day 2.115

was this really a secret?

the worst kept secret of the tween world is a secret no more. it turns out that joe jonas and demi lovato actually are dating. yeah, i know...shock. the duo, who recently recorded "make a wave" for disney's go-green initiative (check out the vid above) have finally come clean about their special friendship. demi was being interviewed by access hollywood's billy bush when she let the truth slip. when bush asked the disney darling if she had ever dated one of the jobros, she responded with "maybe" before calling joe her bff...and then alluding to their relationship and saying she's never felt happier. well great for these two, but kind of weird. he's 20+, she's still a teen. oh well...

in tv news...

there are some big things happening on some of your favorite shows. first up: 24. the action-adventure serial may be coming to an end...on fox. the network is apparently set to announce an end to the series, but one network might save the drama: nbc. yep, the peacock net is strongly considering picking up the show should fox tank it. the only problem is that 24 costs a lot, a lot of money to make. like movie money. but, it brings in a big enough audience that it's probably worth it to nbc. they need some sort of audience. expect an announcement from fox in the next coming days ... betty white is returning to tv: in two forms. it's been confirmed that the "golden girl" will co-host snl for a special "ladies of comedy"/mother's day episode in may alongside former snl funny ladies tina fey, amy poehler, ana gasteyer, mya rudolph, molly shannen and rachel dratch. white will also pop up on abc's the middle as a snarky school librarian in the show's season finale. that should bring a bigger audience to the ok comedy ... katherine heigl is officially off of grey's anatomy. ok, it's not official, offical, but it's soon to be. the actress was set to return to the abc show's set this past week, but her return date came and went with no sign of heigl on set. apparently show creator shonda rimes is done with heigl and is fine leaving izzie's storyline where it ended on katherine's last grey's appearance a couple of weeks ago. i think that's a big disservice to the fans by both sides of this battle, but i'm glad this back-and-forth is all done. good riddance.

day 2.104

change is a comin' to grey's

there's some shuffling about to go on cast-wise on grey's anatomy. in addition to the possibility of katherine heigl leave saying sayonara, it looks like some of the new faces we've been introduced to this season will be going adios too. and at least one new face will be popping up. i don't know which ones, but at least two of the merged mercy west staffers won't make it past summer. jason george - ben, the anesthesiologist bailey's had her eyes on lately - has been cast in abc's pilot off the map, also produced by grey's creator shonda rimes. chances are the network is going to pick up a shonda production, so bailey's heart is bound to be broken. the good thing about him getting the pilot, though, is that we are bound to see him again since he'll still be working for abc and shonda. off the map is - surprise, surprise - another medical drama. in other grey's casting news, it looks like mcdreamy is getting a sister. but, she won't be popping up on grey's anatomy. instead "little shep" - played by caterina scorsone formerly of lifetime's missing and the syfy miniseries alice - will be joining the oceanside wellness crew over on private practice. they have to find some way to keep having these shows cross over during sweeps!

day 2.24

television scoopage

there's nothing i really want to talk about today so... lets discuss tv! first off, we must say eulogies for two fallen talk shows: the bonnie hunt show and it's on with alexa chung, both ending after their current seasons. bonnie hunt really is a loss. alexa chung? not so much. i never got her; she was a british whasian who talked down to everyone. and definitely was not a replacement for my beloved trl (rest in peace). but bonnie? why, bonnie, why? in the ongoing comedienne-turned-talk show host tradition, bonnie was somewhere in between rosie and ellen, but never found a consistent audience. i'm going to miss her "ask alice" segment with her mom (though that wasn't going to last all that long anyway because of nature) and her constant real housewives of atlanta skits, like the one above. hopefully someone will save bonnie. or at least give her another sitcom. just not another cheaper by the dozen. please. ok, now for the more usual spoiler fare ... it looks like there are going to some relationship issues when grey's anatomy returns in january. little grey and mcsteamy (aka lexie and mark) are probably headed for splitsville, as mark is set to reteam with addison when she makes a cross-over appearance from private practice and lexie will get a wandering eye. should be interesting. the thing i never understand is, when the audience likes a couple together, why do they have to mess with it? just leave it alone. i get ross/rachel type things, but mark and lexie aren't the central couple ... if you watch gossip girl, you'll have to wait until march to figure out what all went down this past monday. the one thing we do (sort of) know is that chuck saw his thought-to-be dead momma standing at his dad's grave. she'll reportedly reveal herself as momma bass when the show returns, but all signs point to impostor ... we all know glee is off the air until april, but details are leaking out now that the show is back in production for the spring premiere. the biggest change when the show returns will be the characters' sports background. instead of football, puck and finn will be playing some bball. i wonder if quinn will start a renegade preggo cheer squad for basketball games? there's also a rumor that there will be a little american idol crossover, with adam lambert stopping by. no word on whether he'll play himself or not ... both the hills and the city have been renewed for yet another season. hello, mtv? 2005 called and it wants you to cancel those shows. both series saw a major decline in ratings (especially the hills, which was pulling in less than half of its former ratings thanks to lauren conrad's replacement by kristin cavallari). i didn't watch either of the shows this season and probably won't watch them when they come back, unless lauren stops by. the biggest surprise here is that audrina will be back, even though production for her own spin-off was supposed to be underway in the new year ... and that's all folks!

