Rare pics of Taylor and Burton

(Life.com) -- There are Hollywood romances, and then there are superstar romances, and no superstar romance ever managed to cram as much scandal, star power and unabashed sexual attraction into one gaudy package as the affair, marriage, divorce, second marriage and second divorce of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Their tumultuous liaison before the marriages and divorces famously began in 1962 on the set of the colossally over-budget epic, 'Cleopatra'. Fodder for gossip columns and tabloids, all these years later their affair remains the gold standard for famous folks behaving badly on movie sets. (Of course, their behavior seems downright quaint, and even circumspect, compared to the squalid hijinks of many of today's celebs.)

Here, on the 50th anniversary of the movie's June 12, 1963, release in the U.S., LIFE presents a series of photographs most of which never ran in LIFE made on the Roman set of 'Cleopatra' by photographer Paul Schutzer.

Via: Rare pics of Taylor and Burton

Cowell gets egged

(CNN) -- With five eggs, Natalie Holt did to Simon Cowell what hundreds of reality show singing contestants have wanted to do for years.

The woman pelted the rather acerbic singing competition judge with the eggs during Saturday night's live finale of "Britain's Got Talent."

According to EW.com, Holt was playing in the backup orchestra for brothers Adam and Richard Johnson when she got up from her chair onstage. With an egg carton in her left hand, she cut through the young men and began to toss eggs at Cowell and the other judges.

Holt, who had a sheepish grin on her face, tossed at least five eggs at Cowell before security stopped her. The brothers kept singing, finishing an operatic version of "The Impossible Dream."

At least one toss must have hit its mark, because Cowell removed his jacket after the incident.

Cowell tweeted on Sunday: "I don't think eggs should be allowed on talent shows. Discuss?"

Via: Cowell gets egged

Review: 'The Internship' amuses

(EW.com) -- In the rude, antic, and brazenly funny "Wedding Crashers" (2005), Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn played overgrown arrested-development cases who won us over from their very first whopping lie onward. At the time, the two actors were already in their mid-30s, but they were still able to mount a bad-boy generational assault against all things civil and decent. "The Internship" reunites Wilson, with his smarm-that-looks-like-sweetness (or is it the other way around?), and Vaughn, with his disaffected fast patter. The audience is still rooting for them only this time the two are playing the older, stodgy guys.

They're Nick (Wilson) and Billy (Vaughn), designer-watch salesman who lose their careers in what seems like the tick of a second hand. Tossed into a dead-end job market, without any real prospects, they talk their way into an internship on the sprawling, buzzy Silicon Valley campus of Google, where they're pitted against a bunch of brainiac 20-year-olds who live and breathe technology and don't get any of the pair's pathetically ancient pop-culture references (Stalag 17, anyone?). Directed by the workmanlike Shawn Levy (who made the Night at the Museum films and Date Night), the movie is a halfway clever cookie-cutter culture-clash comedy, but there's a reason that it lacks the highs of "Wedding Crashers:" The Internship puts us on the side of those who are trying to hold on to respectability, not tear it down.

The movie was made with the cooperation of Google, which is why its basic attitude toward the search engine that changed the world is one of unironic reverence. True, the place can come off looking a bit goofy and obsessive. The leader of the internship program is Mr. Chetty (The Daily Show's Aasif Mandvi), a po-faced corporate guru who lights up whenever he extols the virtues of ethereal concepts like ''Googliness.'' And when the army of interns gets divvied up into a dozen competing teams, only one of which will ultimately land jobs there, Nick and Bill are stuck with the social outliers that no one else wants the geeks among geeks. They're led by Lile (Josh Brener), a shrimpy, horn-rimmed genius who tries to fit in by saying things like ''fo shizzle.'' (He's clearly been saying that since he was about five.)

The actors cast as Google interns are likable and mildly amusing in a "Revenge of the Nerds" 2013 way. But I wish that at least one of them had been given a major voice, a way of making the tech banter seem hilariously cool. The likeliest candidate would have been Stuart (Dylan O'Brien), with his sullen stare and open contempt for our heroes, but the character loses his superior edge over time, which is the movie's mistake. It's up to Nick and Bill to teach these brilliant losers how to live, and what that comes down to is showing them that it's fun to let go and do Tequila shots and dance like crazy and hit on people. How rebellious!

The Internship was written by Vaughn and Jared Stern, and it's got little jabs of wit, like the scene in which Nick and Bill are duped into addressing a bald instructor in a wheelchair as ''Professor Charles Xavier'' (he is not pleased). A lot of the film is devoted to showing how the cult of technology and the human element don't need to be opposed; they can, and should, work hand in hand. That's a nice message (and it's certainly a swell advertisement for Google), but it's not a funny message. "The Internship" gets so caught up in healing the generational divide that it's ostensibly about the analog dudes vs. the digital kids that the movie ends up being just a pleasant collection of mild laughs. It needed more spin, more Googliness. Grade: B

Via: Review: 'The Internship' amuses

Kardashian's divorce final

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Kim Kardashian's and Kris Humphries officially became divorced this week -- 20 months after she filed papers to end their 72-day marriage.

Los Angeles County Superior Court confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that the divorce became final Monday.

This simplifies life for Kardashian, 32, as she is close to giving birth to a daughter, fathered by new boyfriend Kanye West.

The due date has not be made public, although she did reveal the baby's gender this week on her reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."

Humphries, an NBA forward, accused Kardashian of fraud by entering the marriage only to make millions of dollars with their wedding, Humphries' lawyer, Marshall Waller, told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney last year.

The August 20, 2011, wedding was aired in October on E! Entertainment in a two-part special titled "Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event."

Via: Kardashian's divorce final

Pia Zadora charged in fight

(CNN) -- Singer-actress Pia Zadora landed in jail after she allegedly fought with her teenage son when he wouldn't go to bed early Saturday, police said.

Zadora, 61, was charged with domestic violence battery and coercion for allegedly scratching 16-year-old Jordan's ear as she tried to take his cell phone when he dialed 911, according to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police report.

Jordon told police his mother and her husband -- Las Vegas Police Det. Michael Jeffries -- were drinking alcohol in their home before the incident.

The trouble began around 11 p.m. when his mother said she was tired and she ordered him to bed, the police report said.

"Jordan said he told his mom he wanted to stay outside and talk because it was a weekend night," the report said. Zadora became "upset and angry" and "got the hose and started squirting everyone, insisting that Jordan go to bed and Mike Jr. leave."

She then scratched her husband's face and was "punching and scratching" her 32-year-old stepson, the report said.

Several hours later -- at 4:30 a.m. -- the mother and son "wrestled" over Jordan's cell phone, it said.

"Pia then grabbed him from behind around his head, grabbing his eyes and face, leaving a scratch on his left ear," the report said. "Jordan got away and Pia came up and again grabbed him from behind encircling his neck in the process."

When police arrived, they were not allowed inside the home, but they realized a police officer -- Jeffries -- lived there, the report said.

Two officers found an unlocked door in the rear and entered, the report said. "Metro Police. Come out with your hand up," an officer announced.

"What are you doing in my house?" an unknown male voice replied.

"I then stated that he knew why we were there and to come out so we could talk," the reporting officer wrote.

"Why don't you f--king come back here and get me!" the unknown male shouted, the report said.

The police officers retreated from inside the home and waited for SWAT officers to surround the house, the report said.

Zadora later told police she did not come out because she thought her husband, a detective "would take care of it."

After a couple of hours of sleep -- with the SWAT officers still surrounding her house -- she said she called 911 and operators told her to go outside, which she did.

Via: Pia Zadora charged in fight

Dap-Kings' star has cancer

(CNN) -- Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are putting plans to tour and release a new album on hold this year in light of Jones' cancer diagnosis.

The soul singer said in a statement Monday that she had been diagnosed with stage 1 bile duct cancer.

"Over the last few weeks I haven't felt good and I didn't know what was going on. We sadly had to cancel shows while I went through a series of tests and short hospital stays," Jones said in the statement announcing her diagnosis. "... Luckily we caught it really early and fast and the doctors say it's operable and curable!"

Watch: Before the show with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Jones said she plans to have surgery soon but will need rest following the procedure. As a result, the band isn't going to release the new album, "Give the People What They Want," on August 6 as previously planned.

But Jones assures fans that she and the Dap-Kings will be back in business -- with an album release date and rescheduled tours -- as soon as she's able.

Via: Dap-Kings' star has cancer

Latest Jackson trial news

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Michael Jackson traveled with what amounted to a mini-clinic and an anesthesiologist who used a surgical anesthetic to put the singer to sleep after shows during his "HIStory" tour, sources close to Jackson told CNN just days after his death.

