Music to our ears: Big Brother has been renewed for another season! CBS made the announcement of a 14th year pickup in light of tonight’s finale — which will feature Rachel, Porsche and Adam battling it out for the $500,000 prize. The season ender will last 90 minutes following the premiere of Survivor: South Pacific.
This summer, BB posted its largest audience and highest adults 18-49 rating since 2004. It averaged 8.1 million viewers and a 3.1 rating/9 share in the key demo.
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In an interview with Today’s Matt Lauer that will air on Friday, Charlie Sheen acknowledges “there are portions” of his past “I would have amended a little bit” and insists he’s completely sober and “calmer” these days. When asked by Lauer when was the last time he had a drink or “something more,” Sheen responded, “ I don’t really keep track of the time. It’s been awhile, because I feel like, without getting into my feelings about AA and all that stuff, if you’re walking around hanging on to your time, it’s only a matter of time before it goes, you know?”
Countered Lauer, “But you’re an actor in a business, and you know that producers out there and people who get involved in projects with you want to know, has it been two weeks, has it been two months, are you bankable, are you trustworthy.” READ FULL STORY »
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In 2009, Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Anthony Stewart Head was playing a thrice-divorced sex-obsessed boss to two recently single talent agents looking for love (occasionally with each other, occasionally without) on the British comedy Free Agents. This year, he’s doing the same thing — but on the American remake (which premieres on NBC tonight at 10:30, before moving to its regular 8:30 timeslot next week) and with a few differences (here, they’re PR execs), yet the same silly, provocative panache. This guy knows a sexual position called the Flying Dutchman, and he’s not afraid to use it. EW caught up with Head recently to chat about the show, his character, American adaptations, and filming next door to Mad Men. READ FULL STORY »
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The return of Sarah Michelle Geller to series TV delivered a solid, if unexciting, number for The CW.
The good news: Ringer greatly improved upon its 90210 lead-in and performed far better (up 66 percent) than Life Unexpected‘s debut in the slot last year. But Ringer was originally developed for CBS and has generated plenty of headlines for The CW this summer, and it would have been nice to see the drama’s debut break out of network’s standard ratings zone.
Ringer was seen by 2.7 million viewers and earned a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. That’s the largest total audience — though not the highest rating — that the network has had in that slot since 90210 premiered there a few years ago (both SMG and 90210 draw an older audience than, say, Vampire Diaries, which is why the total viewers number is relatively high compared to the more important number — the rating). The return of 90210 (1.6 million, 0.8) dipped 11 percent from its premiere last fall. READ FULL STORY »
Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer has remained relatively silent during this exciting Charlie Sheen year (with the notable exception of a self-deprecating appearance on Conan.) But on today’s edition of Ellen, the actor discusses his perspective on the controversy that nearly ended his show. In a promo for the episode, Cryer explains that Men wasn’t the first thing on his mind during the crisis: “I was worried that Charlie was going to die.” Host Ellen Degeneres helpfully notes that Cryer was “so gracious” at a time when Sheen was publicly calling Cryer “a troll.” Cryer sounds almost apologetic about the whole incident, explaining: “It was in the heat of the moment I imagine when he said it. So I did not put a whole lot of credence in it at the time.” The two actors have not spoken since Sheen left the Two and a Half Men set last season. Check out the promo: READ FULL STORY »
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Before Survivor: Redemption Island began, Boston Rob and Russell made a bunch of noise in our EW.com pre-game joint interview about teaming up should they both make it to the merge, but it was all a bunch of phooey. They were just trying to make the other person think they were up for working together. But seeing as how Coach and Ozzy have no such animosity, the possibility does exist for these threepeat offenders to unite should they make it onto one joined tribe. Ozzy is just the type of alpha-male athletic dominator that Coach idolizes…and Ozzy knows it. In the last of our walk-up videos to tonight’s Survivor: South Pacific premiere, the two returnees discuss playing against (and perhaps with) each other. Coach also explains what it would have been like playing alongside former federal agent Phillip Sheppard, and why he’s happy that didn’t happen. Get your Survivor pre-game started right now by clicking on the video player below. And for more Survivor news and views all season long, follow me on Twitter @EWDaltonRoss. READ FULL STORY »
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Debbi Morgan’s not the only one leaving All My Children for a stint in CBS Daytime. Michael E. Knight (Tad Martin), Ricky Paull Goldin (Dr. Jake Martin), and Jacob Young (JR Chandler) will also make a showing on the Eye network — though not in ways you might expect (or desperately want as a soap fan).
Allow EW to explain: The All My Children hunks have agreed to participate in an “All My Meals” week (get it?) on The Talk. The actors will prepare their favorite recipes while joining Julie Chen and Co. at the table to reflect on AMC, which ends its run on Sept. 23. Revel in the irony: The men have cooked up this special appearance on The Talk while ABC readies their old AMC time slot for the new foodie show, The Chew.
