Kathie Lee Gifford talks about her 'velvet rut'
We told you a few weeks ago about our boss's interview with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and you can read even more from Today's newest co-hosts in USA WEEKEND's cover story this week. But one detail we just couldn't fit into the print story is that prior to her leaving Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Gifford felt like she was in a "velvet rut." She says, "I was, at that point, being paid enormously for something that was no longer feeding me on a creative level. It was velvet, and it was comfortable, and it was paying well, but it wasn’t feeding me on a level that is so much deeper than your bank account."
Our cover kicks off a four-week partnership with Today, in which we'll ask our readers and their viewers a series of lifestyle questions, and Kotb and Gifford will announce each week's results on Tuesday morning. This week's question asks about what trait you'd most like your significant other to have. Click here to cast your vote, and be sure to tune in to Today on Tuesday to see what won, or check back here if you miss that morning's show.
Weekend Outlook: Brendan Fraser, Brangelina babywatch
What better way to spend your weekend, or any day of the week for that matter, than eating a totally inappropriate number of cookies? I am better at few things in life than baking, so this New York Times article on the perfect chocolate chip cookie caught my attention. And my roommate kindly/hungrily sent me the Times' supposedly perfect recipe, so we'll be taste testing before (and during, and after) our trip to the Maryland shore.
Brendan Fraser's 3D adventure movie (at left), Journey to the Center of the Earth, opens today, but we told you about it in May after I saw a screening with Fraser himself. If you go, be ready to wear the goofy glasses and take a wild ride -- the visuals are impressive. It was a lot more entertaining than I'd expected it to be, so if you're looking to kill a few air conditioned hours it may be worth checking out, but see it on the big screen.
Another nice air-conditioned activity is a little video game time. The roommates and I recently brought out the Nintendo 64 for some old-school Mario Kart action. If, like us, you are a fan of Mario and Luigi, check out these Super Mario Bros. wall decals. Does your living room need some new artwork?
Keep better track of your weekends with one of these bubble wrap calendars. I love a good bubble-wrap-popping session, so am tempted to get one except for the fact that I'm certain I'd pop all 365 days immediately upon opening the package.
I'll spend several hours this weekend watching DVDs of the beloved British sitcom Extras to get ready for an interview with its star, Ricky Gervais (whose new movie is due out in August), but another legendary American sitcom had its 10th anniversary. Yes, Seinfeld went off the air 10 years ago -- how's that for making you feel old? The New York Daily News ranked its top 10 Seinfeld episodes, but one of my favorites didn't make the list: The episode with Mr. Peterman's European man-purse and Puddy's man-fur. (Elaine's "Goodbye, Dr. Zaius," gets me every time.) What's your pick for best Seinfeld ep? Tell us below.
You can imagine my delight when I, an unabashed fan of ABC's The Bachelor, discovered that Lt. Andy Baldwin (at right), the bachelor from Season 10, had moved to Washington, D.C., a few months ago. I saw him at a party, and yes, he's as good looking in person, but much shorter than you'd expect. Those of you who don't get to see him out and about in the Nation's Capital may get a chance to see him back on the small screen: Rumor has it he may appear on Entourage.
We asked it last weekend and we'll ask it again: Will this be the weekend Brangelina babywatch finally ends? Babies have been popping out left and right recently -- Isaac Hanson and his wife, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, and Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves all are proud new parents this week -- so maybe there's something in the air.
(Fraser photo by Sebastian Raymond/New Line Cinema; Baldwin photo courtesy andybaldwin.com)
'The Closer' new season begins Monday
Monday The Closer comes back to TV with cute couple Kyra Sedgwick and Jon Tenney playing Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and FBI agent Fritz Howard (pictured at left). Thank goodness. I'm dying for good, fun TV again. But I digress. We've got Tenney on our Who's News page this weekend, talking about his TV bride-to-be, Kyra, and the 'power' they will wrestle over in this new season as they have a new house to buy and wedding plans to deal with. And we have Kyra inside the magazine talking about her real-life husband of 20 years, Kevin Bacon, as well as her son and daughter. Writer Mary Murphy says that, in a ponytail and pink baby doll top, Kyra looked like a teenager when the two met for tea at a Santa Monica, Calif. restaurant. "But she is a mother first," Mary says, "no question about that. Within five minutes of our conversation, she had tears spilling down her cheeks about leaving her teenage daughter — who is in her last year of high school — back in New York." And, Mary says, when Kyra was talking about how hot her husband is she "just lit up when she described how she feels when he walks into a room." Read the story for more details on that!
