matt.mitovich

Isaiah Washington Says Patrick Dempsey Agrees T.R. Knight Should Be Fired

Sorry, Heigl: he's still not not speaking. Though Isaiah Washington says he is "trying real hard not to incite an unnecessary war" among his former Grey's Anatomy cast mates, he has given a new interview in which he propels a claim that T.R. Knight is as much to blame for the aftermath of the October 9 on-set fracas. Washington even says that no less than "McDreamy" would concur. Positing that Knight had been "very tactical" in seeking to get Washington  if not Patrick Dempsey, as well  off the ABC drama, Washington tells gay-rights activist/BET host Keith Boykin, "I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired, it is T.R. Knight, because he has created such a negative environment on the set." (Dempsey's publicist has not yet responded to TVGuide.com's requests for comment.)At the crux of Knight's alleged campaign is a feeling that "he has not been treated and given the same 'leading man' kinds of story lines" as his pee...

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Isaiah Washington Says Patrick Dempsey Agrees T.R. Knight Should Be Fired

American Idol Auditions Begin! Hide Your Sanjayas!

Here. We go. Again.Auditions for American Idol's Season 7 will kick off July 30 at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Subsequent squawking tryouts will be held as follows:August 6: Texas Stadium, DallasAugust 10: Qwest Center, Omaha, NebraskaAugust 14: Atlanta, Georgia (site TBA)August 18: North Charleston, South Carolina, ColiseumAugust 22: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami, FloridaAugust 27: Wachovia Center, PhiladelphiaWannabes need to be age 16 to 28 as of July 28. And delete those racy photos from your MySpace page now. (Actually, send me the URL first.... )

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

American Idol Auditions Begin! Hide Your Sanjayas!

In the Works: Transformers Get a Fresh Toon-up

Cartoon Network Studios and Hasbro are coproducing a new Transformers series debuting in January 2008 and (hopefully) capitalizing on the buzz of this summer's upcoming live-action film. Transformers Animated will feature more humor, some never-before-seen characters, and a new premise that pits the Autobots against evil humans more often than the Decepticons.... Also per the Hollywood Reporter, Mark Burnett is teaming with the mixed martial-arts company ProElite to develop a reality series involving the combat sport.

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

NBC Singing Bee Races to Steal Rival's Buzz

NBC is fast-tracking its new game show The Singing Bee to premiere July 10  aka the day before Fox's similarly themed and Wayne Brady-hosted Don't Forget the Lyrics! hits the air, Variety reports. The Peacock's complete-the-lyrics quiz show was originally slated to bow in the fall.The only question now is which of the dueling shows will have the stones to throw a Joe Cocker song at someone?

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Short Cuts: Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie and More!

Heroes hot property Hayden Panettiere has signed with the William Morris Agency.... Frasier alum David Hyde Pierce is fronting the Alzheimer's Association's Champions campaign, which aims to recruit one supporter for each of the more than five million people living with the disease.... A September 4 DVD release date has been set for both I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Fourth Season and Rules of Engagement: The Complete First Season (yes, all seven episodes).

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Bridezillions! Eva Longoria Says "I Do" to Photo Deal

The winning tabloid in the Eva Longoria wedding-pics sweepstakes is... OK! Magazine, which paid north of $2 million for dibs on the photos, sources tell the New York Post. People was a runner-up in the bidding, but was reportedly crippled by unflattering editorial coverage of groom-to-be Tony Parker (of the San Antonio Spurs). The lavish affair is set to take place July 7 at a castle in Paris. I know, you're thinking, "Isn't that a lot of money for wedding photos?" But I have it on good authority that the coverage will include some (or perhaps all) of the following: Eva in a bridal gown, white in color; Eva and Tony playfully feeding each other wedding cake; and Eva meeting Tony at the foot of a spiral staircase. You read it here first.

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Bridezillions! Eva Longoria Says "I Do" to Photo Deal

Nip/Tuck Puts the "Rich" in Joely Richardson

Joely Richardson, who asked to be excused from Nip/Tuck last season to spend more time with her then-ill daughter, has inked a deal to appear in 15 of the upcoming season's 22 episodes (starting with Episode 2), and at a sizable pay increase. Just as series stars Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon recently scored their own salary bumps, Richardson, sources tell the Hollywood Reporter, will now net about $100,000 an episode  and that's on top of what she makes as Brad Garrett's wife on 'Til Death!* * This is me feigning confusion over the two Joelys. Neither Richardson nor Fisher (nor Angelina, for that matter) was harmed in the making of this quip.

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Nip/Tuck Puts the "Rich" in Joely Richardson

Box Office: Angelina's Heart Is in 10th Place

Steve Carell's Evan Almighty, one of the most expensive comedies ever made, topped the weekend box office with a $32.1 million haul  less than half of what Bruce Almighty did in its own debut. The Stephen King adaptation 1408 (which I, frankly, feared would never end) placed second with $20.18 mil, just ahead of Fantastic Four: Silver Surfer ($20.15 mil).Rounding out the top five were Ocean's Thirteen ($11.3 mil) and Knocked Up ($10.6 mil), while Angelina Jolie's A Mighty Heart sneaked into the top 10 with a $4 million bow.

