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TV Tonight: Duel

BuzzSugar — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 08:30:31 PST

A battle of reality-show wills kicks off tonight when NBC's special singing event, Clash of the Choirs, faces off against ABC's week-long game show, Duel. The tournament-style Duel pits 24 contestants against each other in a battle of trivia and strategy, with the winners from each of the game's first five nights moving on to face each other in Sunday's finals.

Based on a French game show, Duel pits contestants head to head in a match that mixes Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with Vegas-style gambling. Contestants place bets on how sure they are that their answers to various trivia questions are correct, and right answers drive up the jackpot - while just one wrong answer gets a player sent home.

Questions cover a wide variety of pop culture trivia, from the number of eyelids on a camel's eye (three) to which footwear company uses Heidi Klum's designs (Birkenstock). Of course Duel requires knowledge, but there's also luck involved; I had several great rounds on the show's online game, then hit a string where I didn't know even the first question. Duel also adds in strategy, with the betting and the twist that each winner gets to choose his or her opponent in the next round.

In general, I've found TV trivia shows too drawn-out for their own good ever since Millionaire. But the fact that this one is only six nights long makes me want to see what it's all about. Will you be watching Duel? To watch a preview, just

Ellen Challenges the First Lady to Push-Up Contest

Susi May — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:52:48 PST

Michelle Obama has some killer arms, but her cut upper body didn't deter Ellen DeGeneres from challenging the first lady to a push-up duel. Watch as these two strong ladies battle it out with our fave upper-body move, the classic push-up. So . . . how many push-ups can you do? Tell us in the comments section below.

90210 "Project Runaway": Most Scandalous Moments

Rose Curiel — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:30:12 PST

Burgeoning model Liam gets the chance to walk the runway on this week's 90210 but rather than head to New York or Milan, he struts his stuff on a CU catwalk. It's all part of the college's fashion designing competition, which pits rivals Holly and Naomi against one another, and has each girl pulling out all the stops to ruin her competitor's chance of winning.

Meanwhile, Annie tries to find a more legal way to earn money and Dixon faces temptations soon after leaving rehab. Find out if Dixon's able to just say no, plus much more when you keep reading

Lil Gift Guide: Great Gifts For 7-Year-Olds!

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:36:05 PST

Who says fun can't be educational? Second graders love playing games, and today's games are both mind-stimulating and exciting. From music-inspired toys to those that keep feet and brains moving, these gifts will keep tots coming back for more every day.

Hello Kitty's loyal following includes a new generation of youngsters. This Hello Kitty Digital MP3 Player ($40) will have them listening to their favorite tunes in style. There's no shortage of autotune with the T-Pain Microphone ($37), which makes every budding rapper sound like gold. Hand-eye coordination is put to the test with Bop It! XT ($18), one of the hottest games of the holiday season. The whole family will love testing their Disney knowledge with Disney Kids Hedbanz Board ($16) - a quick game of questions and answers. Explore the power of the brain with Mattel's Mindflex Duel Game ($90), which pits one contestant's brain against another as they try to move an object from one side to the other.

The Night Circus Author Erin Morgenstern Talks Twilight and Harry Potter Comparisons and Her Casting Wish List

Tara Sharp — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 04:00:33 PDT

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I must admit my interest was piqued when I heard about a new book last month being compared to the magical series, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. To add fuel to the buzzy fire, the film rights for the book have already been picked up by Twilight's entertainment company Summit. After reading the enchanting, sensory love story (targeted for adults, I should add) about dueling magicians who fall in love while competing in a mysterious circus that runs from nightfall to dawn, I believe it stands on its own. We chatted with Erin, who has a background in theater and studio art, about her first novel and whom she could picture playing protagonists and star-crossed lovers Celia and Marco on the big screen. Read her thoughts below.

TrèsSugar: What do you think of the comparisons being made to Harry Potter and Twilight?

Erin Morgenstern: It has some aspects in common with Harry Potter. I'm still not sure where the Twilight comparisons come from, maybe the fact that Summit is involved with the film rights. There are plenty of books that I think would be a little more apt, like Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell by Susanna Clarke, but not enough people have read that. I hope that it ends up being the kind of book that people don't have to compare it to anything. A lot of people tell me that they have trouble describing it. It's a complicated work because it's about the circus, but it's about the love story, but it's about so much more than that at the same time.

