day 70

sag much?

the screen actors guild awards were held last night.  these awards are pretty cool because the winners are chosen by their peers, members of the screen actors guild.  former presidents of the organization include former us prez (and former actor) ronald reagan, charlton heston (the ten commandments), and melissa gilbert (little house on the prairie).  so, as you can see, it's run by some of the top actors in the field and is currently helmed by alan rosenberg, who was a series regular on the 90s sitcom cybil and has worked on shows like er and chicago hope.  what i like about these awards are some of the categories.  rather than say "best picture," the sag's have the category "outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture." that awards went to sure-to-be oscar winner slumdog millionaire - which really should have been nominated for some acting awards.  what was thought to be a "sore subject" film, milk, also took a top honor, with sean penn receiving the statuette for outstanding male performance.  a lot of controversy has been surrounding the film and many critics were afraid that it would get the brokeback mountain treatment, in which it would be recognized but not awarded because of its "taboo" material.  that's obviously not the case.  meryl streep (big surprise) took home the prize for outstanding female performance and appeared extremely grateful and surprised, which is always nice to see from an actor regarded as "the best" and a lock to win.  it seems like anne hathaway's rachel getting married performance is getting less and less praise as the awards season moves on, but she still has a chance at the oscar.  in honor of her nomination, the film was released in wide release on friday - meaning it can be seen at almost every theater in the nation instead of just art house cinemas.  click here to check out the full list of nominations and winners.  

senator oprah

in his recent interview with the alphabet net's diane sawyer, illinois governor rod blagojevich (who skipped out on his impeachment hearing to make the media rounds) admitted that he strongly considered offering the diva of daytime, chicago-based oprah winfrey, barack obama's senate seat, which he is accused of trying to sell to the highest bidder.  they don't call chicago the windy city just because of the weather.  blagojevich then said - right after - that lady o probably wouldn't have taken the offer anyway.  hmm leave a multi million dollar empire to be a junior senator? i don't know, it seems like a hard decision to make.  oprah released a statement saying that the governor's comment amused her, but didn't say whether she would have taken the position or not, if offered.  oprah has repeatedly said in the past that she will not throw her hat in the political ring, though she did put her toe in the pool of politics this past election season by backing a political candidate publicly for the first time, our current president obama.  i feel like had oprah taken the seat, she would have screamed things like "you get a bill passed, and you get a bill passed, and you get a bill passed!" a la the "you get a car" debacle of a few years ago.  

abc shelves betty

abc's comedy golden child, ugly betty, will be taken off the air for midseason-season hiatus to make room for a block of 2 half hour comedies starting in late march.  rather than a betty lead in to abc's highest rated show, grey's anatomy, viewers will be able to see the return of samantha who? (which was put on hold for the bachelor, whose ratings have been huge this season) and the new show in the motherhood, based on the web-series starring chelsea handler, leah remini, and jenny mccarthy.  while original plans for the show included keeping handler on board, the comedian has since left the project to focus on her late night show, chelsea lately, and stand-up career.  she's been replaced by best week ever mainstay jessica st. clair, who joins megan mullaly and cheryl hines.  the alphabet net apparently wants to go to a "cable schedule" (basic tv's competition in the digital age), with fewer reruns and more focus on "pet project" series.  wednesdays will also get a comedic makeover on abc, with scrubs and the new portia de rossi sitcom better off ted taking pushing daisie's former time slot, along with former thursday newcomer life on mars, which was replaced on greysday by spin off  private practice.  ugly betty will probably be off the air for six weeks, returning with only a handful of new episodes to finish off the season.