Gary Coleman's death today at age 42 already has us recalling the diminutive star's best moments, all culled from the time when he was a television icon and the most famous child actor of his generation. After the jump, take a trip with us to Diff'rent Strokes's prime, the short time afterward when Coleman had his own animated series, and a couple of his sweeter pop culture cameos.
The long Memorial Day weekend's at-home movie choices begin and end for some people with days' worth of big, bloated war epics of yesteryear on TCM -- with a few notables tossed into the dip like chili peppers. Beyond that, eccentric choices are everywhere, more fitting with the summer-launch BBQ than thoughts about Arlington Cemetery...
VH1 debuted a docuseries last night called The OCD Project, a mysteriously stone-faced exploration of people with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It has some of the trappings of familiar VH1 fare -- the sufferers move into a house to seek treatment, a psychiatrist consults and sets up phobia-breaking stunts, and confessionals punctuate the hour -- but the low-key storytelling and lack of a celebrity draw mark a weird new vista for VH1. The once-proud network of Rock of Love Bus shows signs of evolving into A&E, whose arguably exploitative, but revered docuseries Obsessed, Intervention and Hoarders have set a standard for reality series about psychiatric disorders. At the same time, as VH1 escalates in quality, A&E continues to pad its lineup with programming about Kirstie Alley, Gene Simmons, and many other celebrities. Is a bizarre switcheroo occurring?
Only hours after learning that Gary Coleman had been placed on life support following a nasty fall that left the actor in a coma, TMZ is reporting that the Diff'rent Strokes star has died. Coleman had a history of health issues including kidney problems and a seizure that the actor suffered earlier this year on the set of The Insider. Coleman was 42.
With Katherine Heigl off Grey's Anatomy for good, which actress will be brave enough to take up her very specific mantle of insulting her television show's writers, apologizing, and then insulting them again? Consider this Chloë Sevigny's very public audition. You may remember back in March, shortly after winning the Golden Globe for her work on Big Love, Sevigny told the AV Club, "It was awful this season, as far as I'm concerned." The actress then recanted her dis to EW, saying, "If [the writers] said something about me, if they made a statement that they were disappointed in my work, I would feel awful."
Now, the cycle begins anew!
Last week on The Real Housewives of New York City, Kelly had a nervous breakdown and had to be airlifted off of the Caribbean island where Ramona was hosting her bachelorette party, but when viewers saw the ladies again last night, most of them were still trapped on the island. It was truly a hostage situation, one complete with mandatory pedicures and a torture session courtesy of special guest Jill Zarin. As always, Movieline assesses which moments hit the Real/Fake jackpot and predicts which housewife will have have the worst cast of post-traumatic stress.
What ode to class and elegance is complete without a music video featuring an unrecognizably airbrushed reality star and a horde of men spread out at her feet? Not Countess LuAnn de Lesseps new clip for her dubious single "Money Can't Buy You Class." That's for sure. In it, she's been digitally transformed into an expressionless hybrid of Eva Longoria and, like, old Brenda Starr cartoons. Judging by the level of visual marvel here, this must be the work of John Landis. Hype Williams, I mean? One of those. In the meantime, watch the video and keep chivalry alive after the jump.
Just because CBS agreed to pay Charlie Sheen upwards of $1 million per episode does not mean that the Two and a Half Men star's worries are over -- Sheen still has to sort out those allegations that he threatened his wife at knife point on Christmas Eve. Instead of going to trial, TMZ is reporting that the star is seriously considering pleading guilty and serving 30 days in jail. With good behavior, Sheen's prison stay could be reduced to 17 days. Now, if only Sheen's criminal defense attorney could just convince the Aspen jail to loosen up on that smoking policy... [TMZ]
You've got to hand it to the producers of the now-canceled FlashForward: Despite mounting evidence to the contrary -- dwindling viewership, actors accepting other pilots, etc. -- they were clearly really confident in their series getting a second season. And maybe even a third, fourth and fifth. What other way to explain the series finale last night, an affair that could have been easily retrofit to wrap the show up, but instead chose to end on multiple cliffhangers?
Last night Katherine Heigl made her first appearance on the Tonight Show since 1995, when the struggling actress shamelessly entertained Jay Leno with her lawnmower dance move to promote Under Siege 2. Sadly for viewers though, Leno passed up the hilarious clip reel in favor of good-old fashioned talking points -- talking points that were meant to elicit funny anecdotes, but instead led to the Killers actress choking up while discussing the death of her brother. Click through to see how Jay Leno handled the unexpected emotion, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while mourning The Tyra Banks Show.
Because you don't actually need an excuse to have Brian Williams and Jimmy Fallon charm an audience for 90 minutes, the Paley Center for Media in New York last night hosted a chat between the two NBC stalwarts. And while their conversation was filled with fun factoids about the Late Night host's showbiz career -- and some sad revelations, like that Fallon has no plans to make any more movies; whither Taxi 2 -- the most exciting part might have been Fallon's answer to an audience question about what television reunion he plans on beating the drum for next. For the uninitiated, Fallon famously tried to get the cast of Saved By the Bell together -- he didn't succeed -- and later turned the trick with the much less popular California Dreams. So who does he have in mind now?
So You Think You Can Dance's seventh-season premiere featured auditions from New York and Miami, two cities with nothing in common except status as key Bravo Network demographics. Hurrah. As guest judge (and upcoming permanent panelist) Mia Michaels sat alongside Adam Shankman and Nigel Lythgoe in New York and honorary Tim Burton character/choreographer Sonja Tayeh helped in Miami, viewers were acquainted with two hours of fun new performers and weird new losers. And the night's best and worst performances? The former features a whimsical lad with a fighting dream, while the latter features a quizzical lass with a frisky daddy. Someone's family tree is forgetting to fork.
· It's official: Ghost Whisperer will not be returning for a sixth season. After CBS announced its shocking cancellation last week, ABC briefly considered reviving the series but ultimately decided to pass. Executive producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses confirmed the sad news via a statement: "After five wonderful seasons and over 100 episodes, we are disappointed to announce Ghost Whisperer will not be returning for a sixth season. We've had an incredible experience and owe a debt of gratitude to everyone involved. We continue our relationship with ABC Studios and look forward to developing many more successful projects together in the future." [EW]
CBS upgrades Rules of Engagement, the Emmys honor the world's oldest teenager, and more TV Bites after the jump.
Tomorrow will go down in history as the day the Tyra Banks Show died. The former model premiered her talk series five years ago with great aspirations: She wanted to empower young women, develop an honest relationship with her viewers and maybe, in the process, become a media empress like Oprah. And while she did achieve some entertainment success and empowered a misguided youth or two, the Tyra Banks Show will be remembered most for its loopy host and her crazy ideas. Who else would go undercover as a homeless person to score crack, don a fat suit just for the fun of it, or feel up a guest? The answer: No one. So grab your Kleenex and join Movieline as we remember nine of the most bizarre experiments conducted by Tyra.
Things are going to hell in the Gulf, in Central Asia, in Greece, in North Korea and on the "me plus the couch equals bliss" on-demand channels. As with the news, the best you can do is gaze upon the badness, send in your modest payment, and, as Bono once sang, thank God it's them instead of you.
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