'Community' Will Get a Sixth Season Thanks to Yahoo Screen

"Community" fans, rejoice: The hope for #SixSeasonsAndAMovie lives on, as Yahoo Screen has announced a deal to bring the canceled NBC comedy back for a sixth season.



The late-breaking decision was revealed Monday, after the show's producers brokered a last-minute deal to revive the series for 13 episodes on the web video service. The cast's contracts were set to expire Monday night at midnight.



"I am very pleased that Community will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo," said show creator Dan Harmon in a statement. "I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online. I vow to dominate our new competition. Rest easy, Big Bang Theory. Look out, Bang Bus!"



Harmon and producer Chris McKenna will both return for the new batch of episodes. Most of the cast is expected to return, too, including star Joel McHale, who released his own statement about the renewal:

The reports of our cancellation have been greatly exaggerated." ---Mark Twain (The other version of this quote has been wrong for years). # SixSeasonsAndaMovie is real. Thank you Sony. Thank you Yahoo. Thank you Dan Harmon. And thank you to the greatest f%$#ing fans in the history of the human race. It's the internet. We can swear now.

Season six of "Community" is expected to debut sometime this fall on Yahoo Screen.



[via: TheWrap]







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How Much Does Don Draper Actually Drink on 'Mad Men'? A New Study Analyzes His Habits

"Mad Men" fans who've followed the drunken exploits of series star Don Draper for six and a half seasons know that the leading man has a problem with alcohol. But a new investigation by Detox.net, which quantifies just how many drinks Draper consumed throughout season six of the AMC drama, puts that problem in perspective -- and the booze-soaked results aren't pretty.



Like a similar study that analyzed the drinking habits of James Bond, the one conducted by Detox.net not only looked at how much Don was drinking, but what effect that drinking would have on his everyday life. The study estimated that based on how heavy those pours of Canadian Club that Don slung back at work were -- each tumbler contained approximately three drinks -- he was consuming on average 10 drinks per day; the CDC defines "heavy drinking" as consuming 15 drinks or more per week. Yes, per week. So, uh, Don has a problem, to say the least.



The site also calculated that 29 percent of those drinks were consumed during the day, and 20 percent of them were consumed at work. If he keeps up those drinking habits, Don is at an increased risk for dementia, stroke, depression, heart attack, hypertension, and fibrosis and cirrhosis of the liver, among other side effects. His mortality risk is 129 percent higher than the average adult male.



And of course, Don's drinking led to a host of personal professional problems for the advertising exec. He was suspended from his job at the end of the sixth season, and also vomited at a funeral, landed in jail after punching a minister, and cheated on his wife multiple times. (Though that last one may not have needed the liquid courage.)



Don sort of, kind of, tried to curtail his alcoholic tendencies in season seven (leading to his hilarious protestation to Megan, "I haven't even been drinking that much!"), though Detox.net noted that it's going to take a lot of work for him to address his addiction. The site recommends AA and either an inpatient or outpatient detoxification program to curtail withdrawal symptoms.



We'll see if he's truly changed his ways when the second half of "Mad Men"'s seventh season premieres next year.



[via: Detox.net, h/t Paste]







Photo courtesy of AMC



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A Young Barack Obama Used 'Do the Right Thing' to Impress His Future Wife

As Hollywood gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" last week, two familiar faces who couldn't be there offered their own tribute to the film via video: Barack and Michelle Obama.



The Obamas greeted Lee and guests by revealing that they went to see "Do the Right Thing" on their first official date, with the president recalling that after lunch and a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago, "I took her to this new movie everybody was talking about, directed by a guy that not that many people had heard of."



"He was trying to show me his sophisticated side by selecting an independent filmmaker," the first lady interjected.



While President Obama noted that the movie "help[ed] me impress Michelle," he also thanked Lee for "telling a powerful story."



"Today, I've got a few more grey hairs than I did back in 1989. You don't look like Mookie anymore," Obama quipped. "But 'Do the Right Thing' still holds up a mirror to our society, and it makes us laugh, and think, and challenges all of us to see ourselves in one another."



The Obamas also paid tribute to late actress Ruby Dee, who had a role in the film.



"Do the Right Thing" was released on June 30, 1989, and starred Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Lawrence, and Rosie Perez. It received two Academy Award nominations, and has since been preserved on the National Film Registry by the U.S. Library of Congress.



[via: Vanity Fair]

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Jennifer Lawrence Is the Most Powerful Actress in the World

She may not have won an Oscar this year, but Jennifer Lawrence is still the top actress in Hollywood, according to a new Forbes ranking.



The financial publication placed Lawrence at the top of its Most Powerful Actresses list for 2013-2014, thanks to her multiple millions-earning franchises and her long list of award nominations -- and wins -- from her short career. Of her selection as Hollywood's biggest female power player, Forbes writes:

Who says women can't be action heroes? Just 23 years old, Lawrence is proving that women can be as big a draw for blockbusters as men. "The Hunger Games" is the most successful young adult franchise since "Twilight" and her recent turn as Mystique in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" helped make the movie the highest-grossing of the franchise. Combine that box office prowess with three Oscar nominations and one win and you have the most powerful actresses in Hollywood.

Lawrence, who snagged the Best Actress statuette for 2012's "Silver Linings Playbook," and two more Academy Award nominations for "Winter's Bone" (2010) and "American Hustle" (2013), landed in 12th place overall on Forbes's annual Celebrity 100 list for 2013-2014 with estimated earnings of $34 million. Robert Downey Jr. was the highest-ranking male actor, coming in at number 10 on the Celebrity 100 with $75 million in projected income.



Joining Lawrence in the Most Powerful Actresses club were, in order: Sandra Bullock ("The Heat," "Gravity"), Angelina Jolie ("Maleficent"), Scarlett Johansson ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier"), and Jennifer Aniston ("We're the Millers").



The Forbes Celebrity 100 list is determined by analyzing earnings and fame throughout a one-year period from June 1 to June 1.



[via Forbes, h/t The A.V. Club]



Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images







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Emmy Nominations Wish List: Outstanding Guest Actor and Guest Actress, Comedy

The 2014 Emmy nominations will be revealed July 10 and in the days leading up to that big announcement we'll be sharing our dream picks for nods in the big categories. You can find our picks for the reality categories here, Variety Series here, Lead Actor/Actress in a Miniseries or Movie here, Outstanding Movie and Outstanding Miniseries here, and Outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama here. Today's focus: Outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Guest Actress in a comedy series.



It's time to take a look at the people who made us laugh on TV this year who weren't stars of their respective shows. Sometimes guest stars are total comedic scene steal stealers who deserve recognition, even if they have minimal amounts of screen time. And this category is kind of a wild one -- the ballot includes everyone from Jerry Seinfeld to Drake.



