If there's one disaster the Trauma team won't be able to recover from, it's the show's ratings underperformance. The Monday night series has just been canceled, making it NBC's first official fall termination (that is, if you don't count the network snuffing Southland in its crib). The expensive show never pulled in ratings to match its cost, and NBC has Chuck waiting in the wings to take its place. Sorry, guys! At least your outdoor ad campaign was kind of cool. [THR]
By the time Top Chef serves up its celebrity judge episode, viewers are so bloated by Tom Colicchio's salty criticisms that they are itching for a Shun knife fight or a nap. Instead of the usual disappointment realized when Zooey Deschanel pokes around her corn tamales while clearly intimidated by Gail Simmons' sultry-yet-spot-on analysis, last night's guest judge Natalie Portman proved that her easy charm translates to cable cooking shows. By folding a ribald double entendre, a drug-related come-on and generous peels of angelic laughter into her rudimentary cuisine speak, the hard-to-please Top Chef judges fell fork-first into Portman's ardent vegetarian spell.
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The Counting Crows once sang "We all want to be big stars," and one of the key reasons for that is the easy voiceover work. You show up at some recording studio in the valley for a couple days, knock out your lines while wearing pajamas and then just wait for the junket. Tonight, the Monsters vs. Aliens crew (Reese Witherspoon, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie) reprise their film roles in a 30-minute Halloween special that will air on NBC. And this time, no junket!
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If we haven't already established this in the first few Hills Reality Checks, the genius of MTV's grandpa faux-ality series is that producers can spend weeks gently crafting an arc by feeding its stiff stars believable lines ("No, like Holly really has a drinking problem") and patiently directing its talent to stage a Mexican restaurant pre-intervention, but after all of that work, advertisers whose products clearly negate the painstakingly plotted story arc of said episode (such as Bud Light, Jagermeister, and other assorted mixers) fork over monstrous checks and MTV still finds a way to incorporate all of these products into another intervention episode. To see how The Hills expertly combined "Shot! Shot! Shot!" chants with "responsible" views on drinking, join us after the jump for this week's Fake/Real Jackpot.
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If you're the showrunner of an ABC drama, now might be a great time to peer outside your window and make sure that the network hasn't painted over your parking space. Just one week ago, ABC terminated FlashForward EP Marc Guggenheim for turning what ought to be an exciting sci-fi drama into a turgid holding pattern. Now, the network's canned Brothers & Sisters showrunners Monica Breen and Alison Schapker (though, to be fair, the top creative spot on Brothers & Sisters comes with its very own ejector seat, as previous showrunner Jon Robin Baitz knows all too well). Who's taking over?
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Dan Byrd has spent the past decade maturing on camera, often playing an intuitive adolescent who has difficulty fitting in with his peers. While bouncing between his hometown of Marietta, GA. and Hollywood, Byrd has starred in the CW's Aliens in America, CBS's Clubhouse, as well as features A Cinderella Story and The Hills Have Eyes. Now firmly rooted in Los Angeles and co-starring in ABC's Cougar Town, Byrd showcases his comedic talents as the unfortunate son of the show's resident cougar (Courteney Cox).
We caught up with Dan Byrd yesterday to discuss the perks of being the youngest actor on set and the possibility of his own on-screen cougar dalliances. Really, isn't that what we're all after?
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You know that something crazy happened during an episode of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson when people are talking about something other than the cold open in which a sailor, a mermaid, a bondage submissive, three puppets and the host (wearing a pirate's hook) lip-synched to "In the Navy." So just how did guest Alicia Silverstone's segment top that mish-mash performance, as she innocently promoted her new book about veganism, while sagely steering clear of any flesh chewing-rape comparisons?
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Within this Halloween's predictable costume brigade of Michael Jacksons, Lady Gagas, and "Recession-Proof Sluts," it may seem daunting to find an original costume by Saturday. Well, I can't help you with originality, but if you decide to go as Adam Lambert's new For Your Entertainment album cover, I can ensure that you find all necessary supplies in just one trip to your decrepit hometown True Value.
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Last month, Courteney Cox threw her former Friends co-star under the bus when a benefit concert audience member requested 'Smelly Cat' and now, the pair will reunite again when Kudrow guest-stars on Cougar Town. A week after Kudrow completed the Friends Employment Phenomenon, it was announced that the actress who once embodied Phoebe is thisclose to signing on for a November sweeps episode, in which Kudrow would play a dermatologist who provides addicting services to Cox's character. In the same TV Guide article, the Cougar Town star revealed that she failed to persuade Matthew Perry to guest as her boyfriend, and is praying for the perfect part for Jennifer Aniston. [TV Guide]
Yesterday, we wondered why Ricky Gervais would squander his talent on hosting the upcoming 67th Annual Golden Globes, an event better known for its "party atmosphere" than its actual awards. Today, the cheeky British comedian confirmed our suspicions -- that the job is a low pressure introduction to award-hosting-duties.
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Acolytes of the Church of True Blood are likely finding their Sunday evenings a little bit lonelier ever since Bill, Sookie, Eric and the other flush horndogs of Bon Temps sealed their crypts for the season. But if you just can't wait until next summer for a fresh round of bloodsucking and fangbanging to begin, perhaps your hunger can be satisfied with this list of casting notices for Season 3, leaked by SpoilerTV.com. But can they outdo the bathtime hand jobs and lesbian crotch-lunching that made Season 2 such a dependably erotic treat? We believe they can!
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Successful TV franchises have a long, chilling history of birthing video games. Unlike the classic RPGs and fighting games that take years to conceptualize, plan, and produce, TV-inspired video games are often rushed, leading to patchy animation, ungodly graphics, and really repetitive and/or awkward gameplay. In commemoration of the new video game version of Deadliest Catch (or as I call it: Harder Fishin') we explore five of our favorite misfit adaptations.
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Micro budget horror movies might be on the upswing but that does not mean the gothic establishment is tightening its purse strings just yet. The 2009 Scream Award goes all out tonight with elaborate, show-stopping props like a Battlestar Gallactica spaceship, a giant snow globe holding bloody little girls and a bouquet of giant black balloons carrying Stan Lee over the costumed audience and safely onstage to accept his Comic-Con Icon Lifetime Achievement Award. The event, taped on October 17 at the Greek Theatre, is edited down to a two hour Spike special featuring the best of appearances by William Shatner, Johnny Depp, Taylor Lautner and Quentin Tarantino's touching tribute to Scream Mastermind award winner George A. Romero.
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ABC's terribly egregious new ad for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has the misfortune of arriving in front of a hostile marketplace already outraged by the exhumation of Chris Farley for a DirectTV ad, a marketing gaffe that robbed the late comedian of his most notable trait: dignity. Is ABC's Pumpkin commercial (as pointed out by EW) any worse than that? It is, because Charlie Brown raps.
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In the month since David Letterman admitted to doing "creepy" things with female staffers, news outlets feasted on the Late Show host, producing thousands of reports and articles on the danger of workplace relationships. And then sometime last week, in spite of whispers of a surveillance sex tape, the scandalous story lost its legs. Now, Vanity Fair contributor and former Late Night with David Letterman writer Nell Scovell is taking advantage of the lull in LettermanGate to recount how her own "dream job" took an uncomfortable turn towards sexual favoritism at Late Night.
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