Minka Kelly might not be on 'Friday Night Lights' anymore but she is keeping busy. She has just signed on to star in the pilot for a new CBS comedy, 'True Love.' It comes from Matt Tarses of 'Scrubs.' It's about four close friends in New York City and their relationships.
I know, I know, everyone is going to say "hey, that sounds a lot like 'Friends,' doesn't it?" But is that really fair? There are just so many plots that a TV show can have before it starts to seem like they're copying it. I remember when a lot of 'Friends' clones popped up after that show became a hit, but that was more about the timing of those new shows. It's all about the writing and the cast and the direction and all of those elements, not that it's about single people living in Manhattan.
Besides, 'Friends' ended years ago. How much longer will we compare new shows to it?
Paul Reiser, one of the stars of NBC's "Must See TV" heyday of the 1990s, is reportedly returning to the Peacock Network. Thankfully, he's not producing a hokey reality game show like his pal, Jerry Seinfeld.
Reiser, co-creator and star of NBC's hit sitcom 'Mad About You', is executive producing and starring in a new single-camera pilot backed by Warner Bros. Word is that NBC has picked up the project, possibly to help fill the coming gaps in its schedule thanks to Leno's return to late night.
(S07E15) Remember how Charlie and Chelsea's relationship was drifting into the danger zone last week? You know that 'to be continued' we were left with... well, we picked up with the story as Charlie and Alan had cleaned up at home after their sojourn in the woods -- Jake, too -- only to find that Chelsea was pulling a 'Charlie.' That's right, she was coming home in the wee small hours of the morning and hadn't bothered to call. More on that and Alan's topiary below the belt after the jump.
Last week, when Annie posted about the series HBO is developing the comedy 'Tilda,' about the life of "a powerful female online showbiz journalist with a no-holds-barred style," the first person I thought of was Nikki Finke, who writes the blog Deadline Hollywood.
In fact, pretty much everyone who works in entertainment journalism thought of Finke; she's reclusive, opinionated, confrontational, litigious, and likes to punctuate news that corroborates with her inside info with a big fat "TOLDJA!" in all caps. So it's not a surprise to think that more than one person had to wonder if Finke was involved in this show, and if she wasn't, would she sic her lawyers after HBO and anyone else within subpoena-shot.
Gawker called Finke, who, in between threats to sue the site's writer and corporate parent, said she'd talk about her involvement (or lack therof) with the project soon. But The Hollywood Reporter managed to find out that Finke wasn't involved, leading to their wondering if Finke has the right to sue over this series.
How's this for an odd occurrence of non-product placement? On Wednesday night, during the ABC sitcom block -- actually during 'Modern Family' -- there was a commercial for Stouffer's Family Size dinners. The commercial referred to 'The Middle,' making the case for how positive it is for families to sit down and share a meal together.
It was a great idea for a commercial, but did anybody at Stouffer's realize that with the exception of Thanksgiving, the Hecks don't actually cook dinner? They're usually bringing in bags of take out from a burger joint. You see hamburgers and fries and lots of paper products, but it was only for Turkey Day that anybody actually fixed dinner.
Way back when, Ricky Gervais did a hilarious podcast cleverly titled 'The Ricky Gervais Show.' Then suddenly, he stopped it and between that, New Coke and the cancellation of 'Hank,' the world found another reason to stop smiling.
Now HBO is returning that joy to the world with an animated version of his podcast starting Feb. 19. Here's a little joy appetizer, but don't get too full because the main course is right around the corner.
Remember that little incident involving Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke that happened in Aspen over Christmas? At first it looked like it might be one of those Hollywood stories that would go away after a while (community service, a fine, whatever celebrities get in situations like this). But now it looks like it's going to be a major case.
TMZ is reporting that the 'Two and a Half Men' star is going to be charged with a felony. "Felony menacing," to be precise. He is also going to be charged with misdemeanor assault. Sheen is going to be arraigned in court this Monday.
Not sure on how all of this will affect the taping of the CBS sitcom. The show has been going through a lot of odd incidents lately.
I had no idea that Arianna Huffington was also producing TV shows along with being in charge of a giant blogging empire. But she's one of the people behind the new ABC series 'Freshman,' along with Greg Malins ('How I Met Your Mother'). The comedy will be set in Washington, D.C. and will be about three young politicians. I guess Huffington is going to produce a show about something she's familiar with, politics and Washington, D.C.
One of those three young politicians will be Sarah Chalke, formerly of 'Scrubs.' Can I tell you how embarrassed I was when 'Scrubs' started that I didn't realize that Chalke was the girl who took over in the role of Becky Conner (from Lecy Goranson, now called Alicia Goranson) on 'Roseanne' for a few seasons? Looking back now it's insanely obvious but I didn't make the connection until a few years after 'Scrubs' started.
When I first heard about this show, I could have sworn I had heard something about it before, only with another star attached to it and not Virginia Madsen. Turns out there was another version of 'Scoundrels' that ABC attempted, a couple of years ago, only it had Catherine O'Hara in the lead role and it was called 'Good Behavior.'
'Scoundrels' is based on a New Zealand show, 'Outrageous Fortune,' and Madsen will star as the mother/head of a family of crooks who decides that they all need to go straight after the dad is put in prison. I'm going to assume that things don't go smoothly and their criminal pasts will catch up to them in some way. But this sounds like it could be a fun show, sort of like 'The Riches' and maybe a hint of the USA show 'Cover Me' (which I really liked - it was canceled way too early).
