"Have you ever held a heart?" Dr. Oz asked Barbra Streisand seemingly out of nowhere, the way a friend might ask another friend, "What sound or noise do you love?" or "What's your favorite scary movie?"
Babs came back to late night TV for the first time since 1967 as Jimmy Fallon's sole guest on the Tonight Show Monday night.
It took almost 30 years for Larry Kramer's acclaimed play The Normal Heart to be adapted into a movie—Ryan Murphy's take on Kramer's autobiographical account of the early days of AIDS will premiere Sunday on HBO. In a rare interview with the New York Times, the now frail former Gay Men's Health Crisis/ACT UP activist Kramer explained his version of why Barbra Streisand's adaptation never got off the ground: She didn't want to portray gay men fucking.
Buried within the Movie section of this weekend's New York Times is an interview with Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen, who are promoting their upcoming project The Guilt Trip, a movie about which I have no opinion. Between the title ("It's a road trip with a physical destination, yes, but it's also an emotional trip, you know?") and the awful winking posters plastered everywhere, it seems safe to say it will not be good, but nothing is certain. That said, this interview is full of absolute treasures, every single one of which falls from Barbra Streisand's lips. Seth Rogen said things too, but they are of no interest for our purposes (he likes working but also being at home, he seems smart and unobjectionable and I have nothing else to say on the matter).
A one-time reality also-ran is now getting the chance to be in the spotlight twice. Also today: trouble at The X Factor, three actors spark up doobies over at Weeds, and Oprah is bigger than ever.
Yes, there are some things in life that are apparently too exotic to ever covet: a golden ticket, an oompa-loompa, and three good episodes of Glee in a row. Last night's wasn't just a bad episode, it might have been the worst.
He's baaaaack, thanks to TLC. Also today: everyone's favorite dreamvamp gets his ears lowered, bad news for Paula Abdul, good news for Katy Perry (which is bad news for us), and a misguided NBC show moves ahead.
Finally someone had the brilliant idea to pair all of the characters on Glee for an evening of duets. It also helped to establish some couples among our band of misfits. The episode was mediocre, but the idea was divine.
The final four sang for their suppers last night and boy was it mediocre. Just really, really kinda OK. It had its high-ish points and its low-ish ones too, but mostly it was just extremely aight.
• There's a good chance you'll be seeing the cast of Jersey Shore in the tents at Fashion Week. (If, that is, you happen to be going to Fashion Week.) MTV's newest crop of reality stars have been asking to tickets to shows, and a few designers have extended invites to "to attend or even model." [P6]
• If you wanted to go to business school but didn't do so well on the GMATs, Diddy is here to help. He says he plans to open a business school in New York City in the near future. [Starpulse, Us]
• Michael Jackson's "personal physician," Dr. Conrad Murray, is expected to surrender to the authorities today in connection with charges he played a role in Jackson's death. He'll likely be charged with involuntary manslaughter, which could land him four years in jail. [TMZ]
• Perpetual brat Kanye West threw a fit while flying back to New York from LA when he was told he and his assistant would have to sit in business class, not first. The temper tantrum paid off, though: The airline found room for him in the front of the plane and the rest of the flight went off without a hitch. [P6]
• The cast of MTV's Jersey Shore officially signed on for season two over the weekend. (Although MTV may now be forced to rename the show, since the cast could be spending next season in the Hamptons.) If you need something to tide you over until the summer, you could always go out and pick up Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino's new cologne, which is appropriately named "The Sitch" and smells like a mix of self-tanner, Axe body spray, and some random girl's perfume. [Us, NYP, P6]
• So much for those rumors about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie splitting up. At the Director's Guild of America Awards in LA on Saturday night, the couple looked "as happy as can be," Pitt pulled a chair out for his wife (what a gentleman!), and he spent the evening gently caressing her back. [Us, People]
• Did you miss the Grammys last night? Lady Gaga wore a dress that looked like a fifth-grade solar system science project before descending into a fire pit and then playing piano opposite a crystal-encrusted Elton John; Pink did a Cirque de Soleil-esque performance in a nude bodysuit, twirling on a trapeze and singing upside down; Beyonce won a record-breaking six Grammys; Taylor Swift walked away with four, including album of the year; and the crowd was treated to a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson as well as brief speeches by two of his kids, Prince and Paris. Click through for the list of winners and the fashion highlights/lowlights. [People, NYP, NYDN, MTV, People]
• David Letterman appears to be through discussing the little sex scandal he now finds himself in. The subject doesn't come up on tonight's show. [NYP]
• Gourmet may have gone down, but the editor of Saveur says the mag is doing well (and that she's been flooded with resumes, not surprisingly). Meanwhile, while Condé Nast is laying off staff at Brides, a brand new bridal magazine is now preparing to launch. The dream lives on, clearly. [Forbes, NYO, Gawker]
• Related: Condé Nast's digital division is facing issues, as well. [NYO]
• The remaining bidders for BusinessWeek, now that Mort Zuckerman and a private equity firm have dropped out: Bloomberg LP and ZelnickMedia. [NYT]
• Barbra Streisand has scored her ninth No. 1 album, beating out Mariah's new record. It makes her the second-oldest living artist to top the charts. [Reuters]
• Famed fashion and celeb photographer Irving Penn has died at age 92. [AP]
Cameron Diaz and Keanu Reeves are allegedly dating, Spencer Pratt wants to be the next Brad Pitt, Michael Jackson's gay lover speaks, Hayden Panettiere is dating the Pink Taco dude, Lindsay Lohan loses her phone and Penelope Cruz gets thicker.
• Say it ain't so, Sue: WNBC may be planning to drop the 5 o'clock newscast, Live at Five, in favor of a "lifestyle show" of some sort. [NYO]
• Richard Branson does not want to buy Playboy. Sorry, Hugh. [Reuters]
• NBC ratings hit a new low last week. [AP/HuffPo]
• Naturally, NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker painted a much rosier picture when he appeared on stage at the D7 conference yesterday. [ATD]
• Were you aware that some magazines Photoshop their pics? It's true! [NYT]
• If MGM doesn't come up with some cash quick, it could go bankrupt. [THR]
• Page Six's Paula Froelich took time from promoting her new novel, Mercury in Retrograde, to kick Michael Wolff's ass across the room. [BlackBook]
Tom Hanks' sex scenes were cut from Angels & Demons, Olivia Palermo joins Elle, and John Mayer tries to get girls to sleep with him by text messaging "I want to tuck you in."
