Archive: December 2010 (191-200 of 304)

Dec 9 2010 04:50 PM ET

Mandy Patinkin cast in Claire Danes' Showtime pilot. Please let him not have daddy issues.

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Filed under: TV and tagged: ,

Mandy-PatinkinImage Credit: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.comMandy Patinkin might be heading back to a regularly scheduled TV gig: Showtime confirms that Patinkin has been cast in the pilot for Homeland, starring Claire Danes. The show centers on an American soldier who returns to the United States after several years as a prisoner of war in Iraq. Danes plays a CIA officer convinced that the soldier may actually be connected to Al-Qaeda, and Patinkin will play Saul, Danes’ boss and mentor.

Here is my one simple request: Please, Homeland, do not have Saul be an emotionally distant genius with a tragic past. Look, I love me some Mandy Patinkin. Chicago Hope holds a true and special place in my heart, I’ve watched Dead Like Me, oh, six times? And I even watched him on Criminal Minds. And in all of these roles… he’s sporting some serious guilt about fatherhood. Heck, even Inigo Montoya had daddy issues. So for the love of all that is Patinkin and holy, let’s find a new set of hang-ups for whoever this character turns out to be.

That said, good gravy, I hope this pilot gets picked up — Patinkin and Danes alone would sell me on it, but a POW-turned-sleeper-cell story from 24 producers? Bring it!

I know there are some Evita fanatics in the PopWatch nation. Make yourselves heard! Are you glad to see Patinkin heading back to TV?

Read more:
Mandy Patinkin to appear on ‘Three Rivers’: We want more!
Why is Mandy Patinkin quitting ‘Criminal Minds’?

Dec 9 2010 04:34 PM ET

'Top Chef All-Stars': Hidden Truffles of Week 2!

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Filed under: Food and Drink, Reality TV, TV and tagged: , , , , ,

You didn’t think I’d suppress my hidden gem-hunting nature for four whole months, right? Many thanks to the few, the proud, the Top Chef recap-readers who nominated Hidden Truffles this week! After the jump, Tom sprouts pigtails, Happy Dale gets frisky with a tube of Ritz Crackers, Casey wakes up with someone’s patterned-panted butt in her face, and more! I’m like a pig in dirt, now more than ever. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 04:21 PM ET

Excess Hollywood: Russell Brand to 'RentaGhost'

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Filed under: Movies, News, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,
  • Russell Brand is set to star in RentaGhost, a comedy based on the British series about a temp agency that rents out the dead to the living. Dibs on Paul Newman and Cary Grant. [Variety]
  • Larry Hagman will appear as Lynette’s mother’s love interest in an upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives. So when will Patrick Duffy show up to tell us that season 2 was just a dream? [TV Guide]
  • Ashley Williams and Gerald McRaney will star in Bird Dog, about a father-daughter cop team. Eliza Dushku was previously cast in the pilot before bowing out. [Deadline]
Dec 9 2010 02:28 PM ET

Comedy Central logo threatens all mankind

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Filed under: News, Television, To Care or Not to Care, TV and tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Check it out, check it out: Comedy Central has a new logo. Goodbye globe-with-three-skyscrapers-dwarfed-by-huge-hilarious-words. Hello, simple hieroglyph that you’re sure you’ve seen before somewhere on your keyboard. Alas, it’s not there. It only seems like it should be, a distant cousin to @ and ©. But there’s much much more here, hiding behind their Christopher Nolan-inspired elegance. Clearly, Comedy Central intended to combine the logos of Carolco and Chanel, in an effort to trigger our subliminal craving for sweet-smelling killing machines from the future. Take a look at the new Comedy Central, if you dare!!!! READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 02:07 PM ET

Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb discuss their EW feature on-air... and then grope me!

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Filed under: Reality TV, Television, TV and tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This week’s EW features a behind-the-scenes story on the gloriously goofy fourth hour of the Today Show featuring Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. (The fourth hour is must-watch television for those of you who enjoy a laugh and a nice bottle of pinot grigio.) As I say in the story — yes, I’m both quoting myself and blogging about myself — if the first few hours of Today are programmed for your parents, then the fourth hour is for your wild aunt who gets drunk at weddings and makes out with the best man. And frankly, that’s the kind of gal I wanna hang out with. I had the pleasure of returning to the show to visit Kathie Lee and Hoda this morning — but they were not so thrilled to see they didn’t make the cover. On the plus side, however, I did get to first base with Kathie Lee.

Watch below (and, despite my incessant giggling, I promise I was not drunk)… READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 01:05 PM ET

Paul Rudd's 'SNL' promos: Santa!

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Filed under: Television, TV and tagged: ,

Paul Rudd is hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend, and if these promos with Andy Samberg are any indication, we’re in for a treat. (Also, attention fellas: Wear more sweaters with hearts on them. So cute!) Seriously, though, I’m am all about these promos: READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 12:37 PM ET

Which songs make you think of your favorite TV show?

