And, thank the gods of comedy and Internet buzz, it looks like it’s still funny. (What is also funny is how few people gave a crap about this show while it was on the air and how many, many, many people became invested in it once it was gone. But such is the way of these things.)

The gang’s all here in this trailer that looks like it picks up right where it abruptly left off seven years ago — Gob, Buster, Lucille, George Michael and co. haven’t missed a beat in their knack for dysfunctional hilarity and talent for non sequiturs. Plus, the awesome Judy Greer is back as Kitty Sanchez. It’s safe to say we’re as pleased about this as the rest of the world.

Now if only the cast of ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ would make good on those long-standing prequel rumors…

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Update: The Bluth’s Orignial Banana Stand will land in New York City on Monday, May 13. The Banana stand will be located diagonally across from Radio City Music Hall from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Original Metro story before

Calling all Arrested Development fans: Get ready to visit the Original Bluth’s Frozen Banana Stand is headed our way.

Netflix is launching the Bluth’s Original Frozen Banana Stand World Wide Tour today in London. The tour will include special surprise appearances by the Bluth family and friends.

The Banana Stand will also stop by New York City and Los Angeles. The dates have not been revealed but we assume will be closer to when the new episodes air on May 26.

The location of the banana stand will also be revealed on the official twitter account, @ArrestedDev.

Browsing the Twitter feed, it seems like they’ll actually be making frozen bananas. We can’t wait to have one frozen banana, what could it cost after all, ten dollars?

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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Annette Funicello, star of Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television program in the 1950s, has died, Disney said Monday.

“We’re sorry to report beloved Disney Mouseketeer and iconic teen star Annette Funicello has passed away at age 70,” the Walt Disney TV and movie studio said on its official fan club’s Twitter account.

Her family told television program “Extra” that Funicello died in a Bakersfield, Calif., hospital while in a coma due to suffering from multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed in 1987. It was not immediately clear when she died.

Funicello was America’s peaches-and-cream girl, portraying the innocence of the 1950s and 1960s, first as a Disney Mouseketeer and then as the star of a series of beach movies.

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  PHOTOS: A look back on the career of Annette Funicello

But in later life, she was remembered for what many say was her greatest role: a valiant fight against multiple sclerosis, a crippling disease of the nervous system which reduced the once perky and vivacious singer and actress to depend progressively on a cane, a walker and finally a wheelchair.

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When Elisabeth Moss found out last year that her “Man Men” character, Peggy Olson, would be leaving her job at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, she had just one question. “He called me before the Episode 11 script came out, and he told me the whole thing,” she recalls. “He called me and said all this stuff’s going to happen and you’re going to leave. I literally was like, ‘That sounds amazing: Am I still on the show?’ He was actually a little bit offended and he was like, ‘Of course! Yes!’ I was like, ‘Well, it’s a logical question.’”

While doing press for the new season of the hit series, Olson even acknowledged her own presence in interviews didn’t necessarily mean Peggy would be seen much in season six. “Maybe this is a huge trick. This is a big red herring,” she jokes. “They’re like, ‘You have to come do press.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not on the show any more!’ No. I am on the show. My joke is like I can only say I play Peggy Olson and I work in advertising. I can’t even say like where I work or who I’m working with. Super boring.”

One thing she can talk about, though, is the impact Peggy’s mentor and former boss, Don Draper (Jon Hamm) has had on her — and the repercussions that may have going forward. “I think Don is what her idea of what a boss is, so obviously she’s learned how to be a boss from him,” Moss says. “She tries her hand at that a little bit, but ultimately she’s still Peggy and she’s not Don. What actually makes Don love her and respect her so much is that she’s better than him. She has a heart and I think it brings up an interesting kind of thing about female bosses and how they might be different than male bosses, especially at that time. I think that she’s going to have to learn like every other season how to do it her way. How to be herself. And not follow other people, specifically Don.”

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“Glee” star Cory Monteith, 30, has “voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility” his representative told People magazine. The reason for the rehab stay is unspecified. He reportedly checked in Monday morning.

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  PHOTOS: Cory Monteith heads to rehab

Monteith, 30, plays Finn Hudson on the hit Fox series. His girlfriend and costar on the series, Lea Michele, 26,  gave the following quote to People: “I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this. I am grateful and proud he made this decision.”

Monteith has struggled with substance abuse in the past.  In a 2011 interview with Parade magazine, Monteith admitted to a rehab stay when he was just 19.  “I burned a lot of bridges,” he said. “I was out of control.” At the time, he said he had a “serious problem” and was using “anything and everything, as much as possible.”  Monteith spent his teen years attending up to 12 different schools, including alternative programs for troubled teens.

“I don’t want kids to think it’s okay to drop out of school and get high, and they’ll be famous actors, too,” he told Parade. “But for those people who might give up: Get real about what you want and go after it.”

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  VIDEO: Cory Monteith and Lea Michele do lunch in NYC

“Glee” is currently filming their latest season and has two more episodes left to shoot. Deadline Hollywood reports that filming will continue and Finn’s absence will be explained through plot lines.

“Cory is a beloved member of the ‘Glee’ family and we fully support his decision to seek treatment,” Fox said in a statement. “Everyone at the show wishes him well and looks forward to his return.”

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Dick Cheney refers to himself as the “most consequential” vice president in American history, and a new, incredibly candid documentary by R.J. Cutler (“The September Issue”) delves into just what those consequences might be — though Cheney quickly proves himself to be not one for re-evaluation. After premiering the film at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Cutler brings his portrait of the divisive political figure to Showtime.

Was it difficult to set aside whatever opinions you might have had of Cheney to make this film?
I mean, of course I have opinions about him. I have my politics, but this isn’t really a film about politics — from my perspective. I’ve made films about people whose politics I agree with and I’ve made films about people whose politics I don’t agree with. In this case, I’m exploring the man but I’m also telling his story from what I believe will be a rich and valuable historical perspective as time passes.

So my politics are kind of beside the point. Really beside the point. I’m not interested in films about my politics. I’m interested in Dick Cheney. I could not possibly care less about the politics of a documentary filmmaker. I was curious about who he was and how he thinks and what led him to the decisions he made, and how he acquired the power that he had and what he did with that power once it was acquired.

What do you think of the manner in which Bush and Cheney have in a way retreated from the public stage since leaving office?
Vice President Cheney has not shied away from the public eye and has not resisted the temptation to opine on the current administration and its policies and its relationship to the policies he supported when he was in office. He appears to be breaking the mold in terms of that return to center stage.

