charlie.mason

Buffy Lowers Its "Bawdy Count"

When UPN's Buffy the Vampire Slayer returns for its seventh season in the fall, Michelle Trachtenberg's character  the Chosen One's little sister, Dawn Summers  will graduate from terrified tag-along to apprentice butt-kicker. But on the set, the preternaturally mature 16-year-old still gets treated like a kid by her elder castmates. "They're all very nice, but I'm not in on the dirty jokes," she tells TV Guide Online. "No one cusses around me, either." Luckily, being overprotected by her grownup peers hasn't gotten the actress's button nose out of joint. On the contrary, she suggests that she just may be performing a valuable service. "I think I've helped a lot of people sort of clean themselves up," she says with a laugh. If an NC-17-rated problem ever does present itself to the youngster, though, she knows which

Wed, Jul 10, 2002

Six Feet Under's Surprise Sex Symbol

He has neither Brad Pitt's washboard abs nor Vin Diesel's bulging biceps. But since Six Feet Under cast Ed O'Ross as Nikolai, the thorny Russian florist in whose arms Ruth Fisher has bloomed, the veteran character actor has become Hollywood's new babe magnet. "It's amazing to see how many women are being turned on to me," the native of Pittsburgh, Pa., tells TV Guide Online, chuckling. "I beat 'em off with sticks and brooms and clubs, that's what I do. Then I let 'em in the house." The single guy's on-screen canoodling isn't just improving his love life, either. He says that he and leading lady Frances Conroy are doing it, so to speak,

Tue, Jul 9, 2002

Shoot Out Hit Man Opens Fire on Hollywood

Marlon Brando? Check. Warren Beatty? Check. Fidel Castro? Check. Yep, multi-media mogul Peter Guber takes aim at all of these big guns  and then some  in Shoot Out: Surviving Fame and Misfortune in Hollywood, the Tinseltown page-turner that he co-wrote with Variety editor-in-chief Peter Bart. Yet he isn't worried in the least that a thin-skinned celebrity might take a swing at him. How come? It helps, we're sure, that as former CEO of Sony Pictures and founder of Mandalay Entertainment, he's one of the most powerful producers in showbiz, a living legend who has filled cineplexes with such hits as

Thu, Jun 27, 2002

Angel Vamp: You Said a Mouthful!

Watching badass blood-suckers cavort on Buffy the Vampire Slayer has made heaven knows how many viewers wish that they could let their inner creatures of the night have their day. But it's not all hemoglobin and hair gel for the undead, reveals Mercedes McNab, who plays Spike's dingbat ex-ghoulfriend Harmony. In particular, the actress tells TV Guide Online, it's the false teeth that pose a real challenge. "When they fit correctly, it's quite easy for me to talk with my fangs in. As a child, I always had retainers and braces behind my teeth, so I'm kind of used to having weird things in my mouth. "But after I got my wisdom teeth pulled, my teeth were always moving," she continues, "so every time I'd do an episode, I couldn't get [the faux choppers] in, or I'd put them in and they'd break halfway through a scene and I'd be prancing around, trying

Thu, Jun 20, 2002

Are Sex Symbols Just Plain Folk?

When the fifth season of HBO's Sex and the City begins in mid-July, the same old question is sure to arise: Are the gal pals really just gay men trapped in the bodies of straight women? This go-round, however, we've finally come up with a definitive answer  yes. In fact, with a little gender bending, the party girls become almost interchangeable with the playboys of Showtime's Queer as Folk. See for yourself. Sex and the City: Shoe collector Carrie broke her engagement to Aidan so that she wouldn't have to share her closet. Queer as Folk: Comic-book collector Michael asked out female co-worker Tracy so that he wouldn't have to come out of the closet. Sex and the City: Hard-hearted attorney Miranda was rushed to the maternity ward in labor nine months after hooking up with bartender Steve. Queer as Folk: Hard-up

Mon, Jun 17, 2002

Racer X: Who Should Play Richard Petty?

