Wednesday, July 21, 2010

FBI arrests man linked to al-Qaeda who made threats over "South Park"
Federal authorities say Zachary Chesser, 20 of Virginia, made threats over the Prophet Muhammad dressed as a bear episode. He's being charged with helping a terror group affiliated with al-Qaeda.

Ex-"House" prop master sues, alleging cocaine use and sex on the set
Carl Jones says in his lawsuit (as reported by Fox News) that he was fired from the Fox series in March because he didn't go along with the "degenerate conduct" on set. Two of his supervisors, he alleges, harassed him for refusing "visits to strip bars, participation in getting drunk, stoned or intoxicated on cocaine, to participate in sexual conduct at the trailer, and other dangerous conduct."

"Jersey" stars are replaceable; MTV films 400 hours for every 1 hour of show
"Jersey" creator SallyAnn Salsano would drop any one of them in a heartbeat, she tells the Daily Beast , which — noting that Season 3 was supposed to be the latter half of Season 2 — chronicles the cast negotiations and makes a note of what a big production the MTV show is: "There are four overlapping shooting crew shifts (and four craft services shifts too). There's constant video feed to the studio from every room in the cast house. There are seven minivans for crew and security and nearly 20 security staffers. They shoot four hundred hours for every hour of show." PLUS: J-Woww poses for Maxim.

CBS' "View"-like talk show with Julie Chen to replace "As the World Turns"
The "ATWT" replacement is the clear frontrunner over an Andy Richter-hosted "Pyramid" and an Emeril Lagasse cooking game show. Sara Gilbert will host the talk show, which could launch as soon as October with Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne, Leah Remini and Marissa Jaret Winokur. UPDATE: Chen will leave "The Early Show" for this new talk show.

"Mad Men": Inspired by a comic strip?
According to Vanity Fair, "Mad Men" is based on an obscure comic strip called "Those Madison Avenue Men!," which ran in the 1960s. PLUS: "Mad Men" stars before they were famous.

Christina Applegate is pregnant
The 38-year-old former "Married with Children" star is expecting her first child with fiancé Martyn Lenoble.

Elisabeth Moss: I'm "super-happy" with Peggy Olson's new haircut
"I was super, super, super-happy to have my bangs swept to the side rather than straight in front of me, which I dealt with for three seasons," she says of Peggy's new hairdo. "I'm very, very much done with that. So when I showed up and we did it to the side, I thought, 'This is the greatest day of my life, and this is going to be the greatest season ever.'" PLUS: Check out "Mad Men" premiere pics.

Web series tries to envision a 21st-century "Seinfeld"
What if "Seinfeld" was in its 21st season and its writers were suffering from burnout? Check out the results at SeinfeldComedy.com.

Princeton economics prof deconstructs "The Sponge" episode of "Seinfeld"
The purpose of the academic paper "An Option Value Problem from Seinfeld," says economist Avinash Dixit, is "to quantify this concept of spongeworthiness," where the investment is the partner.

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Tracy Morgan gets his 1st HBO standup special

"Glee's" Matthew Morrison returns to his "high school of the arts" alma mater

Coming to stores: Betty White T-shirts, hoodies

"SVU's" new ADA: "Precious" star Paula Patton

Syfy sets January return for "Caprica"

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Jimmy Johnson, Fox NFL analyst and ex-Cowboys coach, is a "Survivor"
Johnson, who led the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl victories in the '90s, is one of the contestants on "Survivor: Nicaragua." At age 67, the TV pitchman will also be one of the show's oldest contestant — not to mention one of the wealthiest. In fact, Johnson was a finalist for "Survivor: Gabon" two years ago. "Survivor" shouldn't, however, interfere with his Fox NFL duties, which begin in early September. Johnson is the 2nd former Dallas Cowboy on "Survivor," after Gary Hogeboom from "Survivor: Guatemala." PLUS: Three of Johnson's former players, Jason Taylor, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, competed on "Dancing with the Stars."

Seth MacFarlane will helm David Hasselhoff's roast
The "Family Guy" creator will serve as roast master for the Comedy Central roast airing Aug. 15, leading a group that includes Hulk Hogan and George Hamilton.

Emmys will honor George Clooney
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will present the former "ER" star  with its Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the ceremony next month for his work with the "Hope for Haiti" special.

Ex-"Bachelor" babes in car crash after "Bachelorette" reunion
At least one of them was hospitalized after attending "The Bachelorette's" "Men Tell All" special taping.

Steve Carell plays the fife for Letterman
Carell also showed off his mouse diorama of himself and Dave on last night's "Late Show."

Glenn Close reacts to "Damages" on DirecTV
"It's very exciting to still be teamed with KZK (Productions) and Rose while going into new territory with DirecTV," she says.

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