We do live in a moment where the opportunity to return to center stage is far more present than it was 8 years, 12 years, 16 years ago, 20 years ago. But even in that context I think it’s interesting how much he’s staying in the fray. But you know, there are no laws or rules that say you can’t remain in the fray. Bill Clinton has remained in the fray in a different way. He hasn’t really retreated. I don’t agree with you necessarily just as an observer of politics about former President [George W.] Bush. He seems to be laying pretty low in the way that former presidents historically have done. I know he’s given a speech or two, but I don’t really feel like we’re hearing from him in the way we’ve consistently been hearing from [former] Vice President Cheney.

There’s a lot of conjecture and hyperbole about Cheney while he was in office, especially in the second term, from social critics and comedians. Was it difficult to avoid that level of discourse?
No, not really. It’s not at all difficult to avoid the level of discourse because I focused on serious-minded people who had examined his life and career and had written extensively about it. It’s an extremely prominent group of both supporters and detractors in the film. You know, the emotion of the debate and the more extreme theories that Cheney’s detractors developed. … Listen, I understand why people are emotional about him. I myself as a citizen share a lot of those emotions, but as a filmmaker it’s very easy to separate what’s emotional from what the evidence supports.

What was the biggest surprise for you in your dealings with Cheney for this film?
I think I was most struck by the manner in which he discussed honor and duty, the fact that he felt that when put up against each other, there’s no question that duty trumps honor and that in fact the debate is a nonstarter. I was very struck by that. To me, representatives and soldiers who serve with honor, I’d understood that to be a defining characteristic of our country and the way we not only wish to be understood in the world, but the way we choose to be understood in the world and the way that we choose to act so that we are understood that way in the world. And when Cheney dismissed honor as a value, I was really very struck by that.

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Katheryn Winnick (center) plays a real-life shieldmaiden in “Vikings.”
Credit: History Channel

The mental image that comes to mind when you hear “Vikings” is usually bearded oafs drinking from skull cups in between fits of plundering. “People think they were just barbarians with horns on their heads,” says Katheryn Winnick, one of the stars of “The Vikings,” a new nine-episode docu-drama that airs Sundays on The History Channel. “That’s completely wrong. They were civilized, intelligent, sophisticated.”
The show is the latest from Michael Hirst, known for his way of turning history into highly watchable, often sexy trash, as he did in the “Elizabeth” films, “The Tudors” and “The Borgias.” His new show tells of Ragnar Lothbak (Travis Fimmel), a real-life Viking badass. But the women have meaty roles, too, specifically Lagertha (Winnick), wife of Ragnar, and Siggy (Jessalyn Gilsig), the Lady Macbeth to Gabriel Byrne’s evil lord. Lagertha, is a “shieldmaiden” — a female warrior — and spends the earliest episodes at home as her husband sails on an illegal mission. But that means organizing the community and fending off ne’er-do-wells in Ragnar’s stead. “What’s great about her relationship with Ragnar was that they were partners,” Winnick says. “It was true love.”
For Gilsig, best known as Terri Schuester on “Glee,” it was a chance to play evil again, this time alongside her TV husband.
“This was a team effort,” she says of the two characters. “This is a couple that has come to the highest position, and now they have to figure out how to keep it. You have to do that by identifying your enemies and any threat you have, and eliminating them.”
The secret to playing a villain is believing the character is right, Gilsig says. “Your job as an actor is to always make sense to yourself. Even a serial killer makes sense to themselves.”

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For those of you who tune in every Thursday night to watch ‘Parks & Recreation’ on NBC, there’s no doubt you were absolutely smitten by Leslie and Ben’s wedding last week.

In the episode, engaged couple Ben and Leslie, tied the knot spontaneously.

The episode so many ‘awwws’ that NBC decided to create a Ben and Leslie’s Wedding Album on Pinterest.

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As we anxiously count down days until the new season of ‘Arrested Development’ is released on Netflix, a new tidbit of information cam out today that made us even more impatient.

It turns out Kristen Wiig will guest star in the new episodes of ‘Arrested Development.’

Even better, Wiig will play a young Lucille Bluth. We can’t imagine of a better actress to play the nutty, vodka-drinking, cold matriarch than Wiig. Maybe we’ll see Wiig’s young Lucille oddly intimate relationship with her son Buster. Does young Lucille also roll her eyes at Gob’s magic, err, illusions? Will young Lucille also harass daughter Lindsay about her weight?

Vulture, who first reported the news, says that Wiig and Jason Bateman, who plays Michael Bluth on the show, are presumably friends after having co-starred in the comedies ‘Extract’ and ‘Paul.’

The new season premieres on Netflix in may and will also guess star Seth Rogen, John Slattery, Ben Schwartz, Chris Diamantopoulos, Conan O’Brien, Isla Fisher and Terry Crews.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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When “ER” went off the air in 2008, Anthony Edwards seemed satisfied to leave television behind. “Yeah, I said I would never do a one-hour television show again. I was done,” Edwards offers with a laugh. But the 50-year-old actor is back with “Zero Hour,” a globetrotting, conspiracy-filled adventure series. So what made Edwards want to come back?

“When ‘ER’ was done, I felt like I had really accomplished something. It had been an amazing eight years, and I was ready for a new adventure, which included my family and taking time and moving to New York. It really took a while to recover from that,” he explains. “I also knew that if I was going to come back to television, having done that, it would have to be something that was as exciting to me as what was going in there. “And I just said, ‘If these guys are crazy enough to tell this story, I want to do it with them.’”

Edwards stars as Hank Galliston, a lifelong skeptic who gets pulled into an elaborate conspiracy spanning the globe and centuries of history — all while trying to find is wife, who is mysteriously abducted in the first episode. “Hank Galliston, what’s great about him is that he gets to be you. He gets to be the audience in a lot of ways,” Edwards explains. “He gets to go on this journey without knowing at all what’s going on. He’s as bewildered at the beginning, I think, as the audience is. So, for me, that’s a great place to play because whatever these geniuses come up with in the scripts — which they have — and whatever these wonderful actors come up with to play with, I get to react to.”

But Edwards doesn’t think the fact that both Hank and audience are meant to feel out of their depths will be a turn-off for viewers. Quite the opposite, in fact. “I think television gets criticized for being condescending and telling stories too simply,” he says. “This is going to really challenge and excite people because they’re not laying it out simply. It’s a complicated story, and that’s a great commitment.”

“The Da Vinci Code” for TV?
The globetrotting and puzzle-solving at the heart of “Zero Hour” may have viewers getting a sense of “Da Vinci Code” deja vu, as much of the tone of the new mystery adventure series seems to have a Dan Brown hue to it. But the folks behind the show insist they weren’t just trying to do a “Da Vinci Code” for television.

