Secrets of MTV

Secrets of MTV

Before The Real World, The Hills and Snooki, the M in MTV stood for music. In their new book, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, journalists Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum look back on the cable channel's halcyon days of the 1980s and early '90s, when it became a trend-setting, star-making machine for the recording industry. The book is based on interviews with 400 executives and performers who witnessed the era of excess, experimentation and hair bands. Here are a few nuggets.

1. The slogan "I Want My MTV" was based on an old ad campaign for hot cereal ("I want my Maypo"). But it worked, as teenagers would call cable companies and imitate Mick Jagger's reading of the line.

2. VJs were required to identify Michael Jackson as "The King of Pop" at least twice a week. To coax Jackson into appearing on an anniversary show, he was given an award in the form of a six-foot statue of the MTV Moon Man.

3. VJ "Downtown" Julie Brown flashed people on the set whenever she felt the energy was lagging. Said producer Alex Colletti, "I can't tell you how many times I saw her knickers."

4. Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth was once hospitalized after smashing his television because he was so anguished that MTV reduced the airplay of one the band's videos.

5. The first VMAs did not have a seven-second delay and the F-word was used early and often.

'Once Upon A Time's' Raphael Sbarge Teases Jiminy Cricket's 'Deep Dive'

'Once Upon A Time's' Raphael Sbarge Teases Jiminy Cricket's 'Deep Dive'

The actor tells THR what his character's back-story reveals about Henry, addresses Emma Swan's mythic identity, and confirms someone else will die this season.

From the writers of Lost, ABC’s Once Upon a Time balances the land of fairy tales with the modern world of its Storybrooke, Maine. Each week, it unveils more about its fabled characters and the curse that keeps them trapped and without any memory of who they truly are.

“I guess this is similar to Lost in that they have a large ensemble and what they do is that they take a few characters and they kind of take them, effectively on a deep dive,” Raphael Sbarge, who plays Archie Hopper aka Jiminy Cricket, tells The Hollywood Reporter.

“That deep dive is able to really open up that whole world,” he says with the knowledge that Sunday’s episode will do the same for his character.

While the curious-natured Henry (Jared Gilmore), explores the mysterious sinkhole that has opened up in town for clues, Archie struggles to find some independence from his family’s business. In the process, we’ll learn more about Jiminy Cricket and his relationship to Regina (Lana Parrilla) aka The Evil Queen, as well as Henry.

“This story is very much about Jiminy Cricket,” he says. “But it’s also about, essentially, Henry’s journey, as well. It’s about what he’s struggling with and how he has to find his way with his stepmother and what complexities lay ahead for him, too.”

raphael-sbarge-jared-gilmore-jennifer-morrison-once-upon-a-time-abc-Sbarge says that information on future episodes is kept “pretty tight” on-set, so he’s sometimes not privy to information that form the basis for some of the audience’s burning questions – such as Emma Swan’s (Jennifer Morrison) fairy tale land persona.

“Essentially, I don’t [know],” Sbarge, 47, says. “It’s not clear yet. We know obviously that she was a little girl put into safety in the canoe or whatever that was made of wood. We know that she’s 28. She has come back and obviously she’s there to help fight the curse. That’s what we know.”

“But it’s going to be interesting to see how that opens up,” he continues. “What her fairy tale character is, I don’t know yet and I’m really excited to see what they’re going to do with that.”

VIDEO: 'Once Upon a Time's' Ginnifer Goodwin and Jennifer Morrison Explain Its Version of 'Ever After'

While he doesn’t know Emma’s double identity, he can confirm reports that an unexpected character will meet their end within the next several episodes.

“I can tell you that it’s true. Someone is going to die,” he says. “I guess that’s similar again to Lost where it does obviously add to the high stakes element of the show.”

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Glee Casts Guiding Light Actress to Play Mama Trouty Mouth

Glee Casts Guiding Light Actress to Play Mama Trouty Mouth

Glee has cast Guiding Light actress Tanya Clarke to play mom to Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet), Entertainment Weekly reports.

