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Archive: September 2010 (341-350 of 588)

Sep 14 2010 06:25 PM ET

Does Conan's new print ad mark the peak of owls?

Categories: Animals, Conan O'Brien, Late Night, Television, Things That Are Awesome!

Here’s the new print promo for Conan O’Brien’s upcoming TBS series, Conan! Conan is wild and nocturnal, like a wise old owl.

Owls are having a moment, you guys. Owls are EVERYWHERE. There’s a movie coming out Sept. 24 from the makers of Happy Feet called Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. It looks like The Lord of the Rings but with owls. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t there been a recent and sort of annoying resurgence of owls-as-ironic-kitsch-symbols-for-”ironic”-hipsters trend? That’s a thing, right? Owls are EVERYWHERE. Owls! They sponsor my favorite craft fair! My sister just bought an owl necklace and it wasn’t some thrift-store find donated by my second or third grade owl-obsessed oddball teachers!

I just hope this is not the peak of owls. I’ve had a soft spot for the species ever since the aforementioned teachers used to hide them all over the classroom. I’m convinced that these women and their owls were chiefly responsible for my twisted compulsion to mine the dark pits of reality television for hidden gems.

Ever had an Owl Person in your life? Have you had it with owls, or do they still have a ways to soar? I can’t believe I just typed that either.

Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett

Sep 14 2010 06:00 PM ET

'Oprah' premiere: Australia poised to spend $2.8 million for trip. Didgeridoo or didgeridon't?

by Keith Staskiewicz

Categories: Oprah Winfrey

Image Credit: George Burns/Harpo StudiosHelloooooo, Austraaaliaaaaaaaa! Oprah Winfrey announced on Monday that she and her entire audience would be making a trip Down Under, to the land where toilets flush backwards and Burger Kings are Hungry Jack’s. Now, this all sounds pretty ace, but Oprah’s antipodean adventure carries with it a pretty hefty price tag. According to Reuters, Australia’s tourism minister estimates that bringing The Oprah Winfrey Show to his country will cost the government more than $3 million. That’s $2.8 million in U.S. dollars.

Now, it’s likely that the temporary relocation will have the intended effect of helping to boost tourism, but we couldn’t help wondering what else Australians might have purchased with that kind of money. And seeing as most of what we at PopWatch know about the continent comes from Men at Work songs and Outback Steakhouse commercials, forgive us if our suggestions are more than a tad, er, stereotypical. For the cost of one Oprah-tastic week, Aussies could have gotten: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 05:55 PM ET

Billy Crudup to star in Broadway's 'Arcadia' (again) this spring: An EW exclusive

by Tanner Stransky

Categories: An EW Exclusive!, Stage/Theater

Image Credit: Sylvain Gaboury/PR PhotosActor Billy Crudup — who’s known for roles in Almost Famous and Big Fish, among several other movies — will return to the Broadway play that brought him to prominence back in 1995, Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, his rep tells EW’s Dave Karger. The drama, which is split between modern times and 1809, concerns the relationship between past and present, order and disorder. Crudup won’t be reprising his role as Septimus Hodge, a 19th-century tutor. Instead, he’ll play Bernard Nightingale, an academic at a modern university. (Stage vet and former Alias star Victor Garber originated the role on Broadway.) Crudup’s rep tells EW that while working on Arcadia, which is expected to launch on Broadway this February, he’ll also shoot the HBO movie Too Big to Fail (based on the buzzy Wall Street title by Andrew Ross Sorkin), portraying Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner opposite William Hurt as former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Back in 1995, EW’s Jess Cagle reviewed Arcadia, saying, “Tom Stoppard’s drama breezes between the early 19th and late 20th centuries as the latter-day inhabitants of an English country house search for clues about the home’s former occupants. Beautiful idea, somewhat marred by Stoppard’s show-offy intellectualism.” He gave the production a B.

Are you excited for Crudup’s return to Broadway, PopWatchers? —Additional reporting by Dave Karger

Sep 14 2010 05:45 PM ET

'Dexter': New season 5 photos featuring Julia Stiles. Excited yet?

by Sandra Gonzalez

Categories: Dexter, Television

Image Credit: ShowtimeIt’s less than two weeks before the return of Dexter. I’m not sure whether I’m terribly excited or completely terrified, because it won’t be easy for Showtime’s bloody good drama to top its fourth season. But after seeing the first photos of Julia Stiles as [SPOILER ALERT] a “psychologically and physically damaged” woman named Lumen, I’m going to go with excited. [Note: In addition to the new-to-me pic to your left, NY Post has two others.]

And because I minored in overanalyzation in college, I’m filled with questions, thanks to these new sneak peeks (which are presumably from the third or fourth episode, when her character is rumored to first appear). Things to note in this photo: Why are her hands cut up? Where is she fleeing to and what’s she running from? And, most importantly, what secret/evil/sociopathic thoughts are hiding behind her too-innocent facial expression?

My wheels are turning, PopWatchers. For now, theorize with me. Do you think Stiles’ character will be good, bad, or somewhere in between?

New season of Dexter starts Sept. 26.

On Twitter (@EWSandraG)

Sep 14 2010 05:16 PM ET

'Castle' and 'Brothers & Sisters' season premiere sneak peeks: Watch, gasp, groan

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Television

Today, Hulu is offering first looks at the season premieres of ABC’s Castle and Brothers & Sisters. Watch the first eight minutes of Castle below, followed by two minutes of B&S. The former appears to get off to a fine start on Sept. 20, as it begins with Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic) firing bullets at one another. You expect it to be a dream, but instead, we flash back to three days earlier when she arrested him for murder. (Clearly, there’s been some kind of a mistake. We’ve seen Castle handle a gun before. It’s more comical than deadly.) Brothers & Sisters, on the other hand, looks like it’s in desperate need of a laugh. It’s been a year since the car accident, Sarah and Nora have decided to sell Narrow Lake for the money, and everyone is too miserable to have any clever banter. (The clip makes it sound like Kevin and Scotty might not have a child. What?) Here’s hoping the Walkers snap out of their funk early on Sept. 26, because, while we enjoy the wining on this show, the whining brings us down.

