matt.mitovich

Add Medicine: ABC to Debut Grey's Spin-off?

Though unconfirmed by ABC, the Wall Street Journal  in its "Ask Greenspan" TV scoops column?  is reporting that ABC is pursuing a spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, with a two-hour pilot to likely air in May. This additional dose of the popular drama would star every guy Mer has slept wi-.... Nah, that cast is too big. Actually, says the WSJ, it will be fronted by Kate Walsh's Addison. Meaning your choice of titles is:A) "Montgomery's Ward"B) "Addison by Subtraction" orC) "Ad' About You"

Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Oops, She's Admitted Again: Britney Re-enters Rehab

After a wild weekend of head-shaving, tattoos, horrendous blonde wigs and near-missed flights  all coming on the heels of a blink-and-you-missed-it rehab "trial"  Britney Spears is again trying to straighten herself out. "[She] has voluntarily checked herself into an undisclosed rehab facility [on Tuesday]," her manager tells People. "We ask that the media respect her privacy as well as those of her family and friends at this time." Now can someone watch the door this time?UPDATE: Brit's manager tells E! News' Ryan Seacrest that Spears checked in on Monday of her own volition, is doing great, and simply wants time to rest and focus on her recovery. Extra, meanwhile, is reporting (did no one read the part about respecting her privacy?!) that the rehab center in question is Promises in Malibu, where people go when they "hit a mental, emotional, spiritual kind of bottom," says the site's founder.UPDATE: A friend of the family tells Us that a plea from Spears' father may hav...

Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Anna Nicole: Smith's Mother Wants Grandson Daniel Exhumed

Ongoing developments in the aftermath of Anna Nicole Smith's death: As Florida courtrooms battle to decide who has the right to bury Smith, Virgie Arthur said on Wednesday that any estrangement between the two was largely due to Howard K. Stern's omnipresence in her daughter's life, and broke down in tears as she recalled how she was not invited to grandson Daniel's funeral. "She wasn't estranged from me all those years. We were still in contact," said Arthur. "It was when she was older, when she was with Howard Stern, that I was not able to get ahold of her." Circuit court judge Larry Seidlin has said he would rule by Friday on where Smith's body should be buried. (Fox News) Arthur wants to exhume Daniel Smith, now buried in the Bahamas, and bring his body to Texas, to be buried with his mother in Anne Nicole's native state. (AP) On Tuesday, lawyers for Stern played a video in which Smith calls Arthur "mommy dearest." "You want to hear all the things she did to m...

Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Loser Gains a Soap Star

Days of Our Lives vet Alison Sweeney is replacing Caroline Rhea as host of NBC's The Biggest Loser, Variety is reporting. Rhea, who has fronted the weight-loss compeition since Day 1, has moved on "to pursue other interests," says the network. The hiring of Sweeney, meanwhile, says exec producer Ben Silverman, "will bring not only a great fresh face, but [also] a huge, loyal fan base." Heck, based just on the evil twins and illegitimate children who may start tuning in, the ratings could go up 10 percent.

Tue, Feb 20, 2007

At the Movies: Rob Zombie Teases Nazi Werewolf Women

Per the New York Post, The Devil's Rejects helmer Rob Zombie is creating a three-minute trailer for a fake film titled "Werewolf Women of the SS," to star Sybil Danning and Udo Kier, and be featured as part of Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Lost alumna Maggie Grace will play Liam Neeson's kidnapped and enslaved daughter in Taken.... Darren Lynn Bousman is on board to direct Saw IV, to begin production April 16 and hit theaters October 26.... Per Variety, Ron Howard may direct an American version of Caché, a French film in which a couple finds increasingly violent videos on their porch.

Tue, Feb 20, 2007

Short Cuts: Vanessa Williams Gets Naked, and More!

Ugly Betty vamp Vanessa Williams, who was met with some notoriety (and lost her Miss America crown) when nude pics of her surfaced in Penthouse, has again doffed her duds  but this time in a tasteful manner, and as part of the May, "Look Better Naked" issue of Allure.... Dr. Shepherd or Dr. Shepherd? Cast your vote for TV's sexiest doc in TVGuide.com's latest poll!

Tue, Feb 20, 2007

Mane Event: Bald Britney's Shorn Locks Hit eBay

The owner of Esther's Haircutting Studio in Tarzana, California  the salon where Britney Spears shaved her head on Friday night  has put the popstress' lopped-off brunette locks/extensions (as well as her unfinished can of Red Bull and a Bic lighter) up for bid on eBay, until 8:30 pm Tuesday. "Some" proceeds from the auction will go to charity (including Locks of Love), the New York Daily News reports, but beware of phony follicle fences. The husband of Esther's Esther Tognozzi notes that the only people in their shop during Britney's shearing were his wife and her assistant, Spears (who has since been spied in a baaaad blonde wig) and her bodyguard. Anyone else hawking Brit's clippings is simply attempting a (ahem) hair-brained scheme.

