• 'FNL' Renewed For Two Additional Seasons.  It's back!  "Friday Night Lights" went from barely hanging on for a third season, to getting greenlighted for fourth and fifth seasons -- keeping it on television through 2011.  And for the first time in the show's history, the writers will be able to know exactly how many episodes they have to write/develop for.  [Associated Press]

• 'Arabia' Composer Dies After Half-Century Career. Maurice Jarre, the score composer who won Oscars for "Laurence of Arabia," "Doctor Zhivago," and "Passage to India" died in his sleep on Saturday.  His career in Hollywood spanned five decades.  He was 84.  [The Los Angeles Times]

• Unknown Ailment Keeps Hartnett Under Observation. Josh Hartnett ("Black Hawk Down") remains hospitalized for a series of mysterious stomach pains he's had on and off for months now, according to his publicist.  He was under observation and resting, his rep confirmed. Harnett first developed the "gastrointestinal problem" while he was working on "Rain Man" in London's West End last year.  [The Boston Herald]
  

All good things must come to an end -- especially when our hero is as overworked and underpaid as Barack.  And though it's time for "The District" to take a break, NEWSWEEK's satirical video team is hardly on hiatus -- you'll see more of the fun projects they've got cooking starting next week. I've heard whisperings that some Team Barack players will headline some spinoffs?  Fingers crossed for Reggie Love.

In the meantime, join us this week as Timmy Geithner -- fresh off some props from the press, for once -- makes a last-ditch effort to save this sinking ship.  Check it out above!

Three worrisome things happened to me this afternoon.

(1.) I read the renewed reports that the guillotine is officially down on the sylphlike neck of NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," and I was actually a little bit sad.

(2.) I saw on my calendar that tonight is the return of ABC Family's "Greek," and was actually a little bit really excited.  (See S3 sneak peek above).

(3.) I nodded vigorously in non-verbal agreement when I got this text from my sister: "ugh. i hate that i just got chills from 'the hills' trailer."

Is it time for an intervention?  The only non-despicable things I've been watching these days watch are sports, "30 Rock" and the occasional "60 Minutes" segment, which I was also embarrassed about until I read that everybody's doing it these days.  It's like I'm on an all-cotton candy diet, with the occasional wheatgrass smoothie randomly thrown in.

Thank God Joshua Alston -- he of TV-critic fame -- is around for times like these.

Sarah: ugh.  i feel like you only watch good stuff.  what's the worst thing you watch on tv

Joshua:  oh, Jesus. "ANTM," "Full House" reruns (seriously), "Real Housewives of Atlanta," "Making the Band 4," and last but not least, I am a HUGE "Maury" fan. Huge.

Phew.

An NC-17 rating from the MPAA, apparently.  Sharon Waxman is reporting that the film's first submission to the parent-stacked movie-vetting org earned it the most cautionary of viewer guidelines, thanks to some extremely graphic sex.  There's still the prospect that the film could trim some of its more incendiary parts and snag an R -- as a Universal spokesperson said to The Wrap: "It is far too early to say that there is any struggle to get there [to an R] as the process is only at its inception.”  But apparently the MPAA is historically very vague about what specific measures films must take to in order to move down the scale.

Why does this matter?  The financial reward for being less offensive is vast -- with an NC-17, the box-office loot could be significantly less.  "Borat," which cost only $18 million to make, had a worldwide haul of over $260 million, and Universal's hopes are high for Sacha Baron Cohen's sophomore effort.

Stay tuned for this developing story (the movie is slated for a July 10 release).  And in the meantime, one of my personal favorite Bruno scenes, from way back from the Ali G days, is above -- and no worries, it's benign.

• Prince's Big L.A. Tumble? Prince is back on tour for his three-CD set -- but on his first tour date, he encountered a slew of problems.  Sound problems.  Dogged by technical difficulties all night at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater, Prince apparently gave up at staging a normal concert experience and just sort of invited concertgoers up on stage for a dance party.  "1999"-style. [Reuters]

• Clear Minds, Full Hearts -- Will They Lose?  Today's the day -- the day that we, the fledgling band of "Friday Night Lights" fans, will know the beloved show's fate for future seasons.  After a unique deal allowed "FNL" to continue for a third season by showing first on Direct TV, then on NBC, network execs from both teams planned to reboot that deal for a four-five season combo of 13 episodes each.  Theeeen there were some snags.  It's now anyone's game.  Fingers crossed! [Variety]

• 'Monsters' Makes a Big Entrance. A big weekend in 3D movie history -- "Monsters vs. Aliens" handily defeated weekend box office competition with a $58.2 million haul.  That makes it the third-best March opening ever -- behind "300" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown." [Variety]
  

As someone who grew up religiously watching women's figure skating in the sport's late-1980s/early-1990s heyday -- someone who could spell "Yamaguchi" by kindergarten -- it's both fascinating and sad for me to read this column from Mark Starr about the decline of the sport in the U.S.  As he puts it, "This year's contingent at the worlds is U.S. Figure Skating's weakest since the early '60s, when it was recovering from the plane crash that killed its team en route to the 1961 worlds."  Yikes.  See also: Amy Shipley's Washington Post story on the same topic, from earlier this week, in which Michelle Kwan humorously both compares and distances herself from the "You're like Dara Torres!" refrain while facing speculation that she'll return to skate in Vancouver.

