Jonesin' for a Little True Blood?

Are you dying just a little waiting for another taste of True Blood? The series doesn't start until June 13, but HBO has figured out a way to give us fans a tiny taste of V-juice until then.

They have produced a web series called A Drop of True Blood. The six minisodes feature the vamp cast and will go live one per week until the season premiere. They promise to give us a few hints about upcoming story lines and a fangbanger fix to tie us over until the real deal.

Here's the first webisode which will thrill Eric fans as he and Pam try to find new dancers for Fangtasia. Look for them all weekly on Yahoo TV, HBO.com, and the True Blood Facebook page.

This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments

This week a cartoon saved a young girl's life. Hannah Montana granted 30 wishes. A tycoon ran in a charitable marathon. And one rock star helped a homeless man while another fought bravely for his own life. Here are this week’s most inspirational moments in pop culture.

Bret Michaels Set to Rock Again

It was a touch and go week for Poison, Rock of Love, and Celebrity Apprentice fans everywhere. Singer and reality TV star, Bret Michaels, suffered a brain hemorrhage, just a few days after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. The news was bleak and confusing for a while. Bret was talking, he wasn’t, doctors couldn’t find the source of the bleeding, on and on.

But now there’s some very positive news. Not only are there reports that doctors are hopeful he’ll make a full recovery. But word is that the hard rocker is going to resume his tour on May 26 – hopefully keeping the head banging to a minimum.

What’s been really great in the midst of all the medical drama over the 47-year-old rock star’s health, was the outpouring of support from fans. Websites, Facebook, and Twitter accounts were flooded with well wishes and kind words for Bret it would warm even the most jaded superstar's heart.

Now we’re just hoping that Michaels wins Celebrity Apprentice. In a statement earlier this week, Donald Trump said of Michaels, “He's a great competitor and champion.” Did the Donald let a bit of key info slip? We’ll all find out during the two hour season finale on Sunday, May 23 from 9:00-11:00 PM.

View the rest at Beliefnet's Idol Chatter.

Jane Lynch Finally Gets Her Due

Jane Lynch has been one of our favorite actresses for a long time. We have often lamented, since her hilarious turns in Christopher Guest's Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, that she never gets enough credit for her comic genius.

A few years back her brilliant performance in The 40 Year Old Virgin brought Jane to a bigger audience. But this TV season, she finally got her due as the star of Fox's break out hit Glee. Jane is now officially a super star.

Her Glee character, Sue Sylvester, says the thing us we all would like to say but wouldn't dare. Of course she has a much sharper tongue and a more twisted command of the English language than we could ever dream of achieving.

We were thrilled to have the chance to interview Jane on Monday night for the Archive of American Television. And so we had to ask her what TV actors she admired when she was growing up. Her answer did not surprise us, since we place her on the list of best comic actresses, right along with her heroes.

William Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horse Show

This weekend marks a big milestone for TV legend William Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horse Show. The “Star Trek” and “Boston Legal” star presents the 20th anniversary of the event at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California on Saturday, May 1.

Activities kick off at 5:00 PM when the silent auction begins. There will be an equestrian arena show at 5:30 PM followed by the western dinner and live auction at 7:00 PM. Singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan is the musical guest.

The event's “VIP Experience” includes special seating for the western dinner party, meet and greet photo ops with William Shatner, and an autographed souvenir cowboy hat.

There are a limited number of VIP Tables (which seat ten) for $4,000 and individual VIP tickets are $400 each. Standard tables cost $3,000 for ten seats and standard individual tickets cost $300.

Proceeds from the event go to a number of charities including Ahead with Horses, Camp Max Straus, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, The Painted Turtle, The Hollenbeck Police Activities League, Starlight Children’s Foundation, and St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. A long list of sponsors includes priceline.com (for which Shater is spokesman), Wells Fargo, Stonefire Grill, Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Burbank's own Walt Disney Company.

Tickets can be purchased on-line and via fax through the website horseshow.org or by phone at (818) 509-2290.

The Los Angeles Equestrian Center is located at 480 West Riverside Drive in Burbank. The phone number for the facility is (818) 840-9063.

Will Kathy Griffin Guest Star on Glee?

We like a good Hollywood marriage as much as the next girl – personal or professional. So when we realized that we could play matchmaker the other night, we went for it.

