n.f..mendoza

Scott Bakula's on the Case at Boston Legal

Fifteen years after their Murphy Brown characters rocked a romance, Candice Bergen and Scott Bakula renew their chemistry on Boston Legal (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET, ABC). An avowed "huge fan" of Legal, Bakula plays Jack, Shirley's brash law-school love. We caught up with Bakula in between live theater gigs. TV Guide: Was the idea here to hark back to Peter and Murphy?Scott Bakula: I was dying to know, but there were no writers — therefore no rewrites — so I don't know! It was oddly coincidental, since Jack [like Peter] plays piano and sings. I'm very curious. He's energy and zaniness — very high-powered, in everyone's face. The first time I meet Alan [James Spader] I tell him, "Get me coffee." Then, "Did you hear me?" TV Guide: How was it to work with Candice again?Bakula: Wonderful. She

Tue, Feb 12, 2008

Scott Bakula's on the Case at Boston Legal

Big Shots' Joshua Malina on the Show's Future

With production halted on Big Shots (tonight at 10 pm/ET, ABC) by the writers' strike, the penultimate episode airs tonight. Which makes it a good time to assess the series with one of its four leads, Joshua Malina, who's been busy in ways that would be alien to the hapless Karl — "arguably the jerkiest" of the series' four tycoons, admits Malina. The father of two has been preoccupied with "field trips, class plays and being in total daddy mode." TV Guide: So will Big Shots be renewed?Joshua Malina: It's a hot topic among the four of us. I'm doing an ABC promo shoot. I take that as hopeful. We're having so much fun together, it would be a shame to end. If I'm going to work, I'm going to laugh. TV Guide: Do people complain about how jer

Thu, Jan 17, 2008

Big Shots' Joshua Malina on the Show's Future

Tom Bosley Is Back in Charlie & Me

Call him Mr. C, Father Dowling or Sheriff Tupper — Tom Bosley, 80, answers to them all. The veteran character actor celebrates his 60th year in showbiz with Hallmark's Charlie & Me (Saturday at 9 pm/ET). The Tony winner plays a jazz-loving grandfather whose own heart attack works to repair the broken hearts around him. TV Guide: What drew you to this?Tom Bosley: They actually hired me before I read it and fell in love with it. I turned to my wife [actress Patty] and said, "This is me, today." I felt that I was at the same stage in my life that Charlie's in. It was a perfect role for me. I love that kind of jazz [in the film], not today's jazz. TV Guide: We have to ask you: Do you keep in touch with any of your Happy Days castmates? Bosley: I talk to Marion Ross [Mrs. C] often; she lives nearby.

Fri, Jan 4, 2008

Human-bone Instruments Make Dexter Even Creepier

It's wholly apropos that Dexter composer Daniel Licht chose pre-Columbian instruments — from both human and animal bones — to energize his evocative score. On Showtime's much-acclaimed series, Michael C. Hall plays Miami police forensic-scientist Dexter Morgan, who moonlights as a dismembering vigilante, satisfying serial-killer instincts and applying a strict moral code enforced by his late foster father. In Dexter's world, no one gets away with murder. Licht sought out musical-archaeologist Elisabeth Waldo and was the first composer since legendary Maurice Jarre (Dr. Zhivago) allowed to play her pre-Columbian instruments. It's made from a human femur bone, "probably one that was sacrificed," Licht tells TV Guide, "then painted, with notches carved into it." The composer describes the sound of

Tue, Dec 11, 2007

Human-bone Instruments Make Dexter Even Creepier

Pat Sajak and Vanna White Puzzled as Wheel of Fortune Turns 25

Wheel of Fortune (syndicated; check the TV Guide Network or TVGuide.com for listings) has been celebrating its 25th anniversary this month. We sat down with host Pat Sajak and Vanna White to talk about their — gulp — quarter century (!) turn around the Wheel. TV Guide: Did you have any idea this would have this kind of longevity? Vanna White: When I first joined the show, we were sitting in makeup chairs next to each other and I said to Pat, "Where do you think we'll be in 10 years?" I'm sure he said something funny. Pat Sajak: I say funny things as often as not, so it's hard to narrow it down. I do rememb

