Some country music fans consider Brad Paisley the king of comedy, but that could just be because they haven't yet sat down for a drink with Blake Shelton, or heard about "Bare Skin Rug," the duet he sings with girlfriend Miranda Lambert on his new album, Startin' Fires. "We'd been gettin' some pressure to do a big ballady cheesy thing, and we decided that if we're gonna do a duet, it's gonna be on our terms," Shelton told us last week, ordering another Diet Coke and Bacardi at the midtown Manhattan dive Jimmy's Corner and asking us if we needed a nipple for the bottle we were nursin'. "So we wrote this song that's basically about two hillbillies that meet up out in the middle of nowhere, and they're attracted to each other, and the thing that they're really excited about is that they're not related to each other, so they end up hookin' up. We recorded the song the same way that we wrote it, which was just sittin' around a campfire behind my house. If people ever cared about what it was like being around us at the house, that's it. That's what happens when we're at the house, alone, and we're not makin' out or somethin'." (If people have ever wondered what happens when Shelton and Lambert hit NYC in late November: he ends up in the bar in the basement of Macy's, and plans the date -- dinner and a show, Jersey Boys -- that will have to last her until deer season is over back home in Oklahoma.)
After the jump, Shelton, People magazine's reigning Sexiest Country Singer, shares even more intimate details about his life in our Pop Culture Personality Test. Note: There really is nothing sexier than a straight man expressing love for The Golden Girls...
Tune in alert, folks: On the Nov. 28 episode of Tyra Banks' talk show, she gives away the Volvo that Robert Pattinson's Edward drives in Twilight to one of the fans turned away at his canceled, out-of-control autograph session in San Francisco earlier this month. The bad news: The girl had to win it in a pie-eating contest.
AP reports that Pattinson and his costar Taylor Lautner (Jacob) cheered on the three contestants during Thursday's taping of Tyra's Twilight hour: "I still can't believe they are making you guys do this," Pattinson reportedly said. "Oh, geez!" (Try to forget that he just used the phrase "Oh, geez!" and focus on the positive: he's apparently never seen The Tyra Banks Show before.) Two of the girls tied in the pie-eating contest, so Tyra determined the winner by having them guess Pattinson's and Lautner's combined weight (320 pounds). In my mind, that's when Pattinson made a mental note to call his Harry Potter buddy Daniel Radcliffe and ask him if he ever had to do this kinda crap. (In Tyra's defense, the victor, 18-year-old Tiffany Kuhne, told AP, "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life," so she's not exactly scarred.)
What piece of the Twilight pie would you want to take home (bodies precluded), and what would you be willing to do for that particular piece of movie memorabilia?
People's Sexiest Man Alive issue hits stands Friday, with Australia's Hugh Jackman taking this year's title. I was in complete agreement...until I flipped through the gallery teasing 15 of People's picks, saw a photo of Mad Men's Jon Hamm (pictured, near left), and ovulated. Recount! Vote in the poll below, please. I am confident that you will make the right decision and not be swayed by the shirtless photo of Jackman that Slezak demanded we use for this post because (a) he wants Hugh to win and (b) he is a traffic whore. (Note: There is no "other" option in our poll because there is no other option. But feel free to make your case in the comments section.)
After you vote for Hamm, let us know who else you're hoping to see on People's Sexiest list this Friday. The sneak peak gallery shows that the obvious choices are covered — Daniel Craig, Twilight's Robert Pattinson, Zac Efron, Michael Phelps (I guess I'm the only one officially over that torso?), and Javier Bardem (who Slezak says could punch him in the face and still receive his vote). There's also a few semi-surprises: Mark-Paul Gosselaar (?!), Joshua Jackson, and country singer Blake Shelton (who I'm having a beer an interview with tomorrow). Surprise, surprise, I'm pulling for Desperate Housewives' Gale Harold, while Slezak is lobbying for True Blood's Ryan Kwaten (because he knows Lipstick Jungle's Robert Buckley has already made the cut).
I knew our bond was weakening when I stopped watching Men in Trees after his Jack's boat went down in the Bering Sea, and I'm pretty sure James Tupper felt it, too. His attempts to re-woo me are so see-through: guesting on last night's Samantha Who?, starring in the summer 2009 Hallmark Channel movie Kingdom Come (as a rancher, pictured)...
Please, Mr. Tupper, give this girl some credit. I am not that easy. I have not watched last night's DVR'd episode of Samantha Who? (yet), and I seriously doubt that I'll be tuning into Kingdom Come (even though my colleague Nicholas Fonseca sent me an email this morning with the message "Please don't die of a heart attack when you read this" and a link announcing that Dean Cain is your costar).
So who else is over James Tupper? (And who's being wooed again?)
