There are moments in this week's episode where everything I think Brothers & Sisters [Sundays at 10 pm/ET, on ABC] should come together perfectly; comedy and tragedy coexist — just like they do in real life, turning, dancing with each other in perpetuity. The episode has it all — male passions run amok, female passions threaten to cause thermonuclear war, farce, drunkenness, sorrow and laughter. In my humble opinion, a great episode. There are moments of acting in "Grapes of Wrath" that took my breath away when I saw it. One in particular stands out. I don't want to say too much, but it takes place in a kitchen during a showdown between Nora and Holly. Both actresses, Sally Field and Patty Wettig are real and funny and frightening in a way that brings to mind some of the great turns that John Cassavetes managed to capture on film — I'm thinking of Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence in particular. The camera comes close in so as to deprive them of any pri...
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Holy flaming monkey skat! The Vancouver Canucks cannot hold a lead. Up 2-0 going into the third period at home against Anaheim, and it should be lights-out time. But no, not for these guys. Its tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, and of course as expected, they go on to lose in overtime. Good god, how much of this suffering can a hockey fan expect to take?! Oh, right, this is a TV Guide blog, not ESPN. Well, this is the first time I've ever done one of these things, so bear with me and my random thought processes as I attempt to make this halfway coherent. I managed to catch the last episode of 24 on Monday. If any of you out there did, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that you know almost everything about me. Believe it or not, there's actually more male almost-nudity in the following week's episodes as well. Oh well, it's a living. I can say that it's more fun to watch yourself on TV like this — especially when seated beside your lovely wife — making out with and tearing ...
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This week the team rolls into Levittown, Penn. I loved it there. Everyone was very proud of their homes and communities in Pennsylvania, and after spending some time there, it's obvious why. I could see why this family wanted to stay in that beautiful area.This week was about a single mom, Marynoel, trying to make it while raising her four boys. Marynoel took her boys from a bad situation with their father and tried to start a new life. She was able to scrape together enough to purchase what she thought was a safe home in a beautiful neighborhood filled with other families and children. Unfortunately, harsh reality set in the moment they arrived. The home was infested with termites and would cost literally tens of thousands of dollars to repair and make livable. Marynoel has a wonderful spirit but she had been knocked down so many times she was starting to give up. It broke my heart to hear her stories of how she would hide in the car and cry so that the boys couldn't see. It was a ...
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Our first birth on the show is tonight! Or last night, if you're reading this Thursday.... I missed my deadline, and well, you know how that goes… lame. Me. Not TV Guide.Shooting the hospital scenes for this episode gave me a lot of appreciation for all those who don scrubs on Grey's Anatomy. It's one of my very favorite shows, and I now understand why they get paid the big bucks. They're not paid to act — they're paid to shoot hospital scenes… that take forever. Especially if all the principles have lots to say around a body on a table. There are, at one point, five of us in a scene and we're all standing around mom-to-be Melanie Paxson's hospital bed. So we had to do several scenes in the same room, and instead of shooting each scene individually, we did each scene directionally. What that means is that the camera stayed in one spot through a taping and then it was moved to another spot and we shot the scene all over again. Still nothing? OK, the point is it made...
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Meredith from The Office here. I will not be watching this week's episode live because I will be in the Pegasus Parade at the Kentucky Derby. The drunk from The Office is going to get her drunk on at the most sophisticated sports event in the U.S. of A. I hope I don't make an idiot of myself. You know, I've been known to take my top off after a few too many. Hope I don't fall off the float. I've already fallen off the wagon. It's going to be insane — mint juleps, crazy hats and me. Am I placing a bet, you ask? You better believe it. I am betting on one good time.This episode was one of my favorites to shoot. Why, you ask? Well, I'll tell you: I was stuck in a van with Mindy Kaling, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Rashida Jones, Phyllis Smith and Steve Carell for two days. I had a blast doing this episode because I got to drive and act at the same time! Meredith's minivan is like another character in this episode, and they put more than booze bottles in the van this time. Props ha...
