Wednesday, December 24, 2025
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SNL: Dana Carvey and Pals Come to Rescue, plus Justin Bieber (Hmmmm)…

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Dana Carvey (a pleasure to see) brought a reluctant and kind of icy Mike Myers with him, plus Jon Lovitz, to try and save “Saturday Night Live” from its torpor. I’m not sure it worked, or anything can. This season has been a disaster, and it just gets worse and worse. The additional cast members, whose names no one knows or cares about, are just terrible. The “vets”–Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Kristin Wiig, Kenan Thompson–are over it, as they say. The stand out sequence, toward the end, was the “Regis” parody–dead on, actually and very funny. “Wayne’s World” returned with Carvey and Myers, who riffed on the title of “Winter’s Bone” for the Oscars. Oy. The best moment in the whole show comes at 1:31 on your DVR, at the very end, when Myers folds him arms and stands way to the left of the screen. Jon Lovitz tries in vain to engage him. Myers mouths “how are you?” then backs away. Then one of the new cast members tries to speak to him, and Myers signals that he can’t speak, as if he has laryngitis.

Two more things about SNL: Justin Bieber, smaller than Dana Carvey’s teen sons, and wearing girl’s red rain boots with inch high platforms. He did not sing on the show. Even in his “Church Lady” scene with Carvey, he didn’t even hum. I always say, singers want to sing. Look at Steven Tyler on “American Idol.” He’s ready to break out into song at any moment. (Jennifer Lopez is not.) I hope Bieber’s movie makes him a lot of money, and that he manages to save and invest it. The clock is ticking.

And the James Franco bit on “Weekend Update” was actually pretty funny. “I like having jobs!” the guy says, as he handles the cue cards and cleans the desk. Whoever played Franco got it.

PS Linkin Park: good timing, six months after their album came out. Talk about marketing.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/213306/saturday-night-live-church-chat

WGA: “Mad Men” Named Best Drama, and Best Episodic Series

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“Mad Men” won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama. Series writer Erin Levy also won for Best Episodic Drama–an award for a specific episode.

Series creator Matthew Weiner accepted the award, ironic since he still has no deal to do a fifth season of the popular, award winning show.

Weiner joked, “We thought you forgot about us.” He then brought up all the writers for the show. Weiner was referring to the fact that HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” has lately been picking up all the drama awards for television. Indeed, “Boardwalk Empire” won the award for Best New Drama.

“Modern Family” won Best Comedy. “The Social Network” won Best Adapted Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. “Inception” by Christopher Nolan won Best Original Screenplay.

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock joked that the WGA Awards are so obscure, guests have to pay for their own parking. Well, that’s the story of writers in Hollywood, isn’t it? There would be no movies or TV without them, but writers are always third class citizens.

Pneumonia Keeps Scott Rudin From WGA; “Modern Family” Wins for Comedy

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The grind of having two Oscar nominations for Best Picture has taken its toll on producer Scott Rudin. Sony Pictures chief Amy Pascal stepped in for him tonight in Hollywood at the WGA Awards, saying that Rudin has pneumonia and couldn’t make it. Pascal went on to present a lifetime achievement award to screenwriter Steve Zaillian. Rudin doesn’t like awards shows and big parties anyway. But strong antibiotics and rest should have him back in fighting form by Oscar weekend…

…”Modern Family’ won the WGA tonight for Best TV comedy. I know people love this show, and it’s new–awards go to new shows because of the novelty. But how could it be better than “30 Rock” or “The Office”? It doesn’t seem possible.

…Everyone at the WGA gets some kind of Skype branded camera. Leah Sydney reports that “Spider Man” Andrew Garfield and girlfriend Shannon Woodward made sure to get theirs. After all, they are English people in the US, with families and friends thousands of miles away…

WGA Awards: Nolan “Inception,” Sorkin “Social,” “World Turns,” “Boardwalk”

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From the Writers Guild Awards in Hollywood:

Surprise! Christopher Nolan won Best Original Screenplay for “Inception.” (Note: “The King’s Speech” was ineligible, as were a few others.)

As expected, and deserved: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network,” Best Adapted Screenplay…

Martin Scorsese‘s “Boardwalk Empire” just won the WGA award for Best new show. “Mad Men” won for Best TV episodic drama and best drama series..

This means that “BE” — thanks to HBO– has swept through the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the Directors Guild and now the Writers Guild. Of course, the Scorsese name helps, and the show is very good, but really…Wow… congrats…But “Mad Men” still remains a winner.

Charles Ferguson‘s documentary, “Inside Job,” won the WGA just now. He won the DGA last week in the same ballroom…

“As the World Turns” just won for best written soap. CBS, of course, killed it last fall after 54 years, and replaced it with the idiotic “The Talk”…

Rose McGowan Will Guest on “SVU”; Mitch Albom Comedy Writer?

