Question: When will Americans get to see the second season of Extras?
Answer: The new season starts Sunday, Jan. 14, and the celeb cameos are out of control in the first three episodes. In the premiere, Orlando Bloom tries to convince Maggie (Ugly Betty's Ashley Jensen) that he's sexier than Johnny Depp. In the second, Andy (Ricky Gervais) gets into the VIP section of a club and bumps into David Bowie, who ad-libs a hilarious song about how Andy has sold his soul for sitcom stardom. And there's a scene in the third episode involving Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe, Dame Diana Rigg and a condom that must be seen to be believed. Oh, and in case anyone's worried the show will go PC, Andy insults a kid with Down's syndrome and kicks a dwarf. Ah, good times….
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Wendell Pierce and Michael K. Williams, The Wire
Question: I saw a promo on HBO last night, and it looks like they're planning to move their movie night to Sunday. Any idea why? What about those great original shows? What will happen to them?
Answer: There are couple of reasons for this temporary shift — which HBO says will only continue through the end of the year, when movie premieres will return to Saturdays, and multiple series, including Rome, will begin on Sundays starting Jan. 7. First off, though HBO would never admit it, the pay giant has lost the Sunday-night watercooler battle to ABC. (We’ll have to see if Desperate Housewives can truly rebound in the fall, and Brothers & Sisters is still a sight-unseen question mark.) Plus, NBC is going all out with prime-time Sunday-night NFL games. Second, HBO’s marquee drama on Sundays this fall is the ratings-challenged, but powerfully good, The Wire, and HBO figures that the best way to make some noise during the fall will be to turn the night over to high-profile first-run
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Vanessa Marcil, Las Vegas
While all those media-maven types theorize about the true meaning of Las Vegas' time-slot change — NBC's Monday mainstay is moving to Fridays at 9, starting tonight, March 3 — Vanessa Marcil won't be bothered. As the Montecito's hostess with the oh-so-mostess, she is relishing her dream job, a role she values a distant second behind that of mother to son Kassius, who turns 4 this month. In this candid Q&A with TVGuide.com, the brunette beauty cheers "Viva Las Vegas" — and reveals at least two celebrity crushes.
TVGuide.com: When I called you to set this up, it sounded a bit festive in the background. Were you at a strip club with your Vegas pals, or wer
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Vanessa Marcil, Las Vegas
While all those media-maven types theorize about the true meaning of Las Vegas' upcoming time-slot change — NBC's Monday-night mainstay is moving to Fridays at 9, starting March 3 — Vanessa Marcil won't be bothered. As the Montecito's hostess with the oh-so-mostess, she is relishing her dream job, a role she values a distant second behind that of mother to son Kassius, who turns 4 in March. In this candid Q&A with TVGuide.com, the brunette beauty cheers "Viva Las Vegas" — and reveals at least two celebrity crushes.
TVGuide.com: When I called you to set this up, it sounded a bit festive in the background. Were you at a strip club with your Vegas pals, or were
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Question: What were your Top 10 favorite shows of 2005, and why?
Answer: I thought you'd never ask, Jackie!
1. Battlestar Galactica: I haven't been this excited about a TV show since... ever. And if that makes me a sci-fi geek, so be it. (But please, no wedgies.)
2. Deadwood: Can't understand what they're sayin' half the time, but I sure like how they're sayin' it.
3. Lost: Season 2 not only exceeded my expectations, it upended them.
4. Grey's Anatomy: Makes me want to be a doctor, if only to hang out with these people. And have lots of sex.
5. Veronica Mars: If this is what happens when UPN meddles with a show, I say keep those notes c
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Stiff upper lips? Hardly. The best of British TV is anything but stuffy. From the guilty pleasure of the trashy Footballers' Wives (returning for a third season in February) to hauntingly dark mysteries and wacky comedies, BBC America has become one of my top cable destinations for the range of its bold and unpredictable programming. But the fun doesn't stop there. PBS still turns to England for classy drama, HBO has developed a crush on shows with an accent (Rome and Extras) and A&E will air a fourth season of gritty spy drama MI-5 in 2006. Here's a roundup of some recent arrivals.
Bad GirlsTuesdays at 9 pm/ET, BBC AmericaThink: "Oz with Estrogen"The Lowdown:
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Question: Maybe I missed it, but I don't see anyone talking about the absolute best comedy on TV at the moment. The show Extras consistently makes me laugh out loud and is thoroughly enjoyable overall. Matt, have you had a chance to take in this hidden gem on HBO, which has received hardly any promotion? If so, what are your thoughts?
Answer: I reviewed it quite positively when it premiered in late September, and now having watched the last few episodes — as with The Office, Ricky Gervais does only six at a time — I am still a fan. I love the fact that it isn't the same exact show every week; the episode when he stepped into an ill-fated holiday, panto stage production of Aladdin as a gay genie, playing opposite a sad-sack comic, was a terrific change of pace. Like the original Office, it is painfully, often brutally funny, but it doesn't surprise me that the show hasn't exactly caught the culture on fire, especially considering how far HBO has slipped under the radar on Sundays lately.
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Best episode so far, I think. The guy trying to be Andy's friend was perfectly cast since you could see why one wouldn't want to be his pal, but couldn't help feeling sorry for him just the same. And even though Maggie's am-I-racist-or-not? crisis was done first on The Office, it was still damned funny, I thought, particularly the truly uncomfortable moment with the dolls. (Besides, Ricky Gervais can be forgiven for stealing from himself.) I'll tell you, between Curb and this, my cringe muscles are getting a serious workout on Sunday nights. And I don't mind a bit.
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Question: I've really been enjoying Extras, but it seems like I never hear anything about the show. Why has HBO put so little effort into promoting it? Do you think it's because it's not their own production? Or because there aren't that many episodes? I saw ads for Unscripted and The Comeback all over the place and neither of those shows was nearly as good as this one. Whenever a network attempts to remake a British show, there are always scores of people complaining because they don't just air the
U.K.
originals. Now that a network finally is, it seems like the show is going completely unnoticed.
Answer: It would make sense to me if HBO, as I expect, spent most of its promotional energy this fall, once Rome was up and running, to trumpet the long-awaited return of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'm loving Extras and agree HBO had some real opportunities to exploit the hilarious cameos by Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller, but much like Ricky Gervais' original The Office, it's still something of a
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If only I could say Extras rose above its tastelessness problems this week. It's not a bad start: Guest-star Ben Stiller mocks himself with a self-congratulatory speech about why he's making the important war film Andy and Maggie are working on. And the show manages to make me chuckle when Maggie raps the fake baby's head against the desk. Even the bowel-cancer gaffe works, but my discomfort meter's pinned for the rest of the episode as Ricky Gervais and Co. mine the genocide in Bosnia for laughs. On top of that, Maggie decides she's not interested in a guy she was just gaga over because one of his legs is shorter than the other, and then there's some racism tossed in for good measure. Capping it off: "Would you stop going off about your f---ing dead wife?" Stiller tells the Bosnian widower. It's not my job to take HBO to the woodshed, so I'll just say this: I'm not ending my night with a smile.
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