3 photosAw Man, The Muppet Movie Has Hipsters

“(Dann) said the whole purpose of ‘Sesame Street‘ was to cater to black and Hispanic youths who, quote-unquote, do not have reading literature in the house,” Shapiro told Hannity. “There’s kind of this soft bigotry of low expectations.”

He also went after the “Sesame Street” website’s promotion of “gender-neutral language. Make sure you give your boys dolls and make sure you give your girls fire trucks.” Another commentator claimed that gender-neutral thinking led high school choosing a gay kid as prom king. Yup, there’s definitely no need to further substantiate that line of reasoning, and he did not.

Shapiro interviewed the producers and showrunners of several popular TV shows, including “Friends” and “House,” who he says substantiated his claim of TV’s liberal bias. To be fair, Chandler’s catchphrase “could I be anymore of a gay rights crusader and anti-gun activist” was kind of a dead giveaway. (Hollywood Reporter)

Edelstein joins Jennifer Morrison and Kal Penn as show causalities, as she decided to step away from the show rather than take a pay cut. Her character, Dr. Cuddy, was originally introduced as an authority figure and House’s foil, but evolved into a bigger player, recently playing a mom and House’s girlfriend.

Her departure puts the show in a predicament as they don’t have time to shoot (or even write) a new storyline with the seventh season finale. One would guess that she will make an appearance in season 8 to tie up any loose ends, but such an arrangement hasn’t been contemplated in early reports.

Poor Greg House loses his girlfriend. I feel like this might make him even crankier. But dammit, he gets results. (THR)

Everyone hates summer. We’re forced out of our homes by reruns on TV, only to be assaulted by bright sunlight, abrasively green grass, and painfully hot sand. Thankfully, there’s an end in sight to the awful onslaught of summer, as evidenced by FOX’s fall schedule. Here is the darkness at the end of the painfully bright tunnel:

Monday: “Terra Nova,” the impressively ambitious show with dinosaurs or something at 8 PM, followed by “House” at 9 PM.

Tuesday: Some show called”Glee” at 8 PM, followed by the new “The New Girl” with Zooey Deschanel at 9, then “Raising Hope” at 9:30.

Wednesday: “The X-Factor,” which is different from “American Idol” in dozens of ways, starts at 8 PM. Then it’s “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” with Jamie Pressly at 9:30. That’s right, “The X-Factor” is on for an hour and a half.

Thursday: The evening starts at 8 PM with the results show of “The X-Factor,” which mercifully is only an hour long. Then after that it’s “Bones” at 9.

Friday: “Kitchen Nightmares” at 8 PM followed by”Fringe” at 9. That’s why it’s the most popular TV night of the week!

Saturday: “Cops” is inexplicably still on the air at 8 PM, followed by reruns and “occasional” “America’s Most Wanted” after that at 9.

Sunday: It’s Sunday night animation, starting whenever all that football stuff is over -”The Cleveland Show,”"The Simpsons,” a new show from Jonah Hill called “Allen Gregory,”"Family Guy,” and “American Dad.”

Well, there you have it. Keep this in mind as you struggle to make it through another punishing summer. And remember, you can always watch reruns. (The Hollywood Reporter)

- The new J. J. Abrams series “Alcatraz” has officially been greenlit, because Fox needs another beloved, expensive, poorly-rated mystery drama from Abrams right away. The story follows a team of investigators trying to figure out why 1960s prisoners are re-appearing in Alcatraz. Hint: Sideways Universes.

- Also picked up is a “Bones” spin-off called “Finder.” The series stars Geoff Stults as a military-trained “finder” of missing items and persons in Florida. Hint: “Lost and Found” boxes.

- “Human Target” was targeted for cancellation, and subsequently got hit with the dreaded cancellation missile.

- “Breaking In” did just that with strong initial ratings, but the Christian Slater comedy will not make it to season 2.

