'The Munsters', 'Mockingbird Lane', and New Cast

A revamp is heading your way. 'The Munsters', the famous series that focused on a family of monsters living in suburban America, is being remade by NBC.

The original starred Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster, the mother of the family, and Fred Gwynne as her husband Herman Munster. There is also a grandfather, a son, and a niece, who all live in the family's creepy home. The sitcom ran for 70 episodes in the 1960s, and can still be seen in syndication.

A spin-off series, 'The Munsters Today', ran for 72 episodes from 1988 until 1991.

The new show, currently titled 'Mockingbird Lane', is being developed for NBC. Bryan Fuller, who created 'Pushing Daisies', is attached.

Here is the current cast:

Christmas Music!

I typically hum Christmas music year round, which rather obviously annoys a lot of people. Luckily, it's December 1st today, which means that Christmas music is once again appropriate! Apparently the media agrees with me. Ellen's 12 days of giveaways started today (if you were in the audience, I'm jealous!) and She & Him performed a song from their new-ish Christmas album.
There is a video, just give it a minute and it will appear.

Live! with Kelly, Saturday Night Live, and Seinfeld

Is 'Live!' missing Regis?

Personally, I found Regis Philbin a little irritating, and his banter with Kelly more obnoxious than cute. The running gag that he was the old guy who wasn't technologically savvy was getting a little tired.

Because of that, I'm not sad to see him go. I find Kelly Ripa less annoying, and better versed in popular culture. Since 'Live!' is really a pop culture, celebrity-obsessed show that's what is really important. Regis just didn't have that knowledge.

On a recent 'Saturday Night Live' they performed a skit that does an excellent job of highlighting the current issue that 'Live!' does have--who is going to replace Regis? While Kelly could probably do an excellent job by herself, the show's dynamic has always been based on the quirky relationship between its hosts. And the show has always been relatively successful. I doubt they have any desire to test the rocky waters of a single-host talk show (Ellen Degeneres kind of has that market covered). So, who will become Kelly's new co-host? Some of the recent temporary celebrity co-hosts have been better than others, but none of them are going to abandon their acting jobs to take a permanent position.

What do you think will happen? Who should become Kelly Ripa's new co-host?

 Evidence of a bad celebrity co-host? Jerry Seinfeld. I appreciate his comedy but he made the interviews all about himself, and didn't give the guests they were actually interviewing a chance to contribute.

Portia de Rossi's return to TV

Portia de Rossi is returning to television.

Just when I was wondering (while I sat on my couch re-watching 'Arrested Development' episodes) whether de Rossi had decided to 'retire' from acting, I got the news that she may be returning to our televisions as early as next Fall.

De Rossi's wife, Ellen Degeneres, is producing her newest show. The as yet unnamed show focuses on the escapades of two sisters (one played by de Rossi). The show recently went through a bidding war, and the lucky winner was NBC.

Jennifer Garner is Pregnant!

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are expecting a 3rd baby! Their new child will join Violet, who is 5, and Seraphina, who is 2. Garner and Affleck have been married since June of 2005.

We'll have to wait and see if it's another girl or not. During an appearance on 'The Ellen Degeneres Show' Affleck memorably said that he never got to be right in his house, because he was always outvoted by the women.

"Yes, I have three women in the house."-Affleck

"And how's that?"-Degeneres

"Well...I get to be wrong three times a day!"-Affleck

David Cross & Amber Tamblyn are Engaged!

Amber Tamblyn and David Cross Announce Engagement!

Does anyone else remember when news of Amber Tamblyn and David Cross' relationship first hit the blogosphere? It was wayyy back in 2009, and Tamblyn was 25 to Cross' 44. And there was just a little bit of an eww factor. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate them both as actors, and find them incredibly talented. I still remember Tamblyn fondly from her 'Joan of Arcadia' days, and her recent role on 'House' was well done. And since I am one of the hugest 'Arrested Development' fans on the planet, I obviously appreciate Cross' extreme talent. I suppose an age gap of 19 years really isn't that huge (Ellen and Portia are 15 years apart, and no one said anything about that). I think the real issue is that Tamblyn looks sooo young, while Cross looks, well...sooo old.
But she's now 28, and he's now 47, and somehow that age gap seems a little more reasonable (until you realize that she's not even thirty and he's almost fifty! But I digress). They are officially engaged. In fact, they've apparently been engaged for weeks, but (smartly I think!) wanted to enjoy the engagement in private for a while before letting the whole world know. And considering they've been dating for three years it seems like they are a successful couple who will hopefully have a successful marriage. Really, congratulations are in order. And I mean that!

Ellen & Portia come to Boston

Ellen Degeneres and Porti de Rossi Visit Boston. August 10, 2011.

Today, Ellen Degeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, visited Boston. First they went on a duck tour (see image below) of the city. Then they ended up at Quincy Market in the heart of the city for a quick photo-op with Boston's Mayor, Tom Menino. Crowds of people had gathered in the historic area, including one family who admitted that they had been waiting since "about 9 am".

Ellen and Portia finally pulled up (in the duck boat!) at about 1:30 pm. Unfortunately the podium mic was poor quality, but Ellen said that Boston was her favorite city and that she hoped everyone would still be able to watch her when she moves to her new 4 pm time slot (she even joked that loyal viewers would need to quit their jobs!). Her speech was sadly brief, but she did apologize for this stating that she had to go and do interviews/tape promos. Oh, and she danced a little.

After she briefly disappeared inside Faneuil Hall the majority of the crowd dispersed. I milled around with a few stragglers, and was glad I did! I happened to be standing right next to the door where Portia and Ellen exited to head back to their convoy. I snapped a brief photo of Portia (see above), but my phone's camera didn't recover quickly enough to get one of Ellen too. Of course, this was the one day when I left my real camera at home.

I spent the next 15 minutes being interviewed by ABC5 News, and explaining to an older member of the paparrazi which photos he had were ones of Portia (seriously, it might be good to know what the people your living depends on look like!).

Wednesday Blast from the Past

It's summer which means that I can't watch the first 5 minutes of the 'Ellen Degeneres Show' as I get ready for work.

(Yes, I start work at 10 am. Yes, you can judge me. Or just be jealous. Very, very jealous)

But it's all good, because I just found out that Ellen used to do vlogs from her house. And while it sort of feels like an intrusion into her life (I thought she lived on the studio lot!) at least it's a welcome one (assuming no one forced her to film them). Besides, the fact that they take place in her house make them even funnier.

Since Wednesday is traditionally Hump Day, I like to use it to reflect on the past...because who said going over the hump means going forward? So, lets go back to 2008.






p.s. there are even more vlogs on YouTube...