Sideshow: 'Ballers' draws big numbers for HBO

The Rock rolls on as a big winner on TV: The first season of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's football comedy Ballers was HBO's most-watched half-hour show in six years, says Variety. Ballers drew an average of 8.8 mil viewers, according to Nielsen, making it the third all time among HBO comedies behind Sex and the City (10.3 mil) and the first season of Hung in '09 (9.3 mil).

At 62, Pierce Brosnan is still kicking, punching, and shooting bad guys. But the former James Bond star, who costars opposite Owen Wilson in No Escape, thinks of himself primarily as a family man, not an action star.

"I'm as famous as I'm ever going to be. I like to make a good living and be able to take care of my family," Brosnan tells USA Today. "The passion is still there to really be in an unexpected surprise to myself every now and then and to keep the audience that you have."

Brosnan, who has four kids, is sending off 18-year-old son Dylan for his freshman year at the University of Southern California. Dylan, best known as a model, also is a fledgling film director.

His dad even starred in his last flick. "He adapted a Joyce Carol Oates story for his [high school] graduation piece," says Brosnan, "a beautifully rendered piece. I was in it."

The View, which has lost some key players, including Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez, and Nicolle Wallace, has a plan to bring up ratings. The daytime gabfest on Tuesday said it had rehired former cohost Joy Behar for its 19th season, set to premiere Sept. 8.

Behar is one of three new hires: She joins Full House's Candace Cameron Bure and Good Morning America Weekend coanchor Paula Faris. The new season will also feature Raven-Symoné and Michelle Collins and veteran moderator Whoopi Goldberg.

Kanye West will receive the Video Vanguard lifetime achievement award at this year's MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. It's the VMA's highest honor. . . . Didn't know Chris Brown was a classicist. The singer has paid homage to Greco-Roman culture by getting a tattoo of the head of the ancient Greek statue the Venus de Milo on the back of his shaved head, says the New York Post. . . . Josh Duggar isn't the only cultural hero with an account on adultery dating website Ashley Madison: Snooki's hub, Jionni Lavalle, has one, as does Josh Taekman, hub of Real Housewives of New York City's Kristen Taekman, says Brit tab the Daily Mail. . . . Actor Dave Franco, 30, brother of Renaissance man James Franco, has become engaged to Community and Mad Men actor Alison Brie, 32.

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