Happy 86th Birthday, Bea Arthur!

In honor of Bea's birthday, I'm wearing my favorite cowl neck sweater, watching this montage of her greatest moments from The Golden Girls' first two seasons, and virtually jumping into bed with her and Estelle Getty...

Is Dorothy your favorite Golden Girl? Or just the one you relate to most?

But did you miss Jimmy Fallon?

Am I the only one whose initial reaction to the news that Jimmy Fallon will take over Conan O'Brien's chair in 2009 was... why?

I mean, I think Fallon is charming and funny — or, at least he was the last time I saw him* — but I don't know that I want to watch him giggle his way through interviews night after night. (Who watches late, late night TV for the interviews, you ask? Good point.)

How psyched are you for Fallon's return?

* Not Taxi.

Romantic comedy clichés that (admit it) work

The romantic comedy has been taking a beating on EW.com recently: You've got our gallery of 24 rom-coms that sucked, and critic Lisa Schwarzbaum's essay on the genre's growing pains, "Movie Guys: The new girls?". But having just enjoyed What Happens in Vegas, starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher (pictured), more than I thought I would, I think it's time we all admit that some of those romantic comedy clichés work for us.

I'll go first. In Vegas, Diaz begins to warm to Kutcher when she sees him coaching little league. To quote one of my favorite Margaret Cho bits... stick it in.

Your turn. What's your weakness?

NKOTB: The dancing is making me slightly nervous

I got my latest NKOTB.com update this morning. (I registered for the New Kids on the Block newsletter "for work," FYI, and not because I have a junior high yearbook filled with classmates wishing me a happy life with Jordan Knight.) Below is the latest video of the guys rehearsing for their May 16 Today show performance. I knew there would be dancing, and I was even looking forward to it. But while I'm totally down with them working their imaginary mic stands, watching five men — now approaching 40 — bust 'N Sync moves (circa "Bye Bye Bye") is a little uncomfortable. We should all, of course, reserve judgment until we see them Friday, but I wanted to put you on alert. I'd say we're at orange.
   

You can hear their first single, "Summertime," here. It's forgettable, but kinda catchy. I'd put it above LFO's "Summer Girls" but below O-Town's "We Fit Together." (Special shout-out to my friend Eva, who not only remembered the title of that O-Town song when I IM'd her for it, but also quoted lyrics.)

Who'd you spare: Brandon Rogers or Ace Young?

Former American Idol contestants Brandon Rogers and Ace Young guest on tonight's episode of Bones (8 p.m. ET). Both play aspiring singers: Brandon's character is credited as "Broadway Wannabe," while Ace's goes by the name "Tommy Sour." From the Fox teasers, we know that Ace is the one who bites it. But, watch the clips below and cast a vote for the Idol alum you would spare. (Why? Because I'm feeling puckish.)

Brandon Rogers

Ace Young

After the jump, your reward...

Answered: Your questions for (the saucy) Marion Ross!

There are some people you just know you'd like. And Marion Ross, a.k.a. Happy Days' Mrs. Cunningham, is one of them. She didn't disappoint when she phoned PopWatch to chat about ABC's latest special, TV's All-Time Funniest (May 9, 8 p.m. ET), and answer reader questions. How did she get cast on Gilmore Girls? Will she return to Brothers & Sisters? Where can you see her in "the greatest fart scene since Blazing Saddles?" (Okay, you didn't ask that last one, but aren't you glad she brought it up?) Read on.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: If you had to submit one scene from Happy Days to secure your win as TV's Funniest Mother, which would you choose?
Marion Ross: Well, I had a wonderful one where I did a belly dance for Howard, to put some spunk back in the marriage. It is so funny. The writers said, "Marion comes down the stairs doing a belly dance." I thought, Did anybody ask me if I could do this?

That actually leads nicely into our first reader question: MRS. TAYLOR wants to know how hard it was — or wasn't — for you to perform that dance for Howard (Tom Bosley).
[Laughs] I remember it as not being a good day at all. When I see it, it looks very nice and easy. I had lines like, "Treat me rough... Treat me rough." But when you put on that costume, that helps.

BF asks, "What was up with the sexual tension between Mrs. Cunningham and the Fonz?"
[Laughs] Well, we just adored each other, that was all. [Henry Winkler] always made such a fuss over me, and it would fluster me so. The more flustered I would be, then the more he would do that to me. We're very, very close friends. I just adore him. We're bronzing the Fonz in Milwaukee in August. There'll be a statue of the Fonz in the park.

