Marcia Cross by Danny Feld/ABC; Hugh Laurie courtesy Fox; Tom Welling by Michael Courtney/The CW
Senior editors Matt Webb Mitovich and Mickey O'Connor answer your questions!I'm glad to hear that Desperate Housewives' Gaby is staying frumpy, if only for a bit longer. Any other scoop to share? — JillMatt: I almost forgot that I had gleaned this from my TCA party talk with exec producer Bob Daily (I blame my third Cape Cod...), but now here it is: Bree won't make do with just one kid for long. We will see Joy Lauren back as Danielle Van De Camp very soon — and not in flashback.At House's TCA session all I saw was Hugh Laurie, Robert Sean Leonard, Omar Epps and the "new team." Does that mean that Jennifer Morrison (Cameron) and Jesse Spencer (Chase) are no longer part of the show? — KerryMickey: Very observant, Kerry, but I'm told their absence is not significant. Both Morrison and Spencer remain series regulars. In fact, an upcoming ep promises to shed new light on the couple. Any romantic relationships for Dr. House this season? — StephanieMickey: There's a ru...
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Hayden Panettiere by Kevin Parry/WireImage.com
What better way to cheer up temporarily unemployed child actors than to invite them to the screening of a larger-than-life fantasy film? The Spiderwick Chronicles premiere at Paramount Studios attracted the young stars of Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Heroes, all willing to share stories of how they have been passing their time while Wisteria Lane and "Mode" Magazine gather dust. "I don't think I've been having a vacation!" a determined-looking Hayden Panettiere told reporters. "I just got back from D.C. and let me tell you — politics are tiring. If I was in politics, I think I'd tear my hair out." The 18-year-old anti-whaling activist, who is also part of Declare Yourself, recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where she was speaking on behalf of the Whaleman Foundation. "I've spent so much time with these animals that it's just so close to home now. I'm in this fight till the end."Desperate Housewives' Joy Lauren has had time to think about her character a...
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Samantha Who? by Randy Holmes/ABC
Coming in fall 2008: a new ABC sitcom starring Eddie Cibrian and Josh Randall as wacky roommates! That's my prediction based on the omnipresence of those two TV journeymen as guest stars for the Alphabet network. Within the span of a week, Ed alum Randall reprised his Men in Trees role of Annie's loutish brother (in an episode taped last season, I grant you) and also surfaced on Private Practice as Addison's would-be (if not for his propensity for probing his posterior...) beau. Cibrian, meanwhile, recently played Karen's ex-husband on Dirty Sexy Money, and this week can be seen pitching woo at Samantha Who? In a similar vein, ABC tapped Sara Gilbert to play a convenience-store robbing mom-to-be on Private Practice mere weeks after the Roseanne vet visited CBS' Big Bang Theory. (That was the PP episode which went for the sweeps month hat trick: Name Guest Star, Emergency Baby Delivery and Hostage Situation.)Setting aside my opinions of any of the aforementioned actors (Randall's app...
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Joy Lauren, Desperate Housewives
In the last four years, Joy Lauren has had to contend with her mother's neuroses and alcoholism, her father's murder by poisoning, her manipulative brother's hit-and-run, a new stepdad with secrets of his own, a foolhardy decision to run away with a murderous neighborhood boy, an affair with her high-school history teacher and, most recently, teen pregnancy — courtesy of someone else's boyfriend. Truth be told, that's the life led by "little Miss Van de Tramp" aka Danielle, the daughter of Marcia Cross' Bree Hodge on Desperate Housewives (Sundays, 9 pm/ET, ABC). When the real Joy Lauren spoke to TVGuide.com about her two divergent lives, she was a sensible and courteous 18-year-old, clearly saving the adolescent dramatics for the screen.
TVGuide.com: I've really enjoyed watching you play a pregnant teenager and seeing
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It's Aliiive! Dr. Mayfair delivered Danielle's baby during the neighborhood Halloween bash. Nathan Fillion by Ron Tom/ABC
Episode Recap: "Now I Know, Don't Be Scared"Everyone has moments of sensitivity, regardless of how mischievous and manipulative they may be. As hilarious and mean (but perfect) as Danielle's imitation of her mother was — in appearance, cadence and affinity for coasters and "our lord" — I was happy to see sweet moments between mother and daughter. Bree was cognizant of the strong maternal emotions Danielle experienced and gave her the chance to hold her newborn, and to change her mind. Danielle too put aside the bitterness toward her mother and knew (for now) that her baby boy would be in better hands with the Hodges. Great acting by both Joy Lauren and Marcia Cross and the writers deserve credit for a great balance of comedy and drama — what with Danielle's dressing like her mother, her water breaking at the Halloween party on Bob's rug, a (super speedy) delivery overseen by Frankenstein, and giving Lynette's kids a real Halloween fright. I much prefer the mother/daug...
