lauren.kane

7th Heaven Casting Shakeups

7th Heaven just started its 10th season, which will include lots of surprises for its loyal fans — some good, some bad. For starters, troubled actor Jeremy London won't be returning to the WB family drama, nor will Ashlee Simpson or Rachel Blanchard. However, original cast members Barry Watson and David Gallagher are back as the prodigal Camden sons, Matt and Simon. "We're focusing on our core family again," says creator/executive producer Brenda Hampton. "As the show gets older, you want to give people as much as you can of the thing that they watched it for. And in this case, it's the Camden family." Watson and Gallagher both return for 11 episodes, so we'll have the opportunity to see the boys dealing with some more adult situations. In fact, Simon "will be the first Camden to have sex outside of marriage." Pretty risqu&eacute; for the son of a preacher man! The big story this season will

Wed, Sep 15, 2004

Joan Rivers Wants You!

Back in January, QVC launched their annual Host Search, scouring America for folks with the gift of gab. Who better to tell us all about it than jewelry and cosmetics hawker Joan Rivers, a 14-year vet of the home-shopping channel? At QVC's recent auditions in Rhode Island, Rivers sat down with TV Guide Online to dish the fine art of TV salesmanship, among other wacky things. TV Guide Online: As a comic, how important is your sense of humor when selling something on TV?Joan Rivers: Everything is about humor with me. You've got to laugh at everything. It's very important. But you also have to understand that a lot of people don't know you're making a joke, so you don't make a joke about your products. TVGO: You're an infamous fashion critic. Do you really think people should be judged by their looks?Rivers: It's all about looks. Anyone that says it's not is a liar. [But] what they want [at QVC], as opposed to, say, a movie star, is a real

Fri, May 7, 2004

Meet 7th Heaven's Junior Hottie

Look out, Barry Watson. You're so old school. A new male heartthrob is taking over on 7th Heaven! Well, a heartthrob-in-training, anyway. Executive producer Brenda Hampton likes to joke that "the puberty fairy was extraordinarily good to" Scotty Leavenworth, who plays Peter. But will he ever live down that puberty quote? "Everybody goes through that," the 13-year-old Californian tells TV Guide Online. "It's a normal thing." In fact, Leavenworth loves the idea of making fans all swoony. Laughing, he says, "I have no problem with it!" The young actor — whose credits include Erin Brockovich and The Green Mile — teaches viewers a grown-up lesson on tonight's 7th Heaven. He says his character, Peter, "does something he shouldn't." Well, if he won't spill, we will: Peter's caught drinking alcohol with his friends — and there'll be serious consequences for it. Aside from

Mon, Apr 26, 2004

Dave Punked Out in Paradise

The nail-biting season finale of Fox's Paradise Hotel was full of surprises, but none more eye-popping than Charla's final decision: Faced with $250,000 in prize money, she opted not to split it with her kindly roommate, Dave. Nope, she kept it all for her greedy self. Huh? That Barbie girl would never have made it to the final four without him! Alas, the 26-year-old may've flown back to Boston sans the cash  or the girl  but he does get props for loyalty. As Dave tells TV Guide Online: "I would have split the money with Toni if she was my final partner, if she had, in any way, helped me get to the end. I think almost everyone there would have split the money." That's doubtful, considering Paradise's pit of vipers. Don't forget, Toni mercilessly teased and taunted Dave about his appearance. (Hey, so what if the dude has large ears!) Anyway, it had to sting when Dave's crush refused to sh

Tue, Oct 7, 2003

Tina Fabulous Jeers Bachelor's Tears

After Andrew's shocking decision to eject Tina Fabulous from his Bachelor pad last week, we figure this guy must be sipping a little too much of his Firestone wine. After all, TV Guide Online pegged the 22-year-old Wisconsin-bred bombshell as a shoo-in for bridal bliss. Oh well, his loss! Here, Tina  who's now a TV correspondent in Milwaukee  tells why she won't shed any tears over the millionaire who got away.TV Guide Online: How did the name Tina Fabulous come about? Tina: I got the nickname from the pack of girls in the house because I was dressed up, and I can throw a football pretty far in stiletto heels! TVGO: You definitely have the total package  looks, personality and athleticism. What did Andrew not see that we did? Tina: I think we weren't seeing eye-to-eye on having a family. I'm still young, and I want my career to come first. T