JAKEEM2007 is curious about what you think of today's more risqué sitcoms, and whether you're an avid watcher of any of them.
No, just Brothers & Sisters, which is not a sitcom. I think one of the problems is that we don't know the people on the new sitcoms, the characters. People feel they know us [on Happy Days] — that we're real, and that we really come from Milwaukee. I think it takes awhile to build up something like that, and these shows are faster. Although, I loved Friends. You felt like you were there with them, and you didn't want them to end. You know my daughter, Ellen Plummer, was a writer-producer on Friends. She said she would regale the writers' table with some dumb, dumb thing I had done and try to work it into the script. I'd think, Oh my gosh, I got to be careful what I say.

2CENTS asks whether you'd ever consider doing Desperate Housewives because  "a version of Mrs. C — even someone that dressed and acted like they were in the '50s would be so cool, and odd, and perfect for that show."
Well, you know, I did a spoof [on the 2005 TV Land Awards] where I played Bree. She killed her husband, and Tom Bosley was the husband. I think I poisoned him. I would love to be on Desperate Housewives. I think it would be so funny. I always wanted to be on Roseanne Barr's show. Like, knock on the door and just borrow a cup of sugar. Be as sweet and Mrs. C as possible. [Laughs] I would like to be on Monk. [PopWatch gasps] Is that a good idea?
Yes. What kind of character would you want to play?
Somebody quite insane. He would be trying to deal with me sensibly, you know, but I would be highly, highly neurotic and insane.

CMT's 'Gone Country 2': Gone bats--t crazy!

How much do you love the cast of CMT's Gone Country 2 (shooting now in Nashville, for an August premiere)? This time, Big & Rich's John Rich will attempt to make country artists out of:

• Sean Young (pictured, left): Actress and heckler!
• Sebastian Bach (pictured, right): Already a genre-bender, many times over. (Eternal bonus points for his highly entertaining Cribs episode.)
• Irene Cara: If this "Fame" performance is any indication, she'll embrace the flamboyant side of country stage style.
• Jermaine Jackson: I used to love his song "Dynamite," I'll admit it.
• Lorenzo Lamas: Most recently seen accusing his daughter Shayne of going on The Bachelor just for screen time. (Did we know he sings cabaret?)
• Chris Kirkpatrick: Formerly of 'N Sync and VH1's Mission: Man Band. Rascal Flatts fans should like him!
• Mikalah Gordon: From American Idol's fourth season. The token reality star that no one remembers. Every show needs one.

Who's your early money on? I'll tune in for Sean Young, but I'll bet on Sebastian Bach.

'The Bachelor' recap: The Women Tell All (But Not Enough)

It's the Bachelor episode host Chris Harrison looks forward to all season, because he finally gets to do something. Only, this time, he didn't do enough.

After the women were introduced — and Amanda and Noelle received the loudest applause — Harrison focused his attention on Stacey, the Human Muppet who gave Bachelor Matt her panties on the first evening. Were Harrison Jeff Probst, she would've been forced to say why she did that — was it a premeditated attempt to secure screen time or a spontaneous decision fueled by alcohol (a substance that curiously, was never mentioned, even though Stacey passed out on a bed before the rose ceremony). All Stacey said is that she's actually a sweet person, who wanted to stand out from the other 25 women (actually, that's the other 24). Yes, she's embarrassed to watch the footage of pantygate and of her never-before-seen smiling threats against the other ladies and their loved ones: "They're all whores. I'll f---in' kill 'em all and their whole families." Does it make it laughable or more disturbing that she'd apparently repeated that sentiment throughout the night?

Stacey eventually issued a blanket apology to anyone she may have offended, which is something Marshana (pictured, with Harrison) would never do. I've always wondered what happens when a Mean Girl watches a teen movie that portrays her kind as evil — does she get it? The answer is no. I do think Marshana believes what's she saying: she's not intentionally setting out to hurt others, she's just being herself and they can choose to love her or leave her. But the bottom line is, if you respect other people, you do what you can to get along with them. Marshana's uncompromising nature is just as condescending as Robin saying "I'm not there to make friends." Just be decent no matter where you are.

The artists who sound even better acoustic; the lyric you have to belt out whenever you hear it

If any of you are in a city where Bryan Adams (pictured) is stopping on his acoustic tour, go. I caught him — backed by only his guitar and harmonica — Saturday night in NYC, and it was so good that I left thinking he should release a live album recorded just like that. His 11th studio album, 11, hits Wal-Mart and Sam's Club exclusively on May 13. Listen to the album cuts of "Oxygen," "Tonight We Have the Stars," and "I Thought I'd Seen Everything," then tell me if Adams' intimate lyrics and raspy, echo-filled vocals aren't almost more powerful stripped, as heard here, here, and here.