But Paul Gongaware testified Friday that he never saw indications Jackson used drugs or traveled with a doctor when he managed that tour in 1996 and 1997.

What Gongaware knew -- or didn't know -- about Jackson's drug use is a key issue as the Jackson wrongful death trial enters its sixth week Monday in Los Angeles.

The co-CEO of AEG Live -- the concert promotion company being sued by Jackson's mother and children -- returns for a fifth day of testimony Monday.

The Jackson family contends AEG Live is liable in Jackson's 2009 death because it negligently hired, retained or supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Gongaware was the top producer of Jackson's comeback concerts when the singer died of an overdose of the surgical anesthetic propofol. It was Gongaware who negotiated the deal to pay Dr. Murray $150,000 a month to be Jackson's physician for the "This Is It" tour.

Jackson lawyers argue that Gongaware should have known the hazards of hiring the doctor because of his personal experience with Jackson -- and his work with other artists, including on Elvis Presley's last tour.

AEG Live lawyers contend their executives had no way of knowing that Murray was using propofol to treat Jackson's insomnia because the singer was very good at keeping his "deepest, darkest secret."

"AEG knew nothing about this decade-long propofol use," AEG Live lawyer Marvin Putnam said in his opening statements. "They were a concert promoter. How could they know?"

Gongaware, under questioning by his own lawyer Friday, testified that he only became aware that Jackson was addicted to painkillers when the singer made a public announcement after his "Dangerous" tour abruptly ended so he could enter rehab in 1993.

He was a manager for the "Dangerous" tour, but only handled logistics and didn't travel with Jackson then, he said.

His job on the second half of the "HIStory" tour, however, carried more responsibilities and he worked closely with Jackson, he said.

Gongaware testified that he saw "no indication at all" that Jackson was using drugs during that tour. "I would be certain to notice it if that was the case."

Did Jackson have a doctor treating him during the "HIStory" tour, his lawyer asked.

"Not that I know of," he answered.

In fact, Jackson was "sensational" on stage, performing 10 to 12 shows a month, he said. Unlike in the "Dangerous" tour, he never canceled a show because of his health.

"He only missed one," he said. "That was when Princess Diana died. He heard about the accident, went to bed, woke up, found she passed away and it affected him deeply."

But an interview that Jackson gave to Barbara Walters weeks after Diana's death could help Jackson lawyers refute Gongaware's claim that no doctor traveled with the singer during the tour.

Walters asked Jackson about how he learned the news that his friend, the princess, had died.

"I woke up and my doctor gave me the news, and I fell back down in grief and I started to cry," Jackson said. "That's why the inner pain, the pain in my stomach and in my chest, so I said 'I cannot handle this. It's too much.'"

Jackson's statement that a doctor was at his bedside when he woke up the day of a scheduled "HIStory" show in Belgium is not the only evidence he did have a physician on the tour.

Dr. Neil Ratner, an anesthesiologist from New York, has acknowledged that he traveled with Jackson during part of the tour. He was at Munich, Germany, in July 1997 when a stage collapsed and Jackson suffered a back injury. It was two months before Diana's death.

Dr. Ratner declined to talk about his treatment of Jackson when CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta confronted him outside his Woodstock, New York, home in July 2009, although he did confirm that Jackson had trouble sleeping.

"It's really something I don't want to talk about right now," he told Dr. Gupta.

A source who was close to Michael Jackson told Gupta in 2009 that when Jackson had trouble sleeping that Dr. Ratner helped "take him down" and "bring him back up."

Ratner, who was convicted of insurance fraud and stripped of his license to practice medicine for three years in 2002, is on the witness list for the trial and has been questioned in a deposition by each side.

Debbie Rowe -- Jackson's former wife and the mother of his two oldest children -- will testify that she assisted in administering propofol to Jackson in the 1990s when she was a nurse, AEG Live's Putnam said on the opening day of the trial.

"She saw several doctors put Mr. Jackson to sleep in hotel rooms while on tour," Putnam said, including in Munich, London, Paris.

But Gongaware and others did not know, he said.

"The truth is Mr. Jackson fooled everyone," Putnam said about Jackson's propofol use. "He kept those who might have helped him at a distance and no one knew his deepest, darkest secret."

Jackson's ability to keep his private side private meant AEG executives could not see any red flags warning of Jackson's destruction, Putnam said.

"They didn't see this coming," he said. "They had no idea."

Putnam said Jackson family members -- including Janet and her famous siblings -- will testify about their failed attempts at intervention and their lack of knowledge about what was happening.

"If they didn't know what was going on, how could someone else think there was even a problem," he said.

Via: Latest Jackson trial news

'After Earth' crashes

(EW) -- Ever since "Independence Day's" $50.2 million debut during Fourth of July weekend in 1996, Will Smith has been the undisputed king of the summer box office.

He's led films like "Men In Black"; "Bad Boys II"; "I, Robot"; and "Hancock" to massive grosses -- both domestically and around the world.

But his latest effort, "After Earth," landed with a major thud on opening weekend, grossing just $27 million (distributor Sony told outlets it was expecting $35 million before the weekend) and opening in third place with a tepid "B" CinemaScore.

Critics have a field day with 'After Earth'

The $130 million M. Night Shyamalan-directed sci-fi film, based on an original story idea by Will Smith himself, also starred the A-lister's son, Jaden. The father/son duo previously found success with 2006s "The Pursuit of Happyness," which earned $163.6 million, but this time around, the casting gimmick wasn't enough to get audiences into the door.

"After Earth's" opening weekend was Smith's lowest summer debut since his first wide release, "Made In America," which bowed with $11.8 million in 1993. Discouragingly, "After Earth" opened with even less than Smith's oft-ridiculed "Wild Wild West," which wrangled $27.8 million in its opening weekend in 1999.

So what went wrong? Well, M. Night Shyamalan's name certainly repelled many potential viewers. The director has lost credibility with audiences after films like "Lady In The Water," "The Happening" and "The Last Airbender," and Sony wisely kept his name out of all marketing materials. l

Still, film buffs (and anyone that read the scathing reviews) weren't fooled. The blame can't lie solely with the director, though, especially at a time when people seem to feel little affection for the Smith family. Between accusations of Hollywood nepotism, backlash against eyebrow-raising interviews and lingering suspicions about their involvement with Scientology, Will, Jaden and the rest of the gang seem to be in a bit of a public opinion rut.

Review: "After Earth"

Whatever the reason for "After Earth's" domestic under-performance, Sony is hoping that international grosses can make up lost ground. And that certainly could happen since Will Smith's films often gross more overseas than they do in America. Last year, "Men In Black 3" took in $179 million domestically and $445 million internationally, and time will tell whether "After Earth" enjoys a similar fate.

But there were other movies at the box office this weekend, too. Let's talk about those!

"Fast & Furious 6" topped the chart for a second time, dropping by a hefty 65 percent to $34.5 million. While that's the largest-ever second weekend drop for a "Fast" film, the well-reviewed sequel has already earned $170.4 million in just ten days, making it the second-highest grossing entry in the franchise behind "Fast Five's" $209 million haul.

Worldwide, "Fast & Furious 6" (or is it just "Furious 6"?) has earned $480.1 million, and it should race past the $600 million mark with ease. Universal spent about $160 million on the film. (Fun fact: between "Fast & Furious 6," "Pain & Gain," "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" and "Snitch," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has had a film in the top 10 every weekend since February 22.)

The title of 'Fast & Furious 6' is not 'Fast & Furious 6.' Or is it?

The surprise of the weekend was Summit's magician thriller "Now You See Me," which worked box office magic on its opening weekend and earned $28.1 million from 2,925 theaters good for second place.

Expectations for the $80 million thriller, which stars Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Isla Fisher and Mark Ruffalo, were in the $20 million-range, but business proved buoyant. Audiences, which were 51 percent female and 52 percent under 30, issued the film an enthusiastic "A-" CinemaScore grade, which should help the action entry thrive in coming weeks.

Two holdovers rounded out the top five. "Star Trek Into Darkness" dropped by a distressing 56 percent to $16.4 million in its third weekend, lifting its total to $181.2 million. The $190 million sequel is now officially lagging behind 2009s "Star Trek," which had earned $184.5 million at the same point in its run. Most sequels of well-received blockbusters get a big boost in business, but "Darkness" hasn't been so lucky.

In fifth, Fox's animated film "Epic" fell 51 percent to about $16.4 million, giving it a $65.2 million total against a $100 million budget. It looks like this won't be another "Croods"-like performer for the studio.