- “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” is apparently liked, not hated, by Fox executives. They picked up the new Jaime Pressly comedy series.

- “The Chicago Code” has been decoded. It reads: “cancelled.”

- “Traffic Light” got the dreaded red “cancellation” light, not the green one.

- Zooey Deschanel will star in “The New Girl,” a single camera comedy about a teacher who gets dumped. Like all girls who get dumped in movies and TV shows, Deschanel’s quirky teacher character will have to navigate the wacky world… of dating. She’ll do so with her three new dude roommates: “the cynic, the player and the man-child.” Setting my TiVO to “destroy.”

- As I reported earlier, the “House” party continues with season 8.

“House” stars Hugh Laurie as a kooky, abrasive, but also genius doctor who plays by his own rules, even when people’s lives are at stake. Or rather, especially when people’s lives are at stake. A recent episode attracted 7.8 million total viewers, with 2.9 million in the 18-49 demographic. What that means is “House” ain’t performing like she used to, but it’s not time to pull the plug yet.

The renewal is in anticipation of the network upfronts, where Fox will reveal its 2011-2012 schedule to advertisers. (TheWrap)

Just kidding….sort of. I admire him leaving before the quality drops any further, but part of me really wants to see him run that thing into the ground, “Simpsons” style. Either way, he’s not the first to prematurely say adios to a role. Some of TV’s most popular shows have had actors walk away while the ratings were still high. Here are nine such examples.

Mike Flaherty (Michael J. Fox) – “Spin City”

In the forth season of the popular ABC sitcom, “Spin City,” producers were forced to shake change things up when the show’s star, Michael J. Fox, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. His character, Mike Flaherty, left his position as deputy mayor after taking the fall in a mafia scandal. Flaherty went on to become an environmental lobbyist in D.C., working along side Senator Alex P. Keaton, Fox’s character from “Family Ties.” He was later replaced by a new character, played by Charlie Sheen. Things ended poorly two seasons later.

Diane Chambers (Shelly Long) – “Cheers”

In the pilot episode of “Cheers,” the character of Diane Chambers is abandoned at a bar, Cheers, by her boy friend, a married man named Sumner Sloan. Devastated by the experience, she accepts a job at the bar in order to begin rebuilding her life. In the fifth season of the show, Sumner Sloan returns and offers Diane the chance to finish writing her book, “Jocasta’s Conundrum.” She ends up leaving her job and lover, Sam Malone to pursue the opportunity. The character was written out of the show at the behest of actress Shelly Long, whose decision to leave is widely considered one of the biggest blunders in television history.

Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) – “M.A.S.H.”

When Colonel Henry Blake was discharged from the army and sent home at the end of “M.A.S.H.’s third season, viewers were probably expecting a tearful good bye. But they probably weren’t expecting to have their hearts ripped out of their chests. Writers surprised everyone by having the character killed off in a plane crash during his flight home. They did so after actor McLean Stevenson left the show. He felt his character was becoming a second fiddle to Hunnicut and Pierce.

Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) – “Happy Days”

When Ron Howard decided to leave his role as the star of “Happy Days,” at least he had a good reason. He was launching his career as a director. But removing the main character of a show about the mid-50’s and early 60’s proved easy enough, and writers shipped his character, Richie Cunningham, off to the army.

Eric Forman (Topher Grace) – “That 70’s Show”

Eric Forman was the glue that held “That 70’s Show” together. His basement was the meeting place for all of the other characters, including his parents. So when Topher Grace decided to leave the show, it seemed like a stretch to keep the show in production. It was. After Forman left to teach in Africa, it lasted only one season.

Benjamin Stone (Michael Moriarty) – “Law and Order”

After four years on the initial “Law and Order,” District Attorney Ben Stone was written off the show, resigning his post after a key witness was murdered while under his protection. Actor Michael Moriarty claims he left the show to protest what he perceived as a government attempt to censor violence in the show. Producers told a different story, involving Moriarty’s “erratic behavior.” Either way, “Law and Order” never missed a beat, and continued for another 16 seasons.

Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards) – “ER”

Dr. Mark Greene was the first character introduced on the hit medical drama, “ER.” But after eight seasons and no end in site, actor Anthony Edwards wanted to move on. Writers decided to kill off the character with a good old-fashioned case of brain cancer. Despite the loss of such an iconic character, the show lasted another seven seasons.

Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) – “House”

The character of Lawrence Kutner was probably the greatest Indian-American Doctor with brutally murdered adoptive Jewish parents in the history of television. That’s why everyone was so bummed when the writers decided to kill him off via suicide. The reason they did so was because actor Kal Penn had accepted a liaison position at White House. Based on the method of his departure from the show, I’m assuming the writers were McCain supporters.

Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) – “The X Files”

“The X-Files” was a wildly popular sci-fi drama that helped bring conspiracy theories into the main stream. Agent Fox Mulder was the heart and soul of the show. After seven seasons of exploring the paranormal, actor David Duchovny walked away after contentious contract negotiations. Writers decided to tie up loose ends in a fitting manner: by having Mulder abducted by aliens. However, his character did return sporadically for the remainder of the series.

This is it, folks. The “House” episode Thirteen fans have been waiting for. I’ll be vague so I don’t spoil it but you know from the TV spots that Thirteen is back and House finds her getting out of prison. I’m loving the bangs Olivia Wilde is rocking now.

House takes Thirteen on a road trip while the rest of the team solves a case at the hospital. Honestly, they could have taken one episode off from the medical formula for a dramatic plot of the magnitude of Thirteen’s return, but they still do both. If you’re wondering about House’s new wife, she’s mentioned in an offhanded remark, so that might not be such a permanent fixture.

It turns out an entire year has gone by since Thirteen left, and it would be House’s one year anniversary of dating Cuddy. TV time usually slows down but in this case September to April in our time actually accelerates us into the future of “House” time. Unless the season began six months in the past in which case we’re caught up to the present.

What I’m getting at is there’s a whole year of Thirteen’s story to catch up. House fills in the year and even addresses her willingness to be named a number. Thirteen creates new secrets while they’re on the road, so there’s a lot to uncover. You might wish for a little more humor in their banter. It’s just Thirteen protests and House presses, but look at it this way: they’re not sugar coating it.

House recaps his relationship with Cuddy to fill Thirteen in too. It is a real testament to the show that we love the characters so much that it’s compelling to see them go over information we already know. House’s hobby gives them something to bond over on the road, and introduces another fun House quirk and a funny western spoof.

Without House, the medical case has to compensate to keep it interesting. They throw everything at this case to try to sell it. Even with environmental factors, secrets and emotion, it’s still a medical case without House. He calls in a few times but it’s really the team on their own.

A large part of the team’s story deals with Taub and Foreman. Foreman gets really jealous of Taub’s game with the ladies. It’s funny, if a bit surprising how much focus it gets. Cuddy and Wilson are not in the episode at all.

The last thing I’ll say about “The Dig” which I think “House” fans will appreciate is this: in both of the stories, on the road with Thirteen and in the hospital with the patient, the first thing they think it is, is not what it turns out to be. Sorry for the spoiler, but it turns out the first theory is not correct and they have to revise their theory as new information comes out.

“House” is back Monday, April 11.

A word from Ashley: I’m hoping to have a few overlaps and see if I can convert a few “True Blood” fans or a few ["The Bold and the Beautiful"] fans to tune into the other show.”

Fox is really progressive in marketing their shows.

A word from Rachel: “When you’re an actor you get to be whatever profession you want to be in whatever role you’re playing.”

As we contemplated the deep themes of “House,” it started to drizzle in Pasadena. Edelstein and I ducked into the bar to finish our banter. I wish I had A-list Hollywood writing behind me like Dr. Gregory House does, but I did my best with the star of one of my favorite shows.

