Entering into its 23rd season, the long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons may be heading off into the sunset.

The Daily Beast is reporting that Fox studio execs have reached a contract negotiation imasse with the six principal actors who make up the main cast of the show. Of course, this is not the first time this has come up. There has been the occasional threat to replace the cast with sound-alikes during contract talks over the years, but this time is a little different.

This time, Fox execs have told the cast that if they do not accept a 45% pay cut, the series will conclude its first-run status this spring.

“Fox is taking the position that unless they can cut the production costs really drastically, they’ll pull the plug on new shows,” said a Simpsons insider with knowledge of the negotiations. “The show has made billions in profits over the years and will continue to do so as far as the eye can see down the road. The actors are willing to take a pay cut of roughly a third, but that’s not good enough for Fox.”

Of course, even with the pay cut, the actors would still be making about $4 million a piece, for 22 weeks work, which isn’t too terrible at all. Currently, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith, Nancy Cartwright and Harry Shearer are making north of $8 million annually.

However, they have long demanded a part of the back-end rights to the show, both off syndication and marketing, which has netted billions in profits over the show’s 23 seasons, and will continue into the billions as the show is syndicated for years to come.

It seems as if Fox is refusing to budge, having rejected the actors’ counter-proposal late Monday night, taking a 30 percent pay cut in exchange for a percentage of those back-end rights. So if that’s the case, viewers may be watching The Simpsons’ last hurrah.

What do you think? Is it time for The Simpsons to wrap it up? Maybe Bart can finally graduate 4th grade? Looks like we’ve got a few months left to find out for sure!

[source] The Daily Beast

Five years after its cancellation, snarky comedy hit ‘Arrested Development’ will be making its way back to television. Series creator Mitch Hurwitz announced today that the show will be doing a “limited season” which will highlight what the characters have been up to over the last few years, before leading directly into the planned movie.

No word yet on a deal or where the show will air, but fans of the Bluth family have some cause to celebrate today!

Here’s Sean Kingston onstage with Nicki Minaj in his first performance after nearly being killed in a jetski accident back in May.

“Me and the beautiful @nickiminaj on stage!!!!!” he tweeted after the show. “Dont call it a comeback!”

In a press release from the London Metropolitan Police this morning, it was reported that officers were called to an address matching singer Amy Winehouse’s, in which they found the body of a young woman, pronounced dead at the scene.

At this time, there is no suspicion of foul play, though an autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow.

“At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained,” London police said.

While Winehouse was famous for her big, throaty vocals, it was her private life that catapulted her into notoriety. Her big hit, “Rehab,” was a painted picture of her troubled life.

“They tried to make me go to rehab,” she sang. “But I said no, no, no.” Lyrics which many are familiar with, and informed the public opinion of the singer-songwriter.

Born in 1983, Winehouse quickly became the poster child for the tattooed, rebellious teenager after being expelled from her performing arts school.

Her first album, “Frank,” was released in 2003, when the singer was just 19 years old. However, she would not see international success until 2007 with her album, “Back to Black,” which won her Grammys for best pop vocal album and album of the year. “Rehab” as a single also won Grammys for record of the year and song of the year.

Winehouse’s marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil was a tumor on her career, ending in 2009 after two years filled with drug addiction and arrests.

That same year, Winehouse’s parents went public with their attempts to help their daughter through her addictions, telling the London Telegraph that she was on the road to recovery.

“A gradual recovery, which is good,” Winehouse’s father Mitch told the Telegraph. “With slight backward steps — not drug backward steps, more drink backward steps if you follow my drift. I think that will be the pattern of recovery.”

Winehouse was 27 years old.

[source] UK Reuters service

This week, Entertainment Weekly is showing off Ryan Reynolds in costume as the Green Lantern, in advance of the San Diego Comic-Con, as part of their behind-the-scenes look at next summer’s big superhero movie.

Reynolds stars as Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot who gains super powers when he is entrusted with a cosmically-powered ring, enabling him to summon anything he can imagine. This isn’t Reynolds’ first turn in a comic book film, having played Hannibal King in 2004′s Blade 3 and as Deadpool in last year’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This is, however, Reynolds’ first time as the lead in a sci-fi epic, alongside director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale).

There are some challenges associated with playing the part of a major superhero, according to Reynolds, including being whisked through the air at 60 feet per second by wire, to create the illusion of flight. “The first time you do it, you’re seriously considering an adult diaper,” Reynolds said.

Want more? Check it out!

[source] Entertainment Weekly

Sorry guys, Megan Fox is officially off the market. FHM’s Hottest Woman in the World 2008 married her longtime off-again-on-again beau Brian Austin Green in an intimate ceremony in Hawaii last weekend. This is the first marriage for both stars, though Green, 36, has one eight-year-old son with actress Vanessa Marcil. Fox, 24, has hinted at the upcoming nuptuals for some time, and the couple had been rumored to have been engaged since 2006.

But the wedding rumor began when Star Magazine reported on Monday of a secret ceremony at the Four Seasons Hualalai at Ka’upulehu last week, and that the couple is still honeymooning at the resort.

Fox and Green began dating in 2004 after meeting on the set of the ABC sitcom “Hope and Faith.”

