I wish "The More You Know" advertisements could take the place of network TV's current fixation with making programming so Channel One-friendly. Really, NBC? Five shows this week include pro-green messages? Sick. Luckily, 30 Rock has figured out what we need in order to stomach so much overlord-ordained environmentalism: Celebrity cameos! You get down with those acting skills, Oscar-winner Al Gore.
As Mayan god Nikki Finke predicted, Oprah Winfrey's talk show will end in 2011. Her production company made the announcement today, just 72 hours after her long-awaited Sarah Palin interview and 48 hours after the media giant expressed disinterest and borderline disgust with porn and erotica. Click through for the official statement and to see when you should take your family and back issue O magazines to the fallout shelter.
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Project Runway's sixth season could've been a preventative measure -- a way to steer the show's pinstriped waterskis away from a massive, Bunim-Murray-edited shark jump. Instead, this season not only jumped the shark but found time to turn the shark into pendants for the Macy's Accessory Wall, which also looked dead this season. Did anyone ever use that charmeuse albatross? After the jump, we inspect the seasons ups and downs (and the 85%-sure winner of tonight's finale) with a smattering of questions.
There's a rumor making the rounds that Fox is trying to stuff Glee's Chris Colfer back into the closet after the actor gave an interview to The Advocate that essentially confirmed his readily apparent sexuality. Adding fuel to the fire was Colfer's sudden clamming-up about the issue in an interview with USA Today, followed by a National Enquirer report that claimed Fox execs asked The Advocate to take the original article down. Responding to the allegations, an Advocate spokesperson told Movieline, "They're not true. Fox did not ask The Advocate to take the story down. Never has." [Popwired]
Vampires may hog the zeitgeist at the moment thanks to the fanaticism for Twilight and True Blood, but two cast members of the immensely popular CW hit drama The Vampire Diaries bring allure to the age-old TV favorite of witchcraft. Jasmine Guy, who thrilled us for six seasons as fussy southerner Whitley Gilbert-Wayne on A Different World and two seasons on Showtime's underrated Dead Like Me, and newcomer Katerina Graham play a grandmother and granddaughter connected by their eerie abilities. Movieline caught up with the duo to discuss Vampire Diaries's Atlanta HQ, how viewers can survive during the show's hiatus, and the parts in the upcoming Soul Train movie that they're willing to take.
For the legion of Twilight fans who had never seen their beloved Bella rocking back and forth uncomfortably during a promotional appearance, yesterday's Today Show-Regis and Kelly double header was a brutal reality check. Upon seeing this Bella doppelgänger named Kristen Stewart squirm, tap her feet and mumble responses while hunched over, Twi-fans stormed Twitter to revolt against this ungrateful, awkward, so-called "actress." Who cares that she was being tag teamed by four overly-cheery correspondents while sick and tired from her 72-hour ride on the talk-show bull? Who cares if she is in this "for the acting?" Uncross your arms and moonwalk for us, K-Stew.
Meanwhile, can you count each brazen offense after the jump?
Twilight-mania returned to after hours programming yesterday with Robert Pattinson's appearance on the Late Show and Kristen Stewart's visit to Late Night, where an unabashedly starstruck Fallon raved about Taylor Lautner's impressive physique. But what most people should be talking about today is George Lopez's bold new take on the tired late night format. (Hint: It involves a Sharpie marker.) Those segments, and a few other highlights you missed while you were rubbing Neosporin onto your Julie Bowen-inflicted wounds, after the jump.
· Put down your yellow markers. The Simpsons has already crowned a winner of its 20th Anniversary Simpsons Character Contest. Peggy Black (pictured right, with Simpsons executive producer Al Jean), a Connecticut hospital operations manager and diehard Simpsons fan, beat out over 25,000 characters with her Ricardo Bomba. Bomba, nicknamed La Bomba, is a smooth-talking South American Casanova who works at the nuclear plant and moonlights as a Springfield singles scenester. Bomba will be introduced in a January 31 episode opposite Chris Martin of Coldplay. Black was thrilled with the honor and completely unfazed by the fact that there was no cash prize... partly because she thought she'd get to take home that giant hand with a donut they had her pose with. [AP]
NBC designs its own Olive Garden, Brooke Shields lands in the middle of nowhere, and more TV Bites after the jump.
Though the CW pulled out all the stops so that Heather Locklear's return to Melrose Place would be covered with the same sort of press fanfare that might be given to the rebirth of Jesus himself, it's a shame that the network didn't make sure the episode she appeared in would be, y'know, good. Now that I've had a chance to watch the heavily-hyped, ratings-light installment, five things immediately leaped out at me that made this episode -- and this show, for that matter -- a sadly muddled mess:
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Look, we'll admit it: We here at Movieline are suckers for a good catfight. We're totally a good catfight's bitch. So we really enjoyed seeing Julie Roland Bowen lay into Sofía Vergara on last night's Chelsea Lately. But what's this? Another rumble: Martha vs Rachael! We've died and gone to catfight heaven! (There really is a catfight heaven. It's filled with dogs smoking cigars and waving bills in the air.) [Us]
Guitar-playing kitten Kris Allen, who shocked some (but not Movieline!) by beating Adam Lambert to win the eighth season of American Idol, released his self-titled album yesterday, and the outlook for a guerrilla chart victory over John Mayer and Norah Jones isn't looking good. The 24-year-old singer is set to sell 75-80,000 units, a woeful figure when compared to other Idol winners (and plenty of non-winners too). But all hope may not be lost for the "Live Like We're Dying"/"It's Elementary (I Love You)" crooner.
At NBC, the primetime lineup is flailing, Comcast is circling, and Jay Leno is hinting that he'd like his old job back. How are you holding up, Andy Richter? "Things at the network are not in good shape," the Tonight Show announcer confessed to Vulture. "Who knows what's gonna happen. Good God, with the network, and what's happening. I feel like there's storms brewing and we're just clinging to our little Tonight Show buoy trying to put on a funny show and trying to see how it all shakes down." [Vulture]
Each week on Modern Family, Sofía Vergara and Julie Bowen's characters bump heads in their unconventional stepmother-stepdaughter relationship. And in a candid segment on Chelsea Lately last night, Julie Bowen suggested that the discord extends off-camera, all because of another Chelsea Lately segment in which the "Cholo Barbie" could not remember Bowen's name. Movieline reviews the clash, and recounts each hilarious burn by Bowen, after the jump.
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When episode titles of The Hills reference Rolling Stones lyrics that have never, ever applied to its cast members, it's very clear that Christmas is around the corner, because that level of bullshit is a Gustav Eiffel-sized gift to America. Happy holidays, guys, and freedom for all. While Jayde acted as this episode's grand dame (Kristin called her a bitch, Brody considered dating her again, and Stacie derided her with snarls), the fakest and sincerest moments concerned the usual suspects. Mind you, Enzo was nowhere in sight this time, so the star quality this time around is noticeably deficient.
ABC is only eight episodes into Modern Family's freshman season and the breakaway comedy is already giving 30 Rock a run for its money for best guest stars. Tonight's visiting A-list talent includes Elizabeth Banks and Edward Norton. Later this season, Modern Family will open its doors to Chazz Palminteri, Minnie Driver, Benjamin Bratt and Fred Willard.
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