BuzzSugar

Buzz News Roundup, 4/27

BuzzSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:51 -0700

Chuck, Privileged, Life, Dollhouse, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles are the five finalists in E!'s Save One Show competition. - E!
Meet Susan Boyle's latest Britain's Got Talent competition: a 10-year-old girl. - TV.com
After much controversy, The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??" will be named the official rock song of Oklahoma this week. - Billboard
Warner Bros. is developing a big-screen version of Odysseus, written by the screenwriter of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. - Variety
Acting couple Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt have formed a production company. - The Hollywood Reporter
Fox is holding a script contest to find new writing talent. - New York Times
Maria Bello and Craig T. Nelson have joined the cast of The Company Men, which also stars Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones. - Variety

Source

Link Time! 4/9

BuzzSugar — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:30:16 -0700

Save One Show is back - can your fave get saved? - Watch with Kristin
This "trailer" for an Everybody Poops movie spoofing Where the Wild Things Are cracks me up. - Cinematical
Speaking of spoofiness, did you catch "Kanye West" on South Park last night? - Popwatch
Chuck week continues with some fun Chuck polls. - Give Me My Remote
Check out No Doubt covering Adam and the Ants' "Stand & Deliver." - PopSugar
Leonard Nimoy as William Bell on Fringe: highly illogical? - The TV Addict
Speaking of which, someone may have cracked the Fringe symbols code. - TV.com
More on Kal Penn's new White House gig. - CitizenSugar
Ben Silverman's time at NBC, in handy charts and graphs. - Vulture

Save One Show Results: CW Shows Rule

BuzzSugar — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:24:03 -0700

The results of E! TV writer Kristin Veitch's Save One Show poll are in, and after more than 6 million votes, Kristin's declared not one but two winners: "Gilmore Girls" and "Veronica Mars." Kristin has an interesting account of how the voting went down, including "Gilmore"'s last-second comeback against "Veronica," which had been the clear winner.

I'm not surprised about the love for "Veronica." A lot of you seem to like it, and while I've only seen a few episodes myself, the buzz about the show has always been that it's underappreciated. But "Gilmore Girls" was more of a shock. My impression was that fans have been frustrated since creator Amy Sherman-Palladino left the show, but apparently it still has more devoted viewers than I realized.

The third- and fourth-place finishers, interestingly, are also CW shows: "One Tree Hill" (last year's Save One Show winner) and "Supernatural." They were followed by a trio of NBC shows: "Studio 60," "Crossing Jordan," and "Friday Night Lights." Check out the whole breakdown here.

Are you surprised by the results? Don't forget, you can also vote in my totally tongue-in-cheek Stop One Show poll.

Stop One Show!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:29:54 -0700

It's the time of year when the networks start plotting their schedules for next season, checking out new pilots and deciding what shows to bring back. It's always a frustrating time for me, as I wonder why so many terrible shows make it back year after year.

At the end of the week, we'll learn the winner of Kristin Veitch's annual Save One Show campaign, which will help boost the winning show's chances of renewal. Meanwhile, I'm starting a poll of my own: the Stop One Show contest.

If you could pull one show from the air to make room for a quality series, which would it be? Unlike Kristin, I don't have the ear of the networks, so I can't promise that your vote will do anything to get the winner (loser?) kicked off the air. But I do promise to write about the show with all the ire and vitriol it deserves.

I've stocked the poll with some of my least-faves, limiting the candidates to scripted series only; I don't think I could possibly choose just one reality series to cancel. And I'm sticking with the broadcast networks' primetime shows; sorry, but "Pimp My Ride" and "Maury" don't count. Obviously, this is all in good fun, so if I've listed your favorite show among the candidates, please don't take it personally. You can vote here, but first you can check out the candidates if you read more

"ER": The show is just a shadow of what it was in the Carter/Greene/Ross/Susan years. After 13 seasons, all of the original main characters have moved on; I say the show should follow suit.

"American Dad": I'm pretty tolerant of Fox's Sunday animated lineup, but I really don't understand why you would watch this when you could put on "Family Guy" instead?

"Ghost Whisperer": I'm sorry, but "Jennifer Love Hewitt is hot" is not a good enough explanation.

"War at Home": This show is a thorn in my side. It causes me physical pain every time I hear Michael Rapaport snivel about how men and women are different and kids ruin your life. Make it stop!

