Image Credit: Neil Jacobs/CBS; Inset: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images A comedian is about to hang ten with the cast of Hawaii Five-0. EW has learned exclusively that Dane Cook has been cast to play the brother of Danny “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan). For now, he’s set to appear in one episode that’ll air in February.
Cook was last seen in the flicks My Best Friend’s Girl and Dan in Real Life. His TV appearances has been mostly devoted to his comedy act; he’s done a bunch of specials for HBO and Comedy Central. His early scripted TV work included Good Girls Don’t and Suddenly Susan.
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Image Credit: Annette Brown/The CWWatching Michael Trevino act out his character Tyler’s first long, painful transformation into a werewolf on last night’s midseason finale of The Vampire Diaries was difficult. Especially for his mother. “I had to warn my parents, mainly my mom,” he says. “I let them know it’s pretty intense, pretty graphic. I was on the phone with my mom, and I could hear in her voice that she almost had to change the channel, to look away. If you imagine it, I’m their son — having to see your child go through that, it’s gotta be pretty heartbreaking.” We caught up with Trevino this afternoon to reflect on his breakout episode and look ahead.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you by chance listened to EW’s TV Insiders podcast breaking down last night’s episode already?
MICHAEL TREVINO: I have not, no.
Okay, good. If you do, you may hear me accused of “panting” during your shirtless scenes. That is not accurate.
[Laughs] Okay. No, it’s not. [Laughs] Okay.
So I know you were advised to watch videos of women giving birth and wolves feeding to prepare for the long haul and then frenzy of Tyler’s transformation. Did you do anything else?
I just watched those videos, really, and then just kind of had to mentally prepare for two days of shooting it. I went into it like a marathon. Don’t exhaust myself too much in the beginning, just time it and pace myself, to be able to perform over and over again.
What took the most takes?
I think the part where my spine was breaking and you see the ripples in my back because were so wide with camera angles. That took a bit out of me.
What were you like between takes? Trying to relax, or trying to stay in character?
We were taking these chains on and off, on and off, so sometimes they were settin’ up a shot, and I was just in the moment, and I just laid on the floor. I didn’t go to my cast chair, I didn’t walk off the set. I just had everybody work around me, and I would just lay on the floor lifeless. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Miranda Penn Turin/Fox Production on the Fox hit Glee has hit a snag or, more appropriately, a virus. EW has learned that due to several members of the cast coming down with tonsillitis, production on the series has been canceled for today. The cast and crew are currently in the midst of shooting their big post-Super Bowl episode and were set to film one of the biggest musical numbers this evening on location. But don’t you worry, Gleeks: Production will resume on Monday and the scenes planned for tonight will be rescheduled for January.
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ABC announced that it will launch its new feel-good reality show, Secret Millionaire, on March 6. Based on a U.K. show of the same name, Millionaire will embed a successful businessperson undercover in an impoverished American neighborhood, where in the course of a week, he or she will decide which unsung townspeople are the most deserving of an enormous financial award. The hour-long show will air in the traditional time-slot of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition until that show returns with new episodes on April 17.
Image Credit: Karen NealThe Closer is closing. TNT has decided that season 7 of the popular police drama will be its last. Kyra Sedgwick, who won an Emmy playing the determined L.A. cop, Brenda Leigh Johnson, made the decision, according to a statement from the network. “I cannot fathom how difficult it will be to say goodbye to the incredible family we’ve created on The Closer,” Sedgwick said in a statement. “I will always be grateful to James Duff for his love and friendship, as well as for creating such a rich and complex character who I have loved living with year after year…. I want to thank … the incredible fans … for all of their unwavering support over the last seven years.”
Peter Roth, president of Warner Bros. Television, added, “The series has literally changed the face and course of both TNT and Warner Bros. Television, and we will always be grateful for all that [Kyra] has contributed toward that success.” Production of the 15-episode final season will begin next spring.
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Image Credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBCTrainer Jillian Michaels will leave NBC’s weight-loss reality show, The Biggest Loser, after Season 11, according to her official Twitter page. On Dec. 7, she wrote “Season 11 of Biggest Loser will be my last 
have to finish out my contract.” According to Michaels, her female replacement has already been chosen and they’ll use Michaels’ final season to help introduce her. (The finale for Season 10 of The Biggest Loser airs next Tuesday.)
“I want to take a year off TV and focus on becoming a mommy and doing more charity work,” Michaels tweeted. “Shooting Losing It also had a big impact on me. Living with kids I saw first hand what I was missing.”
Image Credit: Jeff Petry/ABC; Michael Yarish/Fox; Randy Holmes/ABCThis week: reasons you’ll be happy to not be spending the holidays at the Walker household, intel on the return of V, and a Glee tease that will get your track suit bottoms in a bunch.
Remember to keep sending in scoop requests through Twitter replies/direct messages (@EW or @EWSandraG) or email (SpoilerRoom@ew.com).
‘V’: A TRAITOR AMONG THEM?
Fun fact: When a season ends with the sky turning red, there’s cause for concern — and we learn all sorts of reasons why in the Jan. 4 season opener. For one, it can cause your face to melt off — kidding. Sort of. Gruesomeness aside, the premiere gives reason to believe this season could be faster-paced than the freshman run. Here’s what goes down: We learn a bit about the meaning of the red sky (clue: an environmental scientist has a piece of the puzzle); we learn the consequences of accusing Anna of becoming more human (clue: don’t mess with a woman who has a tail with a pointy end); we see Decker make a bold move to support the V (clue: goodbye, journalistic integrity); and we learn of a possible traitor in the Fifth Column. No clue for that one, but prepare to be devastated by the answer.
