At first glance, it’s easy to be baffled by Gwyneth Paltrow‘s new lifestyle site, GOOP. For starters, there’s that name. Then comes the tagline: "Nourish the inner aspect." Finally, there’s the book club she started with "literary-minded girlfriends" (Madonna! Christy Turlington!), introduced with this moody entry: "I feel a bit swallowed up in January, the days are so short, the sky is so close and gray…" Is this an acclaimed actress’ bid at an Oprah-style empire or a My So-Called Life script?
It’s clearly the former, and it falls flattest when it mimics O’s efforts at soul-tending. You don’t see Rachael Ray and Martha Stewart offering spiritual tips with their risotto recipes and kitchenware recommendations, mainly because wine decanters do not, in fact, nourish a thing. But dig deeper amid the pastel graphics (sea green butterflies, sky blue knives and forks, aww) and you’ll find some startlingly practical info. Let’s face it, Paltrow has mastered some areas of life (exercising, eating, dressing) far better than the rest of us shlubs. The turkey meatball recipe sounds scrumptious, her detox plan seems sensible, and the post-holiday butt-workout video (streamed on the site and downloadable) is quite handy.
Without the celeb factor, GOOP would feel like a self-indulgent, if also helpful, blog. But Paltrow is famous, and given how much we clamor to be like Hollywood’s elite — from the contents of our makeup bags to the spots where we vacation — isn’t she just giving us what we want?
I don’t know about you, but I’m worried about the upcoming American version of Absolutely Fabulous. With good reason, really: Anybody who’s managed to sit through more than five minutes of NBC’s atrocious adaptation of the not-at-all atrocious Australian sitcom 
So the TV gossip gods are all aflutter this morning over the news that Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan will be leaving her role as neighborhood floozy Edie Britt in April. (Why did I just single her out as the "neighborhood floozy"? They’re all floozies!) Naturally, the announcement is already raising some questions–head over to 
Finally, FINALLY, this "
"Now tell me, which one of these dogs would you want to have as your wide receiver on your football team?" –Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard) in Best In Show 
The episode was called "This Place Is Death." And if you’ve seen it, you know why. It was a riveting hour, filled with explicit and oblique references to heaven and hell, marriage and divorce, and, of course, magical genies. Say wha?!?! I’ll explain everything in my TV Watch recap, posting here in a few short hours. But to get you talking, here’s my take on tonight’s big death (Spoiler Alert!):
