Category: Television

Sofia Vergara to host ‘Saturday Night Live’ April 7

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – “Modern Family” star Sofia Vergara will test her live comedy skills on April 7, when she makes her debut as “Saturday Night Live” host.

The Emmy nominee confirmed her new gig Monday, tweeting to “Family” co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “I’m so glad it is officially announced:I can now freely express my excitement about @SofiaVergara hosting SNL on April7!”

Vergara was announced as the April 7 host during last week’s Jonah Hill-hosted “SNL.” British boy band One Direction will be the musical guest for the episode.

Vergara, who has been nominated for a pair of Emmys and a pair of Golden Globes for her role as Gloria on “Modern Family,” also co-stars in the Bobby and Peter Farrelly-directed “Three Stooges” movie that hits theaters on April 13.

Big Bang Theory Lands Stephen Hawking Cameo

Stephen Hawking will appear on The Big Bang Theory later this season, which means the show will have trumped American Idol both in ratings and in theoretical physicists.

The Big Bang Theory has had big-name science stars before — national hero Neil deGrasse Tyson, George F. Smoot — but Hawking is more or less the holy grail of scientist cameos.

He’s appeared on Futurama and The Simpsons a bunch of times, and cameoed as a hologram on Star Trek: TNG, but this is his first sitcom role.

Finally, the man has achieved something.

Hugh Laurie: I was sick of going to work

Even though Fox TV said this week that “House” was being dropped after eight seasons, the truth was more like the star had decided to drop out.

“There are very few things in life that are so deliciously enjoyable that you want to do them for 16 hours a day, every day — including sex and fine dining,” Hugh Laurie told a London newspaper over the weekend.

“We are on such a conveyer belt, and it can get overwhelming.

“It’s not the playing the character over and over again” that he minded, Laurie said.

“It’s the coming to work over and over again. You know, we have done 170 episodes now, I think. That’s about 50-60 feature films-worth.

“You want a break, you really do.”

Laurie will end his years as Dr. House without regrets or — it seems — the Emmy award for Best Actor, for which he’d been nominated nearly every year since the show began in 2004 but never won.

James Spader exiting ‘The Office’

James Spader is exiting NBC’s The Office after one season.

The actor joined the show’s eighth year after his brief turn in the show’s seventh season finale. Spader played Dunder Mifflin’s quirky confident CEO Robert California, stepping in after star Steve Carell’s departed the series.

The Office brass says it was Spader’s decision to leave the show, though the comedy’s ratings couldn’t have been an incentive to keep him on board. NBC’s highest-rated scripted series declined to rank 28th this season, with 6.6 million viewers and a 3.4 average adult demo rating (and that’s including DVR use).

Here’s a statement from executive producer Paul Lieberstein:

“James came to The Office to play a role that was two scenes long in the season 7 finale. He instantly brought so much life and intrigue to the part that those two scenes became a season. James always wanted this to be a one year arc, and he now leaves us having created one of the most enigmatic and dynamic characters in television. He’s been a great friend to me and the show, helping us successfully transition into the post-Michael Scott years, and I’m grateful for that. I’m already looking for ways to work with him again.”

NBC shuffles: ‘Community’ returns, ‘Parks’ exits, for now

More scheduling changes at fourth-place NBC: Low-rated cult favorite Community returns March 15 in its original home, Thursdays at 8 ET/PT, as 30 Rock slides to 8:30 and Parks and Recreation takes a breather. (Parks returns April 19 at 9:30 once Up All Night completes its run).

New comedy Bent, starring Amanda Peet, will air back-to-back episodes Wednesdays at 9 on March 21, 28 and April 4, temporarily bumping Rock Center with Brian Williams to 10 (Law & Order: SVU goes on hiatus until April 11).

And new hidden-camera series Betty White’s Off Their Rockers, along with sitcom Best Friends Forever, will air Wednesdays at 8 starting April 4, after Whitney and Are You There, Chelsea complete their own first seasons.

Lindsay Lohan to guest host ‘SNL’ next month

NEW YORK (AP) — Lindsay Lohan’s comeback trail is leading her to “Saturday Night Live.”
NBC says the troubled actress, whose career in recent years has been upstaged by legal and personal problems, will serve as guest host of “SNL” on March 3. The network said Sunday that the musical guest that night will be Jack White.

It will be Lohan’s fourth turn as host of the late-night comedy show. She presided in 2004, 2005 and 2006, before her career faltered. In recent years, she has mostly been in the public eye in connection with her multiple arrests and episodes of substance abuse. In December, she appeared in Playboy magazine in a mostly nude pictorial.

