“HIMYM” was once a struggling sitcom, saved by Britney Spears
At first, “How I Met Your Mother's” innovative sitcom format didn't appeal to viewer, so much so that the show was on the bubble when it filmed its series finale scene during Season 2. It took a Season 3 appearance by Britney — accompanied by gobs of media attention and paparazzi — to make “HIMYM” a certified hit. PLUS: Looking back at “HIMYM's” rating highs and lows, director Pam Fryman recalls her favorite moments, 10 “HIMYM” jokes as infographics, Ted Mosby was a slut, fans are having trouble coping with the end, a political history of “HIMYM,” ranking Ted's girlfriends, looking back at the pilot episode, and how the co-creators met in a band.
“SNL's” Taran Killam went on his 1st date with Cobie Smulders the day after “HIMYM's” pilot table read
In a 2 1/2-hour interview with Kevin Pollak, Killam recalls how much his life with Smulders has coincided with “How I Met Your Mother.” Killam met Smulders thanks to his Canadian co-star Paul Campbell on the failed Bill Lawrence WB pilot “Nobody's Watching.”
George Lopez's “Saint George” looks like it's going to be canceled
FX has an option to pick up 90 episodes after the initial 10-episode run, like Charlie Sheen's sitcom. But Lopez's comedy has been performing poorly.
Binge-watching study: D.C. is No. 1, most viewers prefer binging on current shows
A Harris Poll commissioned by Comcast also found that 11% of viewers would pick Rick Grimes from “The Walking Dead” as their “binge buddy.”
Why “Cosmos” disappoints: Neil deGrasse Tyson is too annoying
The acclaimed astronomer talks to viewers like their little kids, and the entire presentation is too cartoonish.
If Chelsea Handler exits E!, then late-night will become all-male again
Not only all-male, but almost entirely white males (except Arsenio).
“Raising Hope” was Martha Plimpton's only steady job in her long acting career
She says of her role on the Fox comedy : “There were things about doing that character every week – every day – that were incredibly freeing and confidence-building and gave me a new relationship to work, and how to work, and how to be present and available and game. I will miss it. But I cannot complain. I don”t feel in any way robbed of anything. Do you know what I mean?”
Asian females are dropping like flies on network TV this season
By the end of the season, three Asian-American characters will be gone from their shows.
Anderson Cooper talks to Howard Stern about “The Mole,” Alec Baldwin and Kathy Griffin
The CNN host even uttered a bad word during his nearly 1 hour and a quarter interview.
How “Game of Thrones” is handling its child stars aging
“I”m happy Bran is a cripple,” says co-creator D.B Weiss, who notes that Isaac Hempstead-Wright is now almost as tall as him.
Here's some advice for Josh Charles
What should he do now that he's no longer part of a hit show?
Does FX have the best TV show promos?
Are FX's promos better than AMC's or HBO's?
Drew Carey wanted to keep his April's Fools swap with Craig Ferguson a secret
“Well, that”s what I thought we were going to do, but then CBS had to approve it all,” says “The Price is Right” host. “Originally when I heard the concept I thought, 'That would be a fun thing to spring on people.' And then once CBS found out about it, they were like, 'No, we”re going to publicize the hell of it and get people to watch.'”
Watch a supercut of every “Community” movie reference
Where's “Robocop”?
Universal Orlando opens a hotel that looks like it was inspired by “Mad Men”
The Cabana Bay Beach Resort takes advantage of the '60s theme.
See a preview of CBS' “Bad Teacher”
Ari Graynor takes over the Cameron Diaz role in the remake of the 2011 film.
VH1 spoofs reality TV tonight with “This Is Hot 97”
As the NY Times describes it, “Hot 97” is a “workplace comedy masquerading as a hip-hop-insider tour masquerading as a reality show, and not particularly successful at any of them.”
CBS' “Friends with Better Lives” really does want to be the new “Friends”
The comedy starring James Van Der Beek and Kevin Connolly has “a professional, even a grim efficiency to the jokes,” says Robert Lloyd, “which approach like B-52 bombers, drop their punch lines and head back to base. There are breast jokes, genital jokes, a long oral sex joke, an alcoholic-sorority-girl-defecating-in-a-closet joke. A few hit, many miss. The war goes on.” PLUS: The pilot is so awful it has nowhere to go but up, it's wrapped in 100 percent market-proven cardboard humor, and what Van Der Beek learned from “Don't Trust the B—.”