Q: House apologized but he didn’t mean it. Cuddy doesn’t know that yet, but does it matter if he means it or not? Isn’t getting in the habit of doing the right thing make him genuinely sorry?

Lisa Edelstein: Yes, because honestly I think anybody who says they’re sorry has complicated feelings behind those words. It’s just that he’s a little more honest about it.

Q: It’s like the old story about the evil man who pretended to be good all his life. Well, doing good deeds all his life made him good.

LE: I think you’re onto something there because I think actions do speak louder than words. What people think, if we were defined by what we thought, we would all be screwed because it really only matters what you put out there into the world, doesn’t it? But those are very esoteric questions.

Q: Do you guys talk about these themes on the set?

LE: I think they might talk about it in the writer’s room. On the set we act it out. We make it work.

Q: Have you been waiting for this year where Cuddy hooks up with House since the beginning of the show?

LE: No, I’ve had a lot to do along the way. It’s been great with all the twists and turns. I enjoy the tension of the dance between the two characters and a lot of the other things that I’ve gotten to do: this quest for a baby, I’m running a hospital. Certainly it’s been great. It’s been great having this experience.

Q: I always thought Cuddy loved House and all his games.

LE: Right, and they can’t dance around it forever. They needed to get in there, shake it up a little bit, have a scrap, go for it, see what happens.

Q: What’s coming up that you’re excited about?

LE: Candace Bergen is coming on so that was really great. I loved working with her.

Q: Have you been happy with the progression of this season, dealing with each ethical dilemma but not going everywhere right away?

LE: Yeah, yeah. Look, they took on some pretty big subject matters particularly with the relationship so it had to be dealt with in a really subtle way while still maintaining the life of the hospital and the structure of the way we tell stories on “House.” So there was a lot going on.

Q: Do you see this as the beginning of a resolution for “House?”

LE: Possibly. Possibly. I mean, the show really isn’t about finding resolution ultimately. If we find it, then the show’s done. But this is definitely part of his journey.

Q: You’ve probably gotten this question for six years, but would you want House as a doctor?

LE: Absolutely. He knows what he’s doing. He takes a few risks along the way but he gets the right answer in the end.

Q: As the boss, hasn’t Cuddy figured out that it’s never the first thing the team thinks it is?

LE: Hasn’t the team figured that out? Cuddy’s in her office minding her own business. I guess Winnie the Pooh said you have to look in the last place first if you want to find what you’re looking for. Maybe he’s right. Then the show would only be half an hour long. It wouldn’t be as much fun.

Q: I consider “House” the best comedy on TV. What do you think?

LE: I agree with you. It’s hilarious. Sometimes we just choke on our coffee at the script read throughs.

Q: Are you getting to do more outside the hospital this year?

LE: There’s one big episode that has a lot of outer hospital stuff, yeah.

Q: So vague, is that a big spoiler?

LE: I guess it is. We’ve really been limited about what we can talk about. Plus, I don’t really remember what we’ve done because we’ve been on vacation for a month. I have no idea except that Candace Bergen is coming.

Catch “House” Mondays at 8PM on Fox.

I got to see the next two episodes of “House” with guest star Amber Tamblyn as new hire Martha M. Masters. She’s a foil to House’s (Hugh Laurie) abrasive antics because she believes in pure honesty and ethics. Tamblyn revealed in a conference call the other day that there really is a Martha M. Masters.

“She’s sort of an homage to my very, very good friend Martha in real life,” Tamblyn said. “I’ve known her my entire life for 25 years since we were babies. I think I know her so well I can put a lot into that. She is a med student and she’s very much like this character. I’m not saying anything out of turn or mean, she’s very brilliant but can be socially awkward. I think that David Shore has still not met the real Martha M. Masters but has written this character so well.”

