Jay Leno is a man of many contradictions. He said he was retiring his version of the Tonight Show in 2009. He did not. He specializes in low stakes interviews about iPod playlists and pets but will occasionally lay into a guest, like Monday night's Karl Rove, with a no-nonsense line of questioning about suicide, low self-esteem and shame. He has generated over a billion dollars for NBC and owns close to 100 expensive, vintage vehicles -- but he houses them in a "crappy garage" packed with cheap knickknacks, thousands of Headlines cards and presumably a few dead cats trapped under the debris. Jay Leno is a hoarder, and with the help of his wife Mavis and a cable channel you've never heard of, the Tonight Show host is seeking help.
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Dancing with the Stars's first castoff proves just how cockamamie the voting public is. It wasn't the lowest-scoring or even lowest-potential contestant who won a stiletto kick to the curb, but a middle-pack contender who'd done nothing to offend us so far. Which isn't to say we'd have never been offended. That was around the bend, to be sure. At any rate, let's mourn the lost jive-stepping soul after the jump.
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With a cast that's set to include Oscar-winners Matt Damon (hey, Best Original Screenplay still counts), Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard and Gwyneth Paltrow, you'd be right to assume that Steven Soderbergh's upcoming global pandemic drama, Contagion, has quite the screenplay. And as it turns out, it does -- or so sayeth The Playlist which got its hands on Scott Z. Burns's script and is, for lack of a better term, in lurve. While comparing the screenplay favorably to Steven Gaghan's work on Traffic and Syriana (no word on how it stacks up to his rewrites on Medellin) they go so far as to predict that Burns will wind up an Oscar-nominee during whatever year the film gets released (right now it looks to be on course for 2011). No pressure, though! While in most circles, putting anything in the same sentence as Syriana would be enough to cause night terrors, have a look after the jump at the five other most terrifying parts of Contagion. [Spoilers follow, of course.]
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As any aggressive, scientifically-enhanced super shark could tell you, you do not mess with LL Cool J. Imagine his surprise, then, when he was announced as one of the marquee interviews for a new Fox News special hosted by the not-polarizing-at-all Sarah Palin. This was news to LL Cool J, who began angrily tweeting until Fox News agreed to pull the interview. What exactly went down?
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After divorcing and reconciling on Monday's teary Dancing with the Stars, Kate Gosselin and her partner, Tony Dovoloni, are still hoping to convince viewers that their fractured partnership deserves votes. Kate explained to the Hollywood Insider this morning that her squabble was driven out of the fear that her sub-par jive skills would send her home. Her partner, meanwhile, explains that viewers should connect with Kate as she "represents the everyday person" among the show's stars. Pity votes, anyone? [EW]
Sad news: An HBO spokesman said today that David Mills, a co-writer and co-executive producer of the network's upcoming series Treme, died last night in New Orleans of a brain aneurysm. Mills had a TV writing resume that's one of the strongest ever assembled, with work on The Wire, The Corner, ER, NYPD Blue, and Homicide: Life on the Street. [HuffPo]
The Bravermans returned for more rowdy dinners, paternity conflicts and suburban growing pains last night in the latest edition of Parenthood, vaguely titled "The Situation." Only one character was noticeably absent from the clan's yippy commune -- the Braverman patriarch (Craig T. Nelson playing every character that Craig T. Nelson has ever played), who just last week barged in on his grandson in the bathroom to discuss masturbation rituals. Regardless of Coach's mysterious absence, the Braverman clan found themselves mixed up in a few new ridiculous family situations that Movieline bravely recounts after the jump.
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We're T-minus three months away from the opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, whose imminent storm has already begun to stir the tranquil surfaces of the world's estrogen seas. A particularly powerful gust arrived this morning when Summit fired off three new stills from the film -- none of which arrived with any real context or background, but all of which nevertheless stoke the imagination into that enduring Twilight-ian headspace of, "What the hell is that about?" Lucky for Movieline, that's where you come in.
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Everyone in Hollywood is scaling back these days. And good luck finding a more stunning example of this development than in the annals of celebrity jurisprudence, where Kelsey Grammer on Tuesday settled a lawsuit brought by a screenwriter who says the actor stole the idea for his 2008 political comedy Swing Vote. Remember that one? With Kevin Costner representing the deciding vote in the presidential election, and Grammer as the incumbent GOP commander-in-chief seeking his support? All right, me neither. But that doesn't mean it's not worth a huge two-figure settlement to someone.
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Apparently, Lopez Tonight's first 300 jokes delivered at the expense of Lindsay Lohan were acceptable -- even when they increased frequency during the Vancouver Olympics ("The only other American female used to falling into as much powder as Lindsey Vonn is Lindsay Lohan. ¡Ay, caramba!") -- but the 301st joke Lopez made on Monday night incited the starlet's wrath. While waiting for Lohan to work up the courage to settle the feud on-air with a chola makeover, Lopez switched his aim last night to Ricky Martin. Those jabs, as well as the other moments you missed last while autotuning your Glee audition, after the jump.
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Jaime Escalante, the Bolivian immigrant whose extraordinary success teaching advanced math to inner-city students in Los Angeles became the subject of the 1989 movie Stand and Deliver, died Tuesday after a battle with bladder cancer. He was 79. Edward James Olmos earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Escalante, whose students at Garfield High were among the highest-testing of any public-school pupils in the country. RIP, Mr. E. [AP]
After four months on hiatus, V reared back up last night with both humans and Visitors hatching plans for vast armies of, you know, humans and lizards. Rallying those two legions were Erica Evans (Elizabeth Mitchell), an FBI agent moonlighting for the resistance, and V High Commander Anna (Morena Baccarin), who, as it turns out, looks a lot like Venom from Spider-Man 3 under all that faux-human skin. And unfortunately for her mate, she's a little hungry, too.
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Last night's soul/R&B challenge on American Idol was secretly the toughest round in the competition. In a game where adult judges mock teen contestants for seeming old-fashioned, "soul" music felt like a set-up for Idol disasters. Hear this: Soul is not a hot-seller on the Billboard Hot 100. Hip-hop, pop and some R&B are always represented, sure, but never soul -- not since the heyday of Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo. Therefore, the 10 remaining contestants had to choose soul standards carefully in order to seem relevant, but still, only a few earned Simon's saucy wink of approval. We rank their performances worst to first after the jump.
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Who knew that ABC hired Ben Silverman to consult with their marketing choices? In a move straight out of the NBC playbook (the one called "How to Alienate Viewers and Lose Fans"), the network turned last night's all-new episode of Lost into one long commercial for the return of V. And as if the incessant mentions and the "Anna likes Lost too!" promos weren't enough, ABC decided to place a distractingly large countdown clock in the right corner of the screen to let viewers know how much longer they had to wait for V to start. Because, y'know, fans of Lost would never lose their minds over something like that and take to Twitter to let the world know. After the jump, see some choice reactions and find out who said that the mastermind behind the countdown clock "should be kicked in the nuts, repeatedly." Fun!
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· Just a few days after accepting his first lifetime achievement award, Matt Damon has fulfilled Tina Fey's casting dream by agreeing to guest-star in one of the last 30 Rock episodes of the season. No other details about the Oscar winner's role have been announced, so let the speculation begin regarding whose wacky lover Damon will play! Another handsome but dimwitted beau for Liz, an anime-obsessed actor interested in a beard relationship with Jenna or just the latest in a line of fiery, McFlurry-craving lovers for Jack? Suggestions welcome. [EW]
Ryan Hansen makes Friends With Benefits, Fox hires a former employee to help with its tax comedy, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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