Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

iTunes

RSS

HEAR THIS HOUR'S UPDATE
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST
News Pages

Monday
Sep192011

Ryan Gosling: Bullock and McAdams 'Two of the Greatest Girlfriends of All Time'

Todd Williamson/WireImage(LONDON) -- Ryan Gosling has been romantically linked to Eva Mendes this month, but he'll always hold a special place in his heart for ex-girlfriends Sandra Bullock and Rachel McAdams. Speaking to Britain's The Times, the 30-year-old Drive star says, “I had two of the greatest girlfriends of all time. I haven’t met anybody who could top them." Gosling dated Bullock in 2002-2003 and McAdams on and off between 2004 and 2008.

Gosling points out that it's not easy dating a fellow celebrity. He says, "Show business is the bad guy. When both people are in show business it’s too much show business. It takes all of the light, so nothing else can grow.” He adds, “I’d like to be making babies but I’m not, so I’m making movies. When someone comes along I don’t think I’ll be able to do both and I’m fine with that. I’ll make movies until I make babies. I have no idea when the handover will happen.”

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Alec Baldwin Dropped from Emmys Opening Due to Edited News Corp. Joke

Dario Cantatore/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Sunday's Emmy Awards telecast on Fox opened with a video in which Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy played the fictional "President of Television." Alec Baldwin originally taped that role, but he was dropped at his request after a joke concerning Fox's parent company, News Corp., was edited out, according to Deadline.com.

The joke in question poked fun at News Corp. honcho Rupert Murdoch and the British phone-hacking scandal that involves his now-defunct tabloid, News of the World. After learning that the joke would be cut, Baldwin asked that he not be included in the segment because, Deadline reports, he thought the edit would negatively affect the quality of the video. Fox tells Deadline it made the decision because it did not want to appear as if it wasn't taking the scandal seriously.

Baldwin referenced the report on his Twitter feed prior to the telecast, writing, "Fox did kill my NewsCorp hacking joke. Which sucks bc I think it would have made them look better. A little." He has since denied media suggestions that he skipped the Emmys because of the edit, stating that he had a commitment to appear at a Tony Bennett birthday gala in New York.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Fired NYC Housewife: ‘Women Genuinely Didn’t Like Each Other Anymore’

THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NEW YORK CITY Pictured: (l-r) LuAnn de Lesseps, Cindy Barshop, Alex McCord, Jill Zarin, Ramona Singer, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, Sonja Morgan. Joe Pugliese/Bravo(NEW YORK) -- The Real Housewives franchise has proven once again just how real reality TV can be. Even housewives, and even reality TV stars, get fired.

Bravo confirmed on Saturday the widely-circulated rumors that Real Housewives of New York cast members Jill Zarin, Alex McCord, Cindy Barshop and Kelly Bensimon were given the pink slip for season five of the hit series, set to begin filming in just weeks.

The network portrayed the ladies’ departure from the show as “friendly,” writing in the statement, “We’ve had a fabulous run with all the ladies and appreciate them sharing their lives with our viewers.”

At least one of the women on the other side of Bravo’s ax, however, painted a less-than-friendly picture.

“Following the reunion it was clear that the women genuinely didn’t like each other anymore,” Cindy Barshop, whose appearance on season four was her first, and last, on the show, told ABC News after her firing was confirmed.

Barshop was referring, of course, to the show’s contentious, two-part finale in April that brought all five housewives together in a crying, screaming and finger-pointing recap of the past season.

The mass firings now leave Ramona Singer and LuAnn DeLesseps as the only two members of the original cast to survive through to season five.  The third housewife to avoid the ax, Sonja Morgan, a friend of Singer’s, joined the show partway through season three.

Zarin and McCord were both original New York housewives, alongside Singer and DeLesseps, in the series’ first season back in 2008. Bensimon was added at the beginning of season two, and Barshop officially became a housewife at the beginning of season four.

While the four Housewives’ firings may be the biggest, and not of their own choosing, the departures are not the first for the New York series.  Original cast member Bethenny Frankel appeared on three seasons of the show before leaving for her own Bravo show, Bethenny Ever After, which was renewed for a third season in March.

The four New York castaways, nonetheless, are not the first to be fired from a Real Housewives franchise.  Danielle Staub, of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, and Lynn Curtain, from the show’s original Orange County franchise, were each fired at the end of their respective seasons.

