Friday, August 7, 2009

FX showrunners blast NBC over "Leno Show"
"They should take down the American flag from in front of the NBC building and put up a white one," said "Rescue Me" co-creator Peter Tolan. NBC, he added, was sending the message: "We give up. We can't find anything that will stick."

No more Philly filming for "Cold Case"
The CBS series used to film on-location four times a year in Philadelphia, but not anymore thanks to budget cutbacks.

Actors jump on anti-Emmy changes bandwagon
The Screen Actors Guild has voiced its support for writers who will be forced to pretape their Emmy speeches.

Starz pays tribute to John Hughes
With a double bill of "Sixteen Candles" and "Weird Science" on Sunday night.

"Family Guy" sees the end coming
“I don’t want to go 20 years like 'The Simpsons,'” says Seth MacFarlane. “Ideally we would go another couple of years and then wrap it up. That would be my perfect scenario."

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Kara DioGuardi: "I can't get over" Paula leaving, "I was never supposed to replace her"
"I'm completely shocked," she tells Ryan Seacrest. "It's such a loss for the show…She's definitely the heart of the panel … I'm hoping she'll reconsider." She adds: "I was never here to replace her." (MP3 link)

Victoria Beckham: "I feel like I have the best job that there is"
"I am so grateful to be given such a fantastic opportunity," Beckham told Ryan Seacrest this morning before embarking on her one-day of judging "Idol." She says she got the call Wednesday morning, and that Simon once turned down the Spice Girls, saying that the group would never work. (MP3 link)

Paula Abdul: I've been getting "many wonderful" offers since leaving "Idol"
Paula phoned up the Associated Press last night for her first non-Twitter interview since leaving the show. "At this point, there are so many wonderful things that are being offered to me," Abdul said. "And I got to take a deep breath, sleep a little … and go through everything."

Paula hater beats up Constantine Maroulis
“I’m fine! Some drunk dude tackled me in the middle of the concert and jumped on me," Constantine tweeted of the fight that happened after he voiced support for Paula.

FX boss jokes about cable competition: "We know how HBO feels now"
John Landgraf says it's "flattering" but also challenging that so many basic cable channels have taken a a page from FX. PLUS: FX announces premiere dates for "Sons of Anarchy," "Philly," "Nip/Tuck."

Burglars strike "Survivor" Rupert Boneham's charity
At least $5,200 worth of electronics was stolen from the Indianapolis headquarters of Rupert's Kids.

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President Taylor will get less "24" face time — her hubby and daughter get dispensed
There will be very little President Taylor in the first 11 episodes of next season. "We haven't used her enough," says co-exec producer David Fury. "These stories take on a life of their own and can veer away from people we most want to see. She's vastly under-utilized."

Oprah sued for $1 trillion
An author is suing Oprah Winfrey for plagiarism, claiming she lifted from his book in "Pieces of my Soul." The author wants $20 for each of the alleged 650 million copies sold, which amounts to $1.2 trillion.

Why is Jon Gossellin such a chick magnet?
OK, he's wealthy. But many women are also drawn to the "Jon & Kate" star because they want to rescue him, and they feel like he's been misunderstood.

Tyra won't return to "Friday Night Lights" until Season 5
"Red Dawn" and "Supernatural" is keeping Adrianne Palicki away from the "FNL" set for Season 4.

BBC America censors teenage buttocks on "Skins"
Season 3 premiered last night with much of what made the British series edgy and different from American shows stripped out, including much of the music and a scene in which the male character Cook reveals a giant tattoo covering his butt (warning: nudity!).

Can magic strike twice for Regis and "Millionaire"?
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" returns Sunday, and Reege is really pumped.

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Tyra Banks hides her "Gossip Girl" dress from paparazzi
She wore a big black chiffon gown while the paparazzi were "twippin" (Tyra's Twitter word for trippin') nearby.

"House" to step back from Huddy
“We’re stepping back from it a little bit," says David Shore. "We’re not ignoring it. We have to carry forward… It’s going to go someplace eventually. PLUS: The cast reacts.

Rainn Wilson: If I don't get an "Office" Emmy, there'll be sadness
"I feel like there's going to be another sad, brutal Hollywood suicide if I don't win one of these suckers by the time I'm done playing Dwight," he tells Vanity Fair. "I'm going to be another statistic, another chalk mark in the Hollywood Hills."

Does "America's Got Talent" suffer from "Drag-phobia"?
The Diva League, a drag queen troupe, got soundly rejected this week. "From where I sit, a bunch of lip-synching old drag queens who can't dance is not what America needs right now," said Piers Morgan. "It's not exactly Barack Obama."

"Monk" and "The Mentalist" have quite a lot of similarities
They might seem like an odd couple, but Adrian Monk and Patrick Jane have many commonalities. For instance, as Mike Hale points out, "Monk and Jane, both eccentric and headstrong, have primary relationships with no-nonsense female minders who must rein them in while taking the brunt of their abuse (Traylor Howard’s Natalie on 'Monk,' Robin Tunney’s Lisbon on 'The Mentalist')"

"Monk" is a "post-Oprah detective"
As its 8th and final season kicking off tonight, "Monk" is going out having redefined the modern hero, says May McNamara. "With his many fears — ladybugs, heights, milk, harmonicas and above all germs — Shalhoub's Monk is a balancing act of contradictions," she explains. "Equally irritating and endearing, he doesn't just refuse to apologize for his skewed vision of the universe, he uses it to see what others do not. "Monk" is a symbol of the Accept Yourself generation, a genuine post-Oprah detective; if he were a more recent creation, he would have Asperger's syndrome."
How "Monk" helped make USA a cable powerhouse
Tonight's season premiere could easily sum up the whole series
Geek Dad: "Everything I Know About Parenting I Learned from Adrian Monk"

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Beyoncé to guest on "America's Dance Crew"

"Fringe's" The Observer makes a cameo at press tour // Check out "Fringe" newspaper

Personality helped push Jeanine to win "SYTYCD" // Christina Applegate tears up

Can TV save the music industry?

Fox won't rule out picking up "Futurama" after its Comedy Central run

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