Last night, Craig Ferguson finally unveiled his new robot sidekick, Geoff Peterson, a smartly dressed skeleton constructed by Mythbusters guru Grant Imahara. Geoff may not have Andy Richter's one-liners but he is equipped with pre-recorded responses ("You're the man.") and a few movements than can be controlled by the host from his desk. The Late Late Show celebrated Geoff's debut with a musical cold open and then a sit-down with one of the show's favorite guests, Kristen Bell, who tested Geoff's tolerance with a story about her own dietary intolerance. Those moments, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while reviewing your Easter Egg Roll performance, after the jump.
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Carson Daly is a rarity among late-night hosts. The Santa Monica native broke into the afterhours landscape following a successful career in music, not comedy, and has spent the past eight years peacefully hosting NBC's late-night (or early morning) program Last Call with Carson Daly. When ConanGate threatened the 1:30 A.M. time slot that Daly had civilly occupied since 2002, the host stayed respectfully quiet about his network's late-night war (even as his peers took swings at him) and focused on transforming his program. After stripping away his desk, his tie and his live audience, Daly has finally found a documentary style that suits him. And even better, he can still spotlight the bands he loves and covers on his KAMP-FM morning radio show.
Daly recently phoned Movieline to explain why he holds no ill will toward NBC, how he embraces his early-morning time slot and what bands he was most excited to fight for during his days at MTV.
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The knives were most certainly out on Gossip Girl last night. The episode ("Inglorious Bassterds" for those keeping score at home) dealt with all the little betrayals that couples do to each other on a daily basis. Or, at least couples on Gossip Girl. So Dan and Vanessa lied to each other about how they felt about their respective work, Nate got kissed by hopeful man-stealer Jenny but didn't tell his girlfriend Serena, and Chuck used Blair's emotional attachment (and l-o-v-e) to get his precious Empire Hotel back. Never mind that Chuck's a billionaire and the hotel is ultimately meaningless; it's a symbol for his father's something something something. How did Gossip Girl's cheeky puns and wordplay fit in with the episode's theme? Not very well. To the list!
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· After courting a number of offers this pilot season, television vet Sharon Lawrence has signed on to Josh Schwartz's comedy pilot Hitched. The CBS project centers on a newlywed couple, Rachel (Kristin Kreuk) and Brett (Jack Carpenter), dealing with their family and friends. Lawrence will play Rachel's good-intentioned but nosy mother. The actress recently made appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Mentalist and Community. [THR]
ABC plans to throw millions of dollars off the side of a building, a Caprica star tries on Anarchy for size , and more TV Bites after the jump.
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What has Nicollette Sheridan been up to since she was written out of Desperate Housewives? Oh, nothing...unless you mean the $20 million lawsuit she just levied at Housewives creator Marc Cherry, alleging that she was the victim of assault and battery, gender violence and wrongful termination. If Housewives were as juicy as the contents of this lawsuit, I might start watching it again:
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Congratulations! We're stuck with it. The Marriage Ref has been renewed for a second season, along with NBC's other weird, uncomfortable series Minute to Win It and Who Do You Think You Are. The decision did not sit well with Movieline's TV scholars, who at one point used to enjoy Jerry Seinfeld and marriages. After the jump, Julie Miller and I diagnose The Marriage Ref's problems and vote for major changes in the series's second go-around.
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The USA network has announced two projects in development from NBC vets. The first, an untitled project being penned by Kath & Kim's John Michael Higgins centers on a middle-class insurance investigator who finds high-stakes drama in dull jobs. The Office's Steve Carell, has signed on to executive produce with Thom Hinkle (Rockford Files). Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards (ER) is set to executive produce the second project, The Velvet Hammer, about a Texan divorcee who's also an FBI agent. [THR]
Erin Andrews has endured a rough year, one that keeps revealing difficult passages. The 31-year-old ESPN sportscaster's high-profile court case, where divorced father Michael David Barrett was eventually charged with filming Andrews through a peephole in her hotel rooms in several different states, ended in March as Barrett was sentenced to 30 months in prison. This month (and after our interview) it was revealed that Andrews had received death threats for over six months. Now, as Andrews waltzes and quicksteps on the 10th season of Dancing with the Stars, she talks with Movieline about moving on from the hellish court proceedings, finding new confidence, those romantic rumors with her dance partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy and the other ESPN personality she'd like to see on DWTS.
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Every year, you apply for the White House Easter Egg Roll lottery, hoping that you and your child can spend the holiday rubbing elbows with the First Couple as that-year's-tween-act bops around on a South Lawn stage. How could that not be the most amazing celebration of Jesus' resurrection ever? That question was rhetorical up until this weekend's Egg Roll, when the cast of Glee clambered onstage in matching blood-red outfits and worked through one of the most disappointing "Don't Stop Believin'" performances of all time. After the jump, Movieline works through some of the questions raised during this weekend's mini-concert.
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Over the next year, nearly every reality show will be pitched as, "Jersey Shore, but with ____." Still, that's not to say that there aren't some enticing permutations of that pitch, and who among us wouldn't be intrigued by the We channel's new series Sunset Daze, which producers are describing as "Jersey Shore in a rest home"?
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Celebrity Apprentice's stars were asked to horrify children last night, and everyone pulled through with flying colors. As part of their challenge to make a 3D display advertising Universal Orlando's "Wizarding World of Harry Potter" attraction, the celebs built and acted as characters inside muggle-friendly haunted castles. Some of the contestants (Michael Johnson, our girl Summer Sanders) kept the freakishness to a minimum, while others (just wait) gave unsuspecting children the kind of chills best defined as "Voldemort kisses."
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Tina Fey rang in the Easter weekend by appearing on BBC's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, where the Date Night star hit the Brits with some 30 Rock knowledge. The first lesson: Liz Lemon is actually a Sliding Doors-version of Tina Fey. The second lesson: Alec Baldwin, although the only real actor on the Emmy-winning series, has never seen an episode of the show. At least, that is what Fey deduced after filming 30 Rock's season finale, "Khonani," which pokes fun at the recent NBC late-night wars. Spoilerphobes beware.
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The daffodils are in bloom, the Easter candy has been marked down 50 percent and another season of Chuck is coming to a close, which means that once again, it is that time of year when television's most loyal fans unite to save NBC's perma-bubble spy series. Fortunately, the show's cast united at WonderCon in San Francisco this weekend to tell fans how they can keep Jeffster (and the longest Will They or Won't They relationship thread) alive for a fourth season. And this time, it doesn't involve Subway.
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· Coco Nation should sit down. Jay Leno, the Tonight Show host who bagged Conan O'Brien's dreams by reclaiming the 11:35 p.m. territory, has already resumed his number-one ratings position thanks to an audience that is "older than ever." So old that the median age of Leno-viewers (56) tops the age of Nightline's senior viewers (55). Take that, ABC. [Variety]
A husband-and-wife acting duo find network pilots, NBC finds a way to subtract fun from the iPad, and more TV Bites after the jump.
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Swimming legend Summer Sanders has more than just four Olympic medals on her resumé. The Roseville, CA native has acted as a commentator during several Olympic games and hosted a consistent stream of television series: NBA Inside Stuff, The Sports List, MTV's Sandblast, Skating with Celebrities, and Nickelodeon's classic game show Figure It Out. Now, as a contestant on NBC's current season of Celebrity Apprentice, Sanders's Olympic-size goal is to please The Donald and deal with Cyndi Lauper's scatterbrained work ethic. The 37-year-old legend talked with Movieline about Celebrity Apprentice's zany cast, her favorite Figure It Out memories, and an inspiring trip to Rwanda.
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