Laila Morse leaves 'Dancing on Ice'

Laila Morse leaves 'Dancing on Ice'

Laila Morse has become the second celebrity to leave Dancing on Ice.

The EastEnders star was eliminated from the contest following a skate-off with Corey Feldman.

Rosemary Conley, Matthew Wolfenden, Jennifer Ellison, Chico, Sébastien Foucan and Sam Nixon earlier made it through based on viewer votes and judges' scores.

In the judges' vote, Louie Spence chose to save Feldman for having given "the strongest overall performance in the skate-off", while Katarina Witt also chose to send home the injury-stricken actress "for the sake of [her] health".

Head panellist Robin Cousins confirmed that he too would have eliminated Morse, telling the 66-year-old: "I admire your courage for having a go, but I'm quite excited to see what we might see from you, Corey."

Morse earlier admitted to hosts Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley that she was not disappointed to land in the skate-off, echoing her previous comment to Digital Spy that she was hoping for an early exit.

Dancing on Ice continues next Sunday (January 22) at 6.10pm on ITV1, with all 13 remaining contestants skating together for the first time.

TV Tonight 16th of January 2012

TV Tonight 16th of January 2012

The daily list in alphabetical order, of all the new episodes airing.

    112 - på liv och död S05E01: "Del 1 av 36"
    2 Broke Girls S01E14: "And the Upstairs Neighbor"
    A Question of Sport S43E05: "January 16, 2012"
    A.N.T. Farm S01E20: "Some EnchANTed Evening"
    Above Suspicion S04E02: "Silent Scream (2)"
    Adventure Time with Finn and Jake S03E22: "Paper Wars"
    Aguila Roja S04E11: "Capítulo 50"
    Alaska Wing Men S02E03: "Sky Fishing"
    Alcatraz S01E01: "Pilot"
    Alcatraz S01E02: "Ernest Cobb"
    American Pickers S04E08: "Picker Man Blues"
    Antiques Roadshow (US) S16E03: "Tulsa (Hour Three)"
    Austin & Ally S01E06: "Tickets & Trashbags"
    Bargain Hunt S31E11: "Series 31, Episode 11"
    Being Human (US) S02E01: "Turn This Mother Out"
    Betty White's Off Their Rockers S01E01: "Pilot"
    Caged S01E02: "Season 1, Episode 2"
    Cake Boss: Next Great Baker S02E08: "Headbanging Bakers"
    Canadian Pickers S02E02: "Guys & Gas"
    Castle (2009) S04E12: "Dial M for Mayor"
    Celebrity Big Brother S09E12: "Series 9, Episode 12"
    Chelsea Lately S05E201
    Come Dine With Me S18E01: "Series 18, Episode 1"
    Conan S02E33: "Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Merchant, St. Vincent"
    Coppers S02E02: "Public Order"
    Cornwall S01E03: "Episode 3"
    Coronation Street S53E12: "Mon Jan 16, 2012 [Episode 2]"
    Coronation Street S53E11: "Mon Jan 16, 2012 [Episode 1]"
    Days of our Lives S47E47: "Ep. #11757"
    DC Cupcakes S02E15: "One Ton Cupcake"
    Deal Or No Deal (UK) S07E134: "Episode 1814"
    Desperate Scousewives S01E08: "Series 1, Episode 8"
    Dickinson's Real Deal S08E30: "Series 8, Episode 30"
    Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives S13E06: "Meat Madness"
    Disappeared S04E12: "Dancing into Darkness"
    EastEnders S28E10: "January 16, 2012"
    Emmerdale S41E13: "January 16, 2012"
    Escape To The Country S12E10: "Llyn Peninsula, North Wales"
    Extreme Clutter S02E05: "A Double Intervention"
    First Week In S01E02: "Assault with a Deadly Weapon"
    Fort Boyard - Ultimate Challenge S02E01: "Season 2, Episode 1"
    General Hospital (US) S49E200: "#12474"
    Gintama S05E41: "Episode 41"
    Gossip Girl S05E11: "The End of The Affair?"
    Got to Dance S03E19: "Series 3, Episode 19"
    Great British Railway Journeys S03E11: "Oxford to Pershore"
    Hawaii Five-0 (2010) S02E14: "Pu’olo (The Package)"
    Heat Seekers S02E01: "Dallas"
    Hoarders S05E03: "Mary/Annie"
    Hole in the Wall S03E29: "CN Celebs: The Dudes vs. Level Up"
    Hollyoaks S18E11: "January 16, 2012"
    Homes Under the Hammer S14E170: "Series 14, Show 170"
