Just two episodes into the 36th season of Saturday Night Live, one featured player has distanced herself from the female 8H pack: Nasim Pedrad. The Iranian-born actress/comedienne beat out reliable SNL MVP Kristen Wiig for face time this past weekend thanks to her original character, Henry and a commercial parody about Pepto-Bismol Ice. Pedrad has also established her position as one of the most talented parts of the cast via another original character, Bedilia, and impressions of Christiane Amanpour, Kim Kardashian, Maria Menounos and Shakira. Not a bad variety of types, huh?
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At the end of last season, I wrote that Community and NBC should do everything in their power to make John Oliver a full-time cast member. Not to toot my own horn (too late), but lo and behold, they did! If you watched the first two episodes of this season, though, you wouldn't have actually realized this joyous event happened, since Oliver was nowhere to be found. For the good of the show and comedy everywhere, that changed on Thursday night.
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Two instances might not signify trend, but after only our second romp "over there," I'm ready to say that Olivia's misadventures in dopplegang-land (Buffy reference? Whenever I can) make for some of the best Fringe yet. Sure, there have been issues: Don't forget about Olivia's cab ride devolving into a little commiseration-fest. This week, there might have been an unfortunate interactive hallucination or two, but Olivia struggling so singularly with her dual identities while staving off Walternate and Co. really has me riveted. As for the cases, it seems there's a very positive creative feedback loop emerging between the oddness of the alt-world and the strength of the episodic arcs. On that note, read on for your mad science capsules!
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Happy birthday, Angus T. Jones. The Half portion of the hit CBS comedy Two and a Half Men turns 17 today and to celebrate, he's gotten himself a brand new contract. According to TMZ, Jones' new deal with CBS will pay him $300,000 per episode, which translates into $7.8 million per year. Insert caveats about how this is America and capitalism here, then click ahead to see which television stars Jones' deal leaves in the financial dust.
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On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart provided a disturbing visual for viewers at home when he and guest Naomi Watts relived the night of Steve Carell's "Fozzie Bear" climax. Yep. Elsewhere on late night, Katherine Heigl gave Jay Leno her mother's seal of approval, Stephen Colbert sold David Letterman on his fear rally and Jane Lynch gave Jimmy Fallon a Saturday Night Live spoiler.
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We've been both excited and worried about Jersey Shore spinoffs, but this one might be the gnarliest yet: Lifetime will air a multi-generational family version of Jersey Shore centered around Russian-Americans called Brighton Beach. Sadly, they have not cast Neil Simon as a gyrating party prince. You might say Brighton Beach sounds like a watered-down retread of MTV's reality juggernaut, but there are five ways this could be better than any of us imagined.
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Tonight's Community may force you to reach for your hanky; one of the group's key members suffers a devastating loss. Nothing as painful as that Betty White episode, but pretty doggone close. Elsewhere on TV this evening, Heidi Klum makes demands on Project Runway and Snooki gets annoyed on Jersey Shore.
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FX has announced that they've picked up the perpetually Emmy-snubbed Sons of Anarchy for season four. "Sons of Anarchy is the most popular show FX has ever had, and the #1 series in basic cable for our key demographic. It is also one of the best, most original series on television," said FX president John Landgraf in the press release. Creator Kurt Sutter relayed the news a tad differently on Twitter: "Picked up for SEASON 4 motherf**kers!!! Thanks to FX for the early pickup."
It took nearly 15 months, one devastating late night disaster and Jeff Zucker's retirement, but Ben Silverman has finally wormed his way back into NBC with a new comedy series. Called Party People, the ensemble project will center on a group of under-employed entertainers who work the children's birthday party circuit. Sound vaguely familiar? Let's take a look at three projects from which Silverman, who famously brought NBC The Office and Knight Rider 2.0, may have drawn inspiration.
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Jimmy T., the stubborn, bedraggled mess who rambled long enough to make everyone forget anyone else was even eligible for elimination, signed his own death certificate several times on last night's Survivor. Let's figure out where things went wrong for Jimmy T. -- and what we can do to prevent folks like him from happening again in the future.
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The Pritchetts and Dunphys were united by a blast of seismic anxiety last night. It started with an earthquake, but the aftershocks counted more: Phil found an opportunity to redeem himself for his shoddy handyman skills, Jay and Manny engaged in a conversation about the Great Almighty (no, not Gloria), and Cameron and Mitchell nudged and antagonized each other like two boisterous tectonic plates. So: Who gets to be family member of the week?
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To help recover money owed to a PR firm, Real Housewives of DC stars (and infamous White House Gatecrashers) Michaele and Tareq Salahi are trying to auction off 200 signed photos of themselves on eBay. After the photos failed to receive a single bid their first week on the block, they were marked down from $100 each to $50. At the time of this posting, only two have been purchased. As for the rest? "We might use them for wallpaper," said publicist Kenny Fried. [Yahoo]
After a six month hiatus, South Park's fourteenth season returned with a whimper. Earlier in the year, Trey Parker and Matt Stone tackled prickly subjects like literary censorship, Facebook, Tom Cruise's rumored homosexuality and religion with the trademark deftness that has earned them the respect of discerning viewers including Lorne Michaels. But in the show's mid-season premiere, "Poor and Stupid" (appropriate title), Parker and Stone shied away from the usual hard-hitting topics and pointed their animated arrows at an easy bulls eye that has been hit tens of hundreds of times before: NASCAR. Let's take a look at this week's South Park carnage.
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Bad news for your parents: NBC has stopped production on Outlaw, which is another way of saying the show is now on Double Secret Probation. The Jimmy Smits legal drama will air for two more weeks, but if ratings don't improve it will be gone for good. No truth to the rumor that Tom Selleck just did a fist pump. [Deadline]
Jay Leno escaped his Burbank studio during last night's Tonight Show and used his freedom to...help his neighbors out with everyday household chores. Meanwhile, Craig Ferguson wrestled some personal answers out of In Treatment star Debra Winger, Stephen Colbert interviewed two music icons and Jimmy Fallon exchanged kisses with Diane Lane.
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