1. "Fast & Furious 6" -- $34.5 million

2. "Now You See Me" -- $28.1 million

3. "After Earth" -- $27 million

4. "Star Trek Into Darkness" -- $16.4 million

5. "Epic" -- $16.4 million

Just outside the top five was "The Hangover Part III," which fell 62 percent to $15.9 million in its second weekend, giving it a weak $88.1 million total. It's truly astonishing how poorly "Part III" is playing when compared to "The Hangover Part II," which had earned $185.8 million at the same point in its run.

Yes, after 11 days "Part III" is trailing its predecessor by $97.7 million domestically. The $103 million Warner Bros. film is unlikely to even reach the $135 million mark that "Part II" earned in just five days. Fortunately, the film just had a stellar $82.3 million opening weekend overseas.

See the original story at EW.com.

Via: 'After Earth' crashes

Famous Okies pull off benefit

(CNN) -- On Wednesday night, Blake Shelton brought together an all-star lineup for a benefit concert to help those in Oklahoma recover from last week's devastating tornado.

The event, called "Healing in the Heartland," was held in front of a sold-out crowd at Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Arena, and broadcast on NBC.

Shelton, a coach on the network's singing competition "The Voice," tapped fellow Okies Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic to perform alongside Usher, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts and Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert.

Lambert gave a particularly emotional performance during the telethon, as she choked up in the middle of her song, "The House That Built Me." The lauded country artist made it about halfway through before tears overtook her ability to sing, and the audience cheered their support and stepped in to carry the song until Lambert could continue.

Her husband joined his fellow "The Voice" coach Usher to close out the show with another poignant performance, this time of Michael Bubl's "Home."

"I'm here tonight with some of my closest friends from Oklahoma and beyond to join in and help with the rebuilding and recovery of this land that means so much to me," Shelton said during the concert, which carried on in the midst of another severe weather threat.

Vince Gill, for one, wasn't going to let that stop him from his mission of uplift. "I told somebody tonight, I said, 'Well, if another one comes and they tear some more stuff down, we'll help 'em build that back up, too!'" the country singer said with a laugh.

Gill is from the area, having grown up roughly 10 miles north of where a monstrous tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, leaving 24 dead, including nine children.

"Your heart hurts for those people and those kids who got killed. ... It rips your guts out every time," Gill said. "They're struggling and they've lost everything they have, a lot of people. Their homes, their possessions, their pictures and their whole history is gone in a flash. You can't do anything but reach out and say, 'We're here.' "

Money raised during the telethon is going to the United Way of Central Oklahoma's relief fund. If there's a silver lining to be found, Gill said, it is in the humanity seen during a crisis.

"When times are tough like this, people step up and help each other. It's a human element and a human touch and it's awesome to see that," he said.

OneRepublic's Tedder, who grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said he hopes those who watched the show "will take away just the overwhelming sense of pride in the state of Oklahoma, and the people. I mean, these are the nicest people on Earth," he told CNN.

Via: Famous Okies pull off benefit

Quinto talks about producing

(EW.com) -- Over the past few years, Zachary Quinto has established his acting rep by playing Sylar in "Heroes," a couple of memorable roles on "American Horror Story," and, of course, Spock in the last two "Star Trek" movies. So you could describe his transition into producing as, well, "logical." Certainly it has gotten off to an encouraging start. Quinto produced director J.C. Chandor's financial crisis movie Margin Call through the actor's Before the Door company the production outfit he runs with partners Corey Moosa and Neal Dodson and exec produced Chandor's Robert Redford-starring "All Is Lost," which just screened at Cannes.

Through Behind the Door, Quinto has also produced the new film "Breakup at a Wedding," a nuptials-themed comedy which is told through the lenses of the wedding videographers. Directed by Victor Quinaz and starring Quinaz's brother Philip and Alison Fyhrie as the engaged couple this tale of a big-day-which-goes-horribly-awry is available on VOD from June 18.

Below, Quinto talks about "Breakup at a Wedding" and, below that, you can exclusively check out the movie's new poster here which was created by Tom Hodge (the designer responsible for the similarly eye-catching posters for The Innkeepers and Hobo With a Shotgun).

Entertainment Weekly: I'm guessing you're kind of happy to be talking about something which doesn't involve spaceships.

Zachary Quinto: Well, I've been having a great time talking about all that stuff, too. No complaints! But it's always good to promote other projects that I have going on. The great thing about this movie is that it really is a friends and family situation. We've known Victor and Anna (Martemucci, who cowrote the film with the Quinaz brothers) for years. And to be able to give them this opportunity and to bring all the other collaborators that they work with on a regular basis into the equation was really gratifying for us. One of our main tenets is providing opportnities for people that we've loved and have inspired us for a long time and Victor and Anna are certainly among them.

EW: The wedding comedy is well-tilled ground. What attracted you to the project?

Quinto: One of the other things that we're really focused on at my production company is innovative storytelling, whether that means the story itself or the style in which the story is told. In this case, we felt like, yes, the wedding comedy has definitely been done and done very well by other people already. But what we felt was fascinating about this script was taking the found footage mode that tends to be reserved for more horror, thriller, genre projects and applying it to this more traditional romantic comedy.

We're really excited to be working with Oscilloscope and obviously this poster that they've done up which is so incredible, to see all the faces of all of our friends in that kind of high art rendering, it's really gratifying. It's been all-round a really good experience and on the heels of everything else that I have going on.

EW: This film is different in almost every imaginable way from Margin Call. Was it a similarly different experience in terms of producing it? Or were many of the challenges and problems the same?

Quinto: It was very different to produce this, just simply based on the budget. I mean, Margin Call was about a $3.5M film and this is a half of a million dollar film. So we had less resources and less time. It was also different because it was our friends and literally their familyyou know, Victor and Phil are brothers and Victor's mom is in the movie and Anna's mom is in the movie. It really was a friends and family affair. We had a lot of good times while making it but we basically holed ourselves up in a hotel out by JFK and just were there for pretty much two weeks banging away all hours and shooting multiple pages a day. It was definitely a brisk experience but luckily the style of the film allowed for that to happen. It was really fun, but definitely a brief encounter.

EW: Did making this movie alter your own views on marriage at all?

Quinto: [Laughs] Um...No. I think there's a tremendous amount of heart in the film and I think the journey that Phil and Alison take in the movie is one that is very relatable in terms of people entering into that institution. But I would say my views on marriage are ambivalent at best anyway so I feel like it's just sort of kept me in that same space.

EW: What's the one practical lesson you've learned as a producer?

Quinto: Not to sit in meetings where they're talking about actors and actors' value. There are certainly things I've learned as a producer that no actor should ever know. And the way that we are talked about in financing meetings and casting meetings is one of them. So I recuse myself of those conversations with financiers until my business partners are able to handle that part of it and then I come in.

EW: When you say the "value" of actors you mean their actual financial value to a project?

Quinto: Yeah. You know, we all have a number attached to our name and that number is different domestically than it is internationally. It's different in different territories and financiers really do break it down by those kind of metrics. It's horrible because you're talking about people and you're talking about talented people and to hear them talked about in such a broad and impersonal way can be really disappointing.

EW: Well, if it makes you feel any better, I feel like we've all got a number by our names one way or another.

Yeah, you're right. I guess that's true. It doesn't make me feel any better. But thanks for trying!

See the original story at EW.com.

Via: Quinto talks about producing

Meet the new 'X-Men'

(CNN) -- Perhaps they could be called X-Women.

For 50 years, Marvel Comics' X-Men have been known for being ahead of their time in terms of diversity and tackling issues of social justice.

In this week's "X-Men" 1, the team of mutant superheroes will look a little different than what fans are used to: They're all women.

Not only is it the first time that an X-Men team has been all female (in a primary "X-Men" title, no less), but Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey and Psylocke join the Fearless Defenders as one of two Marvel female super-teams. Before that, the best-known all-female super teams were DC Comics' "Birds of Prey," introduced in 1996, and 1998's indie book "Danger Girl."

(Another all-woman team was pitched to Marvel and reportedly rejected, and in 2011, the sole Marvel title with a solo female protagonist, "X-23," was canceled because of low sales, while "Red She-Hulk" will be canceled as of August).

Never before has a household name team like X-Men been turned over to only women. But the late Professor Charles Xavier's school has been named after the X-Men's first female member, Jean Grey, since 2011.

If any existing superhero team were going to be rebooted this way, it would be the X-Men, with its many strong female characters.

CNN recently spoke with "X-Men" writer Brian Wood and editor Jeanine Schaefer about this historic moment in X-history.

CNN: Did you originally set out to put together an all-female team?

Schaefer: This is 100% something I've wanted to do in my heart of hearts for years. And when Brian started on X-Men, his team was only women.

Wood: It's kind of hard to pin down exactly how it got to this. It was kind of easy to make that leap.