When you visit YouTube, do you ever look at the three videos the site has "Recommended for You," based on your search history? I didn't think there could be anything more mortifying than what popped up at the top of the recommendation list this morning: "Jensen Ackles sings! Pictures of Jensen Ackles shirtless, set to two short clips of Jensen singing." (I am not that much of a horndog, YouTube. Did I watch it?...Not the point!)
But then, I visited YouTube again, and not only did I get "'Chihuahua' Star Discovered in Dog Shelter" (I watched the Beverly Hills Chihuahua trailer once for work, okay!), but also "olive's home birth/water birth." You could not pay me to press 'play' on that. Just because I searched for the Bill Cosby: Himself bits on natural child birth -- to send to my sister who's freaking out about her impending labor -- does not mean I want to watch a baby be delivered in a kiddie pool!
What YouTube recommendations have horrified you?
P.S. That Jensen Ackles video is embedded after the jump.
As if we haven't bombarded you with enough Robert Pattinson (as if there's such a thing as too much Rob!), get ready for your daily fix, Twilighters. Here's Part 2 of our interview, where the man behind Edward Cullen talks about how he prepared for the role. There's only one downside — you have to wait until Monday for the next installment. Until then, PopWatchers!
I'll be the first to admit that I get a little too excited over TV movies (see here, here, and here.) But how do you not squeeeee! when you read about a Lifetime original starring Eddie Cibrian, LeAnn Rimes, and Rosanna Arquette? According to Variety, in the forthcoming adaptation of Nora Roberts' Northern Lights, "Cibrian (Ugly Betty)
will play a distraught cop seeking refuge in a remote Alaskan town
following the death of his partner, only to become entangled in a
murder mystery involving a new love interest (Rimes) and her mother
(Arquette)."
They had me at "distraught cop."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this appears to be Cibrian's first Lifetime production. Are there other actors you'd like to see take the plunge?
Attention Twilighters! Are you sitting down? I suggest you do so before the fainting ensues. It's finally here: Feast your eyes on this week's cover featuring Twilight's leading man Robert Pattinson. The only letters my fingers seem able to type are S,W,O,O,N. We know our romance novel redux cover with Pattinson and co-star Kristen Stewart was a bit polarizing, so we're dying to hear what you think about this one, which is one of three versions that will be available on newsstands Friday. And if you can tear yourself away from the vamp's steely gaze long enough, read about what Stephenie Meyer thinks of the upcoming movie here.
Yes, I'm one of the 5,600 people (at last count) watching that live feed of adorable puppies. I've now watched it long enough to have a favorite: the one in the purple collar. He (or she) appears to be the troublemaker -- wanting to play while the others sleep. Oh, wait, now green collar is doing that to purple collar and just whimpered out of frustration. But now purple collar is sleeping on top of blue collar (who just changed positions after waking up from a very bad dream.) I'm torn! I'm torn! Who's your favorite?
UPDATE: At 3:53 p.m. ET, yellow collar attempted to woo me by snuggling with purple collar's buppy -- I'm talking tail in the face -- while having his (or her) head under the giant pumpkin pillow and his (or her) paw on the tennis ball. This would have worked had purple collar not yawned repeatedly, then climbed over red collar and yellow collar to give black collar kisses. PURPLE COLLAR RULES!
UPDATE #2: At appoximately 5:54 p.m ET on Nov. 7, all six puppies stretched at the same time. I IM'd TWO people. Purple collar (aka Autumn) retained her title as my favorite by spooning the pumpkin pillow.
We aim to please, Twilighters. That's why we're providing you with video footage of our interview earlier this week with ever-so-dashing Twilight star Rob Pattinson. (Ignore that ringing in your ears, everyone — that's just Team Edward collectively squealing). Check out Part 1 below to hear Rob talk about his introduction to the series. If that doesn't quite quench your thirst, log onto EW.com in the coming days to devour Parts 2-5 of the interview (in Part 5, he'll be answering your questions, PopWatchers...you know, the ones that a handful of you suggested on our message board last week). Enjoy!
First, I was forwarded the "Wanted Dead or Alive" clip from last season's Supernatural finale. Now, I just received a link to the surprise at the end of last week's episode: Jensen Ackles lip-synching "Eye of the Tiger."
Today show coanchor Matt Lauer was the man of (dis)honor today at the Friars Club annual celebrity roast in New York City. I'd never been to a roast before, but I'm guessing Aretha Franklin doesn't sit down at a piano to sing the National Anthem for everyone. Nor does Tom Cruise make a surprise appearance to join Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Brian Williams, Martha Stewart, and NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker in skewering them.
Reporters weren't allowed to record the three-hour affair, which also featured the filthy stylings of Jeffrey Ross, Bob Saget, Richard Belzer, and Gilbert Gottfried, among others. But after the jump, my notes. Parental guidance is suggested.
In case you missed it earlier in the week, Dancing With the Stars pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who claims he has never submitted to a spray tan (pshaw!), stopped by EW.com to deep-dish about season 7. Two more Maks videos, on a fictional web channel I like to call Chmerkovision, are embedded after the jump.