“There were kind of two mandates going into it, one of which was to deliver something gigantic. We wanted to make a spectacle,” says the show’s creator, Paul Scheuring, noting that he didn’t want to make the mistake previous shows had made of not knowing where the core mystery of the series would be going. “Before I even put pen to paper in any kind of sense in this, I’m like, ‘What are the last frames of this series?’” he says. “So from that I then reverse-engineered this larger kind of construct and threw in all those delicious elements like the Nazis and church and such to get to that final place. That’s a very, very long-winded way of no, it’s not ‘the Da Vinci Code.’”

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  Viva Young – 2013 Taco Bell Game Day Commercial

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Michael Strahan was revealed as Kelly Ripa’s new co-host this morning after months of speculation. Dozens of celebrity guests filled in as co-host during the year-long search for a permanent replacement on “Live! With Kelly.” Stars like Neil Patrick Harris, Alec Baldwin and Anderson Cooper all took the chair next to Ripa, but in the end, Strahan took the title.

He joined Ripa on set this morning, greeting her with a big bear hug.

“It’s so nice to have a co-host literally sweep you off your feet,” Ripa told the audience. “I know that he can bench press me if he wanted to.”

Strahan also appears on FOX’s “NFL Sunday.” No word on whether he will continue with that position. 

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Randy Jackson is reportedly leaving his judge’s seat at “American Idol.”

Jackson, who was the last original judge still standing, will remain on with the show as a “mentor,” according to TMZ, though some of the higher-ups doubt whether he is suited for that role.

This now leaves FOX’s “Idol” with Mariah Carey and most likely Nicki Minaj, though the two divas are rumored to have some bad blood between them.

Jackson, 56, has been a panel judge on “Idol” since the show launched in 2002. He spent the first few seasons of the show between fellow judges Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell. Jackson also produces “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

Jackson lost more than 100 pounds in 2003 with gastric bypass surgery. He suffers from Type 2 Diabetes.

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MTV has announced it will cancel “Jersey Shore” after its sixth season.

As People reports, the first episode of the final season will air Oct. 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV.

The show has chronicled the partying ways of the self-proclaimed “guidos” for six seasons. The cast has shot seasons in Seaside Heights, N.J., Miami, Fla., and Florence, Italy. The final season was shot in Jersey.

Cast member Pauly D starred in his own spinoff called “The Pauly D Project.” Fellow cast members Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Jenni “JWOWW” Farley also launched their own reality show on MTV called “Snooki & JWOWW.”

Over the weekend, Polizzi gave birth to her first child with fiance Jionni LaValle, a son the couple named Lorenzo.

The rest of the current cast includes Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Samantha Giancola and Deena Nicole Cortese.

MTV will air a special feature called “Gym, Tan, Look Back,” which will recap the previous seasons and include a sneak peak of what’s to come in the sixth and final season.

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It started off promising enough: “So…. what have you been up to?” Stewart joked before pulling out a couple of pints of ice cream to share with Pattinson.

The gaunt-looking “Twilight” star awkwardly dodged questions about his very public recent breakup with Kristin Stewart, who was caught on camera canoodling with the married director of “Snow White.”

Instead, Pattinson said,”My biggest problem in life is that I’m cheap and I didn’t hire a publicist.”

Hmm. Really?

Blah, blah and a couple of spoonfuls of Ben & Jerry’s later, Jon Stewart bored us all out of minds by saying, “Here is my wish for you. That you get to handle your business is private, in your personal life, and I wish you all the best.”

From there, the two went on to discuss the very mundane subject of Pattinsons’ new film “Cosmopolis,” which is “physically impossible” to explain, according to him. Even Jon Stewart had to admit that this topic was definitely a buzz kill.

“Is there anything that you want to say, now that everyone who was interested in what you were going to say a few minutes ago has turned off the TV?” Stewart jokingly (but seriously) asked. “As soon as we started talking about the movie they just went, ‘I’m gonna go make a sandwich.’”

From there, Pattinson said he hoped the make the opening of “Cosmopolis” bigger than “The Dark Knight.”

Has this breakup made R-Patz completely delusional?

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CNN broke the news today that Bourdain will join the network for a weekend program that focuses on food and travel. This also means that his popular Travel Channel show “No Reservations” will reportedly come to an end when he makes the shift to CNN. The new show’s content model looks strangely familiar:

Launching in early 2013, the show will be shot on location and examine cultures from around the world through their food and dining and travel rituals.

The say-it-like-it-is chef has been increasingly on the radar in recent months, especially after his public lash-out at Paula Deen over her partnership with a pharmaceutical company after announcing her Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis.

So why jump ship from the Travel Channel now? CNN may have made Bourdain an offer he couldn’t refuse on the heels of the depressing news that the network’s ratings dropped 21 percent over the last year. Bourdain’s new show is likely an attempt by CNN to turn things around and reclaim viewers by beefing up its lifestyle content with a big celebrity name.

Bourdain will also occasionally appear on other CNN programs, doing what he does best — offering his opinion on “food and health and other cultural conversations.”

“I’m really looking forward to coming over to CNN. I think the world is going to get a whole lot bigger for me,” Bourdain said in a statement posted by CNN. “I hope that old fans and new ones will be excited about what’s coming down the road.”

His new show will be produced by Zero Point Zero Production, the same company that worked with him on shows like “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” “The Layover,”  “A Cook’s Tour,”  and “Decoding Ferran Adria.”

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The show began with a scenario that reflected the real-life rape allegations against NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s son, Greg Kelly, who is also a news anchor for FOX 5. In real life, Kelly was accused by a woman who said Kelly took advantage of her after she had too much to drink. The case was handed to the district attorney’s office, which later decided not to charge Kelly, based on insufficient evidence that a rape occurred.  

“Law & Order” puts a different spin on the story, though, setting the scene of its season finale “Rhodium Nights” at a penthouse bachelor party for the police commissioner’s journalist son, complete with high profile bankers and athletes, and a slew of lingerie-wearing “escorts.”

The fun ends after a dead escort, who later turns out to be 16, is found during the party in a bedroom. Things get sticky when the detectives realize who they’re dealing with and Captain Cragen advises them to tread lightly. At one point, he tells Olivia that the case may get handed to the DA’s office. Olivia’s barbed response: “So they can bury it?”

After a series of twists and turns, the episode unfolds into a tangled web of escort service wars. A prostitution ring is eventually uncovered and the detectives go after the its leader, a woman who reminds us of the so-called “Upper East Side Madam” Anna Gristina.

Along with the accusation that she ran an elaborate prostitution ring out of an UES apartment, Gristina is also alleged to have police officers on her client list who tipped her off to raids.