Schaefer: People seemed to be connecting with it. It was just the team that worked and gelled. It was the team Brian wanted to write and the team that I wanted to read. There's been a lot of talk about female characters in comics. This felt like the time was right.

Wood: X-Men is so rife with powerful female characters anyway, more so than any comic book universe or group. Our lineup is total A-listers. You can build a team with your eyes closed. All the stars aligned.

CNN: How was it decided who would make up the team?

Wood: Jeanine and I spoke for six months about this. New ideas came to us; other X-Men books were being developed. I don't know if we picked the cast first and figured how they would work together.

Schaefer: It went through so many iterations, I honestly don't know how we got here either. You love Storm.

Wood: I like Storm. I wanted her without a doubt. We were gonna bring Jubilee back; she has been absent for a period of time. These were like the best of the best characters. It made sense to pack it with big names. The characters have histories with each other which makes for a natural team makeup.

CNN: Do you think this is in keeping with the X-Men tradition?

Schaefer: This is definitely not the first all-female team in comics, but there's also a history of finding it harder to do. For me, it's tough because you want to do it. If it doesn't succeed, it gets pointed out that that's because it's a team of all women.

Wood: I've seen that happen. Even now, there's a lot of peanut gallery comments about the fact that it's a female team. It's happened before and been unfairly blamed. I think what makes this so great. Through Jeanine's hard work at Marvel, this is "X-Men" 1. If any book is gonna have a shot at it, I truly believe it's gonna stick. We're not gonna bring in dudes to bring up sales. It's gonna be a powerhouse seller.

CNN: Since this is book is part of the "Marvel Now" line, will we see any changes in some of the characters?

Schaefer: A couple of the costumes are recently new.

Wood: So far, there's one modification to one of their powers. There's a child in the mix, and that's a pretty big change.

Schaefer: A lot of these characters are in other books also. We want to make sure you're getting the same character across all these books. We want to make sure that we're reflecting what's going on with Rogue in "Uncanny Avengers," for example.

Wood: I definitely have a lot of flexibility with Jubilee. She's a favorite character of mine. I wouldn't call her the leader, but she's definitely the focus at the beginning here.

CNN: What else can we expect in the first few issues?

Via: Meet the new 'X-Men'

Anderson back on small screen

(CNN) -- It's safe to say that Gillian Anderson has returned to television.

The former "X-Files" star is involved in three TV series, beginning with a lead role in "The Fall," a psychological crime thriller that debuted to rave reviews on May 13 in Britain. The show hits the U.S. on May 28 when it'll be available for streaming via Netflix.

In "The Fall," Anderson plays a detective who's pulled into a serial killer case with a unique twist to the genre: the audience knows the culprit from the beginning.

But her on-screen exploration of killers doesn't stop there. Recently, she's been seen on NBC's "Hannibal," playing Hannibal Lecter's psychiatrist. Later this summer, she'll start work on a new NBC show called "Crisis," which got a series pick-up earlier this month.

CNN spoke with Anderson recently from New York City about her new TV series, the groundbreaking nature of "The X-Files," and whether Mulder and Scully will reunite on the big screen.

CNN: In "The Fall" you play Stella Gibson, a detective looking for a serial killer. She seems like a very serious person. Is this one of your more serious roles?

Gillian Anderson: I don't know about that. I've played a lot of serious women. I seem to be the go-to woman for seriousness, but as you will see, she's not all serious. There is some lightness in there and some different flavors of personality, I promise.

CNN: The show tells the story in a unique way in the sense that the audience knows who the killer is from the onset. What's interesting for you about the way the story is told?

Anderson: First of all, that hasn't really been done before which is always nice to jump into something that has a bit of uniqueness in this day and age of many, many shows about serial killers. The story lines themselves are very intricately woven and individually complex. The fact that you got a serial killer who is attractive, who is a good father and who is also a grief counselor on the side while he's stalking women and doing unthinkable things ... is really eerie. The fact that he's so recognizable as someone we might meet in a bar ... there's so many different layers in this story. It's a cross section of human life and death, and that's something in this that works on a much deeper level than just a simple tale of a serial killer hunted by a detective.

CNN: When working on a show that deals with a serial killer, do you ever take your work home with you? Is it depressing to think about murder a lot?

Anderson: I don't think about it all the time. I think I learned quite early on in my career when I was working on the "X-Files" that what's on the page, stays on the page. What's on the set, stays on the set. Very often if I'm working on dark material, I work on it in day time. So it doesn't effect my night. But also, it's easy ... we talk about compartmentalizing in the series -- I think it's easy to compartmentalize.

CNN: You also played Hannibal Lecter's therapist on NBC's "Hannibal." Is the psychology of killers something you know well at this point in your life?

Anderson: No, not necessarily I don't feel like I'm any particular expert on it even though I've played many characters who seem to be hunters. Hannibal was something that came out the blue. Bryan Fuller, the creator, convinced me how fun it would be to come play with them for a little while. How cool it would be to be Hannibal's psychiatrist. I believed him and said yes. It's funny. I don't think about these things all together; I think about them individually.

CNN: In some other alternate universe, could you be a therapist?

Anderson: I could definitely be a therapist. I could not be a forensics pathologist or a detective.

CNN: TV's having this great creative moment right now that everyone is pointing out. Do you think "X-Files" forged a path in certain ways in terms of what the medium could do?

Anderson: It was No 1. It was the first one. There's been a plethora of copy cats and a plethora of different shows that tried to emulate not just the success, but the formula, but also the production values.

Our show was the beginning of huge amounts of money going onto the screen. But also, the darkness of it: we were the first show to kind of "turn off the lights" and just light ourselves by flashlight -- and also the subject matter. The dark subject matter, the paranormal subject matter, the science-fiction, the duo, the intelligent woman on TV ... they were kinda No. 1 with all that.

CNN: You do play a lot of smart people.

Anderson: [Laughs.] I do play so many people that are so much smarter than I am. It's ridiculous. If only I could contain the information that they spout in my practical life, that would be very good.

CNN: You have another series due out later this year on NBC called "Crisis." What's your character like on that?

Anderson: It seems like that's going to be mid-season. The story as a whole is that there's a high school of elite children in Washington D.C., including the son of the president, and they're on their way to New York for a school trip and their bus gets hijacked. I play a mother of one of the kids who is the son of a CEO of a multinational [corporation]. The story is about what these high-powered people will do to get back the things they care most about, which is their kids.

CNN: Is there talk about another "X-Files" movie?

Via: Anderson back on small screen

Elvis' connection to Jackson's death

Los Angeles (CNN) -- AEG Live co-CEO Paul Gongaware, whose career as a concert promoter started with Elvis Presley's last tour, testified Tuesday about Michael Jackson's final days.

"I was working on the Elvis tour when he died so I kind of knew what to expect," Gongaware wrote in an e-mail to a friend two weeks after Jackson died. "Still quite a shock."

Gongaware, who was one of the top producers of Jackson's comeback concerts, is expected to be on the witness stand for several days in the fifth week of the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial.

Janet Jackson, the late singer's youngest sister, made her first appearance in the Los Angeles courtroom, sitting next to her mother, Katherine Jackson. Sister Rebbie and brother Randy Jackson are in the courthouse but are not allowed to view the testimony because the judge has limited the family to one sibling at a time in court.

Jackson's mother and children are suing AEG Live for liability in the pop icon's death, accusing the concert promoter of negligently hiring, retaining or supervising Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

AEG lawyers contend that Michael Jackson chose, hired and supervised Murray and that his bad decisions were fueled by a drug addiction their executives had no way of knowing about.

AEG exec called Jackson "freak" before signing concert contract

The Elvis connection

Elvis' name came up as Jackson lawyer Brian Panish questioned Gongaware about his knowledge of drug use during concert tours. He should have been able to recognize red flags signaling Jackson's drug use because of his experience with Presley and his time as Jackson's tour manager in the 1990s, the Jacksons contend.

"I kind of knew what was going to happen, yes," Gongaware testified. Panish then showed jurors the e-mail in which he made a similar statement.

When Gongaware was managing Jackson's 1993 tour, he warned the tour doctor "Don't be a Dr. Nick" -- a reference to Presley's last physician -- the doctor testified in a deposition.

"Dr. Nick was the doctor whose overprescription of drugs to Elvis had led to Elvis' death," according to a court filing by lawyers for the Jackson family.

Presley collapsed in the bathroom of his Memphis, Tennessee, mansion -- Graceland -- on August 16, 1977, at age 42. While his death was ruled the result of an irregular heartbeat, the autopsy report was sealed amid accusations that the abuse of prescription drugs caused the problem.

