Christiane Amanpour hosts a documentary about Bin Laden.
CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, hosts CNN Presents: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden (premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET), a two-hour profile of Osama bin Laden driven by interviews with those who have crossed paths with him. The globe-trotting journalist sat down with us in July to chat about her experiences filming the documentary.
TV Guide: Given his elusiveness, how does one begin to look for and learn about Bin Laden?
Christiane Amanpour: Well, looking for him is one thing. You've got pretty much the whole U.S. military trying to find him, and they haven't been successful yet. But we convinced a lot of people who knew him to talk about him, from an English professor who taught the Bin Laden family to his ch
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Robin Weigert, Deadwood
There are many reasons to love this final full season of HBO's Deadwood (Sundays at 9 pm/ET), not least among them the continued standout performance by Robin Weigert. As the vulgar, dirt-smeared and usually plastered Calamity Jane, Weigert makes off with every scene she's in. The actress checked in from Las Vegas — where she was, appropriately, playing poker.
TV Guide: You mustn't get recognized much in public. You're like night and day with Jane.
Robin Weigert: I don't, and it's kind of a treat in its own way. But I suppose poker players are into Deadwood [Laughs], so there's a certain point where I'll hear, "I know you from somewhere," but they just can't place
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The Dudesons' Jukka (top) and Jarppi
When we heard that The Dudesons, four Finnish friends with a taste for Jackass-like stunts, were going to be abusing their bodies on Spike (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET), we just knew we had to chat with them. Two of the Dudes, Jukka and Jarppi, indulged us.
TV Guide: Is there a difference between Finnish humor and American humor?
Jukka: People around the world laugh at the same things. It's always funny to see someone get woken up by hitting him with a baseball bat. [In] Finland, we don't really have censorship on TV so we can broadcast even the craziest ideas: lighting somebody on fire, accidentally burning our house down....
TV Guide: How about Finnish humor vs. Swedish humor?
Jukka: Finnish humor is mo
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Tom Brokaw, Global Warming: What You Need to Know
Since leaving the NBC Nightly News anchor chair in 2004, Tom Brokaw has been anything but "retired." As host of Global Warming: What You Need to Know (premiering Sunday at 9 pm/ET on Discovery Channel), the newsman posits some reasons for our planet's higher fever.
TV Guide: Why'd you get involved with the documentary?
Tom Brokaw: I've been watching [the issue] for some time, and like a lot of people I've been trying to figure out the difference between fact and fiction. The scientific consensus is now pretty overwhelming. There are still scientists out there who will be dismissive of it, but more and more are signing on. What's been so striking to me is that more
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Sebastian Bach, Supergroup
It's hard to stand out in a Supergroup, but Sebastian Bach has emerged as the breakout star of VH1's hard-rocking reality series, which drops the curtain on its first season tonight at 10 pm/ET. The frequent Gilmore Girls guest star checked in with us from London, where he was touring with Guns n' Roses, to talk about living with his Damnocracy
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Jimmy Smits
Fresh off his presidential win on The West Wing, Jimmy Smits lends his voice as narrator to Yo Soy Boricua Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas! (I'm Boricua, Just So You Know!), director Rosie Perez's moving, informative and humorous documentary about Puerto Rican pride and the history of the U.S. commonwealth, premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET on IFC. TV Guide spoke with Smits about hailing his heritage, as well as having to bid adieu to both the W
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Host Howie Mandel takes a call from Deal or No Deal's Banker
What is the deal with the Banker on NBC's Deal or No Deal (the season finale airs tonight at 8 pm/ET)? He is one shady dude — literally and figuratively — playing with players' minds the way he does, offering weighty sums for their cash-rich (or -poor) unopened briefcases. Why won't he show his face, instead of tendering his temptations through host Howie Mandel? Exactly what evil lurks in the heart of this man? The shadow knows.... So we invited him to shed some light on what goes on inside his greedy brain.
TV Guide: OK, so who are you?
The Banker: I'm the guy you could never beat at Monopoly. I'm the guy you hated for ruining the bell curve
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Real Time with Bill Maher
As HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher debates the issues for one last time (Friday at 11 pm/ET) before going on hiatus — fret not, the series is expected to return in late summer — we asked host Bill Maher about his show and the state of the union.
TV Guide: You're so informed. How do you prepare for a show?
Bill Maher: Well, I spend all week preparing. People are always surprised to hear that I work a lot harder on this show than when I had an everyday show [Politically Incorrect]. When you do an everyday show, you
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Rural New Jersey isn't that far from New York City, but for Wife Swap mom Lynn Bradley, they're worlds apart. On tonight's episode of the new reality series (10 pm/ET on ABC), the Garden State homemaker switches places with a Manhattan mother who lives in an empire state of opulence, complete with three nannies and a housekeeper. Here, Bradley tells TV Guide Online how she went from wood-chopping to shoe-shopping, as she adapted the not-so-simple life of a socialite.
TV Guide Online: How does it feel to be the wife who's depicted in a more positive light? You come across much better than your counterpart, Jodi Spolansky.
Lynn Bradley: Oh yeah? I'm surprised. I don't really look at it that way. I thought I came across as a wimp because I couldn't stand up to [Steven, Jodi's husband]. He belittles you too quickly. You just want to crawl into a corner.
TVGO: How was it when the cameras were off? Was he more sociable toward you?
Br
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Poor Christine Lahti. You'd think being married to a former executive producer of The West Wing would guarantee her a role in any of his future projects. Not necessarily. According to the Emmy-winning actress, her husband, Thomas Schlamme, didn't initially see a part for her in Jack & Bobby (debuting Sunday). That's his new WB drama about a conflicted single mom raising two boys — one of whom is destined to be president of the United States. Here, the 54-year-old Chicago Hope alumna talks about her role as future first mother Grace McCallister, and how she persuaded her husband to keep it all in the family.
TV Guide Online: In the pilot episode, Grace smokes pot. Any reservations about playing a professor, a woman of influence, who uses marijuana?
Christine Lahti: It's probably not good for her. Certainly not for the kids. No, [I don't have any] reservations. In fact, one of the things I loved about her the most is that she'
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