After eight seasons of romances, drug addictions, various lives saved and plenty of clever, mean-hearted banter from Gregory House, Fox TV series House M.D. will draw to a close.

Producers for the show laid rumors of the series’ demise to rest on Wednesday when they announced that the series finale will air in May.

Fox president Kevin Reilly announced that it was the shows producers and actor Hugh Laurie who all decided that it was time to move on during a high creative note.

In his statement Reilly said:

“While it’s with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David [Shore] and Katie [Jacobs] have made.  A true original, on the page and amazingly brought to life by Hugh Laurie, there is only one Dr. House.  For eight seasons, the entire HOUSE team has given us – and fans around the world – some of the most compelling characters and affecting stories ever seen on television.  They have been creatively tenacious and collaborative throughout this incredible run, and they are amongst the most superior talents in the business.  For all the above, we wholeheartedly thank them, and the fans who have supported the show.”

After much deliberation, the producers of House M.D. have decided that this season of the show, the 8th, should be the last.  By April this year they will have completed 177 episodes, which is about 175 more than anyone expected back in 2004.

The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years — but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved.

Since it began, House has aspired to offer a coherent and satisfying world in which everlasting human questions of ethics and emotion, logic and truth, could be examined, played out, and occasionally answered.  This sounds like fancy talk, but it really isn’t.  House has, in its time, intrigued audiences around the world in vast numbers, and has shown that there is a strong appetite for television drama that relies on more than prettiness or gun play.

But now that time is drawing to a close.  The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature;  he should never be the last one to leave the party.  How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.

The producers can never sufficiently express their gratitude to the hundreds of dedicated artists and technicians who have given so generously of their energy and talent to make House the show it has been— and perhaps will continue to be for some time, on one cable network or another.

The makers of House would also like to thank Fox Broadcasting and Universal Television for supporting the show with patience, imagination and large quantities of good taste.  The Studio-As-Evil-Adversary is one of the many clichés that House has managed to avoid, and for that the cast and crew are deeply grateful.

Lastly, the audience:  some have come and some have gone, obviously.  This is to be expected in the life of any show.  But over the course of the last eight years, the producers of House have felt immensely honored to be the subject of such close attention by an intelligent, discriminating, humane and thoughtful—not to mention numerous— audience.  Even the show’s detractors have been flattering in their way.

Making the show has felt like a lively and passionate discussion about as many different subjects as could possibly be raised in 177 hours. The devotion and generosity of our viewers has been marvelous to behold.

So, finally, everyone at House will bid farewell to the audience and to each other with more than a few tears, but also with a deep feeling of gratitude for the grand adventure they have been privileged to enjoy for the last eight years.  If the show lives on somewhere, with somebody, as a fond memory, then that is a precious feat, of which we will always be proud.

Everybody Lies.

I have to admit that as a fan of the show I’ll miss watching it go away, however at the same time I can’t fault the producers for not allowing the show to drag on with an endlessly new cast of doctors meant to once again grab our imaginations.

The announcement shouldn’t surprise Hugh Laurie fans, the actor announced that he would retire from TV once the series ended which led to speculation that the current season would be his last.

Will you miss House once it leave the network in May 2012?

Fox Announcement: Season 8 Of ‘House’ Will Be The Last is a post from: The Inquisitr

“I would’ve liked to have kept [Paula]. She was very gracious, and I said that to her. She understands it’s business; it’s never personal.”

Cowell also comments on Scherzinger when adding:

“I don’t think she’s mad. I think she’s disappointed.”

Simon admits that his expectations for the show led to the firings:

“It’s only because I opened my big mouth and said we were going to get 20 million [viewers],” Cowell says. “If I hadn’t said that, everybody would be saying the show was a huge success.”

In the meantime Simon Cowell calls rumors of a Beyoncé judging slot “complete nonsense” which means she likely won’t be on the show earning $100 million per season as recently rumored

As for his choices, Simon says Madonna would be great to get but “expensive” while he thinks Katy Perry would be “fun and feisty.”

Cowell also says that Mariah Carey would be great to have on the show but he fears that just giving birth to not one but two kids would make the commitment needed for the show hard on Mariah.

Who would you like to see replace Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger on X Factor?

