Ladies and gentlemen, meet Zach Anner. A self-described "wheelchair-bound lady magnet" from Austin, Zach is currently being championed as Oprah Winfrey's successor after accumulating over 2.5 million votes in "Oprah's Search For the Next TV Star," a competition where users can upload their own reality show pitches and let internet users determine which is the best. So just where did America's next comic star -- who jokes that cerebral palsy is "the sexiest of the palsies" -- come from? Roll the tape.
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Apparently viewers do like soul-crushingly bleak darkness on their television. The season finale of Breaking Bad was watched by 1.6 million viewers, up 17 percent from last year's season finale. Overall, Breaking Bad was up 22 percent for the season in the 18-49 demographic. No wonder AMC renewed it. No word yet on whether the network will pay for fans' therapy bills. [THR/The Live Feed]
Another day, another celebrity stalker faces jail time. Today, 26-year-old Chidi Uzomah was sentenced to two years in prison for following Ryan Seacrest while armed with a knife. After the two years is up, Uzomah must stay away from the multi-hyphenate for an entire decade. Last September, the felon approached Seacrest outside of an Orange County hospital and then again one month later at an E! building. [TMZ]
MTV's hurtling into the post-TRL future by opening up a new position: "Twitter Jockey." The lucky hire will cover events like the Video Music Awards in 140-character blurbs while being just as unbearably live as the event itself. Though the network's holding a giant contest in order to recruit, I say this is a grand opportunity to re-hire some of the network's best vets. Join us as we rank the finest candidates from old MTV.
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It's a little too soon to tell who's got the serious leverage in the new season of Next Food Network Star, but the only reason I'm watching it at all is because of one woman: Dzintra Dzenis, an Austin chef who I think has the potential to be among the most deplorable -- and successful -- reality-show contestants in recent memory. Good luck, Dzintra!
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Sad news, the 700,000 or so viewers that still tune into Larry King Live! Your favorite suspendered host allegedly has only until the autumn to croak "You're on, caller" into the mic because CNN is finally replacing Larry King with someone a little younger, a little hipper and a little less likely to cite Arthur Godfrey as his broadcasting inspiration.
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So: Did you watch Rubicon last night? Whether the first-episode preview lived up to the hype you had in mind, it boasted one quality we can all agree on: Jason Horwitch's show promises more than just an little bit out there. Thank goodness for Movieline's Rubicon WTF? Factor, a handy metric deriving each episode's most quizzical matters on a scale of 0 to 30, broken down byt the degree of difficulty to understand, the developments' plausibility, and Horwitch and Co.'s execution of each. Together, we will get our heads around this show. At least until it introduces a Smoke Monster, at which point I got nothing. (Needless to say, SPOILERS AHEAD.)
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Much is made of True Blood's willingness to push the envelope when it comes to sex and violence, but which does the show give more screen time to? Each week during the Movieline recap of HBO's vampire series, we'll tally points for sexual content (sample activities: Jason Stackhouse getting laid again, or Pam lurking in the background with an outfit that makes her look like a rubber fetishist from a mid-90's episode of Real Sex) and violence (even a particularly vicious comment from Lafayette or Tara could count for this, depending on Arlene's wounded, crumple-face reaction), then declare a winner. So who came out ahead in last night's third season premiere?
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For the past three seasons, Breaking Bad's protagonist Walt White has led viewers down a rabbit hole of greed, destruction and moral decay. Each season the character, who won Bryan Cranston back-to-back Emmys, found increasingly flimsy ways to rationalize his dangerous behavior. His career choice -- manufacturing crystal meth -- made him isolate his friends, endanger his family and kill his spirit in ways that smoking crystal meth could have never done. And in last night's third-season finale, Walt burrowed deeper than viewers thought possible, making it clear that he will never find his way out. Click through for video, analysis of Walt's descent and spoilers.
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· After his two-man play took home six Tonys last night, John Logan is adapting his Miraculous Year into an HBO drama pilot that Kathryn Bigelow is set to direct. Eddie Redmayne, who won the award for featured actor, is in talks to reprise his role in the television adaptation. Meanwhile, Hope Davis, Frank Langella, Patti LuPone and Norbert Leo Butz are considering joining the the project, which centers on a charismatic, self-destructive Broadway composer and lyricist. Butz would play the composer, Langella would play Butz's father, Davis would take the role of Butz's sister, LuPone will stretch to play a Broadway diva and Redmayne would embody a sexy singer/dancer in Butz's new show. [Deadline]
Ed Asner finds another project to showcase his gruffness, Lifetime finds the lead for an Army Wives spinoff, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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At Gay Pride in Los Angeles this weekend, there were all the expected sights (like waxed chests and poor sartorial choices involving jean shorts and fanny packs), but among them, there was also one rather unexpected cameo from James Franco. What was the actor doing there? Let him explain.
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It's almost among us, friends. Yes, not much longer now before we -- popcorn bowl in hand, phone off the hook -- gather around our televisions for the third season of the show that perhaps best epitomizes summer television: No, not True Blood -- though that returns tonight with vampires, werewolves and crazy sexcapades. It's Wipeout. I know I'm going to end up watching at least one episode of it, and I know that I will hate myself. But I don't want that for you, dear reader! I want more than for you to be lost in the mostly vast wasteland that is summer television (OK, there is a smattering of good stuff here and there). And so, before you decide to make Wipeout a part of your weekly routine after it premieres June 22, consider catching up with these five shows instead.
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It isn't officially online yet -- cheeky Entertainment Weekly actually forcing people to buy the magazine to get their content -- but in the latest issue of EW, there's a surprise for fans of Mad Men: The first new image of season four. And -- SPOILER -- it looks exactly like any other image from Mad Men! Though considering the show can only do so much with wardrobe -- Don Draper won't be caught wearing a suede vest until season seven at the earliest -- what did you expect? After the jump, the photo and a few more non-reveals from Matthew Weiner about where the new season is headed.
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Conan O'Brien is officially everywhere. The gangly red head drove his "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour bus into Manchester, Tennessee on Friday for an appearance at Bonnaroo, where fans waited eight hours in stifling heat to see him perform. Once on stage, Coco joked that in six months he went "from hosting The Tonight Show to performing at a refugee camp." Oh Conan -- you so crazy! While at the music and comedy festival, O'Brien also took time out to act as hype man for Nas and Damian Marley. And before you make a joke, just know Conan already did: "I'm here because when you think reggae and hip hop, you think Conan O'Brien!" After the jump, video of Conan introducing Nas and Marley and a plea from the TBS host to see some "boobies." Hey, it is Bonnaroo after all.
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We may not know why Bravo VP Andy Cohen hosts a weekly late night talk show where he begs various reality stars to play the Newlywed Game with him, but we are are dedicated to tracking his weirdness. With that in mind, let's review the most bizarre moment from last night's What What Happens Live, featuring Bethenny Frankel.
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