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Buzz News Roundup, 1/28

BuzzSugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:30:52 PST

Prize-winning author John Updike died at the age of 76 on Tuesday. - AP
Grey's Anatomy's Shonda Rhimes is executive-producing an ABC pilot about a TV news bureau called Inside the Box. - The Hollywood Reporter
Netflix's profits have actually spiked recently, attesting to the appeal of its mail-delivered DVD service during the onset of the recession. - Variety
Despite efforts to postpone it, the digital TV switch is still set for Feb. 17. - AP
The Steven Spielberg-directed Tintin movie has found its star: Billy Elliot's Jamie Bell will take the title role. Daniel Craig has also joined the project. - ComingSoon
Bonnie Somerville has been cast in NBC's pilot Off Duty, opposite Bradley Whitford and Romany Malco. - Zap2it
Taylor Swift starts an eighth week with her album Fearless at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. - Billboard
The Love Guru director Marco Schnabel will direct the comedy Girlfriend in a Coma, based on Douglas Coupland's novel. - The Hollywood Reporter
Brendan Fraser will star in yet another family film, this one a live-action comedy titled Furry Vengeance. - ComingSoon

Cashmere Mafia Rundown: Episode 7, "Dog Eat Dog"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:29:54 PST

So, is this the end of the line for our lovely cashmere-clad mafiosas? Wednesday's episode of Cashmere Mafia was the final one completed before the writers' strike began, and there's been nary a word from ABC about bringing the show back into production. I guess that's no surprise considering its ratings have been somewhere around the Cavemen level, but it would be a bit of a bummer to go out with last night's episode, which clearly wasn't meant to be the ending of anything at all. Could they end on a note of affair, scandal, financial ruin? Nah - just a couple of professional crises and a random dog. Be sure to check out Fab's fashion quiz, and to read my take on what could be the final Mafia, just

Mia - It's never a good sign when you feel more attached to the dog you're fostering than to the guy you're dating. Mia getting a dog would be completely ridiculous; I mean, the woman is never home, for one thing. But the adoption interview was actually one of my favorite Mia moments; I loved how the shelter representative picked up on her plastic plants and her large quantity of fur clothing. I can't say I'd miss Jason, even if the show did somehow return. Wiley's a cutie, though.
Juliet - After so much good Juliet/Davis drama, this episode didn't move their story forward at all. I found it really hard to care about what was happening; who cares if her company gets bought if we're not around to see the fallout? I did, however, like seeing her shut her suitor down: "How do you tell the man who has everything that he can't have everything?" "You don't." "I think I just did." It was also vaguely interesting to watch her reluctance at mixing business with friendship morph into Eric getting a hotel contract - and to see her annoyance/flirtation with the French hotel owner.

Caitlin - Hey, a story that's 100 percent not about Caitliln's sexuality! And one that shows what she actually does for a living! Better late than never, I suppose. She's been made out to be the fizzy, ditzy, awkward one of the bunch, so it was good to see her take control of a bad work situation - first by hiring the Parsons kid and then, when that predictably went south, arranging for a show that truly spotlighted Lily Parish (and, um, nude bodysuits). Hooray for competent Caitlin! Not so hooray: My fear that her boob was going to escape from her dress at any moment while she ran around frantically at fashion week.

Zoe - This was Zoe's first attempt at being a stay-at-home mom, and I loved watching her meld her idea of what that kind of woman should do with her corporate mentality - printing out not just one dinner recipe but five; urging her son to do soccer drills rather than just kicking away. Yes, it was all horribly cliched, but Frances O'Connor made it work for the most part (and I hope she really kicked that ball that nailed her ex-boss in the back of the head). As always, things happened a little too fast in this story, but the big reveal of her daughter's alterna-project was sweetly sad. So, what happens to Zoe now?

And that's - literally - all she wrote for Cashmere Mafia. Do you think the show deserves another chance? How would you change it up? Will you miss it if it's gone for good? Photos copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

Cashmere Mafia Fashion Quiz: "Dog Eat Dog"

FabSugar — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:00:22 PST

Cashmere Mafia got a little more sensitive last night. The usually career-crazy Mia Mason stopped worrying about work (and love) for once and thought about adopting a dog. Aw! On the flip side, Caitlin Dowd's love life went on a hiatus for her career. I was quite happy about that - her personal life is a bit too dramatic for my taste. Speaking of drama, now that Zoe is no longer a working woman, she moved on to controlling her family - she'll be back to work in no time. The red-haired Juliet decided to mix business with pleasure by dating a billionaire affiliated with her company. Must be nice. Take my quiz to see how well you were paying attention last night.

