Jimmy Fallon and Barack Obama
Our top moments of the week:
13. Chuck, I Am Your Father Award: Following last week's revelation that Diana Payne (Elizabeth Hurley) is his biological mother, Gossip Girl's Chuck falls further down the rabbit role when an investigation led by Nate reveals that not only is Diana probably not his mother, but Bart Bass was also not his real father...
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Timothy Olyphant, Justified
On that rare occasion when someone tells you there's nothing good on TV — but honestly, why would you be talking to people like that? — gently point them toward Tuesday nights at 10/9c, a time period that became ridiculously overstuffed this week thanks to some of cable's best and most entertaining dramas. (And let's pause to give thanks to cable replays, for those with limited DVR capability.)
THE TUESDAY LOGJAM: Let's start with FX's Justified, fresh as ever in its third season. Still recovering from last season's wounds, wry U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) may not be up to snuff just yet — as his boss taunts, "You can't run and you can't shoot, what good are you?" — but the show is so assured in its blend of barbed humor and deadly menace that you can always expect at least once per episode to be found laughing on the edge of your seat. Mags Bennett may be gone, and there's no replacing the great Margo Martindale, but icy-eyed Neal McDonough is giving it a robust go...
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Natalie Zea
Cheers to Natalie Zea for giving double-timing a good name.
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The dazzling actress has returned to her regular role on FX's Justified as Winona Hawkins, the now-pregnant ex-wife of Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant). Meanwhile, she also appeared on the recent season opener of Showtime's Californication as Carrie, the bitter ex-girlfriend of David Duchovny's Hank Moody. Clearly, Zea's got the ex factor.
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Dexter
[Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Season 5 finale of Dexter. Read at your own risk.]
While Dexter's Season 5 finale was not nearly as jaw-dropping as the previous year's, executive producer Sara Colleton says she and her team got Dexter (Michael C. Hall) to the place they wanted: acceptance.
Through his relationship with Lumen (Julia Stiles), a survivor of an excruciatingly brutal series of rapes and beatings, Dexter was able to atone for his involvement, or lack thereof, in Rita's death by helping Lumen seek vengeance on her tormentors. With Lumen deciding to...
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Dexter
On Dexter, nothing sets up a good sex scene like murder.
In last week's episode, after Dexter (Michael C. Hall) helped rape victim Lumen (guest star Julia Stiles) get her first taste of revenge by killing one of her tormentors, the duo hit the sheets, becoming more than just partners in crime. But Stiles found a certain poetry in the juxtaposition of those two scenes.
"Lumen is the only person alive who sees Dexter's true self and accepts him. There's something oddly romantic about that, and also very intimate," Stiles tells TVGuide.com. "The reverse ...
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Julia Stiles and Michael C. Hall
Dexter's struggle to deal with Rita's death will come to a head in the final four episodes of Dexter, executive producer Sara Colleton tells TVGuide.com
So far this season, he has been working through his guilt by helping Lumen [Julia Stiles]. He's believed that if he can avenge the wrongs done to her, he might be able to figure out whether he can atone for his part in Rita's death, Colleton says. "All of that will be converging, along with a lot of jeopardy that no one could've anticipated, not even Dexter."
Watch full episodes of Dexter
And while the producers don't feel pressure to top last season's shocking finale, Colleton says they want to make sure all of this season's puzzle pieces come together in a satisfying way. Here are four things you should know heading in to the Season 5 finale:
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Dexter
It's hard to imagine the father from My Three Sons in a mess like this. TV's newest widowed dad, Dexter Morgan, has left his kids at home to get the goods on a suspect he thinks may be a murderer. If that's true, Dex will probably have to kill the guy, just as he's offed 60-odd other psychos since the Showtime series began in 2006. Of course, Dexter himself might be the next casualty if he keeps the kids and their new nanny waiting much longer.
"It's definitely not easy balancing single fatherhood with the sort of affliction Dexter has," Michael C. Hall says with wry amusement on the set in Los Angeles, where Season 5 finds his character dealing with the aftermath of his wife Rita's death. In case you missed the most jaw-dropping twist in Dexter history, here's what went down in last season's finale...
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Michael C. Hall and Julie Benz
When Dexter returns on Sunday, Sept. 27 (9/8c, Showtime), Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is a married man, living in suburbia, with three children. Wait, does that sound like the serial killer we've come to know and love? That's exactly the challenge this season: Can he juggle his favorite pastime and his new responsibilities? To answer that and other burning questions for the fourth season of Dexter, the stars of Showtime's killer series discuss what's to come...
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Gossip Girl
Jack Bass, the devious uncle of Gossip Girl's Chuck (Ed Westwick), is set to return to the show later this season, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.
"I will be back this year," says Desmond Harrington, who plays the character. "I think it's episode 15 or 16 where I show back up. It's fun playing Uncle Jack."
When we last saw Jack...
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Allison Quinn, Sons & Daughters
Well, this blog has taken my celebrity to new heights. I simply didn't anticipate the extraordinary interest millions of readers would take in the random thoughts of me, a modest journeyman-actor-turned-huge-ABC-television-star. It hasn't given me a big head or made me treat people any differently than I did before. Just ask my assistants, Felicia and Maggie, my personal shopper Yvette, or Charles, the English butler who helps me put on my trousers one leg at a time in the morning — I really haven't changed at all. I still try to lead a selfless and simple life. I even hired a Tibetan to read quotes from the Dalai Lama aloud to me as I'm choosing which Hugo Boss suit to wear that day. Me, a simple, hardworking fellow from beautiful Montesano, Washington. Me, who leads a spiritual life and thinks only of his fellow man, even when I'm sailing in the Bahamas, playing blackjack for a thousand dollars a hand in Las Vegas, or waking up with Eva Longoria.
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