day 357

grey's adds another blonde to the mix

grey's anatomy has cast levin rambin (formerly of terminator: the sarah conner chronicles) as a recurring character that will pop up in with next week's episode, "holidaze." there's no word on just exactly who levin will play, but there are sure a lot of rumors. one storyline is that a woman from mcsteamy's (eric dane) past comes back to wreak havoc on his relationship with little grey (chyler leigh). but who is this "woman?" apparently, she's mcsteamy's long-lost daughter. wow, grey's, way to be creative. remember how you already have one character with a secret child past? hello, izzie and her 16-year-old self's adoption. however, levin may just be a new romantic rival for lexie. either way, hopefully this will make the lackluster season that is the abc powerhouse a little better.

day 289

izzie, seattle grace's latest casualty

no, katherine heigl's izzie stevens won't be headed to the hospital in the sky like tr knight's george o'malley, but we will be seeing significantly less of the grey's anatomy doc this upcoming season. as part of her burgeoning film career, katherine heigl has requested a leave of absence from the show in order to film life as we know it, a romantic comedy she is also producing alongside her mother. katherine will be mia for 5 episodes this season, entertainment weekly reports, which will probably coincide with meredith's exit, aka ellen pompeo's maternity leave. that means grey's will be both izzie and meredith-less half-way through the season. this is the first time that katherine heigl's movie schedule has directly impacted filming on the show that gave her a career, the first in what is sure to be a number of signs that she will leave the show permanently sooner rather than later. how will two major character absences be explained? e! reports that seattle grace will be merging with cross-town rival mercy west this season, meaning the hospital will be double the size and with double the drama. as part of the merger, the staff has to be downsized - and izzie is the first casualty. yep, dr. stevens is getting fired. the hospital merging chaos is also the background for meredith's disappearance; rather than getting fired, she'll simply fade into the background as some of mercy west's doctors take the forefront. three new faces we'll be seeing are robert baker, jesse williams and nora zehetner, pictured below.

but, don't worry - you won't be completely meredith-less during that time period. taking a cue from the hills, ellen pompeo is recording meredith footage that can be used throughout the episodes where she's not a major player, much like lauren conrad filmed reaction shots for various scenarios before her mtv contract was up. plus, the introduction of these new characters is a move by the producers to recreate er-like success, keeping new faces coming so that in a few seasons they'll be familiar, even if the entire original cast is gone. there are also rumors that patrick dempsey's mcdreamy will go missing when meredith and izzie return in order for him to film a movie. welcome to the new grey's anatomy. hopefully this season will be a good test for the behind the scenes crew to figure out the future of the show. because, if they don't, grey's is sure to take a nose-dive.

day 257

tv news

surprised? okay, we all know by now that my fallback blog is about tv casting. let's get to it. gossip girl is about to get fierrrrrce. the cw staple will be getting a dose of america's next top model when one miss tyra banks stops by. the model-turned-actress-turned-tv host will pop up in episode 4 as a costar in olivia's (hilary duff's character) film. the big shocker? tyra won't be playing herself. rather, she'll be playing a diva actress named ursula nyquist who rules the movie set and is being waited on hand-and-foot by...serena van der woodsen? serena get's a job as a publicist intern and is in charge of monitoring the diva star (shouldn't be much of a stretch for tyra, right?) at the premiere of the film. and it sounds like a cat fight might be in the works. this should get interesting. i'm sure gossip girl will be ambushed with antm commercials throughout. and promos for tyra's talk show, which is moving to the cw full time in the fall. they should really just change the channel's name to tbn, the tyra banks network ... it looks like grey's anatomy is finally done with george o'malley. after tr knight decided not to come back for one last episode, the cast was spotted filming a funeral scene (above). katherine heigl took time for a smoke break while dressed as cancer patient izzie while on set. smart. in more grey's/katherine news, it turns out the 17 hour day i talked about yesterday was...dun dun dun...because of katherine! allegedly, the day had to be so long to accommodate the star's busy promotional schedule for her film, the ugly truth. i guess the ugly truth is that katherine likes to burn bridges ... and, finally, in ugly betty news, it looks like the title character will finally be getting a makeover. after 4 years, betty will be upgrading her look to match her new job as an editor at mode. focus groups are reportedly occurring as i type to evaluate sample looks for betty for the new season. apparently, betty's new look will be "classier" but still unpolished and needing work. along with new clothes, betty's eyebrows will be tamed, she'll get new make-up, and new hair. and the biggest change? betty will be losing her trademark braces! finally. the braces part won't be right away (like the other changes), but rather be an underlying story line throughout the season. this should be good. hopefully, the move to fridays won't kill the show that seems like it's still growing.

