michael.ausiello

Matthew Fox: Party Time Not-So-Excellent

It may be hard to believe, but there apparently was more angst behind the scenes of Fox's late family drama Party of Five than on camera. Series star Matthew Fox, who played patriarch-by-default Charlie Salinger, reveals in an exclusive interview with TV Guide Online that the six years he spent keeping his orphaned TV siblings in line was no party. "I can honestly say that I was frustrated a lot of the time because I was being asked to do stories and to play a role that I had problems with," he sighs. "I just felt that the show was very soft, very emotional  everybody talking about their feelings all of the time. It wasn't visceral enough. "To be specific," he continues, "there's a very big difference between the genders and how they deal with things, and I would have loved to have seen the [men] on the show written a little bit more guarded

Tue, Aug 13, 2002

Will Pasadena Be Put Back on the Map?

Now that Fox has officially pulled the plug on Pasadena, series creator Mike White is determined to find a home for the show's remaining nine hour-long episodes. "We are looking to get it on FX or some kind of cable outlet," he tells TV Guide Online, adding that releasing all 13 installments on DVD is another option being considered. "I'm really proud of the rest of the episodes. It's a mystery and it all gets resolved [in the end]." Despite talk that White might edit the show's entire run into a Mulholland Dr.-esque feature film, the acclaimed scribe behind Chuck &amp; Buck and The Good Girl says that idea is pretty much dead. "Unlike Mulholland Dr., this [would have to be] a 13-hour movie," he points out. "So, it's ha

Mon, Aug 12, 2002

Jennifer Aniston: Films or Friends

Poor Jennifer Aniston. She's doing a round of interviews to promote her starring role in the new film The Good Girl, but the only thing reporters want to talk about is her TV show, Friends. She could hardly blame us, though. NBC execs have left the door wide open for the hit sitcom to continue after its upcoming ninth season, and even she isn't quite willing to slam it shut. "I think they're allowed to think that [it could go on], because God knows, actors are fickle," she tells TV Guide Online. "But I'm pretty sure it is [the last year]." With that out of the way, we gave Aniston a break and turned our attention to the day's real order of business: Which of Rachel's guy pals does she think her character should end up with  Ross or Joey? "I really

Thu, Aug 8, 2002

Gwyneth's Groovy Powers Cameo!

There's a reason Gwyneth Paltrow's unbilled cameo in the opening minutes of Austin Powers in Goldmember was such a surprise to audiences. "I am an excellent secret keeper," the Oscar winner boasts to TV Guide Online. "It really p---es my friends off. They're like, 'Come on!'" Goldmember finds Paltrow camping it up as Dixie Normous, the leading lady of the movie-within-a-movie parody Austinpussy. Also appearing in the celeb-packed sequence: Steven Spielberg, Danny DeVito, Kevin Spacey and Tom Cruis

Tue, Aug 6, 2002

Joss Whedon Gives Buffy Back its Bite

Since Buffy the Vampire Slayer bummed out even its diehard loyalists worse than a pair of teeth marks to the neck last season, series creator Joss Whedon knows that this year there's a lot, uh, at stake. Luckily, he has a master plan to keep the UPN sleeper out of the TV-show graveyard and in the Sunnydale Cemetery where it belongs: In upcoming episodes, he reveals, "there will be vampires. And we're going to give [the Scoobies] cute catch phrases like 'Eat this' and 'You're dust.'" All kidding aside, the auteur does have a few tricks up his sleeve to turn around the bloody mess that the cult fave became  and no, none of them involve hiring Luke Perry to reprise his role from the anemic 1992 film. Phew! He's off to a good start already. Here are some of hi

Tue, Aug 6, 2002

Meet the Guy Behind Mrs. Garrett

Chances are, if you tuned in to the premiere episode of NBC's sitcom spoof The Rerun Show last night, it was to see actor-comedian Paul Vogt's hilariously goofy imitation of Mrs. Garrett  the character Charlotte Rae originated on Diff'rent Strokes and then spun off on The Facts of Life. Believe it or not, Rerun marked Vogt's first experience channeling TV's most lovable house mother. "I had never done Mrs. Garrett before the audition," he tells TV Guide Online. "They gave us a bunch of [scripts] from TV shows and said, 'Go ahead and pick two characters you think you can do well.' And for some reason, Mrs. Garrett struck a note with me." Vogt  who says prod

Fri, Aug 2, 2002

Eric Close: Still Without a Trace of Flab?

