Gingy Gets a New Job
I want to vomit with excitement. According to TV Guide, Jessica Walter, aka Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development, has agreed to play what sounds like the same role on the CW's 90210 re-whatever.
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Project Runway Crisis Watch
The New York Observer reports on the brewing Project Runway crisis here. The question now is whether the show can survive the jump from hip (I guess), young(ish) Bravo Television for Gay Men to frumpy, middle-aged Lifetime Television for Women.
Can't. Look. Away
According to this report, the Luke-Noah Big Gay Kiss on As the World Turns has sparked what looks like a fairly lame boycott of Procter & Gamble, the conglomerate that produces ATWT. I accidentally started flipping through the comments section of the story and found that I had to read them all -- really creepy.
Take Your Bobo and Leave Me in Peace
Dear Jenny,
Is there something wrong with me that I'm starting to really appreciate Spencer? I used to hate the guy. Remember the cheap, fake-out engagement ring? Remember when he and Heidi tried to fix Brody up with Jen Bunney? Remember "I'm on Team Heidi"? What happened? Did he have some sort of actual, legitimate spurt of personality growth? Or are the producers just feeding him all the best lines because they can't think of anything else to do with him (sort of like Lo in that way)?
Not much to report about the rest of The Hills, except Stephen! Colletti! Should we care? It's been so long since Laguna Beach that I'm not even sure what we're supposed to think about him and Lauren maybe possibly getting together, except totally not, because Stephen! always just wants to be friends (now it's coming back to me). Hey, remember when Stephen! Colletti! was going to be a big star? He shot a film in Rhode Island and no one cared about the more famous actors, they just wanted to catch a sighting of Stephen! (Or so our Aunt said.) Did that film ever come out?
Meanwhile, on the other coast, a pretty good week for Blair Waldorf and for Chuck Bass, a kind of sucky week for everyone else. I don't know how I feel about Nelly Yuki as a cliche -- mildly offensive? not offensive? racist? post-racist? -- and the plot made very little sense (as in, how come Blair was able to win back all the A-girls so easily, after last week's Butter disasters?), but as usual, Leighton Meester worked it for all it was worth. Plus, did you see that cape Blair was working in that one scene? Chuck also managed to make crazy couture (a fire engine red trenchcoat!) work for him, plus something about the Serena-SAT-stand-in really sent me over the edge. BUT the Serena plot is a little boring. Michelle Trachtenberg, at this point, carries so much baggage from earlier roles, that I'm having a hard time with her as Georgina. I can't even tell if she's doing good or bad work here. What do you think? Would this story be better or worse, had Mischa Barton taken the role?
The Paper is finding its groove, isn't it? I still feel like I already know these kids, I mean like I went to high school with them as well. Do you know what I mean?
Love,
-- Pete
Today in 90210 Casting
Lori Loughlin has signed on as "Celia Mills," the new show's version of Cindy Walsh, according to this report. I don't know how I feel about this -- I sort of loved Lori Loughlin, circa Edge of Night, but her performance on Summerland freaked me out.
Meanwhile, according to TV Guide, Lizzie Maguire has turned down the role of "Annie," Lori's on-screen daughter, and the role has gone to Shenae Grimes of . . . wait for it . . . Degrassi: The Next Generation. Yay? I don't feel strongly one way or another about Grimes, who played Christian-ish cheerleader Darcy on DNG, but there's a certain weird, Canadian logic to the casting, isn't there?
David Sedaris on Smoking
Another link to The New Yorker (I know!). This one is David Sedaris writing about smoking. I haven't read it yet, but I wanted to share.
Frakking Spoilers
I couldn't look at the contents of this page, because I try to avoid spoilers. I think it's about the Battlestar Galactica prequel/spin-off/whatever. Do with it what you will.
WAHHHHH!!
According to EOnline, Hilary Duff is being considered for a lead role in the CW's 90210 remake/relaunch/sequel.
Huh
I stopped watching As the World Turns last fall, because I was getting bored with it. Apparently Wednesday's episode was something to see:
Fifty-Fifty Split
Misfortune, Wesley Stace. This is a novel about a boy raised as a girl, in an English estate, in the 19th century. The author is more famous as John Wesley Harding, the relatively successful folk-rock singer. (I'm going to say his biggest hit is "I'm Wrong about Everything," from the High Fidelity soundtrack.) Misfortune is a weird hybrid: in the readers' guide, Stace says that he set out to write a modern novel, set in the 19th century, rather than a Victorian pastiche. I would argue that he ended up splitting the difference: while he mostly uses 21st century language and structures, the complicated, coincidence-dependent plot strikes me as very 19th century. It doesn't matter, though. The novel is compelling -- the plot moves, it's intermittently very funny, and the psychology is absolutely convincing. -- Peter
