matt.webb.mitovich

Is John Leguizamo Too Freaky for ER?

When the ER on ER gets bustling, things can get a bit cramped, so it's a wonder that new cast member John Leguizamo, known for bringing big and vibrant personalities to life, will be able to contain himself as Dr. Victor Clemente (joining the NBC drama tonight at 10 pm/ET). This is, after all, the man who played drag-queen Chi Chi Rodriguez in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and headlined not one but three one-man stage shows (Mambo Mouth, Freak and Sexaholix: A Love Story). But the role at the top of our mind when TVGuide.com spoke to Leguizamo was his memorable turn as the diminutive painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec in Moulin Rouge — a characterization t

Thu, Oct 20, 2005

Hopper Glad E-Ring Is No Lost Cause

When does an octagon trump a pentagon? When the octagon is the mysterious Dharma logo from ABC's Lost and the Pentagon is the setting for early TV-season time-slot rival E-Ring. Such was the unfortunate (if unsurprising) fate that befell NBC's new Wednesday-night military drama, which bowed strong but dropped 1.7 million samplers in its second week. Luckily, NBC quickly reappointed E-Ring to the 8 pm/ET hour, where it has reclaimed a full million of those, um, "lost" viewers — especially good news for film-turned-series star Dennis Hopper, who plays Colonel McNulty to Benjamin Bratt's U.S. army major. "We premiered against Lost, which obviously won [the Best Drama Emmy] last year, so we had a struggle," Hopper recounts for TVGuide.com. "We've [since] dropped to

Wed, Oct 19, 2005

Who Is Filmdom's Rising Black Star?

When Film Life's Black Movie Awards are televised for the first time ever (Wednesday at 10 pm/ET, on TNT), one very special guest of honor will be Kimberly Elise, the Diary of a Mad Black Woman headliner who has been named this year's Rising Star. Elise, currently playing no-nonsense prosecutor Maureen Scofield on CBS' Close to Home (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET), shared with TVGuide.com what it means to merit such kudos from her peers. TVGuide.com: What was your reaction when you learned you'd be receiving the Rising Star award?Kimberly Elise: It was really overwhelming. I just sort of quietly do my work, so I was touched to see that people have seen it and respond to it and wanted to take a time-out to say that t

Tue, Oct 18, 2005

How I Met Star Is in a Mother's Daze

Last week CBS honored three of its freshman series with full-season orders. Among the lucky lot was How I Met Your Mother (Mondays at 8:30 pm/ET), a sitcom starring Josh Radnor as Ted, a likable lad whose story of how he came to meet his wife is told in flashbacks narrated by Bob Saget. Thrilled to see a scripted series (and a sitcom no less) score big, TVGuide.com begged for a Q&A with Radnor (who, in the interest of full disclosure, shares a name with the Pennsylvania town in which TV Guide was born. But that did not influence us. Honest.) TVGuide.com: I've gotta tell you up front, man: Each week it unnerves me how much you look like Jimmy Fallon

Mon, Oct 17, 2005

Jennifer Coolidge Ribs a Hopeless Biz

Ever since moviegoers enjoyed their first slice of American Pie, Jennifer Coolidge (aka "Stifler's Mom") has been turning up everywhere. In addition to the gross-out comedy's two sequels and a pair of Legally Blondes, she has joined Christopher Guest's troupe of usual suspects and these days plays juggernaut agent Bobbie on NBC's Joey and voices bimbo film-exec Traci on IFC's animated Hopeless Pictures, which wraps up its first season tonight at 10 pm/ET. Coolidge recently talked to us about being Hollywood's go-to brassy blonde. TVGuide.com: I have to imagine that at least once a day you get some cr

Fri, Oct 14, 2005

Maria Menounous Is Hollywood's It Girl

Last month, Maria Menounos left a three-year gig at Entertainment Tonight to serve as both a special correspondent for Access Hollywood and a contributor to NBC's Today. What's it all mean? The 27-year-old Greek goddess found a few minutes between her new jobs to speak with TVGuide.com about the move and to weigh in on a watershed day in infotainment history. TVGuide.com: When you were in the 1996 Miss Teen USA pageant, you told host Bob Goen that when you "grew up," you wanted to work with him on ET — and your wish came true. Kinda wishing now you'd aimed for world peace?Maria Menounos: That and a pu

Thu, Oct 13, 2005

No. 1 Movie's Secrets Revealed!

