I still watch Desperate Housewives. There, I’ve said it. While the show doesn’t have quite the guilty pleasure appeal of its first season, the current season has enough twisty twists to keep me interested. As if the lovely ladies themselves aren’t sufficient.

November Sweeps always bring guest stars to prime time and this year Housewives snagged one of the best: Lily Tomlin.

Tomlin plays Roberta McCluskey, in town to help her sister, Karen (Kathryn Joosten), figure out what Edie’s husband, Dave (Neal McDonough) is up to. (Thanks to AfterEllen.com reader Stephanie for the link.) … continue reading

For a show that reported an entire season's worth of dismal ratings last year, The CW's Gossip Girl sure knows how to create a media buzz. In late April, Gossip Girl released a poster featuring Blake Lively's, character Serena Van der Woodsen, in the, er, throes of passion. Either that or she was about to let out an astronomical sneeze. The only text on the poster was a simple, but succinct "OMFG." The Parents Television council was outraged, calling The CW to task for using, "cleavage kissing to hype a kids' show."

I love the Gossip Girl marketing team because they never peddle the show as anything other than exactly what it is: a tawdry, teenage soap opera. (Which I watch, diligently.)

To hype season 2, the folks over at The CW released another round of posters similar to the "OMFG" set. There's a lot of skin, and some simple quoted text. "Every parent's nightmare," from The Boston Herald. "A nasty piece of work," from the The New York Post. And my personal favorite, from The Parents Television Council: "Mind-blowingly inappropriate."

After giving these ads a hearty round of applause, I got to thinking about other marketing campaigns. What if all network television shows went with this advertising approach, and turned the criticism of The Parents Television Council into their taglines? The results would look like — well, they'd look just like this: … continue reading

The first segment of our video blog this week is a rundown of the glitzy ABC Summer Press Tour Party Lori and I attended Thursday night, in which we eavesdropped (unsuccessfully) on Miranda Otto, admired Dana Delany's power walk, met Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, had a run-in with Anne Heche's publicist, and chatted with Bonnie Somerville. Among other things.

Before we get to the video, here are a few photos from the party:

Dana Delany and Lucy Liu

Bonnie Somerville and Miranda Otto

… continue reading

Dana Delany is in talks to join the cast of Desperate Housewives next season as a new series regular. Wow, that might actually make me watch the show. She would join the cast as Bree’s long-lost sister Katherine, a “conservative Republican with an all-American wholesomeness and a mastery of passive aggressiveness.” So, what, she’ll bake you an apple pie with salt instead of sugar? Delish.

Dana reportedly turned down the role of Bree (played by Marcia Cross) three times while the show was in development. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Katherine will move to Wisteria Lane with her younger husband (possibly played by Firefly and Serenity’s Nathan Fillion) and teenage daughter (Lyndsy Fonseca, who also just landed a the role of April the gay cheerleader on Heroes. Geez, that girl is busy.) … continue reading