The Stars of the Dead Files Talk About Believing

Courtesy of the Travel Channel

Each week on the Travel Channel show “The Dead Files” retired New York Police Department Homicide Detective Steve DiSchiavi and medium Amy Allan work with clients to solve unusual cases. He examines the cold hard facts and she gets in touch with spirits and together they solve the mystery.

In a recent exclusive interview they talked about what drew them to the series. As Amy noted, “They were wiling to do it the right way with honesty and integrity… to take that leap of faith and let me do what I do, how I do it without any prior knowledge. And they are willing to let us do our thing the way that we know how to do that.” Steve agreed, “And that was a big chance they took.”

Of course the producers hired the best. Amy started having experiences when she was four years old. She recounted, “The house I lived in in Lakewood, Colorado had a dead boy in the closet, a dead woman who had committed suicide wandering throughout the house and then a shadow figure outside, who would creep around the house. It was my every day life.”

Contestants from The Voice Discuss the Difficult Battle Rounds

Photo by Tyler Golden/NBC

This Battle Rounds on The Voice just ended and the field has been narrowed from 64 to 40 singers. As on seasons past, two team members, who have grown to become friends, must face off head-to-head singing a duet. One will move on and the other is sent home. In a recent conference call interview some of the contestants talked about how difficult the Battle Rounds are.

Cassadee Pope, the 23-year-old from West Palm Beach, Florida, who is on Team Blake, won her battle against Ryan Jirovec. She said, “Watching the show is a totally different experience than being in it. I always thought the Battle Rounds were really entertaining and it's pretty fun to watch, but being in it, it's a whole different thing. It turns competitive and it's super weird.” She added, “Both of you need to go up there and sound great together and that's just beneficial to you both.”

But it’s not that simple. Both singers need to shine individually while at the same time trying to blend as a duet. And in the end a player is eliminated (unless a coach saves them with a steal.) Nicole Nelson, the 34 year-old from Burlington, Vermont, who won her battle round against Brandon Mahone, pointed out, “As things progress on the show… you're eliminating another person every time you perform and it's somebody who really wants to be there and deserves to be there often, and that feeling is really hard to shake.”

She continued, “It becomes a mental game of just trying to get it out of your head about the fact that you're on a television show which so happens to be a singing competition, which is so bizarre, and just let it be about the music. The mental game of that took up most of my time. Preparation, this is 90 seconds. I'm used to doing a whole night of music and so it's not a lot of preparation going into the actual music part. It's the mental game. It's getting all of the extraneous thoughts out of the head and just being able to perform. And as the show progresses, that gets harder.”

Tim Gunn Pulls Back the Curtain on Project Runway — Part I

Courtesy of Lifetime

There is no more fabulous human being on TV than Tim Gunn. Not only has he been telling Project Runway hopefuls to “make it work” for ten seasons, but he’s each and every one’s biggest cheer leader — even when he finds them a bit frustrating.

In a recent conference call interview we spoke with our favorite fashion guru about the latest installment of the show and winner Dmitry Sholokhov. Here’s what he had to say in his oh-so inimitable way in part one of our two-part interview:

On Season 10’s Final Four

“I don’t always feel close to the designers but this was a really difficult season. It was as though it was always stormy, as though there was a rain cloud over that workroom and, accordingly, I was able to explore levels or dimensions of emotions with these designers that I really hadn’t fully explored with the finalists in previous season. I have to say I was rooting for all of them. This is not a Miss America response. I want to assure you. I would have been happy with any of the designers winning, any of the final four winning.”

On His Moment of Silence During Fabio’s Home Visit

“I thought it was one of the worst collections of clothing that I’d ever seen in my entire life. I was just mystified. He’s so incredibly talented that that palette is so juvenile and so junior. I was just mystified. I mean to me he’s incredibly smart and incredibly knowledgeable and I thought maybe he was really, in a manner of speaking, pulling my leg and he was going to say, ‘Guess what, this isn’t really it.’ I just don’t know what happened. I was hugely relieved that he passed through the judges’ analysis last week, and I was especially pleased to hear the feedback that the judges gave him because it was so similar to what I gave him when I had the home visit.”