Megan Fox is best known for her roles in the movies “Transformers” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” starring opposite Shia LeBouf. Brian Austin Green is mostly remembered for his decade-long role on “Beverly Hills 90210,” and more recently on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.”

John Mayer wrote to his fans via Twitter today to apologize for using the N-word in his recent interview with Playboy magazine. He discusses a number of things throughout the course of the interview, including sex with Jessica Simpson and likening his junk to David Duke.

Over a series of tweets, he wrote:

Re: using the ‘N word’ in an interview: I am sorry that I used the word. And it’s such a shame that I did because the point I was trying to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself. It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it, because I realize that there’s no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged.

We’ve placed the relevant text from the interview below. (The bolding’s ours.)

PLAYBOY: If you didn’t know you, would you think you’re a douche bag?

MAYER: It depends on what I picked up. My two biggest hits are “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and “Daughters.” If you think those songs are pandering, then you’ll think I’m a douche bag. It’s like I come on very strong. I am a very…I’m just very. V-E-R-Y. And if you can’t handle very, then I’m a douche bag. But I think the world needs a little very. That’s why black people love me.

PLAYBOY: Because you’re very?

MAYER: Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’”

PLAYBOY: It is true; a lot of rappers love you. You recorded with Common and Kanye West, played live with Jay-Z.

MAYER: What is being black? It’s making the most of your life, not taking a single moment for granted. Taking something that’s seen as a struggle and making it work for you, or you’ll die inside. Not to say that my struggle is like the collective struggle of black America. But maybe my struggle is similar to one black dude’s.

PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?

MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock. I’m going to start dating separately from my dick.

PLAYBOY: Let’s put some names out there. Let’s get specific.

MAYER: I always thought Holly Robinson Peete was gorgeous. Every white dude loved Hilary from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And Kerry Washington. She’s superhot, and she’s also white-girl crazy. Kerry Washington would break your heart like a white girl. Just all of a sudden she’d be like, “Yeah, I sucked his dick. Whatever.” And you’d be like, “What? We weren’t talking about that.”

While there hasn’t been any official comment on the interview, Simpson did tweet “interesting day so far…hmm.” in what appears to be some response.

The following is Conan O’Brien’s final “Tonight Show” monologue. Tongue-in-cheek, it is what his intellectual silly comedy has been about from the get-go.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio.

We’ve had a lot of fun being here these last seven months, but like everything in life, the fun has to come to an end a decade too early.

The terms of my settlement say that I can’t host another show for seven months. So next week look forward to the Andy Richter Show with his sidekick, me!

As I set off for exciting new career opportunities, I just want to make one thing clear to everyone listening out there: I will do nudity. And you don’t want that. Nobody wants that.

Now that this mess is almost behind me, I just have one last request: HBO, when you make the movie about this whole NBC late night fiasco, I’d like to be played by Academy-Award winning actress Tilda Swinton.

People have been asking me what’s going to happen to our studio after we’re gone. There are actually a few possible uses for our studio being kicked around. I thought I’d share some of those ideas with your right now:

• Site of Tiger Woods’ 1st Annual Mistress Reunion
• Fitting Room for the cast of “The Biggest Loser”
• Storage facility for apology notes to NBC stockholders
• Waterpark for Max Weinberg’s illegitimate children
• Hair and chest oil storage for the “Jersey Shore” cast
• Future site of “Cooters,” the nation’s first pantsless sports bar and restaurant
• Studio preserved as a nice, quiet, peaceful place where the cast of “Chuck” can be alone with their thoughts
• Magician David Blaine will attempt the impossible by trying to remain in the studio for longer than seven months
• Leave the studio cold and empty and re-name it “The World’s Largest Metaphor for NBC programming”
• Panic room for Gary Busey after the rise of the fire hydrants
• Studio will be air-lifted to a location with better luck, like on top of a Native American burial ground

Before ending his final show, Conan gave the following speech. He asserted numerous times that it wasn’t a joke, and it seemed as if he was on the verge of tears as he delivered it:

Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC.  To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years.  Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways.  But this company has been my home for most of my adult life.  I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.

I don’t want to do it in a 7-11 parking lot, but whatever, we’ll make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing, and this is especially for the young people: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism- it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.  As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now.  Here to close out our show, are a few good friends, led by Mr. Will Ferrell…

At which point Will Ferrell in a Lynyrd Skynyrd-type getup and the Tonight Show band, along with Conan on guitar, closed out The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

Next week resumes The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. How many of you will be watching?

Battlestar Galactica spin-off Caprica is set to premier tonight, January 22nd, on SyFy. Premier is probably too strong a word, as anyone with more than a passing interest in the new show has already been given multiple opportunities to screen it. It was initially released on DVD in April of ’09 (with extra boobs!), and also hit Hulu.com last month.

Caprica is a prequel to the re-imagined BSG series that took a bow on SyFy last year. It features Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales who are obsessed with their daughters to an uncomfortably creepy degree, and tells the tale of the downfall of Colonial society while beating you over the head with themes like racism.

The premier vacilates between pulse-pounding action and melodrama, and seems to lose its way at some point, similar to Battlestar’s infamous bog-down in its third season. The show’s premise has potential though, and if you were a fan of the re-imagined BSG you might as well give this prequel a chance to find its legs before passing final judgement.

Caprica airs Friday nights on SyFy at 9/8c. Check your local listings.