The Week: Most Recent Hollywood Personalities

Lindsay Lohan on SNL: Did she blow her comeback?

The Week — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:23:00 -0500

As Saturday Night Live host Lindsay Lohan was delivering her opening monologue (watch it below), Jimmy Fallon joked, "You can do this, and if for any reason you can't, Jon Hamm [Mad Men] is on standby as back-up host." Given how poorly critics rated Lohan's efforts, SNL producers may have wished they'd actually had Hamm ready to step in. It was widely believed that Lohan's SNL hosting gig was supposed to launch a comeback for the seemingly ill-fated starlet, who has spent the better part of the past six years making train-wreck headlines for her personal and legal woes. Did she blow her chance...

Lindsay Lohan's 'no holds barred' Today interview: 5 talking points

The Week — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:39:00 -0500

"I regret the choices that I've made." So said Lindsay Lohan in a "no holds barred" interview Thursday morning with Matt Lauer on the Today show — her first appearance on the program since her career and personal life began unraveling six years ago. (Watch a clip below.) Lohan, who has been in and out of court and jail over DUI and theft charges, now says, "I'm grateful for where I am today… I don't need to see any more negative stuff. I don't need to put myself in those places anymore." Not everyone is buying her sincerity — given that Lohan giggled girlishly...

Charlie Sheen vs. Ashton Kutcher: Another 'verbal rampage'

The Week — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:20:00 -0500

Charlie Sheen has been working hard to repair his image since his epic, tiger-blood-fueled meltdown last year. But now, just as his new sitcom, Anger Management, is going into production for an initial 10-episode run on FX, Sheen is flying off the handle again, lashing out at his old show, Two and a Half Men, and its new star, Ashton Kutcher. Here's what you should know:

What exactly did Sheen say?
"I'm tired of lying," Sheen told TMZ Live last week. "I'm tired of pretending [Men] doesn't suck." Of Kutcher, the actor called in to replace him, Sheen said: "I'm tired of pretending Ashton doesn't suck...

Will hosting SNL save Lindsay Lohan's career?

The Week — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:35:00 -0500

While Maya Rudolph was lapping up laughs and critical praise for her well-received stint hosting Saturday Night Live over the weekend, NBC made the surprising announcement that Lindsay Lohan will be the sketch show's next host, presiding over the upcoming March 3 episode. It will be the actress' fourth time hosting the show, though her last go at it was more than six years ago. Since then, Lohan has been in and out of rehab, courts, and prison for her litany of personal troubles. Other recent attempts at recapturing the spotlight have all fizzled, as Lohan was removed from her role in the biopic...

Betty White's 90th Birthday: 4 highlights

The Week — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:02:00 -0500

America's Golden Girl rang in her 90th birthday with a splashy NBC special Monday night. Amy Poehler, Mary Tyler Moore, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey turned out to toast — and roast — White, recalling favorite memories from the star's seven decades in show business, praising her talent, and, more often than not, cracking wise about her old age. (Watch a clip below.) Here, four highlights from the big birthday bash:

1. President Obama, the stand-up comic
In a taped message to White, President Barack Obama delivered a cheeky birthday greeting: "I can't believe you're 90 years old. Will you...

Could Lindsay Lohan pull off playing Elizabeth Taylor?

The Week — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:02:00 -0500

Could Lindsay Lohan get her act together in 2012? The disgraced tabloid staple — who most recently made headlines for a nude Playboy spread and a slew of court hearings — may be launching her umpteenth attempt at a career comeback. The Mean Girls star is reportedly in talks to portray cinema icon Elizabeth Taylor in the planned Lifetime original movie Elizabeth & Richard: A Love Story, which was announced last May. The telefilm would follow the epic, combative romance of the renowned Hollywood couple, and mark Lohan's first major acting gig in two years. Would TMZ's favorite stalkee...

'I'm not crazy anymore': 4 ways Charlie Sheen says he's changed

The Week — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:59:00 -0500

"I'm not crazy anymore," Charlie Sheen told journalists this week, at a press conference for his upcoming FX series Anger Management. During the event, Sheen candidly discussed the dramatic past year of his life, during which a very public meltdown made him a headline-grabbing media star, got him fired from his gig as TV's highest paid actor on Two and a Half Men, and eventually led to a mea culpa tour ending in his being cast in the FX sitcom (which will be loosely based on Adam Sandler's 2003 movie). Here, four lessons Charlie Sheen says he's learned:

1. Sometimes, you have to take a chill pill...

What Lindsay Lohan could learn from Snooki

The Week — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:37:00 -0500

When news first broke that Lindsay Lohan would pose nude for Playboy, "it seemed a desperate act for a once-promising star," says Kate Ward at Entertainment Weekly. But after the struggling actress' cover shot leaked earlier this week, Lohan's name rocketed to the top of internet search lists, and she once again dominated water cooler banter. For once, Lohan's prominence wasn't because of a court date over her bad behavior. Maybe posing nude wasn't such a bad career move after all. In fact, says Ward, the Playboy cover could launch "an entirely new career" for the floundering star. Lohan should...