All of this inner-sport turmoil, of course, has had a devastating effect on its ratings. While some of those same competitions that I watched as a kid -- the 1994 women's short program in Lillehammer, for example, which leveraged a young Oksana Baiul onto the gold podium -- are among the highest-rated television programs in history.  Not so much anymore.  Read this piece from last winter about the "free-fall" in ratings that the sport has experienced since 2002.

This week's subject is a meditative and soulful Jeff Daniels, whose latest project is "God of Carnage" on Broadway.  Daniels sat down with us to reveal why "Dumb and Dumber" was like "Citizen Kane" to more than just 15-year-old boys; why he feels sorry for Kevin Bacon; and how he's written a lot of songs for guitar and vocals (one of which he plays for us in a totally rad mini-music video, online here.  The guy's got some pipes).  NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin interviews; Sarah Frank and Jon Groat behind the camera. Check it out in the player above!

And if you missed last week's 7 Things, in which "I Love You, Man" funny guy Jason Segel dished on his favorite full-frontal male actor, click here to laugh really hard.

• Madonna to Adopt Second African Child?  Despite the legal tangle she encountered with David Banda, Madonna is seeking to adopt a second child from Malawi, a high court in the poor African country reported yesterday.  She is expected to appear for the hearing in the country before the end of this month.  [Reuters]

• Gun Tattoo Raises Eyebrows for Timing.  Making the rounds yesterday online was a photo of Rihanna's new tattoo -- a handgun, of all things, on her ribcage.  The singer had an L.A. tattoo parlor initially sketch guns on her arms before opting for the permanent version on her side.  See photos of it over at the Daily Mail.

• More Superhero Movies? Marvel Says Yes.  Marvel Comics has thousands of characters in its archives -- which is why the company is now seeking writers for a kind of fellowship program to adapt those characters into films.  Why?  Maybe because Iron Man, a little known member of the Marvel family, still managed to haul in nearly $600 million at the worldwide box office. [Variety]
  

Photo, courtesy of Rolling Stone.

So here's my lingering issue with Rolling Stone's April 2 "Gossip Girl" cover -- and the reason why I am still sort of mulling it over, a few days after it hit stands: it is no secret that the show is on the decline.  Not only are we almost over the hump of its existence, with the second season winding down and the stars admitting in the article itself that "four is a good number," but the show -- like its late Cali counterpart "The O.C." -- has left plot and coherence in the dust.  The already-low ratings are down in the new year.  Maybe because to watch the show right now is to be literally bludgeoned by cliches.  On Monday, in order to convey the impressive pedigree of main man Nate Archibald, the writers gave us a scene in which the cast perused some oil portraits of the Vanderbilts.  Then, there was some touch football -- in vintage rugby sweaters -- and some sly tackles, which were of course just an impish way to win Grandfather's approval.  He taught Nate how to sail, you know.

Anyway, that's my beef -- not only is the waning show not worth the simple acclaim of being on Rolling Stone's cover this week, but hello!  It's been done.  A bajillion times.  To better effect.  As in, check out New York's now-famous soliloquy from a year ago.  Even the photo from the New York cover and Rolling Stone double-truck of the cast in bed sheets are shockingly similar.  And if the recession is supposed to be the peg -- Gilded Age Show Finds Itself Out of Touch -- well, that angle was already covered by Vogue more than two months ago.

The photos themselves?  Kinda cool.  I like the cover, though I have a minor grudge against the inside shot of Leighton Meester literally deep-throating a Twizzler -- my lunch is gurgling ominously.  I don't find them "sexist," as some are claiming.  (For sexist, might wanna check out the Nov. 2003 cover of Jessica Simpson pushing a Swiffer around in underwear and heels).  

But what do YOU think?

• ABC's Oscars Get Bumped For Vancouver on NBC.  Next year's Oscars will get pushed back into March -- March 7, 2010, to be exact.  The later date is due to the Winter Olympics, which don't end until earlier that month; voting will conclude on March 2, and the nominees will be announced Feb. 2. [Variety]

• Piven Must 'Prove' He Ate Too Much Sashimi.  "Entourage" star and recently departed "Speed-the-Plow" cast member Jeremy Piven will enter into mediation talks in early June with the suits behind that Broadway production, over what they feel was Piven's unwarranted early departure due, allegedly, to mercury poisoning.  Specifically, the producers have requested "a wide range of relevant information from Mr. Piven relating to his claims that an alleged illness required him to leave the show."  Since Piven-replacement William H. Macy got the show better, rave reviews -- and since the sushi stuff gave the production plenty of free buzz -- can't we all just call it a day? [BBC News]

• The Calvary Called In To Keep Cullen Safe?  Okay.  So Radar is reporting that Canadian mounties have been hired to keep vampire heartthrob Robert Pattinson (the "Twilight" movies) safe from the clutches of grabby tweenage girls on the set of the series sequel, "New Moon."  Even if this is just a wisp of a story, it's kind of hilarious for the self-serious Mountie quotes. [Radar Online]
  

If your introduction to -- and current perception of -- Compton, Calif., is derived from late-1980s rap songs, you must stop everything you're doing right now and read/watch this compelling series.  NEWSWEEKers Jessica Bennett (the wordsmith) and Jennifer Molina (the lenser) trekked to the Los Angeles-area city to document its massive demographic and statistical change -- the number of homicides is at a 25-year low, for starters.  Click the above to see more.

