Barack Obama, Entourage
President Barack Obama's TV diet includes sports, Hannah Montana and — above all else — Vincent Chase.
HBO's Entourage is Obama's favorite TV show, Politico reports. Lest we forget, that show's Ari Gold was inspired by real-life agent Ari Emanuel, the brother of Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
So how much does Obama like Entourage?
read more
John Doman and Clarke Peters
Cheers to Damages for signing two veterans of The Wire for its Season 2 cast. Read, discuss and vote on this complete Cheer after the jump.
read more
Robert Wisdom with Misha Collins, Supernatural
A witch. Halloween. The possible unleashing of Satan. Sounds like a case for the Winchester boys and their winged wingman. Tonight on Supernatural (9 pm/ET, the CW), even Castiel agrees that heavy artillery is called for. Cue guest-star Robert Wisdom, as an angel with 'tude. The former Wire star shared a look at this hellish holiday outing. Plus: His take on "the greatest show that's ever been on American television."
TVGuide.com: I'm guessing — purely guessing — that this is the first angel you've played.
Robert Wisdom: [Laughs] Well, there aren't too many I've been offered, but this is the first one, yeah.
TVGuide.com: What brings Uriel to the world of Supernatural? Is he there to ostensibly save Halloween?
Wisdom: Yes, that's my job, and it's a big one. It's a real ...
read more
Question: With a new season of The Wire about to start in a few weeks, is there anything we can do to get Emmy voters to watch the best show and best performances on television? Should we offer to walk their dogs? Rent a blimp and broadcast the show on giant screens above their houses? With all its drug deals, murder and corruption, the worst crime associated with The Wire is how it's criminally neglected by the Emmys.
Answer: I know these were rhetorical questions, but my biggest challenge with The Wire has always been how to praise it without making it sound like medicine. (Not just "good for you," but "good.") It's such a serious and complex show, I can only think that it's too much for most people. In the fourth season, which I hope to begin watching very soon (there's never enough time), the focus is on younger characters and the school system, so the thinking is that it will be more relatable than stories from past seasons. Hey, whatever works ...
read more
Question: I'm so excited for The Wire to start, I can barely stand it. I'd cancel my own wedding if it conflicted. Any scoop?
Answer: The first four episodes are better than ever (or so TV Guide's Bruce Fretts tells me). Here's some scoop: Dominic West's Jimmy (who is still working as a beat cop) has settled down and is living with Beadie (Amy Ryan) and her two kids. Prez (Jim True-Frost) takes a job teaching at a rough inner-city middle school. Herc (Domenick Lombardozzi) is working as a driver for the mayor and walks in on Hizzoner in a very compromising (and very explicitly depicted) position. And Michael K. Williams (Omar) goes full-frontal in the opening minutes of Episode 3. BTW, if you have yet to jump on The Wire, now's the time. Per Fretts, the new season — beginning Sept. 10 —
read more
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
...
read more
Question: Is this the end of the HBO dynasty? I mean, HBO really set the standard for cable programming by having a small lineup of great shows and showcasing them one or two at a time (a formula that FX is using quite successfully). Now I'm wondering if it has fallen asleep at the wheel. While Showtime and FX are preparing shows such as Rescue Me, The Shield, Weeds and Sleeper Cell, HBO seems to be canceling a show every other month. Am I paranoid, or does the channel have some sort of master plan that no one knows about? Because if my math is correct, by the year 2008 The Sopranos, Deadwood, Rome and The Wire will all be gone.
Answer: I think it's fair to say that HBO is in a slump, and with more franchises nearing the ends of their runs, the network does need to step up and create another breakout show or two. I love Entourage, but it seems to lack the cultural oomph of Sex and the City — and I'm sorry, but Big Love is not the sort of show to build a network night around. Even wit ...
read more
Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones is TV's Blade.
Producer/writer David S. Goyer is hotter than a solar flash on the big screen these days. While the veteran comic-book (Justice Society of America) and sci-fi/horror-film scribe (Batman Begins, Dark City) is currently working on, among other projects, big-screen takes on The Flash and Ghost Rider, it'
read more
Kevin Dillon, Entourage
Real life has been just as exciting as reel life for Kevin Dillon, who over the past six weeks has tied the knot with model-actress Jane Stuart as well as welcomed the arrival of their first child, a daughter named Ava. Now the proud pop has a third season of HBO's Entourage (premiering this Sunday at 10 pm/ET) to deliver. TVGuide.com chatted with the veteran actor the day after the show's Wednesday-night premiere screening in NYC.
TVGuide.com: First off, congratulations on the wedding and the child!
Dillon: Oh, thank you! It really is amazing.
TVGuide.com: How is little Ava doing?
Dillon: She's doing great. She's an amazing little girl.
read more
Question: I have to say that I share Jason's fears that Lost will decline in quality next season with the continued absence of J.J. Abrams and the reduced involvement of the current show-runners. Not only will it be difficult to keep up the intricate mythology and character development that have been critical to Lost's success, but I have noticed a trend where dramas often suffer creative declines in their third seasons. I've noticed this in some of the best shows of our times, including The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Alias, West Wing, 24, Nip/Tuck and The Shield. All of those shows suffered huge drop-offs in quality after two amazing seasons. The Wire has been one show that seemed to buck this trend, and hopefully Rescue Me, Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica and Veronica Mars (if it gets renew
read more