There's a lot of pressure that comes with being the strongest man on the planet. Just ask Eric Close, who played a souped-up government agent in the short-lived CBS cult fave Now and Again. "You're working 16-18 hour days, and then you've got to go to the gym all the time," he sighs to TV Guide Online. "And then on top of that, you're trying to learn your lines and have a family life. It was insane." And although Now and Again lasted only one season  CBS pulled the plug in May 2000  Close admits it took him a full year to recover from all those crunches and pull-ups and curls (oh my!). "It really takes a lot out of you," sighs the 35-year-old actor, confessing that his physique soon returned to less-than-Supermanly proportions. "I started looking and going, 'Man, where did that six-pack go?' You realize how much work it takes to be in phenomenal shape." Luckily, Close's lat

Thu, Aug 1, 2002

Dr. Frank-N-Furter Battles Friends

In one of the more gutsy moves of the new fall season, the WB is launching a comedy block on Thursday nights opposite NBC's Must-See TV juggernaut. Leading the charge against Friends at 8 pm/ET will be the Frog network's update of the '60s sitcom Family Affair, with Gary Cole and Tim Curry in the respective bachelor and butler roles. "I'm sort of relishing [the competition]," Curry tells TV Guide Online. "I think it's enormously brave of the WB to put on a comedy night on Thursday, and I'm rather proud that we're a part of it. Somebody's got to go there, so why not me?" And the 56-year-old Brit  best known for his gender-bending turn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show &#15

Wed, Jul 31, 2002

Christopher Titus's Next Move

"I had the rare distinction of having a show that was too edgy for Fox." That's actor-comedian Christopher Titus, lamenting the unexpected death of his dark family comedy Titus. Axed in May after three seasons, the semi-autobiographical sitcom airs its five remaining originals over the next month  beginning with back-to-back episodes Monday (8 pm/ET). Titus' demise ends a tumultuous partnership between the stand-up comic and Fox, one which involved personality conflicts and frequent clashes over content. "I will admit, at times, I'm very stubborn creatively," says Titus, whose show took an un-PC approach to everything from Alzheimer's disease to child abuse. "I was always, 'Let's push the envelope.' And I have a big mouth, [which] probably didn't help." Still, Titus seemed worth the headache. Despite a 19 percent rating

Fri, Jul 26, 2002

Treat Williams: In Defense of Michael Ovitz

Who better to tap into the confounding mind of embattled Hollywood exec Michael Ovitz than the actor who portrayed him on the small screen? Treat Williams, who starred as Ovitz in the 1996 HBO satire The Late Shift, admits that the ex-superagent's recent expos&eacute; in Vanity Fair  in which he blamed his fall from power on a small group of entertainment bigwigs he called the "gay mafia" (he later apologized for the crack)  didn't blindside him. "I'm not shocked by anything anymore," he tells TV Guide Online, adding, "I was more confused than shocked." Although Williams admits that Late Shift hardly made him an Ovitz expert  "I was really just playing a guy off the page"  a few chance encounters gave him some insight into the man behind the myth. "I've heard stories, but the man that I met was a

Thu, Jul 25, 2002

Emmy Gets With the Program

Turns out, Emmy voters do in fact have a pulse. Nominations for the 2002 Emmy Awards were announced Thursday morning in Los Angeles, and the consensus in Hollywood was that TV's highest honor finally got it right. After years of being asleep at the wheel, "It's as if Academy members watched TV this season," raved TV Guide critic Matt Roush. "New blood has been transfused into the Emmy process." He's not kidding. Among the freshman shows packing a huge Emmy punch: HBO's Six Feet Under (23 nominations), ABC's Alias (11 nods), Fox's 24 (10 nods) and FX's The Shield (three nods). In fact, in the best drama series category, NBC's Law &amp; Order and