"My Name is Earl": Sorry, Jason Lee fans. I know "Earl" has become a staple of NBC's Thursday lineup, but frankly, I think it's the weak link. NBC can definitely do better.

"CSI: Miami": It might be one of the best comedies on TV, except it's meant to be a drama.

"Medium": I like to see my Arquettes succeed, but this show is nowhere near as good as many of the dramas NBC is threatening to cancel.

"George Lopez": It's nothing personal, George. It's just that ABC has put more episodes of this show on the air in place of almost every show they've canceled this year, and I'm over it.

"Law & Order": Yes, it started one of television's biggest franchises, but the rotating cast of female counterparts lost me a while ago. Sam Waterson's eyebrows deserve more!

"Prison Break": This show has its fans. But it should have lasted for one season, and as TV Guide critic Matt Roush recently wrote, there's nowhere good for it to go now.

Help Save One Troubled TV Show

BuzzSugar — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:50:23 -0700

If you could help one - but only one - TV show get renewed for next season, which one would you pick? E!'s TV columnist Kristin Veitch has launched her sixth Save One Show campaign, encouraging readers to vote for the single show they'd most like to see back next year. She's got a pretty good track record: Five of six winning shows (including last season's "One Tree Hill") have actually made it back on the air.

Here's how it works: Vote in Kristin's poll as many times as you want before April 6, then check back April 13 to see which show won. You can also submit a video plea to save your favorite, with the top three videos appearing on Kristin's gossip show on E! online.

Kristin says "The Class," "Close to Home," "The Nine," "Studio 60," and "Veronica Mars" look the most doomed, but my vote's still gotta to to "Friday Night Lights." What about you? Check out Kristin's breakdown of the shows' chances of renewal, and to see a list of the shows in contention, read more

"30 Rock"
"Friday Night Lights"
"Scrubs"
"Crossing Jordan"
"Gilmore Girls"
"How I Met Your Mother"
"Jericho"
"Medium"
"One Tree Hill"
"Six Degrees"
"Supernatural"
"What About Brian"
"The Class"
"Close to Home"
"The Nine"
"Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
"Veronica Mars"

Talking New Moon With Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:15:50 -0800

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner may be dominating the promotional circuit right now, but they're not the only cast members with something to say about New Moon. I had the opportunity to chat with costars Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene, aka Emmett and Alice Cullen, during their recent stopover in SF. They chatted about their characters, the vampire craze, and what it's like to be a "Twilight celebrity." Here are highlights:

On why so many people are crazy for the Twilight Saga:
Ashley: I think this film in particular is highly relatable. There are a lot of situations that people can relate to. The love story - everyone can relate to being in love or being in lust. You add the vampire, and it adds that next level fantasy. Vampires are mysterious and sensual and dangerous and unattainable. And everyone wants what they can't have. I think on another level that this came together at the perfect time. All the elements just fit, the casting was spot on, and we're in a difficult time right now with our economy. That's why you never have a drop in ticket sales because everyone wants an escape, and this movie is very much an escape from reality.
Kellan: It's a good escape but also it deals with so many situations, on so many positive notes. Just looking at it from the vampire coven to the wolf pack. It just deals with everyday issues just on bigger levels, in a way. And you have Bella as the keystone in many situations. You can just all relate from different countries to issues within the United States. It's easily relatable.

To read a lot more about working with three different directors and why they feel so lucky, just read more.

On how their portrayals of the Cullens are similar or different from the books:
Kellan: We got the jobs because we brought something new to it. You can interpret the characters each their own, but I think it's what we did alongside. Just like Kristen said - she's playing Bella but she's putting her Kristen spin on it, just like all of us are. And I think that's what's making it unique. We're still following the cheat sheets that Stephenie created by making the books, and there's Wikipedia. We have a lot of information to go off of. But I hope it's what I did in my audition that set it apart from the other guys trying out.

Ashley: I think it's mannerisms too. People do fall in love with this book, but I think part of it is that they always want more. You can't write out every human mannerism. You can imagine it, but seeing the emotion in someone's eyes and seeing them be affected it - it was kind of easy to give something to it, because we were just being people. We kinda just got lucky.
On how much more of the Cullens we can expect in the remaining movies:
Kellan: Realistically, we stick pretty close to the books. Obviously us Cullens would love to be in the books a lot more, which would mean we'd be in the movies a lot more. Talking New Moon, the scenes that the Cullens - except for Ashley, playing Alice who gets to go to Italy and be a main lead in the movie - us Cullens, we have to stick really close to the books, and the scenes that we're in are really crucial to the story, as you know - the birthday scene, the voting scene. I don't know, it was kind of a tease. Chris Weitz is such an amazing director, and for us, for myself - I only worked about a week on that movie. And it didn't even seem like I really got a taste for what it was.