Kevin O'Leary Says Shark Tank is the American Idol of Venture Capital

Photo by Craig Sjodin/ABC

At our recent set visit to the Shark Tank, we sat down with all the sharks and talked about the show. We admit being a little intimidated at the thought of meeting Kevin O'Leary, the meanest shark in the tank. He's the investor who focuses intensely on a company's valuation, only cares about the bottom line and speaks what's on his mind, no mater whose feelings he may trample along the way. But instead of a scary, out of control madman, we found Kevin to be mild mannered and a little charming. Sure, he had many opinions and was not afraid to express them, but it's clear after talking to him why he is one of the most successful businessmen on the planet.

On Shark Tanks' Popularity
"I think the show, realistically was on the bubble until now. And then it had the tipping point. It owns Friday night. I think what's very cool about it, it's becoming the American Idol of venture capital. You can launch a product on here. How can you not feel good about a 13-year-old wanting to be an entrepreneur in America? That's what we're showing boys and girls. I love it when they come up to me in the airport and say, 'I want to be an entrepreneur' 'Why?' 'Because I saw it on Shark Tank and I want to be free.' And to me that is visceral and it's great."

On Why He's Called Mr. Wonderful
"There's a reason people call me Mr. Wonderful. Because I tell the truth and the truth sometimes hurts but it's still the truth. I look at it this way. I prefer deals where I have control, 51%. And I give the entrepreneur anything they want in terms of setting the metrics. And what matters is, 'Tell me what you're going to do in the next year, year and a half. Put some milestones out there. If you reach them you stay running the business. If you don't, I whack you and I put somebody else in place because they still own their stock and I want to get my money back."

On Motivating Entrepreneurs
"I'm here to make money, not friends. If you want friends, buy a dog. You don't have to sit around singing Kumbaya. It's a vicious, competitive world out there. What I believe is you invest in a business and you charter that management team to get up in the morning and pour boiling oil on their competitors. Business is war. You want to kill the competitor… You need to motivate the entrepreneur to get up in the morning and win and make money. That's why they're there."

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Todd Carmichael

 Courtesy of the Travel Channel

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things; a TV shows that inspires us to be better. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

Next time you want to wake up to some motivating thoughts, start by brewing up a pot of Todd Carmichael’s La Colombe java. The coffee magnate and adventurer travels the globe in search of the perfect bean. Often putting his own life at risk, he deals directly with local farmers to bring the best brew back to the states. In a recent exclusive interview he talked about what he hopes viewers take away from his new series Dangerous Grounds, which premieres on November 5 on Travel Channel.

Todd ackowledged, “The over arching thing that I would like people to learn about the planet, is that it’s not a small world. It’s a huge, huge, huge world. We just think it’s small. There are so many corners, so many areas that are really undiscovered and are unrecognized that people aren’t even aware of.  It’s a massive world. And a huge, big swath of that huge world is coffee growing territory. And by people watching just a guy looking for coffee, overall they’re going to realize, ‘Wow, the planet is a big place.’”

Alex Steele on Degrassi, Improv and Audrey Hepburn

Alex Steele was just a six-year-old girl when she played Angela Jeremiah on Degrassi: The Next Generation. Her 12-year-old sister, Cassie, was also on the show playing Manny Santos. Cassie stayed with the series through 2010, but Alex left after five seasons. Now Alex is back playing a different part on the same show. In a recent exclusive interview she talked about her new role, Tori Santamaria, gave advice for young actors and revealed the pop culture icon she would want to be for one day.

Alex credits her sister Cassie for getting her into show business in the first place. "My sister really loved acting from a young age and my dad really encouraged me to try it and I ended up liking it." So she joined the cast of Degrassi: The Next Generation in 2001.

After five season she left the series and the business. She said she just wanted to be a kid for w while. But the break gave the opportunity to step back and realize acting was her true passion. And so she began auditioning again. She was cast, for a second time, on Degrassi: The Next Generation, to play Tori Santamaria.

She explained how the two roles differ. "Angela was a little girl and she was very into playing with Barbies, running around eating, always trying to get her step brother to play with her, stuff like that. And Tori is a much more mature character than Angela was. She's grade nine, a little superficial sometimes but does care about her friends, loves shopping, loves everything pink and sparkly. I relate a bit more with Angela, because I'm more carefree than Tori is."

But she does have some similarities to her new Degrassi character. "I'm like Tori in the way that I call my friends a lot and I really do love shopping. And I differ from her in the way that she usually always speaks her mind, she never really has a filter… I do take the time to think more about what I say before I say it."