TS: What's your favorite love story in literature? Did it influence Celia and Marco's love story?

EM: I'm not really big on love stories. I'm not that classic romance sort of girl. Although I can't say it's my favorite love story, there's definitely a Romeo and Juliet aspect to it. I do kind of love a star-crossed romance. It makes everything so much more interesting and complicated, and sometimes angsty. I think that makes for a really good story.

TS: You say in your website's "about me" section that you were reading Stephen King at age 12 and J.K. Rowling at age 21. How did that affect you as a writer?

EM: I grew up in that time frame where there wasn't a YA section yet. There was a children's section and an adult's section. So when I hit around 11 or 12, I just started looking through the adult section. And for some reason I just got stuck on Stephen King and read practically the entire Stephen King shelf. And then when I was in college, I took a children's literature class, and we read the first Harry Potter. That influenced my lack of sense of what's an adult book and what's a children's book, because I had a very backwards reading life at certain stages. I like adult books that capture that child-like whimsy and children's books that don't hide the adult side of things. And I think there's more room for overlap between adult books and children's books.

TS: What are you reading right now?

EM: I'm in the middle of Lev Grossman's The Magician King. I finished The Magicians a couple weeks ago, and I have a couple events coming up that I'm doing with Lev Grossman. But I'm enjoying it very much, partially because I've read Harry Potter, I've read the Narnia books, and it has an interesting spin on those tales that I know really well. And before that I just recently finished the new Haruki Murakami book (1Q84) that comes out next week, and it's really just epic and wonderful. It's so, so good. It doesn't feel like it's 1,000 pages when you're reading it. I didn't want it to end.

TS: You've mentioned you could see Geoffrey Rush as Prospero in the film adaption, but who could you see playing Celia and Marco?

EM: I don't really picture actors when I write. Geoffrey Rush was sort of the one exception, because when I was coming up with him as the character he had a Geoffrey Rush vibe in my mind. For Celia and Marco, they look very particular in my head, and I don't have actors who really capture it. Celia was kind of inspired by Clara Bow. I found this old picture of her that wasn't that sort of classic short hair, her hair was all wispy and a little more Victorian-looking. She has very dark eyes, and that's sort of what Celia looks like. If we could find a modern-day Clara Bow type. And the actor who has a little of the Marco feel to me is Lee Pace, but he's going to be too old by the time we get around to the filming, which is unfortunate.

TS: Is there a sequel in the works. How long do we have to wait for the film?

EM: There's no plans for a proper sequel. I don't think it's the kind of story that lends itself well to "this is what happens next." And it was never intended to be a series. I do think at some point I wouldn't be opposed to do something like a collection of short pieces of side stories or people's back stories or a few of those things that happened afterwards.

The film is at least a couple of years away. It's in the stage of negotiations with producers, trying to find someone to head the ship.

TS: What did you learn about relationships as you wrote The Night Circus?

EM: I think that the essential thing I kept coming back to is that a relationship is about more than just two people. There's so many more factors in the equation, whether they're other people or circumstances. Relationships are never simple, there's always so much more going on.

If you read the book and want to find out more insights from Erin on the plot and process of writing, keep reading!

See Even More Pics of Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, Armie Hammer's Prince Charming in Snow White

Becky Kirsch — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:42:11 PDT

The battle between the dueling Snow White movies just got a little more exciting, thanks to new pictures from Relativity's still untitled film. We've already seen Lily Collins as the young fairy-tale icon, but now we've got a taste of Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen and Armie Hammer as Prince Charming. Hammer looks picture perfect as Snow's knight in shining armor while Roberts looks deliciously wicked (if not a bit reminiscent of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland). Check 'em out.

Photo courtesy of Relativity

Sneak Peek: Project Runway x L'Oréal Paris Makeup!