This was a tough one to make a wish list for, especially since many of the fantastic ladies of "Orange Is the New Black" are considered guest stars. And one glaring omission, in our opinion, was Sally Phillips as the Finnish prime minister on "Veep." Oh well.



Nevertheless, we have made our choices. Here are our dream 2014 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series:









Image courtesy Jessica Miglio for Netflix



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The Latest 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Details Are Unsurprisingly Doom-Filled

After teasing the rise of villain Apocalypse during the end credits of "X-Men: Days of Future Past," director Bryan Singer has continued to drop clues about the upcoming sequel "X-Men: Apocalypse" by sharing a snippet of the film's treatment.



In a post on Instagram, Singer offered a small peek at the treatment's opening scene, which is set somewhere along the Nile River in Egypt, and features a large battle and smoking ruins. Also there are the Four Horsemen, whose presence were teased in "Days of Future Past."





Fans of mythology know the four horsemen of the apocalypse as symbols of impending doom, and the foursome depicted in X-Men lore are no different: The Four Horsemen are henchmen of the villain Apocalypse. Screen Crush has a detailed synopsis of their importance to the story:

In the comics, [Apocalypse] was known for enlisting the aide of four handpicked mutants, often times by force and brainwashing. Once under his thrall, Apocalypse would then enhance their mutant abilities and transform them into super-soldiers to carry out his will, giving them the names Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. In a famous comic iteration, the mutant Angel (played by Ben Foster onscreen in "X-Men: The Last Stand") succumbed to Apocalypse after losing his wings and became both Archangel and the Horseman of Death.

We can't wait to see how they're incorporated into the next installment in the franchise. In the meantime, we'll keep our eyes on Singer's Instagram account for more plot details.



"X-Men: Apocalypse" is due in theaters on May 27, 2016.



[via Bryan Singer]







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Get Ready for David Hasselhoff's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'-Style TV Show

David Hasselhoff is taking a cue from another David -- Larry David, that is -- with a new improvised comedy series set to debut on UK television.



Like David's HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm" before it, "Hoff the Record" will focus on a fictionalized version of Hasselhoff, to be "set 30 years after he made his name with popular teatime drama 'Knight Rider,'" according to Radio Times.



"Following five divorces -- the real Hasselhoff has been through a mere two -- and some misguided career decisions, the series sees Hoff moving to the UK to try to get his career back on track," Radio Times wrote of the show.



Iain Coyle, commissioning editor of UKTV, called the series "funny, clever and bizarre -- in a good way."



Co-stars are expected to be announced shortly. "Hoff the Record" is set to run for six episodes beginning next year, on a network called Dave. The coincidence was not lost on Hasselhoff.



"When I made 'Baywatch,' I dreamed of one day having my own show on a channel named after me," the star said in a statement. "They did name the channel after me, right?"



[via: Radio Times, h/t Uproxx]







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Zendaya Crushes Our TV Movie Dreams, Exits Lifetime's Aaliyah Biopic

Lifetime's Aaliyah biopic has been put on hold following the exit of its star, Zendaya.



The 17-year-old actress and singer said that she left the project, tentatively titled "Aaliyah: Princess of R&B," because the production didn't meet the high standards that the late singer's life demanded.



"Because it's someone that I honor and I respect so much, it has to be 128 percent, especially for all her fans, including myself," Zendaya said while attending the BET Awards this weekend. "I didn't feel like it was all the way there, so I didn't want to do that. And when the time comes when it's done right and it's 100 percent, by all means, I will be the first person there ready to go."



That's a sharp left turn for the former Disney and "Dancing With the Stars" performer, who was thrilled to be involved with the film two weeks ago. After news of her casting was announced, Zendaya wrote on Twitter that Aaliyah has "been an inspiration and influence in my whole career, her talent still shines brighter then ever, all I wanna do is honor her."



But Aaliyah's family was unhappy with Zendaya's casting, telling TMZ that they didn't think a television biopic was fitting for the fallen pop star, who was a bestselling musician and budding actress at the time of her death in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22. While the family said that they were not opposed to a big screen movie about Aaliyah's life, they told TMZ that Lifetime did not receive their permission for "Princess of R&B," and the family would block that film's release and use of Aaliyah's music.



In the wake of those roadblocks, Lifetime announced on Twitter Sunday that the flick would be postponed until further notice. The film was set to shoot this summer, and Zendaya was to record four of Aaliyah's songs for the project.



"We are sad Zendaya will no longer portray Aaliyah," the network tweeted. "Production is currently on hold."



[via: Time, h/t The A.V. Club]







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Our 'Tammy' Unscripted Will Make You Want to Take a Road Trip With Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon (VIDEO)

"Tammy" stars Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon, and director Ben Falcone walk into a bar..., er, studio, answer fan questions (and a few of their own), and get a visit from a four-legged guest star in the latest installment of Moviefone's Unscripted.

You know you're in for something special when the topics of discussion include on-set injuries, deleted sex scenes, and being mistaken for a younger version of yourself. We're still not sure what to make of that last one. (Good for you, Susan Sarandon!)



Watch, laugh, and share with your friends. We know you're not doing any work, anyway.



"Tammy" opens everywhere July 2.











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This 3-Minute 'Sharknado 2' Clip Will Put You In the Mood (For Sharknados) (VIDEO)

Between "22 Jump Street," "How to Train Your Dragon 2," and "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the summer movie season has been largely defined by sequels, spinoffs, and would-be reboots. But this phenomenon isn't exclusive to the big screen, as Syfy will soon be rolling out a sequel to "Sharknado," the instantly beloved cult monster movie from last summer. And thanks to this new, three-minute-long clip, you'll get the sense that the wacky, go-for-broke "Sharknado" spirit continues gamely on in "Sharknado 2: The Second One."



As a surprisingly lucid Tara Reid explains before the clip begins (yes, she's back too): "Sharks. Tornados. New York. You're welcome." The clip takes place on a New York subway line, although which line isn't explicitly stated because they are, clearly, playing fast and loose with New York City geography and subway lines. Ian Ziering (yep, back) is having a heart-to-heart with Mark McGrath (yes, from Sugar Ray) about their family or something... WHO CARES. Pretty soon the subway tunnel starts filling up with water -- and not only water, SHARKS!!!



We get to see a shark eat a part of the subway car, plus new costars Judah Friedlander and Vivica A. Fox show up, although they are pretty forgettable. The real star of this clip is the painfully awful water effects, which are less impressive than they were in "Die Hard with a Vengenace," back in 1995. Then there's the sharks themselves, which look truly ridiculous. But you know what does look good? Ziering's hoodie-and-leather jacket combo; even the fashion in this movie seems hopelessly outdated.



"Sharknado 2: The Second One" airs in exactly one month, on July 30^th, on Syfy.