“Law & Order” played off of those allegations in last night’s episode, when the arrested madam’s lawyer told detectives, “She has the goods on everyone you work for, everyone you will ever consider working for. You just don’t know how deep this goes.”

Also true to life, the fictional madam’s lawyer offers to post his own condo for her bail — Gristina’s attorney made the same offer, though she later fired him and replaced him with new defense.

The episode comes to an end in a shocking climax when Captain Cragon wakes up in his bed to a gruesome discovery — a dead prostitute, whose blood is on his hands. It closes in that cliff hanger, leaving us eager for next season.

“Law & Order: SVU” is well-known for finding inspiration in real events in the news, though rarely have we seen an episode that combines two of NYC’s most publicized stories and weaves them into one intricate episode.  

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In a casting call posted on Backstage titled “‘GIRLS’ SEASON 2, HIPSTERS,” casting directors seek people with an authentic hipster look. What exactly is a hipster look? Well, as defined by Central Casting New York, it includes super-edgy traits like “tattoos, piercings, colored hair.”

Behold:

Central Casting New York is casting background for the second season of HBO’s Girls, a comedy about the experiences of a group of girls in their early 20s. Lena Dunham and Allison Williams star. Robb Fitzgerald, extras casting. Shoots May 15-Aug. 28, 2012 in the NYC area.

Seeking—Hipster Types: male and female, 18-30s, all ethnicities, all types, specifically seeking people with tattoos, piercings, colored hair, and unique looks.

For consideration, email pix & contact info via Back Stage; indicate “Hipster” in both the cover letter and “submission question” fields. Pay provided.

Pay provided? What kind of pay? A real hipster would prefer bartering anyway. Geez. They can’t just be bought, you know.

(via Gothamist)

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Lopez’s schedule certainly is a packed one — between filming for “Idol,” shooting movies like “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” raising twins, going through a divorce with estranged husband Marc Anthony, and dating younger backup dancer Casper Smart, she’s one busy lady.

While Fox has yet to confirm the rumor that J.Lo is leaving “Idol,” show executives are very aware that she’s been wishy washy about continuing.

After she admitted she might not have a third season of “America Idol” in her, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe hoped to win her over.

“I know how much she loves doing the show and how much she cares for the kids,” he told TMZ. “We want her back. I want her back.”

But if she does decide the leave the show, then we can really only focus on one thing: who will replace her? We’ve come up with a list of celebrity ladies we think would be suited for the role, given their current professional status and past involvement with these types of singing contests.

Mariah Carey. She’s one of pop’s biggest names, but her name isn’t quite as big as it used to be. She hasn’t had a surge of press since her unexpected (but still in tact) marriage to Nick Cannon. We think she’s the perfect balance of sass and honesty, plus she’s had a couple public meltdowns in the past, so we’re betting on a few off-the-cuff remarks from her, especially during auditions. Her kids are old enough for day care now, so it’s time for Mimi to get back to work.

Jessica Simpson. She is the perfect example of someone who is still a household name, but hasn’t done a whole lot of work recently (much like J.Lo before she took the judge’s chair). Now that Simpson has had her baby (finally!), she’ll be looking to reclaim the limelight. She’s already had experience in television with her show “Fashion Star.” Was that just the beginning of Simpson’s new career in reality TV? Plus, we picture her as the perfect “I’m too nice to say you suck” replacement of Paula Abdul.

Miley Cyrus. Yes, she is old enough to be a judge, actually. In fact, she came close to the position already on “Idol” rival show “The X-Factor,” but Demi Lovato beat her out for the job. We were surprised to hear that Cyrus was even a contender, given her hugely active music career, and no apparent need for extra exposure, but she’s proven that she’d consider a shift to television, at least temporarily.

Mandy Moore. While we’ve seen more of her on the big screen than the concert stage in recent years, let’s not forget her fame began with a pop music career. She’s another example of a once A-list celebrity who could use a good opportunity to stay relevant and “Idol” might just be it for her. We imagine she’d give off the same genuine vibe of wanting to coach people that former judge Kara DioGuardi seemed to radiate. The only question is whether Moore is just too… neutral.. for “Idol.”

Carrie Underwood. She took a year off from music after marrying pro hockey player Mike Fisher, but now she’s back on the scene. In recent interviews, though, she’s talked about how she enjoys her low-key lifestyle with her husband. “Idol” may not be our idea of low-key, but it’s probably a little less demanding than life on tour. She’s a huge name in music so this would be a big get for Fox. And who can forget that she’s arguably the most successful “Idol” graduate? Who better to judge other contestants than someone who has been through it herself?

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In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Lee Aronsohn said, “Enough ladies. I get it. You have periods.”

“We’re approaching peak vagina on television, the point of labia saturation,” he added.

Aronsohn was also a speaker at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference over the weekend, where he said the characters on “Two and a Half Men” are plagued by troubles caused by women.

“We’re centering the show on two very damaged men,” he said. “What makes men damaged? Sorry, it’s women. I never got my heart broken by a man.”

Internet backlash quickly followed the remarks as several notable female comedians launched a campaign of girl power against Aronsohn.

Co-creator of “The Daily Show” Lizz Winstead tweeted a link to the Hollywood Reporter interview along with the comment, “At the risk of never getting a part on “2 1/2 Men” What a gaping [expletive]…”

Aronsohn didn’t back down from his comments initially, instead defending them as harmless jokes, as reported by The New York Times.

“Women, please look up ‘irony,’” he tweeted, and later said, “See what I did there?”

However, he removed that last comment and later replaced it with, “Yes, yes – it was a stupid joke. I’m sorry.”

Considering Aronsohn’s resume includes work on shows with female leads like “Grace Under Fire” and “Murphy Brown,” we’re left wondering whether this was all a big publicity stunt to fill the “crazy comments” gap that Charlie Sheen left behind when he was booted from “Two and a Half Men.” If that’s the case, #notwinning.

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Maybe you had Mike Seaver’s face from “Growing Pains” taped inside your locker or a photo of Topanga from “Boy Meets World” plastered on the ceiling above your bunk bed. These teen idols will always hold a special place in our hearts and, for that reason, our curiosity is peaked as we now wonder whatever happened to them.

Some 90s teen stars, like Jessica Biel or Mario Lopez, are still in the limelight with high profile careers. It’s the lesser known heartthrobs that we explore today. Behold the shocking futures of your favorite 90s teen stars. You may not even recognize them.

Larisa Oleynik

She fascinated us as a teen with super powers on “The Secret World of Alex Mack.” She went on with her acting career and starred in well known movies like “The Babysitters Club” and “10 Things I Hate About You.” These days, though, a mature Oleynik can be spotted as Jenna Kaye on “Hawaii Five-0″ and Ken Cosgrove’s wife on “Mad Men.”