Patricia Heaton on The Middle’s Very Special Halloween Episode

  Photo courtesy of ABC

Halloween is a scary time on The Middle, but not because there’s a spooky haunted house being mounted or the neighbors are donning terrifying masks. What’s going on at the Heck house on tonight’s very special Holiday episode is much more frightening than that — Sue is learning how to drive.

And of course, Brick is still whooping, Axl’s preparing to vote for the first time and Sue’s still enjoying her newfound, albeit anonymous, fame inside the confines of the Thundering Hen and Frankie just can’t seem to get into the holiday spirit. While many moms are buying big bags of candy and carving pumpkins with the kids, she’s just doing the usual — trying to keep her head above water and be the best parent she can be to her three kids.

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Needless to say, this all unfolds with the classic humor that has come to be expected from The Middle. After all the foundation of the show is built on taking a fun-filled look at the trials and tribulations of an average, albeit slightly odd, American family.

And “Halloween III: The Driving” represents everything that makes the often underrated show one of the best sitcoms on TV. There are laugh out loud moments. There’s sibling tension. There’s a touch of the unexpected. And it never seems farfetched or unrealistic. After all, who among us can’t relate to living with a quirky sib or learning how to drive a car.

At the core of it all is the show’s anchor Patricia Heaton. Even though she’s a big TV star, the actress behind Frankie admitted in a recent interview that she too can relate to many aspects of the series and her character. After all, even a celeb like Patricia can understand the complexities of being a modern mom.

Ray Romano and Lauren Graham Talk Family Dynamics on Parenthood

Photo by Danny Feld/NBC

We come from a big family. So growing up when it came time for holiday gatherings or birthday dinners, our house was always buzzing with laughter and singing and tons of chatter. That’s why we love watching the big group scenes on Parenthood — it brings us back to our childhood.

But we always think back to an Easter Sunday when we were in college when we brought a close friend home. She had grown up with a single mom and one brother and she wasn’t used to the calamity of a big clan like ours. We remember her describing us zipping from room to room as the day unfolded as a being like a cage full of birds flitting from here to there in a frenzy.

So when we talked to Ray Romano and Lauren Graham during a recent conference call interview about filming those big group scenes on Parenthood, we weren’t terribly surprised by Ray’s accounting of those shoots.

Oprah's Experts: What They Know for Sure

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

We had a blast at O You! on Saturday. Thank you to O magazine and OWN for putting on a great show. The Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles was filled with fun activities (like getting our hair curled and nails polished) and lots of free swag. We ran into friends we made at Lifeclass last spring including all the OWN Ambassadors. It was fun to reconnect. But the day was also filled with inspiring talks and sessions with some of Oprah's experts from the magazine and the network. At then end of the day, they all got up and told us what they "know for sure" and we wanted to share that with you.

Suze Orman
"When you undervalue who you are, the world will undervalue what you do. And when you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are."

Dr. Phil McGraw
"Our world is changing and you gotta play big in your life, because if you don't star in your life then you have a life without a star. Because nobody else is going to star in your life. Do not let your life go by without somebody staring in your life. It has got to be you. Play big and be a star in your own life."

Peter Walsh
"When you de-clutter, whether it's in your home, in your head or in your heart, it is astounding what will flow into that space that will enrich you and your family."

Dr. Laura Berman
"Love is the purest, most honest, most energizing source in the universe and the only thing that blocks love is fear. And when can you let go of the fear and take a chance at life and love, then you will let the love in and you will feel it flow and you will be in your essence. That's my hope and my wish for you and the love starts by loving yourself first."

Martha Beck
"Think of something you want. I don't know for sure if you're meant to have that. Now think of something you yearn for. What I know for sure is that that yearning is telling you that you are absolutely meant to have what you yearn for. And if you reach down inside yourself, you'll learn that the yearning you feel is telling you that you know that for sure, too."

Adam Glassman
"Looking great on the outside starts inside. Sure a pair of spanks and a little black dress can contribute to a really cute outfit, however if you're unhappy in your inside, you will never really feel beautiful, alive and wonderful. Confidence is really your best accessory."

Valerie Monroe
"Real beauty has nothing to do with symmetry or weight or make-up. Real beauty is looking life right in the face and seeing all its magnificence reflected in your own."

Iyanla Vanzant
"All things are lessons that god would have you learn and that the best student get the hardest tests. So that as you move through life the lesson is to enjoy every moment, of every lesson, of every blessing, of every test. Because if you don't enjoy your life, sorrow, sadness, suffering, fear, shame and guilt will."

