Even President Barack Obama enjoys Don Draper. Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner told Fox News that he framed a letter that the President sent him after Season 3. Said Weiner, "He was congratulating me on my and the show's success, and I wanted to say, 'But wait, you're the successful person.'" [Fox News]
The Mel Gibson hate tapes may be a horrific career-ender for the Oscar-winner but for late night hosts, the slur-laced audio is just the kind of material that makes for great monologues. Click through for David Letterman and Craig Ferguson's takes on the scandal, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while celebrating the end of the worst Hills season ever.
· If there is a God, would he have allowed for VH1 to give Mario Lopez his own reality show? The network has announced the still-untitled reality series, which will feature the Saved By the Bell alum and his girlfriend, Courtney Mazza, as they get ready for the birth of their first child. The show will reportedly chronicle Lopez's struggle to balance fatherhood and his jobs hosting Extra and America's Best Dance Crew. "This new series fits perfectly with VH1's programming because Mario's upcoming life changes reflect the same family milestones that many of our viewers are experiencing for the first time," rationalized VH1 executive Jeff Olde. [THR]
A network woos Snooki, an Oscar-nominee takes her own Lifetime movie, and more TV Bites after the jump.
The final season of The Hills was more disappointing than the last season of The Wire, and MTV wasn't even trying to force a goofy fake serial killer plot down our throats (though come to think of it, this final stroll with Kristin and Brody probably would have been more enjoyable if an imaginary murderer was terrorizing the Hollywood Hills). Instead, MTV assumed the role of the assassin by destroying what used to be a good franchise by making Kristin Cavallari the star and stripping the audience of its collective dignity, one incest joke at a time. On the eve of tonight's series finale, here are the five reasons why the last season of The Hills was a complete letdown.
Tonight, Kathy Griffin joins a rally in Washington urging the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell," and she's not greeted with open arms by some of the bigger movers and shakers. It doesn't help that she's associating with the Human Rights Campaign, a group that's garnered more skeptics than subscribers recently. Will Kathy make a dent on D.C., or will she be dismissed as a slightly more self-aware Salahi?
The Price is Right is more than a game show. It's one of our richest traditions, an Easter-colored riot of sound effects, Plinko chips, Jenny-O products, Barker's Beauties, and importance. We need its aggressively nostalgic appeal for sustenance, and our kids need its Jiffy Pop-sponsored comfort for sick days. But a new Esquire article sheds light on recent contestant Terry Kniess's perfect showcase bid and casts some doubt (and a little applause) on the staggering perfection with which he bid $23,743 on a karaoke machine, pool table, and camper. Impressive, yes, but did jilted ex-producer Roger Dobkowitz clue in Kniess on the price? Instead of figuring out this mess, we're ranking Kniess's perfect bid as one of the five biggest game show scandals in history. Is it the biggest one ever? Join us for a historical rundown of the greatest game show scandals, hoaxes, and mysteries.
Usually Movieline recaps the Real Housewives of New Jersey by scavenging each episode for the purest moment of the night as well as the moment so toxically fake that even Andy Cohen cannot watch without donning full haz-mat gear first. But in Monday's episode, appropriately titled "Country Clubbing," the ladies of New Jersey found themselves in such an over-the-top brawl (police, weave-pulling, and an in-the-arms Bodyguard rescue) that I had no choice but to replay the footage, score each broken heel, tally each bungled acrylic and determine which housewife caused the most damage.
Gary Sinise's Detective Mac Taylor has just been assigned a new partner on CSI: NY. The CBS crime procedural -- which just announced yesterday that star Melina Kanakaredes is exiting the show -- has welcomed Sela Ward to the cast as an "experienced investigator from Washington, D.C., whose work is driven by her empathy for the victim." The Sisters alum will make her first appearance on the season seven premiere this fall. Good luck, Sela -- don't let Melina's CSI casting boomerang hit you on the way in. [Deadline]
Characters matter as much as the slickly maneuvered capers and gorgeous Manhattan townhouses in USA's White Collar, which returns tonight for its second season. In the comedy-drama, Tim DeKay stars as brilliant FBI agent Peter Burke, who's responsible for convincing Matthew Bomer's con man character Neal Caffrey to continually use his forging knowledge for good, not evil. Throughout the process, the cop and criminal inevitably learn a lot about themselves, and as DeKay told Movieline last week, he's learned plenty from his cable experience, too -- including a new eye for interior decoration.
DeKay rang us up to discuss the pleasures of guest star work (including his character "Bizarro Jerry" on Seinfeld), his role on the sexually charged Tell Me You Love Me, and the one intimate scene he'd love to share with Matthew Bomer.
Need further proof that the summer is over? Fox became the second network in seven days to announce their plans for what's ostensibly known as fall's "Premiere Week," and despite the looming presence of the Major League Baseball playoffs, they'll be launching most of their new shows and old favorites during the pre-approved starting week of September 20. For Gleeks, that means they're only 10 weeks away from watching how Ryan Murphy may squander all the goodwill he's gotten in the last year -- fingers crossed for a previously unreported serial killer plot! The full Fox schedule after the jump.
The Bachelorette went and did horrible things last night. Seriously, could Ali Fedotowsky botch this game of muscles and matrimony anymore? She picks the safest gents every week and eliminates anyone who emits mild verve or a vital sign. Is she scouting for mannequins? Is she casting a Kraftwerk video? She certainly deep-sixed my favorite contestant last night, a bundle of Mattel abdominals and pearly whites who should be declared an intergalactic lifeguard god. But fear not: We have three combatants left to rank, so join me as I get petty fast.
Talented and Emmy-nominated though it may be, it's hard to argue that the cast of Glee isn't a little overstuffed. During the first season, some of Glee's actors were fighting just to get one line in an episode, and reports about season two (with its surplus of guest stars, potential reality stars, and Stamos) have us a little concerned. So how should we take the news that Mike O'Malley -- so effective in small doses as Kurt's father -- is going to be upped to a series regular?
George Steinbrenner, whose 37-year run as the principal owner of the New York Yankees transformed professional sports for better or worse, died this morning after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 80. More than just a shipbuilding magnate turned Major League oligarch, Steinbrenner also became a pop-culture monolith in fairly short order; his penchant for hiring and firing more managers in the '70s and '80s than most teams see in a half-century (including Billy Martin five times) made him a polarizing figure in New York and beyond. And he could thank Seinfeld for at least some of that notoriety.
Any future talk show guest even considering telling a story about psilocybin mushrooms, should refer to Nicolas Cage's Late Show segment last night and bow down. Within ten seconds of his introduction, the actor launched into a buddy adventure story about his groovy night with his pet cat Louis sometime back in the '70s. Click through for that expertly delivered anecdote as well as the other highlights you missed last night while trying to defend Mel Gibson's racist rant.
· Your teen heartthrob and mine, Zac Efron, has signed on to voice a key character in Adult Swim's upcoming Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III, the latest in the channel's highly-rated stop motion animated series. The latest will premiere December 12 and feature Efron as Anakin Skywalker. Other actors involved include Billy Dee Williams, Ahmed Best, Rachael Leigh Cook and Adrianne Pallicki. Said co-creator Matthew Senreich about the upcoming project, "We wanted to take the Star Wars universe and see if through the eyes of our Robot Chicken: Star Wars Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Boba Fett and Gary the Stormtrooper." [Deadline]
Enlightened replaces Mos Def, Jack Black experiments with a book, and more TV Bites after the jump.
FILM NEWS 