P.S. What do you think of Sarah’s new hairstyle? It’ll have to grow on me. But I’m already a fan of Kevin’s facial hair. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 04:41 PM ET

Victor and Digna Carpio: The new Jon and Kate Gosselin? Let's hope not.

by Breia Brissey

Categories: Celebrity Babies, Fall TV, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Kate Gosselin, Kids' Corner, Reality TV, Shenanigans!, This Could Be Interesting..., Those Crazy Kids!

Tonight, TLC premieres its new show Sextuplets Take New York, an eight-part series that follows the lives of Victor and Digna Carpio, their 9-year-old son, and 22-month-old sextuplets (four boys and two girls). Sound vaguely familiar? The new show, of course, comes from the same network that brought us Jon & Kate Plus 8.

But how similar will the show actually be to the much-discussed, tabloid-attracting reality series that was Jon & Kate? I loved watching TLC’s not-so-dearly departed show, and DVR’d each episode to get my weekly dose of those adorable little Gosselin children. But eventually, Jon and Kate’s marriage problems took center stage, and I just couldn’t bear to watch what led to Gosselingate 2009. So, naturally, I worried that Sextuplets would follow in Jon & Kate‘s footsteps, since it seemed to already share many similarities with its TLC predecessor: sextuplets, lots of chaos, cameras, family outings, an older sibling, etc.

But according to some early reviews, I’m way off base. The New York Daily News called the Carpios the anti-Gosselins. And The Hollywood Reporter said those only interested in a lighthearted show should “look elsewhere.” Could it be this show’s focus will actually be on parenting? Take a look at this promo for tonight’s premiere after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 04:26 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: Weinstein Co. gets with 'Dirty Girl'

by Kate Ward

Categories: Casting, Deals, Excess Hollywood, Movies, Television

In a press release, the Weinstein Co. announced they have picked up Dirty Girl. The film — which stars William H. Macy, Milla Jovovich, Tim McGraw, and newcomer Juno Temple — follows a high school outcast (Temple), who embarks on a road trip with an innocent classmate after her antics send her straight into a remedial class.
In more William H. Macy news (File under: Sentence I never thought I’d type, but happy I can): The actor will star in the adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s Freaky Deaky. [Deadline]
Blue Mountain State is about to get slightly more (colon) complicated: Denise Richards will star in season 2 of the Spike TV’s series as the ex-wife of the Goats’ head coach (played by Ed Mariano). [The Wrap]
Warner Bros. has picked up a screenplay from Walon Green (The Wild Bunch) called Cicero Lipschitz, which centers on Al Capone’s rise in infamy. [Variety]

Sep 14 2010 04:05 PM ET

'Big Bang Theory': How should they write in Kaley Cuoco's broken leg?

by Mandi Bierly

Categories: Television, The Big Bang Theory

Image Credit: Robert Voets/CBSAs Michael Ausiello reported, Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny on CBS’ The Big Bang Theory, broke her leg last weekend in a horseback-riding mishap. She’s been written out of one episode, and the cast and crew are now on a pre-planned week-long hiatus, which, no doubt, is suddenly being used to determine how to incorporate her cast — or her prolonged absence — into the show.

Let’s assume we all want Penny back as soon as Kaley has recovered enough to hobble onto a set, and go from there. From photos I’m seeing on CBS’s press site, Penny and Sheldon (Emmy winner Jim Parsons) continue their unlikely bonding — one of the best parts of the show — in season 4′s first episodes. In the Sept. 23 season premiere, “The Robotic Manipulation,” Penny finds herself along for the ride when Sheldon goes on the first date of his life (with guest star Mayim Bialik). In the Sept. 30 episode, “The Cruciferous Vegetable Amplification,” Sheldon realizes he won’t live long enough to download his consciousness into a robot body and attempts to extend his lifespan — which apparently involves working out with Penny (pictured). My thought: The writers should use the injury to explore that friendship more by having Penny become a captive, immobile audience (unlike when she dislocated her shoulder in the shower and Sheldon cared for her). READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 03:59 PM ET

'Dating in the Dark' photo recap: The season 2 finale!

by Annie Barrett

Categories: Dating in the Dark, Reality TV, Ridiculata, TV Recap

It’s late! Night is on its way and by now I am very, very afraid of the dark. So let’s get right to it.

Kahleel wins the summer’s last Best Euphemism for Unemployed award! READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2010 03:40 PM ET

'Halo: Reach': Snap Judgment

by Darren Franich

Categories: Snap Judgment, Videogames

Image Credit: Microsoft“Space troopers wearing space armor carrying big space guns” was a cliche long before humanity even got to space. But video games can pump new life into even the soggiest genres, and, for the last decade, the Halo games have turned Starship Troopers-style outer-space militarism into a relentlessly enjoyable shoot-’em-up experience. The franchise has undoubtedly been swooped by its imitators — Gears of War‘s visuals are more gorgeously bleak, Mass Effect‘s storytelling is infinitely more complex, and my serious gamer friends seem to have moved on to Call of Duty for their all-night Live sessions — but there’s no denying Halo‘s pure, iconic power. Halo: Reach, released at midnight last night to presumably-ridonk sales, is the last game in the series to be produced by original developer Bungie. I played it for a few hours before dawn, and I have an important news bulletin: Killing aliens is still fun. READ FULL STORY »