Gleeks will meet Mary Evans in the Dec. 6 episode and the role may recur. The actress, who has also appeared on NCIS: Los Angeles, will be paired with Smallville's John Schneider as Sam's dad.

It was said that Sam and his family moved away from Lima, Ohio in the season premiere because his dad got a job in another town. Overstreet, however, has since inked a deal to return to Glee in a recurring capacity.

N.B.A. and Players Reach Tentative Agreement

N.B.A. and Players Reach Tentative Agreement

The N.B.A. and its players reached an agreement early Saturday morning, officially ending the second-longest lockout in the history of the league.

The final negotiations took 15 hours, but it was ultimately decided that a 66-game compressed regular season will begin on Christmas Day, according to the New York Times.

NBA Cancels First 2 Weeks of Season

"We've reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations," N.B.A. commissioner, David Stern, said at 3:40 a.m., "but we're optimistic that that will all come to pass, and that the N.B.A. season will begin on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, with a tripleheader."

For now, the regularly scheduled Christmas games will be played as planned: Boston Celtics vs. the New York Knicks, followed by the Miami Heat vs. the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls vs. the Los Angeles Lakers. The remainder of the schedule, which will need to be tweaked in order to accommodate for the lost time, should be released within the next few days.

"We're really excited," said Peter Holt, the San Antonio Spurs owner and chairman of the league's labor-relations committee. "We're excited for the fans. We're excited to start playing basketball, for players, for everybody involved."

Walking Dead's Sarah Wayne Callies: Lori's Afraid Rick and Shane Might Kill Each Other

Walking Dead's Sarah Wayne Callies: Lori's Afraid Rick and Shane Might Kill Each Other

The secret is out!

In last week's episode of The Walking Dead, Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) finally came clean to Rick (Andrew Lincoln), not just about being pregnant, but also that she had had an affair with his best friend Shane (Jon Bernthal). (To be fair, they both thought Rick was dead.)

The Walking Dead Boss: Shane's living on borrowed time -- but hasn't worn out his welcome yet

Now, Lori and Rick will face a challenge more treacherous than ravenous zombies: saving their marriage, a task complicated by Lori's pregnancy. Is it Rick or Shane's kid? TVGuide.com chatted with Callies to get her take on the venomous threesome.

Now that Rick knows about the affair, how will that change things between them?
Sarah Wayne Callies: Andy and I have been playing with the idea for a while that Rick has known for a long time and it was a test of whether or not Lori would be honest with him and when and why. It actually opens the door for things to begin to heal for them. He deeply needed to hear her say that she thought he was gone. She wasn't secretly burning a candle for Shane for the last eight years of their marriage.

You say he needed to hear that, but do you think that's the truth? Lori doesn't have any feelings for Shane?
Callies: I don't think Shane ever crossed Lori's mind as anything other than a dear friend until she was in his arms the night that Atlanta fell. There's something about memory that's really tricky, that when you go back to an event in your mind, it can actually change. Lori's having a much harder time putting it out of her mind and putting Shane out of her mind than she ever would've anticipated, given that it was really just a purely physical thing at its inception.

Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman: Lori's surprising results are only the beginning

How will Shane react to the pregnancy? Will he assume it's his?
Callies: That's her biggest fear right now, because there's no way to be sure whose baby it is, unless it turns out that she's two months pregnant and it happened before Rick was shot. But at this point, there's no timeline, so she's really afraid. Quite frankly, one of the reasons that she considered terminating the pregnancy is because it has the ability to tear these men apart, and that has huge implications not just to her personal life, but to everyone's safety. There's a part of her that's afraid they might kill each other. This is the kind of thing men kill each other over.

