The Los Angeles court has dismissed a $1 million lawsuit filed against Steven Seagal by a former assistant who claimed that her employer had sexually harassed her on repeated occasions. Seagal's attorneys had reportedly been trying to resolve the case out of court -- maybe because of the incriminating interview Jenny McCarthy gave to Movieline in 1998 about Seagal's ungentlemanly casting couch conduct. No word yet on whether A&E will order more episodes of Steven Seagal Lawman, which was pulled off the air shortly after the allegations were made. [Yahoo!]
According to actress and writer Mindy Kaling that is: "We set her return up in the finale, so it would be the biggest [cop-out] of all time if we didn't [follow through] on it." Not that this should come as a surprise -- with Steve Carell making season six his victory lap, what better way to send Michael Scott into the sunset than with Ryan's Holly Flax by his side? Wica what, indeed. [EW]
Last night, the Mel Gibson free-for-all continued with material from Tracy Morgan, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon and Jay Leno. Click through for those jokes as well as the other highlights you missed last night while adjusting to the new and improved Movieline layout.
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Also in this morning's TV Bites: The Hills goes out in a blaze of glory... Syfy taps musical talent for its strangest horror TV-film ever... and HBO spoils True Blood.
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When HBO sold Sex and the City into syndication, pundits scoffed that there wouldn't be much left in the episodes after timid basic-cable edits, but with some prudent trimming of Kim Cattrall's most salacious scenes, the reruns did big business on TBS without too much of an outcry. Still, can HBO stablemate True Blood possibly survive a syndicated version bowdlerized of its sex and violence -- and is the network asking too much for it?
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One of our favorites may have been eliminated on So You Think You Can Dance last week, but another of our choice twirlers is still in the running to take it all. Can he triumph over his competitors -- and can he hold our attention while juicy episodes of The Real World and Big Brother fight for acknowledgment?
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The reality television world may be getting a double dose of Palin this year. Four months after Sarah Palin signed on to star in a Mark Burnett production at TLC, rumor has it that the former vice presidential candidate's daughter Bristol is reuniting with her Playgirl centerfold/babydaddy Levi Johnston as part of a scheme to land a reality show about young parenting. The pair announced their re-engagement this morning. Guess this means that someone else will have to get Undercover Hoss off the ground. [Gawker]
Now that the dust has settled around those Emmy nominations, it's time for Movieline to begin digging into each category to lay down odds for the nominees. Everyone can agree that these year's selections feel fresh and new, but in the Lead Actor in a Comedy category, will tradition reign?
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Kathy Griffin's trip to Washington on last night's My Life on the D-List, where she accepted an award from the Human Rights Campaign and kicked off an anti-"Don't Ask Don't Tell" rally at the National Mall, was an event concocted through bossy strong-arming disguised as D-List busking. It was real and fake at the wrong times, and with the wrong punchlines.
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Reality and unreality finally converged in last night's season finale of The Hills, better known as "The Episode Where the Cast and Crew Admit Their Show Is Fake." You heard right! If you haven't seen the closer, "All Good Things..." then you might want to to hold off on clicking through for now... unless you'd like to finally know how much of MTV's six-year project was just a cruel joke on you. (Hint: If you were bored enough to watch last night's closer, then you've been punk'd by Brody.)
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File this one under no-brainer. HBO just sent out an announcement stating that the network has picked up the David Milch/Michael Mann co-production Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte and a host of other recognizable character actors. The series -- which will shoot this fall -- centers on the seedy world of horse racing, and with Milch's proclivity for eccentric swearing in past efforts like Deadwood and NYPD Blue, that milieu should suit him just fine.
Hot in Cleveland's Wendie Malick knows the art of the sitcom forwards and backwards, but that doesn't mean she overlooks the inspirational perks of working with a bunch of TV veterans. We grill her about playing washed-up actress Victoria Chase, remembering Just Shoot Me, and what she's learned from Betty White.
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One of the most unfortunate scheduling reveals during upfront week came when CBS shifted their Monday night behemoth Big Bang Theory to Thursday at 8pm, placing it in direct competition with the ratings-deficient NBC sitcom Community. So how does Community plan on fighting back against such imposing odds? By hiring Betty White, of course.
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Instead of reviving the brainless cast of The Hills for another disappointing season, MTV has decided to go highbrow... by resurrecting Beavis and Butt-head. As obnoxious as the 90s duo was (and will no doubt continue to be), I think we can all agree that the network's programming decision is a positive one. Because let's face it: Comparing Beavis and Butt-head to The Hills is like comparing Masterpiece Theatre to...The Hills.
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Last week's Warehouse 13 premiere saw Pete, Myka and Co. tie up the MacPherson thread of season one and introduce the female H.G. Wells as season two's antagonist. So naturally, such a development would be followed up with a fairly inconsequential, one-off episode, the only redeeming value of which being two guest stars with ample nerd cred: Firefly's Jewel Staite and Sean Maher. (Simon and Kaylee were hardly my favorite characters, but dammit if I couldn't stop grinning during this episode. A little fan service now and then never hurts.) But which of this week's relics would you venture into M.C. Escher's vault for?
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