I've only recently stumbled onto FanFiction.Net. (Don't ask.) I've never written fan fiction, but I've discovered that I'm not above reading it: If you've got an idea for how Booth and Brennan should finally get together on Bonesand it's rated M, count me in.
While some of the hundreds of series represented on the site make perfect sense to me (Buffy the Vampire Slayer had 33,396 stories at last count), others made me do a double-take: 1,122 for Scarecrow and Mrs. King; 158 for The Nanny; 153 for Caroline in the City; 122 for Remington Steele (left); 12 for ALF (right); 3 for Punky Brewster; and 1 for My Two Dads. Really?
So, here's what I want to know: Have you ever written fan fiction? Answer in the convenient EW.com poll below. If so, for which show(s)? (Reveal all in the comments section.) If you don't write it, but you read it, tell us why.
Watching the premiere of My Own Worst Enemy — NBC's Christian-Slater-has-a-split-personality drama — I finally understood how audience testing could screw a pilot: If I were holding a dial that measured how much I liked each moment of the hour, the results would look hillier than San Francisco. (Read EW TV critic Ken Tucker's official C+ review of the show here.) First episodes are always tricky because large amounts of exposition can be tiresome. Make it a high-concept show that can't actually tell you anything (at least not until the final minutes), and it can be even more frustrating because you're constantly wondering if the payoff will be worth the wait... Without someone like Slater in the lead(s), I wouldn't have had the patience. But I'm glad he got me to stick around. And he'll keep me coming back.
The first moment that got me to sit up in my seat, and do one of those surprised-me! coughs you always see in movies, was, of course, when Edward, Slater's secret agent personality, shot (in the head) the woman he'd just bedded after she tried to kill the pillows him. I wrote "KINDA AWESOME" in my notes, but I think that's just because I'm sick of seeing women in their bras and/or panties in pilots this fall (Fringe, Eleventh Hour), and because after Edward uttered a line like, "Don't let an act of deception turn into an act of self-deception," I was craving violence. The moment I decided to give this series a serious chance, however, was when Mavis (Alfre Woodard), the boss of Edward's LA-based super-secret agency, told his alter-ego Henry, the suburban dad, that Henry was the personality that had been manufactured. Now the mystery is (A) Why would Edward sign up for this "program" (and don't feed me that bullcrap about doing it because you don't want to, to prove free will), (B) why does this program even exist (I'm guessing it's not because big bads, like this episode's Uzi, are all so willing to accept that the man who's been hunting them for 10 years is actually two people), and (C) why can't Henry be erased from Edward's mind (does Edward not want to let him go)?
Maybe you wouldn't go back to high school, but I'm guessing some movie or TV show has made you wish you were 18 again, if only for a second. So which one is it, and why?
The thought definitely crossed my mind during Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist (pictured), thanks to the always-charming Michael Cera, and the fact that Nick's gay pals would have loved me.
I wonder if, given the opportunity when I was that age, I would've crushed on Cera instead of Keanu Reeves (Speed) and Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall)...
For weeks, we've been watching the number of comments on our Jeremy Northam, why aren't you a bigger star? item climb toward quadruple digits, and finally, it's happened. PopWatch HQ would like to wish his fans, who've made that April 2007 post their unofficial message board, a Happy 1,000th comment!
Dirty Sexy Money returns tonight for its long-awaited second season (ABC, 10 p.m. ET), and we're all over it: I had actor Glenn Fitzgerald (a.k.a. Brian Darling) shoot behind-the-scenes photos for us as the cast filmed its first two episodes. Pictured, left, are William Baldwin and Peter Krause enjoying some downtime. Check out the rest of the gallery here.
Carrie Bell sat down with the charming/gorgeous trio of Krause, Blair Underwood (Simon Elder), and EWwy nominee Natalie Zea (Karen Darling) to find out what's in store for season 2. Watch the video below and tell me if there's anything hotter than hearing Krause use the word heinie. I think not.
Last week, Media Life Magazine reported on a new study from Marketing Evaluations, The Q Scores Company, which measured and ranked viewers' emotional attachment to broadcast TV shows during the '07-'08 season. ("Emotional attachment" was defined as how committed you are to continuing to watch a show.) This list of the 20 series that garnered the greatest devotion (I've included it after the jump) definitely got EW's TV department talking.
And that conversation got me thinking: Let's do our own informal poll for the '08-'09 season: Name the five broadcast TV shows you are most committed to watching this fall. (I know we all love our cable, so this may hurt a little.)
My list:
1. Fox's Bones (for those of you wondering where the PopWatch love has been, Abby West will be bringing it back starting this week)
2. ABC's Brothers & Sisters (I would happily marry into the Walker clan, if only for the wine; pictured, David Annable and Emily VanCamp) (Also: Slezak is recapping later today in PopWatch, fear not)
3. ABC's Desperate Housewives (for as long as Gale Harold is on, anyway; bonus pic of him with Teri Hatcher, after the jump!)