• The Old Guys Finally Give In.  It's the end of evading the noose for three over-the-hill stars this week: David Letterman, 61, tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend in Montana this week (they have a son, Harry); Harrison Ford, 66, proposed to longtime girlfriend Calista Flockhart this week (they have a son, Liam); and Bruce Willis, 54, remarried his girlfriend, model/actress Emma Heming, also this week. [People]

• New HBO Movie Would Be Morgan Debut.  Dennis Quaid will play Bill Clinton in a new HBO movie, "The Special Relationship," that analyzes the chummy years between the U.S. and the UK -- Julianne Moore is attached to star as Hillary Clinton, and Michael Sheen will reprise his role as Tony Blair.  Peter Morgan, who wrote "The Queen," "The Deal" and "Frost/Nixon" (all of which starred Sheen), wrote the film and will direct it if greenlighted. This would be his directorial debut. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Hillary Movie Gives Justices Pause.  The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday to the effect that a 90-minute negative documentary about Hillary Clinton -- "Hillary: The Movie" -- violated campaign finance laws.  While Justice Antonin Scalia said that the distribution method for this film -- it was made available as on-demand TV entertainment -- made it different than an ad, the justices overall seemed to consider the possibility of easing the rules and strictures for advocacy groups during campaign periods. [Bloomberg]
  

Congress is totally ticked about AIG execs getting bonuses with bailout cash and Barack flees The District for the Hollywood Hills. One episode to the season finale!

As Pearl Jam re-releases its seminal debut album, "Ten," we revisit the musical era marked by stringy hair, threadbare jeans, angst and loud, distorted guitars.

Torn jeans. Long underwear worn under cargo shorts with combat boots. Remember the early '90s? OK, so maybe it wasn't the best time of our lives fashionwise, but musically, it rocked. Yes, we're talking about the heyday of grunge, when a rainy city in the Pacific Northwest became the center of the musical universe, unkempt hair and clothing were the uniform of choice and angst reigned. With Pearl Jam re-releasing "Ten," one of the albums that helped to define the movement, here's a look back at the six biggest Seattle grunge bands and what they've been up to since flannel faded.

CLICK FOR FULL STORY

Also, "Twilight" fans should click here for an explanation of why the books suck, while the movie is great.

HBO's Mormon polygamy drama, "Big Love," has long been one of those shows that seem to exist theoretically. It's the opposite of a show like "Mad Men" or "Gossip Girl," which are far more talked about than they are actually watched; "Big Love" is a show talked about so little that, until it returns from hiatus, it's easy to forget that people watch it. But last week, there was suddenly a burst of buzz about "Big Love," with Mormon groups protesting a scene from this past Sunday's episode, "Outer Darkness." The controversy was over a detailed depiction of a temple ceremony, a ritual that is typically performed behind closed doors within a Mormon temple, with true believers and participants as its only audience.
 
I was immediately reminded of the furor surrounding the "South Park" episode "Trapped in the Closet," which revealed the "Xenu story" that is, depending on whom you ask, either entirely fabricated or central to the beliefs of Scientologists, and privileged information only available to the most elite members of that church. (Understanding people's sensitivity over this issue, and anticipating the ton of angry e-mail I'm likely to get, let me be clear in saying that the comparison has to do purely with the similar nature of the controversies, not with any attempt to compare the two religions.) The Xenu story was detailed in "Closet" and then spoofed in "The Return of Chef," the episode that killed off the character played by the late Isaac Hayes after Hayes, a Scientologist, quit the show in protest following the "Closet" brouhaha. "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone accused Hayes of hypocrisy because he'd eagerly cashed the checks they had cut him for episodes making fun of other religions, but apparently couldn't handle it when a satirical eye was turned toward his own faith.

CLICK MORE>> FOR FULL STORY

You have a friend who is evangelical about "The Wire," who asks you once every two weeks if you were a fan, browbeats you into watching if you weren't, commiserates with you if you were, about how the best television show ever was snuffed out too soon because people were too stupid to appreciate it. You also have a friend who's obsessed with "The Office," who can recite an exhaustive treatise about why the American version trumps the British version, who owns a Dwight Schrute bobblehead, who fires off dialogue from the show any time someone mentions paper. Well it's time to play merry matchmaker, because your friends have plenty to talk about with last nights "Office" guest appearance from Idris Elba (who for three seasons played Stringer Bell on "The Wire.")

When I first read that Elba would join "The Office" for a six-episode arc as Michael's new boss, I was cautiously optimistic. I've never seen Elba, whose most known for his intense, taciturn performance on "The Wire," do comedic acting of any kind. But the mockumentary style is one in which even the straight man gets to knock a one-liner out of the park on the strength of the writing, not necessarily the delivery. And another former "Wire" cast member, Amy Ryan, was no less than brilliant in an arc as a love interest for Michael Scott (Steve Carell.)

After watching New Boss, Elba's first episode, my optimism is tempered with even more caution than before. It doesn't have anything to with Elba, whose performance as Charles Minor, Michael's new boss, was a quietly confident portrayal of no-nonsense management. It's the fact that the Charles Minor character sucked the funny out of every scene he was in.

"The Office" is a smartly written, observant show, and the Minor arc seems to be no exception. From Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin), to Ryan Howard (BJ Novak) to David Wallace (Andy Buckley), the preternaturally incompetent Michael has always been blessed with bosses who knew how much of a disaster he was from the outset and could comport themselves accordingly. Charles joins Dunder-Mifflin from the outside and has little patience for Michael's inefficacy. Hes also not thrilled with Jim (John Krasinski) and his incessant office pranks. Charles is all about results, and in an office where everyone slacks off because their boss won't hold them accountable, his presence makes everyone uncomfortable.