"Dr. Nick" -- Dr. George Nichopoulos -- said later he was treating Presley for insomnia. He was charged with overprescribing drugs to Presley, but he was acquitted. He later lost his medical license in another case.

Jackson died on June 25, 2009, at age 50. The coroner ruled his death was caused by a fatal combination of sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol. Murray told investigators he gave Jackson nightly infusions of propofol to treat his insomnia. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to four years in prison and stripped of his medical license.

Sweet controversy at Jackson death trial

Gongaware was with Presley manager Col. Tom Parker when he first met Jackson in Las Vegas, he testified.

The Jackson lawyers are using Gongaware's Elvis and "Dr. Nick" reference to argue that "AEG knew Jackson had suffered chronic substance abuse and drug dependency problems for many years."

"Shortly after he joined the 'Dangerous' tour in 1993, Dr. Finkelstein was asked to treat Jackson for pain," the Jackson filing said, referring to Dr. Stuart Finkelstein, a doctor on the 1993 tour.

"Having observed signs of opiate addiction in Jackson, Dr. Finkelstein nonetheless administered Demerol by injection, and administered morphine intravenously in Jackson's Bangkok hotel room for 24 hours."

After that, Finkelstein told Gongaware "he thought Jackson had an opiate dependency problem," the filing said.

"For three and a half months, the 'Dangerous' tour continued," it said. "Another doctor attended Jackson regularly, on one occasion breaking into Dr. Finkelstein's bag to get opiates to administer to Jackson. Gongaware was there the whole time, in charge of tour logistics, aware of the various physicians present, and he discussed with Dr. Finkelstein Jackson's opiate problem."

When Gongaware warned Dr. Finkelstein, whom the brief described as his "close friend," not to become Jackson's "Dr. Nick," he was "warning me, you know, don't get all infatuated where you start administering meds to a rock star and have the rock star overdose and die on you," Dr. Finkelstein testified.

Despite working as a tour promoter for 37 years -- including for Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead and many others -- Gongaware testified that the only artist he ever knew that was using drug on tour was Rick James.

Gongaware is currently the tour manager for the Rolling Stones North American tour.

Fooling Mikey?

Jurors were shown several e-mails from Gongaware that Jackson lawyers suggested were evidence that AEG Live deliberately misled Jackson about how much money he would make from his comeback concerts and how many days he would have to rest between shows.

Gongaware wrote to his boss, AEG Live President Randy Phillips, that they should present gross ticket sales numbers to Jackson, not the percentage of the net profits, during contract talks. "Maybe gross is a better number to throw around if we use numbers with Mikey listening," his e-mail said.

He sent an e-mail to his assistant in March 2009 suggesting that she design a concert calendar for Jackson using light tan colors for show dates, while drawing attention to his rest days.

"I don't want the shows to stand out so much when MJ looks at it. Less contrast between work and off. Maybe off days in a contrasting soft color. Put 'OFF' in each off day after July 8, as well. Figure it out so it looks like he's not working so much."

Under questioning Tuesday, Gongaware said he "wasn't trying to fool him. I wanted to present it in the best possible light."

The 'smoking gun'

Gongaware is also a key witness because he wrote what Jackson's lawyers call the "smoking gun" e-mail which they argue shows AEG Live executives used Murray's fear of losing his lucrative job as Jackson's personal physician to pressure him to have Jackson ready for rehearsals despite his fragile health.

Gongaware's e-mail to show director Kenny Ortega, sent 11 days before Jackson's death, addressed concerns that Murray had kept Jackson from a rehearsal the day before: "We want to remind (Murray) that it is AEG, not MJ, who is paying his salary. We want to remind him what is expected of him." Gongaware, in a video deposition played in court on the first day of the trial, said he could not remember writing the e-mail.

E-mails become key

"They put Dr. Murray in a position where if he said Michael can't go or can't play, if he said I can't give you those drugs, then he doesn't get paid," Jackson lawyer Brian Panish told jurors in his opening statements.

AEG lawyer Marvin Putnam said in his opening statement that Gongaware and other AEG executives had no way of knowing about Jackson's use of propofol to sleep.

"AEG knew nothing about this decade-long propofol use," Putnam said. "They were a concert promoter. How could they know?"

Gongaware will also face questions about an e-mail in which he seemed to question Jackson's commitment to his "This Is It" tour.

"We cannot be forced into stopping this, which MJ will try to do because he is lazy and constantly changes his mind to fit his immediate wants," he wrote to AEG's Phillips.

Jackson makeup artist Karen Faye testified earlier abut an incident in which Gongaware became frustrated because Jackson locked himself in a bathroom at his home, refusing to leave for rehearsals at the Forum. Gongaware was "angry and kind of desperate to get Michael to the Forum," Faye said.

She overheard Gongaware screaming on the phone at Jackson's security guard, telling him "to get him out of the bathroom. Do you have a key? Do whatever it takes."

Choreographer: AEG considered 'pulling the plug' on Jackson comeback

'Trouble at the Front'

Jackson lawyers are also expected to ask Gongaware about e-mails he received that raised questions about Jackson's health in the last weeks of his life.

"This Is It" production director John "Bugzee" Houghdahl wrote to him on June 19, 2009 -- six days before Jackson died -- "I have watched him deteriorate in front of my eyes over the last 8 weeks. He was able to do multiple 360 spins back in April. He'd fall on his ass if he tried now."

Houghdahl's e-mail, titled "trouble at the Front" was written after Ortega sent Jackson home from a rehearsal because of his strange behavior.

"He was a basket case and Kenny was concerned he would embarrass himself on stage, or worse yet -- get hurt," Houghdahl wrote. "The company is rehearsing right now, but the DOUBT is pervasive."

Via: Elvis' connection to Jackson's death

Bynes: Officer sexually harassed me

Editor's note: This story contains graphic language.

(CNN) -- Amanda Bynes has had a rough few days -- some might say, a rough few months -- landing in jail after allegedly tossing a marijuana bong out of her 36th-floor New York apartment window.

On Saturday, the 27-year-old actress took to Twitter with a simple message: "Don't believe any reports."

And she didn't stop there.

The New York police's story -- as related by spokesman Christopher Pisano -- is that officers were called Thursday to her abode in Manhattan's theater district after her building manager reported the 27-year-old was smoking an "illegal substance" in the lobby.

Bynes had headed back to her apartment by the time police arrived, but she let officers in when they knocked on the door, according to Pisano.

Once inside, the officers noticed a bong and other marijuana paraphernalia sitting on a coffee table, which Bynes immediately started to throw out a window.

That account from police, Bynes insists, is "all lies."

Amanda Bynes in trouble, again

Her story is that she was "sexually harassed by one of the cops the night before last" -- the same police officer who, she wrote, ended up arresting her.

Bynes said she had opened her window "for fresh air" and didn't throw out any drug paraphernalia, claiming the officer "lied" when he claimed she did.

Then, she alleged of the officer in her apartment, "He slapped my vagina. Sexual harassment. Big deal."

Asked Saturday night about Bynes' claim the unnamed police officer had sexually harassed her, New York police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said: "As it would with any such allegation, regardless of its credibility or lack thereof, the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating it."

The actress had more to add. Bynes said she was handcuffed, "which I resisted ... then I was sent to a mental hospital. Offensive."

The evolution of Amanda Bynes

"The cop sexually harassed me, they found no pot on me or bong outside my window," Bynes tweeted. "That's why the judge let me go."

Police charged her with tampering with physical evidence, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of marijuana, Pisano said. Bynes was charged with endangerment because the paraphernalia could have hit someone below. According to media reports, she appeared in court Friday and was then released until her next appearance in July.

This week's ordeal is the latest of Bynes' run-ins with the law.

She has a DUI case pending in Southern California, while a pair of separate hit-and-run incidents against her were dismissed late last year. Earlier this month, the actress was sentenced to three years probation for driving on a suspended license.

Along the way, her once squeaky-clean image -- she was a young teenager when she burst on the scene as the lead in Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show" -- has taken a hit. After that program, Bynes starred alongside Jennie Garth in the sitcom "What I Like About You." She later scored roles in movies, including "Hairspray" and "Easy A."

Via: Bynes: Officer sexually harassed me

TV shows to watch this summer

(CNN) -- Summer doesn't have to be a bleak time for television-viewing -- some of the best shows on the air ("Breaking Bad") or on Netflix ("Arrested Development") are on just in time for Memorial Day and beyond.

This season there are plenty of new shows that look promising, including a limited-series run from the mind of Stephen King, acting showcases from Liev Schrieber and Mark Strong and a handful of adaptations from previously existing shows abroad, including an intriguing international murder mystery. Whether you want comedy or drama, serious or soap, we've got your summer couch time plotted alphabetically right here, with the top 10 new and returning shows worth checking out.

