BB8 | After Dark Update (8/29; contains mild spoilers)

• Jessica is head of household
• Amber and Zach are nominated for eviction
• Dick and Daniele had an argument and aren’t speaking at the moment
• Eric told Zach today that he really wants Amber out of the house
• Tomorrow night is the live eviction ceremony…

‘Kid Nation’ doomed?

It’s starting to look like the show will be felled by its bad press before it even airs. There are too many articles, reports and indictments to even begin linking to, but you can put Kid Nation into Google News and get an idea of what I’m talking about.

I’m still curious to see if the show speaks for itself. I do agree, though, that the complaints from the children (and now the unions!) are compelling, and the gag order on the kids and their parents is suspicious. But to borrow a cliche, maybe the ends justify the means.

As of this writing, the show is still scheduled to premiere Wednesday, Sept. 19, on CBS.

FALL PREVIEW | The official site has a preview video, bios of the kids, and a downloadable application for Kid Nation 2

TALK | Whoopi preps for her ‘View’ debut

Whoopi Goldberg officially joins the ladies of The View this Tuesday, Sept. 4. But you can see a picture of her with the cast this very second!

The first guest for the new season is none other than Danny DeVito, who made an infamous drunken appearance on the show last winter.

So far, it seems like Barbara and the gang at The View are trying to capitalize on last year’s controversy for the new fall season. But Rosie is gone, and that era at the show is over. Will Whoopi be controversial enough to bring ratings and please producers, but not so controversial that she provokes the Fox News Channel to call for the show’s cancellation, as Rosie was wont to do?

My impression is that Whoopi has a reputation for being “controversial” or provocative that is based mostly on street cred and not reality. (I’m not trying to hate on Whoopi, either. I love the Sister Act movies!) Maybe she’ll prove me wrong and there’s some bite to her bark, but I’m guessing not.

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Goldberg, necessarily, but she and Rosie are very different people and if the idea is supposed to be that Whoopi is the new Rosie, viewers aren’t going to fall for it.

NO GOAL | Rosie O’Donnell will not be playing a soccer coach on Friday Night Lights this fall

DAYTIME | Will Regis retire?

With the 20th season of his popular morning talk show set to kick off Monday, Regis Philbin hints that he may not be around much longer. There are two seasons left on his current contract, and Philbin tells USA Today that he’ll make a decision about his future within the next year.

He’s already been phasing himself out, cutting down in recent years to four shows a week and taking Fridays off (or pretaping special shows). The big question is whether the franchise will survive the loss of Regis, a prominent figure in television over the years. Kelly Ripa is certainly talented enough to hold her own, but the continued success of Michael Gelman’s coffee chat show that could all depends on who lands in Regis’ chair if and when he eventually vacates it.

Also in the USAT article: Michael Gelman reminds the world how old Regis actually is, and makes some dubious claims about his steel trap-like pop culture knowledge (Philbin sometimes seems unprepared for or unsure of what’s going on around him; he’s no Larry King, but as Gelman points out, the man is old).

HEY! REMEMBER THE ’80s? | Check out the first-ever host chat with Regis and Kathie Lee, from September 5, 1988

BB8 | After Dark Update (8/28; contains spoilers)

• Jessica is head of household
• After winning the power of veto, Eric decided to keep Amber and Zach on the nomination block
• Jessica is starting to believe that keeping the Donatos is a mistake that will come back to haunt her
• Amber spent the afternoon campaigning to Eric and Jessica, pleading that as one of the ‘good people’ she deserves to stay
• After meeting with Eric and Jessica, ‘good’ Amber admitted to Dick that she has lied to him in the past, but will be honest with him in the future…if he votes for her to stay
• The live eviction ceremony is Thursday…

FLIPPING THE UN-SCRIPT | Crazy, crying Amber did a respectable job earlier tonight on Power of 10. Ultimately, she walked away with only $1,000, but she seemed to have a decent instinct for the game until her final question.

Now, however, Amber has a new target: Eric. She’s explaining to Jessica and Jameka that Eric is a “master manipulator.” Amber’s evidence for this? It takes one to know one. She claims she used to manipulate her boyfriend, as we learned earlier in the summer when Eric revealed to Dick that he had a secret on Amber. Amber having the upper hand on Eric? As Zach said upon his nomination this week, “It’s a twist I didn’t see coming.”