It’s official: Reality TV truly is the spawn of Evel
THE SON OF FAMED Montana motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel is jumping into reality television in a new cable series. “Knievel’s Wild Ride,” debuting tonight at 10 on A&E, follows 42-year-old stunt rider Robbie Knievel as he works and travels.
Knievel’s original hometown of Butte is featured in the first episode as he and his crew stop there on a road trip from his current home in Western Washington to a show in New Jersey. The gang swings by a bar and a fight breaks out.
Dubbed a “real-life and limb series,” the network says the show is “an exuberant and unfiltered look into the life of a wild man who lives hard, plays hard and most certainly works hard.”
“Yeah, they just follow us around,” Knievel says. “We don’t do anything special for them. They want this to be real, and it is real, if you saw it.
“There’s a lot of bleeping,” he adds.
Speaking of slime-time programming …
The green slime poured down on celebrities and fans alike Saturday night at Nickelodeon’s 18th annual Kids Choice Awards.
Will Ferrell was the evening’s first victim. Later, the audience got it from the punk-pop group Simple Plan, which had rigged their instruments to spray slime.
The evening concluded with Johnny Depp coming on stage supposedly to slime host Ben Stiller, but getting the green goo dumped on himself instead – whereupon Stiller, saying he was jealous, dove in and rolled around.
As for the actual winners, they included Adam Sandler for favorite movie actor, Hilary Duff for movie actress and Green Day for music group, while Queen Latifah took home the “Wannabe Award” for the celebrity kids most want to be like.
Suppose she’s got mono?
More woes for the Osbournes: Sharon Osbourne and daughter Aimee have withdrawn from a London run of “The Vagina Monologues” because Aimee is ill.
Aimee, 21, was the only member of the clan not to appear in the MTV reality show about the family.
The British press reported last week that Sharon and husband Ozzy Osbourne had to flee their English country mansion after a fire broke out in the living room.
Old man, take a look at the knife
Rock icon Neil Young is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery last week for a potentially fatal brain aneurysm.
Young, 59, began experiencing blurred vision after performing with the Pretenders on March 14 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. An MRI scan revealed the source of the problem.
No Marley – he die
The BBC has admitted to being “very embarrassed” after requesting an interview with Bob Marley – 24 years after the reggae legend’s death.
In an e-mail sent to the Bob Marley Foundation, the British broadcaster asked to spend two or three days with Marley for a documentary on his hit song “No Woman No Cry,” saying it “would only work with some participation from Bob Marley himself.”
An apologetic BBC said the foundation was “extremely good humored” about the blunder.
The birthday bunch
Impressionist-actor Frank Gorshin is 72. Actor Michael Moriarty is 64. Singer Agnetha Faltskog (Abba) is 55. Country singer Troy Gentry (Montgomery Gentry) is 38. Singer Paula Cole is 37. Country singer Pat Green is 33. Rapper-producer Pharrell Williams is 32.