Neil Patrick Harris by Cliff Lipson/CBS, Brett Butler courtesy Brett Butler
It wasn't easy, but How I Met Your Mother has finally located the middle-aged woman with whom Barney lost his virginity many moons ago. Veteran character actress Stephanie Faracy — whose most recent credits include episodes of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and Will & Grace — has landed the plum part. She replaces onetime sitcom star Brett Butler (Grace Under Fire), who showed up for work on Wednesday but was quickly let go after it was mutually decided that the role wasn't a good fit. (That explains why, as astute Ausiello Report readers can attest, a story I had announcing Butler's casting was quickly yanked from TVGuide.com late yesterday.)Butler's miscasting was just the latest wrinkle in producers' exhaustive search for Barney's "first." As Neil Patrick Harris revealed to me at TV Guide's Emmy After Party last month, producers originally approached Kirstie Alley to play Mrs. Robinson to his Benjamin Braddock. But for some unknown reason, the ex-Fat Actress declined. P...
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Question: I've been watching a lot of reruns of Roseanne on Nick at Nite lately and I wonder if there can ever be another show to match it. It was brilliant, especially in its early years. I would love to watch another family comedy on the same level as Roseanne.
Answer: So would we all. Those first seasons of Roseanne were so raw, so honest, so true to the star's vision, and, of course, so hilarious. One of the saddest observations I can make about today's TV comedy scene is to look at ABC and to realize that the network that once showcased Roseanne, Brett Butler and Tim Allen is now the network of Jim Belushi, Freddie Prinze Jr., George Lopez and Hope & Faith. It's enough to make you cry. (But then, ABC's Sons & Daughters, premiering Tuesday, may give you hope. Just pray someone actually watches. ...
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Here we go, folks. That judging controversy on NBC's Last Comic Standing has erupted onscreen. In last week's Las Vegas finals, Drew Carey and Brett Butler made a stink about the 10 finalists selected to move into the house. Butler even left her chair in huffy American Idol style. What gives?
"I thought it was very unprofessional," says host Jay Mohr, who also created and produces LCS. "It was very unfair to the people who earned their way into the house. If you're standing onstage holding a key to the house — and you have someone walking off because they don't agree with a few of the [choices] — you don't know who they're referring to. Jay London was the last guy picked, and that's when [Butler] walked off. When I was watching the show, I thought, 'Gosh, I hope he doesn't think it's because he didn't deserve to be in the house, because he was on all four judges' scorecards!'"
Speaking of t
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