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All good things come to an end. Ugly Betty's Season 1 officially wrapped this past Friday (well, Saturday morning). I’d tell you all about the eloquent speeches and heartfelt goodbyes, but I wasn’t there. I finished on Thursday, in the middle of a long day of work, with an enthusiastic applause as everyone moved on to the next scene. Oh, and there were crepes. Free crepes. I ate two, grabbed a cup of coffee to go and walked off the lot for the last time. Well, until July anyway.It’s a funny thing, the ending of a season. I expected a little more out of it, to be honest. But the reality is that we’re coming back. And not only are we coming back, we’re coming back in two months. And during those two months, the cast is going to be together at least three times for promotional events. So, really, it’s more of a little breather than a full-fledged hiatus, nothing to get all blubbery about. And, looking back at the season, I feel grateful, not sad. I am grat...
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Since this particular episode was shot this month, that makes it easier to remember. One thing I must say about "In the Dark" — and I am sure the rest of the NCIS family would agree — is that we got to work with some tremendously talented guest actors. John Billingsley was a joy to watch and work with; he played the coolest blind man I have ever seen on TV. Another thing that sticks out in my memory, aside from the fact that we all worked with John, was a scene that I had with Michael Weatherly. Every once in a while you get these scenes — these meaty, beefy scenes — that are filled with little moments of truth where you get an inside look at the character's heart. It's a long scene that takes place after Ziva overhears a "personal" conversation Tony is having with his girlfriend, played by the oh-so-cool Scottie Thompson. This season has been weird for Ziva regarding her "feelings" for Tony. I don't even know what she feels exactly, but I know that she's confuse...
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Hi, everyone! Another week, another two dances. This week you'll get to see Ian and I dance the tango and the mambo, sort of opposite ends of the spectrum in the dance world. Lately we've been working twice as hard as normal. Learning two dances this week has been tough, especially since we just got into the pace of nailing one dance per week. Two dances each week is what's going to separate the pack a little bit more. We're going to start to see a few couples gently ease their way away from the pack, and I hope that Ian and I are one of them.I had a moment the other day when I reflected on the last 12 months. Twelve months in which I've had 14 days off, I might add. But it's been a 12-month period that I wouldn't change for the world. I've met wonderful people, I've gotten to visit so many wonderful cities across the country when we did the tour, and I've gotten to experience so many memorable moments that will forever stay ingrained in my mind, including championships on Dancing w...
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This week we're in Murfreesboro, Arkansas to meet the Collins family, Kim and Denis and their six children. Now Kim and Dennis, they're an awesome, loving family. They have two biological children and then they took in five children because of something really tragic that happened three years ago: Kim's cousin, Artie, and her husband were in a horrific car crash, leaving their five children orphaned. The Collins took those kids in. The moment that Kim called Dennis and told him of this news, he said: go get those kids. There was never a doubt that those children would live with them. I think that's the coolest thing. That's really what we're celebrating here this week: people opening their hearts and doing what's right — what you hope and wish that your next of kin would do for you and your children. The Collins family has been living in this house for the last 17 years, and when it was just the four people living there, it worked out great. Now you have eight people living in ...
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This is my first TVGuide.com Celebrity Blog. This is very exciting for me, because I guess it means I'm now a celebrity. This is news to me. I mean I guess it makes sense. I have a TV show airing on NBC, called The Real Wedding Crashers. Plus I feel very celebrity-like lately. For example, the show's only been on one week, and I've already been in and out of rehab three times! (My second time in rehab I impregnated Britney Spears. You'll hear more about that in nine months.) I also now wear huge sunglasses when I go out in public, and I've punched out several paparazzi. They weren't even taking my picture. That was what bothered me, actually. So I socked 'em. I realize that now they will probably never take my picture, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I've been doing stand-up comedy and acting for years, but this is the first time TV Guide has asked me to write about one of my projects, so it officially now feels like I'm at a whole new level. People keep asking me how being on...
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