What will Shane do to cement himself in Lori's life?
Callies: For a while now, Shane has been trying to protect her and Carl (Chandler Riggs), and has been doing that from a distance and trying to take Rick's place. He's posturing. I'm thinking of the Planet Earth films, where the men of a species are trying to demonstrate to the females that they're bigger, stronger and better. Shane has a new level of investment in Lori's safety, if he does believe it's his child that she's carrying, and that means Rick's protection of Lori has to be that much more complete. It all gets very futile. At a certain point, this culture has devolved into a place where, as a woman, maybe you have to decide who you're with based on who can keep your child alive, rather than who's the best communicator, or who makes the best spaghetti Bolognese.

The Walking Dead: Can the survivors coexist with the family at Hershel's farm?

The Walking Dead's community has regressed to caveman-like conditions. Who can build fire? Who can protect you? That's who you should be with.
Callies: That's exactly right. We talked a lot in the first season about a certain Camelot prospective. You have three people who really do love each other equally. The longer we go on, the more it feels medieval, where there are moments where Lori looks at these guys and goes, "Jesus Christ, if I'm not careful, one of you is actually going to throw me over your shoulder and ride off on a horse with me." [Laughs] It's kind of amazing, especially coming from a woman who six weeks ago was driving a station wagon and shopping at Walmart.

Will Rick use Lori's pregnancy as a card to play to be able to stay on the farm?
Callies: The effect it has on him is more about the need to stay, not just because there's safety, but the need to stay close to the only person who practices medicine, veterinarian or no, and the need to make things right with Hershel (Scott Wilson) and the need to be able to make a home there. The pregnancy heightens all of that because Lori is not going to be able to run forever. There's a time bomb growing in her.

The Walking Dead's Laurie Holden: Andrea greatly admires Shane

How will the survivors deal with the barn in the midseason finale?
Callies: It speaks a lot to what we were discussing before about Rick and Shane. When people find out what's going on, there are very different perspectives on how we should proceed because there are different perspectives on what the true danger is. Is the true danger a bunch of walkers in the barn? Is the true danger Hershel throwing us off his farm? Could Hershel even do that? We outnumber them, we're armed, and who do we become if we make that kind of decision? Those become the questions that are raised with the barn and it deeply, deeply, deeply divides people. The whole thing blows sky-high.

The first half of the season is interesting because you have the illusion of safety for a minute, for a few episodes. You have people experiencing the problems you'd have when you're not necessarily running for your life every second. What the barn does is bring us back into a world where everybody realizes that we're not safe and we're not going to be safe. While it's the end of the first segment of the second season, the second half of the season has a very different character because of what the barn represents and how the situation is handled.

The Walking Dead's midseason finale airs Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.

Smallville's Justin Hartley to Visit Castle

Smallville's Justin Hartley to Visit Castle

Smallville's Justin Hartley will guest-star on Castle, TVLine reports.

The actor will play the boyfriend of Kay Cappuccio (guest star Hilarie Burton), a Kim Kardashian-like reality star who's famous for being famous. No word yet on if they get married for 72 days.

Keck's Exclusives: Hilarie Burton gets the keys to the Castle

Hartley most recently appeared on Chuck.

Castle returns Monday, Dec. 5. Hartley and Burton's episode, titled "An Embarrassment of Bitches," will air early next year.

Money

Money

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? New series. Three programmes focusing on aspects of money, beginning with the extraordinary rise of wealth creation gurus, who teach others how to become rich. The practice developed in America about 15 years ago, and has now spread worldwide, with coaches writing books, releasing DVDs and hosting hotel seminars attended by devoted followers. The film features American wealth gurus Robert Kiyosaki and T Harv Eker, who preach financial freedom through the cultivation of a `millionaire mind', and asks whether any of their British disciples have become rich as a result of their methods

BBC2 London 9:00pm Tue 29 Nov

Coldplay and Michael Buble for X Factor final

Coldplay and Michael Buble for X Factor final

Coldplay and Michael Buble have been lined up to appear in the 'X Factor' final.

While it is not yet known who will be battling it out in the hope of being crowned winner of the ITV1 series, it is thought Irish teen Janet Devlin's voice would be most suited to the 'Fix You' hitmakers and the Canadian crooner could complement Marcus Collins' style.

