I Am A TV Junkie

Looking for Gaga? Look No Further Than HBO

All the information you need, right there.

Mad Men -- Weiner Signed, Show is a Go! Three More Seasons & Done

Matthew Weiner gets a new contract AND he gets to look at Jon Hamm more than you do. A lot more.

Jealous? You should be.

More info on this from Weiner from my friends at Basket of Kisses at this link who got the first call when the deal was finalized. Because they're obsessed with the show and they work like mad to make their blog the best Mad Men blog you'll find.

Here are some large swaths of detail ...

Returning in March 2012

Three more seasons and it's done.

No changes to the product integration scheme as it stands.

No characters cut unless it serves the story.

And imagine this ... all sides came to this decision without the dubious assistance of Sons of Anarchy showrunner Kurt Sutter (click here for details).

Now I have more time to catch up on season four.

Video -- Save Mr. Sunshine, Save it for Nate Torrence!

C'mon, America. When I wake up and read that this show posted its lowest number to date it just makes me sad. Of course a few more new episodes of Modern Family as a lead-in would have helped, ABC. It seem though that most of the critics made their minds up about Mr. Sunshine even before its debut.

But what will happen to Nate Torrence? Will he be once again relegated to the best friend's best friend in movies? Stuck in web series hell? Back to commercials?

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Nate Torrence IS "Mr. Sunshine." Ironic, huh? Never have a seen a guy that gets so much comedy mileage out of a big smile and a goofy manner as Nate does. And he's the perfect foil for Perry's beleaguered boss character.

Please don't make Nate go back to the unseemly ways he used to make money to support his family. Would you wanna star in another Capital One commercial? I didn't think so.

Help Nate by sending your notes and tweets and letters and whatever else you got to ABC.

Watch him work in the first clip after the jump. Then the second clip is a preview for next week's episode.

Changes to My Comments Section, and Speaking of Commenting ...

A little business for a Thursday morning ... changed the comments requirements to practically nil. No sign in, no verification ... just to see what the difference would be.

That's all. Now watch these twin babies babble to each other, I couldn't resist these two mouthy toddlers, watched it a bunch of times yesterday. It's in two parts, here and here. They'll pop up right here in the window.

Video -- Some Will Call This the Most Disturbing Image From the New Doctor Who Trailer

You know how some people are about clowns, right?

Watch it by clicking this link right here, it'll pop up right here on the page. Premiere date is April 23, both here and in the UK.

AMC's Mad Men, Our Blog Friends at Basket of Kisses, a Matt Weiner Exclusive

This is quite the big deal. Deborah and Roberta Lipp, the oft-mentioned (by me) proprietors of the Mad Men blog Basket of Kisses have scooped the world with their interview with beleaguered showrunner Matthew Weiner.

Sharp focus has been trained on the negotiations between Weiner and AMC for his return to the fold for season five of the show. In the post at their blog (LINK), Weiner lets the fans of the show know, sans mass media filter, that his negotiations are not for personal aggrandizement but for the sake of show quality, he told them:

“There’s been a lot of speculation and misinformation in the press about what is going on. I want the fans to know directly from me that I had nothing to do with this delay and it is not about money. I am fighting for the cast and for the show. And I appreciate the kindness and concern of the fans.”

The rest of it is at Basket of Kisses for your review, please click over there and check out Weiner's explanation and some facts that you might not have gotten from your usual big media sources.

Deb and Roberta, this is a big frickin' deal for you two, I'm very happy.

As far as how I feel, I'll post here my comment at their blog:

Give the guy what he wants for the show and get him back to work. I know what is happening here. AMC doesn’t want to set a precedent with Weiner for fear of having to cave to Vince Gilligan or Frank Darabont, who are very much like Matt in that they want things for the show, not for themselves.

AMC wouldn’t have this “problem” if Mad Men had not been exactly the show that Weiner wants it to be, so they should shut up and relent on this.

And now back to Prince Harry diving into the frozen waters of the Arctic Circle. I hear his hair changes color when he does that. Royals, huh?

And finally, from Tim Goodman at THR (the Reporter ALSO picked up Deb and Roberta's post, at this link), he knows what needs to happen, and that's to give Matty Weiner what he wants:

...Whatever the price tag Weiner's asking for, whatever the changes he's being asked to make -- more commercial time or reduction of characters allegedly among them -- it's all beside the point now. AMC and Lionsgate balked two years ago at Weiner's salary demands and here we are again. Apparently there's been too much distance -- and too much success --- at AMC to remember where they were before making Mad Men.

They were nowhere.

AMC was a second rate movie channel (and that's being generous) until Mad Men put it on the map. No Mad Men, then probably no Breaking Bad (which itself was partly a free gift from FX). So any discussion of Mad Men's worth goes far, far beyond the value of the actual show as it relates to the money it brings in.

So there. Suck it, AMC! Then suck it up and get 'er done.

Oh shit, did I just quote Larry the Cable Guy? Shoot me!

Video -- New Epic Falling Skies Trailer from TNT

The more I see from this project the more I feel like it's addressing the same themes as CBS' Jericho did, only the enemy is not within but "falling from the skies."

I kinda like the idea of the enemy within better. Of course the whole aliens v. humans thing plays better for TV action than a conspiracy started at the highest levels of government, which was the catalyst for Jericho, which I still think suffered because it tried to be too many things.

(Yeah, yeah, I sent the peanuts, I was one of those people.)

Still, it looks like they've put a lot up there on the screen; the digital effects alone must be killing their bottom line. And, frankly, I have a thing for Noah Wylie, especially with the beard.

Watch the clip, I've posted it past the jump. The series starts on June 19 with a two-hour premiere at 9 before it segues into it's usual Sunday at 10 slot, which is right after True Blood on sister network HBO. Times are eastern/pacific.