Dennis Quaid is already in the pit, getting tuned up to play speed-demon Richard Petty's pop, Lee, in a feature about the birth of NASCAR. But who will rev moviegoers' engines as Richard himself? "It's going to be whoever is the hot young buck when we're ready for photography," says producer John O'Hurley (best known as Seinfeld's J. Peterman). "It isn't going to be me, let me put it that way." Here are a few potential road-runners that we could see in the driver's seat.

Wed, Jun 12, 2002

The Return of Little Miss Popular

After Popular wound up its two semesters on the WB, teen magazines voted the schizophrenic high school dramedy's pretty  and pretty boring  leads, Leslie Bibb and Carly Pope, most likely to succeed. Our favorite grad, on the other hand, was adorable class clown Leslie Grossman, who played Southern-fried psychopath Mary Cherry. Come midseason, the 30-year-old Angeleno returns to the tube  as well as the classroom  in the new NBC series It's Not About Me. But that's only the next phase of the funny lady's campaign to become, as she puts it, "the Gen-X Eve Arden." Here, she tells all to TV Guide Online.

Fri, Jun 7, 2002

New Alias Baddie: Mom's the Word

Since villains as treacherous as Alias secret-agent woman Sydney Bristow's mother, Laura, are hard to come by in the real world, we can all rest a little easier. The ABC sleeper's producers, on the other hand, can't afford a moment's shut-eye. Since they teased the character's introduction in the season finale, they now are faced with the formidable task of filling the role  no mean feat, considering that the double-dealing spy babe, also known as Irina Derevko, is hot enough to have enticed Sydney's dad, Jack, into marriage and cold enough to have iced good guy Michael Vaughn's father. "We are on the verge of casting it," series creator J.J. Abrams tells TV Guide Online. "It's very exciting!" But, before the powers that be settle on an actress, perhaps they should break into our top-secret files and peruse the list of contenders we think might kick

Fri, May 31, 2002

E.G. Daily: What's Up, Buttercup?

Although Reagan-era It girl E.G. Daily hasn't had a film lead since the early 1990s, she's still a fixture at the multiplex  or at least her larynx is. Besides mouthing off as Tommy Pickles in the Rugrats flicks (and series) and the title oinker in Babe: Pig in the City, the voiceover artist lends her pipes to another of her TV characters  diminutive superheroine Buttercup  in The Powerpuff Girls Movie (opening July 3). "I haven't really missed the on-camera work  I've been too busy," insists the petite single mom, who is best known as coquettish Loryn in Valley Girl and s

Thu, May 30, 2002

Beam Me Up, "Parker Lewis"!

Looks like Parker Lewis still can't lose. First, Corin Nemec, who played the title wisenheimer on Fox's colorful 1990-93 kidcom, was made a regular on Stargate SG-1 just in time for the space-travel series's June 7 sixth-season premiere (and Sci Fi Channel debut). Then, earlier this month, he also went and got hitched to his high school sweetheart, Jami, with whom he has an eight-year-old daughter. "[My bride] probably wouldn't want me to say how we met," he tells TV Guide Online, then spills the beans anyway. "She came with a friend of mine to a party for my ex-girlfriend [when we were teenagers]. I was actually there to get back together with my ex-girlfriend until she walked in. "I'm so glad," he adds needlessly, "that it worked out the way it did." Even before the wedding (which capped the couple's second engagement to one another), the boyishly handsome 30-y

Tue, May 28, 2002

The Resurrection of "Quippy Buffy"

Over the course of its first year on UPN, Buffy the Vampire Slayer has gone from wonderfully witty to downright depressing. However, leading lady Sarah Michelle Gellar promises that after the finale (airing tonight at 8 pm/ET), the series will resume  as the title heroine would have put it in cheerier times  making with the funny. "[This season] was a little dark even for me," she admits to TV Guide Online. "So I think we're going to go back to a much lighter Buffy. This whole arc was, she was buried alive, she got out, and now she realized that she wasn't living and she wants to. So I think it's going to be  and I'm hoping for  the fun Buffy. I miss quippy Buffy." The rising movie star  who will hit the multiplex next opposite fianc&eacute;

