Verne Troyer by Todd Williamson/ WireImage.com
Earlier this week, TMZ went where no website should ever go when they posted clips from a leaked sex tape starring actor Verne Troyer. Troyer, best known for his role as Mini Me in Austin Powers (and getting piss drunk every other minute on The Surreal Life), is firing back at the site and filing a $20 million lawsuit claiming TMZ violated his rights by posting snippets of he and his lady friend doing…ahem…private stuff. Troyer claims the tape was stolen and wound up in the hands of Kevin Blatt (the brains behind One Night in Paris). Needless to say, Blatt is also named as a defendant in the suit. Besides looking to earn one 20 millllllion dollars, Troyer also wants an injunction to stop anyone else from viewing the video. Think $20 million is slightly outrageous in the land of law suits, or should TMZ be forced to pay the price of violating the actor's rights? And does anyone else find it strangely coincidental that his sex tape just happened to leak days after his new mo...
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In the biggest programming purchase in its 19-year history, the TV Guide Channel has inked a three-year deal to broadcast reruns of VH1 "Celebreality" series Flavor of Love, The Surreal Life and My Fair Brady, to start airing in July.... On DVD May 1: An Officer and a Gentleman: Special Collector's Edition streets, featuring all-new bonus material that includes a fresh interview with Richard Gere.... Vote for your favorite King of Queens episode and get a chance to win a $4,500 shopping spree. Go here for more.... "Tiny Bubbles" singer/onetime Brady Bunch guest star Don Ho died on Saturday of heart failure. He was 76.
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VH1 has given the go-ahead to a second season of the Surreal Life spin-off Flavor of Love, in which rapper Flavor Flav seeks his soul mate. Casting is already underway for the new edition, which will premiere in early August and feature drop-ins by several hip-hop stars.
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Nikki McKibbin and Mario Vazquez, American Idol
Take heart, Lisa Tucker: Provided that no one's given you a nickname as embarrassing as Chicken Little, your elimination from American Idol last night is not necessarily a one-way ticket to the Surreal Life house on your way back to obscurity. Look at Latin heartthrob Mario Vazquez, last season's standout who quit the competition while still a judges' darling. This week he's releasing his first single, "Gallery," on J Records — and in two languages, no less. Not to be outdone, Idol 1's third-place finisher, rebellious rocker Nikki McKibbin, is also back with a vengeance. She's now accepting preorders through her website, nikkimckibbin.com, not only for her Chenoa Records debut single, the ya-gotta-hear-it-to-believe-it epic "The Lie," but also for a two-disc package that includes the video, a behind-the-scenes making-of DVD and her unplugged rendition of the Mr. Big hit "To Be with You." Both Vazquez's and McKibbin's full-length releases
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Surreal LifeMaybe I was overly optimistic about this edition of The Surreal Life when I wrote about it last week. The second episode didn't bring any of the drama I was anticipating or any of the fireworks Florence Henderson promised during our interview. True, Tawny Kitaen was a bit of a control freak (heavy on the freak) while producing that Smash Mouth video. But in the end she brought the project in on time and under budget. So what if she scared Florence away by wearing a habit? (Although it's really sad that Tawny thought playing a sexy nun would be "avant-garde." How lame.) Steve Harwell begging Tawny to writhe around on the car was predic
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Florence Henderson
For the millions of us raised on a steady diet of reruns, Florence Henderson, aka Carol Brady, will forever be our surrogate mom. Even the B-list celebrities trapped on the new edition of VH1's The Surreal Life (Sundays at 9 pm/ET) got all gooey the minute she walked through the door. But Henderson isn't there to mother them. A trained hypnotherapist, she signed on as the house's on-call counselor, and judging from the drama of the previous seasons — not to mention the tempestuous pasts (sex changes, drugs and rock 'n' roll) of the current cast — Dr. Flo's guidance will be sorely needed.
TVGuide.com: Hello, Florence? Are you there? Florence Henderson: Sorry, I'm having trouble with this speakerphone. [Fumbling sou
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Surreal LifeAh, chemistry. I hated it in high school but I love it on The Surreal Life. Not every cast has worked. But if the first episode of the new season is a harbinger of drama to come, this may be the most addictive edition yet. As observed by Florence Henderson, aka Mrs. Brady, aka Dr. Flo, the cast's on-call guidance counselor (she's a real-life hypnotherapist), the house is filled with some strong personalities: Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille, who sounds like a cross between Bob Goldthwait and my super-Jewish Long Island aunt (come to think of it, he used to look like her, too, when he wore makeup back in the '80s); Playboy hottie Andrea Lowell, who insists she's not a bimbo (even though she uses made-up words like "ominent"); Tawny Kitaen,
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Veronica MarsOh. My. God. I can't breathe. Meg's awake and pregnant? Are you kidding me? I so didn't see that coming at all. Pregnant? Wow. What an amazing episode, amazing. Even the alternate ending was surprising — I think I'm glad they went with the one that aired. It had some less disturbing implications, and one less murder for Veronica to solve. I know I love this show and gush about it, but it deserves a little bit of extra praise. Tonight alone cleverly tied in several plots about kids with the "baby, think it over" health-class assignment, Celeste's rumored pregnancy, Trina's adoption, Mary's affair with the then-vice principal that led to the prom baby, and then Meg's impending arrival. Does Duncan know about the baby? Is that why he's been having dreams about
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Apparently having learned nothing from Nick and Jessica, former Surreal Life roomies Christopher Knight — that's Peter Brady to you and me — and America's last Top Model, Adrianne Curry, will plan their wedding in a second season of their VH1 spin-off, My Fair Brady. Maybe Kimmy and Talan can give these kids a good talking-to.
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It appears Survivor: Palau runner-up Katie Gallagher may have invested some of her $100,000 prize money in Jack Daniel's. Gallagher was arrested Wednesday for drunken driving in her hometown of Merced, Calif., and is due back in court on Halloween. She'll be the one dressed up as a future Surreal Life contestant.
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