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Iyanla Vanzant Joins Oprah for a New Oprah's Lifeclass

Iyanla Vanzant: 'Human Beings Are Crazy'

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Barbara Corcoran Is a Shark with a Heart

Photo by ABC/Craig Sjodin

We love all of the business moguls in the Shark Tank. But we have to admit that if we had a million dollar idea to pitch (which sadly we do not) we already know that we’d want to partner with real estate maven Barbara Corcoran. After all, she’s super savvy and she seems to also have a heart.

Over the years Barbara has invested in long shots like the small town bakery Daisy Cakes. Her fellow Sharks tried to talk her out of giving $50,000 to Kim Nelson, who cooked up her concoctions with the help of her loving mom. Luckily she ignored them all. As Barbara recounted, “Daisy Cakes was the biggest success story of all the seasons I believe in terms of growth and sales and profits. [Kevin O’Leary] said to me, ‘Whack her mother.’ This woman’s like four foot two. She bakes with this lady side-by-side. He says, ‘Whack her mother.’ The things he says.”

The Funniest People from Thursday Night TV on the Red Carpet

Photo by Pop Culture Passionistas

Ever since NBC gave us "Must See TV" in the '90s, Thursday nights have typically been the best night of the week for comedy. And while it faces some stiff competition right now from Tuesdays (Raising Hope) and Wednesdays (Modern Family), Thursday nights still offer up some of the funniest shows of the week. Recently on the Emmy red carpet, which we covered on behalf of the Archive of American Television, we had the honor of speaking to some of the actors and creators that make Thursday the comedy king to find out who they looked to for inspiration.

Tina Fey from 30 Rock
Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. EST/7 p.m. Central on NBC
Given how funny Tina Fey has been in her career, it's really no surprise she looks to some of the early female comic geniuses for her inspiration.

Chuck Lorre from Two and a Half Men
Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. EST/7:30 p.m. Central on CBS
The creator of some of contemporary TV's biggest shows, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly, some of his inspirations are a little surprising.

John Cryer from Two and a Half Men
The star of Two and a Half Men cites an early sitcom child star with prompting him to get into the business.

Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory
Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. Central on CBS
The nerdy aerospace engineer, Howard, from The Big Bang Theory named some of drama's biggest stars as his faces.

Melissa Rauch from The Big Bang Theory
Howard's now wife on The Big Bang Theory found childhood idols in some of TVs funniest women.

Steve Maloro and Bill Prady from The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory producers joke that they find inspiration in each other.

To see all our Emmy red carpet interviews check out this playlist.

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Our Emmy Day Highlights

Spencer Liff on Emmys, Tommy Tune and Janis Joplin

Spencer Liff on Emmys, Tommy Tune and Janis Joplin

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CELEBRITY SIBLINGS: The Property Brothers

Matt Harbicht/Getty Images for HGTV/Scripps

Drew and Jonathan Scott have, not one, but two, successful shows on HGTV, which seems appropriate since they are twins. They seem to do everything in twos. On Property Brothers they help people who can’t afford their dream home find a fixer upper and remodel it to include everything on their wish list. On the new series, Buying and Selling, they help current home owners renovate their homes to get top dollar when they sell it and then help them find a new home to move into.

We had a chance to talk two-on-two with the Property Brothers. As always we relish the idea of chatting with other siblings that work together and these guys definitely lived up to our expectations. We asked if it was true that even their own mother can't tell their voices apart, to which Drew replied, "She can but she says Jonathan uses bigger words. That's how she can tells us apart." And so we ask your and their forgiveness if we attribute the wrong quote to the wrong brother. We did our best to keep them straight.

Drew and Jonathan were born just minutes apart. Without the aid of ultrasounds and due to completely synchronized heartbeats, Jonathan was born and then little Drew was a complete surprise. They became entrepreneurs at the age of seven, at the urging of their dad, who according to Jonathan said, "Congrats, boys. You're seven. Get a job." He added, "I'm not kidding you."

They started selling homemade crafts overseas in the Japanese market. They also began performing at a young age, but after high school they decided that they didn’t want to be starving artists, so they got into real estate. By the age of 18 they had bought their first property with $250 down and soon their friends were asking them for help. So Drew become a licensed realtor and Jonathan began customizing homes.

Melissa Rivers Brings Her Fashion Sense to the Masses

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--> Photo by Larry Busacca/E! Entertainment

Each week on Fashion Police, the show that Melissa River’s executive produces, Joan Rivers and her crew critique celebrity style. The sometimes merciless reviews of red carpet and runway haute couture brings the designs of Paris and Milan into living rooms in the good old U.S. of A.

But in a recent exclusive interview Melissa admitted that her personal style tends to come from American lines by the likes of Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. Still when talking about her current favorite pieces, she managed to give equal time. She disclosed, “My favorite dress right now is Lanvin, which is ironic. But my other favorite dress is a Michael Kors dress that I’ve had for years that is my go to perfect dress.”

She described her two top picks saying, “The Lanvin is grey, sleeveless with just a little bit of soft draping. But it’s got this really cool, pretty neckline with an edge to it. And the Michael Kors is one shoulder, black, short. Just the cut of the fabric and the way it fits on the body, there’s a little bit of ruching. It’s just been my go to dress forever.”

Morgan Fairchild Looks Back at Mork and Mindy

  Toglenn

Last night Morgan Fairchild took her usual bad girl roles to a whole new level, playing a sorority housemother with supernatural powers in the Syfy movie American Horror House. Now 40 years into a career packed with over 100 credits Morgan has appeared in everything from Battle of the Network Stars to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. But when she first hit Hollywood she was taking bit parts in TV shows like Kojak and Switch. In a recent conference call interview she talked about her turns on a couple of iconic ‘70s TV shows. Here’s what she had to say:

“I loved doing [Mork and Mindy]. Again I love doing things that catch people off guard. I hadn’t been out here very long. My second or third job was Happy Days…  That was such a wonderful show and everybody was so sweet.

Jorja Fox Talks About Being Honored for Her Work with Animals

Written in conjunction with ScreenPicks.

Jorja Fox, best know for her roles on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation along with The West Wing and ER, is also an avid environmentalist and conservationist. She is being honored this weekend with the Animal Champion Award for her work with Animal Defenders International. ADI has worked tirelessly to rescue and protect the abused and neglected animals across the globe.

The event this weekend, called the Lion Ark Night will focus on the rescue mission performed last year where ADI uncovered and put an end to cruelty to circus animals in Bolivia. They went undercover to rescue 29 lions and airlifted them from South America to Denver. Price is Right former host Bob Barker funded the entire thing and he, too, will be honored this weekend with ADI's Lifetime Achievement Award. The entire rescue is being made into a documentary called Lion Ark and clips will be shown at this weekend's Hollywood Hills gala.

In a recent exclusive interview, we spoke with Jorja about her work with ADI. We asked her about the event and she replied, "It's going to be a heck of a party… Bob Barker's going to be there. You can't beat that. I try never to miss a good party."

Jorja talked about working with Bob, "He's a legend. He's the nicest man. He's funny. He's got great style. Every time I see him I'm wondering what he's going to be wearing. Maybe single handedly, more than anybody else that I know of, has been quietly contributing to causes that are very close to my heart and been contributing in extraordinary ways. Bob travels less than he used. He gets out in front of the public less than he used. And he's been making up for that behind the scenes. He has given incredibly generous gifts to several organizations over the last couple of years that have really allowed the organizations to stay afloat."

While she fully supports the award being bestowed on Barker this weekend, she is less than enthusiastic about her own honor. She stated, "It feels really undeserved. I feel I have a lot more to do, a lot more to accomplish."

But it seems to us that like Jorja has done plenty. She remarked, "Every time they call me, they call me for something extremely exciting." Aside form her involvement in the Lion Ark project, she has produced a documentary called How I Became an Elephant. It is the tale of a girl who travels to Thailand to rescue an elephant working in the entertainment industry. Jorja cautioned that this is not an isolated problem, but a global one. She pointed out that many animals in captivity are forced to live on concrete, which can kill them. She said countless elephants die in zoos due to of infection in their feet because they weren't designed to stand on concrete. She noted, "That's a crime. I think these animals deserve a lot better than that."

Jorja also went to Capital Hill with ADI last year to launch the "Traveling Exotic Animal Protection Act." And she encourages all animal lovers to call or write their congressperson to support the bill which will protect animals in entertainment who travel and from state to state. She stated that they need a federal law to protect them because they fall through the cracks since each state's laws vary.

She also emphasized the importance that the work of the ADI has not just for the animals but for humans as well. "We can't exist without wildlife. We're just completely kidding ourselves if we think we can go it alone without all these animals. And so looking after these animals is important to me for the sake of these animals but also for the sake of  people and the future of this planet. I don't want to live on Mars."

