Tuesday TV pick: 'Rudolph's Shiny New Year'

OK, so "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" isn't as beloved as its predecessor, but the red-nosed reindeer still is faced with a mission: find Baby New Year.

It airs at 8 p.m. on ABC. Meanwhile, "The 33rd annual Kennedy Center Honors," which pays respects to arts standouts for their achievements, puts talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey, ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, country singer Merle Haggard, composer Jerry Herman and choreographer Bill T. Jones in the spotlight. It airs at 9 p.m. on CBS.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20101228/ENT10/12280338/Tuesday-TV-pick---Rudolph’s-Shiny-New-Year-#ixzz19WAgkwSN

Merle Haggard planning supertrio with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson

Country music fans, we've got some great news for you.

Merle Haggard was one of five individuals honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington D.C. on Dec. 10 (it aired on Dec. 28, on CBS), and he made sure to make the most of the night. Haggard was honored by his friends Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson at the event, where they decided to work together on a supertrio project for 2011.

Haggard and Nelson were already plannning to collaborate on an album when they decided they also wanted Kristofferson to be a part of it. The trio will hit the studio soon to begin working on the album. Haggard tells Rolling Stone, "We talked about the three of us doing it. I'm sure if we're healthy and live to do it, we'll do it."

Have the three country music icons decided on a title yet? "We thought about the title: the Musketeers... because there's the three of us," he says. "We'll come up with some little way of describing ourselves, I guess, and put it together into a show."

So did the three also have a good time at the Kennedy Center Honors, besides planning a supertrio? "We got to eat a little something together. We didn't know what the hell this food was, but we thought it was funny."

Merle Haggard: Oprah Winfrey said 'we've come the farthest' at Kennedy Center Honors 2010 Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010

Merle Haggard and Oprah Winfrey at the 33rd annual Kennedy Center Honors. WATCH VIDEO below.

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Oprah Winfrey was in full-on diva mode at the Kennedy Center Honors Tuesday night.

Merle Haggard and Barbara Walters were on the receiving end of the talk show queen's proud response to her lifetime achievement award for the performing arts, which she received alongside Paul McCartney, composer Jerry Herman and choreographer Bill T. Jones as well as Haggard.

The 73-year-old country musician, who spent three days with the group to celebrate the honor, said "Ope" was "completely beside herself" about the award.

"I don't think she'd ever been a recipient of much in her life," he told Rolling Stone. "She reached over to me, leaned over and said, 'You know, we've come the farthest.'"

The 56-year-old host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" appeared to turn even haughtier when Barbara Walters introduced her during the ceremony that aired on CBS Tuesday night.

"I was used by Oprah," Walters said, before repeating a story she told earlier this month on "The David Letterman Show" about the talk show host imitating Walters to win the Miss Fire Prevention Contest when she was 16.

Oprah, who was seated next to McCartney and Michelle Obama, gave the First Lady a “I told you so!” look and threw her hands in the air in apparent frustration.

"You know this Oprah, I'm totally responsible for your career," Walters yelled up at her.

Oprah gave the journalist a slight genuflection then shared another look with the President's wife.

The small screen queen’s addition to the 2010 gala was considered controversial because she is not a performing artist, though Haggard had something to say about that.

"Television is certainly a modern method of communication that you can't overlook and she's probably the mother figure of that right now," he told Rolling Stone. "I don't know how anybody can say she wasn't deserving of it."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/12/29/2010-12-29_merle_haggard_oprah_winfrey_said_weve_come_the_farthest_at_kennedy_center_honors.html#ixzz19W9E7RK1