The entire cast of the Real Housewives of D.C. was fired last year when the show was canceled after just one season.

The ladies are proving, however, that a fired housewife does not go down without a fight, nor does a reality TV star relinquish the spotlight easily.

Zarin was visiting her daughter at college when the statement was released by Bravo, so she left it to her representative to tell People magazine, “Jill is humbled by the extraordinary amount of media interest in her response and looks forward to personally opening up about all of this very soon and announcing some exciting new projects.”

Her fellow Bravo stars may have hinted at her future as well.  “Hey @Jillzarin fans: don’t panic, she may have a show of her own…stay tuned!,” Millionaire Matchmaker‘s Patti Stanger tweeted over the weekend.

McCord’s husband Simon Van Kempen also spoke up about his family’s future, telling The Hollywood Reporter, that he and his wife “Don’t intend for this to be the final time you’ll see us on television.”

Bravo said in its statement Saturday that “we continue to have ongoing discussions,” with Zarin, McCord, Bensimon and Barshop.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Ziggy Creator Tom Wilson Dies at 80

Tom Wilson/Universal UClick(CINCINNATI) -- Tom Wilson, creator of the beloved bald, moon-faced Ziggy, died Friday at age 80 at a Cincinnati nursing home. The cause was pneumonia.

“Tom leaves behind a wonderful legacy in Ziggy, a hard-luck comics page hero who serves as a reflection of Tom’s endearing wit and optimism in the face of adversity,” John McMeel, head of Andrews McMeel Universal, whose Universal Uclick syndicates Wilson’s daily comic strip, said in a statement.

Ziggy currently appears in more than 500 newspapers, as well as books, calendars and greeting cards. In 1982, he starred in Ziggy’s Gift, a Christmas special that aired on ABC. Wilson created more than 1,200 drawings and shared an Emmy Award for best animated special.

In 1972, the artist told The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, “Is Ziggy me? I’m afraid so. Everybody is, to some degree.” Two years later, he told the city’s Sun Press, “He’s such a small person in such a big world.”

Ziggy’s beginnings date back to 1969, when Wilson published a book of wordless cartoons called When You’re Not Around, featuring an anonymous, Ziggy-like character. It caught the eye of Kathy Andrews, a former Clevelander starting what was then Universal Press Syndicate in her basement in Leawood, Kansas, with her husband, Jim. She gave a copy of the book to him.

Two years later, looking for single-panel comics, the Andrews came across the book again and asked Wilson to add words to pictures.

“I settled on the name Ziggy,” he told the Sun Press, “because it started with a Z, and that seemed appropriate for this character.”

Wilson later took Ziggy to the card company American Greetings, where he spent 35 years and became president of the creative division. He also launched a subsidiary of American Greetings called Those Characters from Cleveland, which turned out popular characters like Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

'Modern Family,' 'Mad Men' Win 63rd Annual Emmy Awards

Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) -- The 63rd Annual Emmy Awards, held Sunday night in Los Angeles, was a real family show -- Modern Family, that is.

The ABC series went five for five, sweeping the comedy categories: picking up the award for best comedy series for the second year in a row, awarding best supporting actress and actor to Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell, and also winning for comedy writing and directing.

Shocked first-time Emmy winner Julie Bowen said at the podium, "Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Are you kidding me?  I don't know what I'm gonna talk about in therapy next week! I won something!"

In the comedy lead actor categories, there was a repeat and a first-time win.  Jim Parsons won best actor in a comedy series for The Big Bang Theory, while Melissa McCarthy, so memorable this summer in the movie Bridesmaids, picked up her first Emmy for Mike & Molly.

McCarthy won after all six comedy actress nominees had, in an unusual move, assembled onstage together, and McCarthy was presented with a tiara and a bouquet of roses when her name was called.

"Holy Smokes!" she exclaimed onstage, "This is my first and best pageant ever!"  She added, "I'm from Illinois, and I'm standing here, and it's kinda amazing!"

Parson was presented with his Emmy by none other than Charlie Sheen, who shocked the audience by being well-behaved, coherent, polite and gracious.

Addressing his former colleagues at Two and a Half Men, Sheen said, "From the bottom of my heart, I wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming season. We spent eight wonderful years together and I know you will continue to make great television."

In the drama categories, Mad Men was shut out of every major category except the one that mattered: best drama series, which it won for the fourth year in a row.   Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler was a surprise winner for best actor in a drama series, while Julianna Margulies won best actress in a drama for The Good Wife.