What does it take to make a box-office champion? Five painstaking years, a delicate touch and a whole lot of clay. Or, at least, such was the case with Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the clay-animated feature that dominated theaters this past weekend with its wickedly clever tale of the titular twosome's endeavor to save Lady Tottington's Giant Vegetable Competition from the hungry hooks of an equally oversize bunny. Considering the effort that went into stretching a Wallace and Gromit adventure from the usual 30 minutes (as in their three short film outings) into nearly thrice that, you'd better believe that the story is set in stone before the first Plasticine pumpkin is formed. "The story is the most important thing," Wallace and Gromit's creator, Nick Park, tells TVGuide.com. Park, who codirected Were-Rabbit

Tue, Oct 11, 2005

Weeds Dealer Teases Dope Cliff-Hanger

Tonight at 10 pm/ET, Showtime presents the first-season finale of Weeds, its half-hour dramedy about widowed mom Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) and the pot-peddling she does to make ends meet. Supplying Parker with her parsley (as well as a bit of sexual tension) is Conrad, played by Romany Malco, who was more than happy to speak with TVGuide.com about the "buzz" he has enjoyed as of late on screens both small and silver. TVGuide.com: My wife loves Weeds — no small praise coming from the woman who's too scared to watch Prison Break with me.Romany Malco: Dude, that's the bomb. I can't tell you how many people I've run into, from how many different walks, who are like, "Oh, man, I l

Mon, Oct 10, 2005

Funny Lady Leaves Queens for Hot Role

Nicole Sullivan is at it again. Having once dared to bid adieu to a steady MADtv gig, she now has moved out of Queens (that is, CBS' high-rated King of Queens, where she had a recurring role as dog walker Holly) to fill a vacancy as Chloe in ABC's Hot Properties sitcom (premiering tonight at 9:30 pm/ET). TVGuide.com recently shared a few minutes — and a few laughs — with the bubbly comedian. TVGuide.com: A bio of you I read online starts out, "Nicole Sullivan is strikingly beautiful and very talented." Guess it paid to get Mom that DSL line, eh?Nicole Sullivan: [Laughs] I have not seen that! Well, I'll take it. And if you knew me better, you'd know that my mother would actually never say that about m

Fri, Oct 7, 2005

Donald Trump Sacks Ex-NFL Player

We know there is "no I in team," but even more important to remember is there is no small i at the beginning of Italian — a lesson that 27-year-old Chris Valetta learned when The Apprentice's Donald Trump ejected the project manager for totally skidding out on a Lamborghini ad campaign. Does the former NFL player agree that he ran the wrong play in the boardroom? TVGuide.com hit him between the numbers with that question and more. TVGuide.com: Sorry to lead off with the obvious, but why did you bring Markus and only Markus into the boardroom when Trump clearly advised you that doing so was a bad move? Even Carolyn called it "dumb."Chris Valetta: Yeah, she did, actually — that sucked. First of all, this show blew me off my chair with how real it is. So going into the boardroom, as the CEO of this group, I a

Thu, Oct 6, 2005

Sexy Stylist Spills His Secrets

Eric Balfour, whose TV résumé includes intense arcs on 24 and Six Feet Under, is finally getting to lighten up. On UPN's Sex, Love & Secrets (airing Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET), he's playing Charlie, a player who aims to do for hairstyling what Cheers' Sam Malone did for barkeeping — a game plan that even TVGuide.com didn't deem plausible until the actor stumped us good. TVGuide.com: You're playing a straight, womanizing hairdresser. Do you really expect people to buy into that?Eric Balfour: Yeah, didn't you ever see Shampoo? TVGuide.com: [Awkward silence] That's true....Balfour: Wow, that was