    House of Anubis S02E11: "House of Tunnels"
    House of Anubis S02E12: "House of Goodbye"
    How I Met Your Mother S07E14: "46 Minutes"
    How Sex Works S01E02: "Sexual Adventures"
    iCarly S05E09: "iMeet the First Lady"
    Ich bin ein Star - Holt mich hier raus! S06E04: "Folge 4"
    Intervention S12E03: "Richard K."
    It's a Brad Brad World S01E03: "The Motherload"
    Jeopardy! S28E86: "Show #6291"
    Jimmy Kimmel Live S09E187: "TBA"
    Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness S01E21: "In With the Old"
    Late Kick Off S03E01: "Series 3, Episode 1"
    Late Night with Jimmy Fallon S02E205
    Late Show with David Letterman S19E10: "Simon Baker, Elizabeth Banks, Seal"
    Little Mosque on the Prairie S06E02: "What's in a Name"
    Live with Regis and Kelly S29E100
    Lizard Lick Towing S02E07: "Season 2, Episode 7"
    Love & Hip Hop S02E09: "Back To Reality"
    Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too S03E07: "Players Will Play"
    Mike & Molly S02E13: "Victoria Can't Drive"
    Ministry of Curious Stuff S01E02: "Episode 2"
    Mixed Up S01E10: "Episode 10"
    Modern Marvels S17E03: "Tiny Weapons"
    Mr. D S01E02: "24 Hour Famine"
    Mrs Brown's Boys S02E03: "iMammy (Batteries Not Included)"
    Neighbours S28E06: "Episode 6316"
    Pawn Star$ S04E68: "Crosby, Stills and Cash"
    Pawn Star$ S04E67: "Pawn With the Wind"
    Phineas and Ferb S03E23: "Phineas and Ferb and the Temple of Juatchadoon"
    Pointless S05E95: "Series 5, Episode 95"
    Police Interceptors S04E09: "Series 4, Episode 9"
    Pretty Little Liars S02E16: "Let The Water Hold Me Down"
    Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is S05E11: "Series 5, Episode 11"
    RAW comedy club S05E07: "Håkan Jäder och Ian Stone"
    Red Sonja (BE) S01E07: "Flatscreen"
    Redemption Inc. S01E02: "Season 1, Episode 2"
    Regular Show S03E13: "Weekend at Benson's"
    Saints and Scroungers S03E11: "Series 3, Episode 11"
    Scouted S01E08: "Erin and Alwyn"
    So Random! S01E21: "Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse"
    Sousei no Aquarion S02E03: "The Heartbeat Index ☆ Rapidly Rises"
    Stargazing Live S02E01: "Series 2, Episode 1"
    Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets S02E07: "A Walk in the Park"
    The 7pm Project S04E11: "Season 4, Episode 11"
    The Bachelor S16E03: "Week 3 (S16)"
    The Bold and the Beautiful S25E210: "Ep. #6239"
    The Chase (2009) S05E10: "Series 5, Episode 10"
    The Colbert Report S08E08: "Rev. Scott Douglas"
    The Daily Show S17E44: "Jodi Kantor"
    The Jeremy Kyle Show S07E86: "January 16, 2012"
    The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson S08E11: "Lucy Liu, Kevin Sorbo"
    The Layover S01E09: "London"
    The Lying Game S01E13: "Pleased to Meet Me"
    The Penguins of Madagascar S02E63: "The Big Move | Endangerous Species"
    The Penguins of Madagascar S02E62: "Operation: Antarctica"
    The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills S02E19: "Night of a Thousand Surprises"
    The Revolution (2012) S01E01: "Season 1, Episode 1"
    The Royal Bodyguard S01E04: "The Royal Art of Blackmail"
    The Tonight Show with Jay Leno S19E226: "TBA"
    The View S15E84: "Piers Morgan, Tim Gunn"
    The Young and the Restless S39E207: "Ep. #9822"
    Thuis S17E101: "Season 17, Episode 101"
    TI & Tiny: The Family Hustle S01E07: "King of the House"
    Two and a Half Men S09E14: "A Possum on Chemo"
    University Challenge (1994) S18E36: "Clare College / Homerton College, Cambridge"
    Voetbal International S04E41: "Season 4, Episode 41"
    Wanted Down Under S06E11: "Series 6, Episode 11"
    Watch What Happens: Live S06E07: "Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky"
    Wereld draait door, De S07E92: "Season 7, Episode 92"
    WWE Raw S20E03: "Episode #973"
    Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal S01E39: "The Destined Showdown! Cat-chan VS Dog-chan"

