Gossip Girl tonight!
Can't wait!
Oh and p.s...due to the perfect Spring NYC weather, I sat on the steps of The Met this past weekend Gossip Girl style, (while sporting a Blair Waldorf-inspired headband mind you) waiting to catch a glimpse of one of my fav. Upper East Siders, and nothing! So disappointed!
TV is back!
After two months of repeats due to the writers' strike, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O'Brien will return with all-new episodes Wednesday, January 2. "We are are not using writers," a NBC rep says. In a statement, O'Brien said, "An unwritten version of Late Night, though not desirable, is possible — and no one has to be fired. I will make clear, on the program, my support for the writers and I'll do the best version of Late Night I can under the circumstances." Added Leno, "We fully support our writers and I think they understand my decision." Guest lineups for the shows will be announced at a later date, NBC officials said. Meanwhile, eager to air new episodes as well, David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, may negotiate an independent, interim agreement deal with the Writers Guild of America, Worldwide Pants Chief Executive Rob Burnett said in a statement. "It is our strong desire to be back on the air with our writers, and we hope that will happen as soon as possible."
Fielding questions once again about just how “real” her reality show is, Lauren Conrad admits some scenes on The Hills are re-enacted if MTV’s cameras happen to miss the original interactions. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Conrad, 21, specifically addresses “nail-polish-gate” — a sequence of scenes in one episode that were supposedly shot on one night, but in which Conrad’s red nail polish disappears over time. Conrad says the later scenes, with her on the phone with Brody Jenner, were indeed re-enacted the next day, because the cameras had stopped rolling before the “real” phone call. “Anyone who has worked on a reality show knows how they’re filmed,” Conrad says. “I basically had to go and call [Brody] again, have the exact same conversation on camera. I mean, it’s not lying to anyone, it’s telling what really happened, but it’s just the way they film reality shows.” Conrad doesn’t see anything wrong with that, as long as the re-enactments stay true to the characters’ real lives. “Basically what they’re doing is taking our lives and telling a story,” she says. “They’re telling exactly what happened.” She adds that MTV has orchestrated run-ins between Conrad and Heidi Montag. “But they only set that up because it was happening off-camera,” she says. “We were getting into these situations where we were running into [Heidi and Spencer], and [MTV] kept missing them.” Conrad also remarks on how popular it’s become — to the point that the stars had to move apartments to keep from getting harassed. “Whether they were drunk or just crazy, people would come and knock on our door,” she says. “It was scary for us. So we switched apartments but continued filming in front of the other one so people wouldn’t know where we lived.” Through it all, she remains a bit mystified by the show’s appeal. “People are just obsessed with other people’s lives,” she says. “I don’t know whether it’s kind of a way to escape their own, or something to follow. … I really couldn’t tell you.”
Just how real is The Hills? According to model Gavin Beasley - you may remember him as Lauren Conrad's date - the MTV show isn't as real as the network or its stars would like you to believe. Take the scene at Brody Jenner's barbecue on this Monday's episode. "[MTV] totally set up the BBQ scene for Brody and I to meet each other and talk because, as they said, 'The audience would get a kick out of seeing the ex talking to the new guy,'" Beasley tells Best Week Ever's blog. "Brody would talk all this sh**, then be like, 'Sorry about that, we're just trying to make good television,'" says Beasley. "He creates drama and a storyline. That's why he is there." As for his date with Conrad: "[Conrad]'s kind of a conversation killer, and when the cameras are rolling, all conversation is kept firmly on the surface," Beasley says. So what did they two talk about? "I don't know - pop culture, Red Bull, stuff like that. In fact, the most interesting thing I got out of her was that she isn't allowed to eat ice cream because her trainer told her she can't... What you see is really what you get with these people. The lack of depth was actually uncomfortable for me. Like, how can nothing be everything you talk about?"
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are making their first joint producing effort (after Shiloh, that is) with a series project at HBO. The Bourne Ultimatum co-writer Scott Burns is penning the untitled drama, which will explore the behind-the-scenes politics of an international aid organization and chronicle the lives of humanitarian workers assigned to dangerous zones and the people in need they assist. Jolie, Pitt and Burns, producer of the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, are executive producing. The series has been a passion project for Jolie since she did the 2003 feature Beyond Borders, a drama about disaster-relief workers in war-torn countries. The aid-workers series marks Jolie's return to HBO 10 years after her breakthrough starring role in the cable network's biopic Gia, which earned her a Golden Globe win, a SAG Award and and Emmy nomination. Pitt is already in business with HBO. Along with Edward Norton, he is executive producing the HBO/National Geographic miniseries Undaunted Courage, now in development, which tells the story of the legendary journey across the western U.S. by explorers Lewis and Clark.
After announcing the end of The Simple Life, the E! network has confirmed plans for a new celebrity offspring reality series starring Kim Kardashian, the 26-year-old daughter of Robert Kardashian, one of OJ Simpson's attorneys during his murder trial. The show will center around Kardashian's Brady-Bunch style family, which includes sisters Kourtney and Khloe, half-sisters Kendall and Kylie, their mother Kris and stepdad and Olympian Bruce Jenner. Set to debut this fall, the show was created in part by Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
The Kelly Osbourne/Kimberley Stewart reality show has been quashed - by its stars. E! originally reported that the show was canned producers, who wanted the famous offspring to spend time with "real people" doing "real jobs" and make fun of them in the process. According to a source, however, Osbourne decided not to sign on after she saw the first episode, calling it "demeaning to other people and juvenile."