Royal Wedding? Much More Palatable w/ Kathy Griffin on TV Guide Channel

Hey, I wouldn't even mention it except that Kathy wrote material for the press release and I wanted to share. And I thought the pic was striking. Yeah. Striking.

LOS ANGELES (March 30, 2011) – In celebration of the Royal Wedding between His Royal Highness  Prince William and Miss Catherine Middleton, TV Guide Network honors the historical event by offering wedding-themed programming to viewers.  Comedian Kathy Griffin will host “Kathy Griffin’s Insightful and Hilarious Take on the Royal Wedding,” a one hour special that will take a light-hearted, humorous look at the ultra-formal nuptials premiering on Friday, April 29 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. 

Griffin says, "I'm thrilled at the opportunity to take TV Guide Network to a level of high class...or down to the gutter; I haven't decided which.  Either way, as a longtime royal watcher -- and let's be honest, I'm referring to Prince Harry's adorable arse -- I'm eminently qualified to cover the wedding of the year, and not just because I once saw Helen Mirren at In-N-Out Burger.  If I can survive having Brooke Shields as my maid of honor (go ahead and Google that one, I'll wait) then I'm fully prepared for that cozy little chapel of love called Westminster Abbey.  And by Westminster Abbey I mean a TV studio full of judgment."

In addition to Kathy Griffin’s special, TV Guide Network viewers will get insider information from people close to the royal couple in a special edition of Hollywood 411 and relive television’s most famous weddings in a memorable countdown.

I really think they should buy a feed of the wedding from the pool videographer and have Kathy and a crew of others do commentary of the whole shebang. The only way I'm watching this Royal Wedding is if I'm surrounded by bitchy queens and the women who love them with some inebriation supplies and those giant padded bats that psychologists give their rage-filled patients.

Now that's a party.

Video -- Breakthough! Finally a Gay Sitcom Character That Isn't ...

... that isn't very fashionable or erudite, isn't particularly fit, is not an overachiever professionally, isn't the best looking man in the room, is not obsessed with grooming or some pop music diva, does not fret about being single ... hell, he's not even the most fey male character on the show, an honor that arguably goes to Damon Wayans Jr.'s Dave character.

On the soon-to-debut ABC comedy Happy Endings, UCB vet Adam Pally (below right) plays a guy named Max who is a Jewish guy of Russian descent who ... now that I think of it doesn't even have a gay job. Not a florist, not a wedding planner, not a ... now that I think of it, I don't really think he HAS a job.

(Which in my humble opinion just makes it more of a breakthrough!)

I'll have more about the show as we get closer to the April 13 premiere, but I had to tell you how impressed I was with this very unstereotypical portrayal of "the gay."

And about the show, quickly, it's great. Like I said on someone else's blog the other day I find myself after four episodes (thank you Sony Pictures Television as I haven't gotten a screener from ABC since 2004) already invested in these characters. The writing is solid, the pace is quick, the guest stars are excellent, the cast has outstanding chemistry.

Eliza Coupe (the last two seasons of Scrubs) and Damon Wayans Jr. are a great comedy pair. She has such a great male energy for being so hot and he has the family timing and it just works. Casey Wilson (ex-SNL) is the perfect "I wanna be married" 20-something. Elisha Cuthbert is no stranger to comedy (I actually paid good money to see The Girl Next Door and enjoyed it) and apparently neither is Zach Knighton, one of the best parts of last year's FlashForward, through whose character the show reveals itself.

Watch some clips by clicking the links below, they'll pop up right here in this window.

Best Friends Red Band Sneak Peek (2:17)

Liars Liars Sneak (1:04)

Press Tour (2:39)

Video -- Britney Spears on ABC's GMA from San Francisco

So, you thought if you didn't read my long relflection on Britney posted yesterday (AT THIS LINK) I wouldn't post the clips of the GMA appearance this AM.

WRONG!

They are after the jump, all three numbers and some interviewy stuff, which isn't much. This promotional tour seems to have been conceived to promote Britney's new music, not Britney.

Also this huge piece of fluff from former Premiere Magazine editor Chris Connelly (back when you could still call him a journalist -- what happened to you, dude?) is the final clip. You might choke on the hype, be warned.

People, they like the clips. I give 'em, they come.

Regarding Britney ...

I have been considering the plight of one Britney Spears for a while now. You know her. Many of you love her. Some of us are done. Some of us never started.

I guess you're surprised that I'm spending the morning sitting here writing about Britney. I'm not a fan and this is a blog about television. Think of this as slightly off topic. Indulge me a bit, if you can.

My consideration of Britney reaches its peak today with the posting of this Daily Beast essay from Jacob Bernstein called The Trouble with Britney Spears, and here's a taste ...

Four years ago, their golden goose had a meltdown of Charlie Sheen-like proportions, shaving her head and then attacking a car with an umbrella, as a slew of paparazzi went snap, snap, snap. From there, she spent the next few months checking in and out of rehab centers, failing to show up at custody hearings for her children, and being hospitalized, presumably for having a psychological break. Her money was placed in a conservatorship that her father, a notorious stage parent, controls to this day.

Since then, things have gotten quieter, but there have been conflicting indications that Spears has fully come out the other end, or that she even wants to be famous anymore. Touring in 2009 for another album, the appropriately titled Circus, the singer of mega-hits like “…Baby, One More Time” and “I’m a Slave 4 U” barely addressed her fans on the microphone in between songs. During an appearance on Ellen around that time, Spears did a skit where she went caroling with the chat host, but she hid the entire time beneath a pair of sunglasses, again saying little.

