FlashForward may have plateaued suspense-wise during its second episode, but the show will likely accelerate again following Gabrielle Union's arrival on the series as Demetri's (John Cho) fiance Zoey. Union spoke with Movieline about working with Cho and the plight of her character, who's "flashforward" of April 29, 2010 seems to conflict with what we think we understand about Demetri.
Tim Gunn, who still stars on the slowly calcifying, but valiantly recapped Project Runway, is slated to appear on How I Met Your Mother as Barney Stinson's (Neil Patrick Harris) "personal tailor/ fashion consultant" as he "tries to fix a major league 'Suit Catastrophe.'" Why Tim Gunn lets network comedies ghettoize him into style-spewing Mammy roles is beyond me, because his penchant for concealing seething resentment with Project Runway's judges points to stellar acting talent. Isn't there a role Tim could fill without winking at an in-studio audience and cooing, "I guess he really made it work!" A much better cameo idea is explored after the jump.
While David Letterman's admission of interoffice romances may have wreaked havoc on his personal life, the extortion scandal paid off ratings-wise again last night. During the first taping since the Late Show host delivered his bombshell to 5.8 million viewers last Thursday, Letterman opened the show with a self-effacing monologue, transitioned into heartfelt apologies to his wife and staff before shifting focus to his guests, Steve Martin and Martin Short. Last night's episode yielded a 4.2 rating which trumped any show in NBC's prime-time line-up. [Associated Press]
"The TV host's former assistant, Stephanie Birkitt, is believed to have conducted a relationship with Letterman as well -- allegedly, her letters and diaries were the source of suspect Robert Halderman's alleged blackmail attempts." - Access Hollywood
The following is a dramatic recreation of what might have been contained inside those personal correspondences.
Usually film and television stars work hard for their publicity - making the rounds at film festivals, exhausting the talk show circuit and doling out repetitive interviews, but Mo'Nique has found a loophole in the system. By refusing to promote her acclaimed performance in Precious since the Sundance Film Festival because of a few unfulfilled demands for compensation, the comedienne actress has unwittingly created her own tidal wave (or backlash) of buzz for her new BET nightly talk show, The Mo'Nique Show, to coast off of its first week.
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The hallmark of reality programming is elusive, but it has something to do with the mix of challenges, memorable characters, and serviceable hosting skills. Right? There's no mysterious fourth tenet about exhuming dated programming of the '70s, if memory serves. But Variety has it that a new reality series will revamp ABC's late '70s-early '80s series Fantasy Island as a competition about "making dreams come true." I personally never had a dream about desecrating Ricardo Montalban's legacy, but that's what makes me and Mark Burnett different. Read the cryptogram-worthy synopsis after the jump.
During the first Late Show taping since David Letterman shared the stunning details of the latest extortion plot against him last Thursday, the host took the stage this afternoon to rousing audience applause. After making a few lighthearted monologue jokes at his own expense ("I get in the car this morning and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. Ouch."), Letterman delivered heartfelt apologies to his wife, Regina Lasko, and his Worldwide Pants staff for the indiscretions he admitted to last week. The apology transcript and monologue video after the jump.
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Hilary Duff begins her multi-episode arc on Gossip Girl tonight as your average A-list film star, looking to enroll in college, disappear into grungy dorm life and meet a handsome Dan Humphrey. But what happens when her diva co-star (played by Tyra Banks), who happens to be preparing for a role as Josephine Baker, follows her into town and befriends Serena? Whatever it is, it will surely spell trouble for Upper East Siders.
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Meredith Vieira put on her hard-hitting, so-many-questions face for interviewee Kate Gosselin on this morning's Today, inquiring about new allegations that the Jon & Kate Plus Eight star's ex Jon has stolen $230,000 from the couple's joint bank account. Now, Kate Gosselin and My Life on the D-List star Kathy Griffin are not just linked through a rib-tickling parody; they now share the dubious honor of splitting from an ATM-plundering beau. In 2007, Griffin's then-husband Matt Moline gradually stole five figures from her bank account, leading to their divorce. For the sake of single ladies with the innocent need for cable-approved companionship, let us discuss the pros and cons of each money-grubbing baggy-jeans connoisseur after the jump.
After months of speculating how Larry David would ease us into this season's apocalyptic Seinfeld quasi-reunion arc on Curb Your Enthusiasm, we suddenly got our romance-motivated explanation, as well as a teaser of television's handsomely syndicated foursome, in last night's episode. In a hazy fantasy sequence for Larry and any other Seinfeld fan mourning the series over the last decade, seeing Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer safely inside Jerry's apartment clutching reunion scripts seemed like the universe righting evil finale wrongs. While a clear victory for anyone owning a custom Costanza t-shirt, not every Curb-Seinfeldplayer fared well in the first installment of the mythic Seinfeld arc. Let's take a look at the winners and the losers after the jump.
Everybody was in the mood for love Sunday night on Mad Men. Or at least everybody who made an appearance, a group comprising an unusually small number of the show's sprawling cast. But at least Crazy Sally made a new appearance, and viewers got some much-needed (if utterly demoralizing) face time with an old friend. And soundstage Rome has never looked more romantic! Read on and reflect.
In the hours and days since David Letterman's bombshell assertion that he was being blackmailed by a 48 Hours producer with whom he had shared a mistress, the shock has somewhat subsided, replaced by further tumbling skeletons, the taunts of Letterman's competition, and questions from an insatiably curious public -- to the tune of a nearly 40% surge in ratings for the Late Show.
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This summer at the the Television Critics Association event for Three Rivers, the cast and creator Carol Barbee were aflutter with excitement for their new CBS medical drama. They had recently upgraded to an expensive hi-tech hospital set on the Paramount lot, attracted Alfre Woodfred as a supporting character and re-shot their admittedly terrible pilot. Barbee repeatedly thanked CBS for backing them while redeveloping the series, a process that including cutting characters altogether and redesigning the format of each episode. Critics were given an exclusive tour of the set by the lead actors and producers, as if to say, "See how much better this looks?" Unfortunately for CBS, while the pilot that will air this Sunday does look better, it still sounds just like the original.
The third series of the Stargate franchise premieres tonight on the rebranded Syfy. Fitting in with Syfy's attempt to make its programming slightly more humanistic, less Sci Fi, Stargate Universe's creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper have promised to make the new program a little more focused on relationships aboard the ship and the storylines easier for the franchise newbies to jump into mid-season.
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Chicago's most influential native, Oprah Winfrey, flanked by President and First Lady Obama arrived in Copenhagen yesterday to plead to the International Olympic Committee that the 2016 Summer Games be set in the City of Big Shoulders. (Prominent Chicago-repping rapper Kanye West was not invited, presumably because he would have interrupted Rio's acceptance of the games.) Despite their best efforts and Oprah's universal persuasiveness that has in the past, convinced illiterate Ethiopians to quick-order James Frey's "A Million Little Pieces" off of Amazon, Chicago was eliminated in the first round, proving that the Oprah phenomenon is waning. Let's take a look at other things Oprah hasn't been able to purchase in recent years.
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