Most of 'Wilfred' Cliffhanger To Be Answered in Season 2 Opener

Most of 'Wilfred' Cliffhanger To Be Answered in Season 2 Opener

"Ninety-five percent of the cliffhanger is resolved in the premiere," showrunner David Zuckerman tells reporters.

Is Wilfred (Jason Gann) real? Was Ryan (Elijah Wood) successful in his suicide attempt? If the dog who appears as a human in a costume does exist, will he remember Ryan? What consequences will Ryan pay for ruining his sister's marriage?

The freshman season finale of Wilfred set up a number of cliffhangers, most of which will be answered when the dark comedy returns to FX in June, showrunner David Zuckerman told reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour.

"Ninety-five percent of the cliffhanger is resolved in the premiere," he told reporters. "That's not to say there aren't new questions asked, but we'll definitely address the cliffhanger in the premiere."

After going above and beyond to get Jenna (Fiona Gubelmann) her job back after she accidentally ate a brownie laced with pot, Wilfred was hit by a car and wound up at the vet and didn't recognize Ryan when he woke up.

Afterward, Ryan questions if Wilfred appeared to him at all, setting up an existential crisis of epic proportions that was made worse when he returned home to find the door to the basement where Wilfred would spend much of his time lead to only a closet.

While the cast was tight-lipped on spoilers -- Gann called himself a "story Grinch" --Zuckerman said the sophomore season would continue to "explore Ryan's journey toward enlightenment, with Wilfred tripping him up along the way."

Writers are currently breaking stories, with Zuckerman, Gann and Wood all hoping to see the return of Mary Steenburgen as Ryan's nutty mother -- whose cat, Mittens, appears to her as a woman (Rhea Perlman) in a cat suit, similar to how Ryan sees Wilfred.

"We do explore her relationship with ryan and their unique shared traits in sort of a fun arena," Zuckerman said.

Also among the cast's wish-list to return: Dwight Yoakam's Bruce, who also "sees" Wilfred and appeared to test Ryan's faith in Wilfred.

Zuckerman and Gann also teased a guest star "event" they've got their fingers crossed for in the June premiere and the potential for a podcast as a partner to episodes, allowing the cast and creators to provide hints along the way.

And for the curious, Gann -- who created the Australian series and subsequent short film on which the FX series is based -- isn't waiting for his phone to ring when nominations for the Golden Collar Awards are announced. "I'd be pretty pissed off if I had a dog in a dog awards show and he lost out to a dude in a dog suit," he joked.

Hulu challenges cable with first original drama

Hulu challenges cable with first original drama

Hulu, the popular online video service, has taken another step to becoming a full-fledged alternative to cable television by commissioning its first scripted original TV show to go live next month.

The new political documentary-style drama "Battleground" is set in Wisconsin and executive-produced by JD Walsh, Hagai Shaham and Marc Webb. It follows Hulu's first original documentary series Morgan Spurlock's "A Day In The Life."

The majority of Hulu's programming to date has been licensed from its parent companies, News Corp, Walt Disney Co and Comcast Corp's NBC Universal, as well as other program makers.

Andy Forsell, Hulu's programming executive, said Spurlock's show had been a success based on data it collected on its audience, but he declined to reveal the program's view counts.

Spurlock's series is being followed up with a second season and being joined by another six-episode documentary series called "Up to Speed" by Richard Linklater, who is perhaps best known for movies "Dazed and Confused" and "School of Rock".

The challenge for Hulu is to ensure it can generate a return on investment in expensive content like scripted drama, which is typically more costly than producing a documentary or reality show.