Ashley: In the third film, you'll see a lot more of the Cullens because it's all of us collaborating and then getting ready to fight this war that's coming up. In the second one, my character got a much larger role because Alice is the Cullen, other than Edward, that really embraces Bella and they end up becoming best friends. In the beginning, you see her throw this huge party for Bella, and then Alice is the one who does, in fact, come back for Bella when everyone else decides to skip town. Alice is responsible for dragging Bella over to Italy, and she and I the whole time are fighting to save my brother's life. And then of course we get held up by the Volturi and stuff like that. My character got to grow a lot, which is really cool. You get to actually see the relationship develop between Bella and Alice, where in the first one you didn't. The first one was very much about the romance and showing the audience why these two people are willing to die for each other.
On working with a different director on each film:
Ashley: Each director is going to be very different. They're artists as well, and I don't think any of them are quite the same. The books, when you read them, all have very, very, different tones. So I think it's highly appropriate that we switch directors each go. The first one is very much a romance and is a very scenic, beautiful film. And Catherine's really, really great at capturing that. She's very high energy and works well in chaos and stuff like that. And it was fantastic because we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into, and so it was nice to have her to guide us when we were freaking out a little bit. She was just so high energy, and it was really contagious. We were sad to lose her and move on to the second film, but then we got Chris Weitz and he's the complete opposite! But great as well. He's so giving and caring and collaborative and created this atmosphere that was kind of a safe haven for us. And it was really nice because we didn't know, switching directors, if they were gonna embrace us or if they had a completely different vision than what we created in the first one. It was nice that he was right there on the same page with us. And the second one is a warmer film, even from the color scheme. The first one is very blue tones, and the second one is much richer and warmer and I think he did a great job at capturing that. And we just finished shooting with David Slade, and I think he's highly appropriate as well. He just finished shooting 30 Days of Night and Hard Candy, and they're both very dark, edgy films. And Eclipse is very much that. It's all centered around the anticipation and us getting ready to fight this huge war. We just finished filming, we haven't gotten to see much of it, but I think it's gonna be fantastic. He is, technically, the most advanced director. The angles that he shot and how he knows that tweaking something can affect a whole scene and the lenses. He was really nice to work with.
On coping with the fan effect and being a "Twilight celebrity"
Kellan: That's what blows my mind, 'cause I feel like it's really unearned in a way. The fans are making our careers. Without them, we wouldn't be working and doing the saga. There's so many times that trilogy books become a movie and the first one bombs, and then that's it. And you're always hopeful that you get to do them all. Especially since we're all in love with our characters. I love Emmett Cullen to death, he's my favorite character I've ever played. It's just so cool to have made it this far, and I think we all hope that we get to finish this series and do Breaking Dawn. This is such a blessing, it's every actor's dream to be part of something like this. It's not terribly hard either. We don't shoot halfway around the world; we don't shoot for a year of our lives. I know a lot of us have homes, we have pets, we have family. And it's really nice to shoot on the West Coast, either Portland or Vancouver, and have the chance to fly down if we need to. But it's definitely amazing to be part of something like this. And I don't think any of us knew how crazy it would be and how exhilarating it would turn out to be. Going to the premiere, really just, wow. I don't even remember it because I was really just starstruck by how many fans and signs and cameras. It felt like I was just walking through a strobe light room. It's amazing.

Ashley: I still think we can't really wrap our heads around what's going on and what's happening. We're still in the midst of filming and kept very busy from one film until the next. It's only these brief moments where you sit back and are actually able to take a breath where you go "Whoa. Wow. This is crazy." I mean, the amount of tickets they've already sold for New Moon - I'm pretty sure I can't even get a ticket if I tried to see my film in Jacksonville and it's mind boggling. We're just very lucky. I went into this film thinking "Oh my gosh, I got a job" and the it turned into the biggest break of my life. I think we all feel very blessed to be a part of this.
On how it feels to be part of Twilight fan fiction:
Kellan: It's an escape, in a way. We do live in a trivial time period right now. There's so much depression that it's kinda cool to be a part of something where people use it to be an escape. In a way that's kinda what Stephenie did -she had a dream and just elaborated on it. It became a huge success and it's really encouraging that people are doing the same and just making up this journey.