One source whose company makes money from Spears says, “The idea of a star having a breakdown and putting them back into place is near impossible,” before going on to liken her promotion process to putting “an alcoholic back in a bar and expecting them to be OK… So you end up putting in safety cushions and still, it seems weird.”

That it does. One after the other the interviews come, and one after the other, the elephant in the room just gets bigger.

 

 

In my humble opinion? MUCH bigger.

I remember standing in a Borders in Costa Mesa years ago with some time to kill and deciding to sample all the teen girl singers that were coming to the fore. Frankly, I liked the Mandy Moore freshman effort Candy a whole lot more than Aguilera's Genie in a Bottle. All the press at the time was about Britney, though, who had just posed for this arguably age-inappropriate Rolling Stone cover (image left) that I think had more of a role in breaking her nationally than Hit Me Baby ...

And it always seemed like Brit came with the extra heavy duty push. There was not only the Rolling Stone cover but also intense debate over the Rolling Stone cover. Her virginity or the loss thereof was a major point of conversation for a nation of teen girls and their moms and whoever was hosting ET and Access Hollywood at the time.

She was the hot teenage girl wearing the plaid-skirted schoolgirl uniform. In re the public sexualization of Britney Spears, she never have a chance. It all happened WAY before her 21st birthday.

More of this, should you care, after the jump.

Clip Bonanza -- Mildred Pierce, Mildred Fierce, Mildred Pierce & Mildred Piercings

Yes, we're all very excited about the Todd Haynes adaptation of Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood and Guy Pearce that starts tomorrow night on HBO with the first two hours.

Great confluence of talents here in front of the camera and of course Haynes, whose work I last saw in Far From Heaven (one of my favorites that year, a movie I actually stood on line and paid to see) has a style that's just perfect for the material, a story about a depression-era woman (Winslet) desperate for her daughter's love, the manipulative daughter (Wood) who knows how to exact a price from her mother and the shadowy but sexy man (Pearce) who finds himself between the two of them.

But to be honestly, my entre into this story came not from the book by James Cain or even the 1945 film starring Joan Crawford and Ann Blyth (who would later become the spokesperson for Hostess Twinkies -- and we know that many fans of Mildred Pierce are also fans of Twinkies ... oh, sorry, I meant twinks).

I know that you know what I'm talking about, it's The Carol Burnett Show's spoof of the film called Mildred Fierce, which you can watch after the jumperoo along with a trailer for the original film from Turner Classic Movies and a variety of clips and behind the scenes features from HBO in support of tomorrow night's premiere at 9 pm.

(The Burnett clip isn't great quality, but it's the only one on YouTube.)

One of the HBO clips is the half-hour preview of the series they've been running on the cable network, just in case you missed it. And there's a couple of different trailers included as well.

Before we go to the clips, however, let me just share with you what I posted on Twitter the other day.

It could also be a great name for a specialty drag act. I wouldn't be surprised if it was being used already by some clever drag queen who like things stuck in her.

Ooh, that didn't come out the way I intended.

Okay, go watch some clips, they're after the jump.

This is My Favorite Thing That I've Posted on Twitter

As Cee Lo Green would say, "Ain't that some shit."

CNN Video -- Eureka Star Salli Richardson-Whitfield's New Film

You love her on Eureka, and now Salli has a new film out that's getting released in an innovative way and I thought it would be good form to give it a little play.

It's a drama about cancer, and I know that's, uh, heavy, but when you think about the films that get financed through the major studios you don't see a lot of dramas with African-American leads. Frankly most of the films from the studios with people of color in the leads that get any sort of wide release are broad comedies from Tyler Perry and Ice Cube.

BTW, For Colored Girls ... is the exception that validates the rule. And from what I'm heard (haven't seen it, though I saw it twice on Broadway) it wasn't a success.

CNN's Don Lemon talked to Salli, co-star Omari Hardwick, who is hooooooooot, and writer/director Ava DuVernay. The film also stars Traci Thoms (Rent & upcoming in NBNC's Wonder Woman) and I'm under the impression there's a cameo from Blair Underwood.

More about DuVernay and the film at this link at IndieWire.com.

CNN clip and the trailer for the movie after the jump.

July 8, 2011 -- Miracle Day!

Video -- Chris Brown on Good Morning America, and What Happened AFTER the Interview

Excuse me, readers, because I need to talk directly to Chris here. Who the F am I? I'm no one. I don't know him but he's certainly not listening to anyone else, maybe he'll listen to a stranger ...

Chris, dude, you are blowing this, AGAIN! You're the guy who brought up the idea of enemies, which you ALWAYS do and your language in these interviews is often toxic and demonstrative of your rage issues.

At TMZ, Robin Roberts tells Harvey (I'm a lawyer!) that you approved all the questions. What's your deal?

You just can't wreck rooms that don't belong to you because you're mad, li'l guy. Folks don't like it. And you're not that good a performer that folks are gonna put up with this shit.

Go apologize to GMA. Get a grip. Another good idea? Stop taking pictures of your long skinny junk for chicks, they will post these pics here on the 'net.

So no, it's not "all good." 

More from ABCNews.com:

Brown stormed off stage and went back to his dressing room. Then he came back down the hall, still backstage, and stopped upon seeing the person who produced the segment. Brown didn't have his shirt on.

The show's hair and makeup staff said they had called security because they heard loud noises coming from Brown's dressing room.

It was then discovered that a window had been smashed in Brown's dressing room. The thick glass was destroyed and strewn across the street below.

By the time the smashed window was discovered, Brown and his team had left the building. Paparazzi photos show the singer shirtless outside "GMA's" Times Square studio.

Those paparazzi pics are at this TMZ link.

Readers, the clip is after the jump.