Accepting her award for playing the wife of a cheating politician, Margulies addressed her husband, saying, "I love being your good wife, and I'm so grateful you have no political aspirations!"

Both drama supporting categories went to first-time winners: Peter Dinklage won for playing the dwarf Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones, while Margo Martindale, a veteran actress whose resume includes Dexter, Lonesome Dove, Million Dollar Baby and Dead Man Walking, won for her role as Mags Bennett in the series Justified.

Dinklage thanked, not his agent or manager, but his pet-sitter, while Martindale noted, "Sometimes things just take time, but with time comes great appreciation."

Some famous Oscar winners picked up their first Emmys Sunday night -- Kate Winslet won best actress in a miniseries or movie for Mildred Pierce, while Martin Scorsese won for directing Boardwalk Empire.

At the podium, a surprised Winslet hoisted her Emmy and exclaimed, "Oh! Look!  I really did win it!"

Her co-star Guy Pearce, who won for best actor in a miniseries and movie, gave a hilarious acceptance speech, saying that in his role he "got to have sex with Kate Winslet many, many times..."  Pearce added, "...so Kate, I share this with you.  Thank you for letting me insert myself into your world of Mildred Pierce."

Mildred Pierce had the most nominations going into the Emmys but most of the awards in the miniseries or movie category were won by Downton Abbey.

Host Jane Lynch opened the show by having a conversation with the "president of TV," played by Leonard Nimoy.  He was a last-minute replacement for Alec Baldwin, who asked that his pre-taped part be cut out after Fox nixed a joke he planned to make about the phone-tapping scandal involving Fox News Corp, the parent company of Fox TV.

Lynch then kicked off a lengthy song-and-dance number about how TV is a "vast wonderland," as she moved through a series of rooms with stars of different shows, including the casts of Mad Men and The Big Bang Theory, Randy Jackson, Eric Dane and Jeremy Piven and herself as Glee's Sue Sylvester.  It was cute, but couldn't help feel like a rehash of last year's similar song-and-dance, multi-star opening with Jimmy Fallon.

Lynch, who made several jokes about the fact that she's gay, kept things moving, with the help of the Emmytones -- a group of actors that included Joel McHale, Wilmer Valderrama, Cobie Smulders, Taraji P. Henson -- who sang the intro to each category. 

One of the funniest comments in the entire Emmy telecast was the final one.

Stevan Levitan, the creator of Modern Family, recalled that while shooting on location, a gay couple had approached him and said that with Modern Family, "You're not just making people laugh, you're making them more tolerant."

Levitan said, "They're right.  We are showing the world that there's absolutely wrong with a loving, committed relationship...between an old man and a hot young woman."  As the audience laughed, he added, "And looking around this room tonight, I see that many of you agree!"

In the multiple repeat department, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart won best variety, music or comedy series for an astounding ninth time, while The Amazing Race won best reality competition for the eighth time.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

'Dancing with the Stars' Kicks Off New Season Monday Night

ABC(LOS ANGELES) -- The 13th season of Dancing with the Stars begins Monday night with a two-hour premiere on ABC.

Each of the 12 new celebrity contestants will dance either the cha cha cha or the Viennese waltz.  The following night, one of them will be sent home on the first results show of the season.

Dancing with the Stars returns to the ballroom with one of its most controversial competitors to date: Chaz Bono, the first transgender contestant in series history.  His selection was immediately protested by some fans on the Internet.  Other celebrity contestants of note include David Arquette, Nancy Grace and Ricki Lake.

On the pro side, three-time Dancing with the Stars champ Derek Hough is back on the show after taking a season off to work on a film.  He teams with Ricki Lake.  The new pro dancers are Tristan McManus, Petra Murgatroyd, and Val Chmerkovskiy, brother of returning cast member Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Dancing with the Stars airs Monday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.  Here are the celebrity-pro pairings for the new season:

-- David Arquette, actor and estranged husband of Courteney Cox, & Kym Johnson.

-- Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest), Los Angeles Lakers star, & Petra Murgatroyd.

-- Chaz Bono, transgender son of Cher and the late Sonny Bono, & Lacey Schwimmer.

-- Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and recent George Clooney girlfriend, & Val Chmerkovskiy.

-- Kristin Cavallari, former Laguna Beach and The Hills star, & Mark Ballas.

-- Nancy Grace, HLN legal analyst, & Tristan McManus.