Be sure to read Buzz's recap of last night's episode!

Photos courtesy of ABC

Take the Quiz

Cashmere Mafia Rundown: Episode 6, "Yours, Mine, and Hers"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:33:10 PST

Leave it to Cashmere Mafia to usher in Valentine's Day with a hearty helping of heartbreak. It's not like every relationship ended in tatters, but the episode wasn't a great advertisement for swooning, head-over-heels love, either. Unless, of course, we're talking about the love you share with your best girlfriends while devouring a box of chocolates. I'll go character-by-character after the jump, so just

Mia - Wow, Mia actually had a lot going on this time, not the least of which was her Jack flashback ("Jackback!"). Now only is he now a rival publisher, but his new anchorwoman girlfriend is blatantly wearing Mia's favorite scarf on the air, which I gather is something akin to war in these circles. I figured the sex tape would turn into some big scandal with the tape ending up in the hands of a particularly intrepid TV reporter, so I was pleasantly surprised Cashmere took a different path, having Mia find not only the sex tape but also a sweet video of some of her happier moments with Jack. I've never believed Jack as ruthless and cold (Tom Everett Scott's just not the type), but Mia certainly seemed surprised to see a sweet side of him. I think she really might be over him now, though; he is a little needy. Also, do scarves actually go through shredders?
Caitlin - Well, she's a mess, as usual. But it's not entirely her fault this time. The pregnant lesbian girlfriend situation wasn't great to begin with, but now the ex is back in the picture as well - and is giving Caitlin guff for her confused sexuality? Come on, now, give the poor girl some time to deal. It's sad that Alicia kept her in the picture long enough for her to get attached to being a mommy (er, at least the part of being a mommy that involves buying cute toys and shmoopy photo albums), but that whole situation was so darn weird, I think she's better off away from it.

Juliet - For all her craftiness and calculations, Juliet just can't win with Davis. First of all: manimony? It doesn't seem like Davis is doing too poorly for himself; if those nice suits and fancy cars are what "holding back your career" looks like, then I'd like some of that, please. Second: He has a heart attack while banging another woman, and his wife rushes to his side - only to be accused of extortion when the heart attack turns out to be just a panic attack? That's cold, especially considering that was maybe the one sweet and honest thing Juliet has ever done for him. Luckily, revenge is Juliet's specialty.
Zoe - This was another story that went in a somewhat unexpected direction. I still love that we actually see Zoe's work life, and frankly, if all the plots were focused the way hers is, I'd probably like the show a lot more. Last week I made a plea for things to stop working out so perfectly for her, and this time, she did have something of a miserable ending - but not because of her kids or her family commitments or her own poor decisions. As soon as she started making friends with her client's wife, I was sure the story would end with her confessing her client's dalliances and then being fired for losing the deal. Nope, Zoe handed over her dignity for the sake of the deal - and then still got passed over for a promotion. Good for her for quitting. Now, how will she adjust to being a mom?

Only one more episode to go, and with the show's mediocre ratings, I'd say there's not a great chance for renewal - though anything can happen. But say next week is the end of Cashmere. How would you want it to wrap up? Photos copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

Cashmere Mafia Rundown: Episode 5, "Stay With Me"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:32:56 PST

"Stay With Me" seems like a particularly apt title for this episode of Cashmere Mafia. With only two episodes to go before the end of this little mini-season, I'm willing to ride it out - but I'm also not sure I would be heartbroken if I never saw it again once these episodes are done.

That said, there are a few things that have kept me going week to week: Juliet's frosty kiss-off of Davis, Caitlin's goofy sexual confusion, and Mia's bizarre styling choices among them. Luckily, all three of those things factored heavily into this week's episode. I'll go character-by-character after the jump, so

Zoe - I wish things would stop working out quite so well for Zoe. It's making it hard for me to get invested in her stories, even this week's with her work husband coming to town. Of course, they had to go close a deal on the night of her 10th wedding anniversary; of course, she got a little flustered about being in a hotel with her work hubby instead of her real hubby; and, of course, she and her real husband ended up caught in a crazy multi-city caper trying to be together before finally falling into each other's arms in the end. It's not that I'm wishing tragedy and heartache on poor Zoe, but I need a little something to keep me interested. At least discovering her friend making out with her manny added a little bit of drama. Speaking of which . . .

