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It's Always Funny in Philadelphia...

I'm loving all the "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" Season 3 teasers going around. Aside from the myspace preview, this little beauty just cropped up on the popular humor site FunnyorDie.com. Definitely NSFW... this little gem made me laugh out loud (as I watched it at work...haha). Enjoy!

*UPDATE* I love them so much!! Awesome new commercial :)

Marie Digby, on her way!

MARIE DIGBY
I'm trying not to talk about too much music stuff overall because its a genre I know very little about (For real music knowledge head on over to Music Ramen blog), but I just have to mention this girl b/c I know she's gonna grow. Only a few short months ago, Marie (pronounced Mari-eh) posted her cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella" on YouTube. That video was seen by quite a few people and next thing we know it is the featured song on the premiere episode of this season of "The Hills." Now, Marie is sure to be taking off in a big way. She's adorable and young and really talented. I wouldn't be surprised if that little cover of hers launches not only a lucrative music career, but also one in film or tv as well. I hear she's already taking meetings all over Hollywood...

Its amazing what one can accomplish in 3 short months. See the video that started it all below:

Why SC...Why?

Being originally from South Carolina (Charleston!!), this hurts me. There's not one coherent thought in the whole 45 seconds. I just love that she managed to bring South Africa and Iraq into her ramble...because that was SO related to the question. Gotta love those US Americans! Poor girl...

Ew...Ryan Seacrest.

So FOX has just announced that RYAN SEACREST will be hosting the 59th Annual Emmy Awards on September 16, 2007. I mean, Ryan Seacrest, really? This is the same guy that has a contest every year where YOU can host red carpet arrivals with him. I mean, that is seriously amateur stuff. Yeah, he hosts "American Idol," but people aren't watching that show b/c of his appeal, I can tell you that much. I must have missed something here. I mean instead of pulling in viewers, they're pushing them away...I'm not about to watch Ryan Seacrest's smarmy face for 3 hours.

Oh, and PS, this is just for fun, but a friend of mine overheard this amazing line from Ryan that is just too funny not to share: "I could be being raped in the closet right now!" (this was apparently his astonishing reaction to about 6 fire trucks showing up across the street for a stopped elevator). Where is your mind at, Ryan? Just thought I'd share!

In the YouTube files, I pulled up this hilarious clip to give us a taste of whats in store. John Mayer (who can barely hide his contempt for Ryan) answers his question in fluent Japanese. I knew I like that guy.

"I Got a Crush...on OBAMA!"

I just love it when Politics and Entertainment merge together. At the very least it shows that people our age are acknowledging that there's more out there than just the latest Britney gossip. Lately, there have been a whole slew of Political Candidate themed YouTube parodies. It all started with "The Obama Girl," who launched this love letter to Barack in early June.
Now, personally, I TOO have a crush on Barack Obama. Ever since reading his book "The Audacity of Hope," I've been a thorough supporter. He's such an amazing and fascinating man, really this book is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of our country (and that should be ALL Y'ALL, so READ IT).

Now, back to the YouTube parodies...there have been Guiliani Girls and McCain Mamas, but so far my favorite parody is the ode to Hilary Clinton entitled "Hott 4 Hill," featuring one of my favorite up-and-coming young actresses Taryn Southern. Taryn is a lovely actress and I love how she wrote and executive produced this little clip as well. You go girl :)
Ha, I see that this clip was co-produced by an actress named Meg Cionni who was in my office this very morning...such a small world.

The best thing about these clips is the intense political debates that ensue underneath the videos in the YouTube comment section. Who knew YouTube would turn into such a heated political marketplace? LOVE IT!

Rugby on ESPN.com

Random again, but I'm a huge Rugby fan b/c my dad used to play internationally when he lived in Qatar (he's gonna love me for mentioning that).

ESPN just announced its plans to give the sport more of a presence on ESPN.com. In order to accomplish this, they recently purchased Scrum.com, which currently provides rugby news, scores, and other info about the sport. I assume this means they'll integrate the content from that site into ESPN.com's main site. I'm glad ESPN is taking an interest in international sports that might not be as popular in the US. They have also taken steps to expand upon Cricket (by purchasing Cricinfo.com) and Soccer (launching foreign language websites for the sport). All of this helps make ESPN more of a world superpower when it comes to Sports and not just an American phenomenon.

