Monday, June 09, 2008
TV Royalty Gets Its Day In The Sun
Photo credit: Wireimage
As usual, the TV Land Awards brought together an unusual collection of Hollywood stars. On the red carpet and during the show, taped Sunday, they joked around or, more seriously, shared details of their lives. USA TODAY was at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif., to catch the action:
•Lionel Richie, who was presented the Icon Award for his 40 years in show business. He said on stage as he accepted his award, "Just surviving 27 years of Nicole Richie. … I stand here as survivor."
•Justin Timberlake, who presented Mike Myers with his award. He was greeted by shouts of love from a male audience member. "That's OK. Nothing wrong with a little bromance," Timberlake joked.
•Dawn Wells of Gilligan's Island. She talked about the October arrest in Idaho that made headlines in February; she was placed on probation after being caught with marijuana in her car. "None of it was true," Wells said. "I was weaving on the road and trying to find the (car) heater. (Police) never gave me a breathalyzer test, but they asked to search my car and found three (marijuana) roaches. My friend had been driving my car earlier in the day. He admitted to it all." She continued, "The story mushroomed, and I lost out on a Girl Scout speaking engagement."
•Gary Coleman of Diff'rent Strokes. Coleman walked the carpet solo but says that despite reports, he and wife Shannon Price are still together. Their one-year anniversary is Aug. 28, and she is expecting him "to come up with something spectacular," he says. He wouldn't comment on reports that he's still a virgin, but he had plenty to say about Price otherwise: She likes to sell items on eBay, including Coleman autographs. And she wasn't with him because she was at home, where "she has three dachshunds. She is very much a caregiver to them."
Um, hello! Clearly the most Golden moment of the whole affair was the arrival of 3 of the Golden Girls on the TV Land red carpet -- Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Betty White. Altho all 4 of the Golden Girls are still alive, Estelle Getty suffers from Lewy Body Dementia and is no longer well enough to able to make public appearances (Rue McClanahan revealed in an interview a few years ago that Estelle has deteriorated to the point where she no longer recognizes any of her GG co-stars and, very sadly, has no recollection at all of the show). I know Estelle was there in spirit tho, she is always present in spirit whenever the Golden Girls get together. Despite the fact that we are inundated with a plethora of (oftentimes useless) award shows, I really love the TV Land Awards for the mere fact that all of our favorite classic TV stars have a chance to be featured all together at least once a year. I mean, how else would Barry Williams be able to occupy his days? The TV Land Awards will air on TV Land on June 15th. [Source]
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