Mia - Mia's hair in this episode was a little, um, sculptural for my tastes. Regardless, she had her choice of men this time around: the smart, hot, but way intense brain surgeon, and Zoe's young, cute, and carefree manny. As of now, it seems like the manny wins, given that they sucked face so much in Zoe's foyer that her mouth looked like she'd just made out with Bozo the Clown.
Caitlin - Oh, Caitlin. First, she discovers she might be a lesbian. Then, she discovers that her lesbian girlfriend is pregnant. Then, she makes out with a hot, semi-famous playwright where her pregnant lesbian girlfriend might see her. We've gotten hints before that Caitlin is utterly incompetent when it comes to relationships, but this really takes the cake. Granted, I can understand her not knowing how to deal with Alicia's pregnancy; she definitely didn't sign on for that. And I did like the scene of her taking solace in her friends. Caitlin's not as calculating as the others, and she makes her emotions clear.
Juliet - I'll be honest: I don't understand what's going on with Juliet and Davis. Why didn't she hire a divorce attorney long ago? Why did she let him get the upper hand again? That said, I did appreciate some of the revelations about Juliet in this episode: first, even though she's a COO, she doesn't have any control over her personal finances, and second, she was once a rebellious wild child. I'm not sure I buy that her daughter's going to be headed to public school now, but it's better than sending her away to boarding school at a place called Shelter Rock. I actually wouldn't mind seeing more scenes with Juliet and her daughter; she's far from the Saint Mommy they've made Zoe out to be.

Cashmere Mafia Style: Best of the Best

FabSugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:00:22 PST

Though I'm still skeptical about the overuse of wide belts on Cashmere Mafia, there have been some outfits worth knocking off. We're four episodes deep, so I thought it would be fun to compile a slideshow of the most Fab looks from the foursome thus far. Take note of Pat Field's impeccable eye for funky jewelry and feel free to imitate.

Source

Cashmere Mafia Rundown: Episode 4, "The Deciders"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:36:57 PST

OK, Cashmere Mafia, you got me. This week's fourth episode was pretty fun to watch - mostly thanks to Caitlin, who gets all the best lines. Mia, not so much; the show is supposedly built around Lucy Liu's character, but I find her stories dull. Juliet and Zoe got some good stuff last night, though, so that helped fill the giant void that Mia has become for me. Read on for my thoughts:

I continue to be amazed/impressed/intrigued by Caitlin's blase attitude about discovering she might be gay. I'm not sure how believable it is, but I did get a kick out of her proclamation that her lesbian relationship has lasted "twice as long as the last five guys and 29 days longer than Tae Bo, cognitive therapy, and carb-busters."
Zoe and Juliet are the only characters who seem to be getting equal screen time on both their home and their work stories. That's a good and a bad thing: I like Zoe's work stories much more than her home stories, and I feel exactly the opposite about Juliet. Her suspicion of Davis is much more interesting to me than her failure to properly send a group e-mail.
Speaking of which, these women don't particularly strike me as tech-savvy. Still, I do like a good automated phone system joke. "I think you said Lake Placid." "Screw you." "I think you said . . . "

Now, for more on what actually happened (spoilers included), just

We learned, I think for the first time, that Zoe's last name is Burden. Man, I hate "clever" character names.
That said, I do like the focus on the conflict between her job and her family, even if the family parts seem tied up a little too neatly. Between getting to play laser tag in this episode and hiring the tour bus for the field trip a few weeks back, she really does seem to be Supermom every time. The office angle has a lot more drama, though. We get to see Zoe be brilliant, and we get to see her screw up (on a speakerphone, no less), and we get to see her deal with feeling pushed out by her coworkers. She's the only character whose story comes close to what I thought the show was going to be.

Juliet's work stories, on the other hand, leave something to be desired - but to my surprise, I actually like what's going on with Davis. He's not just a playboy; he's a playboy with money issues who's been using their fortune to cover his butt. I'm still seeing quite a bit of Bree Hodge in Juliet, especially that "No, please stay! I brought braised short ribs and roasted beets!" line. But the ruthless way she kicked Davis out was the most sizzle we've seen from her yet. "We've been posing for years." Nice.
While it was nice to see Jack back in the picture last night, I didn't love Mia's story with the brain surgeon. I shared Mia's confusion, actually: Did the guy like her? Was he just appeasing his parents? I don't know that there was enough chemistry between them at the brunch to make Jack jealous, though I did like the surgeon's pointed remark that he asked her out when he learned about her promotion. Take that, Jack.
Unrelated: Just looking at Mia's earrings gave me a headache.
Meanwhile, Caitlin at the lesbian shower was the night's comic relief, but she's actually going to have an interesting choice to make. I loved her babbling in the bathroom ("I get a spray-on tan") more than anything else in the episode.