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Exclusive: from the red carpet at the Writers Guild of America West awards in Hollywood…with reporting from Leah Sydney

“Boardwalk Empire” just won the WGA for Best TV Drama, beating “Mad Men.” AMC has collapsed as far as awards season goes. What happened here?

More: One of our favorite “Charmed” actresses is coming to “Law & Order: SVU” this winter. Rose McGowan, so good in Quentin Tarantino‘s “Grindhouse,” is filming an episode of “SVU” this week called “Bombshell.” What we hear is that she’s going to play some kind of sex club worker who tries to de-stablize Det. Elliot Stabler–Chris Meloni. Can’t wait to see this. McGowan is one of Hollywood’s most under-utilized players. “SVU” meantime is on a roll. Last week’s episode with Colm Feore was great. They’ve also got Debra Messing coming in during sweeps. Stunt casting? No, just good ideas…

In other TV news: Mitch Albom, radio host and author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” and other inspirational books is working on a comedy pilot…

…”Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner is off to Paris and London for two weeks of promo for the Sundance Channel. Why not? Nothing’s happening on the “Mad Men” front, sources say, so Europe is his oyster…

“Black Swan” co-writer Andres Heinz has got a new film in the works–“The Drowning” will star Vin Diesel, of all people…

The Queen Loves “The King’s Speech”: Report from UK

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The Daily Mail in London reports that the Queen of England has seen “The King’s Speech” and has given it a royal wave of approval.

The paper says that Queen Elizabeth watched the DVD over the Christmas holidays and enjoyed it. Of course, she’s depicted as a little girl in the film. Her parents are the stars.

http://tinyurl.com/68eh37h

By coincidence, I had heard over Christmas that someone had slipped DVDs to Buckingham Palace upon request but no one could confirm and no one knew what had happened. I guess it all worked out.

“The Queen loves a good film,” a source said. “‘The King’s Speech is close to the bone as it is a portrayal of her family life in the 1930s.’

And she should know: she was there.

Meantime, another story in the Mail quotes a 94 year old former Palace worker who says he heard King George VI rehearse his famous speech, complete with some stuttering. The man says he never spoke about it before, because at the time he thought no one would believe him.

As far as other movies based on famous people, I guess we all know how Mark Zuckerberg feels about “The Social Network.” He and his actor counterpart Jesse Eisenberg didn’t exactly embrace last week on “Saturday Night Live.” On the other hand, the Ward family depicted in “The Fighter” loves their movie.

Stevie Wonder Will Get Apollo Theater Award–Isn’t This Lovely?

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Stevie Wonder is getting the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Apollo Theater Foundation. The ceremony takes place on June 13th. Last year, Aretha Franklin was the recipient. Stevie–the greatest of the greats–deserves any award he gets but this one is special. He made his debut on the Apollo stage in 1962 at the age of 12 with his first hit, “Fingerprints (Part 1).”

Nearly fifty years later, he’s still going strong–and has certainly been the inspiration for countless numbers of artists. Next week, Stevie joins Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick at an amFAR anniversary event in New York to reprise their hit, “That’s What Friends Are For.” Then he heads to the MusiCares Person of the Year dinner in Los Angeles to help honor Barbra Streisand.

Meanwhile, if you’re in New York, circle February 15th at the Apollo for a classic night: Smokey Robinson is going to perform with Ashford and Simpson, and Chuck Jackson. It’s a charity event but the tickets are extremely well priced. And this is a Motown fan dream show, frankly. A once in a lifetime opportunity!

Shocker: “Mad Men” Is No Closer to Coming Back

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As of yesterday, “Mad Men” was no closer to returning with new episodes than Mubarak was to resigning as president of Egypt. Actually, the latter will probably happen first. According to sources, AMC and Lionsgate still have no deal with the show’s creator and head writer, Matthew Weiner. Hello? I mean, what is the deal here? Before “Mad Men” came along, AMC was showing old Westerns. And Lions Gate, really: Carl Icahn was trying to destroy them, and their claim to fame was that “Precious” star Mo’Nique was the first Oscar winner with an apostophe in her name.

(One thing I really don’t get: unlike other cable shows, “Mad Men” will make an easy transition to syndication. There’s very little that has to be changed, not much overt sex and little bad language. You’d think all parties would want to get to at least a marketable 78 epsiodes–which means two more seasons. That would take the show, I’d think, to a natural conclusion at the end of 1969.)