"Arrested Development" (Netflix)

The Bluths (and Fnkes) are back! After seven years (both in terms of the real world and the world within the show), Michael returns to town, George Michael is in college (and may or may not have a thing going with Maeby), Lucille is under house arrest and Tobias and Lindsay are still figuring out their relationship.

Guest stars including John Krasinski, Busy Philips, Kristen Wiig and Seth Rogen promise to liven up the escapades, where each chapter follows a single member of the family over the same stretch of time. Showrunner Mitch Hurwitz originally told audiences they could watch the 15 episodes of this anthology series (which were released on Sunday at 12:01 PST) in any order, but he has since reconsidered. He now says the show should be watched in sequential order, as this is but the first act of a potential movie. Get ready to binge.

"Breaking Bad" (AMC)

The final eight episodes, which will determine whether Walter White will live, die or go to prison, premiere on August 11. Show creator Vince Gilligan is keeping the plot under wraps, but in a recent interview with New York magazine, he did give one clue: "In my mind, the ending is a victory for Walt. You might see the episode and say, 'What the f**k was he talking about?' But it's a somewhat happy ending, in my estimation."

"The Bridge" (FX)

In this remake of a Scandinavian series ("Bron"), premiering on July 10, Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir play detectives hunting down a serial killer operating on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. A journalist (played by Matthew Lillard) gets involved, since his car was used in the crime, and before long, he's getting phone calls from someone taking credit for the murders. The cartels, immigration issues and poverty all play a part in unraveling the truth, which they promise will be revealed in a rewarding way.

"Dexter" (Showtime)

The eighth and final season of "Dexter" kicks off on June 30, and although six months have passed since Deb shot LaGuerta, she's worse off than before, surviving on a cocktail of Xanax, Paxil and Adderall. Confronting her serial killer brother, she tells him, "I shot the wrong person in that trailer... You made me compromise everything about myself that I care about and I hate you for it." Meanwhile, neuro-psychiatrist Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Rampling) has been brought in to help Miami Metro as an expert on psychopaths, since a new one is killing people and scooping out parts of their brains. Never a dull day in Miami.

"Low Winter Sun" (AMC)

Based on the 2006 British miniseries, Mark Strong plays a detective in Detroit who murders his partner, a fellow cop, on the show that premieres August 11. "There is an ongoing conspiracy and a secret that his character has," explained co-star James Ransone. "It's definitely taking its own path from the BBC series, because that was only two episodes, so it was more like a four-hour movie, and this is long form and a little more human." Expect to see the dark side of Motor City.

"Mistresses" (ABC)

A summer soap premiering June 3, "Mistresses" is based on a British series of the same name about four friends who bond over their illicit affairs. Star Alyssa Milano said they tried to bring the show to the United States a couple of times in different incarnations -- including one version for Lifetime with her "Charmed" co-star Hollie Marie Combs -- until finally this one, co-starring Yunjin Kim, Rochelle Ayets and Jes Macallan -- worked out. "I don't know why things work or don't work," she said. "You just have to take a leap of faith and hope something sticks." She said that the show will be a "guilty pleasure for men," and a "pure pleasure show for women" as "It's very sophisticated."

"Ray Donovan" (Showtime)

Liev Schreiber plays a Los Angeles fixer (think Olivia Pope on "Scandal," but with more athletes and celebrities as clients than politicians), who has trouble when his father (Jon Voight) is released from prison five years early. Premiering on June 30, the show explores "male sexuality in all its variant incarnations," Schreiber said. But that doesn't necessarily mean a lot of sex scenes. "Male sexuality doesn't have to do with nudity," he laughed. "It has to do with people's psychological and sexual behavior. Nudity is one thing; sex is another."

"Save Me" (NBC)

Anen Heche plays a Cincinnati-based woman who thinks she has a direct line to God after choking on a sandwich -- and no, this is not based on the actress' alter ego Celestia. "Save Me" premiered May 23 and revolves around Beth Harper's journey back toward being an involved wife and mother, as she cheerfully strives to make amends to everyone she's ignored or alienated, including her husband who wants a divorce. "There is this notion of second chances, about transformation, and where that comes from," Heche said. "Plus, she now knows stuff about everyone in town, and it doesn't necessarily come in the way you think God might talk to someone. Like she'll say someone needs to have more sex in their life."

"True Blood" (HBO)

When we last left Sookie and company, Bill had drunk the blood of the first vampire, Lilith, and re-emerged from his own goo as a possible god. When we return for a 10-episode run (instead of the usual 12) on June 16, humans and vampires are going to war, courtesy of Louisiana Gov. Truman Burrell (new cast member Arliss Howard). "Humans are fighting back," Alexander Skarsgard said. "They've figured out a way to actually be a real threat to vampires." The faeries are still very much a factor, as Sookie and Jason learn more about their family lineage, starting with Rutger Hauer as Niall Brigant. Sookie also will find a spark with Ben Flynn (played by Rob Kazinsky), a faerie she nurses back to health after a vamp attack. "I just want my life back," she says -- but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

"Under the Dome" (CBS)

Via: TV shows to watch this summer

The cult of 'Arrested Development'

(CNN) -- Seven years after its finale, one of the greatest cult hits in television history is making a return. "Arrested Development" lasted three season during its initial run on FOX, with critical acclaim but dismal ratings.

Since its final episode aired in February 2006, a little thing called Netflix ushered in a new way of watching television. In doing so, the comedy found a massive following who kicked themselves for missing the dysfunctional antics of the Family Bluth before it received the dreaded "canceled" sentencing from prime-time television.

In a rare move, the Emmy-winning comedy is making a return, with 15 new episodes with the original cast and crew in tow. After a reported bidding war among outlets, Netflix won the rights to the fourth season everyone hoped for, but no one saw coming. After numerous false starts and scheduling conflicts, series creator Mitch Hurwitz was finally able to work in time for his entire clan to continue the saga of the least redeemable family in Orange County.

CNN recently caught up with the cast to discuss the new episodes, and star Jason Bateman appeared overjoyed at their family reunion.

"There really aren't a lot of shows that get to come back together, at least under these circumstances, where it's not a desperate retread and no one's really done much since the show went off the air. This was a celebratory gathering, a lot of good news, and we knew that we were being included in this effort that Netflix is making to change the way television is brought to people. We're just fortunate to be a part of that."

"Arrested" is the latest in Netflix's recent foray into producing original content, and marks a new way for people to enjoy television. For those who missed the show during its original run, Netflix made it possible to watch the entire series in one sitting. The increase in popularity for streaming and subscription services has created a culture of television binge-watching. Many fans of "Arrested Development" have never seen the show any other way, and on May 26, these same fans will have 15 new half-hours for their viewing pleasure. Portia de Rossi, aka Lindsay Bluth, admits to being a victim of binge-watching herself.

"I find it really frustrating to have to wait a week to watch a show, and I'm just so used to seeing things back to back when I want to see them. I think what Mitch has done with 'Arrested' for Netflix is even more brilliant because he's used that format and created something brand new within it."

With the abundance of reality series taking over both prime-time lineups and Nielsen ratings over the last decade, more and more people have begun turning to cable and premium networks to get their scripted television fix. Netflix is hoping to take a bite out of that population tuning away from the "Big Five" broadcast networks. In fact, these original series are even eligible for Primetime Emmy awards thanks to a recent rule change allowing broadband programming to be nominated alongside any broadcast, cable or premium network show.

Will the magic that has kept the original 53 episodes as must-see television a decade since the show's debut still be there? The cast believe so and if this upcoming season is a success, don't expect this to be the last you see of Never Nudes, Cornballers, and frozen banana stands. Bateman is quick to point out that Season 4 is the first arc in a new story.

"It's a three-act story that was too big to put in a feature, so we put the first act in these episodes and a movie would be acts two and three."

That's right, the long-rumored film version of the series is still in the works. The stars of "Arrested Development" may have to keep their characters within arm's reach in the coming future. They said they reveled at the chance to jump back into the shoes of their Bluth personae, and Jessica Walter had no trouble slipping into boozy matriarch Lucille.

"How bad does this make me seem? It's not that difficult. I hope I'm not like her! But when you play something for three seasons like we did, it's sort of like bike riding: You never forget. As soon as I saw the script and saw the people the first day we were all together in that dysfunctional crazy family, it all came back."

Season 4 features an interesting twist on the show's successful formula. To make the most of the limited time scheduled with the entire cast at once, each episode of the new installment focuses on a different member of the Bluth family. For de Rossi, it was the few scenes the ensemble got to shoot together that made her feel back at home.

