Bob Costas: NBC Winter Olympic coverage won’t duck Russia’s anti-gay laws

Bob Costas: NBC Winter Olympic coverage won’t duck Russia’s anti-gay laws
“If Putin doesn’t drag his butt into the studio,” says Costas, “then we’ll talk about it without him. But if he shows up, we”d rather talk to him. Wouldn’t you rather hear it from the horse’s mouth? I would. That’s what I was trying to say.” PLUS: Once again, NBC won’t stream the opening ceremony.

Report: Letterman hopes to have the living Beatles on for a 50th-anniversary Ed Sullivan Theater reunion
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Feb. 6, 1964 Beatles performance, “The Late Show” is considering making the entire week of Feb. 3 to 7 a Beatles-themed week, with guests Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

Why “SNL’s” black female casting search was a “diversity travesty”
Lorne Michaels made a spectacle of his diversity efforts by creating a “false urgency” to hire a black female, says Andrew Wallenstein. “The minute the show threw open its doors to the process–another rarity–this became a spectacle,” he says. “It wasn’t just that ‘SNL’ wanted to right a wrong; it wanted to be seen as righting a wrong.” PLUS: “SNL” doesn’t deserve praise for doing the right thing, Bobby Moynihan on Sasheer Zamata: “I think we’re very, very lucky to get her,” and CNN’s Don Lemon says she needs to be “a lot funnier than she is black.”

Amy Poehler on “SNL” alums hosting everything: “We may all host ourselves to death…”
Poehler and Tina Fey talk about hosting the Golden Globes, the new drinking game and “Saturday Night Live” alums being everywhere, hosting-wise. Plus, Fey talks about the racial controversy, while Poehler declines.

“Modern Family” books Aisha Tyler
She’ll play Mitch’s former law school classmate.


“Game of Thrones” promotes Michael Huisman for Season 5

He’s taking over the role of Daario Naharis in Season 4.

Ex-“Bachelor” contestant: Producers manipulated me into behaving like a bimbo
Kylie Lewis says producers decided she should dye her hair red and wear a pink dress, while also tweeting about meeting Juan Pablo. PLUS: Ex-“Bachelorette” Emily Maynard gets engaged.


Kitten Bowl starting lineup includes: Terry Bradclaw, Tim Teepaw, Tomcat Brady

See the entire lineup for the Hallmark Channel event.

“Sons of Anarchy” makes Drea de Matteo a series regular
She’ll be promoted for the final season.

Brandon Routh gets “Enlisted”
The former Superman will guest on two episodes of the Fox military comedy as a sergeant.


“Pushing Daisies” alum Anna Friel to star in NBC’s “Odyssey”

She’ll play a stranded female soldier in the “Traffic”-like drama project from Peter Horton.


Jason Biggs has a Twitter meltdown over “The Bachelor”

Check out the “Orange is the New Black” star’s misogynistic tweets.

Watch a preview of Stevie Nicks on “American Horror Story”
The singing legend makes her debut Wednesday on an episode titled, “The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks.”

London mayor OK with “Sherlock” mocking him
The buffoonish Boris Johnson was supposedly attacked on this week’s episode airing in the UK.

Sophia Bush recalls her brief marriage to “One Tree Hill” co-star Chad Michael Murray
It’s been nine years since their five-month marriage. When asked about it on “Watch What Happens Live,” Bush said, “That’s such an interesting question. But my mother once said to me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all.”

Clark Gregg on “S.H.I.E.L.D.”: “I don’t think we’re there just yet”
“There were hints at the end of Episode 10 at how deep and rich the fabric of this is, how much it connects to the cinematic and comic book universe,” he says. “And I think only in the back half of this season will all of the things that we”ve started to set up, and really the true nature of the show, get fully revealed.” PLUS: What happened to Agent Coulson on Tuesday’s episode?

Katie Couric accused of being transphobic in chat with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Orange is the New Black” stars
Couric asking about the genitals of Laverne Cox and Carmen Carrera amounted to “ignorance trolling,” says J. Bryan Lowder.

CBS’ “Intelligence doesn’t know how to use Josh Holloway
“It”s great to see the actor get the chance to anchor a series of his own,” says Zack Handlen, “but even Holloway can’t redeem cliché-addled scripts and a premise 40 years past its sell-by date.” PLUS: “Intelligence” is unbearably stupid, “Intelligence’s” audience would be better served watching “Almost Human,” and Holloway didn’t want to rehash another spy show.

“Idol” alum Crystal Bowersox: I’m bisexual
“I’ve been bisexual for, I don’t know, as long as I can remember,” she said this morning while promoting her new “Coming Out for Christmas” single.

Jimmy Kimmel spent New Year’s Eve vacationing with Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston
Kimmel was also joined by longtime vacation pal Howard Stern in Cabo San Lucas.


“Cougar Town” won’t have too many guest-stars in Season 5

Also, Bill Lawrence doesn’t want to throw too many curve balls with the 5th season, which premieres tonight.

BET changes its approach with “Being Mary Jane” starring Gabrielle Union
Debuting tonight, “Mary Jane” is the first scripted drama developed for BET, and it sometimes plays as an “extremely self-serious version” of “The Mindy Project.”


“Teen Wolf” returns to a series high

The MTV drama’s midseason premiere brought in 2.5 million viewers.

ABC’s “Killer Women” is truly bad TV
“This is a really bad show,” says Tim Goodman. “It’s a show so bad that if it was smart enough to be a spoof, it would be genius. But it’s not.” PLUS: “Killer Women” is clunky, cliched and unforgivably sexist, and Tricia Helfer on her “Killer” role.


“Justified” is still a good show, but it has abandoned what made it so great

All the elements that made “Justified” a great show in Seasons 1 and 2 are largely missing as Season 5 begins. “‘Justified’ is TV”s least pretentious show about a morally ambiguous man,” says Willa Paskin, “but over the years it has become progressively less thoughtful about that man and what he does-which is kill people.  As a comedic procedural, Justified remains aces; as a thought-provoking drama, well, Raylan’s pants continue to fit him very nicely.” PLUS:Why so much death early on?, It’s still too inconsistent, and the cast previews Season 5.

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