Need further proof that the massive red blob between New York and Los Angeles controls the country? Take a look at the latest study from leading media-research company Experian Simmons, which has broken television popularity down to Republicans and Democrats. (Don't worry: Political persuasion aside, you're still a douche if you watch The Office.) Click ahead to find out the (not) shocking results.
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Conan O'Brien returned for a much more relaxed second show on TBS last night, and surprisingly tore into his guest Tom Hanks for all of his life's troubles -- an accusation that incited the best quip of the night from the Academy Award-winning actor. Elsewhere, Jon Stewart planned to corner Harrison Ford and ask him about Star Wars, Jayma Mays talked about her sexy Glee scenes, Jay Leno grew a beard and Ty Burrell got into a car with strangers.
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Even if you're not a fan of country music, you must admit that it's lent a perfect backdrop to some of the best biopics of our time -- and Country Strong (coming soon!). Ahead of tomorrow's country gala on ABC, we're revisiting our three favorite country biopic performances. You know all three roles well, but it's never too late to reacquaint with these effervescent, Oscar-friendly performances.
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I could be wrong, but I believe The A-List: New York's theme song changes every week. It feels more cynical every time. I know it once ended with, "You've never met a boy like me," but I think last night it concluded on either, "You've got to buy me one more drink" or "Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone." Let's face it, something is downright Mellencampian about these characters and their sun-kissed struggles with the human condition. And by "human condition," I mean "Austin's obesity." None of us are immune.
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It is a truth universally acknowledged among die hard Veronica Mars fans that every time one '09er comes to terms with the fact that Neptune's favorite female super sleuth -- immortalized by Kristen Bell -- will have to settle for solving crimes in the television afterlife, another hopeless '09er tries to rally the fans to plead with Warner Bros. one more time for Veronica's silver screen adaptation. It's a nasty, hand-biting cycle for Kristen Bell and the 70,000 or so dedicated VM fans...that veered wildly off course today when Warner Bros. -- the party responsible for keeping Veronica from her feature film debut all of these years -- finally agreed to set up an official petition line. Rather than get our hopes up (again), Movieline reviews the Veronica Mars Film Campaign Timeline and makes an educated decision about whether this latest development is worth any more hope.
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Emmy winner Shohreh Aghdashloo is taking that hypnotic husky voice of hers over to Law & Order: SVU for an episode. The 24 alum will play Sunny Qadar, a tough-but-fair investigator in the Brooklyn DA's office.
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Or! Or, maybe Conan O'Brien has the right format after all: According to a TBS press release, Conan's premiere was watched by 4.1 million viewers. To compare, Conan's debut as host of The Tonight Show back in June of 2009 garnered around 8.2 million viewers. Sure, like last time, there was a massive buildup of hype and, yes, his numbers will fall. But, with The Tonight Show, there was a built in audience that was "giving the new guy a chance." Pretty much anyone who turned in last night -- except some very confused George Lopez fans -- knew what they were getting and probably weren't disappointed (except me, apparently). Onward! [TV By The Numbers]
Dancing with the Stars tried to trip up its combatants last night with randomly chosen accompaniment, but viewers expecting Wipeout!-level faceplants were out of luck. Even Bristol Palin drummed up decent scores while tangoing to the Pussycat Dolls' naughty "Buttons." (Dancing, you sly dog!) But Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough scored the night's only 30-point dance, and right now I'm in the mood to declare the Dirty Dancing heroine the unbeatable champion.
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For the second year in a row, Dakota Fanning was crowned homecoming queen by her North Hollywood high school classmates at Campbell Hall Prep. The 16-year-old actress, high school senior and varsity cheerleader was awarded the honor during this weekend's homecoming game. Fanning begins production on the Breaking Dawn installments of the Twilight franchise shortly. And now you know. [Us]
If I hadn't signed a contract in rendered lard at the beginning of the fall to religiously track each and every fat joke* during Mike & Molly's first season, I would be heading for the hills today. Because last night's episode "Mike Snores" featured a plot about the hilarity of sleep apnea and the second quip about falling asleep on the toilet this season. But I am contractually obligated to continue, so who is ready for some fat jokes?
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For the last few months one of the most fascinating subjects of American popular culture has been Conan O'Brien. From his publicized exile from NBC, to his shocking decision to sign with TBS, to his nationwide comedy tour of tears and beers, it seemed like you couldn't go two clicks of the mouse without stumbling onto Coco. As such, he could have done anything on Conan last night. What made it odd, though, was that Conan's return to late night felt a lot like his last return to late night: Funny opening sketch, Andy Richter's terrible announcing skills, a self-referential monologue about his new time slot, Andy Richter's fantastic sidekick banter, then a very rehearsed and very forgettable chit-chat with Will Ferrell. Er, Seth Rogen. Yep, Conan's back!
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After the break last week, I almost forgot how hard The Event is to watch. The fact that this week's "I Know Who You Are" tossed quite a few more shurikens into the plot-juggling feat of all time did not help things along. But fear not, stalwart viewer. As always, here's the Convolution Alert breakdown to ease you through the Monday night circus.
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Before Movieline gets to Conan's big premiere last night, let's review how the rest of the after hours landscape reacted to their new competition in today's special Late Night Highlights: Etiquette Edition. Jon Stewart took the classiest route by congratulating Conan O'Brien at the top of his show; both David Letterman and Craig Ferguson made mentions of the new TBS host; and George Lopez gave Coco some love and then killed a vampire in his honor (kind of). On NBC, though, where no one -- cough, Jay Leno -- dare utter the name of the network's former employee, Scarlett Johansson played the trombone with Jimmy Fallon. And that was kind of fun too.
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No one likes a bully. Except on the Upper East Side, where Serena, Chuck, Blair and Nate literally circled the evil Juliet, spit insults at her, and then forced her to leave college. Just another day at the office on Gossip Girl, where bullying isn't bad, but a means to an end. If it weren't for the rich, beautiful and powerful, how would the rest of us know how meaningless our lives were?
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Conan debuts tonight on TBS, and the staff of Movieline is... giddy? Worried? Sassily excited? Morbidly anxious? We're all of those things, but we're mostly hopeful that Conan O'Brien can jumpstart his new show by following our Conan wish list. Joining me to discuss our expectations of tonight's premiere (on classy Instant Messenger) is Movieline's own late-night expert Julie Miller.
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