Adams played the New York Society for Ethical Culture's 800-seat Concert Hall, a converted church (with cushioned pews) that he referred to as one of the most beautiful places he's ever performed. Lucky for him, there's no religious iconography left in the auditorium, because that man would have burned: If not for the fact that he wrote "Heaven," in two days (!), for the 1983 Christopher-Atkins-stripper movie A Night in Heaven, then because he sings about nothing but sex. I'm sure I'd have earned myself a ticket to his next concert in hell when I wished ill on the man seated behind me — he kept yelling "Musketeer!" because he couldn't remember the name of the song he was desperately trying to request, "All for Love" off The Three Musketeers soundtrack. But at least those impure thoughts I had during "Run to You" (embedded below, from a March performance at St. James's Church in London) should have scored me a VIP package:

So, which artists do you think sound even better acoustic? And, in honor of my not being able to control my volume when Adams got to the "And that's when I met you, yeah" line of "Summer of '69," name one lyric you must belt out whenever you hear it.

Nominees Wanted: TV's Best Chemistry!

It's been a week since we had an image of Bones' David Boreanaz on PopWatch (and even though Abby West’s Mini TV Watch will post in a few hours, I can’t wait). So, tell us: Can Boreanaz (Special Agent Seeley Booth) and Emily Deschanel (Dr. Temperance Brennan) compete for the title of TV's Best Chemistry? To be clear: "Chemistry" is not limited to "sexual tension" (although I'm willing to bet the clip below, from the Bones pilot, is what scored that series its original pickup). In our book, it also describes the shared sense of timing that makes Calista Flockhart (Kitty McCallister) and Sally Field (Nora Walker) a joy to watch on Brothers & Sisters; that's earned James Spader (Alan Shore) and William Shatner (Denny Crane) each Emmys for Boston Legal. Because we're looking for the best chemistry in TV history, feel free to nominate classic duos like The Dukes of Hazzard's James Best (Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane) and Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg). We'll even accept James Best and the basset hound that played Flash, if you can make your argument in 75 words or less...

Nominate away!

UPDATE: Here's Abby's recap of Monday's Bones.

Is Mel Gibson the only man whose mullet stands the test of time?

Have you seen Asylum's gallery of "The 15 Most Awesome Celebrity Mullets Ever?" You need to.* Because I can't be the only one to experience A) a ping of regret that hockey star Jaromir Jagr no longer has a party in the back and B) the realization that Mel Gibson still looks pretty damn good to me in that thing.

Is Mel the only man whose mullet-y hotness is timeless? And which classic mullets did Asylum overlook?

* Especially you folks who freaked when Moonlight's Alex O'Loughlin named the mullet as one of the five things that should live forever in pop culture. You need to face that fear.

Happy Birthday, Craig David!

When I read that Craig David was celebrating his 27th birthday today, I realized that I hadn't actually thought about him since, well, he was 20, and I had "7 Days" on repeat on my CD Walkman. I went to his website to see what he's been up to, and it turns out his latest album, Trust Me, hits stateside tomorrow (May 6). My birthday present to him: Embedding the videos for a few of those new tracks below.

"Officially Yours"

Checking in with Zach Braff (who wants you to star in the music video he's directing)

Zach Braff phoned PopWatch earlier this week, during a lunch break on the Scrubs set... not to talk about which network the episode he's currently shooting will air on next season. "I don't want to get in trouble with giant corporations, because they're scary," he says. "No, I just know that the cast has been asked not to talk about it, so I'm officially not talking about it." (But he did quickly plug NBC's May 8 season finale, an epic homage to The Princess Bride that he directed.) Instead, Braff wanted to chat about the music video that he's directing for former Jump Little Children frontman Jay Clifford (pictured, right), "Know When to Walk Away." Braff's vision: People from all over the globe film themselves lip-syncing the track, in their own music video, and submit the footage on jaycliffordmusicvideo.com by May 30. He'll edit together the best scenes and include them in the official video, for which he's already shot Clifford "singing and doing some cool stuff on a rooftop." Why enlist the help of the masses? Besides the fact that he thinks Clifford is an artist people should know about, Braff says, "I've been really active on MySpace, just because I enjoy that sort of discourse with people who like, or don't like, what I'm doing. And something that I always get is, 'I want to get into filmmaking," or 'Hey, I make videos.' I had this daydream about finding a way to collaborate with people that I've never met. Then I was listening to the song in the car one day, after I'd just woken up, and it just all came together: Why don't I try to set up a thing where everyone can submit their own version of the music video, and then I'll cut them together? It'll be a way to collaborate with people from all over the world, because I get email on MySpace from people from Africa, Europe, South America, and the most random places you would ever think would even know who I am or have Internet access."