Fri, Jul 19, 2002

CSI Gets Personal... Finally

What's the biggest difference between CBS's powerhouse forensics drama CSI and the network's upcoming fall spinoff CSI: Miami? Unlike the homebodies from Sin City, David Caruso and his band of South Beach sleuths will get a life. "On CSI, our characters [are] introverts, they're science geeks," executive producer Carol Mendelsohn told reporters Tuesday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif. "The characters on Miami [are] more extroverted; they actually have a life. When work ends, they go out and eat. They just don't go home to their little apartments, open up the Journal of Forensic Science and dive in." Consequently, viewers can look for evidence of romantic sparks between Caruso and leading lady

Wed, Jul 17, 2002

Jennie Garth: Pregnant and Funny!

Jennie Garth isn't letting a little thing like pregnancy get in the way of her big TV comedy debut. The 30-year-old former Beverly Hills, 90210 babe  who announced over the weekend that she's expecting her second child with actor-hubby Peter Facinelli in December  says her new Friday night WB sitcom What I Like About You will debut this fall right on schedule. "We're going full steam ahead without even stopping," she tells TV Guide Online. At the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday, Garth was asked why she's not requesting time off like expectant mom Sarah Jessica Parker did on

Tue, Jul 16, 2002

Sopranos Stars Sound Off

Think Sopranos creator David Chase feels guilty about making America wait more than a year for new episodes of his HBO mob hit? Fuhgetaboutit! At the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., reporters grilled Chase about the long gap between the show's third and fourth seasons  and he was having none of it. "Your questions are like this all of the time. It surprises me," he said. "It's like we have to sort of apologize because we take the time and spend the money and the effort to do a really good job. I don't get it." Chase  who earlier admitted to being a "miserable s--thead"  wasn't the only Soprano miffed over the fuss being made about the delayed fourth season, which premieres Sept. 15. Co-star Lorraine Bracco, who plays Ton

Tue, Jul 16, 2002

Seven Silly Questions for Charlene Tilton

Next to Mr. T, no one conjures up fond memories of the Reagan era better than Dallas starlet Charlene Tilton. As J.R. Ewing's nubile niece Lucy, the now 43-year-old actress was all hair and shoulder pads  and weren't we a better generation for it? These days, Tilton is attempting to revive her career with a leading role in the Los Angeles stage comedy Tell Veronica!, in which she plays a talk-show hostess "who stops at nothing to reveal her guests' secrets." In keeping with that theme, TV Guide Online pumped the petite spitfire for a bunch of random gossip. TV Guide Online: When you had your big Dallas mane, how many hours ahead of everybody else did you have to show up to get your hair done? Charlene Tilton: All the women were called in at the same tim

Mon, Jul 15, 2002

Will Smith: Born Again?

Will Smith confirms to TV Guide Online that he may headline yet another remake of the 1937 classic A Star is Born. "We have a treatment for a project," he reveals, "but it's been done well quite a few times, so it needs to be perfect." To that end, a lot of energy has been put into finding the quintessential starlet to play Esther Blodgett to Smith's Norman Maine. Of all the names being bandied about, Jennifer Lopez and R&amp;B superstar Alicia Keys have emerged as early favorites. "Jennifer loves the concept, [and] Alicia really likes it [too]," Smith says. "What I like about Jennifer is that you could go Latin. The music and the environment could be the Latin world, which would be different from all of the other [versions]. "I think it needs to be different,"

