In a sit-down with Ellen DeGeneres airing Wednesday, Christina Aguilera reveals — and boy, is that putting it mildly — that she and hubby-of-a-year Jordan Bratman wind down their weeks with "naked Sundays." "You have to keep marriage alive, spice it up," shares Aguilera. "We do everything naked. We cook naked." Almost assuredly giving new meaning to "grand-slam breakfast."
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Melina Kanakaredes and Gary Sinise, CSI: NY
Something remarkable happened while shooting this season's opening episode of CBS' CSI: NY (Wednesdays at 10 pm/ET). Instead of the usual nose-holding over the rotting corpse du jour, the actors huddling around the playback monitors were doing puppy-dog head tilts and whispering, "Awww."
"It was so sweet," says Melina Kanakaredes, who plays the normally tough-talking detective Stella Bonasera. "I mean, Mac and Peyton are adorable together."
Sweet? Adorable? Is this CSI: NY or 7th Heaven? After two seasons of by-the-book forensic gumshoeing, the crime drama's focus has suddenly shifted to topics that are decidedly more… cuddly. And it's not just the actors who are cooing. New, more personal story lines, including the burgeoning affair between hard-bitten Manhattan investigator Mac Tayl
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Christina Aguilera, Rascal Flatts and the cast of Broadway's Jersey Boys will all perform live from Times Square during Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve 2007, on ABC.... Saturday Night Live has added chart-topping hip-hop artist Akon to its Dec. 9 outing, which already offers Annette Bening as host and Gwen Stefani as a musical guest.... Mary J. Blige was the big winner at Monday's Billboard Music Awards, grabbing nine wins, including female R&B artist of the year and R&B/hip-hop album of the year. Other winners include every one of us who didn't have to watch Paris host.
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Buttonz? Yodeling? Paul Wall? If I am at all current on the music kids are listening to these days — and my niece Phoenix will be the first to say I am not — it's only because my weekend routine finds me watching VH1 videos while doing cardio (and reading the latest periodicals, because I'm such the multi-tasker) at the local health club. Herewith are my thoughts on some of today's heavily-played "tracks," in no particular order other than how they pop into my mind:"About Us," Brooke Hogan (with the aforementioned Paul Wall)So, this is Hulk's daughter, eh? I read something somewhere about how she whipped herself into shape for this, partly via mad amounts of jump-roping, hence (I can only assume) the activity's inclusion in the vid. Mr. Wall's orthodontic issues aside, it's a catchy tune, though I must opine that Brooke and her posse get served in the video's dance-off at the end. I mean, did you see that one chick's crazy leg moves? It's like she has no femur."My Love," J...
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Consider this an unqualified rave. NBC is offering a deluxe sweeps and holiday treat in Tuesday’s prime-time special Tony Bennett: An American Classic (8/7c), which is as lustrously filmed as it is impeccably sung. For those of us who’ve been waiting for Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall (Chicago) to tackle a new musical project, here it is. Marshall has lovingly conceived and masterfully executed a shimmering, swinging hour of razzle-dazzle showmanship that redefines what a variety special can be.I’m tempted to say they don’t make ’em like this anymore, but the truth is, even back when they did, they didn’t make ’em this good very often. (What this special reminded me of most, especially in the elaborate and evocative production numbers, was Bob Fosse’s landmark Liza With a Z special that Showtime so magnificently resurrected and restored earlier this year.)This is the rare music special that looks as good as it sounds. And it sounds spec...
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Apparently not having his fill of faux sketch-comedy making, 30 Rock's Alec Baldwin will guest-host Saturday Night Live for a lucky 13th time on Nov. 11. (Raising the question: can SNL spoof an SNL-spoofing series? Or is that like when Marty McFly stole a baseball almanac?) Appearing as musical guest that night will be Christina "It's Painful When I Try to Act in My Music Videos" Aguilera. Next up, on Nov. 18: Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, doing double duty as host/musical act. Then, on the 25th, an encore of this season's Hugh Laurie/Beck outing.
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Saturday Night Live: The Complete First Season, an eight-disc, 24-episode set, arrives on DVD Dec. 5.... Tom Brokaw will return to his old stomping grounds when he joins Brian Williams and Tim Russert for NBC's midterm-elections coverage.... THINKfilm has announced a Jan. 30, 2007, street date for the straight-to-DVD spoof Farce of the Penguins, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson and accordingly rated R.... NBC's annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center telecast, airing Nov. 29, will feature Christina Aguilera, Sting, Bette Midler, John Legend, Taylor Hicks and many more.... On a final note, Happy Halloween, everyone! My twin sons will be trick-or-treating dressed up as "NBC," so they won't be starting out until 9 pm.
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William Petersen and Jorja Fox, CSI
You wanted answers about Grissom and Sara's relationship, and we've got 'em. For the occasion of CSI's Season 7 premiere (tonight at 9 pm/ET), TV Guide brought your burning questions, collected at TVGuide.com, to series stars William Petersen and Jorja Fox. In addition to what follows, look for many more Q's and A's in the new TV Guide magazine.
Question: Are you surprised that a show that is not known for its romantic plots is now getting such a huge reaction for one scene at the end of one episode?Fox: Very surprised. It's a huge compliment to the show. There's this sense that the folks who have been watching loyally for so long are sti
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David Simon's The Wire (Sundays at 10 pm/ET on HBO) teems with cops and killers, with violent twists and cat-and-mouse suspense, but it's not just a crime drama. This is TV as great modern literature, a shattering and heartbreaking urban epic about a city (Baltimore) rotting from within.
In its fourth remarkable season, The Wire expands beyond the compromised police department and self-serving politicians. They're still around, but now we enter, with trepidation and dismay, the public schools. Here, the most vulnerable of citizens — the youth, including drug-slinging "corner kids" — are in danger of being lost in another corrupt system.
At school, it's more about "teaching the test" (the standardized state exam) than real education, as cop-turned-teacher Prez learns. "I've been here before," sighs this veteran of "juking the stats" — shoptalk for manipulating n
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Hugh Laurie, House
American IdolGeorge Huff was in the house, but these off-key performances probably removed the smile from his face for the first time ever. I did actually enjoy Taylor and was freaked out to be in agreement with Paula Abdul — Taylor is really great when he just stands there and sings. Mandisa wasn't at her best, but vocally she was still miles above the others. Yes, Simon Cowell, we know the "song isn't for you." If it were, it would be called "Damn You," not "Praise You." Paris definitely had the "attitude" part of "Work It Out" down, and she managed a decent vocal while doing the patented Beyoncé booty dance. Bucky was OK — though the band drowned him out a bit, he picked a good song
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