After seven seasons worth of speculation, The Office creator Ricky Gervais will reprise his role as David Brent, the clueless former manager of the U.K. series, on the U.S. adaptation next week. The showdown will take place on the January 27 episode, "The Seminar" and be very brief. Office show-runner Paul Lieberstein warns Vulture, that "if you don't set your TiVo right, you'll miss it." Which means that maybe the encounter takes place in the episode tag? Either way, look out for Gervais' first attempt to regain some of the statewide popularity he squandered last Sunday. [TVline]
Last night, Betty White celebrated her 89th birthday with David Letterman and a shot of vodka, which she quickly spit up. Elsewhere, Jimmy Fallon and the Roots performed with Steven Tyler, Regis Philbin celebrated his impending retirement, Larry King parodied himself, and Stephen Colbert promoted a new Slanket competitor, the Coma Cozy.
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While last season of So You Think You Can Dance brought us the verve, artistry, and passion we've long expected of TV's finest reality competition, it lacked that locomotive of chutzpah and love named Mary Murphy. The 52-year-old ballroom champ and choreographer lends a professional, yet maternal conviction to a show that thrives on supportive energy -- and better yet, she's an addicting presence on the judges' panel. Last week, Fox announced that Murphy would return to the show for its eighth season this summer, displacing Mia Michaels and rejoining Nigel Lythgoe and Adam Shankman. Phew, y'all.
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Last night, Jay Leno used his Tonight Show platform to offer Hollywood's currently most-hated man Ricky Gervais some free advice on award hosting. Elsewhere, Jon Stewart commended the daring comedian, Seth Rogen shared a tragic tale about porn, George Lopez outed himself as an online porn addict and Steven Tyler talked about snorting insomnia medication.
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This past weekend, Cee Lo Green, riding high on his hit song "F*ck You," was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. His appearance resulted in a sketch in which music executives contemplated how to promote his song with such a glaring expletive in the title, which was really a riff on SNL itself contemplating how to let Cee Lo Green sing his ever-popular ditty on live television. The word was danced around this past Saturday, but never uttered. But! During the long history of SNL, that word has made it out to the live audience on more than one occasion. Here's a brief glimpse at the cast's strange relationship with the F-word.
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This season of Saturday Night Live has been, at many times, a bit tired. Even the usually reliable political sketches have seen off. But I can't remember the last time a season of SNL has seemed so energized by a group of new cast members -- when they're actually allowed on air. This past weekend, the featured players pretty much took over the last half of the show, and it may have been the best continuous half-hour stretch of the season to date.
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Last night's Gwyneth Paltrow-hosted edition of Saturday Night Live used an interesting formula: The first half of the show featured mostly the established cast-members (Kristen Wiig even got to do that Kristen Wiig thing that she does, a rarity as of late), which has been, at best, hit or miss all season. Then, after a notably feisty "Weekend Update," new featured players Jay Pharoah, Taran Killam and Paul Brittain, respectively, gave us three individual sketches that all killed. Were their efforts enough to make this a memorable show? On to the scorecard!
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As producers of The Office told anyone who would listen at the NBC TCA party in Pasadena on Thursday night, Steve Carell is leaving the hit series before the season even ends. (Which is earlier than we had even expected.) Faced with the loss of its lead character after seven seasons, the future of The Office may be in doubt. Or, maybe not. Let's take a look at the brief history of when a male or female lead left a popular television show, and the impact their departure had on future seasons.
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This morning, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler kicked off the network's leg of the winter TCA press tour by answering a question about -- wait for it -- her hooker-and-booze-loving Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen. "Well, I really didn't expect that question this morning so I'm really taken by surprise," Tassler cracked before responding in earnest. Her full comments about the demon-plagued actor after the jump.
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Sunday's Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais told Conan O'Brien that he has not run any of his show ideas by producers after they dismissed the elaborate Nazi gag he had planned for the ceremony's opening. (Honestly, it sounds kind of funny.) In other late night events, Kelsey Grammer talked about his real-life wife swap, Ron Howard told Jon Stewart how to avoid cynicism and Jimmy Fallon sang about his neighbors having sex.
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You heard right: The cartwheeling Jersey Shore star, AKA Nicole Polizzi, wants to drop the nickname that made her famous. "I miss my real name. I miss people calling me Nicole," she told the AP. Now, now, Snooki: Maybe you just need a fresher sobriquet! We have 25 available for trademarking.
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Just how far did NBC Universal go to promote The Glee Project during this afternoon's Television Critics Association panel for Oxygen? Let's put it this way: they hired a squad of actresses (and actors) to dress up in Cheerio-esque costumes, prance into a ballroom full of tired TV critics wielding pompoms and then do a herkie each time a question was posed to producers onstage.
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Last night, Stephen Colbert did his best to make sense -- and make light -- of Sarah Palin's unfortunate and incorrect use of the term "blood libel" on The Colbert Report. Elsewhere, Olivia Munn told David Letterman how to avoid the cops, Seth Rogen talked about Cameron Diaz in her underwear, and Conan punished his audience for laughing.
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Bravo's The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection served up a highly stylish runway last night, and you could see the breathless shock on Isaac Mizrahi's face when he laid eyes on the competing designs. In a challenge devoted to wacky accessories, each contender produced managed to produce restrained garments. Unfortunately, one of the final five contestants needed to be eliminated, and a beloved competitor hit the road. We caught up again with Mizrahi to discuss guest-judge Simon Doonan, Calvin's terribleness, and why we shouldn't regret this week's verdict.
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Last night, Fox hosted a party in Pasadena for the TCA Press Tour and nearly all of the Glee cast members stopped by (except for -- cough, cough -- Lea Michele). It was a feeding frenzy for the nation's television journalists and when Matthew Morrison appeared at the event, like Fox-branded chum being thrown into violent waters, he was immediately swarmed by critics wielding tape recorders. Movieline braved the chaos and came out with the world's shortest interview with Matthew Morrison ever. Enjoy, though be warned: White-rapping was discussed.
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