Harry Connick Jr., Living Proof
Strong women battling breast cancer. A sympathetic hero fighting for a cure. An ensemble of gifted actresses and a sexy charmer as their white knight. A three-hankie script and a four-hankie ending. Living Proof (Saturday, Oct. 18 at 9 pm/ET) might be Lifetime's most Lifetime-y movie ever. And yet the inspiring story, based on pioneering oncologist Dennis Slamon's dogged pursuit for a cure, took seven years to get to the screen — a struggle nearly as hard-fought as Slamon's battle to take his breast-cancer drug, Herceptin, to patients.
"Dennis Slamon became a hero to me," says scriptwriter Vivienne Radkoff, who had read Robert Bazell's 1998 book Her-2, chronicling Slamon's efforts to get Herceptin on the market. "I was obsessed, but something would always stop the project." One interested producer had to drop out after being diagnosed with breast cancer herself.
Eventually, Radkoff's script would find some big-name champions — producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun), actress (turned producer) Renée Zellweger and playing Slamon, singer-actor Harry Connick Jr. "No one would make Vivienne's movie," Zadan says. "She brought the story to us, hoping that we could somehow force it through the system. We've done a lot of dramatic shows that we care about, but this seemed to be the most important of all."
See who else is in the impressive cast after the jump.
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Jared Padalecki
Supernatural fans want to know: Did Sam hook up with his demon helper, Ruby? While series creator Eric Kripke thus far is mum on the subject, Jared Padalecki is willing to offer his own (albeit unconfirmed) opinion on the possibly sticky sitch. Get his personal take on possibly "sleeping with the enemy," after the jump.
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Maura Tierney, ER
In its final year, ER (Thursdays at 10 pm/ET, NBC) will welcome back some old friends while other cast members make early exits. In the 15th-season premiere, Greg Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) died a shocking death, and tonight Maura Tierney's lovable but beleaguered Dr. Abby Lockhart checks out for the last time.
TV Guide: You wanted Abby to be killed off, but she won't be. So how does she leave?
See Tierney's answer and find out what's in Luka and Abby's future after the jump.
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Sarah Shahi
Sarah Shahi's got a cool cop show, a hot new look — and she's getting married. What's not to love? We talked to the Life (Oct. 6 at 10 pm/ET, NBC and then Fridays at 10 pm) star about what's ahead for Dani this season, her stint on The L Word and growing up in Texas with a name like Aahoo.
TV Guide: Your character on Life, cop Dani Reese, is looking pretty hot this season. Did she get a makeover?
Sarah Shahi: My hair is down! You will never see that bun again. We wanted to make the show a little sexier, a bit more fun. [Laughs] Next thing, a bikini.
TV Guide: So what's up for the crack detective and recovering addict?
Shahi: Dani has a love interest! And she has a relapse.
TV Guide: Could it be her new boss who's smitten?
Shahi: Captain Tidwell [Donal Logue] and Dani do get it on. She's really surprised she's taken by him. He says the most inappropriate things and has about 18 ex-wives.
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Sarah Shahi's got a cool cop show, a hot new look — and she's getting married. What's not to love? We talked to the Life (Oct. 6 at 10 pm/ET, NBC and then Fridays at 10 pm) star about what's ahead for Dani this season, her stint on The L Word and growing up in Texas with a name like Aahoo.
TV Guide: Your character on Life, cop Dani Reese, is looking pretty hot this season. Did she get a makeover?
Sarah Shahi: My hair is down! You will never see that bun again. We wanted to make the show a little sexier, a bit more fun. [Laughs] Next thing, a bikini.
TV Guide: So what's up for the crack detective and recovering addict?
Shahi: Dani has a love interest! And she has a relapse.
TV Guide: Could it be her new boss who's smitten?
Shahi: Captain Tidwell [Donal Logue] and Dani do get
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Mario Lopez, Extra
Mario Lopez may be the busiest guy in show business. Along with starring in Broadway’s A Chorus Line, hosting America's Best Dance Crew (Thursdays, 10 pm/ET, MTV) and promoting his book, Mario Lopez's Knockout Fitness, he was just promoted from correspondent to the sole host of Extra, replacing Mark McGrath and Dayna Devon as of September 15. The multitasker took time out to talk about his new gig, tabloid rumors and his sexy TV Guide "Hot Bods" cover.
TV Guide: How did the Extra anchor job come about?
Mario Lopez: They have this new concept involving a social network, and they want the show to be very innovative and very clever. They asked me if I wanted to take the helm. I was flattered and honored. I love hosting, whether it’s a barbecue at my
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Mary McCormack, In Plain Sight
It takes real cojones to call a powerful producer a fathead while auditioning for a TV series. That's just what Mary McCormack did to Steven Bochco when he was casting Murder One back in 1994. "Steven was making fun of my pretentious head shot, and I finally said to him, 'Shut up, you big fathead, I have to read now!'"
The room went dead silent — until Bochco laughed. McCormack won a leading role, as well as a nickname — "Fatty" — and a lifelong friend. "Steven's my hero for starting off my career," McCormack says, "and for paying off my college loans."
The actress has parlayed her gutsy, smart-mouthed persona into a successful career, with credits that include Howard Stern's Private Parts — her "favorite job ever" — The West Wing and ER. And she earned a Tony nomination for her uproarious turn as an overheated German stewardess with dominatrix
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Jensen Ackles, Supernatural
Not only did Supernatural creator Eric Kripke confirm that Dean Winchester is alive — though not too comfortably since he's in hell — he spilled next season's plans for the beleaguered Winchester brothers.
TVGuide.com: You weren't lying when you said you were hoping to make your fans really angry and full of anxiety all summer!
Eric Kripke: [Laughs] It was a fun way to end the season. Dean meat-hooked in the center of what looks like a thousand mile spiderweb of rusty chains. Sort of M.C.Escher meets Hellraiser.
TVGuide.com: Why did you send Dean to hell?
Kripke: Everyone expected Dean to be safe! That's reason enough to send him to hell. But also, in ways I can't reveal, it's a turning point for Dean. You need huge moves to happen that can cause radical shifts in the cha
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Barbara Walters
After five decades in TV news, Barbara Walters has finally written her autobiography. Audition: A Memoir (Knopf, $29.95) hits the stores May 6, the day Walters is on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "It will be unusual for me to be answering the questions instead of asking them," she says with a hint of nerves. Though she saved the details of her sizzling secret affair with the married Edward Brooke, the nation's first black U.S. Senator, for the Oprah appearance, the Queen of "Gets" sat down with TV Guide to talk about her "extremely personal — maybe too personal — story.
TV Guide: You've always been discreet about your personal life. Why a memoir now?
Barbara Walters: It's a time in my life when I'm very happy and very much at peace. I don't have anything to lose
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Anthony Anderson, Law & Order
After the cancellation of this fall's New Orleans-set cop show K-Ville, Anthony Anderson headed north to join NBC's venerable Law & Order (Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET, NBC). The formerly funny actor (Kangaroo Jack, anyone?) plays Detective Kevin Bernard, who will replace Ed Green (the departing Jesse L. Martin) and partner up with Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto). Tonight marks Anderson's first episode — and Martin's last.
TVGuide.com: What was your first week on the Law & Order set like?
Anthony Anderson: It was great. I stepped into a well-oiled machine that has been running for the last 18 years, and they just welcomed me with open arms.
TVGuide.com: How often do you pinch yourself to see if you've really become a cast member on one of TV's most iconic series?
Anderson
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