An insider told the Daily Star newspaper: "There isn't anyone left in the show who would suit Coldplay's music apart from Janet.

"She wowed everyone when she sang 'Fix You'. It shows how confident everyone is that Janet will make the final."

Although the third act has not yet been confirmed, if girl band Little Mix reach the two-part final on December 10 and 11 they are keen to sing alongside 'Price Tag' hitmaker Jessie J, who helped their mentor Tulisa Contostavlos select her finalists at the Judges' House stage of the competition.

Jesy Nelson said: "It would be so cool to duet with her in the final if we make it."

Despite Janet having potentially bagged a slot alongside Coldplay in the 'X Factor' final, she and fellow acts Misha B and Amelia Lily are said to feel "deserted" after mentor Kelly Rowland jetted off to Paris to promote her new single.

Fall TV Report Card: How Is the New Class Doing?

Fall TV Report Card: How Is the New Class Doing?

So many new shows, so little time! With a handful of fall TV casualties already — RIP Charlie's Angels, Playboy Club, Free Agents, How to Be a Gentleman and H8R (and it's not looking too good for Prime Suspect or Man Up either) — it's time to assess what's worth keeping on your DVR, and what you can safely skip.

For now, we're high on American Horror Story, a spooky mash-up unlike anything else on TV, and Homeland, a twisty thriller anchored by two riveting performances. We're cautiously optimistic about Suburgatory, for those who miss Gilmore Girls, but then there are the shows we're thisclose to ditching...

Is your favorite show in danger? Check out our list of 10 "bubble" shows

Read on to see how we see fall TV's freshman class thus far.

2 Broke Girls (CBS)
The Good: Beth Behrs' Caroline is endearing, and Kat Dennings' Max is vulnerable, hiding behind barbs. Both are damaged; together, they're great friends and a great team. Their chemistry results in a fun — and funny — rapport and repartee. Plus: The show acknowledges the current economic climate, unlike just about every other TV show.
The Bad: It's an old Odd Couple trope; and the guys at the diner are too often nothing more than borderline offensive ethnic stereotypes.
Grade: B+

Allen Gregory (Fox)
The Good: Sunday nights on Fox is the place for prime-time animated comedy, and the show features some pretty funny folks, including executive producer/star Jonah Hill, Leslie Mann, French Stewart and Family Guy alum David Goodman.
The Bad: This show isn't nearly as funny as the other "Animation Domination" shows that surround it. And while we get that the premise involves an uncharacteristically mature and insufferably rude 7-year-old, we don't like how the show makes us hate a little kid.
Grade: C-

American Horror Story (FX)
The Good: All due respect to the other bone-chilling ghost stories of the last decade (The Others, The Sixth Sense) but we're really digging Ryan Murphy's hyper-sexual, revenge-bent house of horrors. It's a ghoulish scary movie mash-up with awards-worthy performances by cursed grand dames Jessica Lange, Frances Conroy and Connie Britton, not to mention Kate Mara as a mistress scorned who's prepared to boil more than bunnies.
The Bad: Less is not more here. But they could nix the true-crime stuff — the murders in "Open House," Eric Stonestreet's turn in "Piggy Piggy" — and not miss a beat.
Grade: A-

Enlightened (HBO)
The Good: We all want to be good people. But when someone like Amy (Laura Dern) actually tries — after a workplace meltdown and a subsequent stint at a New Age rehab program in Hawaii — it's painful, heart-breaking, uncomfortable and uplifting all at the same time. Which means, it's pretty funny, compelling stuff.
The Bad: That said, her struggle is so relatable it can also be kind of a downer.
Grade: A-