4. The CW's Privileged (it's like an ABC Family Channel original movie, only well-written!)
5. I was gonna say CBS' Ghost Whisperer — I've got to see where they're headed with David Conrad's character — but really, it's ABC's Boston Legal. They know it's their last season, which should give them plenty of time to plot an appropriately insane, verbose, and (above all) affectionate exit for Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader). In the season premiere, Alan took on Big Tobacco and Denny thought his penis had Alzheimer's — very promising.
Simon Baker plays Patrick Jane, a man who pretended to be a psychic until a serial killer, known as Red John, whom he bragged about profiling for the police on TV, murdered his wife and child in their home — and left Patrick a note saying that were he a real psychic, he wouldn't need to open the bedroom door to know what had been done to his family. Hor-ri-fy-ing. That flashback was set up beautifully: Now aiding the California Bureau of Investigation, as a skilled observer (not psychic), Patrick had already established that Red John always puts the smiley face he draws in the victim's blood on the first wall a loved one will see when he or she enters the room. Why? He wants the person to see it before the body, so that he or she will experience a moment of pure dread. Cut to us watching Patrick climb the stairs to his bedroom, read the note, slowly open the door, and set eyes on a dripping red smiley face. That I had to rewatch that scene to write about it meant I slept with the lights on last night. (Even after watching The CW's exceedingly delightful Privileged to bring me back to a semi-happy state.)
So yesterday, as I'm seeing all those Made of Honor DVD ads on our site and procrastinating by pondering who should be the next Patrick Dempsey (AKA a former heartthrob returned to his in-demand glory), I get the press release announcing that TNT's Raising the Bar has been renewed for a second season. Why not Mark-Paul Gosselaar?, I think. On the condition that he trims his hair back to Commander in Chief/NYPD Blue-length, of course. He's paid his dues, as he's described for us, and he was a good enough sport toboth feed Annie Barrett a cupcake in EW's officesand record a voice for Robot Chicken's recent Saved by the Bell spoof (watch it below). After hearing that Gosselaar told us what a great success story RC cocreator Seth Green is, Green said, "What an incredibly sweet thing to say. I've always liked him too — great sense of humor and a really skilled actor." I'll count that as a second vote for Gosselaar. Is he your pick, or is there someone else you'd like to nominate?
After seeing this behind-the-scenes photo of new cast member Gale Harold on ABC's press site, my excitement level for Desperate Housewives' Sept. 28 season premiere was at a 10 — even with the hair that I would trim and the shirt that I would lose. So you can imagine the squeal excitement at 5:52 p.m. ET last night, when I received an email saying that ABC had just uploaded the episode to the site. I won't spoil it for you, but let's just say that this — or any — shirt really isn't an issue in his first two scenes as Susan's lover.
Joshua Jackson returns to TV tonight with the premiere of J.J. Abrams' Fringe (Fox, 8 p.m. ET). Last month, I stole a few moments with Jackson at his photo shoot for EW's Fall TV Preview issue — read Doc Jensen's piece on the X-Files-esque drama here — and found out why he was drawn to the role of a man described as a "massive pain in the ass" in the pilot; what scene in a later episode sent him to the emergency room; and how much he reminds me of a mini-Clooney.* Watch the video below.
* Charming things you won't see him do in the video, because our camera wasn't rolling:
1) Model the pair of purple satin shoes that a delusional stylist brought to the shoot for him to consider wearing.
2) Tell his publicist that he didn't know what kind of caffeine there was left to put in his body, so yes, it was time to move on to beer for his next photo shoot (his fourth and final of that Sunday).
3) Sit down on a couch beside me after I patted the seat. Reluctantly share that he was exhausted from an 80-hour work week and that he had a 7 a.m. call time the next morning. Check the messages on his cell phone, shout F---! repeatedly, andexplain that his call time had just been moved up an hour.
4) Walk across the room to say goodbye to our four-person video crew and shake our hands again before he left.
For more with Jackson — and to watch Michael Ausiello grill Abrams about Lost at the Fringe premiere party — catch the latest episode of Ausiello TV.
For EW.com's Comic-Con conversation with Fringe's stars, click here.
