Three Days in Miami with Steve Harvey, Kris Jenner, Harry Connick Jr. and Others

Steve Harvey came to play.

Just a few weeks after his now-infamous Miss Universe debacle, Harvey sat down with me on stage at the NATPE programming conference in Miami, and was game to discuss the whole mess. The host recounted what happened that night--when he announced the wrong winner--and gave new insight into what really went down on stage.

For the record, Steve says he was at every rehearsal, and at no point was it ever mentioned that he would announce the first-runner-up before the winner. So when Miss Colombia's name appeared on the Teleprompter, he named her the winner. He's at peace with what happened now -- especially now that he has apologized to both Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines (the real winner) on his "Steve Harvey" show (and both of those episodes were ratings hits.

But Harvey also says he received death threats after the incident... and he probably won't be visiting Colombia any time soon.

Harvey was such a good sport that he was even cool with me having some fun by opening up the panel by pretending to accidentally introduce the wrong guest.

Beyond that, our half-hour conversation was wide-ranging, touching on everything from the Oscars diversity controversy to Bill Cosby.

The Harvey chat was one of three I did this year at the NATPE programming conference. It's the third year in a row that I've headed down to Miami for the event, which has seen a newfound revival. (I still remember covering NATPE in the 1990s and early 2000s when it was a much different convention, usually in New Orleans or Las Vegas.) More highlights:


Yes, that is indeed me with Kris Jenner and Todd Chrisley, two reality superstars with very different takes on parenting. It was quite a panel.


Talking showrunning with "Masters of Sex" executive producer Michelle Ashford and "Empire" executive producer Ilene Chaiken.


Harry Connick Jr. celebrates the launch of his new talk show.


"Harry Connick Jr." hits the airwaves this fall.


Signs found all over the Fountainbleu hotel, promoting my Steve Harvey chat.


Selfie with Steve!


Miami sunset, as seen from the Fountainbleu.


The legendary Quincy Jones was one of the honorees at NATPE's annual Brandon Tartikoff Awards.

Scenes from Miami Beach and the NATPE Convention

Above, it's the sunrise from the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. I was back there for a second year in a row, as this week's National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) convention took place. Once upon a time, NATPE was the place where local TV station executives came to buy syndicated programming for their lineups. Those days are gone (because of consolidation, most TV shows are sold with one or two phone calls to mega station groups) but NATPE is still a great place to meet up with industry execs and take stock of the business. This year NATPE also focused heavily on the reality TV community, and it was an opportunity to sit down with execs and producers from that world too. And by the way, the Fountainbleau is quite a nice hotel to stay at, even if I never got the chance to play tourist. Here are some pics from my Three Days in Miami.


On-stage selfie: About to moderate a "Shark Tank" panel at NATPE with executive producer Clay Newbill and judges Daymond John, Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary and Mark Cuban.


And then, a post-panel "Shark Tank" selfie, with NATPE CEO Rod Perth joining us.


It was kind of weird walking by this sign all day Tuesday.


"Elvis" is in the building.


Workers set up for NATPE's opening night party.


Back in the 1990s, NATPE was all about the massive convention floor. It was like Comic-Con -- every syndication company had a massive booth, where they'd bring in talent and even hire celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck to serve lunch. I remember being well fed at the Sony booth, where Puck would walk around serving you pizza. NATPE is quite different now. Most of the distributors still come, but work out of hotel suites. Some actually have small cabanas around the Fountainbleau pool -- as you see above, where CBS, NBC Universal and Debmar-Mercury execs are hanging out.


Spotted in Miami Beach. I guess the name of this store says it all.


Dan Harmon and I share a moment after our one-on-one NATPE panel on Wednesday.