Neil Patrick Harris by Jaimie Trueblood/New Line Cinema
What would be a Harold Kumar movie without Doogie Howser MD aka Neil Patrick Harris aka NPH We last saw Harris playing his alter-ego in Harold Kumar Go to White Castle hitchhiking high on ecstasy and heartily engaged in the joke on himself and his child stardomFour years later Harris days as Doogie and his TV medical career is a distant memory supplanted by his renewed stardom as Barney in How I Met Your Mother in addition to his various guest roles With his increased fame and high public profile Harris self-parody in the new installment Harold Kumar 2 Escape from Guantanamo Bay is even more outrageous As Guantanamo Bay makes its debut Friday Harris offered some insights into his approach to Kumar and its relationship to his careerIn the new film Harris is still the same wild drug-loving womanizing bad-boy but this time he finds himself in situations that include a check point with Rob Corddry in which Harris mushroom-addl
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Seeking to clarify some sound bites he gave an AP reporter on the set of How I Met Your Mother, Neil Patrick Harris has issued a statement stressing that he is not opposed to Britney Spears reprising her guest-star role as Abby the receptionist. Positing that the AP scribe "took some quotes of mine and speculated an opinion about their intent," Harris tells EW, "As I have said all along, Britney did a great job on the show. She really did. In fact, we are all hoping that she returns rather soon."As for the statements he made to the AP (as well as during a Harold & Kumar 2 junket), NPH says, "I am just very protective of our show and its content. I have a high standard of quality, and hope to maintain it on every level. I have great faith in our casting department... to find the appropriate person for every role on our show. I was remiss in speculating otherwise. My job description is to act, and I should really do just that."The AP at first held firm, saying that Harris "told us...
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Sarah Chalke by Jesse Grant/WireImage.com
OMFG, she is so the mother! I think. I'm hearing from multiple sources that Sarah Chalke is in advanced talks to reprise her role as Ted's possible future wife on How I Met Your Mother.In fact, just moments ago, Chalke's Mother crush himself, Josh Radnor — here to shoot a guest appearance for next week's Ausiello Report vodcast — confirmed that we'd probably be seeing Stella for a "few more episodes" this season. He was quick to add, however, that he has no clue whether or not she's the mother. "I really don't know," he said, "nor do I ask." Radnor also pleaded ignorance regarding the possibility of Britney Spears returning as Chalke's unhinged assistant, although he expressed confidence that exec producers Carter Bays and Craig Thomas "could write a great plot for her to come back." Neil Patrick Harris may prove a harder sell. Radnor's costar told the Associated Press that too much of Spears may not be a good thing. "I'm in the minority that our show does not need stunt c...
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Neil Patrick Harris by Ron Galella/WireImage.com
Posted by tvqueen1812...Cheers to the writing staff on How I Met Your Mother for revisiting the past. No, not Ted's past, Neil Patrick Harris' past as Doogie Howser. When Barney is typing in his blog, the font and the blue screen are still there, but cue Doogie's theme and it's as if time stood still. As Barney would say , it's gonna be legendary.• For more Cheers & Jeers, check out the new vodcast.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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James Marsters, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Joss Whedon by Kevin Parry/WireImage.com
Joss Whedon couldn’t contain himself. So jazzed that his landmark musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was being screened at the legendary Cinerama Dome theater (site of this year’s awesome Paley Fest), he sneaked into the audience to watch one of the numbers before rejoining that old gang of his for group photos before taking the stage for a retrospective Q&A (moderated by yours truly). Like me, I think he would have rather just sat in the theater to drink it in. But there was catching up to do.I’ve finally met someone whose passion for musicals outstrips mine (if only because he’s genius enough to be able to write one). The reason Joss arrived too late to set up the screening (following my own opening remarks) was because he came straight from wrapping production of his next musical project: Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, an entirely independent made-for-Internet (but no word yet on where you’ll find it) musical-comedy, conceived during...
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Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan by Alexandra Wyman/WireImage.com
The cast of How I Met Your Mother put the "work hard, play hard" philosophy into action Thursday night as they celebrated the premiere of their spring season and St. Patrick's Day at the Palihouse Hotel in West Hollywood. Stars Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan, Cobie Smulders and Bob Saget wrapped up a milestone week of filming with pop diva Britney Spears and turned out in their red carpet finery ready to par-tay. Jameson Irish Whiskey cocktails flowed, Irish-themed hors d'oeuvres (including mini corned-beef-and-cabbage tarts, whiskey wings, and mini shepherd's pies) were passed around, and Segel dished about Brit-Brit's acting chops. "She has really good comedic timing," he said. "Her improvs were really good. She was into it and very funny." Segel also discussed his moonlighting as a big-time Hollywood writer when he's not working on HIMYM. "I'm writing the script to the next Muppet movie," he said. "The fact that I have been sitting in front of my computer ...
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Britney Spears by John Sciulli/WireImage.com
More (and I'm guessing there will always be more) details are trickling in on Britney Spears' upcoming How I Met Your Mother drop-by. Series creator Craig Thomas tells Us that in the as-yet-unscheduled episode, Spears will set her sights on no less than Ted Mosby, Architect himself. Playing the assistant to the dermatologist (originally Alicia Silverstone, now Scrubs' Sarah Chalke) tasked with removing Ted's embarassing butterfly tat, Spears' character falls hard for the patient but "keeps on screwing up, saying awkward things." Meanwhile, "Ted’s absolutely oblivious. Go, Josh Radnor — he has Britney Spears chasing after him!"Spears arrived with little baggage and nary an entourage, says Thomas, when she showed for Monday morning's table read. "She seemed to fit right in," he says. "She was having a good time. She was laughing. [The] vibe in the room was just very fun."Indeed, Neil Patrick Harris concurs that Spears' HIMYM storyline is very sweet, telling Entertainment Ton...
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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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OK, first off, how freakin’ hilarious was The Bachelor Monday night? Holy human desperation, I loved it! And Hillary from my hometown made the first cut. Represent, Philly ‘ho!Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk last week’s Emmys. Yes, the in-the-round stage was a hot circular mess and why so many statues went to TV-movies, I’ll never know. It’s not like any of the good Sci Fi Originals get nominated. Hello, Mansquito? So robbed. But Seacrest didn’t totally suck, the opening Family Guy number was inspired and some of the winners were deserving.So if you’re like me and think you suffered a stroke that made the word Gandolfini sound like “Spader,” or ya can’t get your head around anyone from Torque ever winning anything, you might want to grab the champs on DVD. Turns out that the slights are, in fact, slight.Ugly Betty — Much like Betty’s Guadalajara poncho, you could spot America Ferrera’s Outstandin...
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Me, pool, TV Guide's Hollywood office in the background. Pure corporate synergy.
Saturday, Sept. 15, 12:56 pm/PTJust got back from chilling at the pool and get a bit of color to offset the harshness of the black tux tomorrow night. Speaking of the penguin suit, as first and exclusively reported via my Facebook status bar, I picked up a new cummerbund and necktie at the Beverly Center yesterday evening. I actually left my old cummerbund in the hotel room here a year ago when checking out, and the tie, well, I always look for a new "tweak" to the tux when I wear it. As long as I didn't go with purple satin, said my wife.I found myself across the street from the Beverly Center when I swung by the Lab Series for Men Emmy gifting suite, located at the Sofitel hotel. Had I arrived sooner, I would have spied Neil Patrick Harris getting a professional shave at the very deft hand of straight-blade wizard Craig Whitely, as Neil's S.O. looked on. Nor did I manage to cross paths there with William Shatner, who came with his wife for massages and facials. The great Lab Serie...
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