Earlier in the week, we were at the NBC Universal Summer Press Day where Kathy Griffin mentioned that she’s a major Gleek and would love to be on the show (despite her belief that she’s not a great singer).

That same night, we interviewed the cast of Glee for the Archive of American Television including two of the shows Executive Producers, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. So we decided to put in a good word for our favorite foul-mouthed ginger, and told the guys that Kathy would like to be a guest star.

As you can see for yourself from this clip, they were delighted. Ryan even came up with the perfect part for Kathy on the spot. Spread the word so Kathy knows and has her people call their people. 

Hugh Hefner Saves Hollywood... or at Least the Sign

At the 11th hour Playboy's Hugh Hefner rode in on his white steed and saved the Hollywood Sign from near extinction. Los Angeles' knight in shining armor donated $900,000, the last chunk of money needed to win an ongoing battle to save the legendary landmark.

A preservationist group called The Trust for Public Land has been fighting for months to raise the cash necessary to buy the land around the famed Hollywood Sign. Otherwise, it most likely would have been sold to developers and turned into a McMansion housing site.

Hef's donation helped the organization reach the final purchase price of $12.5 million. The Cahuenga Peak, the site of the iconic sign, will now be donated to Griffith Park and will never again be threatened. Also stepping forward in the past months were Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Norman Lear, and the Lucasfilm Foundation.

In a recent interview with the cast of Parks and Recreation at the NBC Summer Press Day the subject of Hef's generosity came up.

Amy Poehler joked, "$900,000? Wow, I didn't know he had that much money. Where did he get that money? That's great. So what happened?" She asked, "You can't build other Hollywood signs near it?"

Nick Offerman clarified, saying, "It's being given as a parcel to Griffith Park."

Poehler quipped, "Playmates will be able to graze there freely. It's a range area. Old Playmates. Just setting them back into the wild."

Michael Schur, Parks and Recreation's Executive Producer, added to the gag, "A humane end to their lives."

"If anyone should save it, it should be Hugh Hefner," Poehler went on to say.

Schur replied, "I kind of agree with you, but I don't know why."

Poehler remarked, "Because it's so Hollywood."

"It's like he's an L.A. landmark and that's an L.A. landmark." Schur agreed.

Final score: Landmarks 1, McMansions 0.

TV Star to Movie Star Transformations

As you're probably tired of hearing us say, we got to go to the TV Land Awards last weekend and one of the highlights was seeing the reunion of the cast of Bosom Buddies. The short lived (it only lasted two seasons) comedy about two guys who posed as women to save money on rent. The series was unappreciated at the time and yet it still launched the career of Tom Hanks.

It got us thinking about what other movies stars like Tom Hanks got their start on TV. And which ones were successful and which ones, no so much.

Last night we appeared on Dr. Blogstein's Radio Happy Hour to present our list. If you missed it, here's the best and the worst transformations and our segment from the show.

Best TV Star to Movie Star Transformation
5. Bruce Willis
4. Will Smith
3. Bill Murray
2. George Clooney
1. Tom Hanks

Worst TV Star to Movie Star Transformation
5. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
4. Shelly Long  
3. Ellen DeGeneres
2. The Cast of Friends except Jennifer Aniston
1. David Caruso

Doctor Who Does Hamlet

Tonight on PBS at 8:00 PM, Doctor Who does Hamlet. And the best part for sci-fi fans, he doesn't act alone, he proves that "the play's the thing" with The Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

In addition to their intergalactic adventures, David Tennant (Doctor Who #10) and Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame) are actually both very distinguished stage actors. The two performed Hamlet in 2008 with the Royal Shakespeare Company and close to one million U.K. viewers watched the BBC broadcast of the performance. Now it's time for those of us in the States to be treated to the Tennant/Stewart masterpiece.

PBS's Great Performances will air the modernized version of the stage production featuring Tennant as the jeans-wearing Prince of Denmark and Stewart as the tuxedo'd Claudius. The production promises to reawaken Shakespeare and give it a contemporary spin. We're going to give it a shot.

For those of you who prefer Doctor Who, tune into a new episode featuring the latest incarnation of the good Doctor, Matt Smith, on BBC America on Saturday nights and check out this clip of the next episode.

