Daily Archives

September 11, 2012

Amanda Bynes Pulled Over By the Cops — Again

Colin Firth and Amanda Bynes in What a Girl Wants.
Colin Firth and Amanda Bynes in What a Girl Wants. (Warner Bros)

-What’s it going to take for Amanda Bynes to stop driving?! Maybe people who once played her parents/authority figures need to step in at this point. It’s your move, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Jennie Garth!

-Congrats to Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, who just welcomed twins.

-Is Chris Brown‘s new neck tattoo a photo of Rihanna’s face?

-Now that TIFF has turned me into a total Penn Badgley lover (who knew?), I’m more than a little excited about this new Gossip Girl promo. But why is his hair so wonky again? I thought we had fixed that!

-I just keep missing Joss Whedon at every TIFF thing I go to. Dammit! Although it’s probably for the best – I’d surely nerdgasm over him.

–Katy Perry and John Mayer have spread their ickiness to Vegas.

–Avril Lavigne‘s transformation into Skrillex is complete!

-People need to lay off making fun of Emma Watson for crying during her TIFF premiere. That sound of heaving sobs ringing out in the theatre during the film’s last 10 minutes? Yeah, that was me.

-Some dickish wedding guest took blurry photos of Cobie Smulders on her big day and sold them to the tabs. On the plus side: pretty dress!

-Cool: You can watch the first 25 minutes of Homeland’s season premiere here.

–Lena Dunham gave herself the exact haircut you’d expect Lena Dunham to give herself.

–Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba just ended her engagement with that dude who popped the question on Live! with Kelly.

-I think Lainey‘s take on Blake Lively’s craftiness hits the nail on the head. Need more proof? Check out this new cover story in Allure, in which she gushes about babies and weddings.

–Sheryl Crow thinks she got her brain tumor from her cellphone, which is kind of freaking me the hell out.

–Channing Tatum is opening a restaurant? I want to go to there.

–Tom Hanks and Jay Leno attended Michael Clarke Duncan’s funeral.

–Anderson Cooper doesn’t know why everyone made a big deal out of his recent “coming out,” saying “I came out in high school.”

–Kristen Stewart’s attitude is back. Thank god.

-I love that Gangnam Style has made it all the way to Ellen.

–The Last Quartet, featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Christopher Walken, is getting lots of TIFF love.

-Speaking of TIFF films, the first trailer for Smashed just landed. Cripes, I already love this movie so much!

Fall TV Preview: The New Normal

Ellen Barkin, Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells and Georgia King in The New Normal.
Ellen Barkin, Justin Bartha, Andrew Rannells and Georgia King in The New Normal. (Photo by NBC)

(I’m still swamped with TIFF, so regular blogging won’t resume until the end of the week. Be sure to check out @jen_mcdonnell and MSN.ca for all my TIFF updates. Tonight I’m checking out Rachel McAdams in Passion, and tomorrow I get to watch/swoon over Aaron Paul in Smashed. He’s been spotted at the DJ booth at the Soho House. Sigh.

In the meantime, my BFF Nicole and I have been IM’ing about the five buzziest fall TV shows. Check out our previous posts on Elementary, The Mindy Project and Last Resort. Today’s target: The New Normal!)

Premieres: Sept. 11 @ 9:30 p.m. on NBC and CTV

Up Against: NCIS: Los Angeles, The Mindy Project, Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23, Emily Owens M.D.

Premise: In Glee creator Ryan Murphy’s new show, a gay couple (Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells) hire a surrogate (Georgia King) to have their baby. But by inviting the woman into their lives, they’re also welcoming her 8-year-old daughter and her homophobic, racist grandmother (played brilliantly by Ellen Barkin). Nene Leakes from The Real Housewives of Atlanta rounds out the cast as Bartha’s assistant.

Our Take:

Nicole: This one’s a question mark for me so far, but there is some promise. I’m just not sure I can admit to watching a show with Nene.
Jen: I know!
Nicole: Love Ellen Barkin, though.
Jen: Ellen Barkin as the hateful grandmother kills me. So good!
Nicole: I kinda feel like they ripped off the Modern Family template for this one. It might be too similar in terms of the chemistry.
Jen: Yes, you just know NBC was like “We need our own version of Modern Family. Let’s just amp up the gayness!” But the cast is good, even if the characters are a little stereotypical.
Nicole: Yeah! I wish we had Will and Grace back.
Jen: Indeed. Right now, the only thing that is keeping me tuning in for episode 2 is Ellen Barkin’s amazing one-liners.
Nicole: I’m actually not sure about each of the families. I don’t know if I’m going to like them as much as I like the Modern Family version. They have to be likeable, you know?
Jen: Well, the good news is that Modern Family nose-dived in quality last season, so they’re no longer hard to top.
Nicole: All we need is one sharp episode. That’s how we got roped into Cougar Town, remember? We saw the “single ladies” episode and just kept tuning in.
Jen: That’s true. Though that might have been because we related to that episode a bit too much. 😉
Nicole: If they keep Ellen Barkin’s writing sharp, there’s a chance this show will work.
Jen: My fave Ellen Barkin line (so far): “I thought your mother was a fibroid tumor, and by the time I figured it out she had a face and I was screwed.”
Nicole: Ha!
Jen: I tend to give comedies more time to find their rhythm. It took me two whole seasons to not hate Parks and Recreation, and now that show is total perfection. I wasn’t immediately sold on Community or New Girl either.
Nicole: Oh man, Parks is the best comedy on TV and I skipped a whole season before it got good. So I’m not sure about The New Normal, but I’ll give them a few episodes to settle in.