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New DVD Blu-ray: 'Like Father, Like Son,' 'The Killing: Third Season'

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"Like Father, Like Son"

What's It About? Two families are thrown into upheaval when it's discovered there was a mistake at the hospital where their respective sons were born. Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) has to decide what's more important to him, the relationship he's developed with the six-year-old child he thought was his biological son or his "real" son. Hirokazu Kore-eda explores what it means to be a family and a father in this intimate drama.

Why We're IN: Kore-eda's a critically acclaimed filmmaker and beloved arthouse auteur whose work deserves to be seen on a wider scale. Don't let the subtitles scare you -- check it out!



Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week

"Cry-Baby"

What's It About? Johnny Depp plays a swoon-worthy bad boy who falls for Allison (Amy Locane), a sweet girl who's feeling a little feisty. This doesn't sit well with Allison's square crowd or Cry-Baby's gang of outcasts. Susan Tyrrell, Kim McGuire, Ricki Lake, Traci Lords, Iggy Pop, and Polly Bergen are just a few of the John Waters crew who show up in "Cry-Baby."

Why We're IN: This is a classic John Waters flick, with tons of over-the-top drama and swooning and awesome weirdos. There isn't much to speak of in the way of extras for this release, but if you're tired of being good, this Blu-ray will make you feel bad. In a good way.



New on DVD & Blu-ray

"Helix: Season 1"

What's It About? A group of CDC scientists (played by Billy Campbell, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Kyra Zagorsky) head to a research facility in the Arctic to investigate an outbreak, but once there, they find there's something much more dangerous afoot.

IN or OUT: Out.



"The Killing: The Complete Third Season"

What's It About? Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) is sucked back into the Seattle scene when Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman) stumbles upon a crime that could be related to one of Linden's previous investigations.

IN or OUT: "The Killing" ticked off viewers when it took two seasons to wrap up the Rosie Larsen case, and the third season didn't fare much better. Still, at least their case was solved in just one season this time around.



"The Lunchbox"

What's It About? Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is trying to liven up her marriage by sending her husband a nice homemade lunch to his office, but when he doesn't mention the gesture, she begins leaving notes in his lunch. As it turns out, Ila's lunches were delivered to Saajan (Irfan Khan) by accident; he begins writing back, and a friendship blossoms between strangers.

IN or OUT: This critically acclaimed movie stars Bollywood behemoth Irfan Khan and plenty of tasty meals, so you really can't lose.



"The Unknown Known"

What's It About? Errol Morris turns his famous Interrotron on Donald Rumsfeld, the former United States Secretary of Defense, to discuss the Vietnam and Iraq Wars, among other touchy topics.

IN or OUT: If you're a fan of Morris' talking head-style docs, you'll want to check out his interview with one of the most confounding figures in recent US politics.



"A Young Doctor's Notebook"

What's It About? Daniel Radcliffe and Jon Hamm are an odd couple for sure, but what's even weirder is that they're playing the same character, with Radcliffe as the young Dr. Bomgard and Hamm as Bomgard 16 years in the future. This BBC series is adapted from the short stories by Mikhail Bulgakov, and it takes place in the early 20^th century.

IN or OUT: If you're in the mood for something strange but delightful -- a dark comedy? A medical drama? A period piece? -- this could be right up your alley.



New to Blu-ray

"Bring It On"

What's It About? Kirsten Dunst stars as the rah-rah leader of a cheerleading group who finds out from a badass newcomer named Missy (played by the fabulous Eliza Dushku) that their previous cheerleader leader stole all their sweet moves from another group. Gabrielle Union plays the leader of the East Compton Clovers, the group with all the original moves.

IN or OUT: Again, there aren't a whole lot of extras to recommend this Blu-ray, but darn it if "Bring It On" isn't the perfect rainy day comedy.



"Cannibal Holocaust"

What's It About? Uh, well, it's about the gross fate that befalls a bunch of documentary filmmakers who decide they want to investigate cannibal tribes in the Amazon.

IN or OUT: If you're not already familiar with this infamous cannibal film by Ruggero Deodato, you should probably stay that way. If you're a fan, this 3-disc deluxe edition from Grindhouse Releasing will sate your hunger. Maybe.



"Kindergarten Cop"

What's It About? The future Governator stars as a cop... who goes to work in... a kindergarten! Is ferreting out a drug dealer as hard as getting his charges to be quiet for naptime? Tune in and find out!

IN or OUT: Nope.



"The Little Rascals"

What's It About? This is the 1994 take on the Our Gang characters from the Depression-era black and white comedies.

IN or OUT: No. No. No. No.



"Operation Petticoat"

What's It About? Cary Grant and Tony Curtis star in this romcom from Blake Edwards about a Navy Admiral, a scammer, and some babely nurses that they rescue on their submarine.

IN or OUT: This is a pretty plain release, but if you're a fan of the feel-good classics, why not?



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Here's What's New on Netflix This July

With the dog days of summer finally upon us, it's good to find an excuse (any excuse) to dip out of the heat and into a coolly air-conditioned living room. And what better way to spend your time than by watching things on Netflix? Behold, a list of things that are new to Netflix in July.



There are a bunch of new Christmas movies on the streaming service, part of the company's "Christmas in July" program (things like "Bad Santa" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas"), as well as a handful of Disney classics (like "Tarzan" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"). There are also, as always, newer films that you might have missed, but don't have to anymore -- everything from Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" (starring the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman) to this year's "Wolf Creek 2," a high-octane Australian thriller that seriously doesn't disappoint.



There are also a handful of Netflix originals making their way to the service - the original sports documentary "The Battered Bastards of Baseball," the second season of the Eli Roth-produced rustbelt horror series "Hemlock Grove," and Netflix's first original anime show, "Knights of Sidonia."



So if your skin is peeling and you just want to stay someplace cool, you've got plenty of fresh options for what to watch. Full list below (thanks to Netflix and Vulture).



Netflix Originals

The Battered Bastards of Baseball (July 11^th)

Knights of Sidonia (July 4^th)

Hemlock Grove (July 11^th)



TV Shows

Baby Daddy (Season 3, available July 18)

Comedy Bang Bang! (Season 2)

Continuum (Season 3, available July 26)

Hell on Wheels (Season 3, available July 19)

Lost Girl (Season 4, available July 24)

Melissa & Joey (Season 3, available July 18)

Witches of East End (Season 1)



Movies

12 Angry Men

Bad Santa

Basic Instinct

Boyz N the Hood

Christmas with the Kranks (Available July 26)

City of God

Dead Man Walking

Fever Pitch

Funny Face

Gandhi

Hitch (Available July 14)

Homefront (Available July 9)

Honey, I Shrunk The Kids

The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid II

The Karate Kid III

The Last Days

Legends of the Fall

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

The Master

My Girl

My Girl 2

Out of the Furnace (Available 9)

The Parent Trap (1998)

Patton

Philadelphia

Primal Fear

Renoir (Available July 6)

Sleeping Beauty (2014) (Available July 12)

Sophie's Choice

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County

Tarzan (1999)

Tarzan 2

Under the Tuscan Sun

Wolf Creek 2

XXX: State of the Union







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Let's Discuss the 'Penny Dreadful' Season 1 Finale (SPOILERS AHEAD)

"Penny Dreadful" has wrapped up its morose, bloody, twisty-turny, literary-infused first season, and we -- like you -- have some things to say about last night's finale. We also have some questions that we hope get answered in Season 2, which will likely air a year from now. Just take that in for a second.