Thu, May 15, 2003

Broadway Boy Whipped Into Shape

Actor Fred Weller is comfortable with his body. In fact, he has no problem doing nude scenes eight shows a week in Broadway's Take Me Out. So what could turn this hunk into a self-conscious wreck? Hollywood, of course! "All I know is, when I'm in Los Angeles, after three weeks, I start to feel like I should be going to the gym twice a day," he tells TV Guide Online. "No one tells me to, but I start to get the feeling that I should." Weller currently co-stars with Friends thesp Paul Rudd and The Mummy's Rachel Weisz in The Shape of Things (opening tomorrow). The Neil LaBute film explores how p

Thu, May 8, 2003

Mummy Star Takes Twisted Turn

As Brendan Fraser's leading lady in the Mummy movies, British beauty Rachel Weisz won moviegoers' hearts. In The Shape of Things (opening May 9), she's the object of Friends star Paul Rudd's affection. Unfortunately, her character gives his a major makeover  from hopeless geek to preppie chic  for all the wrong reasons. "I think anybody who's been in a relationship and says that they haven't tried to change their partner in any way would be lying," Weisz tells TV Guide Online. "I think everybody does it. "It can start with something really benign and silly," she adds. "Like, 'I prefer it when you wear the brown sweater to the blue sweater' or 'Maybe you should get your hair cut.'" The desire to reshape othe

Thu, May 1, 2003

WB Hottie Rides Again as Lone Ranger

"Heigh-ho, Silver, away!" Black mask or no, that hunky, blond cowboy in The Lone Ranger  airing tonight at 8 pm/ET  looks mighty familiar. That's 'cause it's Chad Michael Murray, 21, from Gilmore Girls and Dawson's Creek! We notice he's become quite a staple on the Frog network... "They invited me into the [WB] family," Murray tells TV Guide Online. "In 2000, I tested for a pilot called Day One, and I didn't get it, but they felt like they could develop me over at the network, so they gave me a deal." And a sweet deal at that. Murray's latest Lone gig has him headlining an update of the classic 1950s Western. The two-hour TV movie  which could turn into a series if it lassoes good ratings  tells the tale of a myste

Wed, Feb 26, 2003

7th Heaven Tackles Cystic Fibrosis

Mackenzie Rosman — who plays sassy little Ruthie Camden on 7th Heaven — is used to facing adult issues. The 13-year-old actress already has confronted everything from racism to death on the WB's top-rated family drama. However, the show will really hit home when Rosman's stepsister, Katelyn Salmont, guest stars to talk about her real-life struggle with cystic fibrosis. "We've wanted to do this for a while," Rosman tells TV Guide Online, so she made a pitch to Heaven's executive producer, Brenda Hampton. "Mackenzie came to me, notes in hand, and told me all about CF and asked me if I would do a story for her sister," she recalls. "I thought it was very touching." Katelyn, 16, has struggled with CF — a genetic disease that shortens the life span to approximately 20 years — since she was 2 years old. Despite the stress this ailment places on her and the family, Hampt

Fri, Jan 17, 2003

Gilmore Hottie Gets the Girl!

Sweet guy Dean or dark knight Jess? The question of which boy Rory (Alexis Bledel) should choose on Gilmore Girls has plagued the show's young fans for more than a year. Well, on last night's episode, Dean (Jared Padalecki) finally gave Rory the go-ahead to pursue her simmering attraction to Stars Hollow's resident brooding rebel. But while Jess (Milo Ventimiglia) may have won the latest battle, he's hardly won the war. "I think it's gonna be a rough ride for the rest of the year," Ventimiglia tells TV Guide Online. "Dean is probably going to get in the way of Jess and Rory's [relationship]. He's still around." In fact, the 25-year-old actor predicts that the rivals will once again come to blows over their favorite Gilmore girl. "I think it might get to that. Give it a cou

Wed, Nov 13, 2002

Heaven Can't Wait for Jeremy London

Another divine creature is descending upon 7th Heaven. Former Party of Five hunk Jeremy London joins the cast tonight (8 pm/ET on the WB) as an associate pastor hired to temporarily replace an on-the-mend Eric (Stephen Collins). "We have the best looking cast on television, and it's just getting better," exec producer Brenda Hampton gushes to TV Guide Online. "[Jeremy]'s perfect for the show. "I had no idea he would do another series," Hampton adds of the actor, who played Neve Campbell's brooding boyfriend Griffin on PO5. "I just think he's spectacular." London's Heaven alter ego  Chandler  arrives in Glen Oak this evening and gets an unusually icy

Mon, Nov 4, 2002

7th Heaven's Studly Sibs Square Off!