Tue, Feb 20, 2007

Crossing Jordan to Face the Music

Lest one of my readers think I am being less than productive with my day off:Effective March 4, NBC is moving the Wednesday edition of Deal or No Deal to Sundays at 9 pm/ET, pushing The Apprentice back an hour to 10 pm and giving the Peacock a night of all-unscripted content, Variety reports. The schedule shuffle finds Crossing Jordan airing Wednesdays at 9  opposite American Idol and castaways-killer Criminal Minds  starting March 7, cementing the drama as a "longshot," insiders tell the trade, to return next season.

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Porn Queen Wants to Make Love with ScarJo

Or Christina Aguilera. Those two lookers, with Rachel McAdams and Heather Graham, represent Jenna Jameson's wish list to portray the on-camera undulator in a film based on her autobiography How to Make Love Like a Porn Star. "This is a role that every girl in Hollywood is going to want to play," Jameson tells the Adult Video News website (which I, um, found under my dad's bed). "It's dramatic and comedic.... It's got all the ingredients of something worthy of Oscar contention." (Or at least a con named Oscar's attention.) Scarlett Johansson's resume, it should be noted, now includes being named Sexiest Woman of the Year by the brand-new issue of Playboy.A producer on the biopic, Jameson says, "I'm really excited," adding, "This is the biggest thing I've ever done"  which, when you think about it, is saying something.

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Ghost Rider Heats Up Frigid Box Office

With a first-weekend take of $44.5 million, Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider topped the box office, leading overall revenue to its first surge in a month and a half. Rounding out the top five were Bridge to Zathura Terabithia (opening with $22.1 million), Norbit ($16.8 mil), Music & Lyrics (debuting to $14 million), and Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (which with $12.1 mil, took in markedly less than Perry's previous February releases, 2006's Madea's Family Reunion and '05's Diary of a Mad Black Woman).

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Baby Talk: Six Degrees Star Carrying Ex's Child

Bridget Moynahan of ABC's "on-hiatus" Six Degrees is more than three months' pregnant with the child of her former flame, New England Patriots QB Tom Brady, reports the New York Post. Moynahan and Brady broke up in December after two years of dating. Brady has since been seen squiring supermodel Gisele Bundchen.... Skating with Celebrities pair Kristy Swanson and Lloyd Eisler welcomed a son, Magnus, on Friday. Eisler has two kids from a previous marriage.... Also per People, Opie's a granddaddy: Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village) has had a baby boy.

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Badfella: Ray Liotta Charged with DUI

Ray Liotta (Smith?) was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, then later released after posting $15,000 bail, after crashing his car into two parked vehicles in Pacific Palisades on Saturday evening. No one was injured in the incident, reports the Associated Press, and Liotta was alone in his car.

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Things Get Hairy as Britney Shaves. Her. Head.

On Friday night, not long after word broke that Britney Spears had checked herself into an Antigua rehab center (only to turn tail and get herself outta there), the troubled entertainer resurfaced at a Sherman Oaks, California, tattoo parlor, bald as a cue ball. According to the AP, video (watch here) which aired on KABC-TV shows an eggheaded Spears getting a new tattoo  a pair of red and pink lips  on her wrist. "She just wanted something small on her wrist, something dainty," the tattoo artist told KABC-TV. "Some cute little lips on her wrist." Aww, an extra set of lips to kiss her children good night with... when she gets home each day at 4 am.UPDATE: An employee at Esther's Hair Salon in Tarzana, California, where Brit lopped her locks, recalls for Us, "She just walked in and said she wanted to shave her head. [Salon owner] Esther [Tognozzi] has been in the business for 30 years and said, 'I'm not doing that.' But Britney was set on having her head shaved, so she sta...

Sat, Feb 17, 2007

Britney Enters Rehab... and then Leaves

One day after leaving New York City with her two children on a Miami-bound private jet (and many, many weeks after painting this, that and every town red), Britney Spears has checked into a rehab facility, TV's Extra is reporting. Officially, Britney's reps tell the newsmag that they have "no comment."Sounds like someone finally picked up a newspaper and read about Anna Nicole.Or not. UPDATE: TMZ has learned that Brit refused to stay at the out-of-the-country rehab center, and now, less than 24 hours later, is en route back to Los Angeles.UPDATE: She's now bald.