Good?



OK, let's move on. We're going to recap the finale a bit first, then ask some questions. Remember, we're going to be discussing the show in some detail, so thar be SPOILERS AHEAD.



If you haven't seen "Penny Dreadful" yet, find out where to watch it.



Sir Malcolm Murray and the Not-So-Mysterious Case of Mina Harker

So, while Sir Malcolm and his ragtag group of supernatural warriors were able to kill The Vampire That Dare Not Speak Its Name with what looked like an oversized knitting needle, it wasn't enough to bring his daughter Mina back from the undead. She's full-blown vamp (her dead, soulless eyes and fangs gave it away). When Malcolm, rife with inner-conflict (my daughter's a vampire!) decides to do the deed that needs to be done, Mina's last words are "But I'm your daughter," to which he responds "I already have a daughter." Now, this could mean one of two things: 1. Vanessa Ives has become like a daughter to him, or 2. Vanessa is his daughter for real, you know, because of all the sex Malcolm and her mom had in that hedge maze. We're hoping the latter.



Bride of Recently Laid Off Theater Worker

Poor Frankenstein's monster. Life was looking up for him, until he was rejected by his pretend girlfriend / obsession after nearly strangling her to death. While most would find that a turn on, she didn't, and promptly had him fired from his gig pulling ropes and unclogging tubes at the theater. Alone, he heads off to his creator's lab for a pity party of two, where he tells a sad tale of woe-is-me while Dr. Frankenstein holds a gun to his head. But emotions are powerful things, and Dr. Frank can't shoot his poor, sad, lonely monster. Instead, he tells him he can stay with him. Also, sad, lonely monster still wants a companion, because an undead lady friend is the perfect remedy for his near-fatal case of the lonelies. Did we mention how lonely he is?



Meanwhile, in Comsumptionville

Yet even more sadness is happening on the other side of town, where Ms. Croft is on her last legs, dying of consumption. In a desperate attempt to cure her, Ethan Chandler asks for Dr. Frank's help. But Dr. Frank doesn't want to cure her, he wants her corpse. So, while Ethan's off fetching a pale of water or something, he suffocates her with a pillow. Ladies and gentlemen, the lonely monster has a bride. Dr. Frankenstein wisks Ms. Croft's consumption-riddled corpse to his laboratory and begins god's work.



Daddy Issues

Ethan Chandler, while busy fretting about and mourning the loss of his beloved Ms. Croft, is also being hunted by a couple of thugs sent by his dear old dad to bring him back to the States. But Sharpshooter is not having it. Nosirree. The first encounter ends with Ethan kicking their butts, while the second ends with, well, a howl. See, it turns out that Ethan was hiding from us all the fact that he is a werewolf. WHAT?! Yes. During the second encounter with the thugs, Ethan transforms by the light of the full moon and goes full-blown wolfman. It's was quick -- a tease to get us excited for what's to come in Season 2. We're sure there were signs of it earlier in the season (a casual glance at the moon, a game of fetch), but we're too busy reeling from last night's reveal to remember.



Rejection Is a Four-Letter Word

So, remember when Vanessa Ives and Dorian Gray were having sex and Miss Ives up and left because the demon inside her was taking over? Well, now she can't see Dorian anymore because he brings out said inner demon... literally. Poor Dorian is used to getting exactly what he wants, but he can't have Vanessa because she has an Egyptian demon inside of her that will take over the world if she lets him plunder her lady garden. (That's as good a reason as we've ever heard for abstaining.) After learning the news that he will never be privy to her privates, Dorian sheds a single tear. *tear*



All's Well That Ends Well

Vanessa, wanting the above-mentioned demon out of her, seeks counsel from a priest, only to have the priest tell her that she could die if an exorcism is performed. (Was it just us, or did she seem kind of down with that?) The priest then goes on to tell her that having something, like a demon, inside of her makes her unique, special -- so why would she want to go and mess with that? Indeed, her character is far more interesting with the devil inside.



Question Time



1. How, exactly, will Dr. Frankenstein explain Ms. Croft's reanimated corpse to everyone? Looks like he'll have to hide her if/when she's alive again.



2. Is Vanessa really Sir Malcolm's daughter, or was that just a term of endearment? We want to know if Vanessa was conceived in the sex maze!



3. Are we headed to America in Season 2? Seems like we'll need some backstory about Ethan's lupine condition, and we're assuming it happened stateside. Or maybe in Canada. Mexico?



4. What will Sir Malcolm do now? He's not going to Africa, so maybe he can settle down and pick up a hobby, like drinking.



5. Will Vanessa embrace her inner demon or look to expel it? We think the former, as that will likely lead to more demon sex storylines.



6. Are we headed to Eqypt next season? All of the Egyptian references and hieroglyphics floating around certainly lead one to believe that a trip to Africa may be in happening, after all. And guess what's in Egypt? Mummies. MUMMIES.



HAVE YOUR OWN THEORIES/ANSWERS/COMMENTARY ON THE 'PENNY DREADFUL' FINALE? TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.



Find out where to watch "Penny Dreadful" now.









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Is Carrie Fisher's Daughter Joining 'Star Wars: Episode VII'?

Please take this with the largest grain of salt around, but The Daily Mail is reporting that Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd is joining her mother in the cosmically anticipated sequel "Star Wars: Episode VII." Supposedly Lourd, Fisher's 21-year-old daughter, will be playing "a younger version of her mother's character," mostly because the two look so much alike.



Of course, Disney and Abrams have yet to comment on this rumor, which suggests that Lourd (whose father is agent Bryan Lourd) flew to England to be with her mother earlier in the month. The same report (again: grain of salt) had Lourd dressing up in Princess Leia's trademark buns.



Again: this could be poppycock, and there's a high probability it is. But it's still a neat rumor. So just take it as such.



Unless you've been sequestered on the ice planet Hoth, you know that "Star Wars: Episode VII," which stars John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and Lupita Nyong'o, will open on December 18^th, 2015.







