http://www.philly.com/r?19=960&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2F Ellen Gray is the television critic for the Philadelphia Daily News. en-us Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:37:50 GMT 2008-07-22T00:37:50Z en-us http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25737634&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FLen_Bruno_Carrie_Ann_--_and_John_Madden.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:37:50 GMT d402db3b1cebdbfbf995bec30bb0652a Ellen Gray 2008-07-22T00:37:50Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25732774&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FThe_Leno_in_winter.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:40:30 GMT 100b7b8049d5d48d8d38598738820dc9 Ellen Gray 2008-07-21T22:40:30Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25721794&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FChuck_shower_scene_for_Nicole_Richie.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:34:11 GMT 6d3e12687a1049b21cab27f593db8d7f Ellen Gray 2008-07-21T17:34:11Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25683154&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FJimmy_Fallons_Late_Night_to_launch_online_first.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:24:33 GMT 47b7a3cdf64e391afa047c516ddf1379 Ellen Gray 2008-07-21T15:24:33Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25670604&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FSNL.html Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:02:56 GMT f0321ea317f7fdfd53ccf4b0124b4492 Ellen Gray 2008-07-21T01:02:56Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25668449&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FCoolios_cool_with_Oxygen_viewers.html Nothing wakes up a long, long afternoon of NBC Universal cable presentations like a visit from a middle-aged rapper. Coolio's here to promote his new Oxygen show, "Coolio's Rules," where he'll become the latest performer to turn to his family for a "reality" show. Coolio, who's divorced, isn't exactly Reverend Run, whose "Run's House" is in its fifth season on MTV. Asked about executive producer Greg Goldman's contention that Coolio, who's 44, is having a bit of a midlife crisis, the rapper insisted he has no problem being 44. He then suggested we bring him a 24-year-old guy, "let me sleep with his girlfriend and let him sleep with mine." Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:16:06 GMT 5a50793a5d8313cb743f74a49ca53139 Ellen Gray 2008-07-20T22:16:06Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25648414&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2F90210_alert_Brenda_lives.html Yes, knowing how eagerly we've all been waiting (OK, maybe not) to find out if Shannen Doherty will play a part in the CW's new "90210," producers put us out of her misery right away. Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:27:58 GMT d9304723a690612f72a88819a80a5da5 Ellen Gray 2008-07-19T17:27:58Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25636464&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FDexters_kin_Killing_OK_kissing_not_so_much.html Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:42:36 GMT f09740d075d744015ce6a795dde8fbc2 Ellen Gray 2008-07-19T00:42:36Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25633689&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FShowtimes_L_Word_may_be_spun_off.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:35:44 GMT bbc29424ff48ec549ae986b30fe22552 Ellen Gray 2008-07-18T23:35:44Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25629609&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FSimons_daughter_says_Prada.html Simon Baker will be playing "The Mentalist" on CBS next season, but he's probably best known to the network's viewers as "The Guardian." Still, if you saw a little thing called "The Devil Wears Prada," you might remember him as a guy who plays a bit of a heel. And we're not talking Manolos. Credit for that bit of work goes to Baker's daughter, Stella, who was 11 when the "Devil" script came to Baker. Looking for something to read one day, she asked her father if he had anything and pointed her toward the script. She read it "in record time," he said, and then told Baker: "The character's a bit of a d---, but I think you should do that." Apparently, she thought it would be cool to have him in a film she and her friends could see -- and one in which he wasn't killing or being killed. So he did it. Beyond that, Baker confessed, "I'm really bad at choosing [movies] myself." Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:56:23 GMT 315dfbf8d45a3275ac985a37c15fb7c4 Ellen Gray 2008-07-18T21:56:23Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25619779&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FNew_CSI_characters_different_kind_of_DNA.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:09:24 GMT a526bb6a17b5e823436dd4e92d2a9a67 Ellen Gray 2008-07-18T17:09:24Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25599454&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FHousewives_Back_to_the_future.html Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:54:29 GMT 554fb2bba826bd3fbb0af1714d41518c Ellen Gray 2008-07-18T00:54:29Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25593559&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FHeigl-gate_Day_2.