Archive: April 2010 (141-150 of 677)

Apr 26 2010 12:29 AM ET

TV Land Awards: 'Glee' honored as future classic on nostalgic night

Categories: Betty White, Glee, Television

tv-land-bosom-buddiesImage Credit: Craig Barritt/WireImageThe 8th Annual TV Land Awards, hosted by Tim Allen, were filled with cast reunions, people confessing what they did when they were on The Love Boat (Billy Crystal: “I kissed Nancy Kulp, who was on The Beverly Hillbillies. It’s true”), and wonderfully absurd moments such as Charo gyrating behind a seated Brad Garrett as Blondie, recipient of the Icon award, performed “One Way or Another” live. Members of the cast of Glee were on hand to accept their Future Classic award shortly after the cast of Bosom Buddies celebrated its 30th anniversary. (Cue Jane Lynch who said, “I was just thinking that, um, if we have a 30 year anniversary thing, I’ll probably be dead. And it made me so sad. But I hope you all have fun. And that you say, you know, ‘We miss Jane.’”) But even Glee got the retro treatment when the all-star TV Land Glee Club performed a closing rendition of ”Don’t Stop Believin’” led by David Hasselhoff and Marilu Henner. (The back-up “singers” included Todd Bridges, Joyce DeWitt, Jamie Farr, Marla Gibbs, Howard Hesseman, Shirley Jones, Richard Karn, Richard Moll, Marion Ross, Jimmie Walker, Marcia Wallace and Fred Willard.) As amazing as that sounds — watch it here — it’s the sound bites that we will remember. Here, some of the evening’s best.

30th Anniversary: Bosom Buddies (presented by Jay Leno)

Tom Hanks: “For 39 measly episodes, all we did was laugh. And Tom Selleck and Magnum, P.I. still suck compared to Bosom Buddies. ABC at 8!”

Holland Taylor: “You know, when we were actually on, we were nowhere. No one paid the slightest attention. And I think Tom and Peter had one television interview in some state, it wasn’t even national, and they had one radio interview in which Tom mentioned that I was 38. I was just so grateful when he got back to rehearsal, I told him how glad I was that he mentioned that because I felt everyone should know. In any case, I think we had a wonderful time partly because we were nowhere and nobody, and nobody was paying any attention. We weren’t in contention, we weren’t in competition. We were just doing our show. And we didn’t give a rat’s ass about anything else, and how fun was that? And we’ve all kept up. And Tom Hanks is adorable in that for all of the pressures of his life, ‘cause he is a mogul, he’ll write the occasional letter to you for no damn reason. So, he got it from me.” READ FULL STORY »

Apr 26 2010 12:01 AM ET

'Idolatry': Siobhan and 'Big Mike' stay polarizing, while Crystal and Lee increase their advantage

Idolatry-Tim-UrbanImage Credit: Michael Becker/PictureGroup(3)Tim Urban is gone. Michael Lynche and Siobhan Magnus are driving everyone crazy. Meanwhile, Crystal Bowersox (aka Gorgeousox) and Lee DeWyze are the only contestants anyone can say anything nice about. This is American Idol. Or season 9 of American Idol, anyhow. Press play below as my cohost Jessica Shaw and I take it all the way back (with an assist from The Doctor) and review the ramifications of “Inspirational Songs Week.” READ FULL STORY »

Apr 25 2010 11:00 PM ET

'Celebrity Apprentice': Bret Michaels reminds us why he's a reality TV superstar

It was a bittersweet episode of Celebrity Apprentice Sunday evening knowing that Bret Michaels is fighting for his life in critical condition after a brain hemorrhage struck down the rocker on Thursday. But the Poison frontman was in full effect in the latest episode, showing us all the reasons he’s one of the most charismatic reality TV stars around. My full recap will be up tomorrow morning, but if you have already watched the episode and can’t wait to weigh in, then read on after the jump for how Bret stole the show, and how Donald Trump shocked everyone in the Boardroom. [SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday's episode of Celebrity Apprentice.] READ FULL STORY »

Apr 25 2010 12:43 PM ET

'Doctor Who' recap: Forget, protest, or save the whale?

