Archive: December 2009 (321-330 of 461)

Dec 8 2009 04:00 PM ET

What's your favorite TV show of the year?

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Categories: Lists-o-rama!, Television

We’ve been busy little elves compiling lists of our favorite (and least favorite) television shows of 2009. Of course we’re not going to give you any spoilers about what tops our list just yet (sorry!), but we’re oh so curious about which series you couldn’t get enough of this year. So tell us, faithful PopWatchers, in the comments below: Did True Blood sink its teeth into you? Are you crazy for Mad Men? Or Did Glee have you singing? Let us know your picks — and keep in mind this is a no-judging zone — and we’ll place you on our nice list!

Photo Credit: Trinette Reed/Corbis

Dec 8 2009 03:32 PM ET

Quentin Tarantino: Black-belt Japanese dog-phone-speaker salesman extraordinaire

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Categories: 100% Pure Cheese, Have You Seen This?, Horrifying But Hypnotic, Movies, Ninjas, Quentin Tarantino

All has been quiet on the Quentin Tarantino front since Inglourious Basterds hit theaters in August. But you knew that the silence wouldn’t last. Recently, the director turned up in a totally bizarre Japanese commercial for a telephone speaker that’s shaped like a dog.

You read that right. A telephone speaker in the shape of a dog.

While most Hollywood celebrities have no problem shilling for foreign products abroad in exchange for giant sacks of cash (as long as it’s kept hush-hush, of course), you have to at least respect Tarantino’s idiosyncratic endorsement. No Michelob or Subaru for him! After all, if you’re going to feather your retirement nest with stacks of yen, why not do it for a product that no one in America wants…or, for that matter, can even really wrap their heads around? (Again, it’s a phone speaker…shaped like a dog.)

There’s something about the surreal editing of this utterly wackadoo spot (and Tarantino’s talking dog co-star) that makes this thing kind of a nice addition to the QT oeuvre. And frankly, as long as the check cleared, I’m less concerned about Tarantino putting on a silk kimono, speaking choppy Japanese, and busting out some crazy-eyed kung fu moves than I am about why the Japanese are buying phone speakers that look like dogs.

Really, I could go on about this. But maybe it’s best to just check out the video below and tell us what you think. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2009 03:20 PM ET

'General Hospital' sneak peek: Chad Brannon's guest spot

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Categories: Exclusive First Look, Television

It’s always nice to see old flames together, like in this shot from Chad Brannon’s Dec. 22 return to General Hospital sitting next to his former onscreen love, Natalia Livingston (Emily/Rebecca). In his one-off appearance, Brannon’s not playing Zander, Emily’s great love before Nicholas and also Elizabeth’s baby’s daddy, but rather an airplane passenger who has a conversation with Rebecca as she leaves Port Charles

This trip down memory lane comes on the heels of Jonathan Jackson’s October return to the role he originated, Lucky Spencer.

Does seeing the old lovebirds together make anyone nostalgic for a simpler time on GH? Or does it just make you smile?

More soaps:
Breaking: CBS cancels As the World Turns

Dec 8 2009 03:02 PM ET

'Rex Is Not Your Lawyer': Psyched for the David Tennant-Jerry O'Connell pilot?

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Categories: Casting, Pilot Season, Television

When news broke that Jerry O’Connell had replaced Heroes‘ Sendhil Ramamurthy opposite Doctor Who‘s David Tennant in the NBC pilot Rex Is Not Your Lawyer on the eve of production (Ramamurthy is said to have had a scheduling conflict), I was concerned. Like everyone who loves the fact that O’Connell is currently enrolled at L.A.’s Southwestern Law School, I was worried it meant that he was dropping out. Rest easy. A rep for O’Connell (pictured left) tells EW that he intends to juggle both the show, set at a law firm, and law school, if the pilot gets picked up. Explaining why he took the part, O’Connell sent the following statement: “Why not? I’ve already done all this great research for the role, and hopefully I’ll have the grades to prove it. Ask me in two weeks when I get my finals back.”

Ballsy move, my friend. Do you think O’Connell will actually need to juggle? According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show revolves around Rex Alexander (Tennant, pictured right), “a top Chicago litigator who begins suffering panic attacks and takes up coaching clients to represent themselves in court.” Sounds a little Boston Legal-y. Interested. Continue. “O’Connell will play an ambitious but good-natured lawyer who was in Rex’s shadow until Rex’s career switch and whose friendship with Rex becomes complicated when he falls in love with his pal’s fiancée (Abigail Spencer).” As someone who got a little too excited to see O’Connell as the office friend in Obsessed, I have to admit that I’m all about having a side order of Jerry O. And I feel like he’d actually be believable as a guy who is good-humored, but bad enough to fall for his friend’s girl. The show also costars Jane Curtin and Jeffrey Tambor. I say prepare to juggle. You?

Photo credit: O’Connell: Dennis Van Tine/Retna Ltd; Tennant: Steve Ross/Capital Pictures/Retna Ltd

Dec 8 2009 02:39 PM ET

Clip du jour: Autotune the year

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Categories: Clip du Jour, Ridiculata

This autotuned round-up of the year in pop culture is awesome.

