1. Thanks to the success of Duets II, 85-year-old singer Tony Bennett is now the oldest living person to top the Billboard 200. The previous record holder? Bob Dylan. [via NME]
2. Lady Gaga is suing a Chicago-based company that has been marketing a jewelry and cosmetics line that has nothing do with her but is called “Lady Gaga by Design.” Meanwhile, she’s still waiting for the United States Patent and Trademark Office to approve her own claims on her name. [via Vulture]
3. Tony-winning actress Sutton Foster has been cast in Bunheads, the new pilot from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. She’ll play Michelle, “a Las Vegas showgirl who impulsively marries a man and moves to his sleepy coastal town, taking a role at her mother-in-law’s dance school.” [via THR]
4. IFC has announced the premiere date for Season 2 of Portlandia (January 9!), along with an impressive list of some of the guest stars who we can expect to see, which includes Jack McBrayer, Andy Samberg, and Kristen Wiig. [via CinemaBlend]
5. Here are some photos and videos from last night’s instantly sold-out Radiohead concert at Roseland Ballroom, the first of two shows there this week. We have no idea how long the latter will stay up, so watch ‘em while you can.
Bonus Buzz: Hack Your Facebook Cover Art
As much as we love SNL digital shorts and all the vulgar laughs and Justin Timberlake cameos they may bring, let’s take a break before this weekend’s season premiere to acknowledge another variety of Saturday Night Live music videos, shall we? Y’know, the ones that weren’t produced by Lorne Michaels. Every now and then, a current or former “Not Ready For Prime Time Player” will lend a hand as the protagonist of a real music video for an actual musician, and some of these guest appearances are pretty great. Check out ten of our favorites after the jump.
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Remember that time Johnny Depp came to your elementary school dressed as a pirate? Or when Larry David made fun of that annoying dude who sits behind you in lecture? Yeah, we don’t either, but sometimes these things actually happen. Recently, Matt Stone and Trey Parker shocked some NYU freshmen with a guest lecture on South Park‘s storytelling strategies — on the first day of class, no less. Watch videos of these celebrities, and many more, crashing classes (and football practice) after the jump.
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As we mentioned yesterday, our hopes are high for this weekend’s season finale of Saturday Night Live. Between Justin Timberlake as the show’s host, and Lady Gaga as its musical guest, we figured that something interesting had to happen. Now, thanks to TMZ, we have confirmation of this fact: a preview of this week’s Digital Short. Will it be more of a “Motherlover” (which was funny) or a “Dick in the Box” (which changed our world)? We have no idea. Given that the lovely Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson were also spotted filming, it will probably be more of the former, but we’ll definitely be tuning in to find out! [via Vulture]
Today at Flavorpill, we saw the 90s-est thing that we had ever seen. We met the model behind the enormous hands on the cover of Tina Fey’s Bossypants. We learned how to look punk, thanks to this zine from 1977. We got Baroness Elsa Schraeder’s side of the story behind her breakup with Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. We wondered what exciting things Jay-Z’s new development deal with Adult Swim will bring. We felt compelled to adopt a pair of sea otters, just so that we could watch them sleep. We liked io9′s roundup of the 10 most frightening TV horror series ever made. We watched both the real and imaginary Andy Samberg converse with Bert on Sesame Street. We wanted to know the story behind these cement filled Budweiser nun chucks. We laughed out loud over this Nancy Drew mystery cartoon. And finally, after seeing this preview of Amy Poehler’s upcoming photo spread in New York Magazine, we couldn’t wait to get ours hands on the issue when it hits stands.
When it comes to sitcoms with great guest stars, 30 Rock and The Office seem to get all the glory. But last night, we were delighted to see one of our favorite actresses, Parker Posey, throw down with Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation. Parker’s Lindsay Carlisle Shay is Leslie’s former best friend and coworker who snubbed Pawnee for a job in the city’s posh neighboring town, Eagleton. Her hilarious performance got us thinking about how many wonderful guests Parks and Rec has hosted in fewer than three seasons. We round up ten of our favorites after the jump.
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1. Check out a full list of last night’s 2011 Golden Globe winners here. Sadly, Laura Linney — who won the award for best performance by an actress in a TV series, comedy or musical for her role on Showtime’s The Big C — missed the ceremony because the day before the show, her father died of lung cancer. [via THR]
2. “There was an amusing progression on this year’s Golden Globes red-carpet show: Things moved from, ‘She looks great!’ to, ‘….Hmm, she looks….interesting’ to ‘Huh?!’ to ‘TILDA SWINTON!’ to the two of us throwing up our hands and making the ‘touchdown’ sign when Jennifer Lopez alighted from her limo.” – The always hilarious Fug Girls have a slideshow of last night’s best and worst outfits
3. A memo from Steve Jobs was sent to all Apple employees today, stating that Jobs will take a medical leave of absence so that the CEO can “focus on [his] health.” [via Gizmodo]
4. James Franco and Anne Hathaway will meet with Academy Awards producers this week to begin fleshing out their material for the show. According to the show’s longtime head writer Bruce Vilanch, we can expect to see both a spoof of Black Swan and the arm chopping scene from 127 Hours. [via Digital Spy]
5. In case you missed it, this week’s SNL Digital Short featured Pee-wee Herman on a bender with Andy Samberg (the “Tequila” dance is involved), Anderson Cooper getting whacked by a chair, and an intervention. [via Slashfilm]
Bonus link: 50 Meals to Eat in 50 States Before the Apocalypse
Last night Andy Samberg dropped by the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for an impromptu performance of “Lazy Sunday” with guest Chris Parnell and The Roots. While it was the first time that Samberg and Parnell had ever performed their nerdcore anthem live, you couldn’t tell; their delivery was seamless. Sure, we miss the “special effects” of the original SNL Digital Short, but we were glad to see that Andy thought to bring along their coats, as well as a few props. What do you think?
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This SNL Digital Short was the only part of last night’s Saturday Night Live season premiere — which was hosted by Megan Fox — that made us laugh out loud. Bonus points for the cameo by her boyfriend, Brian Austin Green. But that’s not what everyone is talking about: Cast newbie Jenny Slate dropped an accidental f-bomb during a so-so skit called Biker Chick Chat. Le scandale! Kudos to Slate, Fox, and Kristen Wiig for not missing a beat, though there was definitely an “oh shit” vibe in the air; surely someone at the FCC understands the emotional stress of making your SNL debut and will cut her a break? Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we enjoyed some vintage Tracy Morgan. We were impressed by the 100 leotard- clad dancers getting their “All My Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” on in Piccadilly Circus. Now that’s the way to sell some gum. We discovered that Salma Hayek was a diva thanks to her hacked e-mails. Shocking. The New York Observer‘s longest serving editor called it quits, and we wanted his job. We felt bad about our buffet lunch splurge after learning about this 83-year-old yoga teacher. We laughed out loud at the MTV Movie Awards promo featuring Andy Samberg, Jack Black, and Michael Cera… although Vulture has a conspiracy theory. We cringed at the sight of a dude munching on the world’s largest Cheeto. And then we felt hungry. We thought Aziz was nuts for recruiting Fleet Foxes as his personal security team at Bonnaroo. We got on board the in defense of Twitter bus. And finally, we visited our friends at Threadless.com where all week they’re donating $1 per order to PlantABillion.org. Nice work guys!