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Henry Cavill Is the Most Handsome Newspaper Man Ever in This New 'Batman v Superman' Photo

Remember when the world went crazy after Zack Snyder posted a moody, black-and-white shot of Ben Affleck, bulky and brooding, in his Batsuit, standing behind a new Batmobile? Well, we're now getting a look at the other side of the "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" coin, thanks to a shot of Henry Cavill, not as Superman, but as his nerdy alter ego: Clark Kent.

A treat for a Monday morning for all our #HenryCavill fans. Henry is a great supporter of the @RM1664Challenge! http://t.co/q4HcEqw0Mr

- RMCTF (@RMCTF) June 30, 2014

As The Wrap points out, the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund, an organization that the British Cavill supports, tweeted a photo of Cavill in his Clark Kent finest: overcoat, dark blue shirt, silvery tie, with a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. Apparently, Clark Kent will be without his trademark glasses. Although, as the Wrap points out, this is a set visit photo so maybe he just doesn't have his full costume on.



Cavill, as always, looks good, although how a newspaper (remember newspapers?) reporter can afford his pristine wardrobe might be his greatest superpower of them all.



"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which, in addition to Affleck and Cavill, co-stars Gal Gadot (as Wonder Woman), Amy Adams (reprising her role as Lois Lane), Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane, Jesse Eisenberg (as Lex Luthor), Jeremy Irons, and Holly Hunter, opens May 6, 2016.







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​Box Office: Can 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Save a Summer of So-So Sales?

Sure, theater owners and Hollywood executives have to be breathing a sigh of relief this weekend over the utter predictability of the "Transformers" franchise. Despite widely expected negative reviews and the usual fanboy grumbling, Michael Bay's "Transformers: Age of Extinction" opened unopposed this weekend, earning an estimated $100.0 million, in line with what pundits had predicted. It's the biggest opening of any movie so far this year. And yet, there is a distant rumbling of discontent, as if from another galaxy...



The problem is that, sales-wise, "Transformers" is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise lackluster summer. Before this weekend, the summer's total domestic box office was $1.79 billion, down 13 percent from the $2.07 billion earned at this point in summer 2013. Overall, the 2014 tally stood at $4.96 billion, off about 30 million from this time last year.



Last year, of course, there was "Iron Man 3," along with many other huge hits. There hasn't been any hit on that scale this summer. Indeed, there have been major disappointments, including "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," "Godzilla,", "Edge of Tomorrow," "A Million Ways to Die in the West," "Blended," and "Jersey Boys." Before the final weekend in June last year, there had been four summer movies that had already made $200 million. This year there was just one ("X-Men: Days of Future Past"), though by the end of this weekend, two more had finally crossed the line ("Spider-Man" and "Maleficent") and another was just a couple million shy of the mark ("Godzilla"). Two of last summer's movies eventually crossed $300 million; none of this summer's releases is likely to repeat that feat.



What's more, few of this summer's remaining movies are expected to be the sizable hits that could redeem the season. "Tammy," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," "Guardians of the Galaxy," and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" may score well, but no one's expecting numbers like those from last year's late-summer hits, like "Despicable Me 2," "The Heat," "We're the Millers," "The Conjuring," "Grown Ups 2," and "The Wolverine."



Where'd everyone go? The beach? (Maybe. With July 4 falling on a Friday this year, many moviegoers may have taken the entire week off.) Are they all watching the World Cup? Male moviegoers certainly haven't shown up as expected for many of this summer's action and comedy spectacles. Women have driven the audiences, not just for traditionally female-oriented fare like the romance "The Fault in Our Stars," but also for comedies like "22 Jump Street" and "Think Like a Man Too" and the seemingly testosterone-heavy musical "Jersey Boys." Of course, Hollywood isn't asking itself how it can use this summer's lessons to attract more women, but rather, tearing its collective hair out for not attracting more men.



It's possible that this fall's potential blockbusters, from "Interstellar" to the third "Hunger Games" movie to the final "Hobbit" installment, could bring 2014 back up to speed with previous years. But until then, not even a heroic Mark Wahlberg and a robot army are likely to save this summer from the box office doldrums.







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Our Favourite Canadian Movie Stars: Happy Canada Day!

Oh, Canada. Sometimes we forget how much talent you hold within your borders.



The number of stellar actors/actresses coming out of the Great White North is nothing short of remarkable. Considering Canada has a smaller population than the entire state of California, it's pretty amazing. Stop and think about it: Ryan Gosling, Cobie Smulders, Christopher Plummer, Jim Carrey, Ellen Page ... the list goes on and on.



So in honour of Canada's 147th birthday on July 1, we present to you our very favourite Canadian movie actors.



We couldn't possibly name every single Canadian film actor out there, so we just chose a few of our favourites. If there is a very glaring omission, please let us know and we might include!

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Movie Aliens So Impossibly Cute You Just Want to Hug Them (PHOTOS)

Ever since "E.T. the Extraterrestrial," not only did we learn that some aliens come in peace, but that many are actually quite adorable. Enter the star of "Earth to Echo," the tiny, owl-like alien who's a lot cuter than E.T., but in similar need of human assistance. He's also, of course, hoping to win your hard-earned cash when the film opens July 2.



Can Echo rank among the impressive list of Movie Aliens That Are So Cute We Just Want to Hug Them? Who are, truly, the Cutest Movie Aliens of All Time? Grab your Speak & Spell and let's start get started on this very important list.







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Meshach Taylor, 'Designing Women' Star, Dies at Age 67

Meshach Taylor, who played a lovable ex-convict surrounded by boisterous Southern belles on the sitcom "Designing Women" and appeared in numerous other TV and film roles, died of cancer at age 67, his agent said Sunday.



Taylor died Saturday at his home near Los Angeles, according to agent Dede Binder.



Taylor got an Emmy nod for his portrayal of Anthony Bouvier on "Designing Women" from 1986 to 1993. Then he costarred for four seasons on another successful comedy, "Dave's World," as the best friend of a newspaper humor columnist played by the series' star, Harry Anderson.



Other series included the cult favorite "Buffalo Bill" and the popular Nickelodeon comedy "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide."



Taylor's movie roles included a flamboyant window dresser in the 1987 comedy-romance "Mannequin" as well as "Damien: Omen II."



He guested on many series including "Hannah Montana," ''The Unit," ''Hill Street Blues," ''Barney Miller," ''Lou Grant," ''The Drew Carey Show," and, in an episode that aired in January, "Criminal Minds," which stars Joe Montegna, with whom Taylor performed early in his career as a fellow member of Chicago's Organic Theater Company. Taylor also had been a member of that city's Goodman Theatre.



The Boston-born Taylor started acting in community shows in New Orleans, where his father was dean of students at Dillard University. He continued doing roles in Indianapolis after his father moved to Indiana University as dean of the college of arts and sciences.