In honor of Bones' return tonight with a two-hour season premiere (Fox, 8 p.m. ET), I sat down with David Boreanaz yesterday and resurrected the EW Pop Culture Personality Test. Click here to read about how he used to pretend that he was Craig Sheffer to get into bars in 1994 (possibly my favorite story ever), what he asked Farrah Fawcett when he wrote her a fan letter as a child (we think he was joking?), and why he doesn't believe in TiVo or DVRs (fascinating... but wrong). He also went off on Heroes, a.k.a. "the most overrated show on TV," and Fox, for giving Fringe the Tuesday night pairing with House that he clearly wanted — so that's enjoyable, too. As for this "weirdest place" that he's ever done an interview? In need of a quiet location at the Trump International Hotel & Tower, we were sent to the spa waiting room. The soothing music almost lulled him to sleep on a comfy cream leather couch. Luckily, there was just enough foot traffic to keep him awake — and laughing. He greeted every hotel employee that passed through and told one robed woman that she'd made a good choice when she grabbed an orange from the fruit platter. (Though he'd later steal a banana...) When Ivanka Trump walked by, leading a large tour of suits, he repeated "Bones, 8 o'clock, Wednesday nights, best show on television" on loop. (One woman said she was now going to program the show on her DVR — ha!)
If you're in the mood for more Bones talk, check out the The Writers in the Bonecast, a podcast hosted by Lindsey Patten of the ABY forum and Wendy Young of Obsessed With Bones. They invited myself and Jamie Frevele of The Huffington Post to participate in a 90-minute rumble with them last weekend. We covered the season-three finale, the Hodgela storyline (snooze), whether we want to see Zack return in Season 4 (cut and run, I say!), and if/when/how Booth and Brennan should get together.
FYI: You know a crush is inappropriate when you're using an exclamation point.
ABC has announced five new series for midseason: According to Variety, Castle, featuring PopWatch favorite Nathan Fillion, is a "comedy-driven, New York-based police procedural" that "stars Fillion as a novelist who helps the NYPD solve homicide cases." If there's sexual tension with a female detective — and you know there is — I'm prepared to set my season pass now. Who's with me?
Other midseason pickups include: The Unusuals, about a quirky NYPD precinct that employs Harold Perrineau, Amber Tamblyn, and Adam Goldberg; Rob Thomas' Cupid reboot, starring Bobby Cannavale and Sarah Paulson; the sitcom Single With Parents, starring Alyssa Milano (nice of you to join us, gentlemen!), Annie Potts and Beau Bridges; and Better Off Ted, an office comedy that stars Jay Harrington and newlywed Portia de Rossi.
And for those of you too embarrassed to admit your love of cheesy-predictable-awesome Jason Statham movies, bear in mind this one also features three-time Oscar nominee Joan Allen. Which means Death Race can be classified as classy-cheesy-predictable-awesome. In other words, "AYE!"
Bonus for hard-core Statham fans (like me): Click here for Chris Nashawaty's must-read 2007 interview with the star of The Transporter, Crank, and the well-reviewed The Bank Job. Good stuff!
The ladies have spoken, and CBS has heard us them. The network has signed a one-year holding deal with Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin — with the hope of him starring in a new show to be developed by Mark Gordon (Desperate Housewives, Army Wives). No further details were given about the new series, so feel free to pitch Gordon ideas in the comments section. After you watch the video below, that is.
I used to have incredibly boring dreams. When I was younger, I would wake up in a cold sweat after having nightmares about not turning in my homework on time or having to restart my computer several times after the Web continually crashed on me. Yep, they were that bad. But now that I'm older and am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to be constantly immersed in entertainment, pop culture has been popping up in nearly all my dreams.
Last night's was a doozy: I dreamt that I Love Money's The Entertainer (pictured) was offering free foot massages in hopes of raising awareness about Graft versus Host disease. This dream was particularly strange, considering I haven't looked at any of my Arrested Development DVDs in about three months, and my boyfriend is barring me from watching last Sunday's episode of I Love Money because he'd rather see some swimmer guy win a bunch of medals at some big sports event, yadda yadda yadda. And two nights ago I dreamt I willingly entered room 1408 with John Cusack, even though I knew it was an "evil f---ing room." And the worst part about all these dreams is that my inappropriate crush, Robert Pattinson, has yet to appear in any of them, even though I've willed him to hundreds of several times. Come on, work your magic, Cedric Diggory!
How about you, PopWatchers? What were some of your craziest, pop culture-centric dreams?
Who to elect President? What to eat for lunch? Who should win So You Think You Can Dance? Comparatively, fairly easy decisions to make. But boy bands? That's a debate for the ages.
To get you guys started, we compiled a list of the top 20, keeping in mind a range of essential boy band skills: dance moves and/or musical instrument usage, harmonizing abilities, overall shelf life (including reunions), swoon/squeal level and, of course, willingness to perform in shopping malls. It was stiff competition but here is the final list. It pains me to have to even compare the wee Jonas Brothers (pictured, top) to the magnificent Hansons (pictured, bottom). But PopWatchers, it's now time for you to make one of the most difficult decisions of your life: #1 boy band. Ever. Let us know who you vote for below.
