Long Island resident Donna Hardesty has claimed her $100,000 grand prize as the winner of Discovery’s “Gold Rush Sweepstakes” — and says she plans to use some of the dough to help repair her house in Huntington Township, which was damaged in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
Hardesty entered the contest after it was announced on the Oct. 26 season premiere of “Gold Rush.” But after Sandy devastated the tri-state area, Hardesty, like so many others, was left without power — so she didn’t see the second episode of “Gold Rush,” which aired Nov. 2 and revealed “Donna H.” as the contest winner. Her son, who lives upstate in Rochester, called to tell Hardesty that “Donna H.” could be her — which it was (her son pulled up her email account and found her “winner notification”).
And, speaking of “Gold Rush,” last Friday night’s episode (9 p.m.) was cable’s top show in total viewers (4 million), and persons/men/women 25-54 and men 18-49. Its lead-out, “Jungle Gold,” also followed suit — and was second only to “Gold Rush” in persons, men 25-54 and men 18-49.
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NBC’s Lester Holt will co-anchor a post-Thanksgiving Day newscast in Chicago — with his son, Stefan Holt.
Lester, who got his TV start at ChiTown’s WBBM, will return to the Windy City to join Stefan, 25, on NBC-owned WMAQ. Stefan joined the station as a morning show anchor in 2011. Lester will sit in for Daniella Guzman Friday on the station’s noon newscast. It’s the first time that Lester and Stefan have anchored together.
Lester spent 14 years at crosstown rival WBBM (owned by CBS) before joining MSNBC in 2000. He began hosting “Weekend Today” in 2003 and anchors the weekend editions of the “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline.”
More. . .
Somewhere, Matthew Perry smiles: MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” won the 9 p.m. cable-news hour in adults 25-54 last week, while its lead-out, “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” won the same demo at 10 p.m. Perry’s “Go On” character, Ryan King, is often confused with Maddow on the show
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Last, but not least:
* Six lucky people have won walk-on roles for the upcoming season of “Arrested Development,” premiering this spring on Netflix. The New York winner, Jeffrey Hendricks from Brooklyn, converted his Honda Civic into a stair car (“AD” fans will understand) . . . Comedy Central’s Brian Regan has been added to “Garden of Laughs” Jan. 26 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden (to benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation) . . . Remember that “Leave Britney Alone!” Internet kid? Well, I have a message for Hallmark Channel: “Leave Linda Alone!” As in my Post TV colleague Linda Stasi— who can’t bear to get any more daily phone calls from your army of publicists. Please cease-and-desist.