Bonnie Hunt's Amazing Birthday Surprise for Carol Burnett

Bonnie Hunt might not always have done things right on her talk show. In fact, The Bonnie Hunt Show is winding down to a series finale on May 28. But if every episode had been creative as yesterday's, Bonnie probably would have lasted a lot longer. In a tribute for her guest Carol Burnett's birthday, Hunt unveiled the most excellent of surprises. Carol seemed genuinely touched and any fan of characters like the Mrs. Wiggins and Eunice will get a real kick out of this pint size homage.

What’s the Best TV Series in Sitcom History?

Like many TV fanatics, we have very strong feelings about the best TV shows of all time. So do the good people at TVSeriesFinale.com. So they’ve launched the Best Sitcom in TV History Smackdown. They’ve taken a list of TV shows by decade from the ‘50s through today and pitted them against each other. Fans can vote on two sets of shows from each decade, and then every week the list is whittled down until a victor is crowned.

The contest is currently in Round 2 and, frankly, some of the show’s that fell out in the first wave may not surprise you. Remember “The Goldbergs” from the ‘50s? Neither do we. So we weren’t shocked that it got 0% of the vote to “The Honeymooners” 60%.

But how can a classic like “The Bob Newhart Show” only get 5% of the ‘70s vote? We blame ourselves. After all, you can only vote once and we were remiss in not getting the word out sooner. We’re determined not to let that happen again.

So it’s up to us, and you good people of TV Land. But we’re worried that you might feel overwhelmed by the weight of these important decisions. We’re not ashamed to share our choices with you and if you find, that you agree with us, then you might just want to scoot on over and vote as well. Don’t feel any pressure… just a few friendly suggestions:

The Best Sitcom of the 1950’s:

Column 1 Choice: “The Honeymooners”

Column 2 Choice: “I Love Lucy”

The Best Sitcom of the 1960’s:

Column 1 Choice: “Gilligan’s Island”

Column 2 Choice: “The Dick Van Dyke Show”

The Best Sitcom of the 1970’s:

Column 1 Choice: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”

Column 2 Choice: “All in the Family”

The Best Sitcom of the 1980’s:

Column 1 Choice: “Taxi”

Column 2 Choice: “Newhart”

The Best Sitcom of the 1990’s:

Column 1 Choice: “Friends”

Column 2 Choice: “Seinfeld”

The Best Sitcom of the 2000’s:

Column 1 Choice: “Modern Family”

Column 2 Choice: “Arrested Development”

And as a public service, we’ll let you know what happens as the week’s progress.

Betty White Mania Continues

There are only two more weeks until Betty White takes center stage at 30 Rock to host Saturday Night Live, and she's not wasting a second of it. At age 88, Betty is the hardest working senior in show business.

This week alone she presented the Fan Favorite Award to the cast of The Love Boat at the TV Land Awards. She also unveiled the Betty White "Naked" Dog at Pink's Hot Dogs at Universal City Walk. And her mint condition 1977 Cadillac was put on display at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The luxury, tricked out car was a surprise gift from her beloved husband Allen Ludden, who passed away almost 30 years ago but remains the love of her life. Betty talked about Allen in an interview we edited for the Archive of American Television.

And after you wipe the tears from your eyes listening to Betty remember Allen, watch this hysterical video. Comedians Frank DeCaro, Jim Colucci, and Fredrick Ford just released this amazing parody video as the St. Olaf Glee Club. Their version of Betty White Lines, yes, the Grandmaster Flash song, will remind you why we all love Betty White.

The TV Land Awards Took Us to TV Heaven

The 8th Annual TV Land Awards aired last night and we were lucky enough to be at the taping. It was truly mind blowing for two TV fanatics like us. The range of legends was staggering — from Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner to Tom Hanks and Charo. Every end of the TV spectrum was represented and our heads almost exploded.

The show kicked off with Jack Jones the singer of The Love Boat theme, crooning the tune while the cast of the award show was highlighted in Love Boat-style on the video screen. We could have gone home satisfied right then.

Next, host Tim Allen floated onto the stage on a gigantic ocean liner. He introduced Betty White accompanied by Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick, her co-stars in the upcoming Hot in Cleveland. They presented the Fan Favorite Award to the crew of The Love Boat including Charo, who coochi-coohied to the stage with the rest of the cast.

We could go on with every detail, but you hopefully you watched the show yourself (if not, set that DVR for one of the inevitable replays). Still, to help explain why we thought we died and went to TV heaven, here's a partial list of some of the other award presenters and receivers: Tom Hanks, Peter Scolari, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Bob Newhart, the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond (sadly minus the late great Peter Boyle), Billy Crystal, Paula Abdul, the cast of Glee (most notably Jane Lynch), and a special performance by one of our favorite bands, Blondie.

