Tag: NBC (11-20 of 93)

May 15 2013 10:17 AM ET

Sit back, grab a hanky, and prepare to say goodbye to 'The Office' -- VIDEO

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In just about 36 hours, The Office — the sitcom that made a star out of Steve Carell, brought mockumentaries and cringe humor to mainstream American TV, and largely defined NBC’s post-Friends identity — will close for good.

Naturally, this is a fairly emotional time for the series’s loyal longtime fans… but we’ve got nothing on Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson, and executive producer/Cousin Mose Michael Schur, who let the anecdotes fly and the waterworks flow in this moving, 10-minute-long goodbye video. Also, the guy who played Roy is in there. Remember Roy? READ FULL STORY »

May 13 2013 10:20 AM ET

'Saturday Night Live' host poll: How funny was Kristen Wiig's homecoming?

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Image Credit: Dana Edelson/NBC

You could be forgiven for thinking that NBC accidentally aired a “Best of Kristen Wiig” special instead of a new episode of SNL this past weekend. The show’s former star brought five old recurring characters with her when she returned to host for the first time, including Gilly, Karina the Californian, Kat (of “Garth and”), the Target Lady, and, of course, tiny-handed Dooneese — making for a show that felt, at times, more like a host-less installment from 2010 than 90 minutes of new material.

But even if the episode didn’t quite deserve to be labeled a capital-E Event, Wiig was clearly thrilled to return to her old stomping ground — and it was a pleasure to see how excited her old castmates were to perform with their friend once more.

Will that be enough to help Wiig win the title of this season’s best SNL host?  READ FULL STORY »

May 3 2013 10:52 AM ET

Matt Lauer to Jay Leno: 'I am not a guy who complains' -- VIDEO

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There’s only one veteran TV personality who might really know what Matt Lauer’s been going through since Ann Curry’s dramatic ousting from the Today show: Jay Leno, who’s been the subject of vitriol and derision basically since the day NBC picked him to host Today‘s late-night counterpart. (The height of it probably came during the Great Conan Disaster of 2010, the sequel to Leno and David Letterman’s original Late Night Wars over who would replace Johnny Carson.)

It’s no surprise, then, to learn that Lauer and Leno are good pals — and it’s doubly unsurprising that when the former stopped by the latter’s show last night, their conversation barely touched upon the beating Lauer’s been taking since Curry got axed.

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 25 2013 10:32 AM ET

'Mad Men' star Jessica Pare says 'Zou Bisou Bisou' bug runs in the family -- VIDEO

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It’s been over a year since Megan Draper (Jessica Paré) serenaded her husband — and all of his co-workers — with the sexy French song “Zou Bisou Bisou” in Mad Men‘s fifth season premiere. Even so, her performance is still discussion fodder for people like Jimmy Fallon, who spent the lion’s share of his Paré interview last night on that very subject.

The bad news: The actress didn’t cap off her first-ever late night appearance with an encore of “Zou Bisou Bisou.” The good news: Paré revealed that her own mother has done impromptu “Zou Bisou Bisou” reenactments at her boyfriend’s birthday and random dinner parties, which gives us an excuse to imagine Julia Ormond wearing a mini-dress and shimmying her shoulders at Jon Hamm… all as Kiernan Shipka watches, horrified. You listening, Matt Weiner?

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 23 2013 02:48 PM ET

Five possible career moves for 'Voice' contestant Jessica Childress

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Image Credit: NBC

The Voice’s battle rounds are getting bloody, and they claimed their biggest victim so far this season on last night’s episode, when big-haired, big-voiced Jessica Childress was sent home after battling it out against fellow Team Usher-ite Vedo, on Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.” As my colleague Samantha Highfill noted in her recap, Childress is the show’s “cutest personality” — and her blind audition with Mars’ “Marry Me” was all kinds of fizzy (cruel irony). So what are we to do after her departure, Voice fans: mourn? And more importantly: What about Jess?

But hey, the age of reality competitions teaches an important lesson to its most tenacious cast-offs: If you’re good enough to earn a spotlight, carry it with you off the stage. In the interest of positive thinking, here is some unsolicited/expert advice on where Childress’ career can and should go next:

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Apr 10 2013 04:14 PM ET

Vince Vaughn teaches us how to pick up chicks in 'SNL' promos -- VIDEO

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Though it’s been eight years since Wedding Crashers‘s release and 17 since that of Swingers — man, that movie’s almost old enough to vote — Vince Vaughn still knows a thing or two about how to treat chicks, man. Need proof? Here’s the fast-talking comedian schooling Bobby Moynihan and promoting his upcoming stint as host of Saturday Night Live at the same time. It’s pretty frickin’ money.

READ FULL STORY »

Apr 10 2013 02:28 PM ET

'Ready for Love': Why didn't NBC's dating Franken-show hit?

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Image Credit: Vivian Zink/NBC

NBC shuffled Smash offstage for this?

Though it benefited from both heavy promotion and having The Voice as a lead-in, the Peacock’s new dating show Ready for Love seems fairly dead on arrival. Its two-hour series premiere was the lowest-rated program in both the 9 and 10 p.m. time slots last night, earning just 3.8 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49. (To be fair, the show did beat Smash‘s last-Tuesday episode, which garnered 3.0 million viewers and a .9 demo rating.)

This makes Ready for Love the latest example of a truth that broadcast networks — especially NBC — may be reluctant to admit: Copying The Voice‘s format just doesn’t seem to work.  READ FULL STORY »

Apr 8 2013 05:19 PM ET

NBC releases illustrated pilot script for 'Hannibal'

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Image Credit: Robert Trachtenberg/NBC

Did you eat up the Hannibal premiere last week? Well then you’ll positively feast on the news that NBC has released the pilot script, complete with bloody illustrations, production notes, and episode stills.

A few minor, but crucial, things are different: For example, in the script we see Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham first practice his mind trickery on a yoga mat, and the police officers and agents he works beside don’t seem fazed by his reverse-analysis. Also, that golden FRUM-ing arc of light is actually a pendulum, if (like me) you hadn’t already figured that out.
READ FULL STORY »

Apr 7 2013 09:00 AM ET

PopWatch Planner: '42' opens, plus music from Paramore and the ACM Awards

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Image Credit: Legendary Pictures

The weather is warming up, the brown things are turning green, and it’s time to watch some baseball. Or, if stadiums aren’t your thing, watch some baseball in a dark theater on a giant screen. Advance word on the Jackie Robinson flick 42 is quiet, though the First Family loves it.

The buzz on 42 – plus other things the White House has yet to approve for your week — below.

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Apr 5 2013 12:46 PM ET

Last night's 'Parks and Rec' was an extended homage to 'Infinite Jest'

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Image Credit: NBC

Newsflash: There was more to yesterday’s episode of Parks and Recreation than Ron getting sued and guest appearances by Annabeth Gish and J.K. Simmons. As USC doctoral candidate George Carstocea points out on his blog, the whole half-hour was one long homage to David Foster Wallace’s massive novel Infinite Jest – the number one book you pretend to have read in college.

Parks and Rec showrunner Michael Schur — a.k.a. the guy who occasionally plays Mose on The Office — is an admitted DFW-phile. He wrote his undergraduate thesis on Wallace, directed a Decemberists video based on Wallace’s 1,079-page opus, and even owns Infinite Jest‘s film rights. (Good luck with that one, Mike.) And since a minor character in IJ hails from the town of Partridge, Kan., Schur saw an episode named after and partially set in the town of Partridge, Minn. as the perfect opportunity to indulge in a variety of Jest references.

READ FULL STORY »

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