Simon Cowell Wanted Paula Abdul To Remain On X Factor is a post from: The Inquisitr

J.J. Abrams’ cultish, mythology-driven show Fringe is facing potential cancellation. Though the show is a fan-favorite and has survived into its fourth season, it continues to face two of its greatest antagonists, and no, I’m not talking about shape-shifters or Walternate. I’m talking about consistently mediocre ratings and the Friday night “death slot”. But if Fringe has one plucky can-do hero in its corner, it’s Joshua Jackson.

Just yesterday at the Television Critics Assoc. press tour, Fox chief Kevin Reilly wasn’t pulling any punches when talking about Fringe. He said that the show was completely cost-ineffective, stating that Fox, “lose[s] a lot of money on that show. At that rating, on that night, it’s impossible to make money … and we’re not in the business of losing money,”

When asked to respond to Reilly’s comments, Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter Bishop on the show, said this:

“Look, I’d rather not get canceled but if we did get canceled, so long as they have enough time to properly finish the story that to me is the most important thing, [...] Even though Kevin Reilly had very honest things to say about the show, I get it, it’s a money-making business and if we’re not making that money then we don’t deserve to be on the air.”

Jackson wasn’t completely satisfied accepting his potential fate, expressing a desire to explore different mediums to finish the story of Fringe.

“Yeah, however the story needs to end or whatever they put together as the ending, whether it’s at the end of season 4, whether it’s a TV movie. They’ve talked about doing graphic novels; whatever it is, I just want it to properly end,”

For some reason, his comments remind me of Firefly fans.

In any case, Fringe returns from hiatus this week, 9:00 P.M. on Fox. Though there have been cancellation rumors, there’s nothing out there to suggest that Fox will pull the rest of the season before all episodes have aired.

So what do you think? Still looking forward to Fringe season 5?

Joshua Jackson Suggests Walternatives to Potential Fringe Cancellation is a post from: The Inquisitr

Helen Mirren has reportedly added herself to the endless list of celebrities who have appeared on the hit Fox TV/Musical Glee?

Mirren unlike many of her fellow actors and actresses will not appear on the show but rather will lend her voice to an episode.

According to TV Line, Helen Mirren simply  “provides the ‘inner voice’” for one of the Glee characters. At this time we don’t know who that character is, although we’ll soon find out when the Mirren voiced episode airs on January 17.

“Helen came in and secretly recorded several long and hilarious monologues two weeks ago,” said TVLine’s unnamed source. “Then she visited the kids on set, and they had no idea she was coming; they were stunned.”

Apparently Mirren had to be talked into the role by Eric Stoltz. Not only has Stoltz directed several episodes of the uber-popular show, he also co-starred with Helen Mirren in the 2007 drama The Passion Of Ayn Rand. It’s believed that the guest spot was written specifically for Mirren.

Other big name stars who have dropped by the set of Glee have included Broadway and film star Kristin Chenoweth, How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris, Gwyneth Paltrow and pop superstar Britney Spears who played herself in a vision filled episode courtesy of a local dentist and his anesthesia.

Other stars to make guest appearances on Glee have included Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin and “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star NeNe Leakes.

Will you be tuning in to the Jan. 17 episode of Glee so you can hear Helen Mirren take on the shows newest guest appearance spot?

Helen Mirren Joins Cast Of Glee, Won’t Appear On Screen is a post from: The Inquisitr

The comedy has been nominated for two Globes – ‘Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy’ and one for Deschanel herself as ‘Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy’. Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Deschanel (like the self-consciously oh-so-’wacky’ charmingly kooky character she is) said the experience had been, “like … like, cake and ice cream.” She added:

“I’ve been working a really long time as an actress — I know how special and rare it is to get recognized like this.”

Deschanel plays the titular heroine, a girl who moves in with three guys after a humiliating split from her boyfriend. The actress called her nomination a “total surprise.” But how would her character, Jess, react?

“She would totally trip and fall and walk into a wall. I know that because she’s like me and that’s sort of what I did. We worked a really long day yesterday so I was so tired this morning. I accidentally punched my wrist into a wall. I tend to walk into things when I’m tired I forget where my body ends and the world begins.”

The LA Times also spoke to New Girl‘s creator, Liz Meriwether. Meriwether “semi-based” Jess on her own life, and the nomination has plainly gone to somebody‘s head:

“In a weird way, it’s like a life nomination.”

Yeah. It’s … really not, Liz.

[Via Los Angeles Times]

Zooey Deschanel Reflects on ‘New Girl’ Golden Globe Nominations is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mitt Romney has slowly developed a reputation as a politician who ducks tough questioning or tricky media appearances – not my words, but the view from some Romney supporters.