As the incredible event was winding down, Pam Anderson presented the Pop Culture Award to Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd, who in turn introduced Ryan O'Neal. Ryan (who had been sitting two tables away from us all night with Tatum) did a touching tribute to Farrah Fawcett.

Now they had us all in tears, and we knew all the awards had been handed out. Kind of a downer to end the show on. Don't you think? But TV heaven did not let us down.

Along came the TV Land Glee Club. The cast of Glee you might guess? Wrong. It was the ultimate mix of TV's beloved, led by The Hoff and Marilu Henner. Joining them in a rousing rendition of Don't Stop Believin' were some of TV's most legendary: Todd Bridges, Joyce DeWitt, Jamie Farr, Marla Gibbs, Howard Hesseman, Shirley Jones, Richard Karn, Richard Moll, Marion Ross, Jimmie Walker, Marcia Wallace, and Fred Willard. Watch the video here.

All is right in our TV obsessed world.

Brett Michaels' Condition Still in Question

There are varying reports on the condition of Poison front man and Celebrity Apprentice front runner Brett Michaels. All we know is he had a brain hemorrhage late on Thursday.

TMZ said the rock star was up and talking, but his own website says this is not true. "There are several incorrect reports on Bret's condition. Bret remains in critical condition at an undisclosed location. Further tests are being ran and information will be updated in the coming days."

Rock Solid, Brett. We know you can pull through. Here's a clip of Brett from last week's Celebrity Apprentice with good advice for us all.

Nick Offerman’s Canoe Video

Slate magazine was the first to dub Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman the show’s secret weapon but most critics agree that he’s the very best part of what’s become a pretty funny sitcom. And we’re onboard the Offerman express. His mustachioed Ron Swanson is a low-key hoot that was made all the more deliciously entertaining when his musical alter ego, saxophonist Duke Silver, was introduced.

Many fans will be surprised to find out that in real life, Offerman is married to Megan Mullally. That makes them one of the funniest couples in Hollywood along with his P&R co-star Amy Poehler and her hubby Will Arnett. Really, Mullally’s still funny. Just remember her as Karen from Will and Grace not as he short-lived talk show host or the woman dancing around with a tub of man made spread in the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter commercials.

But if you want to know something even more unexpected about Offerman, here’s a little known fact. He’s a canoe aficionado. The amateur woodworker was trying to occupy his time while Mullally was working on Broadway recently, so he decided to make a couple of the narrow crafts. When he contacted Bear Mountain Boats to get the plans and materials, they recruited him to help make a DVD about the hobby.

You can order a copy now for just $29.95. But if you just can’t wait to see Nick in action, enjoying his favorite recreation on DVD, check out the teaser here. Or you could always just watch him on Parks and Recreation every Thursday at 8:30 PM on NBC.

Sandra Bullock’s Sister: Confections of a Master Baker

We didn’t know much about Gesine Bullock-Prado until recently but we’re glad we’ve learned what we have. Gesine (you can hear the proper pronunciation here) is actress Sandra Bullock’s younger sister and former business partner. The law school grad formed Fortis Films with her famous sis and ran the production company for ten years before she decided she wanted a change - giving up a red carpet party dress and Hollywood premieres for a chef's jacket and cozy kitchen.

As the story goes, she has always loved to bake. So she followed that passion all the way to Montpelier, Vermont where she opened Gesine Confectionary. The reportedly lovely pastry and coffee destination has since closed (sadly, despite our New England roots, we never made it there). But Bullock-Prado has recently opened a commercial business to fulfill mail order macaroon cravings.

Plus she’s written a book called Confections of a Master Baker: One Woman’s Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contended Country Baker. Sure, it wouldn’t make a snappy movie title, but she clearly doesn’t have to worry about that anymore. Although we think there might be a recent Oscar winning actress who’d be perfect for the part of the pastry chef.

But where Gesine really sucked us in, is her really well written, mouth-wateringly photo ridden blog also called Confections of a Master Baker. If you go there, and we highly recommend you do, we have a few words of advice. Block out a big chunk of time because before you know it you’ll find yourself lost in her enchanting stories and pic after pic of the most mesmerizing macaroons. And have a nice healthy snack like carrot sticks or fruit salad before you dive in. Otherwise you’ll find yourself rushing into the kitchen, firing up the oven, and whipping up some meringue. 

