He is a mop-topped author who moonlights as a private detective in Brooklyn. He wears thrift store blazers, dates an organic food co-op member, and drinks wine from vintage mugs. He is self referential. Jonathan Ames, the Bored to Death character played by Jason Schwartzman, is a hopeless hipster and with Movieline's new Hipster Quotient, you can see how HBO's niche series measures up within the highly selective subculture's community, one silk-screened t-shirt at a time.
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Who could have seen this coming? Oh, right. Confirming reports that surfaced last week -- and this past spring, but who's keeping track? -- Max Weinberg announced today that he won't be joining Conan O'Brien as bandleader when Conan premieres on TBS in November.
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Remaining relevant is crucial for a cast member or, more importantly, a new featured player to stay in the good graces of Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Think you had a good week? Great, because you had better have another one (or find a writer whom really likes you) if you ever want to appear on air again outside of the Goodnights. Enter Movieline's SNL Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-Player Relevancy Poll.
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Things were slightly better on Boardwalk Empire during episode two. For starters, the Martin Scorsese-led trip down mob movie memory lane disappeared in favor of a more Sopranos-like sex and ultra-violence sheen. Except, of course, without any of the depth, character development or ingenuity.
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Everyone's favorite misanthropic sociopath, Kenny Powers, returned to HBO last night for a second season of Eastbound & Down. With a fresh hairdo (the inventive cornrow mullet), knife-wielding sidekicks and an unexplained passion for cockfighting, the former baseball star kicked Mexican ass and took names (literally -- he stole the identity of his trusty assistant Steve) while pitching offensive fastballs at everyone and everything south of the border. If you enjoy politically incorrect slams on Mexicans, children and soccer players -- in fitting context, of course -- as much as Movieline HQ, join us as we examine each week's episode and run down the list of individuals, races, genders, concepts and recreational sports that Kenny Powers targeted last.
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A day after performing at an addiction-awareness event called the New York Recovery Rally, Comedy Central regular and Last Coming Standing judge Greg Giraldo wound up hospitalized from a drug overdose. Yeah. Giraldo reportedly consumed a near-fatal amount of prescription during a hotel-room party in New Jersey; "It was a like a zoo here," said one witness. Doctors say it was not a suicide attempt. Giraldo's currently listed in serious but stable condition. [NYP via TV Squad]
Last night's premiere of The Amazing Race 17 pitted together 11 teams who hopped from Boston to London in a brisk 90 minutes. But did the amazingness of their journey translate to our viewing experience? As Phil Keoghan would say, "Yes." Here are 17 favorite moments, observations, and facial explosions.
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At least, for once, Sally Draper is happy. Let's take some consolation in that phenomenon, because virtually everyone else with a thread in Sunday's episode of Mad Men plunged into equally phenomenal chasms of fear, paranoia, subterfuge, loathing, despondency, lovesickness and whatever else Matt Weiner and co. could conjure in the space of just under an hour. Oh, what we all wouldn't give to be an innocent, imminent witness to history, even if it meant witnessing it with the father against whom we're harboring equally totemic resentments. Because clearly the alternative sucks. The only question this morning is who really has it worst.
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Saturday Night Live's 36th season commenced last night with alumna Amy Poehler as host -- Poehler's first time in that role, making her only the fourth former female cast member to handle hosting duties. A lot of changes were made in the offseason: Abby Elliott and Bobby Moynihan joined the main cast; Will Forte moved on and Jenny Slate wasn't invited back; Vanessa Bayer, Paul Brittain, Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah were all added as feature players. How did the new blood fare in their first episode? Not surprisingly, they weren't seen much (though they did get a chance to briefly wave to the camera during the opening monologue... so that's nice). Even more importantly, was SNL any good? Movieline busted out its fresh new SNL Scorecard (along with the patented Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time-Player Relevancy Poll) to make sense of it all.
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Tom Selleck is back on the primetime beat, ladies and gentlemen. How excited are we? I'm torqued. He looks like if There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview seriously just loved milkshakes. Click through to see what you can expect from his new show Blue Bloods -- as well tonight's other viewing options.
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The fat cop. The Jersey guido. The surgically enhanced housewife. The white trash redneck. There are gobs of stereotypes perpetuated on some of television's most popular programs each week. It's a disappointing trend that will yield even less sophisticated audiences, but hey, this is America. It is our right to create and watch television that oversimplifies characters for the easiest possible punchline. And now, thanks to Movieline's handy new feature, you can track each week's hottest stereotypes so you have someone to make fun of at the bar this weekend. Or if you're a cop, at the donut shop. Ding! You get the picture.
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Today's Project Runway recap will be abbreviated because, well, the drama was abbreviated. Ivy stayed tame, Gretchen didn't have an Antigone-like downfall, and Christopher didn't strip in the middle of the workroom. Come on, guys. In the meantime, we've got a bunch of "high-end" dresses and some serious Michael Kors stank to discuss.
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That Community is planning on doing a Mean Girls spoof shouldn't surprise you, but who the series is bringing aboard to play the Queen Bee just might. Hilary Duff will join the cast of the NBC comedy during November sweeps as a member of a clique that torments our favorite study group. That's great and all, but really: No room for Lizzy Caplan? [EW]
Ivy Higa was one of Project Runway's most confident season-eight contestants. The 30-year-old Hawaiian native and current New Yorker also had her share of controversial moments: harsh barbs towards her fellow designers, erratic runway behavior, and even a fainting spell. Higa opened up to Movieline this morning about being seen as a "bitch," patching wounds with Michael C., and the problem with Gretchen.
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Movieline understands your ugly Glee addiction and knows that a hit of the New Directions would really brighten up quittin' time -- not to mention, take care of those withdrawal symptoms for a few hours. So below, find the leaked Britney Spears tracks from this week's "Britney/Brittany" episode and the grades they earned from Movieline. And to answer all of your questions, yes: Schue does get down with his "Toxic" self.
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