(photo courtesy tnt.com)
Celebrity birthdays: Sela Ward, Richie Sambora
Happy birthday to rocker Richie Sambora and rapper Lil' Kim (at left). He turns 49, she turns 33. Actress Sela Ward is 52 today, and actor Justin Chambers is 38. And she may not be a celebrity, but she is very special: Kathy's mom, Linda Rowings, has her birthday today, too.
(photo courtesy myspace.com/lilkim)
July 10, 2008
Catherine Zeta-Jones is enchanting in Houdini film
My eyes in L.A. got me all excited about a new Catherine Zeta-Jones movie, Death Defying Acts . It's opening Friday in New York and Los Angeles and writer Bart Mills tells me Zeta-Jones is enchanting as she casts a spell over Guy Pearce, who plays Harry Houdini. The movie is a fanciful retelling of the great escape artist’s late-in-life quest for a psychic who could tell him his mother’s dying words. (Check out the trailer below.) Bart says the hokey set-up doesn’t diminish the allure of the Welsh-born Jones hooking Pearce with a Scottish accent. And Pearce, also upcoming in the movie Traitor as a lawman, gives a well-muscled performance as the escapologist who couldn’t escape death itself. If you go see Death Defying Acts when it comes to a theater near you, look out for Saoirse Ronan, 14, as the spiritualist’s conniving daughter — remember her devious character in Atonement?
Celebrity birthdays: Jessica Simpson, Adrian Grenier
Just two celebrity birthdays today: singer and aunt-to-be Jessica Simpson turns 28 and Entourage star Adrian Grenier (at left) turns 32.
(photo by Claudette Barius/HBO)
July 09, 2008
Cats or dogs: Posters are passionate
There's an old saying in the newspaper business that goes something like this: You can't go wrong with kids or animals. That's why you see impossibly cute children photographed in stories about events like 4th of July parades, or adorable dogs featured in weather stories. So I'm not surprised that our short item of last week inviting you to tell us whether you prefer cats or dogs got dozens of passionate comment. It's great reading — I liked one responder's idea that perhaps extroverted people (like me) don't get cats because cats are introverted animals — and I thank you all for taking the time to post. Feel free to continue the conversation.
Celeb birthdays
Some big birthdays today. Wonder boy Fred Savage is a grown up 32; rocker Courtney Love turns 44; actor extraordinaire Tom Hanks turns 52 and Jimmy Smits, who just hosted a July 4th celebration here in Washington, turns 53.
July 08, 2008
'The Office' games begin in Scranton
Between writing papers, remembering to call home and other college chores, our intern Lisa Gartner doesn't have much time to keep up with TV — but she says the one show she makes the time for is The Office. She took the time to listen in on a call yesterday with stars Brian Baumgartner (at left) and Mindy Kaling, in which they hyped Office-themed events, slipped some clues about the new season and even projected how many beets Kaling can eat. Click on read more below for Lisa's full report.
Jenny Jones' heroes project
Former daytime talk show host Jenny Jones (at left) is looking for heroes and she asked me to help by getting the word out. Jones, who was on the air from 1991 to 2003, has a million dollars to give away and a website — jennysheroes.com — where you can apply to be one of the people who will do important and charitable things with her money. And yes, it's her money. “I’ve always given back, I was doing so well," she tells our Gayle Carter. “I had the money but never this much time.”
What started out as “just wanting to do something fun on my website, a contest” turned into giving away $1 million. While personal stories and projects that impact a large number of people or continue to give over time are priorities in her selection process, Jones says that sometimes it just comes down to a feeling she gets when looking at pictures that are sometimes sent with an application. “The hero doesn’t benefit financially but spiritually they benefit a lot,” says Jones. Jones will give all the money away by the end of 2008 and she hopes to end the year and the giveaway with a project that’s a big-impact holiday event.
Jones manages the website, reads every letter and makes all the decisions about who gets funded. It’s her full-time job. “I’m following every dollar and seeing thousands of people impacted,” she says. As for returning to TV, Jones, 62, says she has “many offers” but none “motivate” her enough. She did get a call from VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, she says, but was no more interested in that than any other show.
(photo courtesy jennyjones.com)
