Allison Janney by Joe Kohen/WireImage.com
Allison Janney who we most recently saw in Juno is set for roles in two new comedies including Sam Mendes This Must Be the Place tentative title and A Thousand Words starring Eddie Murphy Mendes film features Janney as an abrasive off-kilter woman who reunites with a former employee Maya Rudolph in Phoenix Rudolphs character meanwhile is expecting a baby with her husband John Krasinski and sets off for a nationwide tour to find a suitable place to raise their childIn the Murphy vehicle Janney plays his savvy greedy boss at a literary agency Murphys character meanwhile learns he has only a thousand words left to say before his death If those two films arent enough for Janney fans Im talking to you West Wing junkies the actress will appear in a Broadway musical following her film shoots Is Janney straying too far from her roots Or will it be refreshing to see her in more laughable fare Any movie with the words Eddie Murphy and vehicle in the des
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Kristen Bell by Alexandra Wyman/ WireImage.com
It was gadget-geek heaven at the Sony Cierge Spring Preview party. The event, held Wednesday at PaliHouse in West Hollywood, gave the by-invitation-only members of the Cierge program a sneak peak at the latest Sony cameras, PCs and TVs. Wearing a sparkly silver minidress, Dancing with the Stars' Stacy Keibler checked out Sony's ultra-thin OLED flat-screen television with some gal pals, while Rachael Harris of Notes from the Underbelly strolled around with her husband, actor Adam Paul. Of her ABC comedy, Harris lamented that the remaining eight episodes might not ever see the light of day. "It's disappointing," she said. "But what can you do?" Staying for the evening's big draw — the Sony PlayStation SingStar karaoke event — were Allison Janney and Missi Pyle. Before jumping onstage with Pyle to launch into Elton John's "Rocket Man," Janney told us, "I need to sing tonight because I'm doing [the stage] musical 9 to 5 and I'm trying to get my voice into shape!" The two recei...
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Allison Janney by Jamie McCarthy/ WireImage.com
Speaking of The Ice Storm.... Allison Janney (who, let's face it, is first and foremost C.J. Cregg) has joined the voice cast of Fox's The Pitts, an animated series based on the short-lived 2003 live-action comedy series about the Spearses the unluckiest family in the world. Janney will voice the mom, while (as previously reported) Dylan Baker, Lizzy Caplan and Andy Milonakis will bring to life Dad, daughter Liz and son Petey. If a table read set for next week goes well, The Pitts will be ordered straight to series.
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As reported earlier today, the folks behind American Idol are reviving Match Game. I may be in the minority here, but my restrained response to this news was something akin to "Woo-hoo!" I loved that show — both in its heyday and in reruns on the Game Show Network — if only because it's the strangest anthropological documentation of 1970s comedy, sexual mores and substance abuse that you're ever going to find on network television. It was pretty subversive for a game show (see examples on YouTube), with more cigarette smoking, daytime drinking and winking sexism/sexual innuendo than your average episode of Mad Men.So we asked you who you'd put on the show's inaugural panel. Who are today's Richard Dawsons, Brett Sommerses, and Charles Nelson Reillys? And you responded in kind, with some very interesting suggestions. (Mario Cantone? Genius. Jimmy Fallon? Eh.) That said, here are my humble suggestions for the inaugural sextet. —1) Pamela Anderson: If anyone knows her wa...
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Seth Rogen by Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.com
Seth Rogen, Scrubs' Elizabeth Banks and Kevin Smith muse Jason Mewes will star in the Clerks director's next comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Says an excited Smith: "Getting Seth in this flick is like suddenly growing an extra six inches in the crotch."... Grownup Panic Room moppet Kristen Stewart has landed the female lead in Twilight, based on Stephenie Meyer's bestselling novel about a girl who is not named Buffy who is in love with a vampire who is not named Angel... The curtain will go up on Dolly Parton's stage adaptation of 9 to 5, the 1980 classic comedy she made with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, on Sept. 21, 2008, in L.A. Allison Janney stars. No, not in the old Parton role, in Tomlin's role. As if....Tim Burton has sealed a deal with Disney to direct and produce a live-action-plus-performance-capture animation version of Alice in Wonderland and remake his own stop-motion short, Frankenweenie, as a full-length feature. Both will be shown in 3-D, and if we're lucky, Alice ...
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Jason Alexander (who got his start as a Broadway hoofer) recently seized the reigns of Los Angeles' Reprise! theater series. For his first offering, he's thinking of starring in a reading of The Odd Couple opposite Martin Short. "I want to do an absolute crowd-pleaser," Alexander told Playbill.com (which must be why he nixed the idea of a Bob Patterson adaptation).... A musicalization of 9 to 5 will enjoy a star-studded reading later this month, as West Wing's Allison Janney channels Lily Tomlin and Bebe Neuwirth takes on Roz, the office suck-up. The Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Dabney Coleman roles will be filled by stage vets Stephanie J. Block (Pirate Queen), Megan Hilty (Wicked) and Marc Kudisch.... Even in death, Law & Order's Lenny Briscoe gets justice: The Snapple Theater Center is rechristening its third-floor house as "The Jerry Orbach Theater." Snappleholic Michael Ausiello is green with envy. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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Having now fully recovered from her recent back injury, Ellen DeGeneres has rescheduled for this Friday a special installment of her talk show to be taped aboard a Delta 767-400 flight from Los Angeles to New York. Lucky passengers — including, coincidentally, West Wing alum Allison Janney — will be entertained by the host, a definite upgrade from the usual flimsy airline headphones paired with an in-flight presentation of Catch and Release. Ellen's airborne eppy airs Tuesday.
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OK, I know it’s cliché, but sometimes you really don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. However, since this is the week of Valentine’s Day, I guess it’s only appropriate that we got a lesson in love. How strange, though, that this lesson came to us courtesy of Charlie and Rose? First, major props to Berta for some priceless moments tonight. Especially during her exchange with Charlie on why he never gave Rose more of a chance. His reasoning: “This is a woman who stalked me, who spied on me, who snuck into my house to write her name and address in my underwear.” Funny how Charlie would later use said underwear to track Rose down and beg her to stay, but we’ll get to that later. Now, I have to recount Berta’s priceless response: “Oh, boo-hoo. Somebody cares about Charlie. Nobody ever wrote their name in my underwear. Wait, one time. The Department of Corrections.” Too funny. I wish Berta was my wisecracking maid. ...
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Variety reports that CBS has made a pilot commitment to Fugly, a new half-hour comedy from My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia, which concerns three unattractive siblings who pool their money to give one a dramatic makeover. The trio then move to Hollywood to cash in on the pretty one's new looks. Pamela Anderson was once envisioned to star.... Two and a Half Men creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn are teaming with West Wing Emmy winner Allison Janney on a comedy about a successful woman re-examining the relationships in her life.
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Question: I agree 101 percent with your Dispatch that The Closer is fantastic. I would go further and say it is better than many of the top dramas on the regular networks. The writing is super, and the cast is perfect. I cannot imagine how they could have gotten it any better. I really am happy for Kyra Sedgwick. She is a great actress who, in the past, has not received the attention she deserves, because of her famous hubby.
Answer: And now Kevin Bacon is going to direct an episode (officially the second-season "finale," airing in December, outside of the regular season). Sedgwick is my pick to win the Emmy this season, though I'll be surprised if she actually scores (given the maddening weirdness of the Emmy voters, who I'm expecting will find a way to give one more trophy to Allison Janney). You're right about the cast. The bench on The Closer is almost embarrassingly full of strong actors, all of whom give Brenda Leigh Johnson terrific support each week ...
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