Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBC
When we last checked in with the Dunder-Mifflin crew, there was a whole lot of much ado about nothing. When the finale ended last season, we still didn’t know who the new boss would be. Over the summer, we learned James Spader’s character, Robert California, would be the new CEO, after talking Jo (Kathy Bates) out of her own job. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Adam Taylor/CBS
After ending its Emmy-nominated fourth season with arguably the most controversial episode in the history of The Big Bang Theory – namely, Raj and Penny getting drunk and getting it on, in Leonard’s bed — the show roared back tonight in fine style with two back-to-back episodes to launch its fifth season. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD! In the first episode of the night, “The Skank Reflex Analysis” writers crafted a sneaky way to please both fans who thought Penny and Raj’s horizontal mambo was a plot twist too far, those who thought it was just funny, and those rare Pennaj ‘shippers who desperately want these too to finally see what they have together. How to put this? READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Dan MacMedan/WireImage.com
How I Met Your Mother has found its Slutty Pumpkin! CBS confirms to EW that Katie Holmes will step into the show’s iconic (and, until now, mysterious) role for a Halloween-themed episode this season. And after mulling over this choice for nearly an hour…my head hurts.
I don’t want to say the casting disappoints me (in fact, that’s far from true; I loved Holmes as Joey on Dawson’s Creek) — but it certainly makes me wonder: Could Holmes be The Mother?
The Slutty Pumpkin has always been an important part of Mother mythology, and, on a deeper level, an important symbol of Ted’s belief in love. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Fox
Are you an American Idol fan? Were you tired of having to wait until January to watch the season 11 premiere of Idol? Well, Fox had the answer for you last night: The premiere of The X Factor, a reality competition singing show complete with heart-wrenching stories and a judge’s panel that includes Idol alums Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. (Read our recap here.) Sound familiar? Inevitably, the similarities between Idol and X Factor will lead us to ask the question, which show is better? Of course, it’s far too soon to tell — though last night’s ratings worked in Idol‘s favor — but, at this point, we can compare the two series’ audition process. To make it fair, I made sure to argue the issue with a fellow Idol die-hard, Adam B. Vary, who attempted to convince me that X Factor‘s auditions were enjoyable, despite the schmaltz, the mediocre talent that in no way approached Kelly Clarkson levels of amazingness, and the utter lack of Ryan Seacrest. (Believe me, I’m surprised myself to be writing the last part of that sentence.) Read our exchange below, and let us know in the comments who you agree with!
KATE WARD: I’m a huge fan of Idol and Simon Cowell. Therefore, I was dying to love The X Factor. But, instead, the only letter I was seeing during the first audition episode of the season was Zzzzzzz. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
As expected, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a raft of high-profile media partnerships at today’s f8 summit, including deals with Hulu, Spotify, and Netflix. But Zuckerberg also announced a new aesthetic for the Facebook profile that is, to my eyes, the most complete redesign that the social networking website has ever experienced. Zuckerberg discussed the fact that, in the current design, status updates fall away into the abyss after a few days: A message that someone left on your wall in 2008 requires you to scroll down, down, down through the years. Timeline changes all of that, allowing you to navigate through months and years of your life, essentially “remembering” things for you. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Everett Collection
With Halloween but a few weeks away from us, it’s time to start considering your costume. If you’re sticking with the oldie, but always goodie, choice of going as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, your get-up could be the most authentic one on any road, yellow brick or otherwise.
That’s because one of the pairs of the iconic ruby red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 classic, will be sold to the highest bidder on Dec. 16 (okay, so you’ll have them for next Halloween) during Profiles in History’s three-day “Icons of Hollywood” auction. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Paul Sakuma/AP Images
In the Downward Spiral Championship Race-to-the-Bottom to decide which critically beloved media company will do more to destroy their sterling reputation in calendar-year 2011, Netflix moved several more lengths ahead of AMC and Sony today when, in the wake of the surprisingly leadfooted Qwikster launch, Reed Hastings took the stage in the middle of the f8 Keynote Speech to talk about Facebook/Netflix integration, which seemed like a readymade slam-dunk story for Netflix… until Hastings ended his speech by noting that the integration would be available pretty much everywhere except for America, thanks to a unique-to-the-US rental privacy law currently being debated by Congress. Netflix’s blog currently has a call-to-arms post asking Netflix users to call their local Congressmen. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: FX
When Dane Cook appeared on an episode of Louie in August and the two comics shocked viewers by hashing out their real-life joke-stealing feud over Lady Gaga tickets, fans didn’t know what to think. Sure, it was brilliant, surreal theater, but what was real and what was fake? How did this encounter come to be, and did this on-screen rapprochement represent an off-screen conciliation? Well… sort of. In an expansive interview with the The A.V. Club, Louis C.K. revealed the circumstances that brought he and Cook together. (Watch it again here.) READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Will Hart/NBC
Phase One of the great post-Chris Meloni SVU experiment began last night with the premiere of Law & Order: SVU‘s 13th season. Kelli Giddish — last season modeling a short-lived leather jacket on last season’s gone-and-forgotten Chase — strolled into the SVU offices as Amanda Rollins, a detective from Atlanta. Her debut was remarkably choreographed: She made sure to pay fealty to reigning Cop Queen Olivia Benson, noting, “I’ve studied a lot of your cases.” (Which, metaphorically speaking, can be translated as “I’ve got a major in ‘caring too much about a case’ with a minor in ‘awesome pre-commercial one-liners.’”) L&O vets Stephanie March and Linus Roache swung by to make the torch-passing feel vaguely ceremonial. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Paul Sakuma/AP Images
Big changes are coming to Facebook. What do those changes entail? We don’t know (though, like everyone, we have our suspicions). But we will know… soon. At 1 p.m. EST/10 PST, Mark Zuckerberg will deliver the keynote presentation of this year’s f8 conference. Expect news of partnerships, potentially including new Facebook Music and Facebook video-related deals. Watch the live-stream of the keynote starting at 1 p.m. EST/10 PST here. We’ll update this post as the revelations arrive.
UPDATE: Big announcements from the Keynote speech include partnerships with Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and Rhapsody, plus a complete rethink of the Facebook Profile in a new aesthetic called “Timeline.” One twist: The Netflix/Facebook integration is not currently allowed in the United States… because it’s not legal. Yet.
1:16 — Andy Samberg is onstage pretending to be Mark Zuckerberg. He just made a Glee joke and a MySpace joke. This is how you know that you’re not watching an Apple event. READ FULL STORY »