-- Rob Kardashian, reality TV star and brother of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, & Cheryl Burke.

-- Carson Kressley, fashion commentator and former star of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, & Anna Trebunskaya.

-- Ricki Lake, former talk show host and Hairspray actress, & Derek Hough.

-- J.R. Martinez, All My Children actor who suffered smoke inhalation and burns to more than 40 percent of his body in Iraq during stint in the U.S. Army, & Karina Smirnoff.

-- Chynna Phillips, actress and Wilson Phillips member, & Tony Dovolani.

-- Hope Solo, goalie for U.S. women’s national soccer team, & Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Charlie Sheen, Ashton Kutcher Bond Backstage at the Emmys

Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) -- Continuing what could only be described as an apology tour that saw him issue mea culpas on The Tonight Show and Today, Charlie Sheen used some podium time as an Emmy presenter Sunday night to cheer on his former Two and a Half Men co-stars.

The less war-like warlock even tweeted some backstage pictures at the event of him bonding with his sitcom replacement Ashton Kutcher.

One pic is the pair posing for a shot, smiling -- to which Sheen tweeted to Kutcher, "@aplusk great talking to you! We'll all be watching! Make us proud!!"  Another shot shows an animated Sheen talking with Kutcher: "Giving the new kid a little advice..!" Sheen posted.

Kutcher's debut on Two and a Half Men is Monday at 9 p.m. ET.  The Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen airs an hour later.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

3D Version of 'The Lion King' Tops Box Office with Roaring Debut

Comstock Images/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The circle of life brought The Lion King back to the top spot at the box office over the weekend.

The 3D re-release of Disney's classic animated film earned an estimated $29.3 million to steal the box office crown from Contagion, which slipped to second place, with $14.5 million.  The original version of The Lion King debuted at number one in 1994, raising over $40 million in its first weekend in wide release.

The weekend's other new releases had mostly unimpressive debuts.  The Ryan Gosling drama Drive pulled into the third spot, collecting $11 million; the remake Straw Dogs opened in fifth place, with $5 million; and the Sarah Jessica Parker comedy I Don't Know How She Does It landed in sixth place, with $4.5 million.

Here are the top 10 movies from Friday through Sunday, with estimated ticket sales:

1. The Lion King 3D, $29.3 million.
2. Contagion, $14.5 million.
3. Drive, $11 million.
4. The Help, $6.4 million.
5. Straw Dogs, $5 million.
6. I Don't Know How She Does It, $4.5 million.
7. The Debt, $2.9 million.
8. Warrior, $2.8 million.
9. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, $2.6 million.
10. Colombiana, $2.3 million.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake Release Statement on Leaked Photos

PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) -- Last week, it was reported that pictures from Mila Kunis' cellphone were leaked online.  They included photos of her Friends with Benefits co-star Justin Timberlake, one of which showed him shirtless.

Their reps are now saying the actors did not exchange inappropriate photos with one another.

In a statement to People magazine, their reps say, "At no time did Mr. Timberlake and Ms. Kunis exchange inappropriate texts or emails....The insistence that there is any inappropriate correspondence between the two parties is entirely false."

The reps further deny that a leaked photo of Kunis in a bathtub, revealing only her head, came from her phone.  The reps say the picture was taken from "an inactive email account that has not existed in three years."

Kunis and Timberlake seem to have a sense of humor about the hacking incident.

Referring to Timberlake's Saturday Night Live sketch "D*** in a Box," the statement said, "Mr. Timberlake would like us to make it clear that while he might write songs about putting things in boxes, he never has and definitely doesn't make a habit of taking any photos of them and sending them."

The statement concludes, "Ms. Kunis would like us to add that while she is a fan of the song, she does not have nor has ever had photos of any male parts in her possession."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Monday
Sep192011

Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez Celebrate His Birthday in Miami

Michael Tran/FilmMagic(MIAMI) -- Marc Anthony didn't leave his estranged wife, Jennifer Lopez, out of his birthday celebration over the weekend.

People magazine reports Anthony, Lopez and their three-year-old twins had a "fun family gathering" poolside at a friend's Miami Beach guesthouse on Saturday.

Anthony turned 43 on Friday night, when he performed in concert in Miami.  According to People magazine, the fans in attendance serenaded him with "Happy Birthday," causing a teary-eyed Anthony to fall to his knees.  After the show, he had a private birthday party at a hotel.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio