Watching Heroes

If you are one of the few who caught George Takei’s debut as a country singer on CBS’s Secret Talents of the Stars last Tuesday, you may be disappointed to know that you won’t be able to tune in next week to find out if he won.

The show, hosted by John O’Hurley, and judged by Debbie Reynolds, Brian McKnight and TV producer Gavin Polone, was axed after airing only one episode. The show drew only 4.6 million viewers, finishing a distant third for the night. It will be replaced with 48 Hours Mysteries for two weeks, then new episodes of the legal drama Shark will occupy that slot for the rest of the season.

George competed against country singer Clint Black and gymnast Sasha Cohen and viewers were asked to vote for their favorite. We may never know who was chosen to move on. And the real tragedy, we’ll never get to see Danny Bonaduce ride a unicycle.

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Have you seen the promos for the new show Secret Talents of the Stars? I’ll admit, I’m usually the last person to watch “reality” or “competition” programs but this one has me intrigued. Probably because one of the performers will be Heroes‘ George Takei (and because I love to watch celebrities make fools of themselves). That’s not to say George will be making a fool of himself. I’m sure he’s quite good at his talent. What is his hidden talent, you ask? Country singing. Who knew?

The show will work like this: Each week, four celebrities will compete in a tournament-structured format to determine who has the best “secret talent”. You’ll see the performers practice, then perform live. They will then be critiqued by three judges but then the viewers will vote to decide who moves on in the competition (format sounds familiar).

Round one will include George Takei, along with singer Clint Black (secret talent: Stand-up Comedy), singer Mya (secret talent: Tap Dancing), and figure skater Sasha Cohen (secret talent: Contortionist). Some of the stars are blogging their experience as they prepare for the show. You can view George’s here.

Future episodes will feature Danny Bonaduce, Shelia E., Ric Flair, Joe Frazier, Roy Jones, Jr., Marla Maples, Bridget Marquardt, Cindy Margolis, Jo Dee Messina, Joshua Morrow, Ben Stein, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Actress Debbie Reynolds, R&B singer Brian McKnight, and producer Gavin Polone will serve as judges

The show premieres Tuesday, April 8 at 10:00 pm ET on CBS.

Check out this Star Trek promo for the show featuring George and his vocal warm-up. Quite funny!

Ali Larter is set to star with Beyonce Knowles and Idiris Elba in Obsessed. Elba will play an asset manager and Beyonce will star as his wife. Ali stars as a temp office worker who begins stalking him. Beyonce will also executive produce along with her father, Mathew Knowles. Elba next stars in Prom Night with Heroes‘ star Dana Davis.

Heroes alum Eric Roberts (Thompson) was announced as one of the stars for NBC’s 13 episode summer horror series, Fear Itself. The show will include installments from famed horror directors Ronny Yu (Freddy vs. Jason), Brad Anderson (The Machinist), Mary Harron (American Psycho), Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Darren Bousman (Saw II, III and IV)  and Ernest Dickerson (who directed the Heroes episode “Collision”). In addition to Roberts, the cast will include Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Shiri Appleby (Roswell), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Cynthia Watros (Lost). (more…)

Heroes’ stars Kristen Bell and Zachary Quinto were among the stars who performed at last night’s “A Night at Sardi’s” benefit for Alzheimers. The 16th annual show featured Kristen and Zach in a production of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie directed by Jason Alexander. The production also featured Vanessa Williams, Lea Thompson, Ana Ortiz, and Zachary Levi.

Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley was honored at the gala for his portrayal of Alzheimer’s disease on the show.  William Shatner, who plays the Alzheimer’s-affected character Denny Crane on Boston Legal, was also in attendance. Becki Newton, Steven Weber, Portia de Rossi, Candice Bergen, John Larroquette, Victor Garber, Michelle Pfeiffer, Blythe Danner and Dick Van Dyke (who starred in the original Bye Bye Birdie) were among the attendees and performers.

While at the event, Kristen Bell was asked about the rumors that she might not be back for Season 3 of Heroes. She put those rumors to bed when she confirmed that she will be returning after all. “Because I’m not under contract, everyone’s been asking,” she said. “I had a wonderful experience. I did take a job, doing the Disney movie When in Rome with Josh Duhamel, so I’ll be in New York and Rome for 12 weeks. But (Heroes producers) said they’d wait to shoot my scenes. They’ve been so good to me, so I think we’ll be a happy family again.” Good news for Elle fans!

Here are a few photos of Zach, Kristen and the gang from last night’s show:

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Hayden Panettiere is busy doing so many things these days. The 18 year old is saving whales, encouraging young people to vote, making an album, appearing in ads for Candies, making movies, dating Milo Ventimiglia, oh and starring in Heroes. She’s also designing handbags for Dooney & Bourke and is appearing in print ads for them. Take a look at some of the ads:

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Two of our favorite Heroes are promoting causes dear to their hearts. They both sent out MySpace bulletins with the info:

Hayden Panettiere, who is a spokeperson for "Declare Yourself," will be a guest on Larry King Live tonight, March 3. The topic is the importance of voting. She will be joined by Rosario Dawson, Lance Armstrong, Wycelf Jean and Josh Groban. Larry King Live airs on CNN at 9/8C.

As you probably know, Greg Grunberg’s son Jake has epilepsy and Greg is very involved in causes to help Jake and others affected by epilepsy. Greg will be taking his "Crazy Brain Waves" team to the National Walk for Epilepsy on the National Mall in Washington, DC on March 29, 2008. He is looking for others who want to join his team and walk with him. If you can’t be there in person, you can do a "virtual walk" online to help out. If you are interested in walking or donating money to Greg’s team, visit the "Crazy Brain Waves" team page.

The American Red Cross has unveiled its seventh annual National Celebrity Cabinet with fifteen new members including Heroes’ own Masi Oka. Joining Masi as new members are: Patricia Heaton (Back to You, Everybody Loves Raymond), Jennie Garth (What I Like About You, 90210), pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, NFL star Matt Leinart, Penn Badgley (Gossip Girl), NASCAR champ Greg Biffle,  New York Yankee Robinson Cano, Lisa Edelstein (House MD), Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), Kal Penn (House MD, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle), Sara Ramirez (Grey’s Anatomy), Judy Reyes (Scrubs), Brittany Snow (American Dreams, Hairspray), and best selling author Iyanla Vansant.

In addition, the 2008 National Celebrity Cabinet will include thirty-two alumni: Heidi Klum, Marlee Matlin, Nancy O’Dell, Jane Seymour, Peyton Manning, Jimmie Johnson, Leeza Gibbons, Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans, Patti LaBelle, Julianne Moore, George Foreman, Jackie Chan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Marcia Gay Harden, Elisabeth Rohm, Eli Manning, Jimmy Smits, Daddy Yankee, Chayanne, Aisha Tyler, Pierce Brosnan, Amy Grant, Miley Ray Cyrus, Kristen Bell, Pat Green, actor Dwayne Johnson, Dr. Phil McGraw, Raven Symone, Niki Taylor, Burney Lamar and Bradley Whitford.  Sherry Lansing, former chairman and CEO, Motion Picture Group, Paramount Pictures and former member of the Red Cross Board of Governors, will chair for the sixth time.

As part of the National Celebrity Cabinet, Masi will support the Red Cross by participating in public service advertisements, donating time, money and blood, and coming to the aid of others when disaster strikes.

Kudos to Masi for lending a hand to another great cause!

Ali Larter has been added to the long list of celebrities who will be performing at the 10th anniversary V-Day celebration, V TO THE TENTH. V-Day was founded by Eve Ensler, writer of The Vagina Monologues. It is a global movement which seeks to end violence against women and girls.

V-Day’s 10^th anniversary celebration will take place in New Orleans April 11-12 at the New Orleans Arena and Louisiana Superdome.

Ali joins Faith Hill, Jessica Alba, Sally Field, Oprah Winfrey, Salma Hayek, Jennifer Hudson, Jane Fonda, Glenn Close, Rosario Dawson, Julia Stiles, Kerry Washington, Calpernia Addams, and musicians Common, Eve, and Charmaine Neville for V TO THE TENTH. There will be a special performance of The Vagina Monologues including a special new monologue written by Eve Ensler and performed by Oprah Winfrey. There will also be musical performances by Faith Hill, Common, Eve, and Charmaine Neville.

Arena tickets are on sale now at http://www.vday.org/tickets. Tickets range from $25 to $1000 and will benefit groups ending violence against women worldwide, and in the Gulf South region.

According to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello, the Heroes will be back to work filming new episodes in May which should result in 10-13 new episodes ready for Season 3 in September. That means we could get a huge arc of shows without any breaks. I haven’t officially seen a start date for the season, but I have seen September 7 mentioned in some other blogs. September 7!

Ausiello also reported that Kristen Bell has not yet been signed for Season 3. He says that she is in negotiations to come back but a deal has not yet been reached. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.

Zachary Quinto will be a guest on VH-1’s Free Radio on March 7th at 9:30/8:30 central. You might remember that Jack Coleman was a guest on an earlier episode. If you didn’t catch that, check out this video:

Good news and bad news for Ali Larter. The good news: Ali has been honored with a 2008 Gracie Allen Award by the American Women in Radio & Television. The awards honor achievement in programming by, for and about women. Other honorees included Miley Cyrus, Maya Angelou, Kathy Griffin and Holly Hunter. National winners will be honored at the Gracies Gala on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at the New York Marriott Marquis. A complete list of winners can be found at www.awrt.org.

The bad news: E! Online is reporting that Ali was one of nearly 800 people exposed to the Hepatitis A virus at Socialista, a hotspot club in the West Village. A bartender at the club has tested positive and a health alert has been issued to anyone who was in the club on February 7, 8 and 11. Ali, along with other celebs, was a guest at Ashton Kutcher’s birthday party at Socialista on February 7.

Hayden Panettiere has signed on as the new spokesperson for Candie’s. Candie’s is a juniors clothing line sold exclusively in Kohl’s stores. Hayden will appear in their print and television advertising. Former Candie’s reps include Hilary Duff, Fergie and Destiny’s Child. Here’s a peek at her first ads: (more…)

WonderCon in San Francisco will have several Heroes-related guests. The convention, which takes place February 22-24, will feature Kristen Bell (Elle), who will be promoting her new movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Thomas Dekker (Zach) promoting his new series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; and Tim Sale, the artist responsible for the paintings featured in the show.  For more info, visit the Comic-Con International website and click on WonderCon.

Ali Larter (Niki/Jessica) can be seen on the cover of Shape magazine’s March 2008 issue.  In an interview inside the mag, Ali explains how she keeps her heroic figure.

James Kyson Lee (Ando) will be making an appearance for Australian fans at the SupaNova Pop Culture Expo. The Expo travels to 4 different cities and it appears James is scheduled to be at all 4. The first occurs March 28-30 in Melbourne. Check their website for all the details. (more…)

Like many fans of Heroes, I’m also a huge fan of LOST and I’m thrilled to be watching new episodes. The show never fails to shock me and last night was no exception. In addition to all the big shockers, I was surprised to see Greg Grunberg playing a part in the storyline again.

You might remember Greg as the pilot of the ill-fated Oceanic flight 815. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for Heroes fans) his role was very short-lived. He was found still alive inside the cabin of the plane in the first episode by Jack, Kate and Charlie and managed to tell them that the plane was a thousand miles off course when they crashed before he was yanked out of the cockpit by ”something” and his bloody corpse hung from a tree. 

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James Kyson Lee, who plays Hiro’s friend and sidekick, Ando, will join American Idol Taylor Hicks, former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders, Friday Night Lights’ Zach Gilford, The Wire’s Seth Gilliam and others as part of the McDonald’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday, February 15. The game will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Unfortunately, the game is sold out. The good news, though, is that it will air on ESPN and ESPN HD and will be simulcast on ESPN360.com and ESPN Mobil TV.

The 5′10″ actor lists basketball as one of his hobbies in his IMDB bio. I guess we’ll see if all that practice will pay off in the big game.

The biggest news to come from this past weekend (besides the New York Giants winning the Superbowl) would be the rumor that the WGA strike may be coming to an end very soon. Word is that the AMPTP and the WGA have come to agreement on the key issues and will hopefully be finalizing the wording and bringing it to the union’s board sometime this week. Whether an end to the strike would bring us any more Heroes episodes this season isn’t clear. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the deal goes through and we will see a few more episodes!

Set your TiVo for Friday, February 8. Jack Coleman (HRG) will be guest starring on VH-1’s new improvised comedy, Free Radio. The show centers around a radio talk show and Jack will be playing himself. Back-to-back episodes start at 9:30 pm Eastern. Rumor has it that Zachary Quinto (Sylar) will also be guest starring in a future episode. I’ll keep you posted as I find out more about that. (more…)

Ali Larter (Niki/Jessica) has signed on as the new face of Belgian chocolatier, Godiva. She will be promoting their Valentine’s Day contest which will give away a chocolate room. Everything in the room, from artwork to furniture to the logs in the fireplace, is made completely of chocolate.

Anyone who buys a box of Godiva chocolates (priced at $23 and up) will have a chance of winning the room, which was created by Los Angeles designer Larry Abel. It will be re-created in a suite at Manhattan’s Bryant Park Hotel for a pampered (more…)