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Casting About: Heroes Baddie Meets the Reaper

Hot off her stint as Heroes "illusionist" Candice, Missy Peregrym has joined the CW's upcoming (and thus far very well-received) series Reaper, replacing Nikki Reed as the pretty coworker of Bret Harrison's bounty hunter for the devil. Also per the Reporter, David Alpay has joined Showtime's The Tudors in the series-regular role of Smeaton, a musician and dancer who loves to indulge in sex. (No, Smeaton is not some sort of anagram for "Timberlake.")

Mon, Jun 25, 2007

Casting About: Heroes Baddie Meets the Reaper

Stopped Motion: CBS Cuts Creature Comforts

CBS has pulled the Aardman-animated Creature Comforts from its schedule effective immediately, says Futon Critic, and for the time being, at least, will fill the Mondays-at-8 slot with even more repeats of The New Adventures of Old Christine.After premiering to 6.3 million total viewers, Creature Comforts most recently was sampled by 4.66 and, just this past Monday, 4.3 million people.Talk about your clay achin'!

Sat, Jun 23, 2007

Stopped Motion: CBS Cuts Creature Comforts

On Stage: An Idol Musical, Sorkin's New Invention

The self-explanatory (although probably unnecessary) Idol: The Musical, a satirical comedy about a "cult-like club that meets daily in a garage that doubles as a shrine to Clay Aiken," opens off-Broadway next month. Apparently, it earned raves in Syracuse. Seriously.... Licking his wounds after the whole Studio 60 debacle, West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin trades the small screen for the stage when The Farnsworth Invention hits Broadway this fall, says Playbill.com. Previously seen at the La Jolla Playhouse, the drama  about the (glorious) invention of the TV set  marks Sorkin's return to the Great White Way after almost two decades.  Reporting by Raven Snook

Sat, Jun 23, 2007

Kelly Clarkson Revs NASCAR's Engines with Race Track

This Sunday during TNT's coverage of the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, NASCAR will break a new ad campaign featuring Kelly Clarkson crooning "One Minute," one of the tracks from the American Idol's new album, My December (streeting Tuesday but currently free to sample at MTV.com). The ad was filmed during Clarkson's appearance and performance at the 2007 Daytona 500, where she also sang "Miss Independent" and "Since U Been Gone."

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

Heroes Spin-off Talk: Origins Begins When Original Ends

Shedding new light on the game plan for Heroes: Origins, series creator Tim Kring told reporters on Thursday that the companion piece to NBC's freshman hit  which will introduce several "specially enabled" newcomers  will surface once Heroes' sophomore run winds down. "Right now, the idea [is] that Heroes will run as continuously as we can throughout the season; obviously, there are a couple of breaks along the way," Kring said. "Then, when Heroes ends at the end of April, Origins will begin and run through May sweeps."  Additional reporting by Dana Meltzer ZepedaFor more on Heroes' second season and the show's "global" plan to drum up interest in it this summer, see the TV Guide News Report.

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

The View May Replace Rosie with Gay Sex Star

The latest buzz in "Who will replace Rosie?" land is that comedian Mario Cantone, a frequent guest on The View (and well-known to Sex and the City fans as Charlotte's bitchy pal), might be tapped to join the heretofore all-female panel. Responding to the People tale, Advocate editor Sean Kennedy tells the New York Post, "It makes sense to have a gay guy on the show after all these years." And again, we proactively mourn the loss of all that Barbara Walters-instigated heterosexual sex talk.

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

The View May Replace Rosie with Gay Sex Star

Fox's Prison Fills Final Vacancy

The last of Prison Break's four major new roles has been cast. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Danay Garcia will play Sofia, a beautiful Latina living in Panama whose boyfriend, Whistler (All Saints' Chris Vance), is incarcerated with Michael. Google Ms. Garcia, and it will become clear why Whistler is whistling.Speaking of serialized Fox thrillers, have you seen the Ausiello Report's scoop on the new 24 president? Check it out.

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

At the Movies: Doubt, Amy Adams Has Nun

Per the Hollywood Reporter, Amy Adams is in talks to play the nun caught in the middle when a Catholic-school principal (Meryl Streep) accuses a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of pedophilia in Doubt, based on the Pulitzer-winning stage play.... Angela Bassett has been cast as the single mother in Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns.... David Strathairn is Elizabeth Banks' hubby in the horror remake A Tale of Two Sisters.... The young-adult novel Stargirl is being adapted for the big screen.