After college, Taylor got a job at an Indianapolis radio station, where he rose from a "flunky job" to Statehouse reporter, he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press in 1989.



"It was interesting for a while," he said. "But once you get involved in Indiana politics you see what a yawn it is."



Resuming his acting pursuit, he set up a black arts theater to keep kids off the street, then joined the national touring company of "Hair." His acting career was launched.



After "Hair," he became a part of the burgeoning theater world in Chicago, where he stayed until 1979 before heading for Los Angeles.



Taylor played the assistant director in "Buffalo Bill," the short-lived NBC sitcom about an arrogant and self-centered talk show host played by Dabney Coleman. It lasted just one season, 1983-84, disappointing its small but fervent following.



Seemingly his gig on "Designing Women" could have been even more short-lived. It was initially a one-shot.



"It was for the Thanksgiving show, about halfway through the first season," Taylor said. But producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason told him if the character clicked with audiences he could stay.



It did. He spun comic gold with co-stars Jean Smart, Dixie Carter, Annie Potts and Delta Burke, and never left.



Meanwhile, his real life worked its way into one episode.



"We were doing some promotional work in Lubbock, Texas, and somehow Delta Burke and I got booked into the same hotel suite," he said. They alerted their respective significant others to the mix-up, then muddled through with the shared accommodations.



"When we got back I told Linda, and she put it into a show: We got stranded at a motel during a blizzard and ended up in the same bed!"



Taylor is survived by his four children and his wife, Bianca Ferguson.







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Weekend Box Office: 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Rules 2014 With $100M Debut

"Transformers: Age of Extinction" is ruling the box office.



The fourth installment of filmmaker Michael Bay's morphing robots series earned $100 million in its opening weekend, making it the biggest debut for a movie in 2014, according to studio estimates Sunday.



The Paramount film also earned $201.3 million from 37 international territories. "Transformers" specifically made $90 million in China.



"Transformers" stars Mark Wahlberg and Nicola Peltz as a human father and daughter who aid the transforming robots from the Hasbro toy franchise. The sequel introduces the popular Transformers characters based on the likenesses of dinosaurs.



"Transformers: Dark of the Moon," the previous installment in the series, took in $97.8 million during its opening weekend in 2011.



Top 10 at the Weekend Box Office

1. "Transformers: Age of Extinction" - $100 M

2. "22 Jump Street" - $15.4 M

3. "How to Train Your Dragon 2" - $13.1 M

4. "Think Like a Man Too" - $10.4 M

5. "Maleficent" - $8.2 M

6. "Jersey Boys" - $7.6 M

7. "Edge of Tomorrow" - $5.2 M

8. "The Fault in our Stars" - $4.8 M

9. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" - $3.3 M

10. "Chef" - $1.7 M







WATCH a scene from "Transformers: Age of Extinction" (EXCLUSIVE)





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Here Is Your First Glimpse of Peter Capaldi in 'Doctor Who' (VIDEO)

Hold on to your Tardis, because here's your first look at Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. Seems like Doctor Who is in a bit of a pickle in this 15-second teaser, and his companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) is equally freaked out.



"Clara, be my pal and tell me -- am I a good man?" he asks." "I don't know who The Doctor is any more," she replies, and neither do we. Is he scary? Is he in trouble? What's with the malfunctioning Tardis Data Core? Where's our sonic screwdriver when we really need it?



Don't worry, lil Whovians. This is probably just the first of many, many promotional teasers to trickle across the pond before this season's premiere on August 23. Capaldi will be making his full-length "Who" debut in the episode entitled "Deep Breath," which is what all of the Whovians have been holding since the latest Doc was announced. American audiences probably know Capaldi best as the creatively foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker from "In the Loop," although he's been in everything from "Dangerous Liaisons" and "Lair of the White Worm" to "Torchwood."



Do you miss Matt Smith already, or is this clip psyching you up for the next season of "Doctor Who"?







[Via Deadline]







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Emmy Nominations Wish List: Outstanding Guest Actor and Guest Actress, Drama

The 2014 Emmy nominations will be revealed July 10 and in the days leading up to that big announcement we'll be sharing our dream picks for nods in the big categories. You can find our picks for the reality categories here, Variety Series here, Lead Actor/Actress in a Miniseries or Movie here, Outstanding Movie and Outstanding Miniseries here. Today's focus: Outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Guest Actress in a drama series.



The Emmy guest performer categories always prove to be interesting because of the variety of actors and actresses submitted. Sometimes the most unlikeliest of comedic actresses will show up in a drama race. This year's ballot has no shortage of familiar faces and Hollywood star power.



In fact, some stars are even represented more than once. Donal Logue is up for "SVU" and "Sons of Anarchy" and Jeffrey Tambor was submitted for "SVU" and "The Good Wife." This double submission isn't uncommon in a race like this, considering some actors guest on more than one show a year and do a darn good job.



Sometimes an actor or actress you might not expect to billed as a "guest" gets submitted as such, and that also makes the competition even more fierce.



Here are our dream 2014 Emmy nominees for Outstanding Guest Actor and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series:







Photo courtesy of AMC



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We Dare You Not to Fall in Love With This Trailer for 'The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby' (VIDEO)

James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain are giving us some serious Friday afternoon feels in this trailer for their new movie, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby." In less than two and a half minutes, Conor Ludlow (McAvoy) and Eleanor Rigby (Chastain) meet, fall in love, act adorable, and break up, with Eleanor doing the titular disappearing act and Conor left to wonder whether or not he should give chase. We wouldn't want to spoil anything, but things are obviously way more complicated (and less linear) than that.



More to the point, "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" is the re-edited version of two separate movies from writer/director Ned Benson, "Her" and "Him," which showed the love affair from both points of view. All three versions will be available to audiences, although it's not clear if "Her" and "Him" will be distributed on demand or in theaters or what. In any case, you can't say that writer/director Ned Benson isn't ambitious; "Her" and "Him" debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, and this version, which is subtitled "Them," played at Cannes. It's like a choose your own adventure book, with lots more crying!



William Hurt, Isabelle Huppert, Viola Davis, and Bill Hader also appear in the film, which will open on September 26. Stay tuned for details about "Her" and "Him," too. Just so you can feel all the feels.











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'Masters of Sex' Season 2 Trailer: Mixing Business With Pleasure (VIDEO)

Common wisdom states you should avoid sleeping with your coworkers, but if you're both renegade researchers in the field of sexuality, well, things are gonna get pretty confusing.