Ashley: That's why people love it so much I think. You can take it and make what you want of it. Before the demographic was teenage girls, but now it's women of every age and guys are starting to get into it, too. It's because there is that element of fantasy. If you're 8 years old you look at it one way; if you're 80 years old you look at it another. I think it's fantastic that we can draw such a huge crowd. The other thing is - it blows my mind but people are making connections over this film and over this book. there are mothers and daughters and grandmas who can all sit and talk about the same story and all fantasize about it and I think that's a really cool thing. I think it's rare.

To see all of our Twilight and New Moon coverage, check out TwilightSugar!

Desperate Housewives Rundown, "The Coffee Cup"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:30:00 -0800

Some shows bring out big guest stars for November sweeps, but Desperate Housewives is getting back in touch with its sexy side instead. Susan tries to set a new record with Mike while Bree narrowly escapes an Orson interruption when she's with Karl. Meanwhile, Lynette's pregnancy secret is finally out and Nick Bolen continues to be creeptastic all over town.

Now that Mad Men's long gone, I'm hoping the housewives will kick things into higher gear for my Sunday nights. Ready to get into it? Just read more.

Susan: Susan manages to avoid jail time for shooting Katherine, but the cheeky judge sentences her to garbage pick up for all of her "trash talking" (get it?!). Katherine and Susan's little courtroom drama re-enactment is ridiculous (as is Susan's cleavage baring dress for the hearing) but unfortunately the catty antics don't stop there. Katherine taunts Susan and her orange jumpsuit, prompting Susan to turn the tables on her rival. Katherine has a hissy fit and reveals that she and Mike once had sex five times in one day, which of course gets Susan all worked up. When her endless array of lingerie and come-ons still can't land Mike in the sack more than three times in 24 hours, Susan has one of her typical annoying tantrums. Mike comforts her in what's meant to be an "aww" inducing moment, but I was too busy rolling my eyes. Usually Susan doesn't bug me this much, but I couldn't be more over the love triangle.

Angie and Bree: Gaby usually has the best lines of the show, but it looks like Angie is right on her tail - "Have you seen Avenue Q? With the puppets? Now that's theater." Anyway, Angie's now got herself a balancing act between giving Nick grief about his affair with Julie and being too involved with Bree's life. After Orson admits to Angie that he suspects Bree is having an affair, Angie immediately tells Bree. Though she refuses to spy on Bree, Angie still gets all tangled up in the web when she plays Rear Window - looking on as Orson enters the house while Bree and Karl are upstairs getting it on. Angie intervenes and saves the day, but how long before she asks Bree to return the favor. Also, when Orson is discussing the plot of Madame Butterfly, is he insinuating that he might kill himself when he inevitably finds out about Bree's affair? Personally, both Karl and Orson kind of bug me so I'm just as torn as Bree is about which man to choose.

Lynette and Gaby: The latest update in Lynette's secret pregnancy? Menswear. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, when she and Gaby start squaring off over one of Lynette's colleagues. Gaby convinces Carlos to transfer Terrence, the colleague in question, to Florida so that Juanita can take Terrence's daughter's spot at a Catholic school. Realizing that she won't be able to take maternity leave without Terrence, Lynette turns the tables and convinces Terrence to reject the transfer. The tables turn on Lynette when Gaby discovers that she's pregnant - and Carlos is pissed. He gives Lynette an ultimatum - take the spot in Florida, or quit. Though Carlos's anger is understandable, I think I'm on Lynette's side here. Carlos had been complaining about another co-worker's pregnancy, so Lynette had every right to be scared to tell him. I also think it's a bit rich for Gaby to admit how selfish she is but then point fingers at Lynette for keeping her secret.

How'd you feel about the scandals this week? Are you on Team Orson or Team Karl? Do you think it was Nick who kills the coffee shop girl at the end? Sound off!

The Office isn't necessarily a huge spooky surprise since we already got a peek at those costumed spoiler photos, but I still laughed through every minute of the intro. Jim's "Bookface" costume? A-ma-zing.

I sort of wished the rest of the episode followed suit with a Halloween theme, but that's OK, because we still get a great set up with Michael, Jim, and a lobby koi pond - not to mention a ton of quips that had me cackling. Check out my list of faves, and weigh in with your own!

