How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Ricky Gervais: Out of England — The Stand-Up Special
9 pm/ET HBO
Ricky Gervais has succeeded in making his self-absorbed characters on the The Office and Extras likable and non-threatening. So perhaps it's not a surprise that, even when he plays himself, the same holds true.

Read on for previews of Opry Live, Accidental Friendship, The Two Mr. Kissels and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. read more 2 Comments

Question: I remember watching the show Fame as a kid and really liking it. I know it was based on a movie, but was that movie based on a real school? Thanks.

Answer: That it was, Alma, but exactly how much the movie and, to an even greater extent, the show, were "real" certainly depended on whom you asked. The basics aren't in dispute: The 1980 film and series, which lived on NBC from January 1982 to August 1983 before jumping to first-run syndication for another four years, were set in New York City's real-life School of Performing Arts, better known to its students, faculty and such alumni as Al Pacino and Liza Minnelli as "P.A." (In 1984 the school moved with the High School of Music & Art into a new facility and the two merged to become the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.) But according to read more