Forget Joey Lawrence and his adorable brethren. When it comes to brotherly love, the Stults boys have cornered the market. At a recent autograph signing in New York City, George and Geoff  who play Kevin and Ben on 7th Heaven  proved they're inseparable. But they're not immune to a little sibling rivalry! "[Geoff] is my baby brother," George tells TV Guide Online. "So if he gets in my way, I can kick his ass!" Still, the spokesmodel for Liz Claiborne's Bora Bora cologne doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with his sib. He happily brought Geoff onstage to greet the crowd of fragrance fans at Macy's Herald Square  the perfect time for Geoff to poke fun at George's shirtless photos. "His [chest hair] is all drawn in," he jokes. "It's all airbrushed. That's actually my stomach they used!" The brothers have both enjoyed the sweet smell of success since joining the

Thu, Oct 31, 2002

Elvis's Heavenly New Gig

Twenty-five years after his death, it's time to forget those 'Elvis is alive' rumors. Tonight, he turns up in heaven! Well, 7th Heaven anyway. When the WB show's producers sought a way to depict Rev. Eric Camden (Stephen Collins) living out his rock star fantasy, they decided to resurrect the King. The odd part is, turning Collins into Presley wasn't as hard as they imagined! "Stephen Collins is not an unbelievable Elvis, he's a believable Elvis," exec producer Brenda Hampton tells TV Guide Online. "He's so good at singing as Elvis that we are afraid people are going to think that he's miming  but he's actually singing [himself]. I think our audience will be stunned." The Presley parody arises from Eric's necessity for emergency open-heart surgery in tonight's episode (a

Mon, Oct 14, 2002

Heavenly News: Barry Watson Beats Cancer!

When 7th Heaven's resident hunk Barry Watson broke the news to TV Guide Online last March that he was leaving the show to pursue other endeavors, little did anyone know that one of them would be fighting cancer. Well, the 28-year-old actor  who announced in May that he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease  has won the battle! "He got cancer-free about a month ago," Brenda Hampton, Heaven's executive producer, tells TV Guide Online. "He takes the last [chemotherapy] session Wednesday and then hopefully in about a month he'll start looking great." Although Watson has been MIA from Heaven since last spring, when his alter ego Matt got hitched and moved to New York, the star of Teaching Mrs. Tingle and Sorority Boys has remained a part of

Mon, Oct 7, 2002

American Dreams Star Lives JFK Nightmare

When our nation mourned the loss of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, actress Gail O'Grady was but a babe. While the NYPD Blue alumna obviously has no personal recollection of the tragedy, she feels like she's lived through it, thanks to her role as housewife Helen Pryor on NBC's American Dreams. For the drama's second episode  airing Sunday at 8 pm/ET  the cast strove to recreate the emotions Americans felt after learning of JFK's assassination in Dallas, Tex. "The set was sad that day," O'Grady tells TV Guide Online. "There was a feeling of what was going on because the producers played those tapes all day. As we did take after take and watched the news footage and everything, it was draining." Still, O'Grady came prepared to deal with such weighty subject m

Fri, Oct 4, 2002

Dick Clark Fulfills Providence Star's Dreams

The producers of NBC's American Dreams  debuting Sunday at 8 pm/ET  hit a bullseye when they cast Tom Verica as patriarch Jack Pryor. After all, the actor's own upbringing in 1960s Philadelphia  where Dreams is set  closely parallels the Pryor family's story. Heck, Verica's mom even danced on American Bandstand  something his onscreen daughter Meg (Brittany Snow) gets a chance at, too. "I don't think [my mother, Betty Ann,] had quite the excitement that the Meg character has on our show," Verica tells TV Guide Online. Even so, Betty Ann "had a photo taken with Dick Clark a couple years after she had been on Bandstand and was paid to do a car ad with him." Clark, who hosted Ban