Awkwardness is an important component of the mockumentary style, but it has to be employed judiciously. In New Boss, the awkwardness was allowed to overpower and suppress the humor. As the Scranton branch of Dunder-Mifflin gets to know Charles, and the initial nerves wear off, the character may get funnier. With five more episodes to go, here's hoping.

Portia de Rossi is back on primetime in the new comedy "Better Off Ted." She spoke with Nicki Gostin.

Is it weird going back to work on another series?
No, it's great. I really love it. I couldn't work on any old series, because it wouldn't be worth it to me after "Arrested Development" and "Ally McBeal," you know, shows that are pretty great, so this show, it's really easy for me to be there 12 hours a day, because it's really fun to do and I think it's pretty clever.

You play a sort of bitchy character.
Well, I'm trying to avoid the word "bitchy" because I think Veronica is more insensitive than she is bitchy. I think she's very business-like, ambitious and controlling. To be bitchy, she'd have to be aware of the fact she's hurting people, but she's completely unaware.

CLICK MORE>> FOR FULL CHAT

"Duplicity" is not really a romantic comedy. Watch the trailer for your fill of the love stuff -- for the strung-together sexy glances between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen; for the verbal volleying about thongs -- but this is not "Closer: The Cuddly Version." This isn't even as fuzzy as "Charade." There might be some hotel hanky-panky, and the seductive clinking of champagne glasses in just about every city in the world, but that's just a (perfectly pleasant) backdrop.

And thank God for that. The real reason you shouldn't miss "Duplicity" is for director/writer Tony Gilroy's skewering of white-collar titans -- a premise that could not come at a more appropriate moment. These are, after all, the days when Bernie Madoff escapes a perp walk; when John Thain spruces up his office for a cool $1 million-plus; when bailout cash is being put to good use at champagne brunches.  And so far, Hollywood has been, well, a lagging indicator. Name me a weekend in 2009 when a movie with a foolishly out-of-touch premise hasn't hit theaters. January: Two brides beat the silk stuffing out of each other over their same-day, extravagant nuptials. February: A fashion lover freezes her Visa to blockade purchase of more fox-fur stoles. And a few weeks from now, we'll have another movie -- the second in 2009 alone -- about the stewardship of suburban mega-malls, and the spendthrift-y hordes that tramp through them.

In "Duplicity," the twin peaks of the cosmetics industry are CEOs Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and Richard Garsik (Paul Giamatti) -- the billionaires whom our lovebird heroes are trying to subvert. We're introduced to their rivalry with a scene already made famous by promo clips: Tully and Garsik come reeling at one another in slow motion, situated on the tarmac below their respective private jets, each basically trying to sucker-punch the other first. It's completely arresting more than it's funny: the men are whirligigs of blue-suited limbs, the slow motion exaggerating their flabby, steak-dinner jowls. It sounds like a gag, but looks like a painting -- bodies by Robert Longo, faces by Lucian Freud.

Giamatti, who appears more frequently in the film, is the real scene-stealer of the supporting ensemble. All that bluster and spastic screaming that raised eyebrows in "John Adams" seems pitch-perfect in an armored Escalade. He is a total boor -- and yet vulnerable, as shown in a late scene at a bowling alley, in which he ham-handedly tries to woo Roberts with some crappy, microwaved bowling-alley food. Later he unloads on an assistant, who's quietly brushing his face with powder before he takes the stage at a shareholders' convention. Despite the ample dusting, Garsik's visage glints and gleams evilly under the heavy lights, and despite his sour backstage demeanor, his words ooze aw-shucks warmth in front of the roaring convention center. He's totally, thoroughly despicable in every way -- and yet, so clueless and desperate that he manages to snag the crumbs of our pity.

Wilkinson's Tully, meanwhile, is the ice to Garsik's fire. He lurks in a spectacularly metaphoric office, its only contents a large, polished stone slab (his desk), a sliver of a cordless phone, and a meticulously maintained bonsai tree. He is Zen and unfeeling -- heartless where Giamatti is mawkish and clammy. He's also the architect of more than we initially understand at the film's outset -- but of course -- which makes his distant self-deification a whole lot creepier.

With all the continuing, deepening economic gloom, it's sort of nice to stick corporate evil in the celluloid crosshairs -- and even better that, after a thrilling two hours, these guys fade to black.

As bits of information emerge about Natasha Richardson's very serious condition, post-skiing accident, NEWSWEEK reporter Dina Fine Maron talks to a Columbia neurology professor about how devastating brain injuries may not appear as such at first.  The discussion is hitched to reports that Richardson was laughing and talking immediately after her fall, before being taken to a hospital.  Check out that chat here.

Also of note: Because Richardson has been in the news so much over the past few days, we thought we'd revisit her most recent Q+A with NEWSWEEK. Her December 2006 chat with Ramin Setoodeh touches on why she doesn't read Harry Potter, how she thinks Christopher Nolan fared with the Batman films and what most people don't know about her husband, Liam Neeson.  Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Earlier this year, I saw you on-stage in "A Streetcar Named Desire." What's the difference between acting for an audience intead of for the camera.
Natasha Richardson: It's like two entirely different animals. Theater is the actor's medium. You're very much in control. It's just you and the words and the audience. You're at the helm of the ship, so to speak. Film is the director's medium, always. It still surprises me to this day that you can working on a film and you think in your head you can imagine what the film is going to be like, and it's never what you imagine.