Fri, Jul 12, 2002

Men in Black Brings Back Twister

Ray Bans and black suits aren't the only things regaining their cool quotient thanks to Men in Black II. Retro party game Twister  which makes a memorable cameo in the hit sequel  is also enjoying a bit of a comeback. In the scene, Rosario Dawson challenges a bunch of girl-crazy, worm-like extraterrestrials to a match on the iconic polka-dot mat. And although Dawson admits to being a bit of a Twister pro in real-life, shooting the sequence gave the 23-year-old star of Josie and the Pussycats little to twist and shout about. "Butt work is really difficult," laments the actress, who had to maintain the same position for hours on (her) end. "It was really uncomfortable... but I had a really good time." Unlike the majority of MiB II, this particular scene did not feature computer-g

Tue, Jul 9, 2002

Men In Black II's Troubled Production

Sure, Men In Black II made a mint at the box office over the just-concluded Fourth of July holiday weekend, but let's face it: The follow-up pales in comparison to the rollicking original. That comes as quite a disappointment considering the much-hyped sequel reunites many of the same players behind the 1997 smash, including producers Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes, director Barry Sonnenfeld and stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Of course, given all the behind-the-scenes drama, it's little surprise that MIB II saw much of its quality neuralized. "It was

Mon, Jul 8, 2002

Men In Black II Mysteries Solved!

Let's face it, when it comes to thought-provoking summer movies, Men In Black II is no Minority Report. Heck, it's not even Lilo &amp; Stitch. Still, even mindless popcorn flicks can give audiences something to chew on. That's particularly the case with MIB II (opening today), which offers up enough brain teasers to leave even Memento experts scratching their heads. Here, we attempt to address some of those nagging questions. Where the heck was Agent Elle, the medical-examiner-turned-alien-fighter played in the original film by Linda Fiorentino? "It turned out not to be a big enough role," explains producer Laurie MacDonald. "We would have loved t

Wed, Jul 3, 2002

Seven Silly Questions for Lara Flynn Boyle

Lara Flynn Boyle's career is about to get a major boost with Wednesday's release of Men In Black II. Why? Because as Kylothian badass Serleena, the Practice starlet has what she calls "a great part in a great movie with huge movie stars." Darn tootin'! So, what better way to celebrate the tabloid magnet's big-screen break than with a bunch of random MIBII-themed questions. TV Guide Online: You play an alien disguised as a Victoria's Secret model, and one of the first things you do is hurl. Funny, huh? Lara Flynn Boyle: I thought, "Boy, if this isn't a f--- you, I don't know what is." It was great. TVGO: Do you have any supermodel friends? Boyle: No, I don't let those women anywhere near me. I'm very

Tue, Jul 2, 2002

Why Will Smith Is Angry Today

Will Smith's voice sounded hoarse at the recent press junket for Men In Black II. No, it wasn't from doing his Muhammad Ali schtick too many times. He was still recovering from performing MIB's title track "Black Suits Comin'" last Friday morning, as part of Today's summer concert series. "Outside performances are always tough," he tells TV Guide Online. "You always end up pushing too much to make sure you're projected." The rapper faced a worse problem than that as his live concert kicked off. "The dancers couldn't get to the stage for the first song," he reveals. "And, like, the security at the place stopped the dancers from making their entrance and I had to perform the whole first [song] without dancers." Smith confesses the T

Fri, Jun 28, 2002

Knoxville Previews Jackass: The Movie

If you thought daredevil Johnny Knoxville was out of his freakin' mind on MTV's Jackass, just wait until Jackass: The Movie arrives in theaters later this summer. "It's the show times 10," he tells TV Guide Online with a grin. "We got an R rating and we took full advantage of it." Knoxville  facing heat after several teens injured themselves while trying to mimic his Jackass pranks  abruptly ended the MTV series last year. "Washington came down on MTV and then it trickled down to us," he recalls. "Near the end, there were only, like, six people working in the office. I was like, 'This is not what I intended.' I wanted to quit the show while it was still funny." As a result of Jackass's sudden death, Knoxville was left with a backlog of stunts  many of which were incorporated into the big-scre

Thu, Jun 27, 2002