"Once I was reunited with my cast on the set of Lucille's penthouse, that was that moment where it all just kind of clicked, for all of us. Because it wasn't just me and Lindsay and what she was like; it was how she related to everybody else and her place in the family. That was really awesome and that was when it all came rushing back."

With the release just a week away, will fans both old and new turn out to get a new slice of afternoon delight? De Rossi believes everyone will walk away satisfied.

Via: The cult of 'Arrested Development'

Jackson trial's sweet controversy

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Every issue in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial is so disputed that even giving candy to jurors caused an argument.

AEG lawyers gave a bag of peppermint candy to the bailiff to hand out to the jury this week. Even Katherine Jackson -- the pop icon's mother -- enjoyed the treat.

But Jackson's lawyer raised an objection Tuesday afternoon, suggesting jurors might be influenced if they realized the source of the sweets.

A compromise was reached. Each side can provide snacks for jurors, but they'll be placed at the bailiff's desk before jurors enter court so they have no clue who brought it.

While the candy controversy might seem trivial, the stakes are high for AEG Live. The promoter and producer of Michael Jackson's comeback concerts could be found liable for billions of dollars in damages if the jury decides the company is responsible for the star's death.

AEG execs face questions about Jackson's death

Jackson's mother and three children are suing AEG Live for the negligent hiring, retention or supervision of Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death.

The candy argument may be the most interesting thing about Tuesday's proceedings, unless you are a student of employment law and budgeting.

AEG Live Senior Vice President/General Counsel Shawn Trell was on the stand for a second day hoping to give testimony that would convince the jury that Murray was chosen, hired and supervised by Jackson -- not his company.

Murray never had an executed contract with AEG Live, although one had been negotiated. The doctor signed it and returned it to the company on June 24, 2009, but the AEG Live executive decided not to sign it after Jackson died the next day.

Jackson lawyers contend Murray was already on the job, working under an oral agreement confirmed by a series of e-mails that promised him $150,000 a month to be Jackson's full-time physician.

With Trell on the stand, Jackson lawyer Brian Panish played part of an interview that AEG Live President Randy Phillips gave to Sky News television soon after Jackson's death.

"This guy was willing to leave his practice for a very large sum of money, so we hired him," Phillips said.

Panish also showed jurors an e-mail between AEG lawyers suggesting that Phillips told other interviewers AEG Live "hired" Murray.

Jackson's manager's e-mails found, could be key in AEG trial

Trouble at the Front

The Jackson lawyers argue that AEG Live executives ignored a series of "red flags" that should have alerted them that Jackson needed help as he prepared for his comeback concerts.

Earlier testimony from Jackson's makeup artist, choreographer and an associate director described his failing health and mental condition in the last two weeks of his life.

Panish asked Trell about e-mails titled "trouble at the Front" between AEG executives and people working on the production starting on June 19, 2009 -- a night that show director Kenny Ortega sent Jackson home because of his strange behavior.

"He was a basket case and Kenny was concerned he would embarrass himself on stage, or worse yet -- get hurt," production director John "Bugsy" Houghdahl wrote to AEG Live top execs Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware. "The company is rehearsing right now, but the DOUBT is pervasive."

Phillips forwarded the e-mail to his boss -- Tim Leiweke -- at AEG Live's parent company, with the comment: "We have a real problem here."

Jackson had missed a number of rehearsals and the "This Is It" tour debut was just three weeks away in London.

Wade Robson calls Jackson 'a pedophile'

Ortega, in an e-mail previously reported, told Phillips that same morning -- five days before Jackson died -- that he did not think he would be ready for the shows.

"I honestly don't think he is ready for this based on his continued physical weakening and deepening emotional state," he wrote. Ortega described seeing "strong signs of paranoia, anxiety and obsessive-like behavior" with Jackson. "I think the very best thing we can do is get a top psychiatrist to evaluate him ASAP."

Even John Branca, a former Jackson advisor and lawyer who had just been rehired, weighed in with advice in an e-mail: "I have the right therapist/spiritual advisor/substance abuse counselor who could help (recently helped mike tyson get sober and paroled) ... do we know whether there this is a substance issued involved (perhaps better discussed on the phone.)"

Does Trell consider that exchange a "red flag" that AEG Live should have noticed, Panish asked.

"I would take it seriously, as I believe Mr. Phillips did," Trell answered. "I don't know I would use the word 'red flag.'"

Phillip called a meeting the next afternoon with Murray at Jackson's home.

Afterward, he sent this e-mail to Ortega:

"Kenny, it is critical that neither you, me, or anyone around this show become amateur psychologists or physicians. I had a lengthy conversation with Dr. Murray, who I am gaining immense respect for as I get to deal with him more. He said that Michael is not only physically equipped to perform and that discouraging him to, will hasten his decline instead of stopping it. Dr. Murray also reiterated that he is mentally able to and was speaking to me from the house where he had spent the morning with MJ. This doctor is extremely successful (we check everyone out) and does not need this gig so he totally unbiased and ethical."

The Jacksons' lawyer called this e-mail "a flat out lie," since AEG Live had not done a background check on Murray before hiring him -- and if they had it would have disclosed that he was in deep debt and not a successful doctor.

"We did not do a background or credit check on Dr. Murray," Trell conceded.

Witness: 'Everybody was lying' after Jackson died

No due diligence

The Jackson lawyers contend that AEG Live is liable for his death because they did not do their "due diligence" by checking Murray's background and credentials.

If they had done so, they would have realized that Murray had a major conflict of interest that made him vulnerable to break rules in his treatment if Michael Jackson, they argue.

Murray needed the high-paying job because he was more than $1 million in debt, his home was being foreclosed on, he was being sued for unpaid child support and delinquent taxes, and his cardiology clinic in Las Vegas faced eviction. His $150,000 a month job would end if Jackson's shows were canceled or delayed, according to the terms of his contract.

AEG Live failed to conduct the background check, which the company's own expert witness said would between cost between $40 and $125.

"I am not familiar with the process of doing background checks," Trell said. "No training."

Trell is back on the witness stand Wednesday for questioning by AEG Live lawyer Jessica Stebbins Bina.

The trial, which is in its fourth week in a Los Angeles courtroom, is expected to last through July.

Via: Jackson trial's sweet controversy

MacFarlane won't host Oscars

(EW.com) -- There will be less boobs at next year's Oscars.

Seth MacFarlane, whose irreverent hosting performance at the 2013 Academy Awards was controversial but a ratings hit, announced today that he wouldn't be taking the stage again next year.

"Traumatized critics exhale: I'm unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep," he tweeted Monday afternoon. "However, I highly recommend the job, as Zadan and Meron are two of the most talented producers in the business. My suggestion for host is Joaquin Phoenix."

MacFarlane is currently directing and appearing in "A Million Ways to Die in the West," a stud-studded Western headlined by Amanda Seyfried and Charlize Theron.

MacFarlane's withdrawal will likely appease some members of the Hollywood community who didn't appreciate his humor which drew criticism that his jokes ranged from juvenile to misogynistic. But despite the tsk-tsking by some, ratings for the show were up significantly, including an 11 percent jump in the demo.

Joaquin Phoenix is likely not in the mix to succeed MacFarlane (unfortunately), but the Academy is now free to go in a different direction. Perhaps they could appease some of last year's critics with a female host... or two.

See original story at EW.com.

Via: MacFarlane won't host Oscars

'Gilmore Girls' reunion?

(CNN) -- Lauren Graham's favorite "Gilmore Girls" scenes to shoot were the show's famed Friday night dinners.

The actress was participating in a Q&A session to promote her debut novel, "Someday, Someday, Maybe" (Ballantine Books). But all anybody really wanted to talk was "Gilmore."

"You're all just here for the book, right?" joked Graham.

Have your dinner choices ever varied between burgers and chili cheese fries at Luke's or takeout Kung Pao chicken (or, rather, the entire Chinese chicken column) from Al's Pancake World? Have you ever bought meowing oven mitts at Le Chat Club? Is there a shop(pe) in your town devoted solely to twinkle lights? Ever accidentally shop(pe) lift a box of corn starch?

Scratching your head right about now? Then you've never lived in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.

That's right, a show that's been off the air for nearly as long as it was on (it ran from 2000-2007) remains nestled in the hearts of fans to this day.

Although she was eager to talk about her book, Graham graciously satisfied the audience's "Gilmore" cravings, not unlike Lorelai's coffee addiction. Please, Lauren, please, please, please? We need our Gilmore. In a vat. Or we stop doing the standing and the walking and the words putting into sentence doing.