What is more challenging?
Theater can be very difficult. You're doing eight performances a week. One night can be magic. The next night it can not be so great. It's also certainly tough in New York, with it being a one newspaper town. It doesn't matter what 400 people say, if the Times doesn't like you you're in trouble. A bad review can destroy your confidence.

 [CLICK MORE>> TO READ FULL Q+A]

By Joshua Alston

Confession: I've never understood scripted reality shows like "Laguna Beach," "The Hills" and, more recently, "The City," MTVs half-plotted, half-improvised dramas about vapid, attractive people. It isn't that my taste is high-minded; I'll watch any reality competition, except for Animal Planet's "Groomer Has It" (a guy has to draw the line somewhere). My issue with scripted reality or docudrama series like "The Hills" is that they're the worst of both worlds. They lack both the imaginative plotting and clever dialogue of truly scripted dramas and the spontaneity of more legitimately unscripted television. They're soap operas with really unprofessional acting.

But when I heard about "Harlem Heights," BET's new scripted reality series, I gave it a shot anyway. I was willing to entertain the possibility that my ambivalence toward "The Hills" had to do with my inability to connect with the characters. I have very little in common with Lauren Conrad. But as a young black professional (OK, OK, semi-professional) I figured I'd have more of a line in to "Heights," a docudrama about the goings-on among a group of hopelessly fabulous Harlem buppies. I certainly understand the characters in "Heights" in a way that I've never been able to during my attempts at watching "The Hills," and perhaps that's what leads me to believe the "Heights" gang isn't quite right for this type of show.

CLICK MORE>> TO READ FULL POST

• Richardson Down with Head Injury.  Natasha Richardson was taken to a Montreal hospital Monday night after going down in an apparent ski accident, in which she suffered a serious head injury.  The Tony-winning star, 45, has yet to be released; husband Liam Neeson rushed immediately to Montreal when he heard the news. [People]

• Homer & Co. Hit the Pubs Across the Pond.  "The Simpons" will premiere an episode outside of the U.S. for the first time -- and will do so in Ireland and the UK, in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  The folks behind the voices will be there, too, for a special event -- one in a News Corp.-sponsored slew that will honor the show's 20th anniversary.  [Variety]
  

• Despite Wild Weekend, Lohan Warrant Dropped.After a warrant was issued this past weekend for Lindsay Lohan's arrest -- a renewed effort by law enforcers to somehow tie up alcohol-education-related loose ends after her 2007 drunk-driving incident -- her lawyer appeared in court and was told the warrant would be recalled.  The legal paperwork attracted more attention than it might've otherwise: this past weekend, Lohan and girlfriend Samantha Ronson were visited by police after they apparently smashed a window at their home in a domestic dispute.  The following night, Lohan made an early-morning hours visit to the gate of Jack Nicholson's house.  [MTV]
  

It's all about the Benjamins, baby -- now more than ever.  We join our hero this week as he realizes that promises are hard to keep, especially after signing a spending bill pizz-acked with earmarks. Yikes.  Some ugly rumors are ricocheting around the marble halls of our nation's capital: Could we possibly be forking over more cash to the banks and -- gasp! -- crafting a second stimulus package?!  Meanwhile, Team Barack starter Timothy Geithner is back for more as he struggles to get his economist friends to believe in his transformative power.  All this drama is set against an aural backdrop of ADHD, Sora An and Joe Echo -- click the player to tune in!

• Ron Silver Dies at 62. The man who won a Tony for being Ari Gold-esque in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" before there was Ari Gold (and before mercury poisoning had truncating anyone's Broadway run) lost his long battle with esophageal cancer this Sunday morning.  Silver also played the role of strategist to President Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing," a role that earned him an Emmy nomination, and was personally renowned for his post-9/11 switch to the Republican Party.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Lohan Back to Court Soon, Police Say.  Actress/professional party-goer Lindsay Lohan is due in court after a warrant for her arrest was issued over the weekend.  The exact details aren't being released, but police say it is in connection with her 2007 DUI, for which she has already served nominal jail time.  The warrant carries a bail of $50,000.  [ABC News]

• 'Watchmen' Unseated From Brief No. 1 Reign. Finally, the slide -- after the first two months of the year showed domestic box office revenues and movie admissions up 13 and 9 percent over last year, respectively, this weekend was a 17 percent drop in the haul compared to the same weekend in 2008.  "Race to Witch Mountain," a Disney remake starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, managed to topple "Watchmen" after its short-lived stint as the top flick. It is the second-best opening in Johnson's career, after 2002's "The Scorpion King." [Variety]
  

This, from McSweeney's is just what you might think, but still a fun read. A taste:

The other day, Nurse Toadstool and I talked in the break room over reheated mushroom casserole. She appeared sad. She mentioned turning a Goomba away because his health insurance wouldn't give him enough gold coins for treatment. Then I realized why the same viruses continue to appear again and again. Each time we turn a patient away for financial reasons, not only are we denying care to the poorest creatures, who often need it the most, but we're putting the disease back into the world, where it continues to spread. Furthermore, the patients I do treat get hooked on my expensive medicine. Mushroom Kingdom's health-care system has turned into a sick, addictive game.

Speaking of a sick, addictive game, did you know you can play Dr. Mario online? Yes you can.