Watching Saturday's coverage of the Olympics, we certainly could have found a Stud of the Day* from the United States: Michael Phelps set a world record in the 400m IM to win his first gold medal in Beijing. Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson, and Becca Ward swept women's individual sabre, the "punk rock of fencing." Alexander Artemev, an alternate, reminded us why men's gymnastics doesn't just do away with the dreaded pommel horse (and helped the U.S. qualify for the team finals). So why did we go with Latvia's first Olympic beach volleyball team, Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs (pictured)? Because they made us root against our own country.
Plavins and Samoilovs scored the biggest upset in beach volleyball history, beating gold medal favorites Phil Dalhausser ("The Thin Beast") and Todd Rogers ("The Professor"). The facts:
• The teams had met only once before, and the Latvians (ranked 23rd in the Olympic pool of 24) were destroyed in 32 minutes. • To prepare for Beijing, they trained up to eight hours a day on the Baltic Sea — scrimmaging two on six to simulate the kind of talent they'd face. • Announcers Karch Kiraly and Chris Marlow said all the international players were quaking in their boots at the thought of meeting 6'9" Dalhausser, "the most intimidating player in the world," at net. Not these two. Whereas most teams serve to Rogers, Plavins and Samoilovs gunned for the big man (President Bush's nickname for Dalhausser) and made him work more than he's used to. That's straight out of RockyIV, and we love it.
Who was your Olympic Stud of the Day?
* Not just a man or woman who turns us on. (Necessarily.)
Back in 2005, when EW listed the 30 best sports movies on DVD, I interviewed writer-director Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, Tin Cup) about the package's MVP, Kevin Costner. At the time, Shelton said, "Kevin and I are always talking about making a movie. Finding the ones we agree on and the time in his schedule and mine is always the trick, but we've both said many times we'd like to do some more work together."
It's time to make that happen, gentlemen. I don't care if the movie is about curling (pictured). I want Costner speaking Shelton's sharp, smart dialogue, and I want it now. I say this not as someone actually qualified to give career advice to an Oscar winner, but as someone who coveted her sister's Crash Davis poster for years, who saw Waterworld in theaters (twice), who just sat through Swing Vote. My love for you, Kevin, clearly knows no bounds — as long as you still look good in khakis — but you've got to give me something to work with. Occasionally. Reteam with Ron. For me. Pretty please?
Former O-Town member Ashley Parker Angel turns 27 today. I lost track of the boy, but surprise! He's across the street from EW's offices, appearing as Link in Broadway's Hairspray (and, I'm praying, never running into me after I've had two mojitos at Victor's Cafe).
Below, for your viewing pleasure, is O-Town's legendarily bad performance of "Liquid Dreams" at the 2000 Miss America pageant. They blamed faulty earpieces. (If only I could have found the clip of the boy band being forced to watch a tape of that performance on the 2001 second-season premiere of Making the Band — it made EW's 2004 list of the five best reality TV moments.)
After the jump, a webisode of "ParkerTV," which finds Ashley preparing to sing the National
Anthem for the first time solo, at Shea Stadium in May '08. Show the boy some love.
Just a quick note to let you know that you made me smile this morning when I finally saw you in Brad Paisley's "Waitin' on a Woman" video (below). Also, you totally deserved an Oscar nomination for your work in Waitress.
Best, Mandi
Stephenie Meyer has revealed a spoiler to EW.com regarding an early plot point in Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment to her Twilight series. Click here to read the full article. Then discuss the spoiler after the jump...
If we're talking about something that I own and wouldn't want to have to pay to replace, it would be my 20-disc Kids in the Hall Megaset. If we're speaking of things that are priceless, I would say my now-abandoned collection of "Thanks for last night!" autographs, some of which decorate my office door. (Note to impressionable young EW staffers and all aspiring journalists: I did not obtain any of these autographs while conducting an interview. I am a professional.)
I've mentioned my collection before on PopWatch. It started 10 years ago, when I was at a book signing for Jon Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People.
We were given Post-its to write our names on, so he'd be able to spell
them correctly. I heard him ask the person in front of me what he
should sign in his book, so I wrote "To Mandi, Thanks for Last Night!"
on my Post-it, and when it was my turn to hand my copy to Stewart, I told him
I'd made it easy for him. He wrote it, added "Va Va Va Voom!," and we
were both happy. Two days later, I went to a signing for Steve Martin's
Pure Drivel, and asked him to sign "Thanks for last night!" He
looked at me, in silence, then finally said, "Just don't hold me to it
in court." A collection was born.