This won't be a permanent series though. Right now it's going to be an eight episode summer show.
Uh, yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah, from this TBS report it looks like Gary Cole is going to be starring in a new hour-long comedy from Andy Breckman, the creator of 'Monk.' It's about a veteran Philadelphia cop who has to train his goofy nephew partner. Maybe it will be a modern 'Andy Griffith Show' (only Barney and Andy were cousins). It's called 'Uncle Nigel,' and Cole will be playing Nigel.
Cole is a really underrated actor. He just seems to bop along over the decades in role after role, but if you look at what he's done it's been pretty fantastic, from his role in the NBC drama 'Midnight Caller' (which I think was a little ahead of its time and would fit in nicely today) to a terrific Robert Reed impression in the 'Brady Bunch' movies to his classic role in 'Office Space' and 'The West Wing' (above).
Yeeeeeeeeaaaaah, if you could get this TBS show on the air as soon as possible, that'd be great. Thanks.
It may not have seemed that Sarah Silverman was busy in 2009, especially since the last time we saw 'The Sarah Silverman Program' on Comedy Central was December of 2008. But she was busy behind the scenes.
Silverman filmed 'Saint John of Las Vegas' with Steve Buscemi, which played the festival circuit last year and gets a wider release this year, 'Peep World' with Michael C. Hall and Rainn Wilson, and wrote her memoir, 'The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee,' which is due in April.
Silverman was also negotiating with Comedy Central for 'The Sarah Silverman Program.' Comedy Central wanted to cut her budget from $1.1 million per episode to $850,000, which was a non-starter for Silverman and her partners.
(S01E14) I kind of like the relationship developing between Bob and Mike. When Mike threw him out of the house a few weeks back, I was actually a bit taken aback. Sure, Bob's a bit -- okay, a lot awkward, but he has a good heart and he's a decent guy. And he's good friends with Frankie.
It's made the writing seem a little uneven, as there are times Mike hasn't seemed nearly as bothered by Bob as he was that day. This week, we found out for certain why Mike gets annoyed by Bob. In fact, I'll take it one step further and say that we were right there with him. Good lord, how does Frankie even handle him? Oh, that's right. She's so fixated on her own messed up life, she hardly pays any attention to him. Mike should try that.
'Outsourced,' one of what seems to be many Indian-infused situation comedies inspired by the wild success of 'Slumdog Millionaire,' actually came to a theater near you long before NBC picked up the pilot.
The movie as well as the TV show is based on an American who finds himself running a customer service department for a novelty company. The trailer included below actually gave me a couple of good chuckles and some hope that NBC isn't picking up its one-millionth 'The Office' clone.
'Slumdog Milionaire' may have been a gripping and uplifting tale of adversity and triumph that is starting to inspire a slew of new TV pilots, but it looks like it's about to run its course. Obstacle course, that is.
Check out this trailer for what appears to not only be a revival of the 'Slumdog Millionaire' franchise, but also a classic children's TV favorite for the big screen. I double dare you to watch it or take the physical challenge.
(S07E14) Uh oh -- has Charlie made a critical error in his relationship with Chelsea? It depends on how to look at it, but the Humpster misplayed the situation in this episode and that "to be continued" at the end suggests that something wicked may be coming.
On the plus side, it looks like Alan won't be losing his man-cherry in the slammer, and Jake has a future in horror movie sound effects.
Alan has shown more talent on his man-dates with Herb than the Internet dates he's had. He was in rare form with the latest eHarmony hook-up, talking socks and sex. If he still had his ventriloquist's dummy, he would have pulled it out. But Alan did show us something we'd never seen from him before. The monster. Okay, it was just one lucky punch, but still...
Minka Kelly might not be on 'Friday Night Lights' anymore but she is keeping busy. She has just signed on to star in the pilot for a new CBS comedy, 'True Love.' It comes from Matt Tarses of 'Scrubs.' It's about four close friends in New York City and their relationships.
Paul Reiser, one of the stars of NBC's "Must See TV" heyday of the 1990s, is reportedly 
Last week, when Annie posted about the series 
Remember that 
I had no idea that Arianna Huffington was also producing TV shows along with being in charge of a 
When I first heard about this show, I could have sworn I had heard something about it before, only with another star attached to it and not Virginia Madsen. Turns out there was another version of 'Scoundrels' that ABC attempted, a couple of years ago, only it had Catherine O'Hara in the lead role and it was called 'Good Behavior.'
Uh, yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaah, from this TBS report it looks like 
It may not have seemed that Sarah Silverman was busy in 2009, especially since the last time we saw 
(S01E14) I kind of like the relationship developing between Bob and Mike. When Mike threw him out of the house a few weeks back, I was actually a bit taken aback. Sure, Bob's a bit -- okay, a lot awkward, but he has a good heart and he's a decent guy. And he's good friends with Frankie.
(S07E14) Uh oh -- has Charlie made a critical error in his relationship with Chelsea? It depends on how to look at it, but the Humpster misplayed the situation in this episode and that "to be continued" at the end suggests that something wicked may be coming. 
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