Mayim Bialik

The former tween star won our hearts as quirky modern teen Blossom Russo in “Blossom.” Her quick wit translated from her real-life smarts: Did you know she has a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA? These days, you’ll see her as Amy Farrah Fowler in “The Big Bang Theory.”

Kirk Cameron

We prefer to remember Kirk Cameron as Mike Seaver from “Growing Pains,”
but these days, he’s a far cry from his lovable boy character. Cameron
has become rather outspoken in conservative politics and recently made
headlines for some controversial remarks about homosexuality.

Mike Judge

Though he was hardly a familiar face, Mike Judge created and voiced both Beavis and Butthead in the naughty cartoon that defined our adolescence. That’s not his only claim to fame, though — years later, he was spotted in “Office Space” as Stan, the annoying clueless manager of  Chotchkie’s.

Shawna Waldron

You probably wouldn’t recognize Waldron as Ice Box from the movie “Little Giants” if you saw her now. She’s certainly all grown up now and has since starred in some racy films like “Poison Ivy: The Secret Society.”

Danielle Fishel

She won our hearts as Topanga on “Boy Meets World,” but Fishel didn’t stop there. Not only is she now a spokesperson for Nutrisystem diet foods, but she is also a host on Style Network’s “The Dish.”

Adam Scott

You probably recognize Adam Scott as Ben Wyatt from “Parks and Recreation.” However, he was making us laugh long ago (with the same haircut), when he starred in the reoccurring role of Griff the bully on “Boy Meets World.”

Mackenzie Rosman

We loved watching Mackenzie as the mischievous little sister Ruthie on “Seventh Heaven.” We thought she had dropped off the face of the Earth since the show, but turns out she’s just grown up so much that we barely recognized her as Zoe on “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

Jaleel White

Did he do that? Yes, he did. Jaleel White, best known for his comedic character Steve Urkel on TGIF favorite “Family Matters,” is now sashaying across the dance floor on the current season of “Dancing With The Stars.” It’s safe to say he grew out of the awkward phase.

Scott Weinger

This one blew our minds. Weinger, who will forever be known to us as DJ
Tanner’s boyfriend on “Full House” eventually moved on to an extremely
well-known character — he’s the voice of Disney’s Aladdin!

The post SHOCKING: Who did these ’90s kid stars grow up to be? appeared first on Metro.us.

With that out of the way, we can go on to say that hopeless romantics’ hearts were crushed Monday night on the season finale of ‘The Bachelor.’

Wine maker  Ben Flajnik had to make the tough decision of proposing to one of two beautiful women. 

After traveling through Puerto Rico and Switzerland on ABC’s dime (be sure to send them a ‘Thank You’ card, Ben!), it was time for Flajnik to announce who he was in love with.

For weeks tabloid magazines had Courtney’s face all over the cover with headlines like “IN IT TO WIN IT,” and “HOW SHE TRICKED BEN.” Apparently, this girl sucks. She was mean, manipulative and “in it for all the wrong reasons.”

That didn’t stop Flajnik from getting down on one knee and declaring his love for the model.

“It’s been an incredible road getting to this point with you,” he told Courtney. “But I promised myself that I wouldn’t get down on one knee again unless I was certain it was forever, and I want to tell you that you are my forever. You are my forever. And I have waited a really, really long time – a really, really long time to tell you that I’m in love with you more than you’ll ever know and that this whole experience and journey has been worth it every step of the way.”

They hugged, they kissed and then Courtney made a tacky, superficial comment about the diamond ring. Oh, and she said ‘yes.’

Don’t worry, Lindzi, real, non-televised love exists.. You’re still young, you’ll find love. And we’re willing to bet you don’t have to travel all the way to Switzerland to find it.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

The post Who won ‘The Bachelor’? Surprise, surprise: It was model Courtney Robertson appeared first on Metro.us.

“It’s a daunting task to play somebody who is not only a living figure, but a hugely well known one,” Moore says. “So, for me, the most important thing was accuracy.”

The actress put a “tremendous amount of research” into understanding America’s most famous hockey mom, including, she says, reading “everything I could get my hands on.” At the top of her list was Palin’s memoir, “Going Rogue: An American Life,” as well as “Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin: A Memoir of Our Tumultuous Years” by Palin aide Frank Bailey — and, of course, “Game Change.”

Moore also watched hours of footage on the campaign, and even had video on hand while filming scenes to nail the candidate’s physicality. “We would have the computer there when I was doing the debates to watch things very precisely, like beat by beat, to get the gesture just right,” she explains.

But the first thing the actress did was hire a vocal coach. “[Palin] has an incredibly idiosyncratic way of speaking,” Moore says, “and I needed to capture that. We are all very familiar with her and with those sort of iconic moments. I mean, it was just four years ago.”

‘Moments of real brilliance’

The unveiling of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election certainly was a “game changer.”
   
“I think the whole country took a collective gasp, like, ‘Who is she? Where is she from?’” Moore muses. “She was so incredibly charismatic, so unbelievably able to communicate, and a true populist.”
   
But upon further inspection, Palin didn’t have “the experience necessary to be able to lead our country as vice president or potentially president,” Moore says. “So that’s what we were attempting to dramatize [in the film]: her moments of real brilliance, of populism, of charisma — and her lack of experience.”

The post Julianne Moore on becoming Sarah Palin in ‘Game Change’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Really different, actually, as former mean girl Amanda Vaughn learns when she moves with her kids into the house of her Dallas socialite mother in the new ABC soap “GCB,” premiering Sunday at 10 p.m. Played with plucky resolve by Leslie Bibb, Amanda finds the queen bee crown she once wore usurped by a former rival (Kristin Chenoweth), who is now hell-bent on exacting revenge.

“She was pretty horrific,” Bibb says of her character. “High school is … like a shark tank. She’s now looking at everything being slapped in her face, [people] saying, ‘You were awful. You did this. You did this.’ So it’s a constant realization of what she used to be.”

How Amanda will convince her former classmates that she’s changed in the last 20 years is where the juicy drama — and heart — of “GCB” lies.

“Every human being has a moment of being bitchy,” Bibb says. “I think when a woman’s a bitch, usually it’s based on being scared — they’re scared of the mirror that they’re seeing. What ends up happening on the show is we all sort of test each other. We all set each other off, and so I think everyone has a really beautiful, delicious moment of being bitchy and then a beautiful, great moment of sort of redemption — and then they’re a bitch again and we’re nice again.”

“GCB” what?
“GCB” stands for “Good Christian Bitches” — the title of the Kim Gatlin book on which the series is based.