‘BROTHERS AND SISTERS’: THE WALKER WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS
Moms are the greatest, aren’t they? Especially around the hectic holidays when they, you know, do everything. So, when Karl sees Nora fraying at the edges during her own quest for the perfect Christmas, he offers to take her to Santa Fe to escape the madness (because nothing says holiday cheer like paper bag lanterns) — and she takes him up on it! Meanwhile, the Walker children are left Christmas orphans. What results is plenty of campy Walker-ness, mostly between Kitty and Kevin as they battle for the right to host Christmas — and ownership of the village and train that come along with the honor. (Admit it; you do like the camp as long as it’s in small doses.) At the heart of the episode: some very surprising scenarios, like lucid Holly, Justin drunk off his a**, and Kevin with a rather disturbing mustache that falls somewhere between Clark Gable and Billy Dee Williams on the facial hair scale. Oh, I’ve said too much…
‘LEVERAGE’: MOREAU WHERE THAT CAME FROM
The final two episodes of Leverage‘s third season (airing Dec. 19) will easily be fan favorites. There’s plenty of what you love about the show: Parker wit, scheme-offs with international crime man Damien Moreau (Goran Visnjic), and Alec showing us how big his brain is. But there are also touches of things we don’t see as much on the show. For one, there’s a tender moment between the team and tough guy Eliot, following a huge revelation. Other highlights: Alec’s brush with death after he takes a swim…while wearing handcuffs; guest star Visnjic in a robe (yum!); Sophie acting as first lady to a country in peril; and the season’s huge cliffhanger.
SIDE DISHES
Rebecca L. asks: Is there any hope for Finn and Rachel to get back together on Glee or are they over for good? READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic.comIf you recently heard the potential companion series to The Vampire Diaries exec producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec (pictured) are in the early stages of developing described as “The X-Files meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” you may be imagining Alaric (Matt Davis) teaching history at a new high school. “That’s exactly what the show is not,” Williamson tells EW on the latest edition of the TV Insiders podcast, with a laugh. “That was the wrong characterization. I was like, ‘What is Buffy meets The X-Files?’ They’re completely at odds tonally. It’s neither. It’s set on a college campus. There’s a little bit of some paranormal investigation involved, but it’s more about the characters. It’s more about what Julie and I like to do, which is create a world of people. A young girl goes to college, and it turns out there’s a lot more going on.”
That’s all he wants to give away for now. READ FULL STORY »
In between Nina Dobrev’s Katherine undressing and being slammed into a wall in a fit of passion, and Michael Trevino’s Tyler going shirtless while chained in a cellar, Thursday’s cliffhanger episode of The Vampire Diaries was hot stuff all around. But which moment was the hottest? On the newest edition of the InsideTV podcast, Mandi Bierly, Annie Barrett, and I debate that as well as the other big questions surrounding the show. And then we go looking for answers! We called up executive producers Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec to break down the episode and tell us where it all goes from here: What will happen to Rose now that she’s been bitten by a werewolf? When will we finally see legendary badass Klaus? And what’s up with that new Vampire Diaries companion show they are creating? Listen in as they respond and whet our appetite for the second half of season 2. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Richard Knapp /A&EHoff he goes: After airing just two episodes, A&E pulled David Hasselhoff’s new reality series, The Hasselhoffs, from its schedule, the network confirmed to EW. (The news was first reported by Vulture.) The show — which offered a behind-the-scenes peek into the lives of the former Knight Rider star/America’s Got Talent judge and his two daughters — debuted with Dec. 6 with a pair of episodes; the first drew 718,000 viewers while the second attracted only 505,000 people. A&E did not go so far as to make a terrible pun and say that the series has been hofficially cancelled, however.
Dana Edelson/NBC
Not one, but two Pauls will grace the stage of Saturday Night Live this weekend. Paul Rudd stars in the upcoming film How Do You Know, with Reese Witherspoon and Owen Wilson, while Sir Paul was in a little band called The Beatles and knows the Queen of England. From the photo above, Paul 1 and Paul 2 seem to be getting along swimmingly — those matching outfits, those longing gazes! Forget about Jason Segel (but not really), Paul Rudd will have a new best friend come Monday morning. Will Sir Paul let Paul Rudd slappa da bass?
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Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBCOne of the more interesting series to emerge from NBC’s 2010-11 development season was Love Bites, an anthology from Sex and the City scribe Cindy Chupack that was described as a modern-day Love, American Style. The show was originally set for fall but was quickly replaced with The Apprentice because star Becki Newton was pregnant and Chupack stepped down for personal reasons. Now, some more not-so-great news has emerged about the show: NBC has reduced the episodic order from 13 to 9. And there’s still no debut date.
An insider insists that the project remains a priority. It’s just that NBC has too much content to shove onto its midseason lineup so it didn’t make sense to pay for 13 episodes (for more information about the schedule, click here). In fact, NBC has yet to find slots for The Paul Reiser Show and Friends with Benefits, two other shows that were developed for NBC’s midseason lineup, as well. In retrospect, it might have been better to program Love Bites this fall instead of The Apprentice, which generated dreadful ratings on Thursdays at 10.
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
