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News, scoops, reviews and more from TV land.
FX confirms Selma Blair exit over Sheen dispute
Photo credit: Getty Images
The Charlie Sheen dispute with Selma Blair at FX's middling comedy has resulted in a casualty, and it wasn't Charlie. FX, via an outside public relations firm, has issued a statement saying Blair (Kate Wales) is leaving the series:
“We are confirming that Selma Blair will not be returning to Anger Management and we wish her the very best.”
This strange -- OK, maybe not so strange, but definitely ironic (right?!) -- fracas entered public view on TMZ a couple of days ago, with Sheen reportedly demanding her ouster from the series. TMZ via a post earlier this afternoon said that Sheen would quit the series by day's end if she didn't go. (Per TMZ, he claims she was bad-mouthing his work ethic.)
Needless to say, this is am embarrassment for FX which runs -- or appears to run -- a very tight ship; and for Sheen, still recovering from the "winning" phase; and for Blair.
At least she's still got a career -- she's a part of the "Hellboy" franchise. One wonders if FX still has a show after this fiasco, however.
'Breaking Bad' star Bryan Cranston does Reddit interview
"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston is just now wrapping a Reddit AMA ("...ask me anything") and while an AMA isn't exactly the Rolling Stone or Playboy interview, it can still be a lively, engaging and vaguely anarchic affair. (But, hey, he's doing this for charity - via Omaze.com, it's all part of a benefit to raise money for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children...
Read more »'Princesses: Long Island' still no hit
Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
"Princesses: Long Island" sank a bit further Sunday night, and far be it for me to make any predictions or judgements here, but I do think these numbers are going in the wrong direction...
780,000 viewers...
Yes, that's Sunday's number, and just to take a glass-half-full approach here: Hey! Seven-hundred and eighty thousand is a lot of people, people.
To...
Read more »Howard Stern to Fallon: 'You sound like Miss Utah'
This clip of Howard Stern and Jimmy Fallon from last night's show has pretty much been everywhere today but on the off-chance you may have missed, and have a few minutes to kill...It's definitely amusing and Stern offers some not-bad advice about the "Tonight Show" move...
Valerie Harper cancer battle profiled by NBC News
Photo credit: Getty Images
And now this: Valerie Harper's battle with cancer will be chronicled in an hour-long documentary to air on NBC; time and date are to be determined. Here's the description, via NBC News, which will produce:
A recurrence of Harper's 2009 lung cancer, the disease spread into the membrane surrounding her brain and she was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis on March 6, 2013. Since then, she has allowed camera crews unprecedented access into her life to help tell her story -- every step of the way. From the revelation that she had an incurable disease, to doctor’s visits, second and third opinions, surgeries and reunions with family and friends, the documentary, airing on NBC in primetime, takes an intimate look inside Harper’s reality.
Showtime offers free preview of 'Ray Donovan'
Photo credit: Showtime
Showtime's "Ray Donovan" -- one of the network's biggest launches of the year if not the biggest launch -- has just launched.
Right here. At TV Zone. Aren't you clever to wander by at this very moment? If you have nothing better to do, take a look. (Series officially begins June 30.)
It stars the brilliant Liev Schreiber, who's certainly one of my favorite actors in his first lead TV role, and Jon Voight . . . and Peter Jacobson . . . and Elliott Gould and . . .
Well, now you have to watch, with a crazy-good cast like this. Be your own TV critic. Don't wait for me or anyone else to make a call on this extremely promising newcomer. Go for it! What have you got to lose, except maybe a lunch hour.
Michelle Chamuel will win 'The Voice' season 4: Here's why
Photo credit: NBC
Michelle Chamuel, yes, the indie rocker from Massachusetts. The one with the big voice and bigger glasses. The queen of team Usher will shock everyone by winning the fourth season of "The Voice."
It all wraps Tuesday after a curiously buzz-free season with only moderately good numbers (around 10 million to 11 million, down from the third.) The finalists, as they usually are here,...
Read more »'Mad Men' recap: The Bob Benson mystery solved, maybe
Photo credit: AMC
And so Sunday night, the great mystery of "Mad Men's" Season 6 six is solved -- Bob Benson.
Let's quickly add up the "nots," as in the not-what-Bob-is (though some speculated he was): Journalist, spy, KGB agent (no one thought of that, but someone should have), corporate espionage craftsman.
Instead, Bob's just a prefabricated Potemkin suit -- not quite a grifter,...
Read more »Starz orders 50 Cent drama
Photo credit: EPA
Starz, still in the hunt for that big genre-bending drama that'll attract viewers and buzz, has ordered one from an unlikely source: Curtis Jackson. That would be 50 Cent. Fitty. Or Fiddy. Your choice. Will he star? Good question ... read on.
Per the network, the new show, "Power," "tells the story of James 'Ghost' St. Patrick, a wealthy New York City nightclub owner who caters...
Read more »Does Matthew Perry wish 'Friends' had not stopped? (Answer below)
Photo credit: NBC
"Friends," one of the most beloved TV comedies in the history of the universe, wrapped nine years ago, and to this day fans bemoan the premature wrap. (If you can call 10 seasons "premature.") But who would have thought Matthew Perry would be among the bemoaners? According to this fascinating discussion from the Hollywood Reporter's excellent roundtable series, he does, or did. THR TV editor Lacey Rose does the honors here. Perry talks about TV now and then, and his thoughts about "Friends" around the 18-minute mark. (Other stars here include "New Girl's" Jake Johnson, Jim Parsons, Eric Stonestreet, Adam Scott, Fred Armisen ... )