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What a refreshing change of pace: an entire episode told from the point of view of the husbands rather than the wives. And who better to narrate than one of the dead husbands? Rex Van De Kamp (Steven Culp), great to have you back, or at least your voice. Reminded me a bit of the one time George narrated instead of Meredith on Grey's Anatomy. Shifting the focus to the husbands was an effective way of keeping our minds occupied during the absence of Marcia Cross. You've heard of going braless; well, this episode was Bree-less. But hey, Momma was preparing to have twins. Good timing for Bree to be off "visiting her parents" while her slutty daughter Danielle discovered she was pregnant. And just when Julie was forgiving Austin for cheating on her with Danielle. I loved Danielle loudly puking after Julie was telling Austin she'd give him another chance. Did any of you think Andrew was about to proposition Austin into sleeping with him as blackmail so Andrew wouldn't tell Julie about Dan...
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Those promos at the end of last week's episode were right. We finally got answers to so many questions involving Orson's past:— He was in a psychiatric ward in 1976 after the supposed suicide of his adulterous but religious father. (But now we know Gloria staged the suicide the same way she was trying to stage Bree's.)— Gloria had blamed Orson for her husband's death, saying Orson was supposed to watch out for him, but chose to go out with friends.— It was Gloria who killed Monique with Mike's wrench.— Orson buried Monique in the dirt while Gloria removed Monique's teeth (ouch).Ahh... closure, at last. I knew it would be good tonight since it was written by Marc Cherry and Joe Keenan. As discussed here before, Marc had to finish up Bree's story line earlier than originally planned due to Marcia Cross' pregnancy. I was very happy that Gloria ended up alive at the end. When Ida Greenberg found the bodies of Alma and Gloria lying on the lawn, I figured they were bot...
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First thing I need to say right off the bat is how funny I thought the show was tonight. Not that I don't always think it's humorous, but I found it even funnier than normal. So I must commend the writers — co-executive producer Kevin Murphy and producer Kevin Etten — for a hilarious script. There were so many great lines, but I think my favorite was Lynette to Tom after Tom told her he wasn't inviting her to the opening of his new restaurant due to her snarky attitude, which made Lynette say no to sex. Tom: "So we're not havin' sex?" Lynette: "Hey — you banned me from your opening." Shut up. To think that Lynette had to expose her breasts to that old man Harry (Richard Herd) just to get him to sign off on Tom's liquor license. What a wife won't do for her husband. Mrs. McCluskey was an excellent inspiration for Lynette, so Kathryn Joosten was able to deliver one of the episode's many other zingers (re: Tom): "It's bad enough you cut off his cojones. Now you want to j...
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As Nicollette Sheridan said to the women on The View last week: "Finally! A new episode!" I would've preferred more Nicollette tonight, though, besides just the final scene. But what a final scene — Alma is moving to Wisteria Lane, thanks to the real-estate savvy of Edie. The best episodes of DH are the ones like tonight that introduce new mysteries while further answering old ones. What was Alma giving herself a shot of in her thigh? For a while there, I thought she was killing herself, but I was wrong. I liked the earlier flashback scene where we found out why Alma and Orson got married — she tricked him into getting her pregnant, and he was never in love with her. Loved when she showed up to Bree's door, and Bree fainted. Valerie Mahaffey is a stellar addition to an already solid cast, so I hope Alma lasts. Her best line was to Orson while sitting next to Bree on the couch: "What is it with you and redheads?" Since Alma and Bree are so similar, it was natural for them t...
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After last week's ending, I was really hoping that we'd find out more info on the backgrounds of Orson and Art tonight, but they are really taking baby steps when it comes to those two mysterious characters. So now we at least know (thanks to Orson's mama, Gloria) that Orson was having an affair with Monique while being married to Alma — the same Monique that had an affair with Harvey Bigsby, Carolyn's hubby. As Gloria so eloquently put it, Monique "got around." But Gloria still knows more and is holding those nuggets over Orson's head: "What are you going to do to me that hasn't already been done?" That look of death that Orson gave Gloria made me believe he'd kill her in the next scene. But instead, Bree packed Orson's things and asked him to leave, apparently believing Gloria. I'm still loving Dixie Carter as Gloria, and I hope she spills more of the beans about Orson soon. How perfect for Andrew to be in cahoots with Gloria, attempting to sneak her wine behind Bree's back, ...
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