Question: As a loyal Aushole and dedicated Heroes fan, I'm obligated to turn to you in my need for scoop! Got any? Answer: Did you see my little item about the strike-induced alternate ending the show is preparing for next month's "Generations" capper? Then it's scoop to you!
Question: Got any Private Practice Scoop? Was it just me or was the latest episode of Private Practice a hundred times better than the previous episodes? Answer: I don't know if I'd go that far. In fact, I know I wouldn't go that far. While PP is definitely improving, it's still not must-see TV for me. For one thing, the characters need to stop behaving like they're on The Hills. That whole beachfront make-out scene last week between Kate Walsh and Tim Daly was so L.C.-and-Brody it wasn't even funny. Still, the show is better today than it was a month ago, and costar Paul Adelstein — PP's one consistent bright spot — credits creator Shonda Rhimes' prowess as a master tweaker. "Shonda is a great adjuster," he told me by phone last week. "I mean, if you go back and look at the first few episodes of Grey's and then towards the end or middle of their first season, you see tha
Question: Now that the writers are on strike, whatever will I do to get Lost scoop? Answer: You can ask, for starters. Have I ever let you down? Whenever the current eight episodes air, keep an eye out toward the end of the run for Zoe Bell, whom Carlton Cuse calls "the stuntwoman extraordinaire, from the Tarantino flicks [Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Grindhouse]. She definitely will make a splash."
Question: How much do you love Samantha Who? Got any scoop/poop/prattle for my new favorite show of the season?Answer: Remember me telling you about Kiele Sanchez's upcoming arc as a love interest to Barry Watson's Todd? Well, we'll learn that she has a surprising connection to Sam, and it involves the words "*e**ra****g" and "*r**r."
Question: True or false: Susanna Thompson is off NCIS. Word is, with Don Bellisario gone, producers decided to ax the Mann-Gibbs romance. Answer: According to a high-ranking source in the Navy, it is true that, for the foreseeable future, Hollis Mann will be MIA on NCIS. But that's not to say she won't return at some point.
Question: Please give news about Shane West returning to ER! Answer: At the show's 300th episode bash this past weekend, exec producer David Zabel weighed in on that very subject. "We certainly might see Ray again," Zabel said. "It's a definite possibility and it's something we've talked about. We have ideas for the next part of [his] story…. Shane's a great guy who loved being here, and I think that if we came up with a good enough story to bring him back, he'd be happy to come back."
Question: Got any scoop not related to the strike? Answer: Uh-huh. Assuming the strike doesn't go on forever, J.J. Abrams' peeps will be putting in calls to a few key actors for his upcoming Fox spookfest The Fringe, and I just happen to know their names. Ready? Here goes: Bill Camp (once God on Joan of Arcadia), Tracy Middendorf (who's appeared on everything from Murder, She Wrote to Lost but will always be the "other" Carrie Brady to me), former Mrs. James Bond Diana Rigg, and Charlotte Rampling, whose credits are largely in French, meaning she's probably like that country's Helen Mirren. That's a wrap! A hearty thanks to everyone who e-mailed me questions for this weekend's Scrubs panel (moderated by me!). Thanks to you guys, I'm going to come off a lot smarter than I actually am. Now let's bring on the housekeeping notes:
Question: Got any details about a possible appearance by Jason Voorhees on Supernatural this season? Answer: Yes, and they're all contained in this week's Ausiello Report vodcast!
Question: Any news about a Veronica Mars movie and/or a Season 4? Are the rumors of a meeting between Rob Thomas and CW executives true? Answer: Not according to Rob, who insists it's "completely untrue."
Question: I just saw your interview with Amy Sherman-Palladino on the picket line in NYC. Did she mention anything to you about a future Gilmore Girls' reunion movie? Answer: Sorry, but I thought it was a little tacky to grill her for scoop while she was taking part in a national protest. Besides, I was too busy trying to coax those elusive final four words out of her. Speaking of my visit to the front lines yesterday, I witnessed something really disturbing, and I feel it's my duty to pass the information on to you in the form of a very obvious blind item: Which entertainment-news-show talking head used the work stoppage as an opportunity to, um, strike while the iron's slutty? Said host — who knows a thing or
Question: Sarah on Brothers & Sisters needs some love! When is the wonderful Steven Weber supposed to begin his stint as her love interest? Answer: His first episode is slated to air on Nov. 25.
Question: You haven't spoiled anything on Numbers in quite some time. Got anything?! Answer: Papa Mars is coming!