If you missed last summer's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," and have yet to be introduced to the unbridled hilarity that is Brit comedian Russell Brand, watch the above "7 Things" video post-haste.  Brand is out shilling his memoir, "My Booky Wook," which, among other things details his rather serious battles against sex and hard-drug addiction.  He leaves that serious tone behind for our video, taking time instead to reveal how he got such straight teeth as an Englishman, who among his sprawling entourage deigns to give him sponge baths, and why he'll be starting a chain of bathhouses in your neighborhood.  If you've missed your ribaldry quotient the past few days, this should do it.

• Lucky Fives for the King of Pop. Michael Jackson is 50 years old, he's giving a 50-gig farewell concert series in London this summer -- and five hours after the tickets for those dates went on sale, they were gone.  It's been 12 years since he was last on stage. [Reuters]

• Fallon Isn't Falling in Late-Night Ratings. Jimmy Fallon whooped Conan this week in the ratings, and in fact garnered the title of "most-watched late-night premiere" in over a decade.  With ratings steadily in the 2.4 million range through this entire week, his viewership was 25 percent higher than Craig Ferguson's and 21 percent higher overall than Conan's.  No reason to sweat anymore.  [Variety]

• Fans and Critics Decry 'Judges' Save.'  A day after the panel of four judges on "American Idol" announced that they can revoke the voters' rights to definitively choose who gets booted, fans and critics are starting to make noise about the impurity of the system.  But "Idol" absolutely thrives on controversy -- and since ratings are down nearly double-figures from mid-season last year, brace for the kitchen sink. [BBC]
  

rince's new online venture, LOtUSFLOW3R.com, will debut on March 24. The site will offer digital downloads of the three new albums previously announced with a March 29 street date, in CD format, at Target stores. Two sources in Prince's camp also have confirmed that the rumored price of $77 for one year's subscription to the site has been formally settled upon. The picture above is an exclusive screengrab provided to us by Prince's web developer, Scott Addison Clay, who recently gave me an advance tour of the Web site. That image, which is also featured on the cover of the LOtUSFLOW3R CD, will be the user's portal into the online "world" of that album, complete with lyrics, artwork and new photos, in addition to the tunes. Two other "worlds," one for each of the other two Princely releases, also exist on an animated 3-D plane, in an arrangement that Clay compares to the popular game Myst. The album "MPLSoUND," as previously reported, is Prince's electronic counterpart to the guitar-heavy "LOtUSFLOW3R," while "Elixer" is the debut offering from Prince's latest protege, Bria Valente.

Check out the covers for "MPLSoUND" and "Elixer," first on PopVox, after the jump:

First he goes bananas on our own Ramin Setoodeh.  Then he rattles David Letterman.  Now Joaquin Phoenix is an equal-opportunity nutcase.  Wonder how soon before big brother Ben calls Casey Affleck and tells him to put down the camera and step awaaay, slowly, from the documentary subject?

Photo courtesy of the American Movie Classics Company.

Why is there a pink teddy bear floating in Walt's swimming pool? And what happened to its eye? Those are among the pressing questions teased in an enigmatic scene in the premiere that will be addressed in Season 2 of AMC's Emmy-winning drama Breaking Bad. We pick up exactly where we left off at the end of Season 1, with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) completing his metamorphosis from mild-mannered chemistry teacher to crystal meth kingpin. Vince Gilligan, the series creator and showrunner, spoke to NEWSWEEK about the direction of Season 2, why he thought Cranston wouldn't win the Emmy, and why "Weeds" might have squashed the show before it began. Excerpts:

Where are you guys in the production process? Has Season 2 wrapped?
We've wrapped production. We finished actually shooting the show in mid-December of last year, but were still in post-production now. Were in Burbank editing the last few episodes, so we should be wrapped completely within a few weeks.

Were you surprised by Bryan Cranston's Emmy win? He was kind of the dark horse.
In my mind he was definitely the dark horse, not for lack of talent or lack of deservedness but just because he was up against so many fine actors who were on shows that are much better-known than this one. So it's well known and I told him many times that I didn't think he was going to win. When they called his name I just about jumped out of my skin. It was like how they describe the moment before a car crash when everything goes into slow motion. It was similar to that, except that it was a wonderful thing.

[CLICK MORE>> FOR FULL INTERVIEW]

by Nicki Gostin

Legendary opera singer Plácido Domingo achieved world renown as one of the Three Tenors alongside the late Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, but he originally made his debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1968, filling in as Maurizio in "Adriana Lecouvreur" for Franco Corelli. On March 15, the opera company celebrates its 125th anniversary and Domingo's 40th year with the Met with a gala blow-out, during which he will sing the title role in a duet from "Simon Boccanegra," among other arias. NEWSWEEK's Nicki Gostin spoke with the renowned tenor about baseball, whether opera's boring and his new album based on the poetry of Pope John Paul II. Excerpts:

Do you still get butterflies when you go onstage?
There has to be an emotion and an excitement when you perform. When you are performing, the butterflies will never stop.

Be honest. Are you going to be disappointed if you don't get at least four standing ovations?
Well, you are used more or less to the way the public reacts to you, so it's wonderful, the feeling. All my career I have received that, and at the Met it has been kind of a romance with the public. So much time, so many, many performances, singing and conducting, so really it's very emotional for me. So yes, of course I will feel disappointed.