BellaSugar — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:21:55 PDT

Soon, Project Runway fans will have one more way to make it work. The dueling-designers show has inspired Colors Take Flight, a limited-edition makeup collection by L'Oréal Paris. Makeup artist Collier Strong, who you've probably seen on the show, loaned his expertise to create four distinct color palettes with lipstick, nail polish, blush, and lip color. The collection lands in stores this October, so mark your calendars. Judging by how on trend these hues are for Fall, they'll be "auf" shelves before you know it.

Tea Party Faithful Show Up to Support Maybe-Candidate Sarah Palin

Annie Scudder — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:00:29 PDT

Sarah Palin drew twice as many supporters as GOP front-runner Mitt Romney this weekend at a Labor Day Tea Party event in New Hampshire. The former governor and vice presidential candidate continues to give pseudo stump speeches to campaign-style crowds in strategically important states. But although Palin also completed a half-marathon this weekend, coming in second in her age bracket, she's still denying any intent to run - for president.

Palin's supporters wished she would though, chanting, "Run, Sarah, run" at the rally. But there's not much time, nor room in the race left. As a currently serving Congresswoman with an Iowa straw poll win under her belt, Michele Bachmann could make a similar, yet stronger candidate than Palin, and she also appeals to the Tea Party base. Plus, Bachmann's campaign manager stepped down yesterday, citing health concerns, while also stating that he thinks it's currently a race between Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

On the other side of the spectrum, President Obama gave his own campaign-like speech in Detroit on Monday after a couple of days with his family at Camp David. Aretha Franklin was on hand, as the president heard chants of "four more years," but he still has to wait months to find out who he'll face. Do you think Sarah Palin will throw her hat in the ring?

Check out pictures from the dueling rallies now.

Tori Spelling on TV in the Bedroom

Tori Spelling — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 06:15:27 PDT

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week we're bringing you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, which is Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week Tori looks at the impact of television on a relationship.

I am a self-professed TV-aholic. There, I said it! How could I not be? I grew up the daughter of a legendary television producer. At every hour of the day, my dad was creating another hit TV show that would somehow impact our lives. To this day, people ask me questions like, “Hey, did Farrah Fawcett, like, really lounge poolside at your house?” Umm . . . yeah, sometimes. But never in her iconic, red one-piece (cue look of disappointment).

I had TV on the brain and in every room from an early age. But now, as an adult . . . well, not much has changed. I love TV. I’m an actress and producer, so it’s kind of necessary for my livelihood. At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. But, more than anything, I’m just a really big television fan. Whether it be movies, cooking, DIY, news, gossip, or even watching Sarah Palin fish in Alaska (there was nothing else on), if it’s the boob tube (does anyone still use that reference?), I’m watching it.

Tune Into Your Relationship!
The other night, Dean walked in and voiced concern upon seeing my glazed-over commitment to an E! Kourtney and Kim Take New York episode I’d seen five times already. He thinks TV shouldn’t be in our bedroom. What? Is he crazy? Apparently not. Many people, doctors, and self-help books (I might have read one or two), think that television is unhealthy for a relationship. How can this be? Are they saying that Jay Leno and the Barefoot Contessa are trying to steal my soulmate?

On the contrary, my hubby and I bond over TV shows. Yes, we have “shows” that we watch. Or let me rephrase - shows that Dean claims to hate but gets super into. He even yells at my housewives, “You’re so dumb! Lisa Vanderpump never pretended to like you!” He may claim to be indifferent when the show’s over, but I know better. We discuss housewives like two gents might discuss dueling political opponents. It’s downright intellectual.

Of course, we also talk about real life – it’s not like all we do in the bedroom is watch TV. We discuss our days, the kids, and our relationship. We even cuddle and canoodle in between cooking shows. Just kidding. Kinda. But my point is, I don’t think TV in the bedroom is unhealthy if watched sparingly. But that’s my opinion. What do you think? Do you and your partner watch TV together, and if so, where? In the bedroom? Living room? Both?

More great stories from ToriSpelling.com:

Kaftan of the Week: Mommy Style
Rhubarb Lavender Crumble
Liam's World: On Contemporary Cinema
My Family's Day at the Farmer's Market

Sugar Shout Out: Know Your Snow White Stars Before They Hit Theaters!

PopSugar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 23:55:00 PDT