Wed, Nov 28, 2007

Pat Sajak and Vanna White Puzzled as Wheel of Fortune Turns 25

Top 20 Moments in Cops' 20-year History

Since the pioneering reality series debuted in 1989, Fox’s Cops has cemented its place in history as one of the longest-running prime-time entertainment programs. The 20th season will be celebrated this Saturday (8 pm/ET, Fox) with a commemorative one-hour special, Cops: 20 Years Caught on Tape. Here are the crimefighting series’ 20 biggest moments, as selected by executive producer John Langley. When: Season 2 (1990)Where: Las VegasThe Take-down: Officer Dennis Magill gets a 911 call about a runaway car. He responds to the call at the Mirage hotel parking lot. A driverless car is circling the parking lot. Magill smashes the car window and subdues the runaway car. He then helps the owner clean out the broken glass. Bottom Line: Proves you should "expect the unexpect

Fri, Sep 28, 2007

Cops Celebrates 20 Years of Fighting Crime

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Keep making episodes of Cops, apparently. After two decades (yes, you read that right, 20 years), Cops celebrates its 20th season with the special hourlong episode "Cops: 20 Years Caught on Tape" on Sept. 29 at 8 pm/ET on Fox. The series is syndicated in a whopping 90 percent of the country, and in November the show will hit its 700th-episode mark. TV Guide talked to the show's creator/executive producer, John Langley, about the injuries, scuffles and arrests that keep viewers following the chase. TV Guide: Did you ever expect the show to last this long?John Langley: I had no idea Cops would continue for 20 years, although I had total faith that it was an interesting show with many layers of entertainment and information. TV Guide: How has it continued to spark

Wed, Sep 12, 2007

Cops Celebrates 20 Years of Fighting Crime

What Does Top Design's Champ Have Designs On Now?

Consistency paid off for Chicago-based designer Matt Lorenz, 32, who on Wednesday night won the final challenge on Bravo's Top Design. In the first-season finale, Lorenz was pitted against his pal Carisa, but eventually came out on top. Now, he's extremely relieved to finally be able to reveal to family and friends that he's the champ, although his 4-year-old daughter did walk into her preschool after the March 28 episode announcing that Daddy had "won." "I had to explain to her and to her teachers and classmates that I won the challenge that night, not the show," Matt chuckles. "I had to be sure that was clear." Matt points out that while Bravo's portrayal of the tense group of competitors was very accurate, "I don't think people realized how truly exhausted we were

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

What Does Top Design's Champ Have Designs On Now?

Frasier's Peri Gilpin Is Sized Up as Medium's Mom

Allison Dubois' much-maligned and referenced mother gets a face in tonight's episode of Medium (10 pm/ET on NBC), when Peri Gilpin returns to TV for the first time since her 11-year-run on Frasier. "I've been kept busy with babies," says Gilpin, the mother of 3-year-old twin girls, Stella and Ava, who were born a month and a half after Frasier ended. "The timing couldn't have been better — to be home with them and raise them and get to know them and not be frazzled and distracted. It's fantastic!" Still, she's ready to return to TV. Gilpin, 45, says she "laughed out loud" when they told her she'd be playing the mother of Patricia Arquette, who is only seven years you

Wed, Mar 7, 2007

Frasier's Peri Gilpin Is Sized Up as Medium's Mom

Exclusive! Anthony LaPaglia Reveals His Own Take on Trace

For the last five years, Aussie-born Anthony LaPaglia's life has been intertwined with that of his Without a Trace character, FBI missing-persons agent Jack Malone. On the CBS series' March 11 episode, "Deep Water," LaPaglia will be credited not only as the popular procedural's lead, but also as that episode's writer. "I never really had a burning desire to write or direct or any of that," LaPaglia tells TV Guide during a quick on-set lunch break. "It's the fifth year of the show and while I like the acting part of it, I was starting to get a bit itchy. I was sitting around one day with the guy who does my make up, Mike Mills, and we were talking about different stories that were out there." Without a Trace often focuses on stories based on real-life incidents, and it

