Today NBC put on its presentation at the annual television upfronts, which is when broadcast networks show off all their new shows to potential advertisers. Here are clips of the six new programs that will be joining NBC's ever-flagging roster this September.
Here's a trailer for The Company Men, John "ER" Wells' drama feature about the working men of the rat race and what happens when they get laid off. Very timely! The teaser was intriguing. How does the full-length trailer look?
Neil Patrick Harris is hosting a three-dimensional game show. Conan O'Brien saves the best for last. "Drunk History" gets an award, and there is a show called Emergency Sex about humanitarian workers boinking it. The Roundup will take you there!
Ivanka Trump talking on her cell phone ... Elijah Wood walking in SoHo with girlfriend Pamela Racine ... Jay-Z scowling at a photographer in the Garment District ... Heidi Klum holding her son's hand after leaving dinner at Cipriani Downtown ... Gerard Butler shooting scenes for The Bounty in the West Village ... Joan Rivers leaving a movie theater uptown ... Liev Schreiber walking by himself downtown ... Maria Bello drinking wine outdoors ... Drew Barrymore and Justin Long hanging out on the set of Going the Distance in Brooklyn ... Kelly Clarkson signing autographs outside her hotel in Midtown ... and Kelly Bensimon jogging in the West Village.
News from sparkly TV shows about music, plus sparkly movies about gays. The British really like our sad American TV shows, while Maria Bello likes to fire people. Plus, Elmore Leonard.
Victoria Beckham is turning 35 today. Jennifer Garner is turning 37. Actress Monet Mazur is 33. Liz Phair turns 42. The rapper Redman is turning 39. Architect Costas Kondylis is 69. Writer Cynthia Ozick is 81. Former football star Boomer Esiason is turning 47. Author Nick Hornby is 52. And television exec Henry Schleiff turns 61 today. Weekend birthdays after the jump.
Viewers who tuned in Wednesday to Late Night With Conan O'Brien were treated to very special vacation slideshow by Mummy 3 star Maria Bello, who, during a recent visit to China, skipped the Great Wall and the Forbidden City in exchange for the more fantastic tour of Misconceived Bathroom Placards. It's not just the mangled English ("handicapped" = "deformed") and malaprops that make the show-and-tell special, however. Just take a moment to enjoy O'Brien's play-by-play, abetted by headlining guest Kevin Costner's awkward sidekick chuckle. If it's not enough to make you forget Andy Richter, it's at least enough to make you forget this man once won an Academy Award. In any case, we genuinely wouldn't mind if they revived this segment every week. [NBC]
· Maria Bello has been cast in the role of "Much Cheaper Alternative to Oscar-Winning Actress No Longer Willing to Slum It in a Mindless Sequel" in the next Mummy installment, replacing Rachel Weisz. [Variety]
· Spider-Man 3 pulled in another $85.5 million internationally, bringing its worldwide box office to $622.1 million. [THR]
· NBC demotes Law & Order: Criminal Intent to its USA Network (with second-run episodes appearing on the network mothership), while the Original Recipe L&O will stay on the Peacock, avoiding a possible banishment to TNT. [Variety]
· CBS goes pre-upfront pick-up crazy, bringing pilot dramas Twilight (about a vampire P.I.) and Laughlin (guy dreams of opening a shitty casino in Laughlin, NV!) to series. [THR]
· Madonna's husband is finally getting back into directing incomprehensible, low-budget gangster films, and will team with Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment on the "action comedy" RockNRolla this summer. [Variety]