day 256

heigl gets hassled

katherine heigl is finally getting it handed to her. the grey's anatomy actress has become infamous for her not-so-friendly comments regarding the people she works with. when promoting knocked up, her first big picture role (which was originally anne hathaway's), heigl said that she felt the film "paints the women as shrews," while the men come across "lovable." while that might be true, heigl isn't exactly picking roles that make women look great. if she wanted to do that, she probably wouldn't be going the romantic comedy route. in 27 dresses, heigl played a desperate woman who would do anything to make her boss happy because she lusted after him, even though her feelings were not reciprocated. and, in her latest effort (last week's the ugly truth), heigl's character dons a pair of vibrating panties and sluts herself up to get the guy. real dramatic, career defining stuff. so, when judd apatow and seth rogen appeared on the howard stern show, they got their chance to sound off on the ungrateful actress. in response to the vibrating pantie scene, rogen said, "i'd have to see if that was uplifting for women." when apatow tried to stand up for the star, rogen retorted back, "i didn't slip and i was doing fucking interviews all day too ... i didn’t say shit!" sounds like there's more than a little bit of bad blood between the duo." to backtrack a little, apatow and rogen did give heigl praise for her work on knocked up, claiming she could improvise with the best of them and "could not have been cooler" during filming. i guess they don't exactly want to burn bridges, like katherine. known to be unhappy with her grey's anatomy deal, heigl has been mouthing the show's production while making the talk show rounds for the ugly truth. heigl keeps telling the story of how, on her first day back on set, the cast and crew were there for 17 hours, adding "i hope this embarrasses them." why leave such a cushy job? i've said it once and i'll say it again. patrick dempsey has had just as many box office successes as katherine and isn't bolting from the top drama. have a little gratitude. dempsey and heigl's former grey's costar, tr knight (george), recently made the cover of entertainment weekly. in the issue, show creator shonda rhimes was quoted as saying that she was disappointed that knight would not come back for a final episode she had planned as part of the season opener. the episode would have followed george's final day alive, documenting the heroism he demonstrated in the bus crash that left him as a disfigured john doe. just one more episode can't be that hard. it appears like knight didn't have enough respect for the cast or his character, george. a final episode in his memory would have given closure to the character and finished his story line gracefully. now we'll just be stuck with another hospital death. no wonder knight and heigl are bffs.

day 248

tv updatesss

i know it's boring, but it's all there is to talk about today. fall shows are officially back in production and casting news and plot lines are starting to leak out. first up: ugly betty. betty has officially been replaced by soprano's star jamie lynn sigler. don't worry; sigler is just taking over betty's old job as assistant to daniel meade (becuase betty got promoted to editor in the season finale). jamie will play natalie, a recurring character who is part sexy, part spiritual. sigler will first pop up on the second episode of the season on october 16th. yep, betty won't be back until october 9th. starting so late and the move to friday for the abc show really makes me nervous. hopefully the alphabet net has some really creative advertising efforts and knows that friday ratings are always less than stellar; betty deserves more than just one final, crappy season. reports are surfacing that a long planned musical edition of the show will take place this coming season to keep interest ... in grey's anatomy news, creator shonda rimes is preparing herself for inevitable cast exits. after tr knight's not so shocking departure from the show, rimes knows that an ensemble drama is bound to have a revolving door of cast members sooner or later. the next cast member to leave the show is ellen pompeo, aka meredith grey. but, don't worry - ellen is just leaving for maternity leave and plans on getting back as soon as possible. there's no word on just how meredith's leave will be explained, but it definitely won't be because she and mcdreamy are also with child. shonda plans on taking the show in a more stand alone direction during meredith's absence. rimes also has plans that - if ellen ever did decide to leave the show - little grey (chyler leigh's lexi) could take over the as the "grey" in grey's anatomy.

that's all folks.