A Gifted Man (CBS)
The Good: The show's supernatural premise — hotshot neurosurgeon Michael is encouraged by the ghost of his dead ex-wife to tend to those who can't afford him — became an easy, even compelling sell as deftly performed by Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle.
The Bad: Michael's progress to date is best summed up by Paula Abdul: two steps forward, two steps back. Will he become even a little less selfish before year's end? Also, it's still more or less a medical procedural, and it's hard to stick with it when Michael's cases are a lot less interesting than, say, the mysteries House gets to solve.
Grade: B-

Grimm (NBC)
The Good: As the hilarious Big Bad Wolf Eddie Monroe, Silas Weir Mitchell steals the show from former reality star-turned-leading man David Giuntoli. We also appreciate the series' less whimsical approach to childhood fairy tales.
The Bad: There's just no escaping the show's tired procedural format. We know the show is supposed to be dark tonally, but the show is literally really dark. We've had to strain our eyes in more than a few scenes to see what's going on.
Grade: C

Hart of Dixie (CW)
The Good: Rachel Bilson sure is cute! And we're always happy to see Friday Night Lights alums like Scott Porter on our TV screens. Plus: The show feels like a bit of a throwback to the days when shows with heart (get it?) ruled the airwaves at CW's predecessor The WB.
The Bad: Summer Roberts as a hot-shot heart surgeon? Not so much. Almost as unbelievable is the show's nearly cartoonish Southern stereotyping: The town is called Bluebell, gators named Burt Reynolds run loose, and twangy town folk gawk at the new Yankee in their presence.
Grade: C

Homeland (Showtime)
The Good: In a cast that is solid from top to bottom, stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis give outstanding performances as two very different damaged characters. The intricate plotting is full of twists and surprises that keep us engaged (and guessing), but the character study of Carrie and Brody is such that some weeks, the show's central question — is Brody a terrorist? — doesn't even matter.
The Bad: Not much, though we'd hoped the producers would resist the urge to have Carrie and Brody hook up so soon.
Grade: A+

Last Man Standing (ABC)
The Good: The show brought Tim Allen back to series television, and the supporting cast of women surrounding him (Nancy Travis, Alexandra Krosney, Molly Ephraim, and Justified standout Kaitlyn Dever) are all likable enough.
The Bad: Allen's an old dog that hasn't learned any new tricks. He's playing a less likable version of Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor. But it's not all his fault: Creator Jack Burditt found the funny on 30 Rock and New Adventures of Old Christine. The problem here is everyone seems to be on auto-pilot.
Grade: C-

New Girl (Fox)
The Good: Jess only looks like indie hipster queen Zooey Deschanel. Jess is actually a nerd, albeit an adorable one, who has trouble saying "penis" and cries to Dirty Dancing. So enough with (500) Days of Summer comparisons already!
The Bad: We're big believers in Nick and Schmidt, but the show doesn't seem to know what to do with Winston (Lamorne Morris), Jess' personality-free third roommate.
Grade: A-

Once Upon A Time (ABC)
The Good: The ambitious creators of this show have crafted two fully realized worlds with big story ideas. Fortunately, they have a talented, compelling cast (Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Lana Parilla, Robert Carlyle) with which to convey them.
The Bad: The show's split universe can be confusing. The "real-world" versions of the fairy tale characters aren't nearly as interesting as their whimsical counterparts, and there are moments when the fairytale world looks cheap and silly. (But as created by two veterans of the Lost writing staff, the show clearly prefers questions to answers.)
Grade: B-

Person of Interest (CBS)
The Good: We would watch Michael Emerson read the phone book. Even though the show is more procedural than we'd originally hoped, its use of technology and vigilante heroes offer a freshness to the genre. Plus: The cat-and-mouse game between Caviezel's Reese and Taraji P. Henson's Detective Carter evokes the best of The Fugitive.
The Bad: Caviezel borders on charisma-free. Also: The dialogue can be, much like the opening credits sequence, annoyingly expositional.
Grade: B