Flip Mino HD 8-Hr. $139? Only Eight Hours Left on This Great Amazon Deal

So click this icon and go to Amazon and buy me one, dammit! Whaddaya waiting for?

Okay, you can buy one for yourself.

Video -- (Mild) Spoilers! Doctor Who's Series Six American Odyssey Starts April 23

Ah, I just love remembering to use graphics that I downloaded for no reason, it makes me feel better about the time I waste clicking around geek sites like Chris Hardwick's Nerdist.com, which is where I found this early last month.

Click on it so that you can see a large version and actually read the thing.

So, 35 days or so from now the Doctor, Amy, Rory and various and sundry nogoodniks of human, alien and machine kind come back for another 13-episode run on BBC One and BBC America, on the same night, April 23rd.

Nogoodniks for series six include Nazis, musketeers and what looks in the series trailer (after the jump) to be an actual classic inverted teardrop-shaped head E.T-like alien. In a suit. Though it also might be a Dalek hybrid, like in series three's Daleks in Manhattan. Can't quite tell to be honest, there's some fog and haze obscuring said creature.

Regarding Daleks in series six, those in the know say they won't appear, which frankly shocks me. They gotta keep selling those toys, after all. But I hate the fracking things with their plungers and of course the globes of dalekanium with look like they were put there "for her pleasure."

(That's right, I said it. Waiting for the Dalek vibrator, until then I'm sure some hacks to that Dalek USB Hub that Underground Toys makes could do the trick if you want to "create your own sexy adventure.")

Still better than Cybermen and certainly less Rube Goldbergian in design than that ridonkulous cyberconversion unit that you see in the first series of Torchwood, it's just stupifying to see these cranks and whirling blades and ... well, it just doesn't quite fit into a 21st century Doctor Who.

There will be Cybermats, those little things that look like the scrubbing bubbles in those household cleaner commercials. I guess at one time they were part of the cyber-race, but they look like (above right) Cyberman's Cyberpet.

More, including lotsa relevant clips, after the jump. One of them is a series five blooper clip, you know you love that stuff.

Video -- Doctor Who Red Nose Day 2011 Mini-Episode from BBC One

In two parts, after the jump. Go! Watch! While you do that I'm prepping a big pre-season Doctor Who post, look for that tomorrow.

Even Better Than Bill Hader in Ghostbusters 3? Bill Hader as Stefon in Ghostbusters 3!

And there's a video bonus clip after the jump where Bill Hader explains the origins on Stefon on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but first ...

Jeff Labreque in Entertainment Weekly this morning has an item about Hader and whether there are negotiations going on for him to take a role in Ghostbusters 3:

“I don’t know where that [rumor] came from. I have not gotten a call. I don’t know anything about the plot. I was very flattered to have people talking about me online in conjunction with that project. I love the Ghostbusters franchise and was so excited to hear there might be another one.”

(snip)

The good news? Well, he’s game… and available. Asked whether he’d be interested in fighting slime, Hader left no doubt. “In a heartbeat. Oh my god. Are you kidding? Do you have to even ask? It’s f—ing Ghostbusters. Classic. And if the rumors on the Internet are true that it would start shooting this summer, I would like to remind everyone that I am available, as that will be during my hiatus.”

But could you imagine Stefon as the new receptionist in that converted firehouse? That would be epic. "Ghostbusting? It's got everything ... sliming, Zuul, a dog that calls himself the keymaster ..."

I just hope they can fit in a reference to Puerto Rican Screeches, "Tranderson Cooper" or "Blingo." (watch it by clicking this.)

Your bonus clip is after the jump.

Look Whose On Set at NBC Pilot 17th Precinct?

Thank you, Tricia Helfer, for posting this via Twitter.

This is the pilot I'm most excited about, NBC's 17th Precinct from Ron Moore. Tricia, James Callis and Jamie Bamber AND Kristen Kreuk from Smallville ... AND ... STOCKARD CHANNING!!!

I'm kvelling. It's all very exciting. I almost wanna start a "Save 17th Precinct" website.

Now.

Before someone else does.

Legendary Spy Magazine Digitized by Google for Your Browsing Pleasure

I truly believe that the Internet would be a very different place had Spy Magazine never happened. It set the tone for every blog post ever written, EVER.

So I was thrilled when I read this morning from various sources that Google has digitized all the issues of Spy at Google Books. (This link)

The issue with Alicia Silverstone, Christina Ricci and Liv Tyler (cover posted above)? This link.

I lived for this magazine during its run.

Cheers to you Kurt Andersen, I can now relive some of my misspent youth.

Video -- Exclusive Secret Diary of a Call Girl Clip from the NY Post?

Yeah, about the exclusive? Not so exclusive when you provide embed codes. And that's how the clip got here. This clip is spoiler-ific. If you want to be in the dark, particularly about Hannah/Ben, just keep walking, nothing for you to see here.

It's after the jump.

Video -- Angelenos & Montrealers, Do You Have Purim Plans?

So, do you? Because I have options for you. Surprised a goy like me is setting you up for a rockin' Purim? Don't be, I'm from Lawn Guyland.

So, two options for you here, one in LA and the other in Montreal (and no, there is no Jeffrey Sanker-produced Purim White Party, despite the poster, but they do have nearly naked circus performers).

We'll start in LA where the former Daily Show and current Conan scribe Rob Kutner and friends from Shtibl Minyan have produced this promo video (click here) for their event. Apologies to members of The Who.

(Event info in the graphic to the left, click it for full size.)

I'm guessing this particular Purim event will be fairly standard, but that's not the case for Montreal celebrants who will not doubt be enraptured by Cirque du Purim (promo image at top of post).

I knew you'd need video for this, so it's right here.

