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Joely Richardson Is The Tudors' Final Queen

BuzzSugar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:30:29 -0700

Henry VIII's royal family is complete. Joely Richardson has landed the role of Catherine Parr, Henry's final wife, on Showtime's The Tudors.

Richardson - fresh off her Golden Globe-nominated work on Nip/Tuck - will appear in five episodes of the show's final season, which focuses on the dark final days of King Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). She follows Tazmin Merchant as Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

The Tudors is currently filming in Ireland, and its fourth and final season will begin airing on Showtime in 2010.

The role was reportedly one of the most sought-after of the TV season, and at one point, the producers reportedly wanted Gillian Anderson to take it. Do you think Richardson is a good pick? Are you eager to see her act regal?

Henry VIII Will Stick Around for Season IV

BuzzSugar — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:30:51 -0700

It's official - Showtime's The Tudors will return for a fourth season next year. But don't get too attached: As the show's creator suggested at the TCA press tour in January - when he pointed out that Henry VIII would be out of wives fairly soon - the fourth season will be the show's last.

This season of the show follows Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) through his relationships with Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, leaving two Catherines (Howard and Parr) for the final year. That last season may be even more dramatic than the rest, culminating with Henry's descent into madness. The final 10 episodes will air in Spring 2010.

The Tudors has performed well in the ratings so far this season, even becoming one of the few shows to beat a competing program on HBO when it fared better than In Treatment the week of its premiere. So, will you see this take on the saga of Henry VIII through to its end? And which actresses do you have in mind for the final two wives?

Photo courtesy of Showtime

TV Tonight: A Premium Cable Extravaganza

BuzzSugar — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 07:30:52 -0700

If you have HBO or Showtime, tonight's your lucky night - even moreso if you have both! One of Showtime's new signature series wraps up its first season tonight, while new seasons of acclaimed dramas begin on both Showtime and HBO.

First, the finale: United States of Tara's first season ends tonight, with Tara preparing to face head-on the man she believes to be the cause of her dissociative identity disorder. This show has really grown on me since its premiere, almost more for the supporting characters (especially Tara's kids, Kate and Marshall) than for Tara or her alters. It's already been renewed for a second season, so I'm curious to see what tonight's episode wraps up and what it leaves up in the air for the next batch of episodes.

Meanwhile, The Tudors returns for its third season on Showtime, and In Treatment starts its second on HBO. In Treatment is operating on a different schedule this year, with the five therapy sessions airing over two nights (Sundays and Mondays) instead of five, which I hope makes it easier to keep up with the show. The Tudors comes back with some new wives entering the life of Henry VIII, and of them, I'm most curious to see Joss Stone's acting debut as Anne of Cleves.

So: What are you watching tonight? To watch previews for In Treatment and The Tudors and the awesome opening credits for United States of Tara, just read more.

Photos courtesy of Showtime and HBO

Check Out the Season Three Premiere of The Tudors

BuzzSugar — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:30:38 -0700

The Tudors, Showtime's saucy royal drama, returns to television next month for another go-round with King Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and his many wives.

This season covers Henry's marriages to Jane Seymour (played this year by Annabelle Wallis, who takes over for Anita Briem in the role) and Anne of Cleves (played by Joss Stone in the singer's major acting debut). There's also religious drama, sexual escapades, and gorgeous costumes, just as we've come to expect from this series.

The eight episodes start April 5, but if you don't have Showtime, just want a taste of the show, or can't wait a couple of weeks, I've got an advance copy of the season premiere - and you can watch it too, right here, right now! To check out the epiosde, just read more.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

First Look: The Tudors Season Three

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:30:09 -0800

There's a lot to like about this promo for the third season of Showtime's The Tudors, but the music is absolutely cracking me up. The promo shows scenes of Jonathan Rhys Meyers's Henry VIII and his many wives, all set to the sound of . . . Queen's "I Want It All." Would Henry have been into stadium rock if only it had existed in the Tudor era? How funny is it to have a show about a king with promo music by Queen? Am I just entirely too entertained by this? (Yes.)

Anyway, this spot for the third season - which will be eight episodes long and is set to kick off April 5 - shows the war, romance, and killer costumes we've become accustomed to from the series. This third season will cover Henry's third and fourth wives, including the lovely Joss Stone as Anne of Cleves. This is around the time the historical Henry would have been getting fat and unattractive, but don't worry - JRM won't be going down that particular path.