Tue, Oct 4, 2005

Up Close with TV's Hot New Lawyer

Jennifer Finnigan has returned home. Having started out on The Bold and the Beautiful (where she won three consecutive Daytime Emmys in short order), the actress, after a flirtation with NBC prime time, is back on CBS in Close to Home (premiering Oct. 4 at 10 pm/ET). As prosecutor Annabeth Chase, she will get to the bottom of crimes in the seemingly cozy suburbs while juggling working motherhood and butting heads with her superior (played by Kimberly Elise). TVGuide.com spoke with Finnigan about her roles past and present, and her future as wife to The Single Guy's Jonathan Silverman. TVGuide.com: I just watched the pilot and loved it. So did TV Guide's Fa

Mon, Oct 3, 2005

Dual Role Doesn't Scare 24 Star

Just how frightening is Lifetime's Haunting Sarah, starring 24's Kim Raver as twin sisters (premiering tonight at 9 pm/ET)? Well, let's just say that the review tape spooked my office VCR into submission. (Meaning I get a new one. Score!) Even so, TVGuide.com scared up enough literate Q's to lob at the actress. TVGuide.com: How did you prepare to play twins? Bone up on episodes of the Patty Duke Show?Kim Raver: [Laughs] This all happened pretty fast after I finished [Season 4 of] 24. But I did grab a couple of books on twins, and I tried to rely on my relationship with my sister — we're three years apart — with regards to the competitiveness and that sibling connectio

Mon, Oct 3, 2005

Faith Has Hopes for Hope & Faith

Sunny, funny Faith Ford cut her prime-time teeth with a 10-year run as Murphy Brown's Corky Sherwood, a role for which she earned five Emmy nods. For the last two years she's been playing homemaker Hope to Kelly Ripa's flighty Faith in ABC's Hope & Faith. (Yes, it's confusing, and it always will be.) As the show readied for its hourlong third season premiere (airing tonight at 9 pm/ET), TVGuide.com spent a few minutes with the Louisiana native to discuss the Ted McGinley curse, today's crazy teens and the scene she never wants to do again. TVGuide.com: Hope & Faith's creator, Joanna Johnson, is no longer with the show. How is that transition going?Faith Ford:

Fri, Sep 30, 2005

Jessica Alba Gets Physical, Yet Again

In Honey, she danced until she couldn't dance no more. In Sin City, her stripper did wonderful things with a lasso and chaps. In Fantastic Four, she was out of sight as Invisible Woman Susan Storm. And now, in the thriller Into the Blue (in theaters Sept. 30), Jessica Alba once again has put her mettle to the metal, playing the self-sufficient lady love of a treasure hunter (The Fast and the Furious' Paul Walker) who unwittingly digs up big trouble on the Caribbean seafloor. So, considering all the above, when is Alba going to give herself (and her body) a bre

Fri, Sep 30, 2005

Apprentice Latina Gets Crunched First

In last week's Season 4 premiere of The Apprentice, motormouth Melissa Holovach — who is Hispanic, as you may have heard her declare a dozen or so times during one frenetic filibuster — didn't pass the Bally Fitness test given by Donald Trump and summarily got sent packing. Is the real-estate whiz fit to be Tae-Bo'd over her fate? TVGuide.com pumped her up with a rigorous Q&A. TVGuide.com: Were you a fan of past seasons of The Apprentice? Melissa Holovach: Oh, yeah, I love the show. I like it better when I'm watching it, though! [Laughs] TVGuide.com: So you'll understand if I say that your "I'm Hispanic" rant was a bit of a "Stacie J. moment."Melissa: Yeah, well, I think it was clear I had pretty much lost my cool. I was done. TVGuide.com: So much for the "fly under the radar" strategy listed in your NBC.com

