MTV Newsroom › Television

'Mob Wives' Star Big Ang Is Enjoying The Celebrity Lifestyle (Video)

Posted 2/13/12 11:00 am EST by in Television, Video


By Damian Vaca

We're already immersed in the lifestyles of Karen, Drita, Carla and Renee, but there is one new character of VH1’s "Mob Wives" that has completely stolen the show. Err … stolen may be a bad word, so let’s just she has become the breakout star of season two.

When Angela "Big Ang" Raiola first entered our lives, she was playing mediator in the never-ending feud between Drita and Karen. From her first moment on screen, viewers were immediately drawn to her unique voice and larger-than-life character – she was both endearing and outrageously unbelievable. Of her newfound fame Big Ang told MTV NEWS, "I think it’s amazing. It’s really blown up tremendously and I’m really having fun with it. I’m amazed. I can’t even believe what’s happening. I’ve been getting gifts, constantly getting great gifts [from fans]. I thank everybody who has been giving me good things. That pocket book that I’m carrying right there, great bag. All kinds of organic baskets of lotions. Roses, candy, earrings, everything."

Read More...

Tags , ,

'The Voice' Clocks Biggest Non-Sporting Event Ratings In Six Years

Posted 2/6/12 4:11 pm EST by in Television


The Voice

Whoa!

Riding high on a Madonna halftime performance adrenaline cloud, last night we watched and recapped "The Voice" for your reading pleasure. It seems we were not the only ones!

The post-game telecast of the reality singing competition's second season debut pulled down 37.6 million viewers and a 16.3 rating among adults 18-49, according to Entertainment Weekly. That's the largest viewership of any non-sports telecast on any network in six years, since "Grey’s Anatomy's" post-Super Bowl airing in 2006. It also posted a 47 percent improvement in the coveted demo versus Fox’s post-game airing of "Glee" last year.

So, finally a big win for struggling NBC and a sweet kickoff for "The Voice," which continues the blind audition phase of the competition tonight at 8 PM on NBC. Read More...

Tags ,

'Saturday Night Live' Has Some Fun With the Lana Del Rey Backlash, Makes a Few Good Points In The Process

Posted 2/6/12 9:59 am EST by in Music, Television


While we were preoccupied with early Super Bowl festivities, "Saturday Night Live" took the opportunity of its first show following the Lana Del Rey debacle to address the controversy.

Kristen Wiig suited up to play Del Rey, sporting long flowy locks and a lace dress, on a "Weekend Update" segment with Seth Meyers. The pair mostly mocked the level of vitriol directed at Del Rey, declaring it overkill, saying, "The music stage on 'Saturday Night Live' is hallowed ground, and I failed to reach the high bar set by past guests like Bubba Sparxxx, The Baha Men and Shaggy."

Check it out below:

"SNL" boiled down the ridiculous amount of attention paid to Del Rey's lackluster showing thusly: "Based on the public's response, I must have clubbed a baby seal while singing the Taliban national anthem."
Boom.

Wiig and Meyers continued to shoot arrows in the media's evisceration of Del Rey, mocking the attention paid to her stage name – "No serious musician would ever change their name, except maybe for Sting, Cher, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, everyone else in hip-hop and of course Bob Dylan" – and even making a point about how the media takes on bullying as a cause, but only when it's convenient.

"No, I'm grateful that all of you made your voices heard," Wiig as Del Rey said. "In this age of dangerous school bullying, you have sent an important message: If you think someone is weird you should criticize them as much as possible."

Tags ,

Britney Spears To Guest On 'Modern Family'? Maybe

Posted 2/1/12 9:56 am EST by in Britney Spears, Television


Last night, Twitter nearly caught fire with buzz that Britney Spears was set to appear on ABC's award-winning ratings smash "Modern Family." So prevalent and widespread was the chatter, that the Princess of Pop actually responded to the rumors, taking to Twitter to say, "I would love to be on it!"

The rumor took off after Spears tweeted that she knew everyone was very excited for Sunday's Super Bowl, but she was more hyped for the next episode of the "funniest show on TV."