The second season of Showtime's "Masters of Sex" is almost upon us, and if you haven't been watching this smart and sexy show, this teasing trailer might do the trick. Lizzy Caplan and Michael Sheen star as researchers Virginia Johnson and William Masters, and as you can see from this tidbit, it seems they've become their own best test subjects. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as they'd like to believe to divest your heart from your body, as we can see from these less-than-clinical trysts between the two scientists. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!



Although HBO's "Game of Thrones" and "True Blood" still dominate and saturate the media, Showtime's "Masters of Sex" and "Penny Dreadful" are definitely snagging some eyeballs.



The second season of "Masters of Sex" kicks off Sunday, July 13, at 10 PM EST.











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Whoopi Goldberg Is The Last Woman Standing at 'The View'

The future is looking foggy at "The View," and it's not clear when the clouds will lift. The show suffered a blow in May when its co-creator and head honcho Barbara Walters retired, leaving Whoopi Goldberg as the lone voice of reason duking it out with nutty co-hosts Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd. Now it seems that Goldberg will be the last one standing, as both Shepherd and McCarthy are leaving - or were gently ousted, depending on who you believe.



According to TheWrap.com, Shepherd and the network couldn't agree on contracts terms, whereas ABC didn't renew McCarthy's contract. "The View" is on hiatus until July 7, but it's expected that both will stay on the show until this season ends in August.



It sounds like some serious ch-ch-changes are in store at "The View," which might include a male co-host and possibly the exit of exec producer Bill Geddie. However, as long as Whoopi keeps us posted on all the comings and goings of her cats Oliver and Vinny, all will be right in the world of daytime talk shows.







Image courtesy of Associated Press







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'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Review: Hey, It Could've Been Worse

Summer blockbusters are far from an exact science, but for the most part, there are two constants you can rely on year in and year out: Michael Bay loves to blow things up, and critics love to take down his movies. But much like Optimus Prime and the Autobots continuing to fight for humanity after swearing off it in every single "Transformers" movie, we just can't seem to help ourselves from coming back to these movies again and again.



And so, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" marks the fourth film in Bay's blockbuster franchise and the start of a whole new trilogy starring a new human cast. Picking up four years after the events of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Decepticons and Autobots alike are being hunted down by a CIA Transformer death squad called Cemetery Wind (apparently all the cool black ops names were already taken). But the tides turn when broke robotics engineer Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) and his teenage daughter (Nicola Peltz) stumble across a beat-up Optimus and help bring him back to life. At least until an even bigger threat shows up that could spell the end for the Autobots and humanity as we know it. You know, if they didn't already have another two sequels planned.



And since, let's be honest, any movie that features a giant robot riding a fire-breathing robot dinosaur is pretty much critic-proof, instead, let's play devil's advocate and point out some of the positives from Bay's latest blockbuster blow-'em-up:



It could've been even longer.

Yes, 165 minutes is an awfully long amount of time to spend watching giant CGI robots pound one another. But even though "Age of Extinction" is 11 minutes longer than the already-bloated "Dark of the Moon" and the longest of the franchise to date, Bay's made longer. Lest we forget "Pearl Harbor," which clocks in at an epic 183 minutes. So he's never exactly had a thing for brevity. Plus, it's hard to cut down on runtime when every other shot is filmed in slo-mo.



It'd be more forgivable here if Bay had a complex, intricate plot to set up and/or work through, but in reality, "Age of Extinction" basically translates to our characters chasing a MacGuffin that doesn't even show up until the second half. That means the rest of the time can be used for crucial "character development," which is really just code for more lingering shots of Peltz in short shorts, endless bickering, and added explosions.



It only features one painfully racist caricature this time.

Give Bay a little credit: he heard your complaints, he just may not have understood them. Because after famously offending viewers with two walking, talking blatantly racist stereotypes in Mudflap and Skids in "Revenge of the Fallen," this time, Optimus' ragtag team features Ken Watanabe as Drift, complete with samurai armor, broken English and a habit of calling Optimus "sensei." Oh, and there's also a fat, e-cigar-chomping Autobot voiced by John Goodman (yes, really), but at least he's only offensive for other reasons. Apparently the vague hints of self-awareness that pop up in "Age of Extinction" (like poking fun at Hollywood's love of sequels) didn't extend to its characters. Then again, this is a director whose idea of giving a blockbuster "international appeal" involves demolishing Hong Kong once he's done with Chicago.



It could've starred Shia LaBeouf again.

Make no mistake, Mark Wahlberg is a serious upgrade as the main (human) protagonist here, even if he's significantly more believable firing a giant alien gun than as a down-on-his-luck inventor. He's not given much more to work with in the dialogue department than Shia's Sam Witwicky was, but thanks to Wahlberg's built-in action hero chops and charm, it's somehow easier to buy him giving pep talks to Optimus and going toe-to-toe with evil alien robots. The only thing missing is Wahlberg reprising his "Boogie Nights" rendition of the classic "Transformers" theme "The Touch," but maybe they're saving that for the next one.



It's actually intentionally funny at times.

Credit the casting director for this one, but between T.J. Miller as Yeager's dim-witted assistant and Stanley Tucci as a pseudo-Steve Jobs type building his own army of Transformers, "Age of Extinction" features some honest-to-goodness comic relief to go along with the usual cheesy one-liners. Granted, 99 percent of that is likely ad-libbed, but the few genuinely funny lines offer a welcome respite during the sensory-assaulting dullness of all those overstuffed action set pieces. There's a lot you can question about this latest "Transformers" installment (like pretty much the entire third act, or why they thought a statutory rape joke made for a hilarious "gag"), but the decision to swap out the entire human cast was a smart one.



It's even possible to tell what's going on during some of the fight scenes.

Not all of them, of course, but again, it's an upgrade from the disorienting CGI mayhem of the last few movies. And even if Bay's still taking a kitchen sink approach, packing every frame with as many fireworks and as much clashing metal as they can handle, he at least slows down the action at times to make sure the movie gets the most out of those expensive money shots. Of course, the increased coherence isn't always a bonus: during one early-movie car chase, the pursuit improbably cuts directly from the Yeager homestead to a cornfield, then back to the Yeager's lawn, and seconds later, onto their Texas town's main streets.



And while Optimus pays a lot of lip service (do Autobots have lips?) to his oath to never take a human life, apparently that doesn't extend to CIA officers or the ridiculous amount of callous collateral damage the nearly 30-minute long final fight causes. So instead of being thrilling and awe-inspiring, the extended CGI, pyrotechnic and product placement onslaught just gets exhausting after a while, and you wish Bay & Co. would just hurry this whole thing along. But wait, isn't the point of all this eye candy that it's fun to watch? Somewhere along the way, this franchise seemed to forget that part. Oh well. Maybe the fifth time's the charm?



"Transformers: Age of Extinction" is now playing in theatres.

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​This Week in TV: How Will Diane Sawyer's Departure Change TV News?