day 179

oh no they didn't: grey's anatomy edition 

if you haven't watched last night's grey's anatomy season finale and don't want any hints as to what happens, i suggest you don't read on.  after the finale pulled in almost 18 million viewers, entertainment weekly got an exclusive interview with the show's creator, shonda rhimes. here's what we learned from the episode and the interview: shonda says that, while rumors may be floating around that katherine heigl (izzie) and tr knight (george) want out of the show, the fate of their characters was decided far beforehand; shonda knows how each of the seasons will play out and knows what she wants to do with her characters and isn't capitalizing on tabloid rumors - she swears she doesn't even pay attention to what gets printed.  that said, both izzie and george hang in the balance, somewhere between seattle grace hospital and heaven.  but, it looks like they either will both go bye-bye or both hold on.  why? because when asked "do you know which one of them lives and which one of them dies?" shonda responded "i don't know that you should be saying 'which one of them lives and which one of the dies.' i know what happens to the characters." so somethings happening and they might not be dead or they might not be alive. inneresting, no? the only problem i have with shonda's explanation is that she says she knows how the characters will play out, but how do you explain network-enforced removals of actors isaiah washington and brooke smith (dr. hahn)?  obviously those weren't pre-planned?  but oh well.  shonda is allegedly the only person who knows what will happen to izzie and george and if anything were to happen to her, the show itself would be hanging in some weird limbo area.  and as for meredith and derek's wedding?  it looks like the post-it is as official as it's going to get, at least for a while.  shonda believes that to the twosome the post it is official and will have "big ramifications" next season.  they show is also going to have to get creative; star ellen pompeo (meredith) is pregnant and will be on maternity leave at the beginning of next season's production.  the show will only have 5 or 6 episodes finished by that time; shonda says she and the writers will decide what happens in early june when they get back from break.  my best bet is that the show will start production early, filming more episodes than normal earlier and then take a break.  there will probably be 2-3 episodes sans-meredith, and i imagine those will focus on christina or, if she survives, izzie.  i still think katherine heigl will leave the show, no matter what happens to izzie. i can see izzie living and deciding on a new life path, away from medicine and seattle. shonda also took time in the interview to semi-apologize for the amount of denny in this season; looking back, it was necessary for the story shonda wanted to tell, but she did sit down with abc head-honcho steve mcpherson and they mapped out how many episodes denny was necessary for.  other scoop? jessica capshaw (aka arizona) will most likely be back as a full time cast member next season, filling the void left by the cardio-thoracic surgeon spot (ie washington and smith).  but the introduction of a new perky blonde could also fill a heigl void.  lots of possibilities ahead - too bad we have to wait until september to find out what will happen in the world of grey's. 

america's next top bitch fest

if you haven't already heard, next season of america's next top model will be down one judge. paulina porizkova to be exact.  the former model was booted from the cw reality hit after alleged budget cutting (but we'll figure out if budgets really did get tighter or not if they replace her) and is none too happy about it.  paulina claims she was fired on her birthday and keeps leaking a little bit of info about the situation here and there, none of which paints tyra banks in a great light.  paulina was given no forewarning or reason really for her firing other than money concerns, but thinks her having voiced her opinion may have been the real reason.  paulina said she took up her issue of tyra keeping the crew waiting up to 6 hours for the judging shoots with producers and didn't get back any positive responses.  porizkova admits to having mini hissyfits, screaming "we can all be here on time, why can't tyra?" but she still thinks she's been wronged and i do too.  while paulina doesn't think tyra felt threatened by her, she may have. while tyra may appear super sweet, she's a business woman and knows she has to keep herself in mind first.  so when anyone starts to take her spotlight, they get cut - including the contestants.  notice how tyra almost always picks the less-likely winner; the runner-up is almost always the stronger contender, but that means they could have success and that's just not okay.  paulina says tyra's world is very self-centered and that tyra never paid much attention to paulina.  sounds like a case of the divas to me, but who really cares anyway?  none of the antm winners do anything worth noting beyond their "my life as a covergirl" segments and the show's viewership is tanking, with this week's finale being the least watched season ender ever.  

day 85

melrose gets some residents 

the see-dub's reboot of beverly hills, 90210 spin off, melrose place, finally has some residents, according to entertainment weekly.  while no cast members have been announced yet, we will have some "familiar faces" on our hands.  david paterson is the son of original melrose place character jake. he's supposedly a good looking guy with an "omnisexual lover," ella flynn, who works in pr.  other characters include a struggling filmmaker and a school teacher, a "hunky hippie" with a heart of gold, a female med student, and a small town teen who is making her splash in the city in a sexy way.  these characters all sound intriguing, but where's the twist? these are all pretty straight forward.  the cw is apparently going after original melrose cast member heather locklear to reprise her "special guest star" status, while lisa rinna has been desperately seeking a comeback as her original melrose character.  the guys behind smallville are currently calling the shots behind the scenes of the new show (after one tree hill's creator backed out to focus on his original show), so it should be interesting.  the cw's melrose place (which originally aired, alongside the original 90210) will start this fall. 