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:16:06 GMT ac7fbf651a0a0349ed0e696635cbd7bc Ellen Gray 2008-07-17T22:16:06Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25558649&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FDawn_patrol_at_the_Emmys.html Am just back from the Emmy nominations announcements at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood, where every year, a sleepy-looking mix of reporters and publicists -- and a couple of bright-eyed actors -- gather before dawn so that East Coast viewers can watch the nominations at a somewhat less ungodly hour. Kristin Chenoweth and Neil Patrick Harris were adorable in the roles of actors who've been asked to read names off a list and are expected to act surprised when they, too, are nominated, but the real fun today was watching the publicity team of AMC's "Mad Men," who were positively gleeful about the staggering 16 nominations their little basic-cable period drama received. Not bad for a channel that until fairly recently was known for showing old movies that Turner Classic Movies didn't happen to have the rights to. The publicists are there to call producers and actors. I heard FX's chief media relations guy, John Solberg, placing a call to "Damages" co-creator Todd Kessler right after the show's nomination for outstanding series, the first series nomination ever for FX, which broke into the Emmys big in 2002 with Michael Chiklis' win for lead actor in "The Shield." Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:15:44 GMT c916b9f8629e258f59f1c2b859b96557 Ellen Gray 2008-07-17T15:15:44Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25525214&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FScrubs_Can_this_show_NOT_be_saved.html Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:02:52 GMT affd3eadcb24cadf3dcd304b389cbd6e Ellen Gray 2008-07-16T23:02:52Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25522699&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FFrom_The_Sopranos_to_Mars.html We've got nothing but questions about ABC's "Life on Mars," and that's not surprising, since we haven't seen even a snippet of footage from the show, which has been recast and re-producered -- with David E. Kelley exiting -- since it was first announced. Jason O'Mara, who'll play a 21st century police detective who's rudely thrust into 1973, is the only cast member left standing from the original (which isn't so original, given that it's based on a British show of the same name that's been on BBC America for two seasons). Producers Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who previously worked on ABC's "October Road" -- hey, don't shoot the messenger -- don't actually remember 1973, Appelbaum having been 1 that year, Nemec apparently just born. But Michael Imperioli ("The Sopranos"), who's joined the cast in this second round, says he was 7 that year, and he's willing to play. "I remember it all," he says. "It was crazy. The sex was easy." OK, so maybe not. "I remember TV a lot," he continues. "I do remember music from that time. I remember elementary school." Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:00:04 GMT c57d36e409abc58dfef649fc3c4a19b1 Ellen Gray 2008-07-16T22:00:04Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25507689&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FEverybody_--_even_Jimmy_Kimmels_--_a_critic.html ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson kicks off his morning griling from a guy who identifies himself as being from a Sarasota, Fla., newspaper. Guy's at the back of the room and a bunch of us turn around because 1) real TV critics generally don't identify themselves by publication at these things; and 2) the guy's voice sounded familiar. But without my glasses, I didn't immediately recognize him as Jimmy Kimmel. Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:29:56 GMT 5d9824b8a178e98c57440fd8bbe9176f Ellen Gray 2008-07-16T17:29:56Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25473079&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FLocal_girl_gets_Naked.html Tue, 15 Jul 2008 18:51:33 GMT 7192e5be04ce5d0c48eda984ac028d7f Ellen Gray 2008-07-15T18:51:33Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25468389&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FSunny_weather_to_continue_for_Philadelphia.html Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:52:22 GMT 64794df7a15b4c071b5ef2c3c2b10058 Ellen Gray 2008-07-15T16:52:22Z http://www.philly.com/r?19=961&43=350179&44=25388444&32=3796&7=362879&40=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.philly.com%2Fphilly%2Fblogs%2Fdnhollywood%2FFringes_most_moo-ving_player.html The pilot for Fox's much-buzzed-about J.J. Abrams' drama "Fringe" was screened for critics here late Sunday night -- though it leaked on the Web weeks ago, the network still wouldn't send it out in the usual way -- and while I imagine I'll have plenty to say about it in the coming months, right now, I'm struck by the cow, which stole at least one scene.. Mon, 14 Jul 2008 18:55:07 GMT ec50fb18f0c89e310fa132fe9a2c480c Vance Lehmkuhl 2008-07-14T18:55:07Z