Other autographs include: • Stephen Colbert — A 30th birthday present from a colleague three years ago. • Trey Parker and Matt Stone — A present for being a friend's maid of honor four years ago. • Anthony Stewart Head (that's him, dressed as Frank-N-Furter) — I got that one myself, at a Buffy fan convention, five years ago. • Jimmy Fallon — He and his sister both signed a copy of their 2003 book I Hate This Place: A Pessimist's Guide to Life. Twisted, but funny! • Ryan Seacrest — A present from a colleague, from the early days of Idol. • Dave Coulier — A present from a colleague, just because he was friends with Coulier's publicist. • Justin Timberlake — This was back in, like, 2000, maybe. He signed it "Thanx 4 last night!" — how cute was he? — and told the colleague who got it for me not to let it fall into the wrong hands. • Coolio and Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell: I put them together because they were dining, separately, at a restaurant in D.C. years ago, when a friend had them each sign a cloth napkin (that I have framed in my office). Coolio wrote, "Thanx 4 last night & yesterday & the day B4. It was good!" Harwell added, "You bend like no other!" • John Wesley Harding — He signed "Thanks for last night... when you
let me play 'Little Musgrave'" because I'd had the friend who met him
ask him if he really wanted to play that song at every live show or if
he just did it because there was always someone in the crowd yelling
for it. • Rudy Boesch — I accompanied a friend to the former Survivor contestant's book signing (The Book of Rudy: The Wit and Wisdom of Rudy Boesch) in 2001. He kept repeating it: "Thanks for last night?" "Yes." "Thanks for last night?" "Yes." But he did it. • Dave Karpen — A former colleague, also obsessed with Paradise Hotel, got it for me when she ran into him doing a signing at Sephora five years ago.
Here's a confession for my crafty fellow PopWatchers: I'm highly skilled in the art of decoupage. In fact, I've been known to whip up objets 'd arte using a copy of People magazine, a glue stick, and my teenyboppy imagination.
Now as an intern at EW.com, my cube doesn't have an official plastic nametag, so on a recent afternoon, after coming across a small picture of my beloved Justin Timberlake with an actress who's apparently known as Jessica Biel, I decided to remedy the situation; I sized a Facebook-approved photo of myself to fit conveniently over this Biel person's head -- no hard feelings, dear -- and my Faux-to Shopping was the instant horror envy of my co-workers.
I know in my heart I'm not alone in my gluey professions of love for my favorite entertainers. If you've ever sacrificed one celebrity's head to weasel your way up next to another, then it's time to confess your cut and pastes in the comments section below!
Swooning over Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! (read Owen Gleiberman's C+ review here), my sister said, "When you look that good in linen, you don’t need to be able to sing.”
My friends like to say that I'm fickle, and the only time I have to agree with them is when I try to recall a password for something. My passwords tend to revolve around the people that I'm into at the moment they need to be created. So I somehow have to remember that when I joined this one site, I was fond of NASCAR driver Casey Mears (pictured, right) and that he was still driving the #41 car (mears41), and that when I joined another, I was seriously psyched that Sylvester Stallone (pictured, left) was filming a fourthRambo (Stallone04). Of course, I don't remember the passwords, which means I'm constantly resetting them. Thus, a vicious cycle is born. A random selection of other retirees: Parker97 (for South Park cocreator Trey Parker), Colbert01 (for Stephen Colbert), Seeley08 (for David Boreanaz's character on Bones), and, um, Daniel18 (for Daniel Radcliffe).
I realize this debate has been going on for awhile, but I just finished reading Eclipse, the third book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series yesterday, so I'm just now entering the fray. (Oh! If you haven't caught our sneak preview of Meyer's upcoming Breaking Dawn, by all means click here!)
Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob? After the jump, it's on. Spoiler-phobes, beware.
This morning, Today news anchor Ann Curry decided to publicly audition for the role of Samantha Jones in the a.m. news edition of Sex and the City. While interviewing James McAvoy, the conversation turned to his kiss with Angelina Jolie in his new film, Wanted. McAvoy squirmed as Curry tried to get him to admit that it must have been easy work. He squirmed some more while explaining that an on-camera sex scene really shouldn't be a turn-on for an actor because then it would be more like "molesting someone" instead of performing one's job. McAvoy then said he hoped that if their interview included a scripted kiss, he and Curry would both be professionals. What was the wannabe cougar's response? A huge grin right into camera, just before saying she would "throw him on the floor." McAvoy blushed and complimented Curry's shoes.
I don't know if Curry is my hero for saying what I would've been thinking had I been in her place, or if I'm appalled by her revved-up level of flirtatiousness. Check out the interview below — the cougar begins to pounce around the 2:15 mark — and weigh in.
In my ongoing mission to examine all the ways that our love of pop culture makes imprints on our lives — and to populate PopWatch on a slow news day — I'm issuing a spot inspection of your computer desktop. What image have you selected to stare at when you don't have six windows open? (For me, that's approximately 30 seconds a day, so Gale Harold, tiled, should not be at all freaked out by this.)