“The term ‘GCB’ is a phrase that these women in Texas refer to themselves as, you know, it’s their own phrase,” executive producer Robert Harling reasons. The term, he says, is not meant to offend.
“The characters … are all motivated by a real sense of goodness,” says Harling, who wrote about another group of strong-willed Southern women in “Steel Magnolias.” “The goal is to watch people try to be good. I know I screw up all the time. And sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s sad. … But within those parameters, we will never ever, ever be disrespectful.”

The post What does ‘GCB’ stand for? A lot of Texas-sized drama appeared first on Metro.us.

“No, once we divorced we never got drunk and had sex,” she says of her ex, Peter Marc Jacobson, adding her trademark laugh.

Though their romantic relationship ended after 21 years of marriage, the two, who co-created “The Nanny,” still maintain a bond and are now working together on the second season of “Happily Divorced,” which premieres tonight. Drescher tells Metro that we’ll see her character, also named Fran, finding herself “more and more as an independent single woman” and also get introduced to some secondary characters.

“We’re gonna meet some of [the character] Peter’s family,”?Drescher says. “Peter’s got a brother, [which] was how I actually met my ex — I met the brother first, and we were supposed to go out and then he couldn’t go, so he asked if Peter could take me on the date. And then Peter and I ended up falling in love. But now, all these years later, Peter comes out to his brother, and his brother’s now divorced, and we’re divorced, so he asks me out on a date [on the show].” Drescher says we’ll also meet Fran’s parents, as well as see more of her friend Judi: “she’s got a lot more to do in this season.”

And while the show is a comedy, deeper feelings are at the crux of it. “The shows themselves are coming out so good and so funny and so full of pathos and healing and laughter,” Drescher says of the series’ cathartic qualities. “We’re very proud of this second season.”

Wednesday night’s installment

“We’re gonna open the show with a big, splashy reunion where Fran, Peter and Judi go to their UCLA drama depart­ment 10-year reunion,” says Drescher. “Fran doesn’t want to go because she feels like she’s fat, old, poor and still living with her gay ex-husband — the combination just makes her feel like a loser. But in the end, she realizes that her life is better than most.”

No canned laughs

Like “The Nanny,” “Happily Divorced” is filmed in front of a live studio audience. Drescher wouldn’t have it any other way.
   
“I think with a comedy, it’s nice to hear the laughs. It helps bring the energy up,”?Drescher says. “You feel the energy of the audience and their laughter. And that really helps the show have a performance level that seems to work well and get the home viewers energized.”

The post Fran Drescher’s own life inspires ‘Happily Divorced’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Characters’ missteps are revisited through the group’s most pressing dilemma: What the heck do we do with Randall? Randall, as you’ll recall, is the injured “outsider” Rick pitied during a zombie blitz in town. He brought Randall back to the farm and then later, along with Shane, attempted to dump the guy “18 Miles Out,” far away from the farm, where he couldn’t bother our humble group of survivors. Except they then found out Randall went to school with Maggie and knows where the farm is located. And then they realized how potentially dangerous Randall is — he could find his way back to his group of outsiders and attack the farm! So Rick and Shane dragged Randall back to the farm, where they would decide his fate.

As Episode 11 opens, Randall’s fate looks bleak. Daryl is beating up the guy to find out more information on those outsiders. Turns out there are 30 of them, all heavily armed. Oh, and they like torturing and raping any men and women they happen to stumble upon — or so we are to assume from Randall’s tale, which is spoken through half-sentences and agonized cries.

Daryl relays the news to the group, which seems decided on Randall’s fate once Rick makes a decision — they need to “eliminate the threat.” Even Shane sides with Rick for a change. Everyone seems in agreeance. Well, everyone except Dale.

Dale holds onto this precious idea that civilization as the survivors know civilization can still exist in a walker-filled world. He doesn’t want to kill a guy simply because he might be dangerous to the group in the future. Dale asks Rick if the sheriff wants to teach his son to “shoot first, think later.” Rick, because he will always and forever possess at least a shred of morality, gives Dale until sunset to talk to the others and convince them to show mercy to Randall instead of “eliminating” him.

Up first on Dale’s agenda: Andrea. He asks her to guard Randall until sunset. She’s on Team Shane and doesn’t want to debate “saving a guy who will lead his buddies to our door.”

“That’s what a civilized society does,” Dale says, reminding Andrea that once upon a time, she was a civil rights attorney.

“Who says we’re civilized anymore?” Andrea shoots back. Still, she takes the gun Dale hands her and assumes her post outside of the barn where Randall is kept.

Randall, naturally, is trying to escape. He overhears Shane and Carl talking outside — Carl wants to see “the kid” who they’re going to kill. Shane says it’s grownup stuff, let them handle it. Carl runs off, and Shane sees Andrea. He disappointed that she’s on “death watch” for Dale, and asks her if she sees what’s happening — if she realizes they’re not going to go through with killing Randall, that Rick is going to “pussy out.” Shane suggests locking up Hershel and Rick and anyone else who doesn’t agree with his aggressive mode of survival and taking control of the farm. Andrea looks unconvinced, but we’re not sure, because the action moves inside the barn.

Randall hears a noise; it’s Carl, who has snuck inside to see the prisoner. Carl listens to Randall trying to bribe him, trying to talk his way out of his chains, and creeps closer. Just when things could get dangerous, Shane busts through the door, asking what the hell Randall was saying, threatening the prisoner with his gun. Carl is just scared Shane’s going to tell his parents. “It ain’t about getting in trouble,” Shane says. It’s about letting your guard down.

We then switch to Subject No. 2 for Dale: Daryl. Dale tries to win over Daryl by telling him he’s a “decent man.” That’s probably the only thing Daryl actually wants from the other survivors — acceptance as a trusted ally, not distance because he’s a psycho redneck — but he shoots down Dale’s suggestion. Dale doesn’t seem to be getting very far.

Back at the farm, Carl is rummaging around the grounds, picking up spent bullet casings. He runs into Carol, who tells him things are OK and that they’ll see Sofia again in heaven. “She’s not in heaven,” Carl yells. “That’s just another lie. And if you believe it, you’re an idiot.” Carol freaks out and confront Rick and Lori. Lori tries to calm her down, but Carol says she and the others can stop patronizing her. “I lost my daughter,” Carol spits. “I didn’t lose my mind.” And so more fragile relationships begin to unravel. …

Rick, meanwhile, has a stern talking-to with Carl. “Don’t talk,” Rick lectures his son. “Think. That’s a good rule of thumb for life.” Carl, who is becoming more like Shane with each scene, stops protesting. “You owe Carol and apology. You made a mistake. Fix it,” Rick says.