Masters will have some outrageous tactics of her own. It won’t come from a confident, manipulative place like House, but it sounds like good television. “When [Shore] writes in Martha using her period as a metaphor to get someone to donate a kidney to her sister, the fact that Martha does that, she doesn’t know what is socially acceptable or not. To not look like such a dork, she hasn’t learned that yet. She’s too much in her intellectual brain. She’s not socially grown yet so I think that’ll be a great thing to watch her learn how to do. I love the fact that she is so filled with non sequiturs. That to me is fun, to try to act the fact that when Martha is not talking about scientific or medical things, when she’s just trying to talk to somebody about their life or her life that it just comes out in non sequitur sentences and really bad, poorly judged metaphors. I love her awkwardness, how incredible awkward she is. It just gives the character so much potential to grow.”

TV’s Masters doesn’t like breaking into patient’s houses or lying to them to protect the most effective treatment. That’s a great conflict for House, but Tamblyn is actually on the good doctor’s side.

“I probably would go the House route. I’d probably try to make whatever the best outcome is happen, regardless of the true things. I think truth is objective and I agree that everybody lies.”

Cuddy made House hire Masters to get a woman on the team since 13 left. Maybe there’s a little more to it too. “I think you’re going to see someone who has been so much in the world of academia and knowledge and accumulating knowledge that she really never progresses or matured in a social sense. So you’re going to see someone that has a hard time communicating on the most basic levels, which I think is common for people who are highly intelligent people. I think Martha may even have Asperger’s which we’ve talked about. I know House definitely does. It’s like a young version of him but she believes so strongly in the ethics of truth telling to a point. Just in the same way that he believes that lying can help you find the truth to a fault. So the two of them have really distinctive ideas to get to the same things. You’re going to see her try to come into the real world for the first time. It’s going to be pretty intense for her.”

Perhaps there’s more of a connection between Masters and Cuddy than we realize at first. “I do think she is sort of a young Cuddy, an extremist version of Cuddy in a certain way which is probably why Cuddy brought her on. I think House says that I remind her of herself but Lisa [Edelstein]’s amazing. She’s great. She’s very funny. She’s very health oriented. I’m learning a lot of health things from her. She’s a very interesting woman and incredibly gorgeous. She’s gorgeous on screen but in real life she’s the real deal. Her skin is insanely flawless.”

Most importantly, Masters will continue to annoy House. I can’t wait to see how House retaliates. “It was absolutely delicious. I annoy him and I fascinate him. The two characters both annoy and fascinate each other and I think House probably even sees a little bit of himself in her, except the opposite. He’s usually mean and she’s overly nice. Both make for funny television.”

“House” returns with new episodes Monday, Nov. 8.

There’s no new “House” while Fox has baseball to run, but I got the next two new episodes in advance. I get my “House” fix and I can satisfy you with a little tease too, but I promise no spoilers beyond what you’d find in TV Guide.

The patient in “Office Politics” is a political campaign advisor (Jack Coleman). It’s HRG from “Heroes” playing another manipulative politician. His reaction to House’s tactics is refreshingly simpatico. It’s interesting to see a patient who agrees with House’s methods, not that it makes the diagnosis any easier.

More after the jump…

The major guest star though is Amber Tamblyn as Martha M. Masters, the medical student who Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) wants House to hire. In the first of several appearances that have been reported, Tamblyn is adorable as a shy, nervous newbie. Of course House tests her right away by having two simultaneous conversations, as they tend to do.

Masters fuels two parallel storylines in this episode. In one, she has moral issues with House’s tactics, from breaking and entering to lying to patients. This has come up before, so it may be familiar, but Masters is a good new character to engage in the constant push/pull with House. His ongoing acceptance/rejection/acceptance of her is the classic “House” rhythm.

The other storyline is the team’s reaction to Masters. Taub (Peter Jacobson) doesn’t like her, and Foreman (Omar Epps) gets in on messing with Taub over it. The Foreman vs. Taub subplot gets pretty awesome.

