Over the past few months Conan O’Brien has proven to be very adept (and funny) at using Twitter. Furthering his comedic mastery of new technology, he has now used YouTube to announce the long-awaited name of his new talk show, premiering Nov. 8 on TBS. It’s Conaw … er, Conan. Well, see for yourself:
Last season, Lisa Kudrow made an appearance, and ABC has announced today that Jennifer Aniston will now guest-star on former Friends co-star Courteney Cox’s ABC series Cougar Town. Aniston appears in the Season 2 premiere, airing Sept. 22 at 9:30pm ET. No word yet on her character.
This marks the first time the two actresses have worked together since Cox’s former FX series Dirt. Aniston can currently be seen in theaters in the film The Switch.
Belushi and O'Connell in "The Defenders"
Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell, stars of CBS’ new drama The Defenders, will be hosting CBS Fall Preview, a special airing Sept. 6 at 8:30pm ET/PT on, naturally, CBS. The program will also be available On Demand to customers of AT&T U-Verse, Bright House, Comcast, Frontier Communications, Time Warner Cable and Verizon FiOS TV.
The program includes sneak peeks of five new additions to the CBS primetime schedule — Hawaii Five-0 (premieres Sept. 20); The Defenders (Sept. 23); Blue Bloods (Sept. 24); $#*! My Dad Says (Sept. 23); and Mike & Molly (Sept. 20).
And you can rest assured that, according to CBS, Belushi and O’Connell will introduce the video previews with a “fun mix of banter during what appears to be a wardrobe fitting for their Vegas lawyer characters, surrounded by bold suits and pinky rings galore.” Just as long as there’s no wardrobe malfunction.
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© 2010 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. Credit: Robert Voets
By Lori Acken
When ABC began promoting its new sitcom Modern Family this time last year, critics and viewers alike weren’t sure quite what to make of it.
On paper it seemed awfully gutsy — or maybe even lazy — replete with that guy who played Al Bundy (in a red velour tracksuit!) as its biggest star and what, in any but the deftest of hands, would be a barrelful of touchy stereotypes and TV clichés. Rich older gent with hotsy-ditzy trophy wife. Bumbling suburban dad and know-it-all mom. Homosexual couple with adopted Asian baby. And here’s the kicker — they’re one big happy family!
But critics who got the first peek battled for the glossiest superlatives … and as for everyone else, well, those commercials sure were a hoot. So when viewers began tuning in — and they did in droves — they found a show so organic, kindhearted and (still!) gut-bustingly funny that an instant hit was born, even as Family found itself pitted against its critical-darling feel-good equal, the FOX phenom Glee.
“I totally, completely agree with you that when I first heard the idea, I thought in my silly little mind this is either a formula for something genius — or something really generic,” says Ty Burrell, who frequently steals the show as overly exuberant Dunphy dad, Phil. “And I think you’re right that, in lesser hands, it would be nothing but stereotypes. But, in my opinion, the show has an infinite upside because there are so many combinations and so many storylines that can be told in the family. While that would be such a challenge to a writer who wasn’t as skilled as they are, for them it’s just a huge open playing field.”
By Elaine Bergstrom
Cop Out is the story of two partners in the New York Police Department on the trail of a rare mint-condition baseball card stolen from one of them, just before he plans to sell it to pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding. It’s the sort of buddy story that Bruce Willis, who plays Jimmy Moore, the card’s rightful owner, is perfectly at home with. His partner, Paul Hodges, is played by Tracy Morgan, whose comedic flair is perfect for a film blending comedy and action.
The story takes place in Queens and Brooklyn, where the police are dealing with increasing violence and robberies by a Mexican drug cartel. Shooting in the outlying boroughs meant that the familiar skyline of Manhattan could be shown in the distance, implying that the neighborhoods are far removed from the upscale glamour of New York. “We were so happy to make an outer boroughs movie,” says Smith. “Everybody romanticizes Manhattan, but how many people romanticize Queens?”
One reason for filming in the boroughs may be due to Manhattan’s crowded streets, director Kevin Smith noted in an interview with the New York Daily News. “I talked to film crews who had worked in Manhattan and asked what it was like and they said it sucks because everyone hates you when you shut down the streets in Manhattan,” says Smith. “We didn’t have that in Brooklyn. We’d shoot a sequence and people would line up on the streets to watch us shoot. They were so sweet to us, and we shot something we wouldn’t have been able to do in Manhattan. It was just so much easier.”
“Cop Out” is now showing on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.
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© 2010 Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Credit: Abbot Genser
By Jeff Pfeiffer
To celebrate the life of late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who passed away last week at the age of 80, TBS will feature 10 episodes of Seinfeld this week that feature the memorable, fictionalized character of Steinbrenner (as voiced by series co-creator Larry David, with actor Lee Bear standing in as Steinbrenner, usually seen only from the back).
“Who else could be a memorable character on a television show without actually appearing on the show?” Jerry Seinfeld said after Steinbrenner’s passing. “You felt George even though he wasn’t there. That’s how huge a force of personality he was.”
Jennifer Aniston & Gerard Butler in a sexy scene from "The Bounty Hunter"
By Elaine Bergstrom
As any fan knows, Jennifer Aniston has a knack for comedy. But in the romantic action comedy The Bounty Hunter, Aniston — playing a journalist who jumps bail because she has a lead on a murder coverup — also tries her hand at action.
By Stacey Harrison
There’s not much shock value these days in a TV show that opens with scantily clad teenagers prancing about in the sun. But the teens in Huge aren’t the sort you usually see flaunting their physiques.
Set at a weight-loss camp, the ABC Family comedy/drama based on the novel by Sasha Paley premieres tonight. It follows a group of heavyset teenagers trying to get themselves healthy in both body and mind. Girth aside, they tend to fall into the usual high-school types — the pretty girl, the rebel, the shy one, the jock, the artsy outcast — and they often have to navigate the same kinds of cliques and social hierarchies that await them back in their everyday lives. As star Nikki Blonsky puts it, “Even at fat camp, some girls are bigger than others, so that separates them.” [Read more →]
Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve in "She's Out of My League"
Can an average Joe and a brainy blonde bombshell find true happiness together? That’s the question at the center of the romantic comedy She’s Out of My League. When airport security agent Kirk (Jay Baruchel) catches the eye of a stunning party planner named Molly (Alive Eve), no one can believe it’s really happening — especially him.
Part of the reason Kirk doubts himself comes from his pals’ “fool-proof” system of calculating a person’s romantic potential. Actor T. J. Miller, whose character Stainer is the ultimate arbiter of the rating system, explains the complex algorithms that form its basis.
It begins with a simple one to 10 rating system, with 10 being the best, and one the worst. A select few, like Molly, are “hard 10s,” which means they really have no drawbacks.
From FOX:
With New Directions’ journey to Sectionals now complete, are you mourning the end of Glee‘s first season? Now you can be a GLEEk all summer by catching encore episodes every Thursday (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) beginning June 10 on FOX and by visiting the all-new Glee Superfan online experience exclusively at www.fox.com/glee/gleesuperfan/.
The new Superfan experience allows GLEEks to watch full-length episodes while concurrently monitoring the live Glee Twitter feed, exploring the official Facebook page, playing interactive Glee games and sharing video with fellow fans. At their fingertips, visitors have easy access to insider content relevant to the Glee scenes they are watching, including links to download and purchase music. The Superfan experience also offers fans the opportunity to watch their favorite musical numbers, view behind-the-scenes videos with the cast and crew and catch up on what happened in the episodes through “Glee-winds.”
