Celebrity Poker Showdown New Season Info

[itiparanoid13]

In a quick summary, Phil Hellmuth replaces Phil Gordon.  The prize pool is a million.  The show is taping in Harrah's in New Orleans, and all celebrities play for the Hurricane Katrina relief.  The online tournament winner also joins in, as she beat out over 120,000 people to make her way to a table.  Here's the celebrity and airing list.


Wednesday, May 31st, 9PM ET: Greg Behrendt, Andrea Martin, Kim Coles, Michael Ian Black and Jorge Garcia

Wednedsay, June 7th, 9PM ET: Bryan Cranston, Jamie Bamber, Jason Alexander, Susie Essman and Kevin Sorbo

Wednesday, June 14th, 9PM ET: Fred Savage, Jennifer Tilly, Brett Butler, online tournament winner Ida Siconolfi and Doug E. Doug

Wednesday, June 21st, 9PM ET: Mario Cantone, Jenna Fischer, Rocco Dispirito, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key

Wednesday, June 28th, 9PM ET: Christopher Meloni, Joy Behar, Andy Dick, Macy Gray and Robin Tunney

The five champions will compete for a half million dollars for charity in the final game on Wednesday, July 5th at 9PM ET.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'117514\' date=\'May 2 2006, 10:21 AM\'] The prize pool is a million.  ...and all celebrities play for the Hurricane Katrina relief.  [/quote]
I'm all for putting money where it will do some good, and it's not like I was all that into which charities the stars were playing for usually.  Still, there's an ever-so-slight "what's the point?" vibe when all the money is going to the same place no matter what happens.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'117518\' date=\'May 2 2006, 08:21 AM\']
I'm all for putting money where it will do some good, and it's not like I was all that into which charities the stars were playing for usually.  Still, there's an ever-so-slight "what's the point?" vibe when all the money is going to the same place no matter what happens.
[/quote]
Two things:

1) What does it tell you about the contestant pool when I had to scan the list several times until I found the phrase "online tournament winner" to figure out which one WASN'T a celebrity?

2) Is Ida playing for herself, or do any of her winnings go to Katrina relief too? Seems like it would look awfully bad for a celebrity to whip her ass and take cash out of her pocket.

[WhammyPower]

Even though it's a celebrity show, I only recognize three four names.

Michael Ian Black
Bryan Cranston
Jason Alexander
Phil Hellmuth

Phil only counts because he's new to the show.

[Matt Ottinger]

Actually, only recognizing three of the celebrities says more about your awareness of pop culture than it does about them trolling the D-list for stars.  Kevin Sorbo, Andrea Martin, Jennifer Tilly, Fred Savage, Christopher Meloni, Andy Dick, Joy Behar and Brett Butler are all "bigger" than Michael Ian Black.  Still, that does leave about a dozen names that are pretty obscure, even for this sort of thing.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'117538\' date=\'May 2 2006, 01:00 PM\']
Actually, only recognizing three of the celebrities says more about your awareness of pop culture than it does about them trolling the D-list for stars.  Kevin Sorbo, Andrea Martin, Jennifer Tilly, Fred Savage, Christopher Meloni, Andy Dick, Joy Behar and Brett Butler are all "bigger" than Michael Ian Black.  Still, that does leave about a dozen names that are pretty obscure, even for this sort of thing.
[/quote]
Right, that's pretty much where my list ended. Kim Coles I remembered from that horrible Fox sitcom, Doug E. Doug's from Cool Runnings (and Bill Cosby's last attempt at sitcommery), then Mario Cantone and Macy Gray. The rest left me boggled. (and frankly I dunno Andrea Martin or Christopher Meloni, either.)

