Breaking! Heroes News Straight from the Set (Find Out Who's MIA!)
They're baaack!
The Heroes are back on set as of today to start work on the new fall season, and yours truly (along with about 50 other reporters) is on the set for a special announcement…
The entire cast is here. (Woo!) Tim Kring is here. (Double woo!) Kring announces that the Heroes DVD box set will hit stores Aug. 28, and castmembers wil embark on a "Heroes World Tour," with appearances in at least seven cities in seven countries around the world. Fans can follow their worldwide adventures on nbc.com, which will include photos and blogs. Good times.
Says Kring: "The central message of Heroes always has been one of hope—the idea that people from all around the world could come together and do great things. And this project is based on those ideals."
Wait a minute…D.L. (Leonard Roberts) is not here. Ruh-roh.
Now, time for reporter Q's. "We're well into breaking the middle of the season," Kring tells us when asked what's going on in the writers' room. "We started production two days ago on the new season." He also says he might show some of the footage at Comic-Con next month.
Kring says they haven't started scripting Origins (the episodes revolving around new characters), but it is fair to describe it as an anthology series. Right now, he is not expecting any of this cast to take part. "This is our chance to tell stories about other people out there."
And how nutty is this? Kring says that Heroes will run contiguously through April, and then the Origins episodes will air in May.
When asked if anyone has done anything like this tour before, Grunberg says: "Well, The Brady Bunch went to the Grand Canyon." Awesome.
Kring says Hiro will remain in the past for "at least a few episodes." The first episode is very Claire-centric. Grunberg hasn't worked yet, but he will.
Ooh! Money Q. A reporter (who wants each actor to identify him- or herself) asks whether Nathan will survive. Says Adrian: "I'm Adrian Pasdar. I play…um, played?… Nathan Petrelli. On this show, anything can happen. I'm very happy to be up here today, but we'll have to wait and see." Wah wah. No real answer.
The DVD will have 50 deleted scenes, commentary and the unaired 73-minute pilot.
Huge globe cake is rolled out. Looks yummy. As do (you know what's coming next, right?) Adrian (still bearded) and Milo (now with short, clean-cut hair!). And sorry, but you also can't help but notice Ali Larter, who looks as if she's done nothing all summer but exfoliate, hydrate and moisturize while doing Pilates.
Again, all the cast is here (including Santiago!), but Leonard Roberts is nowhere to be found. Poop.
They're cutting the ice cream cake, and…Gotta run and do interviews! Look for them this Monday in a Vine show near you.
Cruise bouncing back to Oprah’s couch
Will he bounce up and down again? Can you stand the suspense? You know that’s what’ll be on everyone’s mind when Tom Cruise returns to the Oprah show for a two-part, special tribute to the box office star. The last time Tom knocked knees with Oprah was the day of his not infamous couch jumping episode. He was so excited about his then new love, Katie Holmes — who is now Mrs. Tom — that the box office king leaped up onto the couch. His spontaneous show of love (craziness, borderline mania?) has become part of pop culture. It’s been imitated on comedy shows, replayed on YouTube, and generally will be forever associated with both Oprah and Cruise.
Chances are lightning will not strike twice. Even if he wants to jump again, it’s been done. So, the Oprah producers have come up with something they hope will be as memorable. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Risky Business, Cruise’s breakout comedy hit, two episodes of Oprah will be devoted to Tom. In part one, on May 2, Oprah will go to Telluride to interview Tom in his Colorado home. That hour is going to be all about Cruise’s family, his life, a look at his home, and a general happy happy joy joy time.
Part two will air on May 5 and is going to be filmed at the Harpo studios. That means furniture will be involved. Things to sit on, like couches. Friends (ooh, does that include Rosie O’Donnell?) and colleagues (think they’ll snag Paul Newman?) will wax poetic in filmed tributes to Mr. Cruise. Save the dates on your calendar. Set those DVRs now.
Universal Pictures presents: Wanted
Wow, a bullet curving right past someone’s [Angelina Jolie’s] head and rustling her hair. I saw that when it was in The Matrix. Wow, Angelina Jolie is a bad ass. I saw that in Tomb Raider and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Ooh, James McAvoy looks unsure of himself. I saw that in The Last King of Scotland. A movie about assassins? I saw that in Grosse Pointe Blank and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Morgan Freeman is wise and sage. I saw that in, uh, everything Morgan Freeman has ever been in.
But I’ll give you one good reason I’ll see this movie anyway: James McAvoy. That man is on fire.Video coming soon!