Question: What's the deal with the new character Molly on Prison Break? Who will be playing that role? Answer: Molly's arrival has been delayed a bit, and for once the strike is not to blame. Well, not entirely. Producers are apparently having a tough time finding the right actress for the part.
Question: All joking aside, what will a prolonged strike mean for Ask Ausiello? Answer: Lots more questions like this next one….
Question: I saw you eating at Yum-Yum Bangkok on 9th Avenue Saturday night. You were just sitting right there in the window! Did you get pad thai?Answer: Nope, I got my usual: mixed vegetables with ginger mushroom sauce and a side of brown rice. Yum-Yum indeed!
Question: Got any tidbits about Jorja Fox's final CSI episode on Nov. 15? Answer: I actually just screened the episode, but CBS personally pleaded with me via a standard form letter to refrain from revealing the "how" and "why" of Sara's departure. All that leaves me to scoop is the "where" (it's a vehicle of some sort), the "when" (it's at night) and the "who" (the episode's final frame is a close-up of someone other than Sara).
Question: I am beyond thrilled about the new Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku project! You should get a bonus for that kind of scoop. Answer: I couldn't agree with you more. And I haven't even told you yet what Joss told me about Eliza's leading man. Yep, a male character will be involved with her Echo alter ego, but, Whedon noted, "not in a buddy way. Their relationship will take some time to come together and will be constantly evolving." If you're thinking Buffy and Angel, Part Deux, think again. "Echo is not capable of having a true love," he insists, since she becomes someone new, body and soul, every week. On the other hand, he contradicts, because of that, in a way, "She'll have a true love every week. It's part of her plight that when she feels something strongly, it gets taken away from her.
Question: What does the writers' strike mean for Ask Ausiello? Will you still give us scoop? Answer: It's going to take a lot more than some measly writers' strike to put AA out of business. It's going to take a writers' strike and a directors' strike.
We were a little late getting it up (damn writers strike!), but this week's Ausiello Report vodcast is now playing on a TVGuide.com video player near you, or simply via this link. Highlights from this week's show include:• Scoop on whether Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku will be populating their Dollhouse with other Buffy alums (read: James Marsters?).• The final answer on rumors that a certain horror icon will be making a killing on Supernatural. • More clues about which Wisteria Lane denizen is heading for rehab.All that plus cameo "appearances" by Lauren Graham and Keri Russell! What more could you ask for?! No, seriously, what more could you ask for? Watch the thing and let me know in the comments section below.
You know what you guys need? Some good news to distract you from all this depressing strike coverage. And dammit, good news you shall get…Veronica Mars' much-missed Enrico Colantoni is returning to the tube with a major guest stint on CBS' Numbers, sources confirm to me exclusively. The role shouldn't be much of a stretch for the actor formerly known as Det. Mars: He's playing a surveillance specialist who takes a hostage when he suspects that someone has been spying on him. The episode — slated to air in mid-December — is currently in production and, therefore, wouldn't be a victim of the strike. Speaking of the S-word, I just returned from Strike Central at New York's Rockefeller Central and you're never going to believe who I spotted on the picket line: Team frakkin' Palladino! Good thing I had the foresight to bring a TVGuide.com video crew with me. To see highlights from my interview with AS-P — as well as fellow picketers Tina Fey and Seth Meyers — che...
Heroes' second season may be coming to a close a lot sooner than expected due to the forthcoming apocalypse, also known in some circles as the damn writers' strike. Sources confirm that the show is going back and shooting an alternate ending to the Dec. 3 episode that, if used, would allow the episode to function as a season finale in the event of a strike. Originally, the episode was only supposed to serve as the conclusion of the current "Generations" arc. Should an 11th-hour agreement be reached and a strike averted (fingers crossed!), the alt ending would likely be scrapped. In related news, the reality of this whole thing is only now hitting me. And I'm not happy.
Better late than never.An FX spokesperson confirms that Rescue Me has finally been renewed for a 22-episode fifth season. Production is slated to get under way in the spring, give or take a few months (or years) depending on how this whole writers'-strike thing shakes out. [Gulp] The 22 episodes will air in two separate cycles, although FX isn't saying when the first batch will debut. It's not clear what took the cable net so long to pick up one of its flagship programs. Maybe they were as unimpressed with Season 4 as the rest of us? Eh, it was probably just some pesky red tape. Regardless, I'm glad Tommy and Co. will be back. A subpar Rescue Me is still better than 50 percent of the crap that's out there. You with me? I think you are....
