ABC will broadcast A Charlie Brown's Christmas tonight, as it has annually since 2001. Will I watch it for the 38th time? Yes. Why? Because I want to be depressed, of course, and laugh out loud. I want to be transported. I want to mouth the words to Lucy's condescending psychiatry session with Charlie Brown. I want Linus's earnestness. I want to make fun of Snoopy, who walks on all fours at one point like the patronizing, meta-quadruped jackass he is. I want to hear poorly clipped voiceovers speak in grim, serrated quips about Christmas's meaninglessness. But most of all, I want to watch because there will never, ever be a holiday special as effective as Charlie Brown's. Let's remember why.
more »
If you don't remember anything from your European history class, Showtime is introducing a new drama series that will surely sear a few lessons into your brain for years to come. Because unlike your 10th grade teacher, the premium cable network -- and Oscar-winning director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) -- know what it takes for any good lesson on corrupt popes to stick: sex and blood. And lots of it.
more »
Are the Dalton Academy Warblers about to fall on hard financial times? Sources confirm to me exclusively that Glee's Darren Criss-fronted group will belt out a cover of the Destiny's Child tune "Bills Bills Bills" during the show's post-Super Bowl episode on Feb. 6.
more »
I asked the same question again and again during The A-List: New York's reunion last night: Why are we reuniting? After a season of dropped storylines and manufactured tiffs, we were left with pretty much nothing to talk about. Austin's engaged to somebody off-camera, Reichen and Rodiney are together-ish, and Derek is a squirrel. What else is there to discuss? Host (and weave sorceress) Wendy Williams tried hard to dredge up some vitriol, but even she couldn't make this non-drama dramatic. Without further ado, let's settle this season by predicting each cast member's future. It can't be that hard.
more »
Ever since Mike & Molly premiered in September, Movieline has lovingly chronicled each episode's fat jokes. From the "I look like Kathy Bates in Misery" thigh-slapper of episode 2 to the recycled "Looks like you finally freed Willy," slam of episode 6, Movieline has been there. Our cupcake vigil extended into last night's tragic episode, "Carl Gets a Girl," when the sitcom -- which gained national fatty recognition for roasting its carb-laden characters -- only logged one (gasp!) single fat joke.
more »
ABC will not be "reuniting" Friends Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox on Wednesday nights after all. Instead, the network has decided to have Perry's new workplace comedy, Mr. Sunshine, occupy Cougar Town's Wednesdays-at-9:30 time slot for nine weeks starting February 9.
more »
The best part about the holiday season -- besides the fact that it is the holiday season; suck it, hattterrrrrsssssss -- is that the fall television season has basically come to an end. By this time next week, most of your favorite shows will have shuffled off until January (or longer in the case of Boardwalk Empire and The Walking Dead) when they'll return to warm your lonely winter evenings. In honor of this quickly approaching television service outage, it feels appropriate to remind you about a few veteran shows you might have removed from the DVR list. Don't worry, though: There's always time to catch up over Christmas.
more »
He may have missed the Glee cast performance on The X-Factor due to Warbler scheduling conflicts, but Chris Colfer was able to escape set for a few hours to debut a new haircut on The Tonight Show and tell Jay Leno about the time he literally led a high school bully into a pile of sh*t. Elsewhere, Mila Kunis complained about the Black Swan diet, Jimmy Fallon impersonated Justin Bieber, Russell Brand talked about the sex appeal of a Prius, and Charlie Day discussed the lost Danny DeVito prison rape scene.
more »
The winter finale of Gossip Girl wasn't dedicated to the late Irwin Kershner, but it was a severed hand holding a champagne flute away from being an Upper East Side version of The Empire Strikes Back. After all, the Empire (Hotel) struck back, new alliances were forged and everything ended on a non-ending. All that was missing was some carbonite.
more »
· You may be wondering why Andy Samberg is dressed in a pink winter coat and smiling like an over-caffeinated kindergartener. The answer is simple: He's visiting Martha Stewart's show, and he's lost his mind. If that's not explanation enough, he also told Martha, "I can't unzip this because I'm naked under here." So there.
more »
It's list-listin' time! With the end of the year approaching, Movieline is beginning its review of 2010's finest and lamest moments. We begin on a positive slant -- the 10 best reality series of the year. Some are old favorites, and others are new classics, but all are as thrilling, watchable, and cringe-inducing as any overactive toddler. What's #1? Join us for the countdown.
more »
FX will not be renewing the critically acclaimed (yet woefully undersampled) Terriers for a second season, which means we may never find out which way private-eye pals Hank and Britt turned as the season finale cut to black.
more »
Unfortunately, the highpoint of Sarah Palin's Alaska this week was its promise of a Gosselin-Palin crossover campout next week. Damn it. We don't live in next week yet! The quail haircuts and Piper vs. Madelyn Pay-Per-View Bare-knuckle Beatdown will have to wait until then. The good news is this: Sarah Palin shot a caribou square in the boob last night, and her father whinnied with pride. It's enough to make a grown man (caribou) cry (fly backwards in a bloody heap). To the recap!
more »
This week's Robert De Niro-hosted episode was not a good time to be a featured player on Saturday Night Live -- or even a regular cast member who struggles for airtime (ahem, Abby Elliott). Save for his monologue and a pretty awkward "Mr. Produce" sketch, De Niro was delivered A-material that did a pretty solid job at hiding his faults as a host -- which, of course, also means we were given three (!) recurring sketches: "What Up With That?", "Blizzard Man" and "Vinny Vedecci." As this week's poll clearly shows, it was a week for the veterans.
more »
The cast of Glee has performed live for the most influential humans in the world like Oprah and the president, so it made sense that Fox flew their singing cash cows to the U.K. to perform "Don't Stop Believin'" for Dannii Minogue during The X Factor's live semi-finals results show. Well, not really, but those Glee kids had a Christmas album to promote. So watch, dear Gleeks, as Cory Monteith does not even try to convincingly lip sync to back-up vocals, and Simon Cowell does not even try to look pleased when Amber Riley belts the highest Journey notes in his face. But hey, at least Sue Sylvester was there...via tape.
more »