BTW Montreal is not the only city with a Cirque-like Purim event, check your local Jewish community (esp. in Vancouver and Miami) for similar events.

So, who's your goyisha Purim guy?

News of Cable and Satellite's Demise? Greatly Exaggerated per Broadcasting & Cable

Not the best news for the two businesses referenced in the images above, but that might just be for now.

Today in Broadcasting & Cable comes reporting about homes that have decided to cut the cord from their satellite dishes or cable boxes in lieu of companies that stream content to your computer. It's happening, but the levels at which the market is changing are negligible:

According to an ESPN analysis of Nielsen's national people meter household sample, only 0.18% cut the multivideo network cord between fourth quarter 2010 and this year's first quarter. That rate is even below the 0.28% of households found in ESPN's previous analysis of the cord-cutting practice from 2010's third to fourth quarter.

Cord-cutters are defined as those homes that quit their cable or satellite TV service but keep their broadband connection so that they can watch TV shows that way.

As ESPN has a high male-skewing audience, an audience that also fancies itself tech savvy (capable of pulling for the technological feat that allows you to watch on your big screen) they have great interest in these numbers. ESPN is also a company that depends on people watching live events which by their nature make ESPN very interested in keeping their male viewers on the grid TV wise.

TV in its current form? Still viable. But ask me again in a year, then five, then 10. It'll change.

Re: Fox's Terra Nova Pushing Premiere Date from May to September

News today in the LA Times' Showtracker blog (still don't understand why they have TV bloggers and not full staffs overseas, but that's another story for another time) on the big Spielberg/Fox project Terra Nova, they are pushing their premiere date from May sweeps to September. The plan was to pull off a Glee-like opening to then prime the pump all Summer in advance of a big September official first season.

Apparently there are a lot, a LOT, of FX shots that need to be completed and it won't happen by May. That's fine, bring it complete.

However, the question at the end of that LA Times blog post was: "Will you watch the show whenever it does appear?" To which I said (reprinted here because it may never show up in their moderated comment thread):

I'll watch the show but that doesn't mean it won't fail. I watch Fringe, I watched Dollhouse, love them both. Just b/c Spielberg has his name on it doesn't mean it won't meet the same fate. Americans don't seem to have interest in a large scale scifi epic adventure.

Personally I don't think most Americans are smart enough or pay attention enough to get these shows. Most of them are eating, scratching and farting or kind of paying attention while they quip on Twitter.

I opened up Entertainment Weekly the other day to find out that the third most popular show on iTunes was Kourtney and Kim Take Manhattan. This is the America we live in, Americans only care if you've been in a sex tape or you have a big rear end.

TV's the best, except when it sucks. Still looking forward to it, still wary, still glad I didn't waste more time than I had to this season watching The Event as I did the previous season with Flash Forward.

Can you believe that crap V is still on? ABC drama dept. must have a strong gag reflex.

Watch some video in support of the show by clicking this or this.

Alexander Skarsgard, Sounding Only Slightly Like Those Foreign Guys from Family Guy

Warning: If you watch the Skarsgard clip that will pop up when you hover your cursor over the filmstrip graphic or click the link RIGHT HERE you will hear spoilers about the upcoming season of True Blood, returning in June to HBO.

If you don't click it, you'll never truly know how much Skarsgard sounds like those vaguely European guys that Seth MacFarlane uses occasionally on Family Guy, which are in the clip linked HERE.

Part of this blog's initiative to include more clips and less writing by me. Because the clips are what you really want.

Daily Show Video -- Parker and Stone's Book of Mormon on Broadway

I'm not going to New York anytime soon. I really want to see this show. I can only pray for a national tour with a stop in either La Jolla or downtown at the Lyceum or even a bigger venue.

Stewart loved the show, watch Matt and Trey talk to Jon after the jump.

Glee Video -- Kurt and His Dad Talk About Sex

 

The only version I can find is this one from a Canadian YouTube user who posted the clip in it's mirror image, I'm guessing in an attempt to thwart copyright rules.

(Apparently Hulu no longer lets one define a clip from a full episode and post it. I don't know why.)

I'm working with someone at Fox to try to get an official version, as it's the first time anything like his has been on television. I think it's invaluable to people with gay kids, and everyone else, too. The fact that "you matter" in issues of sexuality, the idea that hooking up is so much easier when it's two humans with testosterone running through them, his tone ... a great tool for parents.

I'm sure there will be plenty of naysayers. They're wrong. This is great. Mike O'Malley deserves an Emmy, I hope this scene helps him get one.

There was also a great scene between Brittany and Santana, Naya Rivera acting up a storm, Heather Morris providing excellent support for her, great dialogue.

And there was Gwyneth Paltrow, too? Best episode of Glee yet.

White House Crasher Michaele Salahi's Mindbending Celebrity Rehab Problem

Remember these geniuses the Salahis? They started their public lives by sneaking into a state dinner at The White House and then segued right into The Real Housewives of DC. Then they were dismissed from that cast and most reecently the wife, Michaele, was cast on the new season of Celebrity Rehab.

Well, she got fired from that, too. And here's news behind the firing ... she had no addiction! Sources are telling TMZ that she got kicked out because she had no discernible addiction.

This woman would rather the world thought she was a drug addict than not be on television. And I am astounded by this.

What the fuck is wrong with the world? And her? And the husband, who apparently let this all happen until she got canned opined to the press that if she's jonesing for anything it might be a piece of chocolate.

She lied about being a druggie to get on a TV show. That's the behavior of a truly disturbed human being.

I have never watched Celebrity Rehab and I never will. I don't think it's appropriate to know so much about people I don't know personally.

Dear China: Martin Sheen Wasn't REALLY Our President

My compliments to my favorite political blogger, John Aravosis from Americablog, for finding this in China's Global Times.

