Rue McClanahan
While it's hardly unusual for Hollywood actresses to lie about their ages, Rue McClanahan was one of the rare gems who actually feigned being a few years older just to get herself cast as one of the Golden Girls. "Rue told me when she saw that Golden Girls script, she had to be a part of it, even if she had to lie about her age," Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, who worked as a staff writer on the 1985-92 sitcom about four sexually active Miami seniors, tells TV Guide Magazine.
The Oklahoma native...
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Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox's husband David Arquette, turned up to see his wife accept Women in Film's The Lucy Award, but she's not campaigning for him to appear on her show as a guest star. "Obviously he's an amazing actor and I love working with him, but to go from working this summer on Scream 4 as Dewey and Gale, which makes sense, to working together on Cougar Town? I don't know. I'm a little worried about mixing realities." Instead, Courteney wants to continue developing the blossoming relationship between her Jules and Josh Hopkins' Grayson.
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Julie Benz
Julie Benz, whose character Rita was killed off Dexter in last season's grizzly finale, returns to the set this month to reprise the role in a way she had hoped would be kept secret until airtime. From the sound of it, she may be back for more than just one quickie cameo in a casket. "Rita's presence is definitely going to be felt throughout the season," Julie tells me. "You can't deny that she had an effect on Dexter's life, which is really what this season's about."
One popular theory — which Julie wouldn't confirm, is that Rita will be seen in flashbacks to happier times — a refreshing departure from the final ghastly image viewers were left with of Rita soaking in a tub of her own blood.
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Brothers & Sisters
The cast of Brothers & Sisters returns to work in mid-July, with a few jarring changes besides the absence of Rob Lowe, whose character was killed off in the season finale's tragic multi-car pile-up that also left Patricia Wettig's character, Holly, hanging on by a limb. (Calls to Patricia's reps inquiring about her fate have not been returned.) But the biggest question involves ABC's downsized order of 18 episodes — shorter than a series' typical 22-episode order. Are the Walkers about to have their final group hug? Series star Rachel Griffiths, who plays eldest daughter Sarah, isn't exactly sure herself, telling me, "In my negotiation, I asked, 'does 18 mean it's the last season?' I would love to know. I feel like this is the last season, but I don't know for sure."
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Glee
Clearly, Glee's millions of fans applaud show creator Ryan Murphy's agenda to promote acceptance of everyone, regardless of race, creed or sexual orientation. But for the Fox hit's more conservative fans, Murphy has something special in the works...
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True Blood
Blame it on being nearly killed by whackjob Maryann or having Bill's vamp blood in his system. Why else would True Blood bartender Sam Merlotte set out in search of his dangerous, shape-shifting relatives, the Mickens, in the HBO drama's June 13 premiere? I got to spend an evening with Sam Trammell (Sam), Marshall Allman (who plays his kid bro Tommy) and J. Smith-Cameron (Sam's trashy mama Melinda) in the Mickens' trailer.
Here's Sam's never-before-revealed backstory..
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