Diane Sawyer's September departure from her nightly anchor desk at ABC News, announced on Wednesday, is clearly a major event that will change -- or rather, lay bare -- the face of TV news. How to explain the multi-rippled impact of Sawyer's stepping aside? Use a phrase that was once applied to her old boss, Richard Nixon: "Follow the money."



In the short term, of course, ABC may save some money by having young pup David Muir (who's 40 and has decades less seniority than 68-year-old Sawyer) take her nightly seat. Meanwhile, naming morning mainstay George Stephanopoulos as "Chief Anchor" for breaking news seems a largely cosmetic and cheap way to keep the daytime news star happy without actually promoting him or increasing his duties much. And keeping the morning crew happy is, in a way, what this move is really all about.



After all, Muir's version of the nightly newscast is supposedly going to be more like "Good Morning America," perhaps with more live interviews and less gravitas. And having "GMA"'s Stephanopoulos on board in whatever capacity will also reinforce continuity with "GMA." For it's "GMA," not the evening "World News," that is now ABC's flagship news program and its cash cow.



For the first time in 16 years, "GMA" is handily beating NBC's "Today" among morning viewers. Those hours of programming every morning mean big ad dollars, in contrast with the aging, shrinking audience for the nightly newscasts. The nightly network news is just not the glamour job it was when every TV journalist aspired to be Walter Cronkite or Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings. In the zillion-channel cable universe, the network's nightly newscasts are largely seen as fading anachronisms, a last bastion of boring high-mindedness from an age when a network's TV news division was still considered a public service and not a revenue generator like everything else the network aired.



In recent years, old-school pundits decried the ascent of Sawyer and Katie Couric from the morning news shows to their network's nightly anchor chairs as moves that would somehow soften (read: feminize) the newscasts and make them less serious. The truth is, however, that the nightly newscasts were always personality-driven, defined as much by the personal style of a Cronkite or Brokaw as by the actual editorial content. That Sawyer's duties will be split between Muir and Stephanopoulos shows not only that she leaves big shoes to fill, but also that the anchor job is no longer the glittering prize it once was. The fact that Sawyer can so casually walk away from the desk after less than five years there shows that as well.



Of course, now that Sawyer is leaving, nightly network news is once again the preserve of middle-aged white guys. Whatever experiment Couric and Sawyer were launching was short-lived, and now it's back to the way things were for decades before they came along. (Sure, there's still Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff running the nightly news hour on PBS, but does PBS count?) Especially after Barbara Walters' departure from "The View" last month, ABC News is going from having TV journalism's two most celebrated women in prominent daily posts to looking like every other white-guy network. (Sawyer and Walters, who is 84, have both said they'll continue to do prime-time interview specials, but it's hard not to see their respective resignations from their day jobs as anything but easing gently into retirement.) It's hard to see how having Muir or Stephanopoulos at the desk will help ABC differentiate its newscast from those of Scott Pelley at CBS or Brian Williams at NBC.



The paradox is that ABC seems to want to make its nightly news more closely resemble golden goose "GMA," and yet a big part of that morning show's success is its appeal to women, who are the primary audience for daytime TV and (to hear the sponsors tell it) for TV in general. How is losing its most recognizable women going to help ABC News recapture the evening like it did the morning?









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'TGIF' Shows: A Definitive Ranking (PHOTOS)

Do you remember the days when Friday night was all about ABC's delightful block of family-oriented programming? Perhaps you rushed to your couch after dinner or piled in front of a set at a slumber party throughout the '90s, all so you could catch your favorite sitcoms play out from 8-10 PM as the weekend settled in. The phenomenon was its own decade-long version of tween-skewing must-see TV.



One of its breakout sitcoms was "Boy Meets World," which is being revived through the Disney Channel fifteen years after its finale through a spinoff appropriately titled, "Girl Meets World." The show premieres on TV screens Friday, June 27th (it's been streaming online since earlier this month) but has been making headlines ever since the concept was announced. The new effort surely hopes to tap into the nostalgia of now 30-somethings and capture a new generation of youngins looking for friendly, coming-of-age programming to get hooked on.



As we prepare for this beloved series' fresh iteration, we thought we would take a look back on the shows that brought the joy of watching awkward first kisses, wacky neighbors, "very special episodes," and plenty of memorable life lessons being learned.



Here is our definitive ranking of the TGIF shows, from the worst to the very best.







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Amy Adams Gives Her First Class Seat to a Serviceman, Wins Our Hearts

Flying is a total pain in the keister these days, but little gestures go a long way. Amy Adams went above and beyond on a flight from Detroit to Los Angeles on Friday by giving up her fancy first-class seat to an American serviceman. ESPN's "Numbers Never Lie" Jemele Hill spotted the Oscar nominee (and former Army brat) leaving her seat before the flight took off.

Just saw actress Amy Adams do something incredibly classy. She gave her 1st class seat to an American soldier. I'm an even bigger fan now.

- Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) June 27, 2014

"I think she must have said something to the flight attendant, because before we took off she had vacated her seat and the flight attendant brought the soldier to her seat," Hill told TODAY.com. Little did Hill know that her tweet would make the news around the country in so little time. News travels fast -- especially when you're not using in-flight WiFi.



It seems likely that Adams was in Detroit to film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which is currently in production in the area. The movie will be out in 2016.



Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images







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The 'Fantastic Four' Reboot Will Probably Have a 'Found Footage Feel'

While we all know that Josh Trank, director of the giant new "Fantastic Four" movie for Fox, got his start on the relatively smallish found footage thriller "Chronicle," there was still something of an expectation that the new film would have scope and resemble a real-life movie, at least as we traditionally understand them. But not so fast.



In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter (via Film Drunk), Emma Watts, the president of production at Fox, was asked if the "Fantastic Four" reboot, featuring young whippersnappers like Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell (from AMC's sensation "Turn"), would feature the same found footage feel that characterize "Chronicle," Watts responded that, yes, that would be a part of it.



"It's Josh, so it can't not have that feel," Watts said. "That's his talent, that's what he does, and that's what excites him about it. It is a really interesting young cast, and he is the magnet that's brought them all together."



To which we have to let out an exasperated groan. This is not the kind of property that will benefit from a cheapo shaky cam aesthetic, and it also calls into question Trank's talents in general. Does this mean that his "Star Wars" movie is going to be more "Troopers" (the early, fan-made "Star Wars" spoof that took on the look of "Cops") than "The Empire Strikes Back?" We certainly hope not.



There is, of course, the outside possibility that Watts was simply mistaken and misspoke. Maybe she just means that Trank is adopting some of the more roughhewn style for the multiplex-worthy "Fantastic Four." Or maybe not. Either way, we'll get our answers closer to the movie's March 6^th, 2015 release date.







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