‘The Colbert Report’ to return Monday after absence

NEW YORK (AP) — A representative for Stephen Colbert says “The Colbert Report” will return Monday after a sudden break due to the ailing health of the star’s mother.

The Comedy Central show last week substituted repeats for scheduled shows on Wednesday and Thursday. At the time, the network said only that the cancellations were because of “unforeseen circumstances.”

Colbert is expected to address his absence on Monday. His 91-year-old mother, Lorna Colbert, is ill.

Earlier on Twitter, Colbert thanked those who had offered “thoughts and prayers.”

Colbert’s father, James Colbert, and two of his brothers were killed in an airplane crash in 1974.

‘The Colbert Report’ off air; Comedy Central mum

NEW YORK (AP) — Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” is off the air and it’s a mystery why.

An expected new episode of the show was replaced by a repeat on Wednesday. Comedy Central said Thursday’s live show will be off, too.

The network said it was airing the repeats “due to unforeseen circumstances,” but offered no other explanation. A person close to the show, who wasn’t authorized to speak publically on the matter, told The Associated Press that new episodes are expected to return soon.

A publicist for Colbert declined to comment.

Colbert’s popular “fake commentary” program airs Monday through Thursday, following “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart.

Saturday Night Live Casualty: Paul Brittain, aka “Sex” Ed Vincent, Exits

Saturday Night Live is down a cast member.

A show insider has confirmed that Paul Brittain has left SNL after a one-year stint as a featured player and will not be appearing on this weekend’s episode hosted by Channing Tatum.

Guess this means no more “Sex” Ed.

The 34-year-old funnyman joined the late-night comedy series for its 36th season back in September 2010, but was a relatively quiet presence, never moving up to the rank of regular performer.

Among Brittain’s most memorable characters were Croatian stand-up comic Goran “Funky Boy” Bogdan, Lord Wyndemere and “Sex” Ed Vincent, a sexpert who holds enthusiastic symposiums on the subject. He also did impressions of James Franco and Johnny Depp.

No reason was given for his departure, though Entertainment Weekly quotes a source close to the comic as saying Brittain “had the opportunity to pursue other projects, and he and the show parted ways amicably.”

A rep for the actor was unavailable for comment, and there was no official comment from NBC.

Brittain, the nephew of legendary comedian Bob Newhart, is far from the only performer to leave Saturday Night Live after such a brief tenure. Notable short-lived Not Ready for Primetime Players include Laurie Metcalf, Ben Stiller, Damon Wayans and Janeane Garafalo.

New NBC chief says ‘Community’ coming back

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — After acknowledging that NBC had a “really bad fall,” the network’s entertainment chief moved swiftly Friday to assure viewers that “Community” and “Law & Order: SVU” aren’t leaving.

Although the Thursday night comedy “Community” was taken off the midseason schedule, entertainment president Bob Greenblatt said that he wanted to “dispel any notion that it is quietly disappearing.” He didn’t say, however, when it would be back.

At a news conference, Greenblatt also aired a video clip of star Mariska Hargitay saying that she’s committed to “Law & Order: SVU” through next year. She’ll even get a love interest: Harry Connick Jr. has signed on for several episodes later this season.

For NBC, keeping any audience it still has is important. The fourth-place network has continued its slow decline this fall, with Sunday night football keeping its heart beating. Viewership was off 5 percent from last season, the Nielsen ratings company said.

“We had a really bad fall, worse than I had hoped for but about what I expected,” Greenblatt said.

Still, he said that he hoped new shows like “The Voice,” ”Up All Night” and “Whitney” can provide building blocks for the future, even if they are only modest successes now.

NBC has been outspending its rivals in series development recently, following many years when the network kept such spending down. Greenblatt said NBC’s new corporate owners, Comcast Corp., have shown a willingness to invest money and patience in rebuilding the network.

NBC has high hopes for the midseason series “Smash,” about the competitive world of Broadway musicals. It debuts Feb. 6. Greenblatt seemingly tried to dampen expectations, given how hard it is to develop hits in network television these days.

“In this day and age, you need four or five shows to help things turn around,” he said. “‘Smash’ could be one of those. I hope it is one of those. If it isn’t, we’re not going to go into receivership.”

Greenblatt did not address reports that NBC is interested in Ryan Seacrest as a potential replacement for Matt Lauer on the “Today” show, whose contract ends this year.

“All of that is premature,” he said. “It is our hope and belief that Matt will stay on the show beyond the length of his contract.”

Comcast is talking with Seacrest, who plays a big role on the company’s E! Entertainment cable network, about different things he could do. One idea NBC would be interested in is a network interview show, much like Barbara Walters has done on ABC.