Checking out of ER was no great loss for Sharif Atkins. During his three seasons as boring Dr. Michael Gallant, he never really became one of the hospital drama's breakout characters. We're talkin' zzzz....
When last seen, Gallant — who paid for med school as an Army reservist — was shipped off to active duty in Iraq. Just before leaving, Gallant nobly took the fall for Parminder Nagra's Dr. Neela Rasgotra, whose professional screwup resulted in a patient's death. So it seems pretty darn safe to say Gallant's gone for good, which is just fine by his portrayer, who's trading in cold Chicago winters for the sunny shores of Hawaii! NBC's newest cop show kicks off Sept. 1 and co-stars Atkins as Honolulu police detective John Declan.
"There's worlds of difference [between the characters]," Atkins says. "John Declan is one of those guys who's born to do what he does. He never thinks he's not gonna catch the bad guy.
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Do you love Fear Factor, The Bachelor or Real World? Better shut up about it if you're around Julianna Margulies. The ex-ER star — who romanced George Clooney as Nurse Carol Hathaway — thinks reality series have gotta go. Stat!
"I don't watch any reality-TV shows," Margulies says. "I truly boycott all of them and I hope more people will. I think it's a horrible thing in the entertainment industry right now. I have eight friends out of work. They're genius writers and fantastic actors who always used to have work. It's just sad."
The curly-tressed actress's beef goes beyond just Trista and Ryan competing with professional thespians for airtime. "I think it's gross to sit and watch someone else's life because yours is too boring," she gripes. "That's how I feel. I have to watch someone pick a date? Or be afraid 'cause they're gonna eat bugs? That's entertainment?
"I just heard a
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When we think Spartacus, we naturally think of Kirk Douglas in Stanley Kubrick's 1963 epic tale of studly slaves rebelling against Rome. We don't think of TV star Goran Visnjic — or anyone else in that role, to be fair. Even so, USA Network will risk a Spartacus remake-cum-miniseries starring the ER actor on April 18 and 19. Please tell us he won't clown up that immortal line: "I am Spartacus!"
"We don't have that part of the original movie in our film. I have to tell you that," Visnjic laughs. "We take it as an homage to the [Kubrick] film not to do it. Because it's so famous, we were a little bit afraid of doing it, so we're not touching that."
Just as in the original Spartacus, look for lots of grappling gladiators. "As a kid, you love to play with swords," Visnjic says. "Once you finish training and you come into a real arena to fight another actor with a metal weapon, it gets scarier than you thoug
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Once & Again fans remember Marin Hinkle as Sela Ward's little sister, the jealous, moody Judy. Now, she costars as Judith, Jon Cryer's estranged — and possibly gay — wife on Two and a Half Men (Mondays at 9:30 pm/ET on CBS). But if you thought Hinkle played difficult drama queens in those roles, just wait till you see her on tonight's ER!
Basically, her part is every ER day player's dream: The freaked-out mother whose kid's undergoing a medical procedure in the emergency room. That kind of cameo just begs for an actress to run the scenery-chewing gamut, from fear to anger to full-on meltdown. Here's a little preview...
"My character is a mom who's driving with her husband and two kids an
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It's Season 10 of ER, so maybe it's about time Dr. Carter grew up and got in the family way. But how did his impending fatherhood come about? Seems like he just got over Nurse Abby. Now, he's back from Africa with his lover, Kem (Thandie Newton), who's expecting his child! Turns out, this stork storyline sprouted from Noah Wyle's desire for some time off.
"My wife and I had a son last November," ER's leading man reminded reporters at the Television Critics Association press tour in Hollywood. "We brought him home from the hospital on [a] Monday, and I was back at work on Tuesday. It was a pretty grueling schedule, and I just felt that after nine-and-a-half years, I wanted to spend the fall not on a sound stage, but watching my son learn how to crawl and walk. And just be around to help my wife enjoy that time."
The solution to Wyle's problem? "It honestly couldn't have happened if we wouldn
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