"We can make the economics work, I've got a budget for originals but there's not the same pressure as a traditional network since we don't have worry about filling airtime," Forsell said.

The original shows will be available on Hulu's free Web service rather than just to its paying Hulu Plus subscribers as the start-up increases its user base and builds its reputation for original programming. But Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar said the dual revenue model of advertising and subscription fees is key to Hulu's future.

"At scale, our model allows us to profitably pay content owners approximately 50 percent more in content licensing fees per subscriber when compared to other similarly priced online subscription services," Kilar said in a blog post on Friday.

Hulu said on Friday it had more than 1.5 million paying subscribers at the end of 2011, and revenue grew 60 percent to $420 million.

Early last year, Kilar forecast that Hulu would generate around $500 million in revenue during 2011. The revenue miss was indirectly blamed on a "soft advertising market" in the second half of the year.

Like other Web companies trying to bring more TV shows and movies online, Hulu is in a race with rival Netflix Inc to buy and develop more content to add to and maintain its subscriber base.

Kilar said the company will spend around $500 million on content in 2012 covering new content acquisition, re-licensing existing content on the service and originals. It is an increase from the $375 million it said it spent last year.

Netflix, which has some 23 million U.S. subscribers, said last March it had secured exclusive rights to the 26-episode television series "House of Cards" a political thriller starring Kevin Spacey and directed by David Fincher.

It was reported last year that Netflix would spend around $100 million to produce the show.

Services like Netflix are increasingly being recognized as direct competition or replacements for premium cable channels such as Time Warner Inc's HBO and CBS Corp's Showtime.

FX President on Charlie Sheen's 'Anger Management': We Like Risks

FX President on Charlie Sheen's 'Anger Management': We Like Risks

FX president John Landgraf said the network picked up Charlie Sheen's new series, "Anger Management," based solely on a pitch and brief outlines for 15 episodes -- but believes it is worth the risk.

"We're a network that likes to take risks," he said at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Sunday.

Landgraf says the network generally doesn't pick up shows that haven't shot pilots, but made an exception for "Anger Management" in part because the show is inexpensive to produce. Lionsgate, the studio behind it, covers much of the cost, he said.

Landgraf is known for giving FX shows an unusual degree of creative freedom, and "Anger Management" has even "more leeway and more creative freedom than most," he said. He stressed that the network didn't just pick up the series to exploit Sheen's notoriety.

"I walked into the pitch as skeptical as you might imagine I would be. Charlie was there, as was the creator the and showrunner [Bruce Helford]. It was just a really excellent pitch," Landgraf said.

He noted that Sheen had turned up the weekend before at a party where he was decidely more mellow than he was in media apprearances last year.

"I think some of you saw Charlie last weekend and I think you saw a very different Charlie Sheen than you had been seeing in the press through the whole end of his relationship with 'Two and a Half Men.' And I saw that guy," Landgraf said.

"And what I heard was a really good pitch for a comedy series," he added. "Funny, complicated, and I think the character that Charlie ought to be playing at this point in the sense that he is a character who has a checkered past but is pretty self aware, is struggling in a very honest way with that checkered past and desire to do more positive things in his life."

Asked during a Q&A whether Sheen deserves a place on television given his past violence against women, Landgraf said the character on the show was trying to improve himself, as Sheen is in real life. The character has a positive relationship with his ex-wife and is trying to raise his 13-year-old daughter.

"I believe in redemption," Landgraf said.

In other FX news, Landgraf said the network has not picked up the pilot for the comic book adaptation "Powers." But he said the network is reconsidering it now that it has been largely rewritten and reshot.

Russell Brand Cites Kurt Vonnegut to Address Katy Perry Breakup

Russell Brand Cites Kurt Vonnegut to Address Katy Perry Breakup

Celebrities, take note: This is how you handle intrusions into your personal life.

Reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour tried gamely to ask Russell Brand on Sunday about his New Year's Eve divorce filing from Katy Perry. He went the intensely intellectual route, first euphemistically referring to the breakup as "events" and referencing Kurt Vonnegut.