Comedian Whoopi Goldberg was officially announced as the new moderator and co-host of The View this morning. Picking up where Rosie O'Donnell and Meredith Viera left off, Goldberg will be responsible for steering panel discussions. She appeared on Wednesday's show for Barbara Walters's announcement. "I love this show," said Goldberg, who has guest co-hosted many times. "I love coming on it. I love hanging out with you guys." Producers at The View are also in discussions with possible candidates to fill the spot left empty by Star Jones Reynolds, including Sherri Shepherd and Kathy Griffin.
The Simple Life has officially been canceled, according to a source at the E! network. Overexposure is reportedly to blame for the end of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie's "reality" show. "We felt like the real life drama of their lives overshadowed anything happening on the show," says the insider. "Viewers would see Paris all day long on the news about her going to jail, so they didn't care about seeing her camping with kids. It just was too played out." Richie also became difficult to work with, adds the source: "Paris carried the show. She was the one willing to do anything. Nicole was the diva."
Following this week's airing of Victoria Beckham's reality special, Coming to America, soccer hottie David Beckham is getting his own TV show. David Beckham's Soccer USA, a 13-part reality series from the producer of American Idol, will premiere next Wednesday. "David Beckham's arrival is a tremendous milestone in U.S. soccer history," said a FOX rep, whose network will air the show. "[The series] will provide an insider's look at his performance with the Los Angeles Galaxy." Posh and Becks's big move to the U.S. is garnering a lot of A-list attention - their "Welcome to America" party is being thrown by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes along with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett this Sunday."Invitations went out all over Hollywood...they were printed on red velvet with tacky gold lettering," said a tipster.
Ellen Degeneres ruled at last night's Daytime Emmy awards, scoring six trophies including best talk show and best talk-show host. Accepting one award, Degeneres gave a shout-out to View alum Rosie O'Donnell, saying, "I really am shocked... I thought Rosie brought a lot of new viewers to daytime television and it was interesting. I liked what she did. This was the year she should have won. I wanted to acknowledge Rosie because she has done a lot... I don't know who should replace her, but I don't think it should be Paris Hilton. That would not work."
While her daughter Lindsay is battling demons and possible drug and alcohol addiction in rehab in LA, Dina Lohan is in talks to do a reality show with the E! network. Tentatively titled "Mom-ager," the show would follow Lohan as she tries to turn her two youngest children, 14-year-old Ali and 11-year-old Cody into stars. "Can you believe that?" says an insider. "She totally messed up Lindsay by making her a 'star' and living vicariously through her - and now she's going to do the same to the other two? How the [bleep] can E! do this? Those kids should be in school having normal lives, the life that Lindsay didn't get to have." Mama Lohan is rumored to have been on the hunt for a TV job for more than a year, and recently appeared as an Entertainment Tonight correspondent at Lindsay's Georgia Rule premiere.
During an appearance to promote her new gig as host of Canada's version of Project Runway earlier this week, supermodel Iman weighed in on the self-destructive path of young Hollywood. "I have to say, I did my fair share of Studio 54 in my day," the makeup guru said. "But by the grace of God, I have always known when to leave the party. They are very young, these girls...they treat rehab like it's a spa, they go in and out, but at the end of the day I keep asking myself the same question over and over: 'Where are the adults for these kids?'" Iman heeds her own advice and tries to only take on projects that keep her close to her children and husband David Bowie. "So when they approached me to do Project Runway Canada, a couple of things aligned themselves perfectly," Mrs. Bowie said. "First of all, it's in June so school is out so the little one is going to come with me. And it's in Toronto, so it's not that far from New York and I'm able to go back and forth easily." The show, which will air this fall, will see twelve Canadian designers compete for $100,000 to start their own fashion line, as well as the chance to show their work at a premiere fashion event. "It's a really good opportunity to be on a show that's in a genre that's not salacious - I'm not keen on salacious television," Iman says. "I really do like the format of Project Runway USA because it really is about finding talent and nurturing talent. There's no meanness. The critiques are constructive and the judges are designers and really know what they're talking about."
Rosie O'Donnell posted a video message on her blog over the weekend in the wake of her leaving The View. The comedian and children's advocate says she will likely never speak to ex-co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck again after their on-air battle last week. "I haven't spoken to her, and I probably won't, and I think it's just as well," O'Donnell says. "I wrote her an email, and she wrote me back, and there you have it." On this morning's View Elisabeth made a point of saying she and Rosie had been in touch, and seemed to think the two would eventually be friends again...guess she hasn't checked out rosie.com. "I was really just like a foster kid for a year," O'Donnell said of her View stint. "I came, you know, we considered adoption, but I didn't really fit into the family and now it's time for the foster kid to go back home." O'Donnell also admitted it her head writer drew a mustache on a photo of Hasselbeck in the studio, saying, "I was a joke on the way out."
Dlist comedian Kathy Griffin told an audience during a stand-up show on Saturday night that the final straw prompting her friend Rosie O'Donnell to leave The View was the split-screen used by ABC during her argument with Elisabeth Hasselbeck earlier this week. "I don't even know where to start," Griffin told the crowd at a show in New Jersey. "I tell you who I got a call from [on Friday]. 'Hey, Kath. It's Ro. What are you doing? Wanna hang out?' I spent the whole day with Rosie! How about that?!" The pair caught Cyndi Lauper's rehearsal for her upcoming tour, followed by dinner in Manhattan with the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun singer. Griffin and O'Donnell discussed the split-screen, and Griffin said of their conversation: "And that's what it was. I said, 'What was really it?' And she said, 'The split screen.' She said, 'I don't want to do Hannity and Colmes.'" Griffin has appeared as guest host on the show many times, and said of her friend, "I think she's a pistol, and she's outspoken and fun and says outrageous things. That show's not going to be the same without her, whether you like her or not."