Revenge (ABC)
The Good: You thought one girl plotting revenge against well-to-do Hamptonites might get tedious week after week? Not so! Especially not with Tyler and the real Emily Thorne coming to town to turn Amanda's master plan upside-down.
The Bad: Daniel (eventually) won us over, but we know he will soon be gone for good. Will the trial for his murder be as suspenseful and surprising as everything that led up to it
Grade: B

Ringer (CW)
The Good: Campy, soapy, murder-mystery fun with Sarah Michelle Gellar playing estranged twin sisters separately on the run — what's not to like? (Did we mention that one of the sisters is a former junkie stripper? And the other is a murderous socialite with no qualms about ensnaring sis in her nefarious plans?)
The Bad: If you're not into cheese, and plenty of it...
Grade: B

The Secret Circle (CW)
The Good: The show shares a source-material author and an executive producer with our TV obsession The Vampire Diaries: But instead of blood-sucking, there's crazy magic!
The Bad: The story can sometimes be a bit slow and disconnected, only sometimes leaving us ravenous for the next episode. Plus: We're not 100 percent invested in certain characters (ahem, Diana), who don't seem to have much reason for being.
Grade: C+

Suburgatory (ABC)
The Good: It's like the half-hour Gilmore Girls, with Jeremy Sisto as a less hyper Lorelai and Jane Levy as a prickly (but still lovable) Rory. Yes, please!
The Bad: Sometimes the suburbanites of Chatswin are painted a little too stupid, as in "Charity Case," where Tessa discovered that her classmates — and guidance counselor -- have no idea what "needy" means, let alone how to spell it.
Grade: B+

Terra Nova (Fox)
The Good: So the villains of our story turn out to be the folks from the future who want to strip Terra Nova of its natural resources to take back to save miserable, depleted 2149. Commander Taylor and Jim want to stop them and protect their untouched paradise. Huh. That could be interesting...
The Bad: But we were also promised dinosaur action! Unfortunately, there's nothing close to Jurassic Park money here -- and it shows. Prehistoric swordfish, really? In the end, the dinosaurs aren't much of a threat, and that means there is nothing to distract us from the boring Shannon family at the show's center.
Grade: C-

Unforgettable (CBS)
The Good: We've missed Poppy Montgomery's charms since Without a Trace was canceled. She has excellent chemistry with co-star Dylan Walsh and, even though they're usually in the background, we're big fans of supporting players Michael Gaston and Kevin Rankin.
The Bad: It's a totally run-of-the-mill "procedural with a twist." (Carrie remembers everything! Well, except for who killed her sister.) And even though solving crimes is a tough job, the show could really stand to lighten up a bit.
Grade: C+

Up All Night (NBC)
The Good: Reagan and Chris are a hip young couple trying to adjust to life with a new baby. It's a welcome spin on the new parents yarn, and it's mostly held up by proven funny people Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph.
The Bad: But none of it is terribly, you know, funny. Also: The workplace antics of Rudolph's Ava, a self-obsessed talk show host who is Reagan's boss and best friend, feel uncomfortably wedged into the misadventures of parenting.
Grade: C+

Whitney (NBC)
The Good: Stars Whitney Cummings and Chris D'Elia, who come from stand-up, are able performers, and their chemistry is one of the show's few bright spots. And, hey, Jane Kaczmarek is Whitney's mom!
The Bad: The show is a bad translation of Cummings' stand-up. She's spouting punch lines rather than dialogue. Most of the supporting characters are one-note ciphers and the show simply feels out of place with the other NBC comedies surrounding it.
Grade: D


The X Factor (Fox)
The Good: Simon Cowell is as unforgiving as ever. Paula Abdul's, er, erratic ways continue to surprise. And of all the music competition shows, X Factor's got the most diverse group of contestants, from a seriously good 14-year-old rapper to an all-girl country pop group to a soulful (and good-looking) 60-year-old singer-songwriter.
The Bad: Nicole Scherzinger is the poor, nay, broke man's replacement for Cheryl Cole, the original fourth judge ripped so suddenly from our already won-over hearts earlier in the season.
Grade: B+