One of her goals is to eradicate certain animal institutions. "If I had my way, circuses and zoos would be a thing of the past in the way that we know them now. I think there's a place for those institutions in the future. But I don't think they'd look anything like what they look like right now."

So we asked what they would look like in her version of the future. And while she acknowledged some habitats that already look like her dream there are many more that don't. "I'd like to see us moving under this umbrella term of 'sanctuary,' so a tremendous amount of more space, no breeding programs. The public being able to see them would still happen but it would be more removed. People would be in a more respectful, quieter space."

And to Jorja the perfect circus is one without animals like Cirque du Soleil. She stated, "We have so much to learn from these animals. We haven't even begun to figure out what we can learn from them. But I know it's not about watching an elephant put a basketball in a hoop. I think we can do better than that."

Tickets for Lion Ark Night 2012 on Saturday, October 13 are $150 and VIP tickets are $500 (which includes a VIP champagne reception). Get ticket here. Jorja's movie How I Became an Elephant is being screened in the Los Angeles area this weekend. Check the movie's website for details.  And if you're in the New York area this fall, Jorja is producing a one woman show about Dusty Springfield. Find more information here.


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Olivia Holt Talks about Girl Vs. Monster

Tonight the new Disney Channel movie Girl Vs. Monster premieres. It stars Olivia Holt who most know from the Disney XD series Kickin' It. In a recent exclusive interview Olivia talked about the new movie due out just in time for Halloween.

On Her Girl Vs. Monster Character
"My character is Skyler Lewis who on Halloween finds out that she's a fifth generation monster hunter. And on Halloween night she has plans to go to this party with a guy she likes and have a great time and her parents are making her stay home on Halloween. And she wants to escape the house and sneak out. So she ends up sneaking out of the house but accidentally releases all of the monsters her parents and ancestors have gotten over the years. It turns into this chaotic, hectic Halloween night where her and her friends have to save the Halloween day and capture the monsters. And the big monsters are out for revenge on her and her parents. It's pretty crazy."

On What Drew Her to the Movie
"What I love about it is there's message about facing you fears and how to overcome them. I was really interested in the script. The first time I read it I was balling my eyes out because I thought it was so cool. It got to me. I actually felt the character and when I went to the audition I told them how much I loved this role and that Skyler was such a powerful, confidant and strong girl. I feel like so many girls can look up to her."

On How Kickin' It Helped Prepare Her for Girl Vs. Monster
"In Kickin' It it's more martial arts and I didn't really have to do any martial arts in this film. But all the training for it and all the the hardcore work that we put in to it, it definitely paid off when I did the film."

On Working with Her Girl Vs. Monster Co-Stars
"I can not ask for a better cast. The day that we all first met we all just clicked. Spending two months together it was incredible. They're all so nice and talented. We all got along so well and I made some lifelong friends on that set… I was really happy to be able work with such incredible people. They're all so focused but at the same time just love to have a good time… Every night we'd go out to dinner or me and some of the kids in the cast, we stayed in the same hotel, so we were playing hotel tag. We were all so crazy. We all love to have a good time. And we'd get all of out families together and we'd play games."

Our Interview with Carol Burnett

Photo by Chris Haston/NBC

We've talked to a lot of amazing people in the last few years and we never like to play favorites at the risk on insulting past interviewees. But we think they would all understand if we go out on a limb this one time and say we just had the best interview ever. We had the good fortune of doing an exclusive phone interview with Ms. Carol Burnett. Do you have any idea how cool it is to pick up your ringing phone and hear the voice on the other end say "Hi, it's Carol Burnett." Wow!

We were immediately brought back to our childhood living room and being allowed to stay up late on Saturday night to watch her variety extravaganza. All that was missing were a few pairs of feety pajamas and a bowl of M&Ms. The Carol Burnett Show is finally out on DVD (Hello? What took so long?) and Yahoo! TV asked us to do the honors. Please check out our interview at Yahoo! TV. You'll be glad you did.

This Week's Inspiring Pop Culture Moment: Ellen Barkin

  Photo by Timothy White/NBC

Each week we take a look around our pop culture world and try to find one moment that stood out as the most inspiring. It might be a celebrity who is doing charitable things; a TV shows that inspires us to be better. Here is this week's most inspiring pop culture moment.