Weiner and his staff won’t start writing new scripts until he has a deal, that’s just the way it works. It’s now February 4th. Last year, “Mad Men” began on July 15th. That date doesn’t look so possible right now. “Mad Men” fans want to see what happens next to Don Draper and friends. We are not happy. Also, how is it that AMC could have blown both the Golden Globes and SAG awards, losing everything to HBO and “Boardwalk Empire.” Happy as we are for Steve Buscemi…Man up, AMC andLions Gate. Let’s get going already….

Mick Jagger, Playdates, and Roberta Gets Flack at the Dakota

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Mick Jagger is performing with Raphael Saadiq at the Grammys in memory of Solomon Burke. Jagger last performed at the Grammys 25 years ago. He and the Rolling Stones obviously owe their careers to American R&B, they’d be the first to tell us that. The Solomon Burke tribute is very nice, although the late rotund soul singer was more admired for his style than his actual chart hits. Solomon’s famous stage prop was a huge gold throne, a cape and a crown. Maybe Mick will don those items as a salute. Strangely, Keith Richards is not in this mix. Are they even speaking after Keith’s book lacerated Mick? You’d think Keith would be celebrating Solomon up there, too…

Roberta Flack is being mistreated at the Dakota. I was very chagrined to read this in the New York Times. Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. is suing the famed New York apartment house. claiming racism. They wouldn’t let him buy another apartment, he says. He and Roberta are just about the only minority owners in the place. (Yoko doesn’t count, she came in with John originally and after all, her husband was murdered in the entry.) Who in the world would be stupid enough to mock or be unkind to Roberta Flack? It’s just unthinkable. And The Dakotans are supposed to be so sophisticated! Fletcher’s brother, Geoffrey, won an Oscar for writing “Precious.” That doesn’t impress the secretive Dakota board, I guess. Neither does the $80 million that Harvard grad Alphonse is worth. (No? Wow. I think we’re all impressed. Really.) Last spring, Fletcher gave the most elegant cocktail party for his brother, by the way. This whole thing is really bad, bad news for the Dakota board…

Thelma Adams is the playful film critic and writer for US Weekly, and she’s a member of the New York Film Critics Circle. In her spare time she’s written a novel, called “Playdate.” It’s not about children. It’s about the parents messing around with each other. So far “Playdate,” which has Thelma’s comic voice clearly at its center, has been compared to “Little Children.” It’s that mixed in with “Desperate Housewives” and Susan Isaacs. On Monday night, our pal Warner Bros. pr guru Debbie Nathin managed to get all the publicists and editors and writers in town to lay down arms temporarily and raise a glass to Thelma. Congrats! Get “Playdate” on amazon.com or at a bookstore if you still know where one is…

Annette Bening, Geoffrey Rush Could Score Oscar Upsets

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Oscar ballots went out this week to Academy members. “The King’s Speech” seems like a lock for Best Picture. There are also some definites: Colin Firth for Best Actor, Melissa Leo for Best Supporting Actress. But what’s still fluid and in flux? Judging  by past voting trends, there are two possible upsets: Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress.

In the former, Christian Bale was superlative as Dicky in “The Fighter.” But dial back to 1997 and “The English Patient.” Betting money had Lauren Bacall winning Best Supporting Actress for “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” The Hollywood legend had never won an Oscar, and there was a lot of support and sentiment for her. But “The English Patient,” like “The King’s Speech,” was a tsunami. It pulled Juliet Binoche in, surprising Bacall and her fans.

This could happen again. With Firth, the movie, and the original screenplay very solid, “The King’s Speech” may pull along Geoffrey Rush. Before Bale was on the scene, everyone thought Rush was a lock for Best Supporting Actor. It’s a long shot, but who knows? There are those who think Rush was equal to Firth in “The King’s Speech.” They may check off his name at the last minute. I wouldn’t blame them.

In Best Actress, Natalie Portman has lots of awards for “Black Swan.” She’s young, cute, and pregnant. She’ll have a long career. But there are plenty in the Academy who remember Annette Bening’s performances in “American Beauty” and “Being Julia,” her two best prior Oscar shots before “The Kids Are All Right”, as well as “The Grifters.” This should have been her year. How many times do we expect this woman to go through Oscar campaigns and come out a loser? Not only that: imagine the irony of Firth and Bening, who once co-starred in the dreadful “Valmont,” emerging together as winners years later. It’s delicious.

What else? Yes, we know Aaron Sorkin has Best Adapted Screenplay in hand for “The Social Network.” But who gets Best Director? Is it David Fincher, to split the vote, or Tom Hooper, following “The King’s Speech.” I’ve said this before: Fincher has the lower profile. A lot of people think Sorkin directed “The Social Network”; he’s the face of the film in the Oscar campaign. Hooper also has the DGA, which is hard to shake; rarely does the DGA winner lose the Oscar. Oh, those last two awards are nail biters. There won’t be an empty seat in the Kodak Theater when those announcements come.