In an editorial today that you can read at this link, the editors take exception to the antics of one Charlie Sheen, who you might know from, you know, all the drug taking and the misogyny and the violent love and, well, winning. They said:

As much as Sheen has lived a life most Chinese men can only fantasize about, our admiration of him can only go so far. He has not only lost face with his public rants, but also crossed a cultural barrier no Chinese can abide.

He ignored his own father's advice to keep quiet, who was once the president of the US. Sheen is a disgrace, unfilial to his father and his fatherland.

Martin Sheen should at once go on television and tearfully apologize on behalf of his son for his inability to keep up appearances and keep his mouth shut.

Yes, they think Martin Sheen was really our President. If only, huh?

I thought to myself, "How the hell could they think Martin Sheen was actually our President?" Then I thought of Reagan and Schwarzenegger and ... just sighed.

Another thing in the story caught my eye:

Sheen attracted 1 million Twitter followers in just 24 hours, yet more evidence that microblogs spread the most unhealthy contagions in society like a disease. Chinese family, coworkers, or the authorities would have taken firm steps to make sure someone like Sheen did not make a public spectacle of himself.

That's amazing copy. Not only dissing Sheen but striking at the credibility of social networks like Twitter in advance of what the Chinese assume will be protests started on those same social media sites as they have in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, and Libya recently.

Those Chinese, so efficient with their multi-tasking.

For the gang at the Global Times, here's a link to Martin Sheen's IMDb page, it should clear things up for you. I think.

CBS v. Sheen: The Ultimate Diss? Recasting Charlie Harper, But Who?

So you've no doubt read that Charlie Sheen no longer has a job. Warner Bros. Television, in a letter from their attorneys to Marty Singer, made it official.

I can't help but feel like the most insulting thing that those two companies could do to Sheen is recast the role of Charlie Harper and just use the time-tested soap opera method of a voice-over announcer saying plainly, "The role of Charlie Harper will now be played by ..."

But who?

The first actor touted is John Stamos, who btw is in New York right now shooting both an ep of SVU and something for Garry Marshall's New Year's Eve film. And ... showing up at a performance of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying to praise Daniel Radcliffe in the role he played back in 1995 (I think it's 95, he replaced Matthew Broderick in the role).

(Oh Garry Marshall, will you please stop making vignette-y holiday themed romcoms and shepherd some legitimately good multi-camera comedy to TV network or two, please? And get your sister Penny off the couch, too, I would like to see her on something besides Shatner's Raw Nerve.)

I like Stamos, I respect Stamos, I enjoy looking at Stamos (much more now than when he was younger, age has been very good to him).

Stamos isn't the guy. Sorry.

In my dreams Lorre decides to go really dark, he hires Dino Stamatopoulos to create some really discomforting storylines about loneliness, isolation and fetishism for your new Charlie, comic Doug Stanhope (image right), because I've seen his act and he's not afraid of saying anything, an important attribute when a guy like Dino is writing for you.

Watch some of Stanhope's standup by clicking this or this or if you want a whole hour of him, this. He's very good at what he does though it's not for everyone.

I know that won't happen, it doesn't mean I can't think about how very disturbing and amazing it could be. 

Christian Slater would have been a good idea until he signed for another series (yes, another TV network has decided to give Slater a go in primetime and a comedy at that, I'm shocked too). It's a shame because he's a perfect plugin. I don't think Slater can open a series but I think he might be able to keep some of the viewers on an existing show happy.

You could go a completely different way and do this: Jake gets a girl pregnant, she tells him after the fact that she's a serial killer and then ... oh, sorry, that's Raising Hope.

Okay ... Jake still gets the girl preggers but ... oh, it's Rose. It's okay, Jake will be 18 when the show returns. Jake and Rose have a kid, a boy, and they are once again Two and a Half Men.

Rose gets a sex change? Berta gets pregnant?

How about you just bring back guest stars from seasons past Enrique Iglesias and Megan Fox and have them always doing it on Charlie's beachfront deck?

Whatever, it's just a show I watch occasionally with my dad. I like the kid a lot, though. If CBS wasn't CBS (meaning old skewing) I'd just spin off the kid and have Jon Cryer make the occasional guest appearance.

Or Jake could move into the building where Leonard and Sheldon live in Pasadena and be their stupid friend.

We'll see what happens.

Video -- Aniston, Bateman Among People You Love Trying to Sell You Via Viral Video

So, what of this idea? Do you like it? Is it lame? Does Jason Bateman sitting across a table from Dave Koechner at a Denny's (below right) make you wanna eat at Denny's? Is Jennifer Aniston's conversation with this bird (above) smart enough for the SmartWater crowd?

Frankly, this ad is better than a vast majority of Jen's movies. The dirty dancing babies are well rendered, rendered better in fact than the Aaron Eckhart character in Love Happens. That title? WTF were they thinking? Even the name of this viral clip for SmartWater, "Jen Aniston's Sex Tape" is a better title.

Note to readers: There is no actual sex. However Jen does take a moment to impede the sex life of Brad Wollack, regular panelist on friend Chelsea Handler's show. (Still image below)

Of course the Denny's clips with Koechner (and he's also had Amy Poehler as a guest in the series upcoming) may do it for a certain demo but for me not really. Then again, I'm not the 20-something clubgoer that Denny's is looking for to pack their booths weekend late night.

Watch the Aniston clip by clicking this link (or hover over the filmstrip graphic, the window will pop up right here on the page. Bateman and Koechner for Dennys (which makes me not want to go to Denny's EVER because these two might be sitting in the next booth) after the jump.

Video -- That Katie Couric Funny Or Die Clip

Oh, whatever. Think she knows she's not getting a new deal? Does posting this make me a whore?