[CLICK MORE>> FOR FULL INTERVIEW]

• Mickey Rourke to Star in 'Iron Man 2.'  It's official!  The recent Oscar nominee is now set to play the Russian villain, a role that initially looked unlikely for him as the studio offered him just $250,000 -- he's now negotiated a pay increase for his first studio film in years. Back around Oscar time, at NEWSWEEK's Oscar roundtable, Robert Downey, Jr. begged Rourke to join the project, reaching across the table to implore him.  [Variety]

• Two Sent Packing on 'Idol.' Double elimination on 'American Idol' last night -- Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez.  The show also revealed its new rule: the four judges, if in agreement, can undo the voting decision to cast off a contestant in the early stages of the competition.  Whaaat?!  This should be interesting. [People]

• 'Heathers' to Hit Stage?  Really?  As in the case everywhere these days, there's some trouble on Broadway in the profitability department.  Not sure that making "Heathers," the 1988 black comedy starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, into a stage musical is really the answer, but okay!  Presumably there will be a song about making Drano-Clorox cocktails, a song about exploding oneself, and a song about loving your dead gay son.  At least, there'd better be. [The Hollywood Reporter]
  

So, while we were busy getting geekily amped (geemped?) over a new Harry Potter trailer, the teaser for J.J. Abram's forthcoming "Star Trek" movie was virally blazing across the web.  Paramount says the trailer has tracked 1.8 million downloads in the first 24 hours it was on Apple's popular movie trailers site, and has logged over five million plays in the five days it's been up.  That's enough to secure its place as "the most popular HD download ever on the site." Looks like the movie will handily defeat the tepid B.O. haul of "Watchmen"...

Posters, courtesy DreamWorks Pictures.

So a couple of weeks ago I screened "I Love You, Man" -- thumbs up! -- and the first thing I did when I got back was stick the following in my gChat status:

"i predict that it will take 24 hrs after 'i love you man' comes out before 'totes magotes' becomes the catchphrase of '09."

I remember this so distinctly, because I was having this major geekfest of an internal debate about how to spell "magotes."

A-a-anyway, apparently DreamWorks is either reading my mind, or wanting to clear up future spelling issues for posterity.  I just flipped through a series of dude-catchphrase movie posters that the studio is hitching to the comedy's March 20th release, and guess which phrase made the cut?  They might not make total sense until the movie's been out for a few weeks, but mark my words: Paul Ruddisms will be to 2009 what Will Ferrellisms have been for the decade's previous years.

And speaking of "I Love You, Man," we put Jason Segel in front of NEWSWEEK cameras last weekend for "7 Things."  Stay tuned for that video this week!

Because, you know, it could always be worse, we direct your attention to this nice bit from The Onion A.V. Club: "21 Great Films to Put the Recession in Perspective."

What is the deal with the bizarre symbiosis between "Dancing With the Stars" and NFL greats?

Lawrence Taylor is widely considered to be the greatest defensive player in the history of the National Football League. He once accidentally broke a man’s leg during a tackle, effectively ending his opponent’s career. In his retirement, he confessed to a drug habit that cost him thousands of dollars a day. And on Monday night, he donned a tight white shirt and flares and attempted to cha-cha his way into America’s heart.

Incongruous, yes, but Taylor is in fact the fifth NFL great to appear on ABC’s reality mega-hit “Dancing With the Stars.” The bizarre symbiosis between NFL and "DWTS" is perhaps one of the strangest couplings in reality television history, and that’s really saying something.  So, pray tell, what is the deal?

According to Dancing with the Stars casting director Deena Katz, getting the uber-masculine athletes to don sequins and glitter and twirl before an audience of some 30 million viewers hasn’t always been easy. Famed boxer Evander Holyfield’s appearance on the show’s first season helped grease the wheels, but still, getting the first football player to agree was a tough job. “Jerry was the hardest sell. He got ribbed really hard,” says Katz about Jerry Rice, the first NFL star to appear. “Thank God he thought it would be fun and took the leap.” It wasn’t just fun. Rice went to the finals in the show’s second season and parlayed his newfound fame into a book deal and his own show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Katz’s subsequent efforts have been a little easier. Emmitt Smith appeared the following season, won the show, and promptly got a gig as an NFL analyst with ESPN. In 2008, Jason Taylor, another hopeful actor, drew ire from football fans when he became the first NFL great who wasn’t already retired to appear on the show. He took second place too, as did Warren Sapp, the fourth and most sizable player to compete.

“Warren Sapp is one of the toughest guys in football, and here he is, wearing spandex and ballroom dancing,” Katz says.  But it takes more than the promise of book deals and hosting gigs to get the players to agree. “It's fun for them,” Katz says. “How could it not be? Everybody roots for the football player.” Even more important?  Beautiful women. “They all talk to each other now,” Katz says. “They see that they're dancing with really hot girls.”

But for these particular contestants, there’s something even more important than their dance partners: one upsmanship. Katz, Sapp, and Taylor all say that the dancers feel a competitive with each other. And Taylor’s long-time agent Mark Lepselter says that Taylor’s been getting a fair amount of ribbing from former contestants. “Jason [Taylor]’s always texting him,” he says. “They break his chops. He doesn’t want to make an ass of himself.” The rousing seems to be working. Before he took the ballroom floor on the show’s season premier, Taylor reluctantly took time out from rehearsal to talk to Newsweek. “I’ve been through Superbowls and I haven’t been as nervous as I am right now,” he told us. “I know I’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

Beyond cultivating his feminine side, Taylor has got some longer-term goals. He’s got an ad campaign with NutriSystem slated to launch in August, and he’s shopping feature film rights to his life story. Whether the deal will come through is unclear, but if he does anywhere near as well as the other contestants from the NFL, within a couple of weeks, America will soon associate Taylor with his cha-cha instead of his coke habit. Dancing or not, he’s nobody’s fool.