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'117541\' date=\'May 2 2006, 04:12 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'117538\' date=\'May 2 2006, 01:00 PM\']Actually, only recognizing three of the celebrities says more about your awareness of pop culture than it does about them trolling the D-list for stars.  Kevin Sorbo, Andrea Martin, Jennifer Tilly, Fred Savage, Christopher Meloni, Andy Dick, Joy Behar and Brett Butler are all "bigger" than Michael Ian Black.  Still, that does leave about a dozen names that are pretty obscure, even for this sort of thing.[/quote]Right, that's pretty much where my list ended. Kim Coles I remembered from that horrible Fox sitcom, Doug E. Doug's from Cool Runnings (and Bill Cosby's last attempt at sitcommery), then Mario Cantone and Macy Gray. The rest left me boggled. (and frankly I dunno Andrea Martin or Christopher Meloni, either.)[/quote]
Your "get" list and mine are pretty similar, then, I just didn't want to say that somebody like Cantone was "bigger" than Black.

Andrea Martin was part of the legendary SCTV bunch, and Meloni is the lead on one of the Law & Order shows (the icky one, I think).  As for the others, some Googling teaches us the following (in approximate order of fame, YMMV):

Jorge Garcia is Hurley on Lost (and shame on us both for not knowing that).
Jamie Bamber plays Apollo on Sci-Fi's Battlestar: Galactica.
Jenna Fischer plays Pam on the US version of The Office.
Robin Tunney is an actress who's been knocking around Hollywood for a while, currently in Prison Break.
Rocco Dispirito is a Food Network chef and the subject of NBC's The Restaurant.
Susie Essman is a stand-up comic who's a regular on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Greg Behrendt is a stand-up comic who's done Leno a few times.
Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are in the current MAD TV ensemble.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'117547\' date=\'May 2 2006, 01:36 PM\']
Jorge Garcia is Hurley on Lost (and shame on us both for not knowing that).
[/quote]
Shame on me, indeed. This was one of those where I was like "yeah, I know the name, who's that?"

Rocco Dispirito is a Food Network chef and the subject of NBC's The Restaurant.

...and being the foodie that I am, I should have remembered Rocco, too. Shame on me again.

[Brandon Brooks]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'117519\' date=\'May 2 2006, 10:38 AM\']
1) What does it tell you about the contestant pool when I had to scan the list several times until I found the phrase "online tournament winner" to figure out which one WASN'T a celebrity?
[/quote]
I don't get it.  I recognized 18 of these people, and tell you how.  Maybe because it's because I'm a pop culture junkie, but I don't think this is an awful line up.

Brandon Brooks

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Brandon Brooks\' post=\'117574\' date=\'May 2 2006, 11:43 PM\']I don't get it.  I recognized 18 of these people, and tell you how.  Maybe because it's because I'm a pop culture junkie, but I don't think this is an awful line up.[/quote]
Now that I've looked up the ones I didn't know, even the less well-known ones are no better or worse than the Mary Cadorettes and Stuart Pankins of 80s Pyramid.  There was a time when I wouldn't have had to look up names like that, but I think that's more because there are so many more outlets that there used to be.  Certainly fans of Battlestar, The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm will enjoy seeing those stars every bit as much as I'll enjoy seeing Hurley.

BTW, speaking of Stuart Pankin, now that he's lost all that weight, doen't he look like Martin Short's creepy uncle?

Also speaking of Stuart Pankin, the first two seasons of Dinosaurs were released on DVD today.

OK, that's all the Stuart Pankin I've got for one day.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'117547\' date=\'May 2 2006, 04:36 PM\']... Meloni is the lead on one of the Law & Order shows (the icky one, I think). ...[/quote]
Law & Order: The Icky One.  I like that nickname better than "L&O: Extra Crispy".  Yes, Meloni plays Det. Stabler on L&O: Special Victims Unit.

[uncamark]

And it seems to me that more of them have connections to The Networks of NBC than they have in the past.

I'm surprised they didn't try for a "Howie Mandel and 'DOND' Models" table.

[sshuffield70]

[quote name=\'uncamark\' post=\'117601\' date=\'May 3 2006, 02:06 PM\']
And it seems to me that more of them have connections to The Networks of NBC than they have in the past.

I'm surprised they didn't try for a "Howie Mandel and 'DOND' Models" table.
[/quote]

Get rid of Howie and turn it into the Celebrity Strip Poker Showdown!