I have more questions, they're all variations on those above. I'm spare you.

Amazing Torchwood Deal from Amazon: Children of Earth Blu-ray -- $17.49

How about that, for less than 18 smackeroos you can relive the moment when Ianto died.

And, btw, get over it Ianto fans, working for Torchwood has consequences. I'm of course still waiting for Jack to die (as if!) so that Gwen can take over. Jack Harkness should not be responsible for anything, he's a flighty, promiscuous, self-aggrandizing piece of work that takes off the moment anything gets too hard for him to deal with.

That's right, I said it. Someone has to say these things. You're welcome.

If you plan to watch the new Torchwood: Miracle Day on Starz this July, you just gotta at least pick up the five-episode miniseries Children of Earth. And Amazon has a great great deal on it right now.The DVD version is actually currently more expensive on Amazon (by 50 cents, but still).

So click that icon above, and with the tiny pittance that I get for your clicking over from here I will buy as much tiger blood on the spec market as I can in order to build my own drug abusing sitcom star.

So there's that. Now click over the jump and watch a big ass clip that previews the series, and then watch the first seven minutes of the series in the second clip.

Live Video -- UK Red Nose Day Stunt 24-Hour Panel People Streaming Worldwide

David Walliams, who with Matt Lucas made you laugh in Little Britain and most recently Come Fly With Me (and I am waiting on a US acquisition report for you on that), is a bit of a marathoner. He does stuff for long periods of time for charity. We've discussed this before here, good works are great but as you know I'm opposed to physical activity over long periods, makes it difficult to breathe.

So you can imagine I'm totally on board today as David does something else over a long period of time for charity. Sitting around and being clever on the teevee is something of which I completely approve.

The event, Red Nose Day, benefits UK Comic Relief, which for years has been raising money of those in need in the UK and in Africa for years now.

(The US Comic Relief, the event that used to be fronted by Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal is not related. And, while we're discussing it, it needs to come back. I thought it would in 2009 when the financial shit started to hit the fan, but it hasn't yet. Why? I dunno, but there needs to be new blood injected into the effort here and I think these three American comics should try to put that in motion.)

Walliams will be joined by lotsa UK stars. In fact, right now Miranda Hart and her TV mom are challenging Walliams and his real mom in some sort of pottery throwing challenge (results by photo above).

(And in my sick mind I just keep thinking Patrick Swayze's ghost should show up and show 'em how it's done, now that would REALLY boost donations.)

It's go on for the next 23 and some hours, with guests scheduled to include David Tennant, Jack Dee, Stephen Fry, Miranda Hart, Claudia Winkleman, Jason Manford, David Mitchell, Dara O’Briain, Paul O’Grady, Sue Perkins, Jo Brand, Jimmy Carr, Lee Mack, Richard Bacon, Vernon Kay, Sir David Frost, Barbara Windsor, Russell Tovey, Charlie Brooker, Christopher Biggins, Ulrika Jonsson, Patricia Hodge, Jedward plus many more.

Click here to watch live. David Tennant coming up very soon.

Video -- Condensed Soup: Scott McCreery, Top Model and, Duh!, WINNING!

Winning. No word this week has taken more of a beating.

Watch Condensed Soup here, make sure to read the completely reconstituted version tonight at 10 eastern (earlier if you're on the West coast and have the E! East coast HD feed).

More, bonus Sheen content, this link. Because you're WINNING.

Simon Cowell: Elton John Too Grumpy for US X Factor, How About George Michael?

Joshua Weinstein at The Wrap is reporting that George Michael is on Simon Cowell's short list for X Factor judge.

So is Paula Abdul.

And Nicole Scherzinger and Mariah Carey.

But not Elton John, who Cowell says is just too grumpy these days for the gig:

The famously blunt Cowell also said that Katy Perry and Elton John are not on his list.

Cowell said that Elton John is "so grumpy nowadays, I mean, it would be like, he’d just be moaning the whole time."

Perry isn't really a good option for the gig in my opinion, either. Better than Perry? The man who's made her pop music career possible, Andy Hildebrand.

More on him at this link.

Elton, of course, is busy now raising an adopted son, an adoption, btw, that would no doubt be opposed by Rush Limbaugh, the guy who John sang for on his wedding day. No, I'm not letting it go, I'm never gonna let it go and Elton can, as SNL so gingerly says it, "S my D."

(Or he can't. Whichever upsets him more.)

Carey on the show? I have a feeling it would devolve into something like this from a recent HSN appearance.

And what happened to all the heat surround Scherzinger? She was so golden a while back, now all the talk is about her doing stuff other than singing. Also, the acting thing is not for her, imho. Saw her do a couple guest appearances on TV and she just doesn't have it. It's okay to just be a great singer, you know.

Gotta wonder what the fallout to Cowell's remarks about the US having the best talent in the world are gonna be in his native England. I'd be pissed. You?

After the jumperoo, check out a clip with Simon telling you his five tips for the best audition and the latest release from Fox regarding auditions. Also, look forward to some more WGA protests of this show, another Fremantle show that doesn't acknowledge the work of writers in the reality competition genre.

If George Michael can put himself together (and I haven't heard about a new "ride in the car" from him in a while) it would be a great place to reintroduce him to a US audience. And when he's on he's one of the best, as per this very famous clip for Father Figure.