Is FX crazy to pick up Charlie Sheen's new sitcom?

The Week — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:51:00 -0400

As CBS frets over the flat-lining ratings of the Charlie Sheen-less Two and a Half Men, another network is getting into bed with the troubled sitcom star. Sheen's new comedy series, Anger Management, has been picked up by FX for a potential 100 episodes. According to the deal, FX is committed to airing the first 10 episodes as soon as next summer; if they achieve a certain ratings benchmark, the network is obligated to pick up 90 more. Anger Management will be based on the 2003 Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson movie, and Sheen will play a therapist who may require more help than his patients. It will...

Should Lindsay Lohan pose nude for Playboy?

The Week — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:59:00 -0400

One overexposed celebrity is apparently about to expose even more of herself. According to TMZ, Lindsay Lohan, who was recently released on bail after being sent back to jail for violating her probation, has accepted a nearly $1 million offer to pose nude for Playboy. (According to some reports, the photos have already been shot.) Reps for the actress and for the magazine have not confirmed the reports. Lohan has appeared almost-nude before, in spreads for New York and GQ. Still, some critics argue that posing for Playboy is a desperate move that marks a low point in the troubled actress...

Charlie Sheen's Today show interview: Did he redeem himself?

The Week — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:50:00 -0400

The video: Just days before the airing of Comedy Central's roast of Charlie Sheen — not to mention the season premiere of his former TV showcase, Two and a Half Men — the actor-turned-punchline is embarking on a mea culpa tour. He sat down with Today's Matt Lauer for an interview that aired Friday morning, claiming surprise that the catchphrases he coined — "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA," for instance — caught on so quickly. (See clip below.) "I couldn't really put out the fire," he says of his public meltdown, adding that the whole ordeal was "just one crazy chapter...

Killing Charlie Sheen off Two and a Half Men: Good idea?

The Week — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 11:47:00 -0400

R.I.P. Charlie Harper? Deadline reports that the season premiere of CBS's Two and a Half Men, ostensibly a comedy, will begin with a funeral for the character played by Charlie Sheen. After the character's (many) ex-girlfriends grieve his passing, his home will be put on the market: Enter replacement star Ashton Kutcher as a prospective buyer. Speculation is that Kutcher purchases the house, precipitating some co-habitation arrangement with the show's remaining "one and a half men." Of course, killing off Sheen's character precludes the prospect that the strangely popular actor could ever...

Lindsay Lohan's 'pathetic' puppet infomercial

The Week — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:55:00 -0400

The video: Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Once hailed as "one of the most promising actresses of her generation," Linday Lohan has, of course, become a troubled tabloid fixture in recent years, as her acting career has been pushed aside by rehab stints and nights out with Paris Hilton. But during a grueling 35-day house arrest at her beachfront home in Venice Beach, Calif., earlier this year (for stealing a necklace and violating the terms of her probation), Lohan did manage to get some work in. She taped two "pathetic" commercials for Air New Zealand, wherein a brash puppet named Rico...

Charlie Sheen's wild ride: A timeline

The Week — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:30:00 -0400

Charlie Sheen's acting career is defined by staggeringly steep ups and downs. He broke out in the '80s with roles in Red Dawn, Platoon, and Wall Street. But in the '90s the actor became more of a tabloid cover star than matinee idol. Successful TV gigs on Spin City and Two and a Half Men helped repair Sheen's image, before an almost year-long personal and professional meltdown left the actor unemployed and — in the eyes of many — unemployable. But against all odds and after many false rumors, Sheen is returning to TV in an adaptation of the 2003 Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson...

Charlie Sheen's Comedy Central roast: A 'winning' move?

The Week — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:20:00 -0400

Remember Charlie Sheen? It wasn't so long ago that the ousted Two and a Half Men star's imploding career and personal life was all over the news. But now, with even his notoriety fading, Sheen's going back on TV — as the "subject-cum-victim" of Comedy Central's popular Roast series on September 10. Is it really a good move for Sheen to follow luminaries like Donald Trump and David Hasselhoff into a lion's den of trash-talking celebrity guests and comedians?

This is a win for Sheen and Comedy Central: The roast is more than just an excuse to resurrect the Sheen catch phrase "winning," says...

Ashton Kutcher: A 'smart choice' to replace Charlie Sheen?

The Week — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:09:00 -0400

Hugh's out and Ashton's in. That's the big news in the saga of the troubled sitcom Two and a Half Men. Earlier this week, fans and critics were tantalized by reports that Hugh Grant had come close to replacing the off-the-rails Charlie Sheen on the hit comedy. Now, CBS has announced an official replacement — square-jawed everydude Ashton Kutcher. The Punk'd producer/Valentine's Day star/Demi Moore spouse is being called a "smart choice" for the role. Is he?

Yes, Kutcher's a lot like Sheen... only sober: Kutcher is "a great fit for the show," says Alan Sepinwall at HitFix. Like Sheen, he...