This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments

Good feelings were flowing again. Esquire announced a surprising choice for best looking woman in America. One famous chef helped another make a comeback. A trailblazing star released a third memoir. Celebs put themselves on the auction block. And, once again, pop idols gave back. Here are this week’s most inspirational moments in pop culture.

“Mad Men’s” Christina Hendricks is the Best Looking Woman in America

Beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder. That’s why supermodels range in size and shape from Twiggy to Tyra. But, let’s face it, the skinny bird usually gets the worm (even if she doesn’t eat it) in the fashion world and even stunning actresses are the victims of regular retouching.

So we were pleasantly surprised when the men’s magazine “Esquire” announced the results of a recent poll that, among other things, picked the best looking woman in America. Bearing in mind that the survey was taken by ten thousand women (no boys allowed), it was still exciting to see that the choice was Christina Hendricks, who plays the cunning and curvaceous 1960s secretary Joan Holloway on “Mad Men.”

Winning one for shapely women everywhere, Hendricks is not an anorexia-induced size two. In the accompanying Esquire article she waxed poetic about pork and deep fryers–when was the last time you heard Kate Moss talk about beer battered anything?

Our hope is that young girls everywhere will hear the news and know that it’s okay to embrace their bodies–even if they don’t fit the current fashion magazine mold.

View the rest and find out about celebrity auction items from Vera Wang, John McEnroe, Paul McCartney, and more at Beliefnet's Idol Chatter. 

Idol Gave Back

We watched Idol Gives Back with slight trepidation last night. After all the season has been less than stellar and the line-up of special guests seemed shockingly similar to the last IGB broadcast in 2008 (they skipped 2009) including the usual suspects Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox, Carrie Underwood, Elliott Yamin, and George Lopez.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_TaGBRORwo

We watched Idol Gives Back with slight trepidation last night. After all the season has been less than stellar and the line-up of special guests seemed shockingly similar to the last IGB broadcast in 2008 (they skipped 2009) including the usual suspects Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox, Carrie Underwood, Elliott Yamin, and George Lopez.

Apparently we weren't the only ones to think this. On Tuesday's Idol performance show Ryan Seacrest announced that there were still tickets available for the following night's gala event. Guess there were others not too excited by the idea of seeing Fergie again.

But we watched and we're glad. After all Idol Gives Back has raised over $140 million for some very worthy causes and made $15 million just last night. The idea that we can all do a little to help poverty stricken kids here in the U.S. as well as children in Africa suffering from AIDS and Malaria, does warm the heart.

Plus, there were a few great moments. The Jonah Hill/Russell Brand bit with the fake phone bank—featuring celebrity look alikes of Woody Allen, Tom Cruise from Top Gun and Risky Business, the  real Slash and octo mom and "some of the octos"—was pretty funny.

Annie Lenox visited with an African girl who a few months ago was literally skin and bones. Now she's a healthy young child thanks to the medication provided by Idol Gives Back charities.

And sure Elton John was solid and Jeff Beck can do no wrong, but to us, the Idol Supergroup stole the show. We admit we're not huge fans of Mary J. Blige or Stairway to Heaven, but the all-star line-up rocked. With Blige on vocals, Steve Vie on the double neck guitar, Travis Barker on drums, Idol's own Randy Jackson on bass, and Michael Jackson's YouTube guitar playing fiend Orianthi Stairway to Heaven never sounded better. Sorry Zep.

Cirque du Soleil Announces a Michael Jackson Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPO9mX29XlM

Michael Jackson is in heaven right now... maybe not literally but certainly figuratively... as the famed acrobatic circus spectacular, Cirque du Soleil, announced plans to mount a Michael Jackson show in the vein of the the Elvis and Beatles productions of recent years.

According to the L.A. Times, Jacko had a "longtime fascination" with the Cirque. Not surprising. This is a man who had an amusement park in his back yard and who's best friend was a chimp. Seems like the circus was in his blood.

Cirque has teamed up with the Jackson estate for what is a three pronged project. First up? The reality show, of course, set to air in early 2011. Wanna be choreographers can try out a la Idol and So You Think You Can Dance in a competition to find an out of the box, cutting-edge dancer. The prize is a spot on the creative team working on the live stage production.

