Nia Vardalos by Lester Cohen/WireImage.com
Nia Vardalos, star of the monster hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, has joined the cast of the TBS comedy My Boys for a three-episode arc.She'll play the "work wife" to Andy (played by comedian Jim Gaffigan), whose close friend is a twentysomething female sportswriter (Jordana Spiro) and the focus of the show, which returns to the TBS lineup on June 12. — J.R. Whalen
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My Boys: The Complete First Season courtesy Sony Pictures
As the writers get back to work scripting your favorite shows, we are finding out that some of these programs are getting adjustments to their TV-DVD plans, due to the production shutdowns. First we heard that the strike-delayed second half of Battlestar Galactica's fourth season will cause the home video release of these final 20 episodes to be split into separate "Season 4.0" and "Season 4.5" DVD packages. Now we're finding out that the TBS sitcom My Boys is also affected: it will suffer a rather drastic schedule change for its first season DVD set.Since the TV-on-DVD home video category hit it big, studios and networks have coordinated on currently airing programs, almost always timing the DVD release of a show's most recently-finished season to hit stores just prior to the premiere of the next season's first episode. This helps to maximize the sales of these DVDs, and it boasts ratings on the new broadcasts at the same time. It's a great way to tie in both of these occasions wit...
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Sacha Baron Cohen by Steve Granitz/WireImage.com
Sacha Baron Cohen is attached to play hippie ringleader Abbie Hoffman in Steven Spielberg's The Trial of the Chicago Seven, says London's Sunday Times.... Jessica Simpson has begun work on her debut country album, due sometime in 2008. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to," she tells Billboard. "I always wanted to make a country album, but I wanted to wait until the time was right".... My Boys: The Complete First Season arrives on DVD March 11.
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OK, let's start from the beginning of this fun-filled hour. Andy bought a boat! For, like, a split second. He didn't even take it out anywhere, which is what makes it so funny. But that was just a little glitch in the system. Andy's back, baby! Good thing his younger sis (a mistake, yet truly a "source of joy") woke him up ("Hugs not drugs"). P.J.'s pretty good at dealing with other people's problems, but she's just a mess with her own personal life. Poor Evan, so out of place and unwelcome on poker night. His camping story was painful. Plus, the five-headed monster (four-headed?) didn't help. "Where does he botany at?" Oh, Mike. You know who really had me laughing in this first half hour? Stephanie. Snapping at everybody, yelling at P.J. about her relationship troubles. She was just extra defensive tonight, and I loved it.Moving on….Episode Recap: "Rome, If You Want To"Of course. Of course we didn't get to see who P.J. invited to Italy. Who would have upgraded her to first-cl...
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No need to worry about tonight's My Boys season finale being a series finale. Sources tell me that TBS has renewed the show for a second season. An official announcement is expected in the next day or so. That noise you hear is TVGuide.com's Boys crazy Megan Cherkezian high-fiving some poor, unsuspecting coworker.
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This week on TBS' My Boys, we take a trip to the 'burbs to see where Andy (played by Jim Gaffigan) lives. A potential nightmare for the boys, they decide it could be a good opportunity to meet some suburban chicks. This episode was shot at the Warner Ranch. The backyard was used for many years by The Partridge Family (just a piece of nostalgia for those of you old enough to remember). The Warner Ranch was fun because you are shooting on the same street with the houses of Dennis the Menace and Sergeant Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon. We got Gary Busey to reenact the fight in the front yard. No, we didn't — that would be ridiculous. Cool, but ridiculous. We get to see the guys push each other aside or sell each other out to meet these girls. Bobby can't seem to find the place, but the guys keep thinking they see him at the BBQ. The BBQ is filled with kids. And if a hot girl has a kid, well then Mike (Jamie Kaler) figures the best approach is to show her he's good with kids. Jamie wa...
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Well, it's about time we visited Andy's house and got a closer look at his new life in the suburbs. And what's a better picture than P.J. and Co. crammed in Kenny's tiny car, Stephanie sitting shotgun (which she claimed with an early-morning text) and our tomboy sportswriter with a bag of beer between her legs? Oh, and let's not forget the reciting — in unison — of Italian terms.Talk about curveballs, though. Meredith's pregnant again! It is pretty funny that Andy is essentially turning into his father — buying the same house, accidentally having a second child, staring out into oblivion on his lawn chair with a bottle of red in his hand, waiting for an escape route to pop up out of nowhere. I did like getting out of the city for an episode, even if it was at a family barbecue — where the guys didn't seem to find any comfort… or luck. Brando, Mike and Kenny were the bloodthirsty cicadas, ready to pounce on divorced Rachel (Ali Hillis). Too bad Bobby swooped ...
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Question: It seems, more and more, that cable television has taken the cynical route. Shows like Damages and Rescue Me offer a very harsh view of the world. Even comedies like Californication serve up bad behavior as a form of entertainment. I don't doubt that, at least with Damages and Rescue Me (I haven't had the opportunity to watch Californication), the writing is top-notch and the acting impeccable. But at what point did television (cable in particular) become bad-as-we-want-to-be? Do you think that cable has now created a landscape where show producers push the envelope just because they can? The offerings may be fun to watch, if you like that sort of thing, but I can only imagine the dreck that will come out in the future, with loads of illicit sex, swearing and sliminess, and viewers may end up desensitized to it. Clearly, I prefer shows in which I wouldn't mind hanging out with the main character (and my parents taught me that swearing too much just meant you had a poor ...
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Entourage's Adrian Grenier, Rescue Me's Denis Leary
TV's sizzling summer season has saved its best for last. Here's our guide to the season enders you will not want to miss.
Entourage, HBOFinale airs Sunday, Sept. 2, at 10 pm/ET"Medellin" — triumph or fiasco? That's the question that Entourage has been asking during its fourth season, which began with prettyboy movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) on the set of the violent Spanish-language film about drug lord Pablo Escobar. "We'll get lots of answers," promises exec producer Doug Ellin. The season finale was shot on location at the Cannes Film Festival last May. "Scenes took place live during the Ocean's Thirteen premiere, so our guys had to get their lines down while crowds were screaming." Post-finale, Entourage goes on hiatus until June. And then? "I have not a single idea," says Ellin, laughing.
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OK… can I just take Andy home with me? He's h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s. "Easy Seacrest." I'm still laughing. But he's right.... How disappointing was Brando's little "vods" and "fall in" phase? And the belt! It's too bad we didn't see more of Ryan Reynolds, because he usually keeps me laughing for a while. But we don't need anymore D-bag behavior. I mean, you don't "sweetie" P.J. while eating her food and rating her a 6 in front of her face! Onto other disappointments... Lyssa (Abigail Spencer) and her friends were so eye-roll-worthy I got a headache. Can you say Carrie Bradshaw wannabe? That whole slow-motion car splash was just ridiculous. And if Kim Cattrall was watching, I feel for her. I didn't find them funny or entertaining at all. Lab Rat was an interesting scene. I live in New York, yes, but girls rolling around inside gerbil balls was still shocking. Aside from all the nonsense, I did relate to the storyline — friends do change as you get older, and relationships fade aw...
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