chris brown update, day 2

the chris brown debacle just keeps getting more and more twisted.  it appears that chris threatened to kill girlfriend rihanna, instigating the assault that took place saturday night.  things got heated after the duo left clive davis' grammy bash, with chris having to pull over to the side of the road.  rihanna then pulled chris' keys out of the ignition and threw them out of the car, infuriating the r&b singer.  he then searched outside to find the keys to no avail, getting back in the car and choked the barbados beauty.  rihanna then lost consciousness and sustained the injuries i reported on earlier.  brown was released after posting the $50,000 bail and is set for a trial in march.  chris has also lost more work, with his recent (and popular) got milk? ad campaign being taken out of print, effective immediately, and with some radio stations refusing to play his music altogether, while rihanna is gaining more and more support, with covergirl upping the amount of times her ads run in magazines and on tv this week.

gray day for grey's?

next season on grey's anatomy may look a lot a bit different.  two of the shows leads - katherine heigl (izzie) and george (tr) - are reportedly being let out of their 7 year contract deals, allowing them to leave the show that launched their careers for other opportunities.  this news comes from the mouth of james pickens, known for his role as chief webber.  however, he might not be the most credible source.  according to other sources, katherine and tr have not been officially let out of their contracts.  abc has yet to sign off on the termination and is still negotiating with the stars.  both actors have repeatedly asked to leave the show because of "unfair work environments" - katherine for lesser pay (even though she is not the star) and tr for the homophobic tirade that made headlines last year.  while tr's character has already been lessened this season, katherine's izzie has become a focal point of the current season and is a fan favorite character.  therefore, losing tr? not so bad.  losing katherine? tragic.  ratings are sure to drop if katherine leaves the show.  and, what exactly would these stars be doing outside of grey's? as for tr, i have no clue.  grey's is really his only major work.  katherine has a semi-successful film career, but i see her going the jennifer aniston route - mediocre films that pay the bills but don't advance her career.  not exactly the fame the two of them currently have.  

day 56

all about the globes

last night kicked off the first of many real award shows of the new year, the 2009 golden globes.  after last year's canceled ceremony (because of the writer's strike), it seems like hollywood was ready to jump right back in the saddle - especially rumer willis, who got to be "miss golden globe" after she lost the chance last season.  there were upsets, unsurprises, and welcome winners to the show.  one of the biggest upsets of the night was mickey rourke's taking home the best actor trophy.  rourke, who has been a trainwreck since the 80s and hasn't worked in all that many noteworthy roles, took the trophy for his work in the wrestler, a semi-autobiographical tale of his time spent in the pro wrestling circuit, against nominees like leonardo dicaprio, sean penn, and brad pitt. while rourke is sure to get some film offers, i don't think he's all that bankable as a star or will have another big role in his career.  another "upset" was kate winslet's double win; the titanic star was expected to win the best supporting actress (drama) trophy for her work in the reader (funny story - winslet was originally cast in the winning role, had to drop out because of conflicts with revolutionary road's filming, and the role went to nicole kidman, who had to drop out because of her pregnancy, and, with the time delay, winslet was able to take the role once more), but the revolutionary road winning best actress (drama) win was a surprise.  anne hathaway was expected to take home the win for her work in rachel getting married, especially after her critic's choice awards win and the glitch on the award show's website this past week.  one of the biggest, welcome wins of the night was slumdog millionaire's best motion picture (drama) award.  the film, which features a completely unknown (at least to american audiences) cast took home the big trophy, along with 5 others (including best director). the young cast is sure to be welcomed into the world of hollywood and given opportunities they couldn't even dream of.  it was also good to see some of hollywood's shy faces, including colin farrel and sandra bullock, both of whom were looking good; colin even took home the trophy for his work in the "comedy" in bruges.  and multi winner tina fey even got to call out a few of her message board haters, telling the likes of dianefan and babsonlacrosse to "suck it."  dianefan took to the boards today to say she's happy for the fame and that she's still not supportive of the "smug smiling" star.  now it's just onto the oscars. most likely, the same people who took home the globes will not be the exact same - mickey rourke, in my opinion, is probably the least likely to take home the little gold man, let alone nab a nomination.  

new moon's new star?

with news that taylor lautner will be taking the role of jacob black once again in the twilight sequel breaking recently (lautner will have put on 30+ lbs for the role and is excited for the chance to not have to wear the ridiculous wig he sported in the first movie), eyes are turning to who will be filling the shoes of other characters in the second film.  one of those spots, that of werewolf leah clearwater, may have been cast in the form of high school musical star vanessa hudgens.  the actress who plays alice cullen in the series, ashley greene, told mtv news at the golden globes that the actress auditioned for the role and will make a great addition to the cast.  it will be interesting to see if vanessa will be able to take on the "dramatic" material, but that ability will be tested when hudgen's dramady bandslam (formerly will) hits theaters in july.  will she be able to pull of something without boytoy zac efron? we'll just have to wait and see. 

