Tim McGraw
Having made lots of partisan noise during this past election season, Saturday Night Live will sing a slightly different tune when Tim McGraw — the sketch series' first country-music guest of this decade — steps up as host on Nov. 22. Read McGraw's reaction, and find out who his musical guest will be, after the jump.
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Alter Eco's Adrian Grenier by Stephanie Diani/Planet Green
As Entourage's Vince Chase, Adrian Grenier lives the glitzy life of a rising Hollywood ingenue, complete with SUVs and all. But the star will soon be guiding us toward a greener way of life with Alter Eco, a new series from Discovery's Planet Green.During the 13-part series, Grenier, an "entourage" of three eco-experts and his curly locks will work with everyone from celebs to busy families to nightclub owners to help them find chic and easy ways to reduce their carbon footprints. With his trio, Grenier tours Los Angeles and offers viewers small ways they can green up their everyday lives.Alter Eco's just one of a whole lineup of original shows the 'net has planned, most of which will be featuring celebs, such as the face-off show, Battleground Earth, featuring Ludacris and Tommy Lee (yes — Luda's reportedly going by the moniker "Luda the Polluta," while Lee's been dubbed "Toxic Tommy"). Will the celeb involvement help reach new demographics? Or will these mission-minded series...
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Spider-Man 3 baddie Thomas Haden Church is in talks to star as the object of Sandra Bullock's affection in the kooky romcom All About Steve.... Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandie Newton and rapper Ludacris will topline RocknRolla, a new caper from Mr. Madonna, Guy Ritchie.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Christopher Meloni
Although the behind-the-scenes drama on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Tuesdays on NBC, 10 pm/ET) is settled — the show has been renewed for two more seasons and all of the regular cast members, including Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, will be back next year — the on-camera action intensifies as Season 8 wraps up with a quartet of guest star-studded episodes. Family is at the root of much of the drama, as tonight Det. Benson's on-the-run half brother Simon Marsden (creepily played by Michael Weston) resurfaces, sending her on an emotional journey to face her tumultuous past and paternity. Then next week, Det. Stabler's unstable personal life takes center stage as
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Question: I'm going to die if you don't give me some scoop on SVU.
Answer: Ludacris reprises his role as Ice-T's stepson in the season finale, which finds the SVU crew accused of giving preferential treatment to their relatives. Benson's half brother is also back.
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Rihanna, Ludacris and K.T. Tunstall will join Xtina, Rascal Flatts and the cast of Jersey Boys as musical guests on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2007. Over on the Peacock, meanwhile, NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly has booked Panic! at the Disco (Matt. Feeling. So. Old.) to perform live from Times Square.
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Organizers of the annual music-biz awards show originally announced that composer John Williams — nominated for the soundtracks to Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha — was up for five statuettes. Turns out, it's only four. (Obviously, they had Avril Lavigne doing their counting for them.) In addition, rapper Ludacris' name was left off the release that listed the contenders, even though he is, in fact, in the running.
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Kenny Chesney was named entertainer of the year, and Brooks & Dunn's "Believe" netted three trophies, at Monday night's Country Music Association Awards. Also of note: Keith Urban, missing from the ceremony because he recently entered rehab for alcohol abuse, received a standing ovation when he won male-vocalist honors.... Performers at the inaugural BET Hip-Hop Awards, airing Nov. 15, include Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and The Game.
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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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Per the Hollywood Reporter, Jonny Lee Miller, a regular on CBS' short-lived Smith, has scored the title role in Eli Stone, an ABC drama pilot about a lawyer who discovers he might be a prophet (this probably bumps his hourly up 25 percent). Everwood's Greg Berlanti penned the series with former attorney Marc Guggenheim (The Practice).... Variety reports that rapper-actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges has inked a deal to exec-produce for The N a weekly drama titled Halls of Fame, with the emphasis on Fame — the half-hour series revolves around students at a performing-arts high school.... TBS has ordered a pilot for a family comedy fronted by Blue Collar Comedy Tour vet Bill Engvall.
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