Part two is a fall 2011 arena tour of the stage show which they anticipate will be more like a Michael Jackson concert minus Michael.

The third leg is the King of Pop's final Cirque resting place at a yet to be named MGM Mirage property in Vegas in 2012. This will be the full blown Cirque du Soleil treatment set to Jackson's music. Reports are the production will include 3D holographic images of Michael.

He really is beaming right now. Can you feel it?

Save Gray Powell: The Guy Who Lost the iPhone

Here’s one of those names that you’ve never heard before but will inevitably be a Trivial Pursuit answer… Gray Powell. He’s the Apple software engineer who left his iPhone 4G prototype in a beer garden in Redwood, California. Doh!

March 18 was the fateful night. That’s when Gray had a few steins of beer and left the extra top secret cell phone on a bar stool at the Gourmet Haus Staudt. But who can blame him? It was his 27th birthday, so he had a couple of drinks, and happened to breech Apple security in the worst possible way. Apparently the company is so paranoid they black out the conference room windows and chain some prototypes to desks, so we’re not sure how this could actually happen.

So while the 2006 North Carolina State University grad, drowns his sorrows in yet more brew at the Gourmet Haus, supporters are trying to give him a helping hand. They've built a brand new Facebook page and set a very public goal of having 1,000,000 fans by the weekend. 

They might pull it off. It's already up to 7,395 Likes (that’s the new Facebook terminology for those of you who haven’t been there lately). And it’s growing steadily. It's funny, too. The personal info reads:

“Location: Anywhere away from Steve” (that would be Jobs to you un-Apple friendly readers) and “Phone: Lost it :(”

Hey, you’ve got to have a sense of humor if you’re going to try to parlay an egregious mistake into a media frenzy.

So just like when Conan O’Brien was losing his Tonight Show job, fans are coming to Gray’s rescue with a slew of Save Gray Powell Facebook pages. Of course, if you remember correctly, the Facebook thing didn’t help Conan keep his job. But maybe if Powell suffers a similar fate, Coco can get him a job at TBS.

Charo Stole the Show at the TV Land Awards

In the words of the inimitable Charo, it was so long ago that she rose to fame as The Love Boat’s most lovable recurring guest star, her “cuchi- cuchi” was just a “ceechi-ceechi.” And with that, the pint-sized Latina stole the show at the TV Land Awards last Saturday night.

With all the legends in the room like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Tom Hanks, no one sparkled quite like Charo. Dressed in a frilly fairy dress that proved she’s still got it going on after all these years, Charo stood up and waved to the audience when her name was mentioned. All the announcer had to get out was “Cha-” and she was on her feet, flapping her gossamer wings and basking in all that TV Land love.

Yes, time has passed since Charo played the winsome stowaway April Lopez on eight episodes of the star-studded ship series. Sure, Charo isn’t as popular now as she was back then. But you could tell she felt like a queen on Saturday night, scooping up her TV screen statuette along with the series regulars.

And she still pops up on small screens every once in a while. If you missed her appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race this season, you can watch it online at Logo.com. And, of course, she’ll be on the TV Land Awards show when it’s broadcast this Sunday night at 9:00 PM.

Visit Charo’s website, www.charo.com.

Bob Newhart Talks About Finding the Perfect Cast

For the second time in less than two months, we saw one of our TV heroes, Bob Newhart, live in person. We were thrilled to see Bob present the Impact Award to the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond at the TV Land Awards this past Saturday.

During the presentation, he talked about the luck of finding the perfect chemistry in a cast. He spoke of Darryl and his other brother Darryl like they were (real) old friends, and recalled the first time he met them.

We recently edited an interview with Bob that he did with the Archive of American Television. During the piece he talked about admiring and respecting all the actors he worked with on his two network TV shows — The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart.

In this clip, he talks about casting The Bob Newhart Show with Suzanne Pleshette, Bill Daly, Marcia Wallace, and the gang. Truly a cast that the folks from Everybody Loves Raymond owes a debt of gratitude.

And be sure to watch Bob on the TV land Awards this Sunday at 9:00 PM.

Two Great Live Chat Opportunities for TV Fans

If you like Jennie Garth and Oxygen's Love Games you are going to have a good day today because there are two live chats happening online. First, at 10:00 AM (1:00 PM ET) Jennie Garth is hosting a live Garden Party and then at 10:00 PM ET/PT Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too will host a real-time water cooler chat.