“Is that why you’re gonna kill that guy?” Carl asks. “Fixing your mistake?”

“You just think about how you’re gonna make things right with Carol,” Rick says, ignoring the question.

Except Carl goes off brooding, walking until he arrives at Daryl’s camp, which is decorated with dead squirrels and a motorcycle. Carl finds a gun, and goes off to play cowboy. He’s walking through the woods as the thought, “Stupid kid — this is how your got shot before” rings through my ears. But he’s not going to get shot this time — no, he’s going to come face-to-face with a walker. And once Carl realizes this walker is stuck in the mud — literally, he can’t move his feet from the gunk — the kid’s real hellion side begins to show. He throws rocks at the walker, who is gnashing his teeth. He gets closer, runs around like it’s a one-sided game of tag. He points his gun at the zombie’s head, and then — and then the walker breaks one leg free. Carl falls backwards, screaming. The zombie grabs his leg but Carl is able to escape — and runs away as fast as he can.

During this incident, Dale checked in with potential sympathizer No. 3: Hershel. Hershel is working in the field, where cattle have broken through a fence. Hershel doesn’t want to play games, and he doesn’t want to change his mind — “I leave it to Rick,” Hershel says.

“But you’re a man of convictions,” Dale tries.

“I was — or I thought I was. But I made too many mistakes,” Hershel says wearily.

So onto sympathizer No. 4: Shane. Wait, Shane?! “I want to change your mind,” Dale says.”

“Seriously?” Shane asks. Shane appreciates Dale’s “balls” for asking such a question, and says if Dale manages to convince the group to spare Randall, he’ll go with the decision. But, Shane says, “You’re wrong about this.” And when Randall kills someone, Shane adds, that death is on Dale’s hands.

It’s getting close to sunset, but we check in with one more pair of survivors before deadline: Hershel and Glenn. Hershel, in an (awkward) conversation about how America was built by immigrants, gives Glenn his blessing to date daughter Maggie by handing him the Green family pocket watch, an heirloom that had been passed down through generations, since the family emigrated from Ireland. It’s the episodes only “awww” moment, because next, the deadline has arrived.

Carl, back from his zombie baiting, is instructed to leave the adults to their adult business of deciding whether or not to kill another human being. The conversation goes in familiar circles:

Shane thinks they should’ve killed the guy yesterday.

Dale says, “If we do this, we’re saying there’s no hope. Civilization is dead.”

Rick wants to weigh all options.

The idea of keeping Randall as a prisoner is thrown around.

Maybe they could drive him farther out than 18 miles and dump him there.

Carol doesn’t want to have any part in the matter.

If they kill him, what method should they use?

“This young man’s life is worth more than a five-minute conversation!” Dale protests.

Rick calls for any last comments. Everyone, for the most part, seems agreed that Randall must be killed.

“You once said we don’t kill the living,” Dale tries.

“Well, that was before the living tried to kill us,” Rick retorts.

“If we do this,” Dale tries one last time, “the people we were, the world that we knew, is dead. And this new world is ugly. It’s harsh. It’s survival of the fittest and that’s a world I don’t want to live in. I don’t believe any of you do. Please … let’s just do what’s right. Isn’t there anybody else who will stand with me?

No one speaks — except Andrea.

“He’s right,” she says. “We should try to find another way.”

So everyone does a lot of shoegazing and says nothing.

“You’re all gonna watch, too?” Dale asks, disgusted. “No, you’re all gonna hide your heads in your tents and try to forget you’re slaughtering a human being. I won’t be a party to it,” he adds, and walks out of the house.

“This group is broken,” Daryl adds, repeating part of his previous conversation with Dale while stating the obvious.

And so Rick, Shane and Daryl drag Randall through the night to his execution. It is grueling business to watch as Randall pleads for his life and wails while Shane blindfolds him and Daryl kicks out his legs so the prisoner is kneeling. Rick draws his gun and — and Carl walks in.

“Do it, dad,” Carl says, venom in his voice. “Do it.”

Rick folds. “Take him away,” he says, defeated. He walks back to camp with Carl and seeks comfort from Lori. “We’re keeping him in custody for now,” Rick says of Randall. “He followed us,” Rick continues, referring to Carl. “He wanted to watch. I couldn’t. …”

Andrea jumps up to find Dale and relay the good news. Dale is walking through the fields when he hears a moaning sound; he draws his gun and sees a hurt cow. Upon further inspection, he realizes the cow’s innards are now lying on the outside of its belly. Another moan from behind and — oh. It’s the walker that was terrorized by Carl.

Caught completely off guard, Dale is tackled by the zombie. He struggles to keep from getting bit, and is successful, up until the point where the freaking zombie starts tearing out Dale’s stomach with its hands.

Now, a side note here: Zombies can do that? And if so, I know what nightmare I’m having tonight.

Sadly, it’s a living nightmare for Dale. Everyone back at camp heard his screams, so they come running to his aid. But it’s too late. Daryl, first to arrive, slays the zombie with a knife to the head. Hershel arrives and says even an operation won’t save Dale. Andrea is weeping. Gasping, eyes wide, it’s obvious Dale is suffering. Rick pulls his gun and aims at Dale’s head. At his neck. At his head. He tries to pull the trigger but he just can’t do it.

Daryl grabs the gun. He steadily points it into Dale’s forehead, murmurs, “Sorry, brother,” and pulls the trigger.

The post ‘The Walking Dead’ recap: Episode 11, ‘Judge, Jury, Executioner’ appeared first on Metro.us.

Really different, actually, as former mean girl Amanda Vaughn learns when she moves with her kids into the house of her Dallas socialite mother in the new ABC soap “GCB,” premiering Sunday at 10 p.m. Played with plucky resolve by Leslie Bibb, Amanda finds the queen bee crown she once wore usurped by a former rival (Kristin Chenoweth), who is now hell-bent on exacting revenge.

“She was pretty horrific,” Bibb says of her character. “High school is … like a shark tank. She’s now looking at everything being slapped in her face, [people] saying, ‘You were awful. You did this. You did this.’ So it’s a constant realization of what she used to be.”

How Amanda will convince her former classmates that she’s changed in the last 20 years is where the juicy drama — and heart — of “GCB” lies.

“Every human being has a moment of being bitchy,” Bibb says. “I think when a woman’s a bitch, usually it’s based on being scared — they’re scared of the mirror that they’re seeing. What ends up happening on the show is we all sort of test each other. We all set each other off, and so I think everyone has a really beautiful, delicious moment of being bitchy and then a beautiful, great moment of sort of redemption — and then they’re a bitch again and we’re nice again.”

“GCB” what?
“GCB” stands for “Good Christian Bitches” — the title of the Kim Gatlin book on which the series is based.

