Our new cousin Nellie Andreeva at Deadline reports that pyrotechnically-inclined auteur Michael Bay is shopping around a reality series entitled One Way Out, a lawless game in the mold of Survivor, The Mole and The Amazing Race that "pits ordinary people from all walks of life against each other." Just what surprises will the Transformers director have up his short sleeve for this one? We're not sure, so we've taken the liberty of suggesting 5 challenges that would perfectly suit a Bay-branded show. (We even wrote him some hosting patter!)
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As the actual magazine industry contracts and the number of scripted television series plummets, it makes sense that the number of scripted television series about magazines -- fashion, sports, tabloids, whatever -- dwindles, too. With that sad realization in mind, it's time to prepare for tonight's emotional finale of Ugly Betty and the likely extinction of this narrow genre. In a tribute to all the onscreen assistants who've ever gotten coffee for their villainous editors and the comically overworked journalists who rushed to meet impossible deadlines, Movieline looks back at the magazine-set shows that paved the way for Betty Suarez's Mode magazine.
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Previously on Lost: Hurley is haunted by an enigmatic string of numbers. Hurley wins the lottery by playing those numbers, earning immense wealth. Hurley is cursed by his alleged good fortune. Hurley crash-lands on a strange island, never losing any weight despite a shortage of food. Hurley discovers Dharma Initiative-supplied foodstuffs, eliminating any petty grumbling about the weight issue. Hurley spends some time in a mental hospital, where he sees people who aren't really there and is visited by Lt. Daniels from The Wire. Hurley falls in love, then loses that love. Someone strangles a trombone player, producing an awful sound that provides a haunting transition from a tense moment to a commercial break.
Please join us as we take our place behind the Mr. Clucks counter, ready to serve out piping hot, extra crispy Answers by the bucketful to hungry, Question-bearing patrons looking to have their appetite sated after last night's Hugo-centric episode.
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Dancing with the Stars gave us a week off from emotionally grueling elimination episodes last night. Well, you might not have endured a dark, spiritual upheaval when Shannen Doherty and Buzz Aldrin were eliminated -- but those exits were at least caked with warm sentimentality. Goner Aiden Turner tried for the same effect, but too late: I only cherish one Aiden moment from this season.
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Glee is kind of like crack. The first time you do it, you get an incredible high, but as you continue using, you feel less euphoric and more chemically dependent. You become paranoid ("Schu is trying to Benedict Arnold his own club!"), delusional ("Cory Monteith actually has a really good voice!") and pretty soon, you're shivering in the bathtub with a Glee soundtrack skipping in the living room and no more clean spoons in the house.
If you share the same weakness, join Movieline each week to relive the highs, work through the lows, and earn extra credit off of your addiction. And pay attention -- there will be a pop quiz.
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If there's one thing I've learned from V (other than the fact that retroactive continuity really can exist after just six episodes) it's that if aliens showed up tomorrow dolling out free health care, humans would put up an embarrassingly ill-conceived resistance. In last night's episode, Erica and Co. spent the whole hour tracking down the fabled Fifth Column leader John May (Oh hey, Michael Trucco!) so she and Ryan could communicate with the Visitor ship, only to find out John May doesn't live after all. Lisa drives a wedge even further between Tyler and Erica when she tells him his dad isn't really his dad, and Chad Decker continues to compromise his journalistic integrity. But week after week, it's the bumbling resistance that disappoints me most of all. After the jump, find out how our heroes could have worked just a little bit harder to save all our human skins.
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The late night commentary on Conan's big move to TBS has been disappointing, mostly because there has not been much of it. David Letterman is dark this week. Jimmy Fallon and Craig Ferguson are silent on the matter. And Jay Leno is so crestfallen by the news that his bandleader Kevin Eubanks is leaving, that he can only spend his monologue energy on jokes about cats parallel parking cars. Don't worry though -- George Lopez is excited enough for everyone. Click through for his latest batch of LOCO-themed material and the other highlights you missed last night while updating your bandleader resume.
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American Idol handed its nine remaining contestants a formidable task: Perform an Elvis hit and have it sound fresh and fancy-free and Ke$ha-flavored for relevance. Sounds doable, right? Except totally impossible? Right. Luckily, the surviving balladeers were also granted the help of Adam Lambert, who established himself as the best mentor of the season. But the real judging is up to us: Which two contestants should 'return to sender' during tomorrow's results show? Movieline's rankings pile up after the jump.
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· Congratulations to Sarah Chalke for booking her second pilot this season. The Scrubs alum will play a quirky-but-beautiful guidance counselor in CBS's high school comedy Team Spitz opposite Rob Riggle's football coach (I'm guessing he plays Spitz?). Two months ago, Chalke was cast in an ABC sitcom pilot called Freshman, about three freshmen members of Congress who live together in D.C. There, Chalke will play a quirky-but-beautiful former big business VP. [EW]
A One Tree Hill star finds her Southern Discomfort, Mad Men promotes from within, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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That was fast. Less than 24 hours after the Tonight Show bandleader Kevin Eubanks announced that he would officially be leaving Jay Leno's side after 18 glorious, "Headlines"-filled years, NBC has allegedly hired his replacement. One quick word on who it isn't: Max Weinberg, who had been angling for the position to the chagrin of Team Coco.
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This week, two contestants meet untimely ends on American Idol. The strangest part of this dual execution? Everyone's in jeopardy. The long-cemented frontrunners have slowed down significantly, and the waste-of-space also-rans have pledged to up their game. Let's figure out where each of the nine finalists ought to hitch their Miley Cyrus-autographed wagons, whether to old soul classics or current Kelly Clarkson hits.
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After a few years of ceding the spotlight to the younger, cooler Showtime, it looks like HBO is back on the upswing. After airing only one episode of the cachet-granting new series Treme, the network has already renewed it for a second season. Let's all free-associate musically in celebration! [THR]
When you think of the Syfy network, you think of sweaty, steroid-fueled men (and women) issuing choreographed moves like the shining wizard, the Mongolian chop and the Bionic elbow for your guilty pleasure, right? Well, that is what the "Imagine Greater" network is hoping for when it premieres WWE Friday Night Smackdowns on Oct. 1. Syfy president Dave Howe rationalized that the partnership is perfect because "WWE is the ultimate in imagination-based sports entertainment." Standing moonsault! [TVbytheNumbers]
On last week's episode of the United States of Tara, the Gregsons literally went up against Tara and one of her alters in the ring -- well, rink. The family was enjoying some afternoon ice skating, the DJ had just started playing "Get Down On It" and then Buck's spurned lover, Pammy, had to ruin the day by jumping into the rink and declaring her love for Tara's Vietnam vet alter. Let's see which of Tara's family members and alters fought back -- and which just had angry make-up sex in the backyard -- in last night's episode, "You Becoming You."
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Even for the cast members of Glee, who are coasting through an Golden Globe-winning freshman year, last week's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show was special. But for Harry Shum, Jr., who plays Mike Chang, the episode was his introduction to America via Matthew Morrison, who when summoned to show off his dancing abilities, turned the attention onto 25-year-old co-star: "This guy is incredible, and I'm so happy there is a show called Glee that can showcase the talents of someone who just breathes dance." For those who were unfamiliar until last week, Shum, Jr. starred in the iconic iPod "silhouette" campaign, appeared in two Step Up movies and co-choreographed a number during this year's Academy Awards.
In anticipation of the show's mid-season premiere tonight, Harry Shum Jr. phoned Movieline to discuss his whirlwind week performing for the Obamas and Oprah, his days dancing for Beyoncé and the unlikely companion he found on the set of Glee
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