Big Brother 7: All-Stars host Julie Chen
Voyeur alert! CBS' Big Brother — that wildly addictive, Orwellian peep show — will launch its seventh season tonight at 8 pm/ET with Big Brother 7: All-Stars, featuring 12 of the show's most popular houseguests. During the kickoff, host Julie Chen will introduce the 20 semifinalists, then unveil which six were picked by fan votes and which six were chosen by executive producers Allison Grodner and Arnold Shapiro. The winner collects half a million bucks — but not bef
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William Fichtner, Invasion
Immediately upon ABC's official unveiling of its fall schedule — minus the freshman sci-fier Invasion — TVGuide.com tracked down series star (and recent Insider interviewee) William Fichtner to get his qualified reaction to the news that sent fans reeling. Previously excerpted in a news story, here is our complete conversation, as promised.
TVGuide.com: I wanted to get a hold of you because when last we spoke, you were obviously very into the sh
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Night Stalker's Stuart Townsend and The X-Files' David Duchovny
Fans of one of the original ghostbusters and his most recent TV incarnation would be wise to scare up a copy of the new Night Stalker DVD boxed set hitting stores today, as it offers up not only four episodes never broadcast during the series' fall 2005 ABC run, but also revealing commentary from creator Frank Spotnitz. TVGuide.com seized this opportunity to ask Spotnitz about his Stalker's unfortunate fate, the frightfully fun show he's working on now and the next X-Files fi
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The LoopIf I ran TV — and I eventually will, so treat me nice — I'd always air the second episode the night after the premiere, just like Fox did with this little gem. You can't go wrong! The folks who liked it in the first place get an immediate second helping, the fence-sitters don't have to wait a week to get a second look, and the naysayers... eh, who needs 'em. Me, I was happy to jump back into The Loop, and not just because I'm totally crushing on Darcy the overqualified assistant. I hear ya, sister. (Note to boss: Don't fire me.)
More importantly, last night's episode brought the funny in a big way. The "Jack" ads cracked me up, Philip Baker Hall's prom-queen metaphor was priceless, but the Joke of the Night award definitely went to foxy
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Andrew Firestone shares his Wine Ways
Is The Bachelor: Paris catch Travis Stork still canoodling with Sarah Stone, the kindergarten teach he picked in this week's finale? Who knows. But until the would-be couple come forth, TVGuide.com got up to speed on another Bachelor, Season 3 star Andrew Firestone, who has his own big news to share. After all, maybe things have reheated up between him and Jen Schefft, right? No? Maybe he just has a DVD to tout?
TVGuide.com: Tell me about Wine Ways, the new educational DVD you produced and star in. How did it come to be?Andrew Firestone: In a nutshell, what I do in my day job is teach wine tasting, and I really like to focus
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Taylor Hicks, American Idol
American Idol Song choice presented major problems for the first two guys, Patrick Hall and David Radford. Patrick's nerves were too obvious; he could've used some of Melissa Etheridge's bravado and grit to get through "Come to My Window." Meanwhile David picked "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to get away from the crooner label and then proceeded to "Sinatra" his way through a Vegas-style version. Not the best start for either guy.
Bucky Covington used his growling vocals to full advantage on "Simple Man." Ryan Seacrest contrasted his own potential song title with Bucky's by calling himself a "Shallow Hollywood Talking Head," which may be the most accurate judgment anyone has ever made on American Idol. Young Will Makar
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Veronica Mars Ah yes, the infamous rat-taped-under-the-bus-seat reveal — a delicious stinger for an otherwise solid episode. This one's chock-full of blasts from the past, isn't it? Aaron Echolls, Abel Koontz, Clarence Weidman... sort of like a Season 1 reunion tour. And then there's the one-two cameo punch of Kim from Top Model and Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon. Aww, Joss, good to see you, buddy! Now stop goofing off and make me a Serenity sequel, would you? All those November sweeps stunts aside, the stuff that really tickles me pink got even better upon viewing them for a second time:
1) Cliff McCormack is officially my favorite lawyer on television. (Don't cry, Denny Crane.) Hearing our trusty ambulance-chaser/public
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Anthony Geary, General Hospital
It's easy to grouse about the annual Daytime Emmy nominations: "One Life to Live's Robin Strasser was robbed! Why is Passions treated like the stepchild of soaps? And who voted for that so-so star(let)?" But nobody could object to the outstanding-lead-actor nod for General Hospital's talented Anthony Geary. In this exclusive interview, TVGuide.com asks the most recognizable man in daytime TV about Emmy, the return of Holly and Robert Scorpio, and those endless Genie Francis rumors.
TVGuide.com: Congrats on your eighth Emmy nom! You've won four times. Are you still surprised at this point?
Anthony Geary: Thank you. I'm always surprised.
TVGuide.com: What did you submit for your prenomination reel?
Geary: I used the
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The Office's Michael is none too happy about what "happened" to his carpet.
I have more good news to report this week: The Office [Thursdays at 9:30 pm/ET on NBC] has been picked up for a third season! It is rare in this business to hear news of a pickup so early. Most shows have to wait until May to find out if they will return in the fall. (May is when networks traditionally make their decisions and announce their fall schedules to the press.) It is a huge vote of confidence from NBC to make a decision about our show so early. It is very exciting. Some people were confused by reports this season of The Office "is ending in March." No worries. We will complete our 21-episode order for this year, and all of our current episodes will finish airing at the end of March. Steve [Carell
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Question: Remember six or seven years ago when Dateline aired on NBC five times a week (no joke!), there were three 20/20s on ABC and two 48 Hours and 60 Minutes on CBS? I even remember Fox trying out a newsmagazine a few years back. Today, critics note the large number of reality shows on television, but I have to think that viewers have always had a taste for unscripted TV. Whereas we used to eat up newsmagazines like candy, the focus has now shifted to the less thought-provoking world of reality television. Am I wrong?
Answer: You're not wrong as far as quantity of these shows goes — the glut of reality shows eating up time periods is very much like the newsmagazine overload of years ago — but the comparison of genres is a little iffy. Newsmags certainly have their tawdry, exploitative side (especially Dateline), but it seems to me the lure of reality TV isn't "reality" in the newsmag sense. To me, most reality shows are twists on the game-show, sitcom, soap-opera an ...
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