Will you be watching the show when it returns this Spring? To rock out to some Queen and watch the promo, just read more.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

TCA Tidbits: Nurse Jackie, Call Girls, Henry VIII, and More

BuzzSugar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:30:46 -0800

It's NBC's turn to present at the TCA press tour today, but before they take the stage, I wanted to pass along some of the remaining goodies from the CBS and Showtime presentations. I've got lots of good stuff - including an interview with United States of Tara and Rachel Getting Married star Rosemarie DeWitt -that I'll share in the coming days, but for now, some highlights from Wednesday's panels:

Showtime's Nurse Jackie, which stars Edie Falco, is about a woman who's the absolute best nurse imaginable but also has serious human flaws - namely a severe addiction to pharmaceuticals (and an affair with her pharmacist). The show will premiere later this year and be paired with Weeds. Two of the show's executive producers are recovering addicts, so that part of things should feel very real - but that doesn't make it somber. "We love addictions," cracked executive producer Linda Wallem. "We think they're hilarious and great."
The lovely Joss Stone came by to discuss her role as Anne of Cleves on The Tudors. It's her first real acting job and not an easy one to jump into, but she said that was OK: "I prefer to do that. I like to go headfirst into whatever it is." She said she also appreciated knowing that - unless the producers were seriously changing history - she wouldn't be leaving the show with her head cut off.
Speaking of which, if you're waiting for the part of the show where Jonathan Rhys Meyers gets ugly and fat to play King Henry, well, don't hold your breath.

To hear some funny revelations from the Secret Diary of a Call Girl panel, read more.

Where else at TCA besides the Secret Diary of a Call Girl panel would you hear someone say something like, "We had a dominatrix on set . . . we really needed her around"? Their session - with the lovely Billie Piper, who gave birth less than 12 weeks ago and was absolutely radiant - contained all kinds of fascinating revelations, including how producer Rebecca de Souza met the actual call girls who advise her on the show (she found them on the Internet, naturally).

Also interesting: People in London tended to be more prudish and taken aback by the show's sexual content, Piper said, while US audiences seemed more open-minded.
CBS has a 13-episode murder mystery show called Harper's Island premiering this Spring, and while story will end definitively after the 13 weeks with only one character left standing, the producers said they could imagine other shows following the same format airing on CBS in the future - which led to lots of jokes about "Harper's Spaceship" and, once the shows have killed off enough characters, "Harper's Zombies."
Moonlight fans, take note: CBS wants to do a deal with Alex O'Loughlin and is developing a show for him.
This American Life still has a place at Showtime and the executives are talking to Ira Glass about upcoming stories.

On to NBC - where we'll get some details about the still-untitled Amy Poehler show! Check back this afternoon for updates.

Photos courtesy of Showtime

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:15 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the selections below you can also take home Battlestar Galactica: Season Four and Righteous Kill.

Pineapple Express
You guys, Pineapple Express is not just a stoner movie, OK? James Franco was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work! This is award-worthy stuff! I kid, I kid. But it is funny to me that Franco is up for a serious award for playing a pot dealer who has lines like, "Pandora can't go back into the box - he only comes out."

This movie was a lot of fun to see in the theaters and as a DVD it will probably get the most play in dorm rooms, frat houses, and 20-something apartments across the nation. Seth Rogen and James Franco are a match made in stoner heaven, but be warned: The movie is actually pretty graphically violent (just a heads-up if that's a buzzkill for you).

Special features include an extended version of the film, commentary with the filmmakers and cast, and of course, the gag reel.

Three more up next so read more.

The Wackness
The Wackness first premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival and quickly charmed audiences. I myself was smitten when I later saw the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. Starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby and, briefly, Mary-Kate Olsen, it's a quirky story of young love on the Upper East Side in 1994.

I highly recommend this movie (despite that one cringe-inducing moment). In fact, like Pineapple Express, The Wackness features a whole lot of pot smoking, so today's What to Netflix is practically a themed movie night!

Special features include a featurette entitled "Keeping it Real: A Day in the Life of Writer/Director Jonathan Levine," behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted scenes.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season One
Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, is sly and slick, pulling back the curtain on the world of sex-for-money in London and leaving you feeling like the ultimate insider. The show stars Billie Piper as Belle, a high-class hooker - and the alter ego of Hannah, an everyday gal who prefers jeans and books to corsets and stilettos. There's not as much sex in the show as you would initially assume but there is a lot of charm. If you missed the first season of this show when it was on the air, now's the time to catch up.

