 as well as a national survey of 1,500 adults aged 18-54.

Rich Cornish is vice president of Ad Sales Research for CMT and TV Land.

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Actress Valerie Bertinelli and President of TV Land Larry Jones backstage at the TV Land Awards 10th Anniversary show at the Lexington Avenue Armory in NYC.

If you caught the 2012 TV Land Awards, you saw host Kelly Ripa partake in 13 costume changes, from Lucille Ball to Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester character on Glee. You heard Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin “bring down the house,” and house band The B-52′s fire up infectious hits like “Love Shack” and “Rock Lobster.” And most likely, you felt the deep sense of appreciation that imbued the show.

Indeed, Pee Wee’s Playhouse star Paul Reubens said the night’s secret word was “gratitude.” Back for its 10th anniversary, this year’s show once again paid tribute to the many classic and contemporary TV, music and movie luminaries that we’re grateful for. But it worked both ways: actors who moved on to greater stardom, reunited with cast members from shows past, took the opportunity to acknowledge their roots.

Jim Carrey, for one, reunited with the cast of In Living Color, thanked the show for starting his career. The show also honored and reunited the casts of classic shows including Laverne & Shirley, Murphy Brown and One Day at a Time.

“The ‘TV Land Awards’ 10th Anniversary was such a great night,” said Larry W. Jones, president, TV Land. “Every single one of our honorees was thrilled to be reunited with their old friends and cast members.”

John Legend serenaded Aretha Franklin and presented the legendary singer with the Music Icon Award. Franklin’s performance at the show was another highlight.

“Of course, Aretha brought the house down with that amazing voice,” Jones said. “Just like John Travolta said last year, it truly is one of the coolest nights in television.”

You can hear an online exclusive from Franklin’s performance below.

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Certainly, there was fanfare — there’s bound to be at a nightclub where Fran Drescher pronounces two contest winners “husband and husband.”

The same sex wedding ceremony, officiated by Drescher, tied the knot for Russell Kemp and Tom Whalen, Fran fans and winners of TV Land’s “‘Love is Love’ Gay Marriage Contest.” The event came on the eve of the second season premiere of Happily Divorced, and doubled as both a celebration of the new season and a public display of Drescher’s support for marriage equality for the LGBT community.

Those on the 200-person guest list mingled over champagne by the light of TV Land votive candles at XL Nightclub while waiting for the nuptials to begin. Anticipation mounted as Drescher entered on the stage centered in the venue to preside over the ceremony.

But as their two children, Mason and Madison, walked toward her as ring-bearer and flower girl, and the grooms joined them center stage, it was hard not to appreciate the simpler beauty of the affair — the celebration of a couple’s existing commitment for one another, and the promise for a future together — free from concern about gender, sexual orientation, race or any other basis for discrimination.

“This is what a family looks like,” Drescher said as she stood between the grooms, with their two children beside them. Each read a self-authored love poem.

The story of Kemp’s and Whalen’s 20-year relationship, recounted in their contest submission, won them the “Love Is Love” wedding. They are fans with a strong connection to the actress: Kemp, like Drescher, is a cancer survivor, but during his days of treatment and recovery, he waited every afternoon for The Nanny to come on and give him a good laugh.

In plenty of ways, it was a pretty standard rite: there were two people affirming their love for one another with tear-jerking vows, an adorable ring-bearer and flower girl, flowing champagne, music and a fancy cake (designed by renowned cake designer Sylvia Weinstock).

And Kemp and Whalen, both Jewish in faith, performed the breaking of the glass in the ceremony and danced the Hora, of course.

But the night remained a unique experience, with Drescher leveraging her celebrity to support their union. Kemp opened his vows with a look around the venue and an exclamation: “Is this real?!”

Viacom’s LGBT affinity group, Emerge, helped promote the event via its Facebook group and and extended an invitation to its members.

“The event itself was very moving, and I felt privileged to attend and witness Tom’s and Russell’s wedding with their two kids,” said Shannon Travis, a leader of Emerge and manager for Content Distribution & Marketing. “As an employee of Viacom, I felt proud that TV Land and Fran Drescher were supporting same sex marriage so openly and publicly.”

Before the ceremony yesterday, Fran editorialized her stance on marriage equality in the Huffington Post.

For The Wall Street Journal’s recap of the occasion, you can check out “Exchanging Vows, Rings in TV Land.”

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As their case in point, Carter and Stelter note that, while Fox’s American Idol and NBC’s The Voice still rule the roost in Live ratings, ABC’s Modern Family takes the top spot when we look at Live+7 ratings.

Love the quote from one of Modern Family’s creators in acknowledging this victory, because it hints at a broader trend that we’re seeing across our own networks:

“On behalf of all the comedies that were wiped out by ‘Idol’ over the past 10 years, it’s very gratifying,” said Steve Levitan, one of the creators of “Modern Family.”

That trend is how much strength comedy programming — in particular, sitcoms — gains in ratings when DVR playback is factored in. By all accounts, the sitcom — once left for dead — has made a Lazarus-like recovery across broadcast and cable. But that recovery is even more impressive when you factor in DVR playback.

Take TV Land, for instance — the biggest programmer of original sitcoms across Viacom’s networks. All of the channel’s sitcoms, including Hot In Cleveland, Happily Divorced, The Exes and Retired at 35, see significant double- and triple-digit gains from DVR playback in Live+7 ratings. In fact, Hot In Cleveland more than doubles its ratings in TV Land’s sweet spot P25-54 demo  as a result of DVR playback — that’s a higher percentage gain than any sitcom on broadcast, including Modern Family.

To be sure, DVR playback helps everybody out. Colleen Fahey Rush, our head of Strategic Insights and Research at Viacom, ran the Nielsen numbers and found that top and middle-tier cable networks in our competitive set get, on average, around a 15 percent lift in ratings from DVR playback. Many of our biggest hit shows at Viacom — MTV’s Jersey Shore and Teen Mom, Comedy Central’s South Park and Tosh.0, and the aforementioned Hot In Cleveland — far exceed that.

Ditto Jon and Stephen on Comedy. For as timely and topical as these shows are, both The Daily Show and Colbert Report see big gains in Live+7 over Live — 74 percent and 61 percent respectively. For Daily, that lift is enough to vault the show into first  place ahead of both Leno and Letterman among viewers P18-49.

What does it all mean? Are the web and time-shifting reshaping the paradigm, by tapping into a growing desire for consumers to enjoy comedy on demand? Or is it just an apples-to-oranges between sitcoms and live event or even dramatic programming?

We’ve been having this discussion in focus groups lately — why do comedies thrive in a playback world? What we’ve heard is that, while hearing about a plot twist or other outcome can damage a viewers ability to enjoy an episode of a drama or live competition show, hearing about a good joke on a sitcom can actually drive interest in going back and watching the episode. Viewers are more likely to go back to hear the joke for themselves, because a pro like Betty White will always “land the joke better than your friend,” as we’ve been told.  Spoilers can easily kill a good plot twist.  But a good joke?  Not so much.

The one thing for sure is that the sitcom is back. And, speaking as a serious student of television’s golden age, that makes me smile.

Tanya Giles is Executive Vice President of Strategic Insights and Research for Viacom’s Entertainment Group, which includes Comedy Central, Spike and TV Land.

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