"Kids, just remember suicide is never the answer . . . Why is Christmas the only holiday that can have a message?"-Michael
It's bad enough that Michael Scott has the D*ck in a Box costume, but to wear it - and hang himself - in front of children?! That's even more hilariously inappropriate than usual for him. And am I totally off base, or is Ryan trying to be Edward Cullen?

Even more funny lines, plus that koi pond video, when you read more.

"I date models - face models. My girlfriend, on a scale of 1 to Gisele? A nine. Pam's carrying our surrogate, because my girlfriend needed to keep her figure for Fashion Week."
Andy and Pam are forced to make cold calls when their sales figures are low, and clients mistakenly think they're married. This is when things get really awkward, leading up to a belly kiss. We normally don't get much interaction between Andy and Pam, but I think they do well as foils.

"The custodian called again. Apparently a koi has died."-Erin
I don't know why a koi pond is so funny to me, but I was giggling at the random jokes about Michael's mishap - yes, even Phyllis's lame, "Did you flounder?" 'Bout time the employees took a few shots at their bumbling boss. Then, when he gathers them into a meeting to make his "mocking" board, the insecurity really flies. Dwight's upset over his small nose, Angela's worried that she eats like a squirrel, and Meredith says she's embarrassed because she . . . had sex with a terrorist? (Um, did I read that right?!)

"The guy was like, Who are your five friends? And I was like, I don't even know . . . . I'm a total loser. Loooooser. Too far."-Michael
I died over this one. Michael tries to save his embarrassment over the koi incident by making fun of himself, and instead, he comes across as pathetic. But "too far" was the real kicker for me.

"Jim is my enemy. But Jim is also his greatest enemy. And the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So Jim is my friend."- Dwight
When the staff watches the security tape from the koi lobby and witnesses Jim actually letting Michael fall in, their loyalty swiftly changes. Dwight so confused, his mind gets blown. I am enjoying this new glimpse into the Michael and Jim work dynamic - by the end of the episode, it seemed like they might actually get along as comanagers. On the other hand, I have to say that I miss the days when Jim was the dude with a sweet crush who liked to pull pranks. Check out the actual video of Jim leaning out of the way:

"Oh, do you mean Marlon Wayans? Cause he is."- Erin
Way to go Erin! I've always sort of viewed her as a background character, but she delivered several funny ones this week. (I'm also loving her right now thanks to her Subtle Sexuality music video.) Do you think the writers are really going to set her up with Andy? Pam seems to be pushing it in that direction - even comparing Andy to Marlon Brando - and I think it's brilliant.

What'd you think of this week's episode? Who wore your favorite costume? Would you like to see Andy and Erin take their relationship to the next level? (I wonder if Angela would get jealous . . . )

And don't forget that you can always head over to The Office! group in the BuzzSugar Community to dish about the show!

Photo courtesy of NBC

Melrose Place Getting a Makeover - Ashlee Simpson Is Out!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:30:39 -0700

Just two months after Melrose Place's debut comes the news that the producers are looking to make over the low-rated series - which means that both Ashlee Simpson and Colin Egglesfield are out.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, executive producers Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin reveal that Simpson was always supposed to leave after episode 12. Quiet-but-psycho Violet and recovering alcoholic Auggie will depart with the Sydney murder mystery (which must mean that one of them is definitely the murderer, right?) in January. The hope is to make the show lighter and more fun after the homicide is wrapped up, and though they're losing two characters, several new ones will show up, including Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward and a new doctor in the complex.

What do you think of this news? Had Violet and Auggie outstayed their welcome at 4616 Melrose Ave.? Do you think these improvements can save the show?

Photo courtesy of The CW

Judy Greer Is Giving TV Another Go

BuzzSugar — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:30:41 -0700

Back in August, the overwhelming majority of you said that Judy Greer deserves more leading roles, and now she's getting one. The actress will be returning to the small screen in I'm With Stupid, a new comedy in development for ABC.

Based on the novel by Elaine Szewczyk, the show will focus on Manhattanite Kas Sienkiewicz (Greer), whose life takes an unexpected turn when she has a vacation fling with a park ranger in South Africa, and a few days later he shows up on her doorstep and moves in.

Greer seems to have a pretty loyal fan base out there, but it wasn't enough to save Miss Guided. I'm a bit skeptical about this project, but maybe it's just the title that's throwing me off. What do you make of this news? Will you welcome Greer back to TV with open arms?