hilary duff makes a barely legal deal

former disney star hilary duff, who has been faltering in films since her lizzie days ended in 2004, has decided to return to the medium that made her a household name - television. after she made her lucrative nbc-universal development deal last year, speculation has floated as to what kind of project would she attach herself to? it looks like the star will star in barely legal,  a half-hour comedy/drama about california's youngest lawyer, 18 year old kathleen holtz. no word on whether or not the project will simply just take the idea of kathleen or actually use her name and life. the people behind brittany murphy's little black book are penning the project is slated for next fall. the show sounds like a winner, but will it take off? nbc hasn't exactly been a winner in the ratings since it lost its number one show friends in 2004, consequently the same year hilary left the tv game.  is hilary a big enough name to pull in an audience? it seems like the people who grew up with lizzie mcguire are now the right age for this show so it has a very good chance of taking off.  duff was last reportedly offered the lead in 90210, which went to shenae grimes.  barely legal definitely seems like a better fit.  

mid season shakeups

here's what's going on this half of the season on some of tv's hottest shows.  first up grey's anatomy.  while tr knight's departure is still in limbo, it seems like the show may be losing another cast member. melissa george, who plays intern sadie, won't be returning after this season.  the brit actress was originally signed up for 4 episodes, which was expanded to 8 after critical and fan reception was good.  however, abc wasn't willing to show george the money (which is interesting due to her history with the network - she was a regular in one season of alias) and she's decided to move on ... dan and serena are headed for some love woes on gossip girl. the twosome, who share a half brother somewhere out there, will have to deal with the idea of being "related." then they'll deal with not being related when news breaks of their half brother's death. but, what happens when the dead brother is still alive? that'll be resolved, most likely, at the start of season 3 ... another departure is headed to the ugly betty set. along with christina's (ashley jensen) depature, it looks like daniel's new object of affection (molly) will bite the dust before the end of the season.  how will it happen? my bet is on her ex-fiance accidentally killing her while trying to kill daniel over the split.  

day 43

time to hide that baby bump

chyler leigh (lexie grey), the newest full time cast member to grey's anatomy, is set to have her third child with actor-musician hubby nathan west.  however, the pregnancy will not be written into the show - who would lexie be having a baby with? mcsteamy? that means chyler will be doing a lot of hiding behind counters, clipboards, and patients.  chyler will be becoming an even larger part of the show once it returns in the new year, being the object of mcsteamy's (eric dane) affection - he's looking at her as his latest conquest.  what will addison montgomery (kate walsh) have to say about this during a "very special" grey's-private practice cross over later this season? that just waits to be seen. and, with the imminent departure of george(tr knight), we're sure to see even more lexie. 

pie returns to the big screen

the american pie series is set to return to the big screen, after a 5 year absence and a series of straight-to-dvd sequels. the movie, which will probably be out sometime in 2010, will most likely focus on jim (jason biggs) and michelle (allison hannigan) raising a family.  maybe tara reid will make a return to the franchise? after being ousted from the series for her "questionable" behavior, which has recently landed her in rehab, with the third installment, god only knows she's looking for work.

new years resolutions

once the new year starts knocking on the calendar's door, celebs start getting asked what they'll be resolving to not do come 2009.  cameron diaz said she wants to start wearing bras, stop smoking, and start shopping.  um, okay? i'm good with the wearing bras, and definitely good with the stopping smoking, but what does she mean start shopping? does someone else shop for her or something? what is she looking to buy? hopefully not anymore cigarettes. another known smoker, britney spears, is resolving to stop...biting her nails.  hmm...you don't have custody of your kids, your dad has complete control over you, and you smoke like a chimney and you want to stop biting your nails? i guess it's good to start small? 

day 28

new moon, new stars

it looks like new twilight series director chris weitz may have found his perfect cast. while keeping the majority of the major players around, the character of jacob has been up for grabs.  taylor lautner, who plays the role in the first movie, is apparently not wanted back for the second - he's too "baby faced" for the leading man/werewolf role in the second installment.  the actor apparently very close to stealing the role is michael copon, known for his work on one tree hill, power rangers, and but can they sing?  the actor has nearly 10 years on lautner, coming in at 26.  but, is he too old to play the role? lautner is almost 17, the age the character is supposed to be in real life.  kristin stewart (bella) is only 19 and robert pattinson is 22.  to me, this seems like hollywood's unrealistic portrayal of teenagers.  a teenager can't play a teenager, but someone old enough to have a wife and kids can.  so what if lautner is so young.  it seems like copon and stewart would be too creepy together. the other role up for grabs is that of mind reading vampire aro.  narnia: prince caspian star ben barnes is apparently going after the role.  he seems to fit into the mix, but i'm not sold on copon.  with only 12 weeks until filming on the next movie begins, these decisions better be made fast.  

shenae grimes, headed for mental breakdown?