Five More YouTube Clips I've Been Meaning to Post

1. Yeah, that's Kathy Griffin guesting on next week's episode of The Defenders on CBS. Man, she's impatient and bossy, and the character's no treasure trove of joy, either. Kidding, we love KG! We might not love her enough to watch and episode of The Defenders, but there IS love. (LINK)

2. I love the cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill that Placebo does, and it's really well utilized by the gang at Bones during the episode where Tempy and Hodgins get buried alive by the Grave Digger. Here a fan, YouTube's SUE600Studios, creates a tribute clip with scenes from the various Grave Digger eps using Placebo's song as background. (LINK)

3. From Jimmy Kimmel's post-Oscar show, the Tom Hanks Toddlers & Tiaras parody. If you haven't, YOU MUST WATCH THIS. Seriously, it's great and there's a guest star toward the end of the clip. Here's a clue, I've recently decided not to see any more of his movies. (LINK)

4. How I Met Your Mother's Josh Radnor has written and directed a new movie that he stars in called Happythankyoumoreplease, and he talked to Chris Wragge (he of the sculpted hair) from The Early Show about it. (LINK)

5. Karl Pilkington gets tubes shoved up his knob. No, that's not the clip. It's cartoon Karl talking about it with cartoon Ricky and cartoon Stephen on The Ricky Gervais Show last week on HBO. An all new Gervais show airs Friday night on HBO, check your listings. (LINK)

BONUS! After the jump, see the trailer for Radnor's film.

Video -- Two and a Half Men's Jon Cryer, Today on Ellen

This is perfect. There is nothing to say about this. Bravo!

Hat tip to THR.

Video -- Sexytime on Showtime: Billie Piper Returns in Secret Diary of a Call Girl

You know I love big hair, raccoon eyes and a bow tie, but it's usually on a guy.

Sounds like Adam Lambert actually. Well, Adam Lambert would have a sequined bow tie. Whatev.

Ah, Billie Piper. She'll always be Rose Tyler first, but I do love this show about a woman named Hannah who's a whore named Belle. And this, sadly, will be the last go round for the series, or so I've been told.

Hey, maybe a fifth season where she moves into a house in Beverly Hills with another girl and a sitcom star and ... no? Okay. Well I don't think Belle/Hannah would actually like that set up, she's pretty independent. I think that's why she's always resisted being with Ben (Iddo Goldberg, with Piper - left), but I imagine this being the end of this series there will be some attempt to get them back together. 

Of course the image above left here of the two in a rose petal covered bed doesn't really look so, uh, cozy. In fact, they look more "on" the bed than in it.

I get her, though, maybe because she has a very male outlook on sex. Funny that I consider hers a male outlook, it's really just someone having issues with commitment and lacking the ability to say no to other options.

This season sees Hannah continue writing and then traveling to New York to check out the set of the film based on her book. She meets some men along the way, moves into a new home, helps out a frenemy in need, we meet her sister Jackie again, there's more sex stuff, I'm sure a fetish or two along the way ... it's nothing really heavy and the sex part of the series is very light and easy going, maybe slightly too easygoing according to it's detractors.

She's so likeable and the camera adores this woman so much that she could play a comedy Eva Braun and I might be compelled to watch. Interesting, I see nothing on the horizon with her attached to it. Her IMDb page shows nothing, Wikipedia comes up empty, a Google search just has those stories the Daily Mail writes that give them excuses to use pics from the series, even pics of her body double's breasts being drawn on with a marker.

She has little Winston at home, I know (we share a birthday with Seth MacFarlane) and I'm sure her agent will be quick to say "blah blah blah momentum blah blah blah strike while the iron's hot" but I don't know if it matters to her.

I think I'll miss her if she decides to stay home and be a mom.

Clips after the jump, two of them, a series four trailer right after a recap of the last one.

WINNING! Look who else is! Plus, Bonus Video! And Exclamation Points!

This is why we love still-newlyweds Seth Green and Clare Grant. They are always on top of it.

Jameson's & cookie dough? My favorite buffet items.

Thank you, Sethie, and in return I post some great Robot Chicken clips from recent eps. New episodes each Sunday night on Adult Swim, also watchable at their video hub.

After the jump.

Think of Today's Joan Collins News as a Salute to Drag Queens Everywhere

Joan Collins is fabulous by any measure. ANY measure. And don't you forget this.

(Non-gays, you must remember the stronghold the TV show Dynasty had on the gay community in the 80s. I saw full grown men in leather with body hair and beards crying after the Moldavian Massacre. Video here, not of the guys in leather but of the Moldavian Massacre.)

So of course she was invited to the Vanity Fair Oscar party, and as one does (well, not me, I'm the chocolate cake guy) she starved herself a bit, squeezed herself into a lovely Georges Hobeika purple and lilac number and made her way to the party's red carpet, etc ...

So it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise when Joan started to feel somewhat lightheaded and asked her husband Percy Gibson to take her outside for some air. And that's where Joan's comments to the Daily Mail pick up (via the Hollywood Reporter).

(Note to readers: take anything that comes from the Daily Mail with a grain of salt, a grain the size of a Prius.)

"Next thing I knew, I was surrounded by some rather attractive firefighters who were asking me questions such as: ‘What's your name?' (as if they didn't know) and ‘How old are you?' (which I refused to answer)," wrote Collins, who is 77.

"Apparently, I had fainted in Percy's arms and he, in a panic, had asked security to call an ambulance -- which was roomier than Jackie's limo and, thanks to the sirens, much swifter in Hollywood traffic," she went on. "Not quite how I had expected to end this glamorous night!"

Great quote, huh? Can't speak for the veracity of it, but hell, veracity is such a cockblock when you're just looking for some good ol' Hollywood glamour.

And you must know that there have been lots of Joan Collins drag impersonators over the years who have taken one for beauty, too, so I see this as her little salute to them, to suffering for the red carpet, to squeezing into that sexy little number that just might do you in.

Still no word on a Dynasty reboot, thought we might hear some stirrings, what with Dallas coming back.

(BTW, old Dallas eps are playing regularly on CMT.)