Fri, Sep 27, 2002

Ally Alum Eyes Kelly Ripa's Throne

Kelly Ripa went on vacation this week, which meant guest co-hosts on Live With Regis and Kelly. On Thursday, Ally McBeal alumna Jane Krakowski revisited the hot seat next to Regis Philbin, and loved it. The actress  who auditioned for Ripa's coveted co-host role last summer  says she's happy to pinch-hit, since all this practice is priming her for her own chatfest! "I have been offered to do some talk shows," Krakowski, 33, tells TV Guide Online. "I think when I feel the exact right one comes up, I might take a stab at it. There's such a glut of daytime talk shows. I don't know if right now is the time. And really, nobody does it better than Regis and Kelly." Havin

Fri, Aug 16, 2002

Jerry Maguire Star Grows Up

When we first met Jonathan Lipnicki in 1996's Jerry Maguire, he was a five year-old with spikey hair spouting cute rhetoric to Tom Cruise. Now age 11, he's fast-approaching that dangerous time when child stars go bad. So, when can we expect the pint-sized cutie to start knocking over liquor stores and stealing yachts? "That's totally not me. I'm a goody-goody," the actor assures. "The worst thing I do is get [punished at school] for laughing. I like to laugh  that's not a crime." Indeed, there's nothing wrong with having a sense of humor, especially when it comes to growing up in the limelight. Maybe that's what has kept Lipnicki  who this summer can be seen in the hit family flicks Like Mike and

Mon, Jul 29, 2002

Melanie Griffith: MIA

Melanie Griffith has been keeping a low profile lately  maybe too low. Even though she's the star of last weekend's box office runner-up Stuart Little 2  she's the high-pitched voice behind Margalo the bird  the once scandal-ridden sexpot seems to have all but faded from the media spotlight. "Somebody said, 'I think that they're showing a retrospective on your life because they think that you're dead,'" Griffith laughs, "because there were like three of my movies on [TV] in one day." Still very much alive, the 44-year-old Working Girl found her latest role voicing Stuart's animated love interest (a gold-digging bird with a heart of gold, go figure) more challenging than she imagined. "It is so much harder than acting," she sighs. "We've been working on this for a year and

Wed, Jul 24, 2002

Meet Stuart Little's Wiseacre Daddy

Best known from his multiple roles on Rowan Atkinson's hilarious Blackadder series, Hugh Laurie is used to variety. After all, the British character actor's done everything from Sense and Sensibility to Spice World! Thus, it's no surprise to see him reprise his role as the wholesome head of the Little household in Stuart Little 2. "I've got a sweet tooth," the 43-year-old Laurie admits. "I love all that stuff. Right from the first moment I read the script, I was tickled. In a world where we're kind of obsessed with dysfunction in every movie and TV show, [the Little family's] functionality becomes quite interesting, I think just out of rarity. They're so sweet, they made me laugh." Laurie also enjoys

Mon, Jul 22, 2002

Geena Davis: Mousy Mommy

Long ago, when Geena Davis was doing bit parts in Tootsie and TV's Knight Rider, she dreamed she'd make it big in Hollywood. Well, 20 years and one Oscar later, Davis is content to play the mommy in Stuart Little 2  opening tomorrow  and in real life, too. "As far as acting goes, I don't feel enormously ambitious anymore," the 46-year-old Davis confesses. "I do feel like I've had incredible good fortune in that I've played some really unique and interesting characters... but I don't feel like I need to conquer the world anymore in that area. I think if I was gonna go nuts about passionately pursuing something, it would probably be something else."

Thu, Jul 18, 2002

Jill Clayburgh: Viva La Vamp

These days, you can TV surf and find acting vet Jill Clayburgh on just about any channel. Whether she's playing Ally McBeal's mom on FX or weeping it up on Lifetime, the Emmy and Oscar-nominated actress  whose career has spanned over three decades  is one of Hollywood's most familiar leading ladies. But don't expect this 58-year-old beauty  who's dated Al Pacino and co-starred with Burt Reynolds  to pen a spicy tell-all book about it. "I think it's just [for] desperate actresses who want to make a buck," Clayburgh tells TV Guide Online. "I mean it's one thing for Katharine Hepbur

Mon, Jul 1, 2002