Tue, May 21, 2002

In Defense of Hollywood's Wild Boy

So frequently has Brad Renfro gotten busted that critics may well sniff that his portrayal of a juvenile delinquent in the period picture Deuces Wild (opening today) required no research or talent. But the 19-year-old bad boy  who became a punch line after trying to steal a yacht without untying it from the dock  has at least one loyal booster in Michael Pitt, his co-star in last year's true-crime drama Bully. "I happen to like Brad a lot," Pitt tells TV Guide Online. "People talk a lot of s--- about him, but I think he's an exceptional actor." That said, even Renfro's No. 1 fan has no choice except to concede, "He's working some stuff out." However, Pitt isn't losing any sleep over his friend's future  and he doesn't imagi

Fri, May 3, 2002

Trading Spaces Hunk Disses and Tells

At first, Trading Spaces carpenter Ty Pennington couldn't believe The Learning Channel's home-improvement soap had built up such a devoted all-star audience. But while on vacation last year, the heartthrob was forced to face the truth. "I was watching Live with Regis," he tells TV Guide Online, "and [substitute co-host] Valerie Bertinelli was like, 'I love TiVo. You know why? I never miss Trading Spaces.' I just went, 'She did not say that!'" Since then, the Atlantan has adjusted beautifully to the program's popularity among the rich and famous. So he wasn't fazed working on Dixie Chick Natalie Maines's and her mom's Austin houses in this week's first-ever celebrity installment (airing Saturday at 9 pm/

Fri, Apr 19, 2002

Popular Alum Visits Heaven... and Hell

After being cast in the current release The Other Side of Heaven as a 1950s Mormon missionary stationed in a tropical paradise, Christopher Gorham pictured himself sipping pina coladas and soaking up rays. But, he tells TV Guide Online, making the movie in the South Pacific turned out to be as much like a season of Survivor as a rerun of Fantasy Island. "A lot of people describe Rarotonga as being like Hawaii 50 years ago, before it got totally developed," says the actor, a WB mainstay who has appeared on Popular, Felicity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. "It's incredibly beautiful, but it's not Honolulu, so you don't have all the amenities."

Tue, Apr 16, 2002

Hollywood Can't Bedevil Angel Star

As lethal with a punch line as a broad sword, Charisma Carpenter ought to be making a killing in Hollywood. But the Angel scene stealer keeps such a low profile, she might as well be a fugitive on America's Most Wanted. Heck, she even blew off TV Guide Online three times before finally calling for this interview. "I just don't think I'm a big, fat star," she explains. "There isn't a high demand there [for press coverage]. Like, if I go to an event and have my picture taken, nine times out of 10 it will be someone else who's a little more famous that gets [their photo] published  and that's fine. I don't go [to a premiere] unless I'm going to see something that's of interest to me. I don't do it to get pumped up. "[Publicity] can be fun," she continues. "But the more you leave yourself open to that, the more backlash you can ge

Mon, Apr 15, 2002

Showstoppers Awarded Alternate Oscars

"And the winner is..." At the Oscars, this phrase is supposed to represent the height of suspense. But c'mon, folks  let's cut the bull. The only people who really get excited by the utterance of those four little words are the nominees. At home, we get our kicks more cheaply, by presenting prizes based on the award show itself, in categories far less highfalutin (but no less relevant) than Best Actor and Picture of the Year. So, in addition to checking out the elite group that was admitted to the legitimate winners' circle during last night's neverending broadcast of the 74th annual black-tie backslap, TV Guide Online invites you to peruse the list of all-stars that we'd send home with trophies for... Most Memorable Entrance: Whoopi Goldberg. Parodying Nicole Kidman

Mon, Mar 25, 2002

Cop Confesses: L&O Steals the Show

Over and over, Law &amp; Order has made news by fictionalizing cases that are ripped from the headlines. And while this approach has its detractors, it also boasts an eloquent supporter in S. Epatha Merkerson, who has played Lt. Anita Van Buren since 1993. "The show is very topical and provocative, and I do believe that's why we've been on for 12 years," she tells TV Guide Online. "We've always found a way to take a news story and find a twist to it. Sometimes it gets very close." Close, indeed. A recent L&amp;O plot inspired by Chandra Levy's disappearance understandably displeased Mrs. Gary Condit, whose screen counterpart was revealed to have murdered her husband's mistress. Naturally, she, for one, wouldn't agree with Merkerson's suggestion that the show "does a service." "Probably not, but you k

Wed, Mar 20, 2002

The Next Mrs. David Letterman?

