Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch Blog | PopWatch

PopWatch Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch Blog

Archive: February 2011 (251-260 of 346)

Feb 6 2011 05:00 PM ET

'Glee' scoop: Cory Monteith and co-creators Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk reveal who they're rooting for in Super Bowl XLV

Categories: Advance Advancement, An EW Exclusive!, Glee, News You Can Use, Super Bowl, Television, Things That Are Awesome!

Glee-super-bowl-Steelers Image Credit: Adam Rose/Fox; Nick Laham/Getty Images; Joe Robbins/Getty Images

It’s a Sunday that TV watchers have been anticipating for months: the return of Glee!!! Oh, and I guess there’s also the Super Bowl beforehand. But I think most of us are psyched for the ginormous post-game Glee event that features the boobtastic* opening number set to “California Gurls” as well as the “Thriller”/”Heads Will Roll” mash-up along with covers of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” and Destiny’s Child’s “Bills Bills Bills.” But seeing that there are certainly some Gleeks who are actually excited about the game, we asked a couple Glee dudes (star Cory Monteith and co-creators Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk) who they’re rooting for in the Super Bowl. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 6 2011 02:00 PM ET

Puppy Bowl VII: One hour until cutest coin toss ever!

by Kate Ward

Categories: Animals, Awwwwww So Cuuuuuute, Sports, Television, Things That Are Awesome!

Football? Psh. Why would I be concerned about the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers when the players of the Puppy Bowl will steal my heart on Sunday? (Get it? Get it? Whatever.) The seventh annual event — complete with Kitty Halftime Show! — already has its lineup, which includes: Thelma, who holds the record for yards pooped in; CB, the league’s fetching champion; Willy, who just married Gisele Poochen; Big Red, MVP of the Toilet Bowl, and Little Red, who — as the game’s “small in size, but big in attitude” player, according to Animal Planet’s teaser video — just finished a stint in prison for firearm possession. (Bad dog! Pardoned for cuteness, though!) So, when the game kicks off in one hour, take a paws and head to the comments to bet on your favorites, discuss play-by-play, or just die of cuteness.

Feb 6 2011 12:00 PM ET

Big Shill Final: And the winner is... the Progressive Girl!

by Kate Ward

Categories: Advertising, Big Shill Bracket Game, Television

As the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers prepare to hustle for this year’s Super Bowl, the Big Shill — our bracket game that rewards advertising’s greatest icon — is all about Flo, the perky Progressive Insurance Girl played by actress Stephanie Courtney. That’s right: Though the Pillsbury Doughboy, Super Bowl ad favorites the Budweiser Clydesdales, and more did their darndest to stomp on her bumpit, they ultimately were no match for the overenthusiastic saleswoman. So it’s official: Picking up over 73 percent of the vote (the Pillsbury Doughboy finished with almost 27 percent), Flo rides to Big Shill victory on her white motorcycle. Never fear, though, fans of great advertising. Though we must wrap up our 2011 bracket game (giving The Noid, Grimace, Mr. Whipple, the Where’s the Beef Lady, and the rest of the game’s fallen competitors some imaginary consolation prizes), be sure to tune into the Super Bowl tonight — you might just see the next Big Shill champ. Check out Flo’s competitor stats below and the full bracket here, and, if you see him, be sure to tickle the Pillsbury Doughboy. It will make the poor guy feel better. Thanks for playing!

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2011 04:36 PM ET

Time for a 'Scent Vacation': Isaiah Mustafa returns in new Old Spice commercial!

by Dan Snierson

Categories: Advertising, Television

Look at your computer. Now look at yourself in the mirror in anticipation. Now back at your computer. Now back at — actually, just keep your eyes on your computer, because it’s about to play a new Old Spice commercial, “Scent Vacation,” featuring our suave and fit friend Isaiah Mustafa (who turns 37 next week). Watch him transform a mountain goat into a harp. See him dip his marshmallow skewer into a slyly activated chocolate fountain. Enjoy three different sartorial choices that allow him to remain shirtless. What say you, PopWatchers? Are you still buying what he’s selling? And are you neck-deep in the sweet waters of friendship and trust? READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2011 12:20 PM ET

Cobie Smulders the frontrunner to play Maria Hill in 'Avengers' movie. This could be legen-wait for it-dary.

by Kate Ward

Categories: Avengers, Casting, Comic Books, Geekery, Movie Casting, Movies, Things That Are Awesome!, This Could Be Interesting...

