You may have seen over 75,000 posters for tonight's new episode of Glee, or watched the TV ads calling Fox's show "the most loved comedy" of the season. Because 30 Rock we just respect, right? With its clever scripts, incredible characters, and un-condescending tone? Meanwhile, Glee, with its predictable plots, stock characters, and iTunes-ready playlist, is "lovable" because it tends to our last-picked-for-Dodgeball inner child. It just sings! It's the new "Seasons of Love"! How do you measure, measure a year? Hopefully not by setting your clock to this show. Because it's actually embarrassing. An offensive, awkward song clip after the jump.
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Next week's two-day season premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show should prove once and for all that Winfrey is at least one quarter divine power. Yesterday, Forbes's wealthiest talk show host shut down Chicago's main artery so that thousands of her fans could perform a choreographed dance to "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. (It's not like Michigan Avenue was going to be used for any Chicago Cubs World Series parades.) And in her most stunning feat yet, Oprah conducted a "no-holds barred" conversation with Whitney Houston that Winfrey has already touted "the best interview I've ever done."
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If you find yourself intrigued by the Don Draper Fingerbang Threat Level every week on Mad Men, yet often stare into space wondering, "Isn't there something more sexually unsettling on basic cable?" then FX has a queasy scenario just for you! The network practically invented did-they-just-show-that sex scenes on non-premium channels, and it'll be damned if it cedes the crown to upstart AMC. How best to prove its moxie? By gang raping one of television's most beloved mothers on Sons of Anarchy last night.
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The MTV audience knew they were in for something special when Friday's edition of Behind the Screen opened with the following salacious narration: "Megan Fox knows how to make your pulse race and over the next half hour, she's going to do it....with her mouth." In between heart-pumping revelations about her same-sex kisses in Jennifer's Body ("I feel much safer with girls"), Fox took advantage of every weapon of mass-market seduction in her arsenal. After the jump, Fox's secrets to pleasing the MTV-ers.
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Anna Camp, best known for playing Reverend Steve's wife Sarah Newlin on True Blood, is reportedly set to play Pam's sister Penny on The Office. While I'm sure the opportunity is cause for great celebration in the Camp camp, I question whether her Ryan-Kwanten-handjob techniques will be utilized fruitfully at Dunder Mifflin. Think of the potential for confessionals! Awkward and funny! [Premium Hollywood]
The ratings are in for The CW's heavily hyped Melrose Place redo, and they're...perfectly average. The series premiere brought in 2.3 million viewers (a loss from lead-in 90210's 2.6 million), a rating that the network probably hoped the show would settle into, not debut with. Guess they should have hired D&D Advertising. [EW]
You know a series is hot when it is parodied for Jewish, animated and children's demographics. And with yesterday's addition to the Don Draper imitation market, we decided to sort out these copycats once and for all, for your own ranking pleasure.
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What would be the best way for Jay Leno to rebut criticism that by adding five "comic correspondents" to his new late-night endeavor, he's ripping off The Daily Show? Why, by adding seven more! In addition to the already announced D.L. Hughley crop, Leno's hiring Liz Feldman, Brian Unger, Nick Thune, Owen Benjamin, Marina Franklin, Sebastian Maniscalco and Ross "the Intern" Mathews. Why, he's almost got one correspondent per car! [THR]
Unafraid of the holiday weekend that scared his premium-cable competition into reruns, Don Draper uncapped a virgin bottle of bourbon and made us all a fresh round of old-fashioneds on Sunday, shaming the diminutive, over-enunciating vampires and generously beschlonged man-whores who took the night off. Join us as we undertake our weekly examination of who's up and who's down in the Sterling Cooperverse with our Mad Men Power Rankings:
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In the pilot episode of the CW's Melrose Place revamp, an uppity bitch is pushed into a pool. Hooray! A return to form! Except this time, the bitch (Sydney from the old series) has been stabbed to death, a plot point which owes more to the new show's more obvious forefather Veronica Mars. In fact, though the Melrose Place premiere poses a mystery to us, it also solves another: You can successfully remake a classic TV show, as long as you amp up the camp.
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While some people promote their upcoming projects with tell-all interviews or WWE smackdowns, Kevin Smith managed to cyber-sell his upcoming book, Shootin' the Sh*t with Kevin Smith: The Best of the SModcast from the comfort of his home. During a 24-hour Labor Day Twitter-thon, Smith answered a steady stream of fan questions that encompassed everything from television and film to Subway diets and sex. For some of his most interesting answers, follow us after the jump.
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Kathy Griffin mastered the formula for a successful autobiography launch years before she wrote her first page: equal parts steamy details and shameless publicity. And with her shrewdly titled autobiography Official Book Club Selection hitting bookshelves today, the My Life on the D-List star recently upped her ante by publicly discussing subjects even she, the queen of inappropriate disclosure, had not spoken openly about until now.
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Movieline has just obtained official confirmation that Kristen Wiig will not be joining Seth Meyers this season as a Weekend Update co-anchor on Saturday Night Live. On top of last week's additions and subtractions to the Studio 8H cast, rumors circulated quickly yesterday that Wiig would take Amy Poehler's vacated seat.
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Thank heavens for Labor Day, the much-needed post-barbecue gap required to digest the sharp dramatic turns occupying the latest episode of Mad Men -- the first hour in the history of television to interweave jai alai, pre-pubescent driving, World War I artifacts and the death of two holy fathers as narrative plot points. Where to even begin?
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While Lady Gaga prepares for Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards by polishing her nipple tassels and Hannibal Lecter mask, Janet Jackson is very hard at work staging a spectacular VMA tribute to her brother Michael. TMZ reports that Janet's routine will feature 20 backup dancers and top-tier choreography from Frank Gatson and Travis Payne. Will she don a one-piece leather suit for a fan-blasted medley of her own "Black Cat" and Michael's "Dirty Diana"? Will she sing "Scream" accompanied by recorded vocals from her fallen duet partner, à la Natalie and Nat King Cole? More speculation, as well as a clip of Janet's best VMA performance, after the jump.
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