DVD extras include a featurette titled "Billie Piper - Coming to America."

The Tudors: Season Two
Hey, ye olde Tudors fans! Season two is now out on DVD, which is fun because I prefer to watch this show in one big clump rather than week-to-week. Jonathan Rhys Meyers returns as the young King of England who gets down to business divorcing the queen in order to make room for the ambitious Anne Boleyn. In this season the historical period known as the Reformation is ushered in, as King Henry looks to break from the Catholic church and faces resistance from his own court - not to mention Pope Paul III, played by the wonderfully chilling Peter O'Toole.

Special features include a featurette on the descendants of Henry, a premiere episode of This American Life: Season 2, and photo galleries.

Joss Stone Is The Tudors' Anne of Cleves

BuzzSugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:30:56 -0700

Following in the footsteps of Shirley Manson, Joss Stone has become the year's latest high-profile UK singer to join the cast of a major TV show. In this case, Stone has been cast as Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII, in Showtime's The Tudors.

Anne of Cleves will be the second wife Henry takes in the show's upcoming third season, following Jane Seymour (Anita Briem). The show's first two seasons already took care of Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.

According to the Hollywood Reporter,

A daughter of a German nobleman, Anne was betrothed to Henry in a marriage treaty between the Cleves Court and the king's chancellor after Henry was shown a portrait of her. Upon Anne's arrival to England, Henry was disappointed in her looks and soon found a legal way to have the marriage annulled.

Ouch!

Stone has apparently been looking to cross into acting for a while, but before this, the only role on her résumé was a small part in the 2006 fantasy film Eragon. So, do you think you'll be able to take the singer seriously as a royal wife-to-be?

Source

Buzz News Roundup, 4/23

BuzzSugar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:30:45 -0700

Showtime's The Tudors has been renewed for a third season, USA Today reports.
Variety has news that Ang Lee's next directorial project will be Taking Woodstock, the autobiography of Elliot Tiber, a Catskills motel worker who played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock concert happen.
Naomi Campbell will guest-star on the season finale of Ugly Betty, the Associated Press reports.
Virginia Madsen has joined the cast of the Amelia Earhart biopic, which already included Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, writes ComingSoon.
Mariah Carey had her best album debut ever this week, easily landing at the top of the charts, Billboard reports.
TV Land will be airing a modeling competition focusing solely on women 35 and older; details are at The Futon Critic.
Tom Cruise's 13-year-old son Connor will have a minor, nonspeaking part as the younger version of Will Smith's character in the drama Seven Pounds, the AP reports.
Contestants from the VH1 game shows with "love" in the name (Flavor of Love, etc.) will compete in a new show called For Love or Money to win cash prizes, TV Guide reports.
Variety has the just-announced lineup for this year's Cannes Film Festival, which will include Clint Eastwood's 1920s thriller The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona . . . and Kung Fu Panda.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

TV Tonight: The Tudors

BuzzSugar — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:30:58 -0700

For those of us disappointed with the recent film adaptation of stories from King Henry VIII's court, tonight's second-season premiere of Showtime's bodice-ripping soap The Tudors offers plenty of satisfying drama and intrigue.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers returns as the young brooding King of England who wastes no time in tonight's first episode getting to the good stuff: greasing the wheels to divorce the queen in order to make room for the very ambitious Anne Boleyn. This season the historical period known as the Reformation is ushered in, as Henry looks to break from the Catholic church and faces resistance from his own court - not to mention Pope Paul III, played by the wonderfully chilling Peter O'Toole.

While the dry and sometimes yawn-inducing dialogue from season one remains, this time around there is less talk and more action, as King Henry tears his country apart in a quest for supreme power and (of course) the right to make Anne his queen. And yes, the series' signature hot and heavy love scenes are back - and wow. If you're already a fan of this show, the second season brings back everything you expect and more. If you're just learning about it now, tonight's episode is as good a place as any to start if you want to give it a try. (In case you don't have Showtime, you can also watch the episode online.)

Are you excited for the return of the steamiest series on cable? For now, you can check out a funny pseudo-remix video of many of the Rhys Meyers-as-king scenes if you just read more.

Photo courtesy of Showtime