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Filed under: Music, Television, TV and tagged: , , , ,

supernaturalI can’t say that the music on Dexter has ever particularly stood out to me. The musical scores do a great job of setting the tone for scenes, and I always expect to hear a Latin dance-friendly tune to be playing when the PD has a bust to make at a Miami-area club. But the show doesn’t feature much popular, radio-type music because it really doesn’t lend itself to it — which is fine. That fact, however, was what led me to be perplexed when I read that star Michael C. Hall would be hitting the airwaves on New York’s 101.9 RXP Sunday night to present a “Dexter-esque” playlist*. I was fairly certain Hall wasn’t going to bust out the tunes of Bobi Cespedes or Luis Alberto — they are kind of acquired tastes. So my curiosity got the best of me, and I scrounged up a sneak peek at his playlist. Selections include:

  • Radiohead’s “Let Down”
  • White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground”
  • Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy”
  • Queens Of The Stone Age’s “In The Fade”
  • Monster Magnet’s “Nod Scene”

I was impressed by two things: the obvious thought the actor put into creating his list and that Dexter can be summed up so surprisingly well by alt rock songs. The off-beat — and awesome — list also got me wondering about which songs remind me of some of my other favorite television shows. You see, there are easily hundreds of songs that I’ve picked up from The O.C., Scrubs, Grey’s Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, and Chuck — and many of them have ended up on those shows’ end-of-season soundtracks. As a result, my mind will always make that natural association. So, I ask you, PopWatchers, in the spirit of MCH’s list, which songs make you think of your favorite shows? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 10:32 AM ET

Awesome kid dances on 'Today'

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Filed under: Television, Those Crazy Kids!, TV and tagged: , , ,

Keegan Roberts, welcome to internet fame. The camera-ready little dude from Carthage, Tex., was on the Today show this morning as part of a sob-inducing story about celebrating Christmas without his father, who was killed in Afghanistan. Warning: Get your tissues ready. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 10:00 AM ET

PopWatch Confessional: Has a holiday song ever made you tear up?

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Filed under: Music and tagged: , , ,

Andrea-BocelliImage Credit: Dario Cantatore/Getty ImagesI’ve mentioned it before on PopWatch that Josh Groban’s cut of “Little Drummer Boy” has made my sister sob (she was pregnant at the time) and me tear up (the ox and lamb keeping time gets me before the baby Jesus smiling). Well, I went to see Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Garden last week, and it happened again. My eyes got so misty during his rendition of “Silent Night” that things looked as soft focus as a Barbara Walters’ special. I attribute it to multiple factors: I’ve always loved that song since I was a kid. It’s just a simple, gorgeous melody. It was always the last song we sang at both my Christmas Eve service and my high school chorus Christmas concert growing up. In both cases, everyone got to light a candle, which made the otherwise nondescript church and auditorium instantly beautiful. Once the song ended, my family would leave to go home, and since I grew up in rural central Pennsylvania, all really was calm and bright on the walk to the car. It’s like when I’m listening to the song, I’m also hearing that silence, and feeling the freezing, still air, and seeing the Christmas lights across the street or a field. Obviously, Bocelli’s voice is perfection, and I was sitting in the top row at the Garden, where I could I truly appreciate how it filled the arena and brought that sense of calm and clarity to the center of New York City (at the holidays!), if only for five minutes. Will it translate for you in fan-captured video below? No. But watch it anyway. Then, tell us if a holiday song has ever made you tear up. Be specific. If there’s an artist that got you, give him/her/them credit. Maybe we’ll spot a trend.  READ FULL STORY »

Dec 9 2010 09:00 AM ET

'Uncharted' exclusive: Your first look at 2011's must-play videogame 'Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'

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Filed under: Movies, News, Videogames and tagged: , , , , ,

Uncharted-3-game-artImage Credit: Sony Computer Entertainment AmericaIf Indiana Jones or Robert Langdon is your definition of treasure-hunting action-adventure, then either you watch too many movies or read too many books — or you haven’t met Nathan Drake, the hero at the center the blockbuster videogame franchise Uncharted, exclusive to the PlayStation 3 platform. Last year, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves garnered widespread critical acclaim, bagged bunches of major videogame industry awards, and sold over 3.8 million copies worldwide. Hollywood’s a fan: A feature film from Columbia Pictures — adapted by helmer David O. Russell (Three Kings), produced by former Marvel Studios honcho Avi Arad and rumored to be starring Mark Wahlberg, the headliner of Russell’s forthcoming Oscar-baiting drama flick The Fighter – should be shooting just as the next game in the series, entitled Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, hits stores late next year. EW recently visited the Santa Monica, California offices of Uncharted’s developer, Naughty Dog, for a sneak peek at the sequel, and we returned wishing “late next year” was right damn now.

Here’s what we can tell you: READ FULL STORY »

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