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A Day Out With Rizzoli & Isles Star Sasha Alexander

Sasha Alexander is nothing if not brave. After all, this is the same actress — currently starring as medical examiner Maura Isles on Season 3 of TNT's smash procedural Rizzoli & Isles — who walked away from a lead role on NCIS after only two seasons. She married the son of legendary Italian sex symbol Sophia Loren, a gig not for the faint of heart. And today, Alexander, 39, is swinging upside down from a trapeze suspended far above the Santa Monica Pier — her suggestion — despite admitting that she's spooked by heights. We set out to investigate what fuels her fearlessness.

Tue, Jul 31, 2012

A Day Out With Rizzoli & Isles Star Sasha Alexander

America's Got Talent Welcomes Howard Stern

It's Day 2 of the America's Got Talent auditions in St. Petersburg, Florida — the fifth stop along the way on this year's quest for an act worthy of the $1 million prize and Vegas marquee. Despite the suffocating humidity, long hours and some less-than-stellar performances, the judges — Sharon Osbourne, Howie Mandel and newcomer Howard Stern — are looking no worse for the wear. "This is the most fun job in the world!" says the self-proclaimed King of All Media, who's improbably expanding his empire this season to include one of TV's family-friendliest shows. The trio talked to TV Guide Magazine about what's in store when viewers tune in — and whether their G rating is in jeopardy.

Mon, May 7, 2012

America's Got Talent Welcomes Howard Stern

Is It Just Me: Burning Questions from The Voice

Why does Christina Aguilera look so different?You might say that Aguilera is becoming less of a diva. During the live episodes airing now, the Voice coach has been showing off a svelter figure and a streamlined wardrobe, hair and makeup to match. NYC-based exercise physiologist Johanna Pryluck, who does not work with the star, says it appears that Aguilera has dropped around 25 pounds since the audition and battle rounds that were taped last winter. "There's a big difference in her overall tone, but especially in her arms and face," says Pryluck, who attributes the change to a likely program of "vigorous cardio four to fives times a week plus strength training and a diet of lean protein, whole grains and as little processed food as possible." Sing it!

Tue, Apr 17, 2012

Is It Just Me: Burning Questions from The Voice

A Day Out With the Guys From New Girl

Truth be told, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris don't exactly come across as guys who'd frequent a fancy barbershop — the sort of post-ironic place where straight-razor shaves are administered by hipsters at $40 a pop. But when they gather at L.A.'s Baxter Finley early on a Saturday morning, the New Girl costars manage to quickly break the ice with a rapid-fire stream of inside jokes — and some sloppily applied shaving cream — demonstrating a camaraderie and conversational shorthand that makes it tough to believe they've been working together for only a single season on Fox's freshman hit. Here's what the trio have to say about getting groomed for sitcom stardom.

Tue, Apr 17, 2012

A Day Out With Nikita's Shane West

It's a Friday morning in L.A., and Shane West is casually dangling from an indoor rock wall nearly 20 feet up in the air. (Picture a spider monkey with unusually good hair and cheekbones.) Apparently, the 33-year-old star of The CW's Nikita hasn't been faking his way through all the tricky stunt work required to play rogue Division agent Michael (last name unknown) on the action-packed cult fave, now in Season 2. In between cracks about the unconventional setting — we agree he looks like he's auditioning for a new basic-cable sitcom called Hang in There — West describes his climb up the showbiz ladder...

Fri, Mar 30, 2012

A Night Out With The Insider's Kevin Frazier

Walking through L.A.'s Staples Center with Kevin Frazier on the night of a Lakers home game can take a while, thanks to the sheer number of people this guy seems to know. He stops to chitchat, crack a joke, dole out a bro hug — it's as if the arena is a small town and Frazier is its kindly mayor. That natural gregariousness is paying off: As co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show The Insider, Frazier has become one of Hollywood's most reliable celebrity whisperers. We spent an evening courtside with him to find out how he juggles journalism, gossip-mongering and good old-fashioned star wrangling.

Mon, Mar 12, 2012

A Night Out With The Insider's Kevin Frazier

A Night Out With Psych's Dulé Hill

He may not be a megastar or a tabloid staple, but for the past 13 years, Dulé Hill has been busy quietly pulling off a showbiz coup: appearing back-to-back in two uncommonly long-running and beloved TV series, first for seven seasons as Charlie Young on The West Wing and now as Burton "Gus" Guster on USA's quirky Psych, currently in its sixth year. When he does get a little time off, you won't find him sipping umbrella drinks poolside — Hill's spending his hiatus treading the boards in "Stick Fly" at NYC's Cort Theatre, where he offered us a backstage pass. TV Guide Magazine: You started on Broadway when you were 10 and have been working steadily since — why didn't you turn out like Lindsay Lohan?Hill: Having success early on in theater is different. And my parents did a great job of...