what is wrong with shenae grimes, former star of degrassi and current star of 90210.  click here to watch the chain-smoking starlet's recent appearance at canadian television awards show, the geminis.  it seems like shenae is either drunk or cracked out - she uses a variety of voices in the interview, appears to have lipstick on her teeth and smudged makeup, and slurs her words.  we do not need an amy winehouse meets lindsay lohan meets shannen doherty circa '94 breakdown with shenae.  i don't get it with these young stars - you're living "the dream," why ruin it? go to work, go home.  no need to go out partying and doing drugs.  i won't be surprised if shenae makes a "post-glitter mariah carey with an ice cream cart on trl" sometime in the near future...hopefully the canadimess won't ruin the newly restarted franchise and will get her act together.  

will smith, forever coming to a theater near you

even with the recent us economic woes, big hollywood studios aren't cutting back on big hollywood blockbusters.  2 will smith sequel vehicles have been green lighted.  first up is the i am legend prequel, which will follow the destruction of america due to the spread of the fatal disease that smith's character dies of in the fist film.  second is the hancock sequel, which is just waiting on charlize theron's signature on the contracts.  smith is known to be bankable on holiday weekends, so these films will probably be out in time for 4th of july of '09 or '10.  

small bits

none of these stories were really big enough to write whole pieces on so here's a few small bites - tom cruise apologized for his matt lauer-scientology rant from a few years ago today, on the exact location of the original confrontation, the today show...it looks like a lot of the tv and music rumors we've heard recently are completely fabricated - nicole richie is not recording an album or working with rihanna...mischa barton will not be guesting on ugly betty...the cw is not working on a gossip girl spinoff focusing on lily and rufus, but will be working on one (yay! georgina still has a chance!)...michelle williams is not planning on accepting any awards on behalf of her late baby daddy heath ledger this season...it looks like tr knight (george) will be let out of his grey's anatomy contract, though he is the third actor in the history of the show asked to be let out (any guesses to the other two? catherine heigl and sandra oh are my guesses - sandra close to the show's commencement - she was a burgeoning indie movie star [sideways] - and katherine last season - she is a "movie star"...in her head)...mark schwann, the big boss over at one tree hill, is in talks to helm the relaunch of melrose place for the ceedub (cw)

day 24

kate's hubby ends private practice 

kate walsh, former star of grey's anatomy and current star of the show's spin off private practice, and her husband have decided to part ways, just 17 months after tying the know.  walsh's husband, alex young, filed for divorce right before thanksgiving, citing the ever so informative "irreconcilable differences."  this is a strange and sudden occurrence as the actress and her man were spotted in early november all over las vegas showing plenty of public affection.  the split is said to be amicable and the pair is supposedly still on speaking terms.  hey, 17 months is like 17 years in hollywood....

lily and rufus, coming to a tv screen near you

while rumors that serena and dan's parents were going to get their own web series spin off of gossip girl chronicling the young lives of the two in nyc were squelched, with blair's maid deroda getting her own, the idea hasn't been phased out.  in fact, it's gotten even bigger.  the former web series idea will become gossip girl's spin off, with the "young" lily and rufus being introduced later in the season through a spin off.  the show will follow the character's meeting and whirlwind romance set in the backdrop of 80s rock and roll nyc.  looks like gg's producers are quite tricky...they made us all believe that someone would be leaving the original ship.  but, instead, new actors will be cast in the roles.  the only question i have is, if the show takes off, what happens when the characters catch up to their sister show's couterparts' ages? hmm...the network and bosses of the show are apparently knocking down these rumors, but they could also just be trying to keep the project hush-hush.  

disney licensed to drive

miley cyrus will be hitting the roads of hollyhood as of today...but just with a learner's permit.  miley got her permit almost a year later than she should of as she just turned 16.  with her permit, cyrus can drive wherever she wants, as long as she is with a licensed driver 25 years or older.  that means she cannot drive around with 20 year old boy toy/statutory rapist justin gaston.  

carey-cannon baby?

mariah carey has recently tossed plans to go on a world tour, adding speculation to the idea that she and new hubby nick cannon are sperminated.  carey recently had to fire designers and back up dancers who were planning on being gainfully employed by the high note songstress over the next couple of months.  mimi was in desperate need of getting pregnant as she is pushing the 4-0 mark...maybe she and janet can raise their old age babies together.  

day 22

ruffalo bro dies at 39

mark ruffalo, the well known romcom actor, and his family, are mourning the death of mark's brother scott today. scott died today from a gunshot wound to the head he suffered last week.  and, with the news of his death, news of how scott was shot has come out today.  scott was allegedly a chronic cocaine abuser and played russian roulette on a regular basis. on the night of his shooting, scott apparently lost his last game of the deadly game, shooting himself.  at least this is what the woman who was arrested, shaha mishaal adham, and charged with the murder is hoping the general public will believe.  this so called "friend," through her lawyer, has said she was simply picking up some keys at the time of the shooting.  however, if adham really was a friend, wouldn't she have wanted to help ruffalo in some way? why would you want someone to continue down that kind of path? i don't know, but this sounds all sorts of shady to me.  