This episode represents a new thread for the season. It’s off of House and Cuddy’s relationship for a while, although that does color his treatment of her new hire. The ongoing challenge of Masters’ morals versus House’s experience will be interesting to watch play out.

Follow me on Twitter @FredTopel to discuss “House,” especially after this episode airs Nov. 8 and you have all the details. I’ll have a review of Nov. 15’s episode as soon as this one airs, and follow @ScreenJunkies for a heads up on all our “House” news.
 

You probably had a childhood crush on Vinessa Shaw when you saw her opposite Rodney Dangerfield and Jonathan Brandis in Ladybugs. Then you probably lost that crush when you saw her get sexually abused by a mutant in The Hills Have Eyes. I gained that crush back seeing her guest star on "House" the other night.

A word from Vinessa:  "There was so much blood on the floor I was sticking to the floor. My hair was matted to the ground…"

Check out more pics of Vinessa after the jump… 

I’m not spoiling anything for “House” fans by saying that House and Cuddy got together at the end of last season. That’s what we’ve been waiting six years for and spent all summer thinking about.

I’ll discuss it vaguely, so skip this if you don’t want to know ANYTHING. I love the way they came back, I love the way they handled it, I love the character moments it offered for both actors. There, is that too spoiler-y? Oh, can I say it’s hot too? Something that happens in this episode is hot. But I won’t ruin the dirty details, I’ll just give you the skinny.

More after the jump…

The opening delivers the drama we want. After the credits, House is back to his witty, irreverent self. House and Cuddy are really good together when they’re on the same team. It shows there’s just as much drama and humor when two people connect as when they butt heads. Things happen throughout the episode that play with our emotions and expectations. It’s sweet in a “House” kind of way that rewards the viewers for keeping up and doesn’t do any of that cheesy stuff.

The rest we’ll have to talk about after you see it yourself. Seriously though, I need someone to talk to about it. So Monday at 9:01 hit me up on Twitter @fredtopel. I can’t keep this in any longer.

There’s hospital business and the team at work. The 13 situation develops too. All this brings with it mini-diagnostics. They have to solve administrative problems, and some people involved have medical conditions.

Luckily the studio also sent the second episode so I got a little bit of a sense of how this season will proceed after the emotional powerhouse of a premiere. Of course it’s more of a standard “House” case where something happens before the credits and they spend the rest of the episode solving it. It’s not the first thing they think it is, but House figures it out by applying a personal conversation to the diagnosis.

Those said personal scenes do continue the conflicts set up in of the season premiere. So that’s good. They don’t leave you hanging, they deal with things but they don’t make it overbearing. House is perfect mouthing off to those situations, and he uses it for good riffs in the diagnosis scenes. Cuddy is great, Wilson and the team’s reactions are great. Everyone acts like their well-defined characters would and it hints at human philosophy and ethical issues. It’s no closure. It just opens up more juicy possibilities.

God, I want to talk about this. You guys are gonna love it though. Seven years and they still find cool ways to twist the formula, relevant issues to deal with and humor that has more answers than any “serious” talk.

“House” returns September 20 at 8/7C on Fox.
 

Star Trek officially opens tonight and Mother’s Day is Sunday.  How appropriate, then, that we introduce you to Jennifer Morrison, who plays Winona Kirk, the mother of Capt. James Tiberius Kirk, in JJ Abrams’ film.  There are several different backstories associated with the character, but no matter what reality you buy into as a Trekker, you can’t deny Jennifer’s practically playing the mother of god. 

Where you’ve seen her before: She’s probably most familiar as Dr. Allison from Fox’s "House" series, but she’s also played Jamie in Grind, Amy in Urban Legends: Final Cut, and Chris in a small 2004 film called Mall Cop, whose makers probably hate their lives right now.

Random Quote: "My resume for Cameron has me graduating medical school the year I graduated junior high.”

See pictures of Jennifer after the jump:

 Other Star Trek Starlets:

Zoe Saldana

Winona Ryder