After that, Spears' army of fans on the social network began a hashtag campaign to #getbritneyonmodernfamily.

What's especially strange though is that when a source close to the show was contacted by Ryan Seacrest's team to comment on the rumor, they said that no deal was in place "but wouldn’t say whether or not they were in talks about it." In showbiz speak, not issuing a hard denial is pretty much code for maybe. (Goes back to the whole "no comment means yes" thing.)

The pop star has plenty of experience when it comes to guesting on popular network comedies. In 2006 she appeared on "Will & Grace" and in 2008 earned positive reviews for her two-episode arc on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother."

Spears did admit she can't wait to see her girl's Madonna and Nicki Minaj tear it up on Sunday. Check out what she had to say below. Read More...

Tags ,

First Lady Michelle Obama Says The President 'Sings All The Time'

Posted 2/1/12 8:59 am EST by in Barack-Obama, Television


During a January 19 fundraiser at New York's Apollo Theater, President Barack Obama caused a sensation when he launched into a brief, spontaneous a cappella take on Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together" that set the Internet on fire. Not only did his campaign take the clip and turn it into a ringtone, but all the attention lifted sales of the song a whopping nearly 500 percent.

Now, the First Lady is saying that the president's performance wasn't necessarily an isolated incident and he "does have a beautiful voice, and he sings to me all the time."

When pressed by Jay Leno during an appearance on "The Tonight Show," Michelle Obama told the host that the president "sings a lot of Al Green, Marvin Gaye, a little Stevie [Wonder]. He likes the classics."

Watch:

Check out President Obama's performance of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" after the jump! Read More...

Tags , ,

Shirley MacLaine Joining The Cast Of 'Downton Abbey'!

Posted 1/30/12 4:09 pm EST by in Television


Someone get our fainting couch … we've got the vapors!

Shirley MacLaine, the delightfully odd six-time Oscar nominee (and winner for "Terms of Endearment"), is joining the cast of our second favorite show on television, "Downton Abbey." (We can't say it's our number one fave when "Parks and Recreation" has been slaying it this season.)

MacLaine will play Martha Levinson, Lady Grantham’s (Elizabeth McGovern) mother. Dan Stevens (that's Matthew Crawley to you!) wasn't lying when he told MTV to expect "thrills and chills" in season three! Listen:

"My late grandfather directed Shirley MacLaine in 'Gambit' in 1966 so it is a delight for me that she will be joining us on 'Downton Abbey,'" Carnival Films’ Managing Director Gareth Neame said in a statement. "Julian [Fellowes, creator] has written another brilliant character in Martha Levinson, who will be a wonderful combatant for Maggie Smith’s Dowager Countess and we are excited at the prospect of Shirley MacLaine playing her."

The MTV Newsroom is positively aflutter with the possibilities presented by MacLaine going toe-to-toe with the Dowager Countess, who talks a lot of s**t (seriously, click on that link, you won't be sorry) and is easily one of the best zinger machines on TV right now.

Related:
>>> 'Downton Abbey' Gets 'Delicious'
>>> Matthew Crawley Teases 'Thrills and Chills' On 'Downton Abbey'
>>> 'Downton Abbey': A Playlist From Mary To Matthew
>>> 'Downton Abbey's' Lady Mary And Lady Grantham To Record an Album … Together

Read More...

Tags ,

Kim Kardashian Picks Up Another Acting Gig

Posted 1/27/12 1:22 pm EST by in Television


Kim K

Reality TV terror Kim Kardashian is serious about this acting thing.

Not only did she hire three-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner Nicole Kidman's acting coach so she could give her all in director Tyler Perry's sure-thing awards contender "The Marriage Counselor," America's sweetheart Kardashian has signed up for a multi-episode arc on Lifetime's "Drop Dead Diva." She will make her first appearance on this summer's season 4 premiere.

The pop singer former Sketchers spokesmodel will play Nikki, the new love interest of Fred (Ben Feldman), who partners with his ex Stacy (April Bowlby) in a new business venture. Show creator and executive producer Josh Berman is excited about Kardashian's appearance, telling the Hollywood Reporter, "In discussing the role of Nikki with her, I'm blown away by her smarts, sense of humor and passion."