Fri, Mar 2, 2007

Exclusive! Anthony LaPaglia Reveals His Own Take on Trace

Reno 911!'s Raineesha Delivers Big-screen Booty

Reno 911!: Miami, the just-released feature film spun off of Comedy Central's unscripted Reno 911!, offers fans "no bleeping, no pixillating and an officer in candy underpants," says Niecy Nash, who plays Officer Raineesha. Seeing herself on the big screen wasn't as difficult as many an actress has lamented. In fact, Nash says, "I love that you get to see Raineesha's booty! I fell in love with my own self. I was saying, "Your booty's gorgeous!'" Nash says that for all appearances promoting the film, not only did the actors conduct interviews in character, but she wore Raineesha's signature prosthetic booty. "I've had men be disappointed that I'm not Raineesha and that I don't have that body." Like the television series, the film was improvised. N

Fri, Feb 23, 2007

Reno 911!'s Raineesha Delivers Big-screen Booty

Inside Howard K. Stern's "Get Slim Quick" Plan for Anna Nicole

Even as the E! network was hiring überfitness trainer Tony Little to get the increasingly plus-sized Anna Nicole Smith into shape, her lawyer and companion, Howard K. Stern, was already brokering a deal with TrimSpa, Little tells TV Guide — an arrangement which would have netted Stern a lot of cash. "I was brought in as a trainer, to get her to drop the weight and get her motivated," Little recalls. But, as others who tried to help Smith found, the bombshell wasn't particularly interested in helping herself. "She was a very tough case." Little helped install a home gym and tried to get Smith to begin a regimen, in the hopes that she'd lose weight in a healthy way. "I'm a high-energy motivating

Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Inside Howard K. Stern's "Get Slim Quick" Plan for Anna Nicole

Anna Nicole Smith's Rise and Tragic Fall: An Inside Look

The week after Anna Nicole Smith’s mysterious death on Feb. 7, the satiric Daily Show with Jon Stewart aired a segment questioning the intense media scrutiny and interest. As an example, Jon Stewart pointed out that CNN aired a 90-minute, commercial-free program dedicated to the late stripper turned red-carpet regular, whose only claim to fame was the parading of her voluptuous assets and her 1994 marriage to a wheelchair-bound billionaire several decades older. Stewart jokingly called the segment “Death of a Person,” and poked fun at a news channel that devoted time to Smith’s “Death Fridge?” (Stewart loved the question mark). Smith’s refrigerator, noted an expert, said a lot about her personality. That same expert

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Anna Nicole Smith's Rise and Tragic Fall: An Inside Look

Make Room for Daddy: Beau Bridges Returns to Earl

Beau Bridges returns to NBC's My Name Is Earl tonight at 8 pm/ET, reprising his role as Earl and Randy's gruff dad. But Carl Hickey's bark is worse than his bite. "Just when you think he's going to bite Earl's head off," Bridges says, "he ends up being a milquetoast."  Of course, there's some family history behind Carl's ire. "When Earl shows up at my door, I try to slam it in his face," says Bridges. Carl, he explains, still hasn't quite forgiven a younger Earl for driving a beloved car into a lake. After Earl dredges the car out and returns it to his dad, in fulfillment of his "list" requirement, familial relations are restored in that wacky and caustic Hickey-family way. Now that Bridges isn't commuting between the Vancouver set of

Thu, Feb 15, 2007

Make Room for Daddy: Beau Bridges Returns to Earl

Grey's Izzie in a Triangle Tizzy!

Izzie is so over Alex. That's because Katherine Heigl's sweet intern finds love on Grey's Anatomy (Sundays at 10 pm/ET) with returning heart-transplant patient Denny Duquette (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) instead. Well, at least for a nine-episode arc chronicling Denny's quest for two hearts — Izzie's and a new one for himself. "I'm there to shake things up a little bit," Morgan says. His wealthy marine-biologist character departed on the Jan. 15 episode without a desperately needed transplant. Disappointed, Izzie thought that was goodbye. Grey's Anatomy fans won't see Denny for at least a few episodes, but when he does return, Morgan promises pulses will quicken. "Izzie [gives

Fri, Feb 10, 2006