“The term ‘GCB’ is a phrase that these women in Texas refer to themselves as, you know, it’s their own phrase,” executive producer Robert Harling reasons. The term, he says, is not meant to offend.
“The characters … are all motivated by a real sense of goodness,” says Harling, who wrote about another group of strong-willed Southern women in “Steel Magnolias.” “The goal is to watch people try to be good. I know I screw up all the time. And sometimes it’s funny. Sometimes it’s sad. … But within those parameters, we will never ever, ever be disrespectful.”

The post What does ‘GCB’ stand for? A lot of Texas-sized drama appeared first on Metro.us.

The Isaacs-headlined psychological drama “Awake” is not a by-the-books “Law & Order” redux, that’s for sure. In the show, Isaacs plays detective Michael Britten, who is involved in a deadly car accident with his wife and son — except, he’s not sure if it was his wife or son who perished in the crash. Britten has developed a unique coping mechanism that has convinced him he is living two realities. In one, his wife is alive, but his son is not. He falls asleep, wakes up, and lives the second reality: His son is alive, but wife is not. The cycle alternates every day.

“In many ways I took the part because I wanted to see what Episode 2 was before anybody else read it,” Isaacs jokes. But intrigue did play a major part in Isaacs’ decision to join the show. “It’s just one of those incredibly simple yet powerful premises about your imagination: What if your dreams were so real that you didn’t know you were dreaming?” he ponders. “I’m always furious when I wake up and I know I’ve had this incredible dream that’s just evaporated. But that doesn’t happen to him.”

Things get more complicated — and dangerous — as Britten’s two worlds collide on the job. A random person in one “dream” may lead to a crucial piece of evidence in a case he’s working on in the other “dream.”

“Sometimes I have to reorient myself as a character to remind myself who we’re chasing after and why,” Isaacs says. “The people around me, obviously, react as you would to somebody who seems to have lost it.”

Was it just a dream?

The idea that Det. Michael Britten is living two lives brings into question whether or not he really is just dreaming. Maybe it’s an elaborate, fantastical alternate universe, instead?

“There’s no sci-fi,” Isaacs insists. “He doesn’t fly. Both worlds are equally and completely real — to him. But only one of them does exist.”

The post Jason Isaacs lives two realities in ‘Awake’ appeared first on Metro.us.

“I think we definitely have a positive approach and that people love working with us because when you’re positive, people feel like they can open up,” Zaslow explains, adding that her company will only do blind dates. The client never gets to choose their match.

“I think sometimes people fall into old habits and pick someone who visually is right, but they don’t know anything about their insides,” Zaslow explains. “We spend so much time with our clients — that’s really our passion, the analyzing. We get invigorated by learning about people — what has worked for you, what hasn’t worked.”

On her new show, “The Love Broker,” Zaslow brings the cameras with her as she coaches her clients through the process of dating in New York City — a town that’s caught plenty of flack from Stanger, who once  said that women in New York should “dumb it down a little bit” for the men they date here. Typically, Zaslow is a bit more optimistic about the state of dating in her city.

“I love New York. I love the people here. I feel like maybe it’s more of a challenge than in other cities because there are so many people,” she says. “I think there’s more layers here.  It’s not skin-deep here. It’s really deep — and it takes a lot more time and a lot more energy, so you have to bring a stronger game. That’s why people come here to find love and then move out of the city.
People come here to meet people. I think New York’s known for that. It should be the Big Heart, not the Big Apple.”

Zaslow’s rules of etiquette for a blind date

1. Just stay for an hour
2. Don’t drink too much
3. Talk as much as you listen, listen as much as you talk
4. Be present

The post Bravo’s Lori Zaslow brings positivity to the reality TV dating game appeared first on Metro.us.

1. Melissa Gilbert: The former “Little House on the Prairie” star (and sister to Sara Gilbert, a host on “The Talk”), returns to ABC after she directed the network’s after school special, “Me and My Hormones.” Yup, that is true. She’ll join tabloid star/pro dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

2. Sherri Shepherd: We’re a little curious about how Shepherd will manage her time between this show, rehearsals and her gig as a co-host on “The View,” but hey, the gal must really love her ABC. She dances with Val Chmerkovskiy (and no, that’s not a coincidental last name: His brother is Maksim).

3. Martina Navratilova:  Navratilova is the only tennis player in the world who has won Grand Slam titles in four different decades. The breast cancer survivor has won 59 Grand Slam titles, nine Wimbledon singles championships and 344 tournaments. She’s paired with Tony Dovolani.
4. Maria Menounos: The actress, author and TV host has a pretty beefy résumé: At 22, she was the youngest person to host “Entertainment Tonight,” and she also conducted the only interview with the Obama family during the presidential campaign. She dances alongside Derek Hough.

5. Gladys Knight: The diva of soul needs no introduction: She’s won eight Grammys during her illustrious career and has recorded more than 38 albums. She was most recently seen in the Tyler Perry film “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” Knight is paired with Tristan MacManus.

6. Jaleel White: Before there was Zooey Deschanel, the most adorkable person on TV was Steve Urkel. White returns to network television after stints on “Boston Legal,” “House” and the feature film “Dreamgirls.” He’ll be dancing with two-time champ Kym Johnson.

7. Donald Driver: Packers’ fans will know Driver as a Super Bowl champ and the All-Time Leading Receiver for the Wisconsin team. He’s also authored children’s books and founded a charity to help the homeless. He’ll dance alongside pro Peta Murgatroyd.

8. Roshon Fegan: He’s a 20-year-old Disney Channel star who appeared in the “Camp Rock” films and is now on “Shake It Up!” He also writes and produces his own music under his own record label. Impressive! He’s paired with Chelsie Hightower.

9. Gavin Degraw: Unfortunately, the last we heard of the “I Don’t Wanna Be” singer, he was getting beat up by thugs in New York City’s East Village. He’s back in the news for a better reason now, dancing with last season’s winner, Karina Smirnoff.

10. Jack Wagner: You might remember him from his days on “General Hospital” and “Melrose Place.” Or you might recognize him as Heather Locklear’s fiance (until November 2011, at least). He dances with Anna Trebunskaya.

11. William Levy: Ay, papi! No stranger to TV, the Latin heartthrob can be seen on Univision’s ‘Triunfo del Amor,’ the No. 1 telenovela on TV. He’ll show off his moves alongside two-time champ Cheryl Burke.

12. Katherine Jenkins: She’s a Welsh classical singer who is apparently really famous overseas. She’ll dance with two-time champ Mark Ballas.

The post Say hello to the new ‘Dancing with the Stars’ cast appeared first on Metro.us.