“It’s not a persona.” (It’s a persona.)

The only thing missing, PopWatchers? Someone talking about autotune, methinks.

Dec 8 2009 02:21 PM ET

'Mystery Science Theater 3000' now on Hulu

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Categories: Tech, Things That Are Awesome!

Five episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 are now on Hulu! Honk if you love Eegah, friends. Weirdly, I tweeted about these MST3K glasses just yesterday, so my nerd senses are seriously tingling. So far, “The Starfighters,” “Secret Agent Super Dragon,” “Monster A-Go-Go,” “The Rebel Set,” and “The Giant Gila Monster” (from seasons 4, 5, and 6) are up, but alas, my two faves have not yet made the cut: “Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues” and “Eegah,” lovingly quoted above. What about you, PopWatchers? What’s your favorite Mystery Science Theater 3000? And do you sit through whole movies on Hulu, or usually just episodes of TV shows? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2009 02:00 PM ET

Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown: 'Celebrity Rehab' vs. 'Surreal Life'

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Categories: Guilty Pleasures Reality TV Showdown, Reality TV, Television

PopWatch is on a quest to determine the Greatest Guilty Pleasure Reality TV Show of All Time. We have 32 seeded contestants in four categories (see full bracket here), and we’re finishing the quarterfinals in the Celeb-Reality category. After you vote, please leave comments about why you love the show you chose.

Celebrity Rehab Surreal Life

Quarterfinals, Celeb-Reality: Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew vs. The Surreal Life

Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew
Never before has the word “celebrity” been used so loosely in a TV show title, but that little fact does nothing to hinder the addictive properties of Celebrity Rehab. The can’t-look-away TV show is undeniably at its best when the pseudo-celebs are at their worst, lashing out and giving emotional confessions of past trauma. The show’s third season, which starts in January, promises to be even more dysfunctional when Lisa D’Amato (America’s Next Top Model) and Mackenzie Phillips take part. Seriously, is there anything more that Phillips can say that will shock us? I’m willing to bet on yes. – Sandra Gonzalez

The Surreal Life
Whenever a show’s first season features Corey Feldman, you know there’s going to be trouble. When it debuted on The WB in 2003, the Real World-esque approach was slightly appealing. But when it moved to VH1 in its third season, it became clear that watching people live in a house was a hundred times more awesome when it featured Uncle Joey and Flavor Flav. Subsequent seasons were so good that they spurred four spin-offs, including Flavor of Love and My Fair Brady. Friends couldn’t even make Joey work. Just saying… — Sandra Gonzalez

Photo Credit: Celebrity Rehab: Beatrice Neumann/VH1; Surreal Life: Mark Mainz

Dec 8 2009 12:50 PM ET

'Glee' preview clip from 'Sectionals,' which features a party...line

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Categories: Glee, Television

We’re only a day away: Tomorrow night, Fox will finally air “Sectionals,” the long-awaited Glee episode in which New Directions will compete against other area show choirs. Let’s hope it’s a dandy because it’s the last one we’re getting until April. Based on the clip below — SPOILER ALERT — it appears that the gang is desperate to prevent Rachel from finding out the truth about Quinn’s baby, because then “Trout Mouth” will tell Finn, he’ll flip out, and New Directions will be, like, totally screwed at Sectionals. (Also in this clip: One of Brittany’s finest one-liners.)

And in case you haven’t seen them yet, check out our EW.com vids, especially the interview with Jane Lynch, who talks about the description of Sue Sylvester in the first script that sold her on this role:  “Sue Sylvester may or may not have posed for Penthouse, and is on horse estrogen.” If Sue’s on horse estrogen, what’s Brittany on? (Cat tranquilizers?)

Dec 8 2009 11:59 AM ET

'According to Greta': Are we ready for an indie/serious/edgy Hilary Duff?

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Categories: Advance Advancement, Gossip Girl, Movies

Hilary Duff continues her quest to grow up from Lizzie McGuire to big-girl actress, following her sexy “Reach Out” video last year (still love that “Personal Jesus” sample) and her threesome-gone-awry on Gossip Girl this fall. Now she’s completing the “take me seriously” trifecta with a leading role in the oh-so-indie According to Greta (releasing Friday), about a 17-year-old girl who arrives at her grandparents’ place on the Jersey Shore for the summer and promptly announces to them that she’s planning to kill herself by the time she turns 18. Check out the trailer (which we debuted last month) after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 8 2009 11:40 AM ET

'Brooklyn's Finest' trailer: Arresting?

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Categories: Movie Trailers

Wait for the least surprising teaser line ever: “From the director of Training Day.” You don’t say!

On one hand, Brooklyn’s Finest has a terrific cast and taps into our apparently insatiable lust for crime dramas. On the other hand, this got awfully close to a rehash of every police drama from the last 25 years. Is there a cop cliche that didn’t make it into this trailer?

Speaking of rehashes, Ethan Hawke appears to be playing Ethan Embry’s character from Brotherhood: tattoos, corruption, grumpy smoking, all the right reasons for all the wrong behavior, bad cop, etc. Man, I loved that show.

Give me your gun and your badge, PopWatchers! Are you among Brooklyn’s Finest?

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