Anyhoo, Young’s appearance on The Talk Sept. 26 won’t be his last in the CBS day part: he is reuniting with his buds on Bold and the Beautiful to reprise his role of Rick Forrester. As for fellow AMC vet Morgan — who played Angie Hubbard/Baxter — she was recruited by CBS’ Young and the Restless. (Meanwhile, Knight will show up on The Talk Sept. 28 and Goldin on Sept. 29.)
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A rather jaunty Simon Cowell, who’s bringing a U.S. version of his British hit The X Factor to Fox on Sept. 21, talked to reporters Tuesday about his experience filming so far. “I would say the American audiences are more vocal,” he said. “When they like someone, they let you know. And they certainly let you know when they disagree with you. There were a few occasions when we had to — otherwise I may have gotten seriously injured — bring back certain contestants we’d said no to.”
Will this aggression stand, man? It will! “We did say to [the audience], you’re like the fifth judge here. So it was fun, and everywhere we went, the crowds were good. Better in the evenings, because you could feel that they were drunk. I might do that for the live shows — just make everybody drink.”
More from reality TV’s newest boozehound after the jump: READ FULL STORY »
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It’s not enough that Glee fans are dying to know how Ryan Murphy will incorporate the victor(s) from The Glee Project into the show this season. Now comes word that the uber-writer-producer wants to add another looker to the already attractive cast!
EW just got a peek at the latest casting call for the drama, which will return Sept. 20: “Young man 18 and over to play 17. He is extremely handsome. Must be an excellent singer. HUGE guest star, MAJOR recurring role.” Is Murphy about to top last season’s addition of Darren Criss? Stay tuned!
That’s not all: Looks like someone’s about to get a recruitment letter to play ball. (Hmm, wonder who THAT could be?) Murphy also wants a 30-something man to play Johnny, a “tall big dude who is an Ohio State football recruiter.” This, too, will be a major recurring role.
Glee already plans to introduce lots of new faces this year, including new parents for Mike Chang and a boyfriend for Mercedes. Don Most (Happy Days) and Valerie Mahaffey (United States of Tara) also signed on as Emma Pillsbury’s ma and pa.
What do you think of the latest additions?
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Eight episodes into filming the new season of 90210, which kicks off tonight, Jessica Lowndes says Adrianna is hard at work into getting back into her friends’ good graces after being caught switching Silver’s (Jessica Stroup) bipolar medication. But who could blame the gang for making her work for it?
“She spent her summer trying to be a good person, and she’s truly apologetic for what she did,” says Lowndes. “She knows what she did was wrong, and she’s going out into the world and trying to redeem herself and show what a changed person she is and all that. At first, no one wants to really accept her, I think she finds allies with people who you really wouldn’t appreciate supporting her.”
Namely, Dixon (Tristan Wilds) ends up being a friendly face among the crowd after Adrianna takes a job as a waitress in Liam’s (Matt Lanter) bar and restaurant, which Lowndes couldn’t be happier about. READ FULL STORY »
Rick Grimes is once again on the road for the second season poster of The Walking Dead, but we’ve notably shifted from entering downtown Atlanta to a setting that’s much more rural (and less expensive, don’t you know). Here’s the rather cool-looking season 2 key art. Grimes is shown on the run, and I bet he isn’t just trying to get in some late afternoon cardio. Here’s your poster: READ FULL STORY »
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NBC’s new comedy Free Agents is getting a visit from veteran comic Rachael Harris.
Harris has been cast in a two-episode arc on the freshman series, which follows two newly single PR coworkers Alex and Helen (Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn) who embark on an ill-advised one night stand. Harris will play the sister of Helen’s late fiance on the show. Edith asks Helen to be her child’s godmother despite the two having radically different parenting ideas.
In addition to The Hangover, Harris has been in Modern Family, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Party Down. Free Agents gets a jump on the next week’s big premiere land rush by debuting tomorrow night at 10:30 p.m. after the premiere of Up All Night before returning to its regular 8:30 p.m. time period next week (fall premiere dates here).
Didn’t watch the first season of Fox’s adorable family comedy Raising Hope? Wished you had? Wanting to catch up but don’t have time before the show premieres its second season Sept. 20? You’re in luck! The first two minutes of the show’s premiere this season function as a recap of the first season, with the scene-stealing Shelly (Kate Micucci) singing a song about Hope (played by 18-month-old twins Baylie and Rylie Cregut) as she’s baby-sitting her. Fox has shared a first look at the first couple minutes of season two with EW, and you can find that video below. READ FULL STORY »
James Hibberd
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Lynette Rice
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