Heroes Hiring Frenzy

Man, "Heroes" is hiring like crazy these days, tapping into all kinds of talent for upcoming arcs on the popular NBC Series. The biggest addition lately is the lovely and talented Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars" fame. Since the cancellation of the cult series, its been a tv feeding frenzy for Miss Bell...its even been rumored that LOST producers were seeking her out for an arc as well. She'll join the cast of "Heroes" as a young, mysterious woman named Elle who is very actively involved in a lot of the character's lives even though her true intentions remain unclear. According to Michael Ausiello at TVguide.com, she'll be doing a whopping 13 episodes. Should be interesting. Bell is also rumored to be in the works to star as another Elle--Elle Woods, that is--in the broadway musical version of "Legally Blond," replacing current lead Laura Bell Bundy in the Spring.

Other cast additions are:
Janel Parrish (Bratz: The Movie)--the head cheerleader in Claire's new high school

Dana Davis ("The Nine")--a new humble hero and series regular

Dania Ramirez (X-Men: The Last Stand/"Sopranos")--a series regular hero with unknown powers

Nick D'Agnosto (Rocket Science)--Claire's new boyfriend with a "very cool superpower"

Barry Shabaka Henley (The Terminal)--Detective working for the NYPD

Holt McCallany ("CSI: Miami")--ring-leader to a group of Irish thugs

David Anders ("Alias")--ancient samurai warrior Takezo Kensei, Hiro's hero

Eriko Tamura ("The Nine")--Japanese Princess

Lyndsey Fonseca ("The Young and the Restless")--nice cheerleader

Dianna Agron ("Veronica Mars")--mean cheerleader

How are all of these people going to recur on one series that is already known for its prolific ensemble cast? Mighty ambitious, Tim Kring...mighty ambitious indeed. Check out what's in store for the new season, starting Sept. 24th on NBC.

Happy Birthday, Hayden!

She's legal ya'll! Young starlet Hayden Panettiere celebrates her 18th birthday today, but not before she made this adorable appearance on Letterman last night in NY. I don't know why, but I believe in Miss Hayden. I think she's got a strong head on her shoulders and won't throw her life away like so many other young stars (**cough*Lohan*cough**). And hell, she's spending her 18th birthday working with "Declare Yourself," where she is an official spokesperson spreading a strong political message for people her age to go out and VOTE in the upcoming 2008 presidential election. Go Hayden!

HSM2 Mania!

Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" broke all kinds of records over the weekend with the highest cable premiere of ALL TIME. It just goes to show you that the tween audience is a force that cannot be denied.

A whopping 17.2 million people tuned in to see what Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and the rest of the gang had to offer. Simply amazing. It was the most watched Friday night telecast in more than 5 years, not to mention the most watched basic cable movie ever, pulling in almost 38% MORE viewers that the previous record holder.

It hit Disney Channel's key demographic perfectly, proving itself to be an incredible marketing machine (most watched TV telecast ever in kids 6-11, and 2nd most watched in tweens 9-14). Now I've been expecting this, having seen firsthand the crazy popularity "High School Musical" garnered. I mean the soundtrack alone last year was the NUMBER ONE SELLING ALBUM OF THE YEAR. This auspicious debut really should come as no surprise to anyone. I'm awaiting the numbers on the encore premieres on Saturday and Sunday night, assuming that it too was capable of breaking all kinds of records.

Congratulations, my friends!! You deserve it!!!

**UPDATE** I was right, the rebroadcasts of "High School Musical 2" (A Sing-A-Long) on Saturday and Sunday averaged a whopping 8.44 and 7.54 million viewers respectively, making Saturday's broadcast the 4th most watched telecast ever and Sunday's the 9th. That's a grand total of 33.22 million viewers in ONE WEEKEND for the made-for-TV movie. Think about that...if this had been a theatrical release with ticket sales averaging around $8, it could have grossed over $265 MILLION. That's significantly bigger than the opening for Spiderman 3, which had the highest opening to date with $151 million. Craziness. Needless to say, this movie bumped cable channel Disney Channel into the No.3 network spot for the week, averaging more viewers than basic cable networks NBC, ABC, or the CW.