Categories: Doctor Who, Sci-Fi

Doctor-WhoImage Credit: BBCEpisode two of Doctor Who‘s new season found our titular hero getting it wrong, and his new companion Amy Pond daringly saving the day — on her first outer-space adventure, no less! However you feel about that turn of events, you’ve got to appreciate the daring imagination of writer (and now executive producer) Steven Moffat, who’s been responsible for some of the show’s very best episodes (“Blink,” “Silence in the Library,” “Forest of the Dead”).

In “The Beast Below,” the Doctor and Amy traveled to 29th-century Britain (detached from a decimated Earth and floating through space in search of a new home planet). There, the Doctor discovered “The impossible truth in a glass of water”: The massive, floating country/spaceship had no engine, and therefore no vibrations. The intriguing twist of this episode, though, was that the force of evil didn’t turn out to be the “beast below,” which sustained itself on a diet of “protesters and citizens of limited value,” but instead, the human beings who had enslaved and tortured said creature into serving as an intergalactic freighter. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 25 2010 10:18 AM ET

'Back-up Plan': Five ways it made Alex O'Loughlin look good

The-Back-Up-Plan-Alex-OloughlinImage Credit: Peter Iovino/CBS FilmsIs Alex O’Loughlin a movie star? That’s the question I wanted to answer when I went to see The Back-up Plan this weekend. For all my documented appreciation of his hotness, I was surprisingly skeptical. I feel like for a TV actor to make it on the big screen, his lure should be so powerful that you have to watch whatever series he appears on — and even though I’d been bitten by Moonlight, I never actually made it to Three Rivers. Would his charisma carry to the back of the theater?

Perhaps you can guess the answer is yes from the headline. Before I begin listing the ways The Back-up Plan did him right, I should probably reveal a few things in the sake of full disclosure. I was with Michael Slezak, who agreed to see this movie with me the moment the shot of O’Loughlin riding a tractor shirtless was released. Also, we had to sit in the second row because we took the time to stop for a drink beforehand. We were only a little tipsy. Like, just enough for me to say, “Release the O’Loughlin!” when we passed Clash of the Titans on our way to Theater 10, and for him to suggest that be my headline. Now, on we go… READ FULL STORY »

Apr 24 2010 04:40 PM ET

'American Idol': Andrew Garcia visits 'Idolatry,' talks tough judges, 'having fun,' and 'Straight Up'

Categories: American Idol, Idolatry

Andrew-Garcia-IdolLooking back at his season 9 run on American Idol, Andrew Garcia says he has no regrets. None whatsoever. In fact, when the co-eighth-place finisher visited the Idolatry studios last week, he told me that if someone gave him the chance to take back one of his eight live performances during the voting portion of the competition, he wouldn’t do it. And because I’m a cantankerous Idoloonie, I told him I’d take back “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” on his behalf. READ FULL STORY »

Apr 24 2010 09:05 AM ET

This Week on Stage: Green Day's 'American Idiot' thrashes onto Broadway

american-idiotImage Credit: Kevin BerneGreen Day’s punk-rock opera American Idiot power-chorded its way onto Broadway this week, but the critical reception was all over the map. EW’s Leah Greenblatt gave the show a solid B. Her review fell somewhere between the New York Times‘ rave and New York Magazine‘s pan, concluding that “Purists on either side of the punk/Broadway divide will likely feel under-served by the mix, but for fans of both (and the ecstatic crowd seemed full of them), the evening offers a chaotic, cathartic experience.” Green Day purists might be happier if the band decides to make frequent surprise appearances on stage at the St. James Theatre, as they did Thursday night to perform a surprise set of “American Idiot” and “Basket Case.”

EW’s Melissa Rose Bernardo had a somewhat similar ambivalence about the musical revue Sondheim on Sondheim. Despite some stellar moments from 82-year-old theater grande dame Barbara Cook and former Ugly Betty star Vanessa Williams, she writes, “not all of the actors can handle any Sondheim song that’s thrown their way.”