If you had asked people back in 1967, if they could have learned a lesson from a small-minded bigot like Archie Bunker, they most likely would have said, ‘No way.” That’s the reaction a lot of people are having to what they assume is a very similar role being portrayed by Ellen Barkin on the freshman sitcom The New Normal.

In a recent conference call interview, Ellen was quick to point out that there’s a lot more to her character than meets the eye. True, Joan Forrest is a very vocal, uber-conservative just like Archie was. But “Glee’s” Ryan Murphy and his co-creator Allison Adler have shaped a much more intelligent and educated supporter of all things right wing.

What You Don’t Know About Matthew Perry

  Photo by Justin Lubin/NBC

Chandler Bing was such a staple of ‘90s television that most fans feel like they really know the actor that portrayed him. But there’s a lot to learn about Matthew Perry, which we found out in a recent conference call interview. Here were some insights that we were surprised to discover about the star of the new comedy Go On.

He Has a Soft Spot for Chandler Bing

“I loved playing Chandler. I grew up playing that part. I would say, probably in all honesty, [my favorite characters are] Chandler and this character that I’m playing now, the character of Ryan King. It’s a very deep, enriching character to play because he’s going through so much and he’s also being very funny about it.”

Could He Have Been more like Chandler Bing?

“I don’t that that is a current trait of mine. It certainly used to be. One of the tenants of Chandler was that given any kind of serious situation, he will divert it by trying to make it a joke. And it makes for a very good character in a sitcom because it’s a built in excuses for someone to be funny.”

Jack McBrayer and Robert Carlock Discuss the End of 30 Rock

Photo by Ali Goldstein/NBC

This season will, sadly, be the last year for 30 Rock. And to make matters even worse, it will only be 13 episodes long. No more Liz Lemmon. No more Jack Donaghy. And Kenneth the page, we’ll miss you most of all. We spoke to Jack McBrayer, who plays Kenneth, and the series’ Executive Producer Robert Carlock in a recent conference call interview about the end of the sitcom and what it’s like on set.

Robert said that for now it’s business as usual. He stated, “We always have our head down and do the work, it hasn't yet sunk in. In those last couple episodes maybe people will start to act out and pick fights to make breaking up easier. But so far we're trying to do just normal 30 Rock stories and while at the same time driving towards endings for everybody, so there's a lot that we're trying to take into account. But in terms of the day-to-day, we're used to always feeling like tomorrow's going to be the last day, so it hasn't felt too different.”

Jack chimed in “That is true. But it is weird knowing that there are finite episodes. To me it feels like your senior year of high school where you're having fun and it doesn't matter. I already got into college and things don't matter. But there on graduation day, you're going to be choking back tears and hugging people that you never even spoke to. But it has been great fun and business as usual so far but towards the end it's going to get real emotional.”

Robert recalled that his favorite memories of working on the show has been the guest stars including “working with Bryan and Catherine [O’Hara]. We just shot a thing today where Kellan Love from Twilight plays a character. This show is so fun just because there's these constant things. We had Muppets come and we had Elvis Costello and then all those musicians come one year and there's so many weird things that have happened and every time you say, ‘Okay I can retire happy, my comedy life can end and I'll be able to say I did that.’ It's hard to choose just one.” He also noted that one other stands out, “Buzz Aldrin… just for sheer weirdness of it. Having Liz Lemon and Buzz Aldrin yelling at the moon together was certainly a highlight for me.”

Lauren Bedford Russell Designs Jewelry for Good Causes

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Photo courtesy of Lauren Bedford Russell

Written in Conjunction with ScreenPicks

Season 3 of Showtime’s The Real L Word featured returning stars like Kacy Coccumini and Whitney Mixter. But it also welcomed some fresh faces including jewelry designer Lauren Bedford Russell. And while many now know her for her struggles with her roommate Amanda or her budding relationship with Kiyomi. Yet long before Lauren became a reality star, she was already a successful entrepreneur.

In a recent exclusive interview she talked about her jewelry line and the good causes that benefit from her gorgeous designs. Born in La Jolla, California, Lauren was interested in accessories from an early age. After getting a degree in Business and Gemological studies, she decided to work in a jewelry store.

After deciding she wanted to pursue the specialty for her career, Lauren worked for a year as sketching designs for Ivanka Trump. But she soon decided to start her own line and Lyon Fine Jewelry was born. As she recounted, “I noticed I had something there and I decided to start my own business and I didn’t see anything else like mine out there. “