Miley Breaks Out of Her Hannah Montana Shell
Even with her eyes closed, Miley Cyrus is staring into her future.
Gripping the biggest microphone we’ve ever seen, the 15-year-old appears to be demonstrating on the cover of her upcoming album, Breakouther first solo effort to bear no trace of Hannah Montana (minus all the Disney-related promos)that she’s ready to rock, albeit demurely and in that looking-down-for-love-of-the-music way.
But whether or not tracks like “7 Things” and “Fly on the Wall” get anyone’s heart pumping, it’ll be more interesting to see whether that debatably inappropriate photo shoot puts a dent in Cyrus’ sales.
Considering 2007’s Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus has sold 3.3 million copies, and knowing that the bonds of tween fandom are stronger than oak, we’re guessing…probably not.
And with that profound analysis on its side, Breakout is primed to satisfy the bubblegum-pop-loving kid in all of us July 22.
Heroes Gets All Decked Out
Let’s see…We’ll trade you two Cheerleaders and an HRG for that mint-condition Haitian and a Nathan Petrelli.
Such could be the topic of conversation in living rooms and other bastions of fandom across the nation now that NBC Universal and sports-card titan Topps Co. have rolled out a new line of autorgraphed Heroes trading cards featuring the superevolved (as well as the normal folks who just want what’s best for them) characters and scenes from the hit NBC drama.
Ninety cards have been produced so far and are in stores now, available in packs of seven?although modified-DNA enthusiasts can also spring for the deluxe 24-card “hobby box” sets, which include swatches of costume material, sketch cards and other bonus bits that any true fan will want for his or her collection.
“The fervent Heroes fan base and the show’s compelling on-air visuals are powerful trading-card ingredients,” said Ira Friedman, Topps’ VP of publishing.
“Add the engaging storylines and multiseasonal episodes to the mix, and Heroes has the potential to become a major mainstay in the collectible card category.”
Although it’s hard to remember exactly what those engaging storylines are, considering the show has been off the air since December, when season two was hacked in half because of the writers’ strike, the third season of Heroes is scheduled to premiere in September.
Until then, however, we can stock up on plastic sleeves and preserve Claire, Hiro, Sylar, Peter, Mohinder, Parkman and others for posterity.
The second round of cards, featuring Niki, West, Molly and many more, is due out in July.
Buffy: "Look It Up: Slayer Comma The"
Tonight, we laughed at God (that's Joss Whedon to you newbies); we cried—all over again—at Amber Benson's exquisite "Under Your Spell"; we came together to celebrate a show that many in the crowd testified "saved my life," "changed my life," "made me the person I am today…"
From 10 years on, Buffy the Vampire Slayer appears to be not so much a TV show as a masterpiece of human empathy. To celebrate Buffy's decade anniversary, the Scooby Gang reunited Thursday night at the ArcLight Theater in Hollywood for the Paley Center for Media's 25th Annual Television Festival. The evening celebrated a show that is not just a landmark of television, but almost certainly a landmark in the souls of its millions of fans.
Click in for scoop, quips, stars, fandom and, above all, the love, from what was truly Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Once More, with Feeling (and check back later for exclusive video of the cast!)…
The Writers
- Joss Whedon: "With all respect to the actors sitting next to me, what I miss most is the writers room."
- David Greenwalt: "There's nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it into a bunch of really good-looking people."
- Marti Noxon: "I'd like to thank Joss Whedon for this show, because if my writing career ever stalls, I can always just go from WizardCon to WizardCon…"
News and Nonsense
- Joss' and Sarah Michelle Gellar's chemistry was on full display tonight. They both seem to dearly love Buffy Summers. I tell you, fannish hearts were warmed by the mutual admiration society.
- Joss on the age difference between sophomore-in-high-school Buffy and centuries-old Angel: "It was love…even if it wasn't legal."
- Joss said that shooting "Hush" without a dialogue framework for each scene was difficult because, "Everybody just did everything at once, and it was all over in 10 seconds."
- The network was underwhelmed by the idea of the Willow-Tara kiss ("We're gayed out," said the network. "We've had a lot of gay this year."), so Joss threatened to quit if they refused to allow it. "That was the only time I ever did that."
- Emma Caulfield's memory of Anya's devastating "I don't understand" monologue at the end of "The Body"? "I really had to pee."
- Michelle Trachtenberg: "Nick's just jealous because I'm taller than him now." Nicholas Brendon: "Yeah, well…I have bigger boobs. So there!"
Season Eight and Beyond
- Sarah didn't know until someone told her tonight that Buffy's hooking up with a girl in the comic. Joss, on Buffy's temporary change of team: "They have a lot of time on their hands…What? None of you went to college?"
- Oz will almost certainly appear in the Buffy season eight comic. (Speaking of Oz, Willow's two major significant others—Seth Green and Amber Benson—cracked each other up all night, but sadly Alyson Hannigan was not present to participate in a threesome of awesomeness.)
- Will there be any filmed continuations of the franchise? Says Joss, the "stars would have to align." Just tell us where the stars need to be to get a Buffy movie, and we'll rearrange them!
Honestly, it was a signal night and a joy to experience, and I wish you all could have been there live.
Check back later today for exclusive video and a photo gallery, but in the meantime, if you have questions about exactly what went down, post 'em below, and I'll post answers as soon as I can.
Finally, before we wrap this, I have a personal favor to ask.
Post your favorite Buffy quote in the comments. I wanted to sprinkle BtVS quotes through this item, because while they say almost everything that needs to be said about life in bite-size format, but there were too many to choose from, so I'm throwing the selections to you…Go!
CBS One-Ups God, Rebuilds Jericho! (Holy Frak!)
You did it! Holy frak, you did it!
Not since Family Guy%26#39;s miraculous resurrection has a fandom actually been able to bring a show back from the dead…until now. Nina Tassler, president of CBS Entertainment, just posted on the official message boards that Jericho is coming back! Here%26#39;s what you need to know:
- CBS has ordered seven new episodes.
- There could be more, but only if the ratings improve.
- The DVD is out Sept. 25.
- The creators will be %26quot;continuing the story of Jericho in the digital world until the new episodes return.%26quot;
- Nina likes you!%26nbsp;%26quot;On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of Jericho in such an extraordinary manner.%26nbsp;Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone.%26nbsp;You made a difference.%26quot;
Skeet Ulrich himself has weighed in, and he downright loves ya: %26ldquo;I%26rsquo;m so thankful to our fans for not only their passionate support but their tireless efforts to revive our show. The whole cast and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to be together again, and I look forward to the chance to give back to the fans with more of the story that brought us here.%26rdquo;
I couldn%26#39;t be more thrilled, and I do believe this is thawing out my cold, cynical reporter%26#39;s heart. I never thought I%26#39;d see the day!
Now, Dawn Ostroff? Your move…