Wed, Feb 29, 2012

A Day Out With The Middle Kids

There may be sitcoms that are flashier, edgier or more ironic than The Middle, but you'd be hard-pressed to find any that are funnier. Since premiering in 2009, ABC's hit comedy about the Hecks, a working-class Midwestern family of misfits, has proven that it doesn't take a right- or left-coast sensibility to produce laughter — thanks in no small part to the performances of Charlie McDermott (Axl), 21, Eden Sher (Sue), 20, and Atticus Shaffer (Brick), 13. TV Guide Magazine played hooky with the trio for an afternoon of mini-golf at Castle Park in Sherman Oaks to find out if they're equally entertaining off duty.

Wed, Feb 8, 2012

A Day Out With Bachelor Ben Flajnik

Revenge is a dish best served with a nice Pinot Noir. Last season on The Bachelorette, winemaker Ben Flajnik was blindsided when he was dumped on national TV after dropping down on one knee and proposing to dental student Ashley Hebert. Now he's back on ABC's reality dating franchise to dole out some long stems and heartache of his own. We met up with the 29-year-old San Francisco and Sonoma County resident at NYC's City Winery to clink glasses and swap stories about his days of wine and roses. TV Guide Magazine: What's a guy like you need a show like this for?Flajnik: I've dated lots of women, but the majority of my relationships were under a year long. My sister thought maybe I'd be good for [The Bachelorette], so she did the...

Mon, Jan 23, 2012

A Day In The Life of Bravo's Andy Cohen

It's after 9pm at the Bravo Clubhouse, the downtown Manhattan studio where Andy Cohen tapes his talk show, Watch What Happens: Live. The 43-year-old — who pulls double duty as exec vice president of talent and development for the network — has been going nonstop since 7:30am. He has...

Fri, Jan 6, 2012

A Day Out With Unforgettable's Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh

Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh are good sports. By the time the leads of CBS' new hit procedural Unforgettable arrive to scope out a late-afternoon Mets batting practice at Citi Field, they've already been filming since 9am — and when the MLB team takes the field later that evening for a home game, they'll be long gone, back to work at the show's nearby Queens studio. Luckily, those demanding days are paying off: The drama about a woman who uses her superhuman memory to help her cop ex-boyfriend solve crimes premiered last month to 14 million viewers, and the TV vets playing Carrie Wells and Al Burns are determined to keep knocking it out of the park — while cracking each other up in the process.

Tue, Oct 25, 2011

A Day Out With Unforgettable's Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh

A Day Out With The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

If we've learned anything from the ladies of 90210 — now in Season 2 of their hit show — it's that emotional baggage isn't any easier to lug around when it has Louis Vuitton's initials monogrammed all over it. Yes, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills may have 15,000-square-foot homes and blinding rocks — but they're also rich in drama. We met up with Camille Grammer, Lisa Vanderpump and Kyle Richards at NYC pizzeria Lombardi's — for the record, they can put away some pie — to find out how they're faring in their gilded fishbowl. [Editors note: This interview was conducted prior to the suicide of cast member Russell Armstrong.]

Mon, Oct 10, 2011

A Day Out With The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Anthony Bourdain's Celebrity Chef Smackdown!

Anthony Bourdain takes on the personalities who leave a bad taste in his mouth. PAULA DEEN"The worst, most dangerous person to America is clearly Paula Deen. She revels in unholy connections with evil corporations and she's proud of the fact that her food is f---ing bad for you. If I were on at seven at night and loved by millions of people at every age, I would think twice before...

Thu, Aug 18, 2011

Anthony Bourdain's Celebrity Chef Smackdown!

A Night Out With Anthony Bourdain

In his role as a professional eater and drinker on Travel Channel's No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain's omnivorous bacchanals across the globe have become the stuff of foodie legend. So I braced myself for our meal at NYC's Takashi, a Japanese/Korean restaurant that's known for specialties like beef heart and flash-boiled Achilles' tendon. Would I be able to keep up with his infinite appetite for offal and sake? As it turned out, Bourdain is considerably more tame when he's off duty — and readily admits that these days, he'd rather get home to his wife and kid than stay out late being a bada--.