Vote Keith Urban ACM Entertainer of the Year!

This is going out to all those posters on my February concert review of Keith Urban at Madison Square Garden: If you want to see him walk away ACM's Entertainer of the Year on May 18 (CBS, 8 p.m. ET/PT), vote for him now. For the first time, fans will decide who wins the night's most coveted award. The other nominees are Kenny Chesney (who's taken it the last three years running), Brad Paisley, George Strait, and Rascal Flatts. So, I guess, if you're a fan of those gentlemen, get to steppin' as well... but first watch this. (Give it 20 seconds.)

On the Scene: Dolly Parton (and the biz's best stage banter) at Radio City

Does anyone work an audience better than Dolly Parton? (Seriously, name someone. Go ahead. Try it.)

The Backwoods Barbie played a sold-out show at Radio City Music Hall last night, and as EW's Michele Romero so eloquently put it, "The woman is amazing. She does not need to wear jewelry; she is jewelry. She makes glitter sparkle." From the moment she opened the show with "Two Doors Down," it was a party. And the thing damn near got out of control when, later in the evening, she followed "Here You Come Again," with "Islands in the Stream" and  "9 to 5." During "Islands," which already had the entire crowd on its feet, I told my friend and colleague Nisha Gopalan that Dolly just had to do "9 to 5" next, and when she did, we turned to each other and jumped up and down in unison five times. I've never done that at a concert. Or, well, ever. But Dolly brings that kind of joy out of you. The woman's voice is still flawless — delicate and powerful, often in the same song, which is what makes "I Will Always Love You" and "Eagle When She Flies" (which Parton wrote as the theme song for Steel Magnolias, but wasn't used) so moving. She's so talented that she can play just about any instrument you put in front of her, as long as it's bedazzled. "I never leave a rhinestone unturned," she said, heading to her studded white piano. And, as the headline states, she's got the best stage banter in the business. She's sufficiently quippy, but also shares her life story. After the jump, some of her greatest hits.

TV moments that provoke(d) a physical reaction

Ever since I wrote a PopWatch post about the Three's Company episode that I still can't discuss without getting misty -- and 998 comments followed naming the TV moments that made others cry -- I've respected the power television has over my body. It's really a beautiful thing, the way good or "good" TV can move us physically.

Take Paulagate. Our Idol expert Michael Slezak said he immediately pressed pause on his remote after Paula Abdul critiqued a song that Jason Castro hadn't actually sung yet. Time had to literally stop while he processed what he'd just seen. (I, myself, opted to hit mute, as I tend to do when anyone on a reality show says something mortifying and my instinct for self-preservation kicks in. As I've mentioned before, I practically wear out my remote during the first episode of any Bachelor season, when the ladies attempt to make "memorable" first impressions by singing or reciting an original poem.)

What visceral responses has TV provoked in you, and in what moments? In addition to the standard talking back to the television when a plot line doesn't go my way (oh, don't even pretend like you've never yelled a belligerent, "No!"), I've also been known to:

-- burst out in a spontaneous, two-second fit of rapid applause when a scene is so emotionally satisfying that it makes me appreciate the television medium as a whole. (I did that yesterday, in fact, while watching the final moments of this Sunday's Brothers & Sisters. You won't want to miss it, that's all I'm saying.)
-- forget to breathe when my mind apparently can't allow anything to distract it from watching how a scene plays out. (That's rare, but the best Buffy and Angel episodes still have their way with me.)
-- force myself not to close my eyes or look away when a crucial moment of a sporting event is about to unfold live. Why? Because I'm making a deal with God that IF I experience this excruciating tension head-on, my suffering will help earn the team or individual I'm rooting for the win. (I believe this is in direct response to my mother, who gets so nervous that she has to leave the room.)

Your turn.