Sat, Feb 17, 2007

Smallville Star Gets the Chair

Smallville's John Glover, a Tony winner in 1995 for Love! Valour! Compassion!, in April will replace Bob Martin in Broadway's The Drowsy Chaperone, playing the Man in Chair/narrator, the New York Times reports. Martin, as you undoubtedly read in today's fresh Q&A, is off to the West End to fill the role in a London staging of the hit musical.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

On Stage: Miss USA Blows into Chicago

Miss USA Tara Conner has been secretly rehearsing to star as Roxie Hart in the Broadway musical Chicago, sources tell the New York Post. Word is that Conner's singing is pretty good, her dancing not so much, and her acting "nonexistent." But hey, tickets these days are only, what, $150?... Tony Danza waved his finger and mouthed "Stop" to two (I'm guessing) tourists who were brazenly videotaping his Wednesday performance in The Producers, but to no avail. When the curtain came down, Danza told the astoundingly unclassy pair to "Get the hell out," his rep tells the Post.... Carmen Electra will sing and dance  and presumably wear precious little  as the costar of a magic-variety show with Dutch illusionist Hans Klok, bowing May 12 in Vegas, says Us. You know, I had heard that Carmen could make Klok disappear....

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Sci Fi's Ozsome Series Casts Its Dorothy

Speaking of Bones, Emily Deschanel's sister, Zooey Deschanel, has landed the female lead in Tin Man, Sci Fi Channel's trippy retelling of The Wizard of Oz. Per Variety, Deschanel will play DG, a young woman who finds herself transported from her dull existence into the fantasy-filled world of The O.Z. (Outer Zone). As previously reported, Alan Cumming is on board as a friend of Dorothy's, the Scarecrow-like Glitch. The six-hour miniseries is eyed for a December debut.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Fox OKs More House Calls, Bones to Pick

Fox has renewed House and Bones for fourth and third seasons, respectively, the network announced on Friday morning. House, which delivered its largest audience ever this past Jan. 30, is Fox's No. 1 drama and TV's third-best scripted series among the 18-49 demo. Bones, meanwhile, last week matched its highest ratings ever, and set a new high for an episode without an Idol lead-in.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Kenny Chesney: Nope, He's Not Gay

In an interview airing on Sunday's 60 Minutes, country singer Kenny Chesney sets the record straight on his sexuality, saying, "It's not true" that his marriage to Renée Zellweger broke up because he's, you know.... "Maybe I should have come out and said, 'No, I'm not [gay],' but I didn't want to draw any more attention to [the rumor circulated at the time]," he says. As for citing "fraud"  sometimes code for "One of us is gay"  as the reason for their September 2005 annulment, he and Renée believed that would be the "least harmful" legal term. "And boy, were we wrong!"

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Short Cuts: Nip/Tuck, TV's Sexiest Con and More!

Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy has inked a $15 million, multiyear deal under which he will stay on as showrunner of the top-rated FX series and develop new programming for 20th Century Fox.... TBS has ordered eight episodes of The Frank Show, a late-night sketch series starring comedian Frank Caliendo.... Chris Cornell is leaving the rock group Audioslave, citing "irresolvable personality conflicts" and "musical differences," says the AP.... Sawyer? Lincoln Burrows? Cast your vote for TV's sexiest criminal in the new TVGuide.com poll.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

French Toast: Are You Invited to Eva's Wedding?

Eva Longoria and fiancé Tony Parker have sent out hundreds of Eiffel Tower-shaped save-the-date cards announcing their Saturday, July 7  as in 7/7/07  wedding in Paris, France, People reports. Included on the mailing list are fellow Housewives Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman and Nicollette Sheridan, Desperate dudes James Denton and Ricardo Chavira, series creator Marc Cherry, and not a single person you or I hobnob with. Which is cool, because I'll be damned if I'm going to miss America's Most Wanted that night.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Love Notes: Keri Felicitously Weds Deary Beau

As a Greg Nelson-channeling Michael Ausiello found himself detained at the door by guards, Keri Russell  who recently announced that she was in a family way  spent Valentine's night tying the knot with longtime beau Shane Deary at a NYC restaurant, as close friends looked on, reports Us.In other affairs of the heart, Season 3 Dancing with the Stars champ Cheryl Burke is currently tangoing with Matthew Lawrence, the actor brother of her onetime Dancing rival Joey. "Cheryl is very happy," a source tells People.

Thu, Feb 15, 2007