Celebrity mom, Jennie Garth (from Beverly Hills 90210) will be on Twitter for one hour this morning answering questions from other moms about eating healthy and the challenges of parenting to promote her NBC Digital Studio series Garden Party. To join the conversation use the hashtag #ivillage and send in your questions early. Digital Studios is also going to be giving away gardening gift packs every fifteen minutes to lucky chatters.

Then tonight while Oxygen is airing Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too, fans can go to www.OxygenLive.com and get a two-screen experience. You can interact and react with other fans through live chat, Facebook, and Twitter (#lovegames) all in one place as the show is airing. Sounds like fun!

Sienna Miller Has a Mustache?

We try to stay positive and above board at Pop Culture Passionistas blog, but some of the gossipy celeb stories are just to insane to let them go by unmentioned. Such is the case with recent blog buzz that Sienna Miller has a mustache.
Sienna Miller Has a Mustache?

First of all the beautiful British actress has suffered enough at the hands of tabloid hounds over albeit not great relationship choices. But that said, she's a gorgeous, young starlet and we should all be so lucky to look as good as she does - alleged facial hair and all.

The comments started when New York post critic Lou Lemenick wrote a review of Miller's film The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. He clearly hated the film so much, he decided to go after the movie's star, too. Here's what he had to say:

"You know a movie’s got problem when the most memorable thing about it is Sienna Miller’s mustache... That growth above her lip is clearly visible in two scenes, once in profile."

Whether Miller needs to explore a laser hair removal option or just make better film choices we can't tell you. But we can say this, it's time to leave the poor girl alone.

Countdown to RuPaul’s Drag Race Finale

Have you ever seen RuPaul’s Drag Race? It’s simply one of the most entertaining shows on TV. Part Project Runway part Shear Genius part Extreme Makeover (not the Home Edition), this show bares all to the audience. Except a few choice bits that get tucked away for the behind the scenes videos called, appropriately enough Untucked.


If you haven’t been watching or don’t get Logo you don’t have to miss all the teased out, penciled on fun. The RuPaul’s Drag Race website is a kick. There you can catch up on all of the episodes you’ve missed (and Season 1, too, if you’re really addicted), upload a photo to the Dragulator and get a man sized make-over, find a casting call for Season 3, and locate a viewing party near you (now that should be fun).


The final four will go head-to-head tonight as the season starts to wind down to the April 26 finale. But it’s not too late to catch all sparkly fashions, burlesque training, Barbie doll makeovers, and lip sync offs in advance of the final show down.


And catch regular updates on the show’s Twitter account and Facebook pages.

Betty White on The Golden Girls Chemistry

It’s a busy spring for Betty White. Besides the impending Saturday Night Live hosting gig on May 8th, her new TV Land PRIME original series Hot in Cleveland is set to debut on June 16.

White plays one of four women living in a home along with Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick, and Jane Leeves. And while that set-up might sound familiar to Betty fans, this one’s a little different than The Golden Girls. She’s the caretaker of a house and the three younger actresses suddenly decide to take up residence there. They’re L.A. transplants who get stranded in Cleveland and choose to stay when they realize the locals think they’re hot.  

We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the show (and see Betty present in person) at the TV Land Awards on Saturday night. And we have to say, Cleveland looks pretty funny. 


Admittedly, the bar is set very high for the Cleveland ladies to match the chemistry that Betty shared with her Golden Girls co-stars. But if any group of actresses can come close to that, this is it.


Betty talked about her connection with Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, and Estelle Getty in an interview we edited for the Archive of American Television. See what she has to say about what made it work, why the show ended, and how she felt about it

Congratulations to Our Doctor Who Giveaway Winner

We had an amazing response to our Special Edition Doctor Who Wired magazine giveaway, and we want to thank all the Doctor Who fans out there for spreading the word. So without any further adieu we want to announce that the winner of the giveaway is Terri from Clearwater, Florida. Sorry to the rest of our readers who entered, we wish we could get a copy for everyone.

To help you drown your sorrows for your loss (or celebrate if you're Terri) here's another behind the scenes video of Doctor Who. This time he's talking about why he loves humans... warms the heart.

Don't miss the new series premiere tomorrow night, April 17th on BBC America at 9:00 PM. And be sure to let us know what you think of the new Doctor either right here or on Facebook or Twitter.

And be sure to follow Doctor who at:
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