(List)en up: Your favorite oldies

Last weekend, I met my parents in Atlantic City to see Dion. Not Celine Dion. But the singer of  "A Teenager in Love," "Runaround Sue," "I Wonder Why," "Donna the Prima Donna" (which had my mother doing upper-body aerobics in her seat), and "The Wanderer" (during which my mother actually had the nerve to say, "Here, you can do this," as she simplified her dance moves thinking I wasn't following her lead because I couldn't). Dion sounded great, and we had as much fun as we'd had seeing Paul Anka and Neil Sedaka in years past. (To be clear, that's not sarcasm. I've seen Dion, Paul, and Neil. Willingly.)

I can't be the only one who enjoys hearing the occasional oldie, so list a few of your favorites below. In addition to anything Elvis, anything Otis Redding, and anything on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, I'm a sucker for:
• Conway Twitty's pop hit, "It's Only Make Believe"
• The Fleetwoods' "Come Softly to Me"
• Anything by Sam Cooke (I once wrote in EW that if heaven exists, "You Send Me"  is playing there. I stand behind that statement.)
• Billy Ward and the Dominoes' "Sixty Minute Man"
• Neil Sedaka's "Oh! Carol" and "Calendar Girl," the latter of which I embed below because you all need to witness Miss August.
• And since I may never have reason to bring it up again, I'd like to say that Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel" still destroys me. I'm pretty sure it taught me about death. And that I was in grade school when I first saw him sing it, sitting on a stool in a spotlight, on one of my mother's American Bandstand tapes.

PopWatch Trivia: What do 'Law & Order: SVU,' 'Weekend at Bernie's,' and 'First Blood' have in common?

The answer is not Idolatry. (Although, that would be amazing.) It's that the same man, Ted Kotcheff, who directed First Blood, also directed Weekend at Bernie's (!) and is now an executive producer on 200-episode-old Law & Order: SVU. That delights me more than I can say, which is why when I talked to Kotcheff for EW.com's gallery of SVU's Oscar-nominated guest stars, I had to ask him how exactly that happened.

"Well, I hate to be pigeonholed," he said. "I can do drama and action, and I can do comedy. People thought The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz with Richard Dreyfuss was a comedy. Certainly Fun with Dick and Jane [starring George Segal and Jane Fonda] was a social comedy. Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? [with Segal and Jacqueline Bisset], and, of course, Weekend at Bernie's are comedies. There's nothing more satisfying than making an audience laugh. You go in the audience and you get concrete evidence. But at the same time, I'm interested in serious films about serious subjects. So the reason, I guess, is in my personality: I like both aspects of life, the comedic and the tragic."

How did he make the move from features to Law & Order: SVU, you might be wondering: His agent called and said Dick Wolf was looking for someone to help run a new series that he was calling Sex Crimes. Kotcheff knew nothing about episodic TV, so he asked his agent to get him a gig on another show so he could test it out. That ended up being CBS' short-lived 1998 drama Buddy Faro. I guess he liked it.

After the jump, Kotcheff shares a few stories about his hero Billy Wilder, just to make this audience laugh.

Couple wed at 'Made of Honor' premiere (CRAZY or cool?)

A couple wed at the New York City premiere of Patrick Dempsey's romantic comedy, Made of Honor, on Monday night. I knew this was going to happen because I received an email from the menswear company Arnold Brant, saying it was clothing the groom in an Arnold Brant cashmere tux. Dempsey and costar Michelle Monaghan witnessed the nuptials — which Mary Hart officiated. Is this CRAZY or cool?

I mean, sure, it's a good way for the husband to be certain that his wife is committed to him (if she stared at Dempsey when she said "I do," I'm sure someone would've objected). It will be a good story to tell at parties for years to come. And Dempsey probably would have performed the African anteater ritual as a "wedding present," if you asked him to nicely.... Okay, maybe I just talked myself into it. (No, wait, not really.)

So, would you get married at a film premiere? And if so, who would you choose as your celebrity officiator?* (Not that I'm implying they chose Mary Hart.)

*Hey, I guess there was still an inane question left for me to ask on PopWatch!

Wanted: Your questions for Marion Ross!

That's right. I'm doing a 10-minute phoner with Marion Ross (aka Mrs. Cunningham and Trix Gilmore) Wednesday. You can touch me.

You can also ask her a question. I'll make sure she hears the best of the best when she phones PopWatch to chat about TV's All-Time Funniest: A Paley Center for Media Special (premiering May 9 on ABC). Apparently, TV fans across the country were asked to choose the funniest characters in the following eight categories: fathers, mothers, kids, relatives, neighbors, friends, bosses, and co-workers. (Naturally, Mrs. C is a contender on the mom ballot.)

Look for her answers on PopWatch May 9.