Right now, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson from Glee are arguably the sweetest, most talented young couple on television. Often celebrated as paving the way for gay teens on TV (don’t worry, we didn’t forget about you, Billy Douglas), the duo has defied the odds of Glee couple failure to prevail as one of its most functional long-term pairs. Indeed, other gay teen characters sometimes find similarly successful matches within their respective series, but we’ve never seen a pair never quite as Entertainment Weekly cover-worthy as Kurt and Blaine. So, we’re reprising our role as trans-series matchmaker with some LGBT high schoolers we’d like to see together. Check ‘em out after the jump, and hit the comments to let us know of any other pairings you’d like to see.
Editor’s note: Welcome to Dear Costume Department, a bi-weekly feature brought to you by our fashion-minded friends from Of a Kind, a curated shopping site of limited-edition goods by emerging designers. With each installment, they’ll bring you a head-to-toe look inspired by a buzzed-about pop culture personality — complete with info on where to grab the pieces for your own closet. Enjoy!
Though the news that Harry Potter was coming back to Broadway — this time with his pants on! — for a show that won seven Tonys back in 1961 was big, somehow it’s just as thrilling that he’s been replaced by Darren Criss, the guy who keeps us tuning into Glee even though the show has most definitely jumped the shark. Hopefully with the impossibly charismatic actor comes a spiffed-up look — god knows dude can do flamboyant without losing an ounce of that slicked-hair appeal of his.
Well, it’s Thursday, but there won’t be a new episode of Community tonight. Apparently, there won’t be a new episode of Community for many more Thursday nights… excuse me…
Okay, I’m back. Nothing wrong with a good morning cry. As I was saying, last week’s Christmas episode marked the final new episode until the series’ undetermined spring return to the NBC schedule, as room is cleared in the Thursday night line-up for 30 Rock’s return and various other shufflings. NBC promises (promises!) that the innovative ensemble comedy isn’t cancelled, it’s just going on a little break, but their assurances have the subtle air of a parent’s earnest insistence that no, Sir Barksalot just went to a farm in the country where he can run and play, not that he was… put to… sorry, be right back…
Right-o. Our worries about Community’s future aside, its distressing exile—along with the rerun cycle that has already taken over prime-time — and the recent addition of the entire three-season run to Hulu Plus means that the holidays are a fine time for you Greendale novices out there to catch up on what is, I believe, the finest comedy program on network television. After the jump, we’ll give you the ten episodes most worth your time. Read More »
1. Chewbacca is making a non-singing guest appearance on the Christmas episode of Glee. Why? According to Matthew Morrison, there’s “a special within the episode that’s a throwback to the Star Wars holiday special and the Judy Garland Christmas special.” [via THR]
2. Martin Scorsese has revealed that his next film project will be a long-delayed adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, a story which focuses on a group of Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan. [via Slashfilm]
3. This image of Viggo Mortensen on the cover of New York Times Magazine has us convinced that he would have made a much better Benjamin Button than Brad Pitt. [via Best Week Ever]
4. Can you picture Jason Stackhouse having a one night stand with Zooey Deschanel’s awkward New Girl character Jess? Neither can we (unless there was some V involved), but it looks like it will be happening in an upcoming episode of the show. [via Vulture]
5. It has been announced that Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood will compose the score The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film that’s believed to be based on the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Given how well this creative pairing worked for There Will Be Blood, we can’t wait to hear what Greenwood comes up with. [via Collider]
When word spread that Gossip Girl was going to set an episode at New York’s cultish “immersive theatre” production Sleep No More, fans of the show — who have been known to develop wallet-crippling addictions to it — were not happy. Would their favorite secret spot soon be overrun by teenyboppers keen on re-enacting Serena and Blair’s melodramatic intrigue? Would Gossip Girl give away any of the Macbeth-inspired experience’s secrets? Well, the episode aired last night, and we learned far more about Chuck Bass’s libido (or newfound lack thereof) and Ivy’s ex-boyfriend than Sleep No More. To commemorate this supremely odd moment of convergence, we’ve rounded up some of the best and strangest moments that have found TV shows appropriating cult, underground, and indie culture, from Saved by the Bell‘s rave to Roseanne‘s riot grrrls, after the jump.
From children who are basically props to 25-year-old high schoolers with wardrobes by Marc Jacobs, there’s a noticeable lack of realistic kid characters on TV these days. But, in the past few seasons, we’ve noticed that the vogue for Gossip Girl-style perfection has begun to give way to an influx of young people who actually seem real (and, um, young). In celebration of this development, we’ve collected 10 of the most distinctive and best-developed characters from the 18-and-under set that are on TV right now. Meet a sweet, precocious tween, a high-school girl struggling with her father’s suicide, and more, after the jump.
Quick, think of your favorite character from film or TV. Got it? Now imagine someone else wearing that character’s clothes and saying that character’s words. Unless you’re thinking of James Bond, Doctor Who, or another notoriously replaceable face, it’s probably hard to picture a different actor playing the part. Alas, before there were “lights, camera, action” on all our favorite productions, there were auditions, and that role was up for grabs. Check out some silly successful, failed, and even fake audition tapes, featuring some very familiar faces, after the jump.
Everyone knows that primetime TV is a stronghold of stock characters, gender stereotypes, and cheap jokes. All of which is, ahem, half the reason we love it so much. No matter how far our society seems to advance, stereotypes sell, so they keep popping up on the small screen — even, we’ve noticed, pushing the boundaries of how offensive they can get. Just for analyzation purposes, we’ve picked out ten of the character tropes on modern television, from the epic nerd to the hot girl, that we seem to keep seeing over and over again, for better or for worse. Click through to see our list, and if we’ve missed any of your favorite stock characters, be sure to let us know in the comments!
With every new TV season, we welcome a fresh crop of characters into our lives — heroes, villains, antiheroes, mouthy city girls, eccentric co-workers, werepanthers. This fall is no different, although in our rush to watch the flood of new programming, we’ve begun to notice how many of these fictional folks actually annoy the crap out of us. So, after the jump, we’re telling freshman sitcoms and beloved dramas alike how we really feel about their overbearing friends and desperate housewives. Let us know which TV characters you find irritating in the comments.
1. Do Silicon Valley tech geeks have as much reality TV potential as the gorilla juice heads who inhabit the Jersey Shore? A casting call for a new show — which is rumored to be for MTV as well — suggests that someone out there thinks so. [via AolTV]
2. The Emily Haines-led Canadian band Metric is teaming up with Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore to score David Cronenberg’s film adaptation of Don DeLillo’s novel Cosmopolis, which tells the story of a 28-year-old multi-billionaire asset manager who will be played by Robert Pattinson. [via The Playlist]
3. Here’s a closer look at iPhone 4S’ new voice interface, Siri — including the really important stuff, like what happens when you tell her that you love her. [via Gizmodo]
4. We regret to inform you that Tom Hanks’ younger son Chet Hanks (a.k.a. Chet Haze) is back with another rap video. If you’re feeling brave, you can watch it here.
5. Beyoncé’s publicist says that the rumors that the pop star is faking her pregnancy — most recently sparked when her stomach “appeared to fold when she sat down” during an appearance on an Australian talk show — are “stupid, ridiculous and false.” [via Rolling Stone]