"You are so engaged." That's all that Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino could think to say upon hearing what happened behind the scenes between series lead Lauren Graham and David Letterman at the actress's first Late Show taping in December. We tend to believe Sherman-Palladino, too. Okay, not really, but go along with the joke, anyway, because here is our list of the top five reasons that we think Sherman-Palladino could have been onto something: 1. Graham loves Letterman. "I am a huge David Letterman fan," she admits. In fact, "I was just happy to get to meet him." Ah, but she wanted much more than a mere handshake... 2. Graham wants Letterman. "I had two goals for that

Mon, Mar 18, 2002

Ugly Stepsister Pretty Wonderful

Once upon a time, rising starlet Azura Skye received a phone call from her agent that she easily could have mistaken for a chat with her fairy godmother. "She said I'd been offered the lead in the Cinderella story  no audition or anything!" the 19-year-old tells TV Guide Online. "It was a huge deal... very flattering." Then, the enchanting actress was informed that ABC's Wonderful World of Disney retelling (premiering Sunday night at 7 pm/ET) would be based on the Gregory Maguire novel Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. "At that point, it dawned on me that they didn't want me to play Cinderella, they wanted me for the ugly stepsister," she recalls, aghast. "They didn't even need to see me, they just knew I was her. "I was like, 'Oh my God!'" she continues. "But I read the script, and it wasn't nearly as insulting as it sounds." On the contrary, the girl-p

Fri, Mar 8, 2002

A Grammy Show for the Ages

Since the bill included enough record-biz whippersnappers to fill up a youth choir, there was no way that anybody could have mistaken last night's live broadcast of the Grammy Awards for the Granny Awards. However, a handful of stirring performances by the industry's elder statesmen proved that, while the kids are all right, the old-timers are hardly ready to be put out to pasture. For music lovers who spent the evening perfecting their latest mix CDs, TV Guide Online rewinds the tape and plays back highlights (and the inevitable low points) from the well-balanced but overlong three-and-a-half-hour ceremony. Near the end of a spirited rendition of "Lady Marmalade" by the "four badass chicks from the Moulin Rouge" — all of them squeezed into and spilling forth from Frederick's of Hollywood finery — a special guest, original vocalist Patti LaBelle, stormed the stage and nearly blew the speakers, outshrieking even petite powerhouse Christina Aguile

Thu, Feb 28, 2002

Six Feet Under Queerer Than Folk?

Mere months after the executive producers of Showtime's Queer as Folk told TV Guide Online that they considered the gay characters on Six Feet Under "a bunch of politically-correct closet queens," HBO's dysfunctional-family dramedy is coming out swinging. As the Golden Globe-winning series begins its sophomore year Sunday night (at 10 pm/ET), it tosses newly-liberated mortician David into a lively love triangle with ex-boyfriend Keith and his current beau, fellow cop Eddie, played by Terrell Clayton. "There's one scene in particular in the season premiere that I just know everyone's going to cry over, it's so funny," chuckles the actor, who considers the SFU/QAF feud a laughing matter. "There is a compe

Wed, Feb 27, 2002

Island Goddess Kisses and Tells

If host Mark L. Walberg has told the combustible couples of Temptation Island 2 once, he's told them a thousand times: The show is all about questions  and man, do we ever have some doozies for Catherine Chiarelli, the 23-year-old dancer whose dangerous curves put her atop several of the Island himbos' Most Wanted lists. Do you have nightmares about showering with sleazy Tom A.? How on Earth could you cast off the adorably dorky Rossi for pretty-boy Brian? And what the heck were you doing dating a skirt-chasing dolt like Edmundo in the first place? As Fox's tawdry real-life soap opera rounds out its second season this evening (at 9 pm/ET), TV Guide Online presses the big-screen-bound drama queen for answers.

Thu, Feb 14, 2002