ABC, Inc.

Cashmere Mafia Rundown: Episode 3, "Dangerous Liaisons"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:33:50 PST

Since we're sadly lacking Gossip Girl for our Wednesday night scandal fix, I'm going to try recapping Cashmere Mafia for a while. Yeah, I know it's been a little disappointing so far, but hey, it's a scripted series that's still airing new episodes! Plus, there are only four episodes left after this one, so it's a pretty low commitment. Anyone with me? Let's get to it:

So Mia is in publishing, Juliet works in hotels, Caitlin does cosmetics marketing, and Zoe does . . . what, exactly? No, seriously, what's her job? I'm three episodes in, and I know her work involves something about "points" and making sure her scantily clad coworker doesn't sue her boss, but other than that, I'm stumped.
Also, so much of this show seems like a placeholder they meant to go back and punch up later but didn't have time to fix. Naming a magazine for modern men Modern Man is a lot like naming a fashion magazine Fashion Magazine. As for "Do you know what they call a cosmetics executive with bad skin? Don't make me finish that sentence," I bet they just couldn't come up with a funny way to finish the sentence.

More plot development and slightly less whining if you

So Juliet can't have sex without consequences because she's a woman? We've never heard that one before. That said, I did actually get a kick out of her stringing along poor Bobby Walsh, who flew across the ocean for a chance to hook up with her, even if it was lame that she ended up laugh-crying in his hotel bed and then going back to Davis.
A big part of the episode revolved around a new blog about corporate women called Regrets Only, which seems to be nothing but blind items about our four main characters. Mia's was about walking all over Jack - which, let's face it, she kind of did. But that came back to haunt her when Jack's magazine cover for Modern Man ended up being a picture of a woman about to chow down on a man on a plate. Zing! She got the upper hand in the end, though, with her letter from the Modern Woman.
Also, when did Mia actually get to tell her parents Jack had proposed? She was only engaged for about five minutes!

Meanwhile, Caitlin has a zit because she's stressed about her new potential relationship, which seems to mostly consist of making out in the middle of the street. No wonder she's already a blind item. If this were Gossip Girl, there would be spies everywhere snapping cell phone pictures.
But seriously, I think Caitlin is the most interesting character at this point. She seems so nonchalant about discovering a new side to her sexuality; all of her stress seems to come from normal fears about screwing up a relationship. Plus, she's the most lovably neurotic of all of them so far.
Really, did anyone not think that Katherine was going to end up sleeping with the boss and that Zoe would find out? Furthermore, did the boss really think he could fire her without a lawsuit?
The scene with Caitlin's boss trying to guess what made her zit go away was cute but a little drawn out, no? "We don't have a concealer named honesty."

Who Wore It Better? Dolce & Gabbana Yellow Bow Gown

FabSugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 11:00:22 PST

Remember the Dolce & Gabbana yellow bow gown Eva Mendes wore to celebrate her status as Campari's calendar girl in November? Well, Cashmere Mafia's Bonnie Somerville also chose it to wear to the Art Elysium 10th Anniversary Gala on Saturday. Both ladies wear the dress well. It fits Bonnie better but the hue matches Eva's honey skin tone more. Who gets your vote?

Source and Source

Cashmere Mafia Is Back Tonight - But Will Viewers Follow?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:45:00 PST

Cashmere Mafia is back tonight for its proper premiere - apparently ABC would prefer to call the episode that aired on Sunday a sneak preview. But is anyone going to be watching? I didn't expect the highly anticipated series to be struggling in the ratings already, but the news after Sunday's episode wasn't good. The show drew about 10.7 million viewers, which might not be so bad if A) it hadn't lost almost half of the audience that tuned in for Desperate Housewives right before it, and B) 2 million people hadn't switched the show off at the halfway point.

Though lots of you weren't really digging the show on first watch, most of you were either instantly hooked or charitably willing to give the show a second chance. Having seen tonight's second episode, I will say I liked it better than the first - though it still didn't come close to my high expectations. I'm not ready to tune out Cashmere just yet, but I am a little bit afraid for its future - after all, if it couldn't do well with a huge episode of Desperate Housewives as its lead-in, how will it perform when its only support comes from Wife Swap and Supernanny?

Are you still game? You can watch a scene from tonight's episode if you