We bet. Probably has nothing to do with the amount of attention she'll bring the show.

The reality TV star, who gets Google alerts about herself (Hi, Kim!), is also set to appear on Tim Allen's ABC hit "Last Man Standing" in February.

Read More...

Tags

Pop Culture's Digital DaVinci Sam Spratt Talks Star Reactions To His Work

Posted 1/27/12 10:25 am EST by in art, Kanye West, Television


<i>Kanye West by Sam Spratt</i>

Kanye West by Sam Spratt

By Zachary Swickey

When digital painter Sam Spratt was a spry art college grad in June 2010, he immediately became the (first) in-house staff illustrator for popular media conglomerate Gawker. Articles boasting his work were getting plenty more hits than ones carrying boring stock photo images. Before long, Spratt was getting more commission work than he could handle and had to say goodbye to Gawker and venture out on his own. (But trust us, he’s doing just fine!)

Since his departure, Spratt has diversified his portfolio - creating merch designs for herbal enthusiast and rapper Wiz Khalifa, as well as album artwork for rockers Foxy Shazam and metal-heads Trivium. Spratt has no problem with tricky imagery, whether it’s a Renaissance period piece for a private client or his collaboration with Rovio Mobile’s super-mega-smash-hit “Angry Birds.” It seems he’s up for any type of visual challenge.

Quite the fan of pop culture, Spratt has painted multiple interesting likenesses of various characters, including Ron Swanson from “Parks and Recreation,” quirky Dwight Schrute of “The Office,” Kanye West, a breathtaking portrait of “2 Broke Girls” star Kat Dennings and a hilarious take on Troy and Abed of “Community” in a fake movie poster for “Inspector Spacetime." Even his personal self-portrait is stunning to say the least. We are simply floored by the visual creations Spratt manages to create and with Twitter as an outlet – some of his creations have gone viral. Rainn Wilson is even using his portrait as his Twitter avatar.

Spratt is currently based in Brooklyn, New York, and was kind enough to chat with us about his interesting craft and provide us a look into his digital art domain. Read More...

Tags , , ,

'I Want To go To There' And Other 'S**t Liz Lemon Says'

Posted 1/26/12 12:35 pm EST by in Internet, Television


While the "S**t So and So Says" meme is a few weeks past its expiration date, we had to share this bit of goodness courtesy of the fine folks at "30 Rock."

NBC has assembled its own clip to add to the viral cannon, "S**t Liz Lemon Says." Anyone who's ever watched Tina Fey in action as Lemon knows she is a sound bite machine. (Tell me you don't know someone who says "I want to go to there" regularly?)

Check it out below. We promise to never contribute to the proliferation of this meme again. Unless, you know, a really funny one comes along in which case, yes, we totally will.

Tags , ,

Nick Offerman And Megan Mullally Team Up For Hilarious Viral Video, Renew Our Faith In Marriage

Posted 1/25/12 3:27 pm EST by in Internet, Television


Our favorite married couple, "Will & Grace" Emmy winner (and ever-present sitcom guest star) Megan Mullally and "Parks and Recreation" star Nick Offerman, have made a music video … and it showcases everything we love about them.

The hilarious pair sing a country-western love song with a twist – he's a paleontologist and she's a creationist. Uh oh! Lovebirds with a very different point of view on a controversial topic. Seems ripe for parody and Offerman and Mullally do not disappoint!

The clip is loaded with the same off-the-wall humor that makes the pair's onscreen collaboration on "Parks and Rec" (she plays his crazy ex-wife) so awesome.

Watch:

Is there any way we can pass a law that, regardless of what happens down the road, these two can never ever in a hundred million years get a divorce? They are the perfect team and give us faith that love still exists in this sad world!

Related:
>>> Ron Swanson Is MTV News' #1 TV Character Of 2011!

Tags ,

Page 1 of 8812345102030...Last »
SPONSORS
AD:
©2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.