michelle.heller

It's been quite a week for struggling cult favorite How I Met Your Mother (Mondays on CBS at 8:30 pm/ET). First it was revealed that Ted's (Josh Radnor) dermatologist crush, Stella, would be played in a multi-episode arc by Alicia Silverstone, leading a lot of fans to theorize that she was indeed the future Mrs. Mosby. Then later in the week we learned that Stella would instead be played by Scrubs' Sarah Chalke, and, in a casting shocker that was truly legendary, one Britney Spears will be playing Stella's Ted-loving assistant, Abby (about which Radnor told us, "The only thing 'scandalous' about all of this is how non-scandalous it is"). Before the first post-strike Mother

Fans of the fiery final season of The Wire (Sunday at 9 pm/ET on HBO) know that drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector) is an ice-cold killer who, after one particularly dastardly murder two weeks ago, is hiding out from revenge-seeking stickup artist Omar (Michael K. Williams). Recently, though, Marlo's portrayer, Jamie Hector, did surface... for a signing of the new Wire soundtrack at the HBO store in Midtown Manhattan. At the signing, Hector told TVGuide.com that he'll be moving from street-corner killing to supernatural evil-doing — as the new "villain" on Heroes. (NBC reps, however, wouldn't confirm this casting news.) But the soft-spoken actor wouldn't reveal much about himself or his new character's superpower. "It's not good," he says simply. Sounds like his character on The Wire. Hector's rig

McNulty has his ladies, Bunk his booze, but The Wire's (Sundays, 9 pm/ET, HBO) Lester Freamon is all about the cash money — the cash money laundered by Baltimore's drug kingpins and corrupt politicians, that is. He may be the master of The Wire's namesake operation — the wiretapping op that listens in on Baltimore's corner drug scene — but Det. Freamon is still ambitious enough to dig deeper, right into the drug dealers' account books and the local politicians' very well-lined pockets. TVGuide.com recently rooted out Lester's portrayer, Clarke Peters, to tap into the show's final season, eavesdrop on the cast's many off-set antics, and get all up in the all-business Lester's very personal business. TVGuide.com: So the series is ending, how does it feel?Clarke Peters: I've had about four months to get used to it.

He might be Medora, Wisconsin's biggest dork ever, but Aliens in America's (Mondays, 8:30 pm/ET, The CW) Justin Tolchuk manages to have a pretty adventurous life anyway. So far we've seen him get on school television, earn some major locker-room cred for his pillow-talk skills, and even crash a rockin' pizza-bagel party. All that and Justin's school year has hardly even begun. TVGuide.com caught up with his portrayer, Dan Byrd, to get some advice on getting girls, getting into "clubs" and getting out of scrapes with the law. TVGuide.com: Dan, I wanted to congratulate you on being the eighth most bangable girl in Medora.Dan Byrd: [Laughs] Well, thank you, thank you. I'm not sure that warrants congratulations, but thanks. TVGuide.com: So what were you like in high school — were you every bit as dorky as J

Talk about va-va-va-voom. Joanie, Mad Men's (Thursdays, 10 pm/ET on AMC) frisky, flame-haired office manager, is not your average secretary: She's so hot, in fact, that the company president and her roommate are after her. But could there be some flaws behind that flawless lip liner? TVGuide.com chatted up her portrayer, Christina Hendricks, to find out about Joanie's secret life goal, her vast "rotation" of men, and how to tell when your dress is tight enough. TVGuide.com: So Joan is my favorite Mad woman — is she yours, too?Christina Hendricks: [Laughs] I'm sure every girl in Mad Men says the same thing because all the roles are so great, but when I read [the script] I was like, "Ooh, this is the best girl part." And it's really different from any other character I've gotten t

Talk about eating on the go. In the new series Have Fork, Will Travel (premiering tonight at 9:30 pm/ET, Food Network), food-loving adventurer Zane Lamprey, the beloved host of MOJO Network's cult drinking hit Three Sheets, mixes two of his most beloved pastimes: cooking and travel. TVGuide.com talked with the zany comedian about his recent travels, his favorite utensil and one intoxicating monkey. TVGuide.com: You have such a reputation for being a drinker that I thought it would be fun to do this in a bar. But we're in different cities, so....Zane Lamprey: It's funny because I drink so frequently when I do Three Sheets that when the camera's not on, I rarely drink. So I only drink on the job. TVGuide.com: Me, too. So in Have For