Some country music fans consider Brad Paisley the king of comedy, but that could just be because they haven't yet sat down for a drink with Blake Shelton, or heard about "Bare Skin Rug," the duet he sings with girlfriend Miranda Lambert on his new album, Startin' Fires. "We'd been gettin' some pressure to do a big ballady cheesy thing, and we decided that if we're gonna do a duet, it's gonna be on our terms," Shelton told us last week, ordering another Diet Coke and Bacardi at the midtown Manhattan dive Jimmy's Corner 
Oh, and the former SNL star has also been cast in ABC's midseason comedy 
People's Sexiest Man Alive issue hits stands Friday, with Australia's Hugh Jackman taking this year's title. I was in complete agreement...until I flipped through 
I knew our bond was weakening when I stopped watching Men in Trees after 
I'll be the first to admit that I get a little too excited over TV movies (see 
Attention Twilighters! Are you sitting down? I suggest you do so before the fainting ensues. It's finally here: Feast your eyes on this week's cover featuring 
Today show coanchor Matt Lauer was the man of (dis)honor today at the Friars Club annual celebrity roast in New York City. I'd never been to a roast before, but I'm guessing Aretha Franklin doesn't sit down at a piano to sing the National Anthem for everyone. Nor does Tom Cruise make a surprise appearance to join Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Brian Williams, Martha Stewart, and NBC Universal president and CEO Jeff Zucker in skewering them. 
I've only recently stumbled onto 
Watching the premiere of My Own Worst Enemy — NBC's Christian-Slater-has-a-split-personality drama — I finally understood how audience testing could screw a pilot: If I were holding a dial that measured how much I liked each moment of the hour, the results would look hillier than San Francisco. (
Maybe 
For weeks, we've been watching the number of comments on our 
Dirty Sexy Money returns tonight for its long-awaited second season (ABC, 10 p.m. ET), and we're all over it: I had actor Glenn Fitzgerald (a.k.a. Brian Darling) shoot behind-the-scenes photos for us as the cast filmed its first two episodes. Pictured, left, are William Baldwin and Peter Krause enjoying some downtime. 
Last week, 
Like EW TV critic Gillian Flynn, I wasn't expecting to find CBS' latest procedural, The Mentalist, what's the word... necessary. If I want banter (and 
After seeing this behind-the-scenes photo of new cast member 
In honor of Bones' return tonight with a two-hour season premiere (Fox, 8 p.m. ET), I sat down with David Boreanaz yesterday and resurrected the EW Pop Culture Personality Test. Click 
FYI: You know a crush is inappropriate when you're using an exclamation point.
I used to have incredibly boring dreams. When I was younger, I would wake up in a cold sweat after having nightmares about not turning in my homework on time or having to restart my computer several times after the Web continually crashed on me. Yep, they were that bad. But now that I'm older and am lucky enough to have a job that allows me to be constantly immersed in entertainment, pop culture has been popping up in nearly all my dreams. 
Who to elect President? What to eat for lunch? Who should win 
Watching Saturday's coverage of the Olympics, we certainly could have found a Stud of the Day* from the United States: Michael Phelps set a world record in the 400m IM to win his first gold medal in Beijing. Mariel Zagunis, Sada Jacobson, and Becca Ward swept women's individual sabre, the "punk rock of fencing." Alexander Artemev, an alternate, reminded us why men's gymnastics doesn't just do away with the dreaded pommel horse (and helped the U.S. qualify for the team finals). So why did we go with Latvia's first Olympic beach volleyball team, Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs (pictured)? Because they made us root against our own country.
Back in 2005, when EW listed 
Stephenie Meyer has revealed a spoiler to EW.com regarding an early plot point in Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final installment to her Twilight series. Click 
As I read our 
Here's a confession for my crafty fellow PopWatchers: I'm highly skilled in the art of decoupage. In fact, I've been known to whip up objets 'd arte using a copy of People magazine, a glue stick, and my teenyboppy imagination.
Swooning over Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! (read Owen Gleiberman's C+ review 
My friends like to say that I'm fickle, and the only time I have to agree with them is when I try to recall a password for something. My passwords tend to revolve around the people that I'm into at the moment they need to be created. So I somehow have to remember that when I joined this one site, I was fond of NASCAR driver Casey Mears (pictured, right) and that he was still driving the #41 car (mears41), and that when I joined another, I was seriously psyched that Sylvester Stallone (pictured, left) was filming a fourth Rambo (Stallone04). Of course, I don't remember the passwords, which means I'm constantly resetting them. Thus, a vicious cycle is born. A random selection of other retirees: Parker97 (for South Park cocreator Trey Parker), Colbert01 (for Stephen Colbert), Seeley08 (for David Boreanaz's character on Bones), and, um, Daniel18 (
I realize this debate has been going on for awhile, but I just finished reading Eclipse, the third book in 
In my ongoing mission to examine all the ways that our love of pop culture makes imprints on our lives — and to populate PopWatch on a slow news day — I'm issuing a spot inspection of your computer desktop. What image have you selected to stare at when you don't have six windows open? (For me, that's approximately 30 seconds a day, so Gale Harold, tiled, should not be at all freaked out by this.)