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

Van Halen Bio: Roth Paid $100 per Groupie Hookup

Everybody Wants Some, an unauthorized Van Halen bio due out in August, reveals, among other things, precisely how David Lee Roth got some from female groupies. According to an excerpt cited by the New York Post, pre-show Roth would hand out backstage passes marked with individual security guards' initials. Then, during a show, Roth from the stage would single out hotties in the crowd. Depending on whose initialed pass said lass would show up wearing backstage, Roth would pay that guard $100 the next morning at breakfast. Writes author Ian Christie, "As far as intimacy went, it was a little like the invention of the drive-through window at McDonald's." Ah, but were billions served? (Actually, don't answer that.)

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

Paris Hilton: $1 Mil for Her Thoughts? Plus, Why She's "Sick Of" the Media

To hear the New York Post tell it, NBC may cough up a cool hot million dollars to score Today's Meredith Vieira the first post-jail sitdown with Paris Hilton. The heiress would chat with Mer  not ABC's Barbara Walters, as widely assumed  sometime next week, the day after getting sprung. (According to the New York Times, ABC offered in the nabe of $100,000 for the exclusive, and was basically laughed at.) Supposedly, NBC secured the Q&A by boxing out Matt Lauer, whom the Hiltons feel has dissed their daughter. Neither party, however, is confirming the Post's story... yet. "NBC News has not and will not pay for interviews," a network rep tells Reuters. Adds a spokesperson for NBC's entertainment arm, "We don't have an agreement in place." A Hilton-clan mouthpiece says, "Paris is not being paid for any television interview, nor is [she] being paid for any collateral, including video and photographs related to any television interview" (aka the usual workaround for a new...

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

"Very Funny" Business: Office, Earl Land on TBS

NBC's Emmy-winning comedy series The Office will join the TBS lineup this fall  with repeats, people, repeats  it was announced on Thursday. "The Office is not only a top-notch sitcom, but also one of the most relatable comedies on television," says Ken Schwab, senior vice president of programming for TBS and TNT. "It's a wonderful addition to our lineup, and were thrilled to bring it to our audience of comedy lovers."That's what she said![Crickets] OK, the joke doesn't really work in this instance.UPDATE: NBC's My Name Is Earl is also TBS-bound, though not until fall 2009. As for The Office, to those fearing "burnout," the cabler will only air two episodes a week (back-to-back) for the first two years of the deal.

Fri, Jun 22, 2007

Ratings: Think You Can Dance Fever Heats Up

Wednesday's ratings rundown:ABCWith 6.22 million viewers, Next Best Thing was up a tick from last week. American Inventor (6.13 mil) dipped 140K, but Traveler (4.41 mil) picked up 280 thou.CBSAFI's movie countdown saw 7.7 mil await a foregone conclusion.NBCLast Comic Standing (5.94 mil) lost almost a mil of its premiere audience.FoxSYTYCD (9.05 mil) added 170,000 to its swelling numbers.CWThe first hour of Hidden Palms did a typical 1.5 mil, but the second eppy inched up to 1.77 mil.

Thu, Jun 21, 2007

VH1 Cooks with Salt 'N' Pepa, Bonaduce, Smart Models

VH1's fall slate boasts a third night of original prime-time programming, including the following: The Salt 'N' Pepa Show follows the female rap duo as they attempt to reunite on and off stage. America's Most Smartest Model dangles $100K in front of males and females who believe they boast the best combo of bod and brains. Click! is Top Model, but pitting wannabe shutterbugs against each other. Danny Bonaduce's Child Star finds the grown Partridge kid mentoring an up-and-comer's stage mom or dad. Free Radio is an improv comedy series set in the world of talk radio. Lords of the Revolution looks at the "nonconformist heroes of the '60s and '70s." Cue Bosley! Old Skool with Terry and Gita features onetime movie star/ex-wife of Howard Hughes Terry Moore, 77, and former supermodel Gita Hall, 72, taking on pop culture's hot topics.

Thu, Jun 21, 2007

24's Elisha Cuthbert "Shocked" by Torture-porn Flap

Come mid-July  Friday the 13th, in fact  the latest salvo in the "torture-porn" genre hits theaters, though for a moment there, it was questionable whether Captivity would ever see the dark of the moviehouse. In March, MPAA-unauthorized ads for the flick leaked out, drawing more than a little controversy for their depiction of Elisha Cuthbert in assorted states of grisly distress. Appearing Thursday at the Times Square Planet Hollywood to immortalize her handprints in cement, Cuthbert told TVGuide.com she was "actually shocked" by the outcry, "because a lot of films out right now, like [the] Saw and Hostel [series], have sort of 'raised the bar' as far as the genre goes." That said, she readily admits the controversy is of "the good kind that goes along with a horror film."I then steered the topic to 24, which, with what is rumored to be a mostly CTU-free "new day" coming up, may call for Kim Bauer's return, should Jack be desperate for a lifeline. "I'll be waiting by th...

Thu, Jun 21, 2007

24's Elisha Cuthbert "Shocked" by Torture-porn Flap