Image Credit: Cobie Smulders: CBS; Maria Hill: ©Marvel Comics On Thursday, Samuel L. Jackson set the Internet atwitter when he casually revealed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon that he would get a female sidekick in Joss Whedon’s upcoming Avengers film. And though we tapped into our comic book minds and guessed the mysterious sidekick could be Sharon Carter, the Wasp, or the Contessa, it looks like we may have to admit defeat: EW has confirmed that How I Met Your Mother‘s Cobie Smulders is the frontrunner to appear in the film… as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Maria Hill. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2011 12:14 PM ET

'Smallville' returns: Welcome to the matrix!

by Hillary Busis

Categories: About Last Night, Smallville

Image Credit: Jack Rowand/The CWAfter an almost two-month wait — one that got even longer when The CW suddenly decided to push the show’s return by yet another week — Smallville finally returned last night. Its midseason debut, “Collateral,” saw our heroes stuck in government-induced comas, hooked up to an evil mainframe computer that tricked them into believing a constructed virtual reality was the real world. Hm… sounds familiar, somehow. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2011 12:11 PM ET

What's the best (and worst) movie to feature an 'Office' cast member?

by Clark Collis

Categories: Hollywood, Horror, Movies, Quentin Tarantino, Sci-Fi, Steve Carell, Television, The Office

Image Credit: Suzanne HanoverThrow a rock at a movie screen in the next couple of months and there’s a fair chance you’ll hit a film starring someone from The Office. (You’ll also be thrown out of the cinema or, at the very least, be assailed with cries of “Who the hell brings a rock to the movies?” But I digress!) No Strings Attached, with Mindy Kaling, is still in cinemas, and this Friday sees the release of the Ed Helms-starring Cedar Rapids. Two weeks after that arrives Hall Pass, which features one Jenna Fischer. Meanwhile, the mighty Rainn Wilson will soon be seen in both Peep World and Super, the new movie from director James Gunn.

READ FULL STORY »

Feb 5 2011 10:30 AM ET

Which Super Bowl commercial will you be talking about on Monday?

by Jeff Labrecque

Categories: Advertising, Justin Bieber, Sports, Television, Truth in Advertising

We are just 32 hours away from the kickoff of Super Bowl XLV, and I’m already preparing for the main event. That’s right, I just spent an hour on Hulu and other websites watching my favorite Super Bowl commercials from years past in order to get psyched for this year’s must-see ads. It will be tough to top last year’s Betty White Snickers ad, or the Justin Timberlake Pepsi bit from a couple of years back, but I’m encouraged by what I’ve already seen, as some companies are understandably trying to get the most of their $3 million spots by leaking them online. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 4 2011 09:04 PM ET

Justin Bieber's media invasion continues, with reported 'Saturday Night Live' cameo

by Adam B. Vary

Categories: Justin Bieber, Saturday Night Live

Image Credit: Robin Wong/PR PhotosAs we noted earlier today, Justin Bieber’s systematic invasion of all forms of media has already infected The Daily Show, Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Regis & Kelly, The Today Show, and Conan on Monday. He’s singing and rapping on Sean Kingston’s new single “Won’t Stop,” and he’ll return to CSI on Feb. 17. And now comes the Hollywood Reporter, er, report that the Biebs will do a cameo appearance on this week’s episode of Saturday Night Live – I’m guessing either in a Weekend Update bit, or perhaps a sketch in which host Dana Carvey attempts to top Jon Stewart’s weak tea Bieber impersonation from last night. In other news, I just got a bowl cut, officially changed my name to Adam Bieber Vary, and just Biebered my Bieber with even more Bieber Bieber Biebs. Clearly, Knicks fans are waging a losing battle.

What say you, PopBiebers? Are you Biebered out? Or are you just getting Biebered in Bieberation for Feb. 11′s Justin Bieber: Bieber Say Bieber?

Feb 4 2011 08:43 PM ET

'Single White Female': The 'Roommate' inspiration signs a lease with PopWatch Rewind

by Darren Franich and Keith Staskiewicz

Categories: PopWatch Rewind, Sexytimes

Single White Female has all the hallmarks of an early-90s erotic thriller, a curious subgenre that mostly disappeared with the dawn of the porn-happy internet (to say nothing of the MPAA’s evolving preference for ultraviolence over sexuality). In SWF, stars Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh are relentlessly naked. All the dudes are lying dolts with bad hair. Half the film takes place in the most blue-tinted hour of the evening. But the film has had a surprisingly long tail in pop culture, right up to this weekend’s The Roommate, which seems more than a little influenced by SWF‘s vision of friendly live-in sisterhood shading into obsession.

Keith Staskiewicz: Watching The Roommate, it’s impossible not to think of Single White Female. But it’s also interesting to see another movie with a woman who wants to be/have sex with/murder/all of the above with another woman so quick on the heels of Black Swan. It’s an interesting sub-genre. Although to be fair, Single White Female is itself beholden to Fatal Attraction: Obsessive crazy lady, irrational jealousy, poor murdered house-pet… READ FULL STORY »