Graham recalled that her favorite scenes were the infamous obligation dinners at the Gilmore house (but deep down you just knew the Gilmore girls wanted to be there), particularly the ones in which Lorelai's mother, Emily (played by Kelly Bishop) was angry with her. Graham did recall that those scenes were particularly grueling to shoot because they had to be reshot at multiple camera angles.

"And the food was always terrible," she recalled. (Apparently, Liliana kept putting walnuts in the salad. Or Consuela put sugar on the grapefruit.)

Graham is also, like many "Gilmore" fans, partial to the Chilton years.

"I loved those earlier years," she gushed, "the first couple years!"

Graham admitted that in the early days of filming "Gilmore," she was too happy to have been hired for a gig to realize that Stars Hollow was something special.

"I was too new to be savvy enough to understand the impact something might have," she recalled. "At that point, I was still so excited to be up for something. I had done some series that had come and gone, I had done a couple of movies; but I wasn't where I wanted to be."

Graham, 46, said that when she read the script for the "Gilmore Girls" pilot, she was reminded of a James Lipton "Actor's Studio" interview with Christopher Reeve, in which the actor stated: "I know the part is right for me when I can't stand the thought of somebody else doing it."

Graham further reflected on getting the part of Lorelai Gilmore.

"This is such a strange career where on the one hand you're terribly, terribly nervous and you don't feel worthy," she said, "and on the other hand you have to believe that this job is yours and no one else's, or why would anyone else give it to you?

"It's this very high/low self-esteem, and I did have a very strong connection to it, and I did feel that I knew how it could sound. I knew what the intention was of that character. I've been right and I've been wrong about things like that, but I definitely had a confidence in terms of what I wanted to do with it."

Graham talked about how she was so new to the business at the time that when she went to The WB network (which has since merged with UPN to become The CW) upfront, she was devastated to learn that "Gilmore Girls" had the 8 p.m. Thursday time slot.

"I was like: Wait! Opposite 'Friends'?"

And she was convinced they'd be canceled. Turns out, it was a blessing in disguise.

"It was because we were in that insane time slot that they let it just be, you know, and that's as much a part of its success as anything. They didn't expect us to do anything because it was an impossible night."

When Graham joined "Gilmore," Alexis Bledel had already been cast as her daughter, Rory Gilmore.

"We never met until we started filming," Graham said. "She was brand new -- had never filmed anything."

Graham said that critics and audiences alike were onto something in the early "Gilmore" days when they noted the two actresses had amazing chemistry.

'Mad Men's' Alexis Bledel, Vincent Kartheiser are engaged

"There's a thing, especially on that show, where the camera moves," explained Graham, "it's very complicated, you have to be talking; everything has to be exactly right. Then you have to land at a certain mark. She'd never hit a mark before. And so I would put my arm around her and often be arm-in-arm with her."

If early Rory and Lorelai seemed particularly clingy, it was more because of Bledel's then-lack of experience.

"So we're hanging onto each other. I'm literally pulling her to and fro. But she learned very quickly and is obviously a natural, so it's just one of those things that happened to work."

Melissa McCarthy (Sookie St. James, Lorelai's BFF) was a dear friend of Graham's throughout "Gilmore's" duration and remains so. Graham said that she and McCarthy often talked about how much fun it would be to perform on "Saturday Night Live."

What's next for Melissa McCarthy?

"We would do the show, and then I would go see her in 'The Groundlings'," Graham said. "And now you see it; and it's so gratifying because the two didn't even make sense -- that this was the same person who is a perfectly wonderful actor, but in terms of what that part was going to use, you were going to see these characters that she created. She was fearless. Fearless! And now, for everyone to see, it's so exciting. That doesn't always happen."

Is Graham a fast talker like Lorelai?

"To some degree, but I would say by the end of that show... everyone talked that way. So I don't think I talk quite like that, or that articulately, but I have a pretty snappy energy, I guess."

Graham stays close to the "Gilmore" cast and crew.

"We are all still connected in one way or another for the most part. You can watch the wonderful Kelly Bishop (Emily Gilmore) on 'Bunheads,' which I think -- in the best possible way -- is kind of a similar show."

The fate of "Bunheads" is still unknown, but it can count Graham among its devoted fan base.

"I can watch 'Bunheads' in a way that I can't watch 'Gilmore Girls' because I'm not in it," she said, "and I'm like, 'This is really entertaining.'"

Graham explained that for a movie or a reunion to happen, going the Kickstarter route would also require collaboration with "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino (who also created "Bunheads.")

"The difference with the 'Veronica Mars' movie is you had the star and the creator of the show come together and that's what it needs. So, we need the creator to want to do it."

Please, Amy. Please, please please?

In a 2006 interview with Michael Ausiello, Sherman-Palladino explained that she had come up with a seven-year plan for the show that included the series' final four words of dialogue.

Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino -- an executive producer and writer on "Gilmore" (fans with keen eyes may recall he played a troubadour in the season six finale, singing "A Beaver Ate My Thumb") -- left the series at the end of season six after a contract dispute with the studio.

Oh, that we could learn what those last four words would have been.

Does Graham have an all-time favorite "Gilmore" scene?

"What's so tragic is that I can't even remember. It was a lot of lines, and I don't remember so much of it but, like, if you said it to me, I could probably then recite the entire scene top to bottom."

As for life post-Lorelai, Graham's current series, "Parenthood" has been picked up for a fifth season. Graham and actor Peter Krause play brother and sister Adam and Sarah Braverman on the show, but in real life, the couple fell in love on set.

Graham and Krause have been together for four years, but they first met in 1995 when they each had guest roles on the sitcom "Caroline in the City."

"It only took 15 years," joked Graham.

Graham talked about how the family dynamic on the set of "Parenthood" allows the cast to improvise quite a bit.

"In those big family scenes it would almost be impossible to script," she said, "and the way we shoot is almost theater proscenium style so that we can make it feel real because that is such a big part of the texture of making a family sound like a family."

And Graham knows something about capturing voices, as evidenced in her first novel.

An early success, "Someday, Someday, Maybe" landed a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list last week. The story of Franny Banks, an aspiring actress pounding the pavement in New York City in the 1990s, is semi-autobiographical.

Graham would love to see it turned into a television series.

"To me this is a series," she said, "because the nature of this life is very episodic, and it's up and down and there is a goal that you'd like to have at the end that could take three or five or seven years."

She said that even though Franny has Broadway dreams, her story is more "My So-Called Life" than "Smash."

"It's not big moments, it's small. It's coming of age, it's struggling. It's a happy, less naked 'Girls,' you know?"

There's even talk of a second novel, and Graham owes it all to Diane Keaton.

Via: 'Gilmore Girls' reunion?

AC's '360' on 'SNL'

(CNN) -- CNN anchor Anderson Cooper played the groom in a surreal wedding scene send-off for Bill Hader's Stefon character on the season finale of "Saturday Night Live."

Hader announced last week that he was leaving SNL after eight seasons to move to California and get more sleep, which meant his memorable characters were also saying goodbye.

Stefon -- Weekend Update's New York City correspondent -- gave one last report Saturday night, rushing off the set after telling anchor Seth Meyers, "You never respect me."

"I didn't want to do this here, but I've met someone else, and he's a lot like you, except he likes me for me, and we are getting married," Stefon said. "Bye, Seth Meyers."

Stefon has always appeared to have a unrequited gay crush on the straight Meyers, but now Meyers seemed hurt by the rejection.

"Hey, go to him," Meyers' "platonic work friend" Amy Poehler said. "It's never too late. Follow your heart."

Thus began a bizarre pre-produced segment that parodied the "Wayne's World" parody of Dustin Hoffman's frantic run to interrupt his true love's wedding in "The Graduate."

Meyers ran from NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters down 5th Avenue to Marble Collegiate Church, where he found Stefon at the altar.

Fetish characters described in Stefon's many SNL reports made up the bridal party, including "human traffic cones" as bridesmaids.

The camera panned to reveal his groom -- Anderson Cooper.

A brawl ensued when Cooper stopped Meyers in the aisle. "Get ready for Anderson Cooper -- 360!" he said as he went into a slow motion round-about spin. But one punch from Meyers knocked Cooper out.

Meyers grabbed Stefon, and the couple dashed away, while DJ Baby Bok Choy -- another character from Stefon's reports -- blocked Cooper from following. Wedding guests -- including smurfs, a gremlin and Alf -- converged to celebrate.

Ben Affleck, host of the last episode of SNL's 38th season, made a cameo appearance, yelling to Meyers: "Follow your heart, bro. Follow it!"

Meyers and Stefon then reappeared live on the "Weekend Update" set as SNL cast members tossed rice on them.

Via: AC's '360' on 'SNL'