Project Runway: Even Designers Get the Blues
(S04E09) It’s strange to feel this way about a program all about imagination and creativity, but I think Project Runway may have lost its voice. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of the show and I understand that programs often evolve into something different from the original season. However, this season’s constant use of special clients/judges like (Sarah Jessica Parker or the high school girls) and big company sponsors (like Hershey’s or Levi’s) makes me feel like the show has sold out.
Previous seasons had some challenges that were incredibly bizarre but were at the same time open-ended enough to let the designers work with their own voices. They didn’t have to cater to a very specific client each week, the way this season’s designers do. Just take a look at the recent avant-garde challenge. Even with the high stress and drama, the contestants made some of the best work of the season.
Normally I’d jump right in and just flat-out say that this season’s designers are crap, but I honestly believe that they haven’t had quite the same opportunities as previous contestants.
Can you tell I’ve been in a crummy mood all day? The night’s winning announcement didn’t do much to improve my surliness, actually.
This episode challenged the designers to pick from a variety of different denim items from Levi’s and construct an outfit that reflected the attitude of Levi’s iconic clothing. Wow. More sponsorships. Hurray.
Also, tensions were especially high in the workroom this week. Jillian almost broke down after she realized she had taken on way more than she could handle. I wonder if Jillian was the person that Tim Gunn was talking about when I saw him at the Baltimore Book Festival. Many of the designers also expressed how they were fed up with Christian’s cockiness and Ricky’s apparent undeserved spot in the workroom. Ooh, drama, drama, drama.
Christian: It’s a good thing Christian usually makes good stuff, because if he didn’t, he’d just be a lying, overconfident jerk. Instead, he’s just an overconfident jerk. Christian was the only one that didn’t make a dress-like outfit, for he took the well-tailored shirt and pants route. The pants that he made were totally stunning, especially with that strange detailing along the bottom. The jacket was beautifully made, even though I don’t think anything but a stick figure could wear it and look somewhat decent.
Rami: This piece was well-tailored and, like Tim, I really loved the zipper detailing. The area along the neck was also very fashionable and I think that’s what Jillian was attempting but failed to achieve. The overall piece had a great shape and I think I would have chosen this over Ricky’s dress.
Jillian: [ALMOST AUF’D] After last week’s spectacular coat, Jillian decided to try her luck one more time. Either she was just too exhausted or she ran out of magic, because this week’s coat wasn’t quite as epic. I liked that she tried to make a more interesting collar and brought the red labels into the works, but there was just something a little… off… about her execution. I trust in Jillian, so I hope it was just exhaustion that put her in that spot.
Chris: Oh, Chris. Chris, Chris, Chris. It still baffles me when designers blatantly disobey Tim Gunn. Have they learned nothing from the past three seasons? All the things said about his piece on the runway were already said in the workroom during Tim’s visit. That said, Chris’ outfit wasn’t terrible, but I think he could have made it so much better.
Ricky: [WINNER] I’ve been having a really, really terrible day. I mean, I spent most of the evening before Project Runway sulking in my room and ignoring people. The few people that I did talk to, I said, verbatim, “If Ricky doesn’t get sent home tonight, I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Thanks, fate, for not even getting that one right. So how did Ricky manage to not only evade an Auf-ing but win the challenge? I say voodoo magic. Sure, his creation was nowhere near as hideous as the rest of his work this season, but I honestly don’t believe it was worthy of being in the top spot. Maybe the judges were so blown away by the sudden decrease in SUCK that they felt obligated to give it to him. Oh, and what was up with Michael Kors’ remark about Amy Winehouse? Yeah, the model had a funny Winehouse-like beehive ’do, but I hope Kors now knows that telling someone that they look like Winehouse is a massive insult. That is, unless you have 24/7 coke boogers, because then you’re just asking for the comparison. Anyway, the win triggered Ricky’s waterworks, of course, and I was left no choice but to attack the first thing I saw. Unfortunately, I was standing next to a mirror and I am now bleeding rather profusely.
Sweet P: This was a so-so dress. I didn’t think much of it, to be honest. I’m not sure what Kors was smoking, but he said something else that greatly confused me. He said that Sweet P’s creation had some sort of “slimming voodoo” and I literally rolled out of my seat. It’s like he’s never seen Sweet P’s little wafer model before. Well, I’d love to be able to take credit for someone’s jutting collarbone too.
Victorya: [AUF’D] Finally, Victorya was Auf’d. What she lacked in volume, she made up for in attitude. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that if Ricky had already been Auf’d a long time ago, when he should have been, Victorya would be the next logical choice. Last month I probably would have picked Sweet P, but she’s made some good improvements in the last few challenges. Anyway, Victorya’s weird denim jacket with attached miniskirt was sad and looked like something that I could have made. Yeah, it was that bad.
Sigh.