"Well I suppose what you're doing is you're making the mistake of seeing time as linear," he told one questioner. "The brilliant American author Kurt Vonnegut, he'll tell ya that if you imagine reality as experienced simultaneously, events become redundant."

Moments later, the British comedian delivered the best "no comment" in the history of celebrity breakups.

"I don't want to further celebrate the overly elaborate, brittle plastic structures of nonsense that are constantly fired into our minds to distract us from what's really important," he said. "So if I'd done something actually newsworthy... then I'd cover it. But if it was just more laquered nonsense, designed to distract us from truth, then I would wisely ignore it."

That's what J. Lo and Marc Anthony should have said during an awkward joint appearance Saturday.

Brand kept reporters rolling with laughter during a panel for his upcoming FX series, "Strangely Uplifting," where he was also asked for his take on the Republican presidential candidates. He said of Mitt Romney: "He's so rich that even the one percent would seem to him like peasants."

He also commented on the shock over Marines urinating on Taliban corpses: "It is bad to wee on a dead body. But it's worse to kill a live one."

Gervais Gives Globes Nothing to Complain About -- Except a Sedate Show

Gervais Gives Globes Nothing to Complain About -- Except a Sedate Show

Ricky Gervais gave the Golden Globes nothing to complain about Sunday night -- except, perhaps, for a sedate show.

Gervais told solid jokes, but none as harsh as the ones last year, when he said nominations for "The Tourist" proved the Globes voters took bribes and claimed that "famous Scientologists" are gay. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the show, initially seemed hesitant to invite him back -- but wisely asked him to return and host for a third time.

Because even toned down, Gervais was still the best part of a decidely slow show. Harsher jokes could only have helped. As it was, Gervais' funniest lines were also his surliest, and came again at the expense of the press association.

Describing HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" in his monologue, he intoned, "It's about a load of immigrants who came to America about a hundred years ago and they got involved in bribery and corruption, and they worked themselves up into high society. But enough about the Hollywood Foreign Press."

He also said the Globes were "just like the Oscars, but without all that esteem."

While it felt a little dangerous last year for Gervais to take on Hollywood sacred cows like Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie (and dangerously mean to drag Cher into it), this time out Gervais went for lots of easy targets, and didn't hit them very hard.

"The Golden Globes are to the Oscars what Kim Kardashian is to Kate Middleton," he said in one of several Kardashian jokes. "Bit louder, bit trashier, bit drunker, and more easily bought. Allegedly. Nothing's been proved."

He also joked with Depp, the first presenter, about whether he had seen "The Tourist" yet. Depp will appear in Gervais' new HBO series, "Life's Too Short."

Gervais' most risqué joke, like his Scientology joke last year, seemed to question a star's sexuality.

"I musn't mention Mel Gibson this year," Gervais said. "Not his private life, his politics, his recent films, and especially not Jodie Foster's "Beaver." I haven't seen it myself. I've spoken for a lot of guys who haven't seen it either. But that doesn't mean it's not any good."

One of Gervais' jokes, about Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek's accents, was so censored by NBC that the punchline was indecipherable for people watching at home. The show was presented with a standard five-second delay, an NBC spokesman told TheWrap.

Gervais also touched on his own well-known agnosticism after urging winners to thank only God and their agents in their acceptance speeches. "God and my agent had exactly the same amount of input into my career," he said.

Meryl Streep, the rare winner who gave an entertaining speech -- even without her notes -- later riffed on the joke. She wittily thanked both her agent and "God -- Harvey Weinstein."

Madonna had another good one. After Gervais introduced her as "just like a virgin," and made a face, she offered a quick and almost certainly scripted retort.

"If I'm just like a virgin, Ricky, then why don't you come over here and do something about it?" she said. "I haven't kissed a girl in a few years."

She added as an aside: "On TV."

But Streep and Madonna were the rare people, aside from Gervais, who could inject life into the show. Among the many slow moments was an uncharacteristically meandering joke from Helen Mirren about Morgan Freeman's "Driving Miss Daisy" as he received the Cecile B. De Mille award.

In another of Gervais' best jokes, he said, "The Hollywood Foreign Press have warned me that if I insult any of you, or any of them, or offend any viewers or cause any controversy whatsoever, they'll definitely invite me back next year as well."

They should. On the condition that he be more insulting.