Oprah to interview "Mad Men's" Don and Betty Draper
January Jones and Jon Hamm will guest on Monday's show.
Kara DioGuardi shopping a reality show — "Dropped"
"It takes the best acts that have been dropped and gives them a second chance," says the "Idol" judge. "You look at Katy Perry, the Jonas Brothers, Alicia Keys, and Lady Gaga, they all have one thing in common: They've all been dropped from their labels … I was dropped."
Should Alan Ball follow the "True Blood" books?
“I was like, ‘Wow,'" says Ball of a shocking plot point. "But I can’t really tell you what I’m going to do story-wise. So much of the appeal of the show depends on the element of surprise.”
"Law & Order: CI" is in for a shake-up
Julianne Burrows is out, will Saffron Burrows replace her? Plus, will Jeff Goldblum be back?
"Laugh-In" star Henry Gibson dies at 73
Gibson was one of the original member of the landmark 1960s series. "Henry was an integral part of 'Laugh-In' for a long time, and he was brilliant," said Gary Owens, the show's announcer. "He was a very funny man."
Conan O'Brien is repeating the same "Tonight Show" mistakes that Jay Leno made in his early days, according to Jim Windolf. For instance, Leno learned that a massive, expensive stage — like the one Conan has — is a turnoff to viewers. Conan, says Windolf, hasn't been himself and he "is allowing himself to play the good son to NBC-Universal's rich papa. At times he looks like a nine-year-old boy all duded up for a Sunday-night supper at the country club. There he stands, naked and alone under the gleam, which seems too bright for late night, with only his old comedy homeboy (and, let's face it, possible jinx) Andy Richter seated nearby to put him in mind of the smelly improv stages and foul writers’ rooms where he got his start. At some point, Conan, like Jay before him, has to grab 'Tonight' away from the well-meaning executives, before they fire his Harvard ass." Windolf also points out that "Although Leno is called a conformist and a hack and a survivor and all that kind of thing, he certainly positions himself against his network bosses more aggressively than the more rebellious-seeming Letterman or Stewart."
"It may lack 'Melrose Place's' flashy production values and trashy pedigree, but it makes up for that by being marginally better written, though admittedly, we're not talking about a particularly high bar here," says Robert Bianco. "Unfortunately for 'Life,' the minus side predominates. Say what you will about the relative value of trash and flash, but without them, this teen drama quickly turns so torpid and vapid, you'd think its sole goal was to reinforce model stereotypes along those lines."