hudson heads back to the hollyhood

jennifer hudson, after being in hiding since her family's deaths in october, is heading back to work.  the american idol alum is set to shoot the video for her next single, "if it isn't love," over the next couple of days in los angeles.  originally, hudson was to begin shooting around the time of her mother, brother, and nephew's tragic deaths; however, under such circumstances, her label postponed the shoot.  click here to listen to the song.  hudson was recently nominated for four grammys, including one for grammy for best r&b record for jennifer hudson.  

new moon gets some direction

summit entertainment is in talks for chris weitz to helm the twilight sequel, new moon.  weitz is known for his work on american pie, as well as directing about a boy and the golden compass.  his work on the latter is apparently what grabbed the studio's attention, as it is a fantasy adventure in a series. but, since the compass series never took off, and the twilight series is already established as a hit, weitz looks to be the studio's new golden boy.  another possible option would be to bring catherine hardwicke back to direct the third and have weitz do the fourth.  as hardwicke wants more time to develop her next project, the time it would take to make the second film plus the time in between the releases, would giver her plenty of time to develop eclipse.  

big changes coming to grey's?

tr knight, who plays new resident george on the hit abc show grey's anatomy, is apparently trying to get out of his contract.  sounds like some very katherine heigl-esque behavior.  too bad tr doesn't have a movie career to fall back on if he gets out of his contract.  the actor has apparently been unhappy on set since the isiah washington scandal last season, in which washington called knight a slur of homophobic slurs.  while knight's spokesperson has denied the rumors, fans of the show have noticed his absence in recent storylines; allegedly, the writers of the show have been minimizing his screen time because of his diva antics on set.  

day 6

all about the ama's

the american music awards aired live from los angeles tonight.  beginning with a preshow, hosted by easily distracted carrie ann inaba, that guy from the bachelor, and nicole scherzinger of the pussycat dolls, the awards was more like a giant concert.  the winners of the night are barely memorable, with alicia keys nominated in almost every category and chris brown taking home three awards.  the show had some of the biggest names in music performing, including the jobros, beyonce, taylor swift, miley cyrus (celebrating her sweet 16 today - closing the age gap between her and uber creep non-boytoy justin gaston), and natasha bedingfield.  the tension backstage had to be high, with jobro exes swift and cyrus being within 100 feet of the brother act at all times.  the biggest disappointment of the night was probably annie lennox's performance.  receiving a lifetime achievement award from justin timberlake, the former eurythmics front woman sang a depressing, one note song rather than a big hit like "broken glass" or "sweet dreams." if you're receiving a lifetime achievement award, play something the audience recognizes and that is a little more upbeat, okay? coldplay's performance should probably have closed the show, with a rain of paper butterflies coming from the ceiling in a constant stream that made a trashtastic mess; a custodial crew kept peeking their heads out from behind the set to see if they could clean up...instead alicia keys closed the show in a black-girl-power number, alongside queen latifah and some rando opera singer. the awards show seemed to focus on keys, even though her latest hasn't even made that much of an impact. oh well, the ama's signals the beginning of the big awards shows, meaning more performances and crazy antics to come. 

teen witch: the musical

it looks like ashley tisdale, aka the tiz, is working on her own starring vehicle in an update of 80s camp classic teen witch.  breaking free (you see the pun there?) of her disney image, ashley will take the role of a teen witch (if that wasn't obvi by the title) in a musical adaptation of the coming of age story.  this news coincides with zac efron's newly announced kenny ortega footloose production. the tiz is also at work on a disney channel pilot based on her lift in retail before hitting it big in the hollyhood.  monique coleman is the only hsm alum to not commit to a new project. click here to take a listen to a song from the original version of the film. 

abc does the grey's shuffle

in hopes to reboot their failing fall season, the alphabet net is retooling their lineup.  with the cancelation of pushing daisies and dirty sexy money, abc is moving the former wednesday staple private practice after its founding show grey's anatomy.  to reinvigorate interest in the franchise, the two shows will have yet another cross over later in the season.  this will move new semi-hit life on mars over to wednesdays to finish out the season with the rest of the current lineup.  the end of dancing with the stars's current season also means the introduction of yet another pointless season of the bachelor.  when will abc learn that none of the relationships are working? the current bachelor is a former contestant from last season's deanna edition of the bachelorette; deanna recently announced her split from her choice for true love. 

that's all for now.

peace, love, and blogs.