Mon, Aug 15, 2011

A Day Out With Franklin & Bash

Spending time in public with Franklin & Bash stars Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar can get a little surreal. (Picture an internal monologue that goes something like this: "Hold on. Is that Travis from Clueless and Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell... bowling together? Did the 13-year-old me dream this up?") Yet the bizarre-world pairing works on TNT's dramedy about two wisecracking, unconventional lawyer pals who court controversy at their new firm. During an afternoon at NYC's Lucky Strike Lanes, the duo made it clear...

Wed, Jul 6, 2011

Cooking With Curtis Stone

Even if you don't know how to boil water, odds are you've caught celebrity chef Curtis Stone making one of his frequent appearances on the Today show, schooling The Biggest Loser's contestants about the keys to healthy cooking or presiding over a pantheon of his peers as the host of this season's Top Chef Masters, wrapping up June 15. We met the Aussie epicure in the kitchen at NYC's Bar Americain — on loan for the morning from Stone's buddy and fellow gastronome Bobby Flay — for a heaping helping of flapjacks with a side of straight talk...

Wed, Jun 8, 2011

A Night Out With the Real Housewives of Orange County

In case you've ever wondered, the Real Housewives of Orange County don't need a camera crew around to create fireworks. We gathered the original Bravo franchise's feisty quintet — Tamra Barney, Alexis Bellino, Vicki Gunvalson, Gretchen Rossi — and Season 6 newcomer Peggy Tanous for tapas at NYC's Graffit, then watched as the cocktails, conversation and tears started to flow. TV Guide Magazine: Peggy, was it intimidating being the newbie?Peggy: I have four sisters, so I grew up fighting for time to talk. I think I got along with everybody.Gretchen: Don't let her fool you — she's a...

Fri, May 27, 2011

A Night Out With the Real Housewives of Orange County

A Night Out with Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman

What's better than breakfast meat and smoother than the jazz stylings of Duke Silver? That'd be Nick Offerman, the Parks and Recreation star who so brilliantly embodies Ron Swanson — director of the Pawnee Parks and Recreation Department and proud libertarian. As the sitcom winds down Season 3, we plied the deadpan actor with cocktails for a peek behind the moustache.

Thu, May 12, 2011

A Night Out with Parks and Recreation's Nick Offerman

A Day Out With The Good Wife's Matt Czuchry

Matt Czuchry doesn't like to lose. As Cary Agos — The Good Wife's deliciously multidimensional assistant state's attorney with a grudge — Czuchry (pronounced "zoo-cree") displays a fierce competitive streak. In person, the actor, 33, isn't much different — as he was only too happy to demonstrate over several merciless rounds of Skee-Ball at NYC arcade Dave & Buster's. What can we say? He's got game. TV Guide Magazine: This season, viewers have seen a different side of Cary.Czuchry: He's grown up quite a bit at the state's attorney's office. It's humbled him. Ambition is still at the root of who he is, but now we see more sincerity and vulnerability...

Tue, May 3, 2011

A Day Out With The Good Wife's Matt Czuchry

A Night Out With Gayle King

There are best friends... And then there's Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King. For the past 30-plus years, King has encouraged, coaxed and kidded around with Winfrey, on screen and off. (Who else can get away with poking fun at the talk superstar for, say, forgetting how to pump her own gas?) She appears regularly on Oprah, serves as editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine and has now morphed her satellite radio program, "The Gayle King Show," into a series on the newly hatched OWN network. We ordered up a round of straight talk with her at NYC's Mandarin Oriental Hotel, where King made it clear why she's the kind of gal you want in your corner...

Mon, Apr 4, 2011

A Night Out With Bethenny Frankel

Memo to Heidi Montag: This is how a career in reality TV is done. Smart as a whip and just as thin, Bethenny Frankel rose to fame on the small screen — first as the runner-up on the Martha Stewart edition of The Apprentice, later on three seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City, and now on her own show, Bethenny Ever After, which kicked off Season 2 last week, all the while parlaying her notoriety into a multi-million-dollar healthy lifestyle brand in the process. The new mom — she and husband Jason Hoppy welcomed daughter Bryn in May — took a breather at ...

Mon, Mar 7, 2011

A Night Out With Tabatha Coffey

With a tongue every bit as sharp as her scissors, Tabatha Coffey is on a mission to save America's failing salons from themselves — one hapless hairdresser at a time. (Season 3 of Tabatha's Salon Takeover concludes on February 21.) We sat down with the feisty Aussie import over drinks at NYC's Beauty Bar for a peek at her — yep — many layers.

Mon, Feb 14, 2011