Thu, Sep 29, 2005

Flightplan Beauty Ready for Takeoff

In the box-office champ Flightplan, Jodie Foster plays a woman whose daughter goes missing in the midst of a transatlantic flight. Or does she? The rookie flight attendant played by Erika Christensen is a touch more sympathetic to Foster's far-out claim than others on the airline crew. TVGuide.com spoke with the actress about the career plan she has navigated since earning kudos for her role as Michael Douglas' strung-out kid in 2000's Traffic. TVGuide.com: I just have to say, not many flight attendants look like Erika Christensen.Erika Christensen: Flight attendants don't look like me? Thank you... I guess? But yeah,

Tue, Sep 27, 2005

Beautiful Reunion for Melrose Lovers

Not many trips down memory lane trigger visions of an exploding apartment complex and a redhead ripping off her wig, but that's the kind of stuff you get when you reflect on Melrose Place, the steamy prime-time sudser that made Heather Locklear a household bitch and first showed us how desperate Marcia Cross could be. ABC Family's Beautiful People capitalizes on such nostalgia by having Grant Show reunite with Daphne Zuniga on the season finale (airing tonight at 9 pm/ET). How was it when Jake got back together with Jo? TVGuide.com chatted with Show about that and more. TVGuide.com: What was it like living in the midst of the '90s Melrose Place zeitgeist?Grant Show: It was great, it was

Mon, Sep 26, 2005

Wonder Woman Vexes Two Law & Orders

It pains me to report this, folks, but Lynda Carter is up to no good, so much that her misdeeds will unspool on not one but two NBC procedurals. On Tuesday at 10 pm/ET, she guest-stars with Estella Warren on Law & Order: SVU, as a mother-daughter grifting team. After the dubious duo elude Benson and Stabler, they resurface the following night on Law & Order (base brand). TVGuide.com needed no golden lasso to make Carter come clean about her yen to be bad, a few of Wonder Woman's secrets and a bit of Battle of the Network Stars gossip. TVGuide.com: I'm so excited to talk to you! I used to watch Won

Mon, Sep 26, 2005

The Hard Truth About the Movie Biz

If Ebert and Roeper simply aren't satisfying your appetite for movie talk, it's time to check out AMC's Sunday Morning Shootout (airing each week at 11 am/ET). The debate program is hosted by two men with some 70 years' worth of entertainment-biz experience between them. Peter Bart, before becoming vice president and editor in chief of Variety, helped shepherd such films as The Godfather, Rosemary's Baby, Being There and The Postman Always Rings Twice. Peter Guber

Fri, Sep 23, 2005

Danica McKellar's Win-Winnie Situation

You knew her and loved her as The Wonder Years' sweet Winnie Cooper, but it's time to face facts: Danica McKellar has grown up — and then some, looking at her June lad-mag layout — and her career ops have matured with her. Having landed memorable gigs on The West Wing, NYPD Blue and Strong Medicine, she can next be seen braving Big Oil and a bad storm in Sci Fi Channel's Path of Destruction, premiering Sept. 24 at 9 pm/ET. Just as she wrapped her first fright flick and was readying to jet off to Hawaii, TVGuide.com chatted up Winn— er, Ms. McKellar. TVGuide.com: For starters, tell me about Path

Fri, Sep 23, 2005

ER Counts On New Faces, Old Tricks

For NBC's ER, it has been a long time since the days when George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Eriq La Salle and, hell, even Abraham Benrubi wandered the halls of County. But just as in the real world, transition happens. Case in point: As the medical drama gets under way with its 12th season (premiering tonight at 10 pm/ET), a flurry of new faces will scrub in, at least one will bid farewell and there may even be a return or two. Helping TVGuide.com sift through who's who and new are coexecutive producer Janine Sherman Berrois and, arriving later during the interview, executive producer David Zabel. TVGuide.com: Is there any special st

Thu, Sep 22, 2005