Padma Lakshmi is trying to make the leap from reality TV judge to sitcom star. Discussions about a new series (possible, boring, title: Single Serving) center around Padma working in the culinary world. How unsatisfying! Here are some better ideas.

We've long noted how Hollywood is out of ideas. Now, we fear a new crisis is upon studio executives: they are running out of cartoons, TV shows and toys to transform into movies. Here are the only remaining viable properties.

It has been days since Empress Sarah Palin quit Alaska, forever. And no one yet knows why! Her "explanation" lacked, uh, actual coherent reasons. But there are theories.

Alanis Morissette—angry/thoughtful lady-pop voice of the 90s—sometimes acts. She showed up as God in Dogma and a bisexual on Sex and the City. And now she's appearing on Weeds for seven episodes. And we're pretty happy about it.

The Senate has just passed a sweeping bill that essentially bans light cigarettes, as they're marketed as healthier when, really, they're not. So no more of your favorite iconic brands, which are mostly smoked by the youngs. Brands like:

Junk-haus auteur Quentin Tarantino is a guest judge on American Idol tonight, for the second time. He's an unabashed, earnest fan of the show. It got us thinking. What kind of people watch Idol?

New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. cancelled plans to cooperate with Mark Bowden's profile of him for Vanity Fair. Didn't matter: Bowden's piece is embarrassing enough as a write-around.

Peaches Geldof just made headlines in the London tabloids for announcing on Facebook she has "married" her lady DJ friend. It's a joke/publicity stunt, of course, but it did get us thinking:

Now that Liz Smith has been put out to stud, we need to reevaluate our idea of "gossip." (Probably needed to do this anyway). Who's worth gossiping about anymore? Well, not Paris Hilton.

An on-stage musical extravaganza. Two epic gay rights speeches. Sean Penn's upset win for Milk. The 2009 Oscars were easily the gayest yet.

Japan's finance minister resigned over this video of him sleeping and slurring at a G-7 meeting in Rome. If he was drunk, he wouldn't be the first to buckle under economic stress.

Valentine's Day is approaching, and that's bad news for singles in New York. Restaurants are all crowded and mostly expensive prix fixe menus and there are kissing jerks everywhere. So what should singletons do?

Following Chris Brown's alleged attack on girlfriend Rihanna, the rumors flew: Brown tried to kill her; he bit her fingers; Rihanna is in hiding. But what sparked the whole incident?

What happened to No-Drama Obama? As the blithe candidate of hope, he led a leakproof, gaffe-resistant campaign. Ever since the election, he's been exploding with scandal and gossip. Fantastic!

Universal announced today that they're planning a live-action movie version of the game Candy Land. You read that right. Ridley Scott's working on a Monopoly movie. So what boardgames could be next? Let's speculate.

Between the Steelers' 100-yard intercept touchdown and The Boss' halftime show camera crotch-slam, the Super Bowl was bundles of fun before the second half even started.

The media seems to be pining for the crime-fueled depravity of New York in the 1970's and 80's. It was so gritty and exciting. Wasn't it? Or have they just seen too many movies?

Aw, that's cute. Reality stain Olivia Palermo—the bitchy also-ran on The City—wants to be a "serious actress". What kind of roles could she play? Let's speculate after the jump.

Oh, good, Forbes has listed all the important liberals, in order of importance. God bless this new Obama era of paying attention to Times columnists again!

Would you like a day's worth of American Promise and Democracy summed up in ten brief internet videos? Yes you can click and watch the top ten moments of the Inauguration!