• Coolio Cooks Up A Really Hair-Brained Idea.  Looks like Coolio won't be cookin' with us for a while -- the rap star and Grammy winner was charged with possession of crack cocaine and battery late yesterday after an incident over the weekend at LAX.  Apparently he put his luggage through for baggage handlers to inspect, then grabbed the arm of the inspector when he remembered he had the drug and a pipe stashed inside.  Oops.  [Reuters]

• Manager Crossing the Line? The woman behind the three-page text message that was allegedly the impetus for Chris Brown's alleged assault has been named as manager Tina Davis, age 40.  Davis had been linked to Brown in a more-than-co-workers way in late 2007, when the pair denied being cuddly to Vibe magazine.  Still, the affadavit describes the sender as someone with whom Brown had a "previous sexual relationship."  He's scheduled for arraignment on April 6. [Daily News]

• South by Southwest to Show Bruno for Free. Yet another reason why SXSW attendees are cooler than us: Universal announced -- via Twitter, no less -- that it will screen the much-anticipated "Borat" follow-up, "Bruno," to the Austin music festival attendees.  The move comes after the studio had luck pre-screening major summer comedies -- "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Knocked Up" made early appearances at the fest -- to the hip, young crowd.  Good weather, great food, free movies -- kinda wish we were there. [Variety]
  

As if you weren't hungry enough already...

[CLICK MORE>> TO VIEW FULL CHAT]

• Slashed Showings in TriBeCa This Year.  The Tribeca Film Festival has announced its lineup of films -- and its a dramatically smaller number than last year, down nearly a third to only 86 shows.  The festival made headlines earlier when at least two major sponsors -- Target and Cadillac -- yanked their funding.  Woody Allen will kick off the fest with his directorial return to New York, called "Whatever Works," on April 22nd. [Variety]

• More Twilight News That Will Amp Up Teen Girls.  Dakota Fanning will reportedly join the cast of the second film, "New Moon," as a mind-screwing vampire named Jane.  It is the third, and not second, film that is also earning headlines for supposedly having Drew Barrymore linked to the director's chair.  Or as she told the Associated Press: "I'm one of the directors that is being talked about, which is great, because I'm a director now."  And that's that. [BBC News]

• Three's A Charm for Melissa Rycroft? No doubt licking her wounds after being chosen on "The Bachelor," then summarily dumped at some follow-up rose ceremony thingy, former "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team" star Melissa Rycroft is adding a third reality show to her arsenal: "Dancing With the Stars."  She subs in for an injured Nancy O'Dell, and despite skipping most of the pre-season training, found herself with a respectabl 23 points on her first waltz.  Let's hope this one ends more happily than her last relationship. [Associated Press]
  

In which Barack can't get a break; McCain is all a-twitter and Limbaugh accepts an Obama challenge...

Just as the "Watchmen" hype is reaching a fever pitch, Warner Brothers has released new footage from its other fanboy-favorite flick: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," due out July 17th.  A fourth trailer first started circulating online yesterday afternoon -- and the roiling, green-tinted sequence has us freshly excited about the book-turned-film series' penultimate installment. Watch above for the clip; a higher-resolution clip can be seen here on MTV's movies blog.

If you're hankering for more, and aren't averse to a few mild spoilers, check out this behind-the-scenes clip from a few weeks ago:

Lots of indie acts have a love-hate relationship with making their lyrical subjects explicit. Some of yours can be fairly obscure -- why?
Good, classic songwriting does not adhere to a time or place. (Not that I have achieved any Cole Porter magic.)  I like that. I don't like to be too explicit. I always think about the time I read the story of the making of "Strange Fruit" my Billie Holiday, it gave so much away that it ruined the song for me. My songs are like little paintings or movies. I'd like the listener to be able to latch on and put themselves in the song. I just want to comfort people.

You're often pegged as "alt-country" -- what does the tradition mean at this point?
I don't get that term either, never have. I am rooted in country, but obviously it would not seem it if this was the first record of mine anyone ever heard. I just don't think about it while making songs. I am an untrained musician so I'm just desperate to make them sound like songs.

You have a rather, um, devoted male fan base. Like your lyrics, are you a "man-man-man eater"?
The character claiming to be a "man-eater" is a tiger. It's very literal. I am not a man-eater. The notion of sex appeal is annoying. Love is complex and terrifying and something we all need. Like snake venom.

NEWSWEEK's Ramin Setoodeh makes Felicity Huffman nervous -- at least, he did in this fun chat the pair had backstage at David Letterman.  Setoodeh picks the "Pheobe in Wonderland" star's brain about her first audition, first date with her husband, first day on the "Desperate Housewives" set and more.  Click the player above to view!

Our own Devin Gordon has a good piece up about "Watchmen" that's worth your time. Check it out here.

• Today in Contests: Film the Blanks has a fun contest in which you, the reader, are are asked to reconstruct their deconstructed famous movie posters (like the one above). [Film the Blanks]
  
  
• Today in Mothers and Invention: The LA Times details how the Octomom has also given new life to Radar online. [Los Angeles Times]
  
  
• Today in Cautious Optimism: Keira Knightley to star in the film version of a really lovely novel, Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go; our optimism is mainly fuelled by the news that Alex Garland wrote the script.  [Variety]