Meanwhile, I had nothing but praise for the revival of the 1983 musical La Cage aux Folles featuring a surprisingly strong-voiced Kelsey Grammer and a star-making turn by British actor Douglas Hodge as the very fey, cross-dressing Albin (the role Nathan Lane played in The Birdcage). As I wrote in my A- review, “By the end of this well-paced production, it’s hard not to concur with the refrain of Albin’s second-act number: The best of times is now.”

Speaking of Frasier stars, Leslie Jordan opened a one-man show Off Broadway, My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, which EW’s Tanner Stransky called “jaunty, refreshing.” Over at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Harry Potter star Alan Rickman has directed a production of August Strindberg’s bleak drama Creditors and managed to “find heaps of comedy in a dreadfully unhappy scenario,” as Melissa Rose Bernardo writes.

If you’re looking for some live theater, check out the EW.com Stage hub for up-to-date news and reviews; or consult this handy guide, which includes links to all of our stage reviews of current shows. (Note: The reviews are typically of performances with the show’s original cast.)

BROADWAY

The Addams Family — Musical; opens 4/8/2010; EW grade: B

American Idiot – Musical; opened 4/20/2010; EW grade: B

A Behanding in Spokane — Comedy starring Christopher Walken; opened 3/4/10; EW grade: B+

Billy Elliot — Musical; opened 11/13/08; EW grade: B+

La Cage aux Folles — Musical Revival starring Kelsey Grammer; opened 4/18/10; EW grade: A- READ FULL STORY »

Apr 24 2010 12:47 AM ET

'American Idol': Katie Stevens visits 'Idolatry,' dishes pitch problems, Adam Lambert comparisons, and...Dancersox?

Idolatry_Katie-StevensAmerican Idol season 9 contestant Katie Stevens would like you to spend the day with her. Or, to be more exact, she wishes at least one Idol episode per year would focus on the behind-the-scenes insanity the show’s finalists experience on a week-to-week basis; otherwise, viewers end up judging contestants’ personalities on seconds-long interview snippets, she adds. The 17-year-old Connecticut native stopped by the Idolatry studios to discuss why she didn’t flinch at choosing songs previously covered on the Idol stage by Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, READ FULL STORY »

Apr 23 2010 07:24 PM ET

Note to Adrian Grenier and Hayden Panettiere: a cautionary tale for celebrity hair

Felicity-hair-cut-KeriIf everyone was busy breaking up the last few weeks, this week, it seems celebrities have turned to a less traumatic pastime: Everyone’s been showing off their newly-chopped hair. And by “everyone,” I mean Entourage‘s Adrian Grenier and Heroes‘ Hayden Panettiere. A wise man once said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. So I would urge those who are also considering a drastic new ‘do to remember the original cautionary tale of a star who lost her locks and paid a price for it. One word: Felicity.

Apr 23 2010 06:25 PM ET

Ridley Scott says 'Alien' prequel to star a woman: Who would you cast?

Categories: Genres, Movie Casting, Movies

Aliens-Sigourney-WeaverImage Credit: Everett CollectionMTV has up an interview with Ridley Scott that reveals some tasty nuggets about the director’s planned prequel to his classic 1979 thriller Alien. He’s still nailing down the screenplay, but the story is set 30 years before the original, and will attempt to explain what the “space jockey” aliens were from the first movie. Alien star Sigourney Weaver won’t be involved as yet — her character wasn’t even born when the new story takes place — but Scott does drop the tantalizing hint that the prequel, at least at this early point, will star a woman.

I hope this holds true as the project moves towards production. I frankly couldn’t picture an Alien movie that starred a man. Part of Alien‘s and its equally-excellent sequel Aliens’ undeniable appeal was the experience of having such superior thrillers so casually headlined by a woman. It’s true not many actresses can summon Sigourney Weaver’s authority and all-around badass-ness, but I really think any future Alien endeavors would lose something for me if they didn’t star a woman. Am I wrong on this? Being too knee-jerk? And…am I setting the bar too high for Scott? Because I’ll be honest: I’m having a hard time coming up with a twentysomething actress working today who might have the chops for it. Can you think of one?

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