"NCIS" set security guard dies in freak accident
The 52-year-old security guard was killed this morning when he was hit by a van for the "NCIS" production that lost control.
Charlie Sheen offers to pay "Two and a Half Men" crew — at least 1/3 of their salary
But Sheen is only willing to pay if CBS and Warner Bros. each contribute 1/3 of the pay. PLUS: Sheen's image soars among fans, and tonight E! airs "Charlie Sheen: The Party Never Stops."
Steven Tyler is chiefly responsible for reviving "American Idol"
The Aerosmith frontman has done all the heavy lifting so far, especially unexpected charm, according to Jon Caramanica. "Mr. Tyler's face alone," he says, "is worthy of a weekly show, loose skin slippery over a distant skeleton. He's a Claymation figure come to life, all elasticity and wrinkle. He dresses like a shaman, a time-traveling dandy or a runaway hippie teen. His grin is wide and white, like the Joker’s, and when he’s laughing, really he's braying. But mostly he's been great because of his words, which veer from insightful to empathetic to cutting. It’s only a month into the season, and already the show has generated signature Tylerisms — bon mots that stick."
Watch tonight's juvenile/"controversial" cold open
Prediction: "Idol" will have a ratings renaissance // Meat Loaf refuses to watch Tyler
Simon Cowell compares the new "Idol" judging panel to "Extreme Makeover"
"They seem to be really nice, and they're sweet to everyone," he says. "It's like a sort of singing 'Extreme Home Makeover.'"
History channel planning a Civil War week
To mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, history will air a "Gettysburg" from "Ridley Scott, as well as special Civil War-themed episodes of "Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers."
Letterman surprises Regis with roses
Watch him give a bouquet of roses during a surprise visit to "Regis and Kelly."
Bravo rejects Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt on "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills"
"Hell no," says Andy Cohen.
In real life Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton are like brother and sister, who travel together — he in a motorcycle, she by car — from California to Texas. "Most of us deal with stuff and life goes on around us as we're dealing with stuff," says Jason Katims. "Really great couples can have these big arguments. What's so great about what Kyle and Connie built as far as their own relationship, and the relationship of their characters, is that they allowed us as writers to be able to put that marriage through every challenge we could come up with because you knew you were going to watch them deal with it and thrive because of their connection."
"I hate to tell you, I have not a clue," he says of playing the same type of character over and over again. "I don't know what it is – part of me thinks that you do it once and it works, so people say, we'll get him, that works. Kind of the trick of it all is that I'm always trying to battle against that idea that if it worked before, then do it again because you just want to be liked."
"The show just has no texture," Matthew Gilbert says of Matthew Perry's new ABC sitcom. "It feels very much like an executive-producer-bred project, as opposed to a hands-on writer-producer’s project. It’s as if the executive producers involved — they include Perry, Thomas Schlamme from 'The West Wing' and 'Studio 60,' and Jamie Tarses, former NBC and ABC executive — agreed they wanted a series with the vague concept of having Perry play a grumpy guy in a midlife crisis. And then they all stopped focusing, leaving the nitty-gritty — you know, the scripts and the characterizations — to whoever. 'Mr. Sunshine' feels as unrealized as a blueprint."
"The show is point-blank, but somewhat brilliantly so," says Hank Stuever. "A lot of cops shows come and go (and in some cases, such as the spotty 'Southland,' slide over to cable), and each struggles to establish character depth while maintaining a bullet's momentum. On network prime time, cop shows are also unfairly saddled with cross-purposed burdens: They need the instant ratings and procedural facility of a hit like 'NCIS,' but they also must meet the impossible critical demands of a show like 'The Wire.' (Fast! But slow.) This is something 'The Chicago Code' gets almost exactly right – a mix of light and serious – thanks mainly to a knack for fizzy dialogue and the well-regarded success of Ryan's previous, modest hit, 'The Shield.'"
That's because Sunday is the most-watched night of the week, and people don't watch TV on Saturday nights. "We hear this each year," says NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy. "The concept of playing the Super Bowl on a Sunday has worked well for 44 years and we don't anticipate moving away from this tradition. Fans expect to see the Super Bowl on a Sunday, the day on which 89.2 percent of NFL games are played."
Fox hopes to expand "Glee's" viewership with Sunday's episode, but — other than an outrageous opening — the Super Bowl episode isn't designed to lure in new viewers. According to "Glee" co-creator Ian Brennan, "We thought, you know, was it going to be a themed episode or whatever, and finally, we were just like, "No, let’s just write an episode the way we would write it and just make it big and funny." I think we succeeded."