Jennifer Rubin, a conservative Washington Post blogger who is often quick to praise Romney, wrote on Monday:

“It remains a mystery why Mitt Romney has done relatively few interviews. [His November 29 Fox interview might have gone better] had it been one of dozens of TV interviews he’d given during the campaign. … He’s been the least interviewed candidate in the race.”

Rich Galen is a former GOP strategist who is neutral in the current race for the presidential candidacy. On Tuesday, he remarked:

“The lack of engagement strategy has served Romney pretty well. Now I think they’ve got to alter course and get him out there more.”

Such views seem to have got through to Romney. Late on Tuesday, the presidential candidate announced he would increase media access to himself, agreeing to more in-depth interviews and holding his third press conference in four days.

He’ll still appear on Fox a lot, on Monday telling Fox News that, “I’ll be on Fox a lot, because you guys matter when it comes to Republican primary voters,” but will also open up more to other outlets. Romney is scheduled to appear on “Fox News Sunday” on December 18 – it will be his first national Sunday talk show in nearly two years.

Romney currently trails former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in GOP polls, and the Romney campaign is keen to avoid the assumption that their man avoids tough political reporters. This reputation wasn’t dimmed by Romney’s bristling responses in a November 29 appearance on Fox, answering questions to Fox News’ Bret Baier.

I have a proposal for Mr. Romney: get to the UK for an hour with Paxman and I’ll believe the change is real.

Mitt Romney Increases Media Access is a post from: The Inquisitr

When Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger voted X-Factor contestant Drew Ryniewicz they probably assumed that “the show would go on” as the saying goes but instead they were met with death threats. Now the former X-Factor contestant has taken to the public pulpit to personally support Paula and Nicole.

As I previously reported Paula and Nicole received X-Factor motivated death threats on Twitter and Facebook after voting off the 14-year-old contestant, among the worst threats was the following tweet:

“F**K you paula you dumb c**t you voted off the most talented person on your f**king show. i hope you die you DUMB B***H.”

Now Drew is speaking out, telling fans who have made the threat:

“That’s not what I represent and that’s not what I want my fans to represent.”

Drew adds:

“No one deserves death threats.”

Perhaps “Bieber Fever” is becoming contagious for fans of other stars now, after all a death threat over a reality TV based talent show is extreme and quite honestly extremely pathetic on the part of the attackers.

Are you surprised by the rabid nature of several Drew Ryniewicz fans?

Former X-Factor Contestant Drew Ryniewicz Asks Fans To Stop Death Threats is a post from: The Inquisitr

X-Factor judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger have begun to receive death threats after they voted off Drew Ryniewicz during this weeks airing of the popular Fox TV music talent show.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that Paula and Nicole both received the cold shoulder from Simon Cowell after the show, they then began receiving disturbing messages on Facebook and Twitter which included:

– “F**K you paula you dumb c**t you voted off the most talented person on your f**king show. i hope you die you DUMB B***H.”

– “I hope you die, you selfish———-”

– “@NicoleScherzy @paulaabdul go die”

According to show officials both Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger were extremely surprised to see such an outpouring of hate over their decision to cut Ryniewicz.

Are you surprised by the length some fans will go to when supporting a new rising artist that hasn’t really produced anything of their own worth listening to at this point?

X-Factor’s Female Judges Receive Death Threats is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you want to be more informed than your Fox News and to a smaller extend MSNBC news watching friends a recent study by Pollsters at Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey suggest that you should just forgo watching the news all together.

In interviewing 612 New Jersey residents and asking them five questions about Occupy Wall Street, the Republican primary race and events in Egypt the study found that those who avoided Fox News were more informed about widely accepted facts.

When asked if protesters in Egypt had managed to bring down Hosni Mubarak only 49 percent of Fox News viewers answered Yes while 57 percent of MSNBC viewers knew the correct answer. NPR and The Daily Show viewers scored considerably higher with 68 percent answer the question correctly.

When asked if Occupy Wall Street protesters were primarily Republicans or Democrats 13 percent of Fox News respondents answered incorrectly by stating Republicans, that was compared to 14 percent by MSNBC viewers.

The University’s PublicMind Poll goes on to reveal that Fox News viewers are misinformed more than people who view no news at all and more than MSNBC watchers. According to PublicMind’s Daniel Cassino it was hard to extrapolate who actually watched “no news” at all and he says the poll used complex algorithms to strip out certain variables including education levels and geographical location of participants to ensure misinformation was to blame.

In defense of Fox News, the poll could likely be repeated against other networks who put their own slant on events that occur, on the other hand events in Egypt, specifically regarding Mubarak are easy to push home to viewers. The left-wing watchdog group Media Matters For America points to six other polls that revealed the same type of misinformation on the part of Fox News.

In the meantime 612 viewers in New Jersey is hardly a comprehensive study regarding the worldly views of a network that garners millions of viewers. While I’m not quick to defend Fox News I also strongly believe that a similar sample could provide the same type of results against other news factions both on the left and right. I do however understand how Jon Stewart fans repeatedly answer world view questions correctly during these types of polls since Stewart tends to focus on major news events and relentlessly repeats events that led up to and involving major milestones in national and international news. Stewart’s Daily Show broadcasts also generate plenty of “water cooler” talk compared to traditional news which in turn helps inform a larger base.

I personally would have liked the poll to ask more hard pressing questions that offer fact based answers that have been “muddled” by left and right wing media’s attempts to push misinformation to their readers.

Fox News Viewers Are Less Informed Than Other News Watchers, Non-News Viewers [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

DirecTV on Thursday filed an FCC compliant against Fox after the company spent the last week running newspaper ads and TV promos attacking DirecTV’s currently negotiations with the company.

In a letter sent from DirectTV executive vice president Derek Chang:

“In the midst of a dispute over cable programming, Fox is using misleading advertising informing DirecTV customers that “soon, in some markets, you may lose your local Fox station,” even though our retransmission consent agreement does not expire for over two months.”

Fox went public with their attacks last week when they told customers that some of their channels could be pulled by November 1 if a new contract isn’t agreed upon. The company’s current contract covers Prime Ticket, Fox Sports West, FX and National Geographic. The company also has another contract that expires on December 31 and includes 27 Fox ownered and operated stations.

Fox took out a Sunday full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times in which they said Los Angeles residents could “soon” lose Fox 11 and Fox 13 if a deal doesn’t arrive momentarily.

In their complain DirecTV says:

“The carriage agreement between DirecTV and a number of cable networks controlled by Fox Cable Networks, Inc. expired on September 30,” and “Although the parties have been negotiating for months, Fox continues to demand that DirecTV customers pay significantly more for the same channels they already receive. At present, DirecTV is carrying this programming under an interim extension agreement. If a new deal is not reached, DirecTV will suspend carriage of these cable channels on November 1.”

Under current reports Fox would like to receive an increase of up to 40 percent in carriage-fees.

In the meantime Fox (not surprisingly owned by Rupert Murdochs News Corp.) has went on a propaganda campaign by having various show creators threaten viewers that their favor shows could be pulled off the air before their seasons officially come to an end.

Here’s the full letter that DirecTV sent to William T. Lake, Chief of the FCC Media Bureu:

William T. Lake

Chief

Media Bureau

Federal Communications Commission

445 Twelfth Street, S.W.

Washington, DC 20554

Dear Mr. Lake:

I want to alert you to a disturbing development that relates to the broadcast stations owned and operated by Fox Broadcasting Company, Inc. (“Fox”). Specifically, in the midst of a dispute over cable programming, Fox is using misleading advertising informing DIRECTV customers that “soon, in some markets, you may lose your local Fox station,” even though our retransmission consent agreement does not expire for over two months. Furthermore while Fox continues to run these misleading ads, Fox has refused to provide us a separate offer for the continued carriage of its broadcast stations.

The carriage agreement between DIRECTV and a number of cable networks controlled by Fox Cable Networks, Inc. expired on September 30. Although the parties have been negotiating for months, Fox continues to demand that DIRECTV customers pay significantly more for the same channels they already receive. At present, DIRECTV is carrying this programming under an interim extension agreement. If a new deal is not reached, DIRECTV will suspend carriage of these cable channels on November 1.

Even if the Fox cable channels are no longer carried on November 1, the broadcast stations are covered under a separate agreement, which does not expire until December 31. Fox, however, is running advertisements asserting that DIRECTV viewers “soon could even lose” the Fox broadcast stations in their local markets. One such advertisement ran in the widely-circulated Los Angeles Times editions for Sunday,

October 23, a copy of which is attached hereto. In addition, Fox’s television advertisements on its local broadcast stations state that viewers could lose local channels (showing clips from Glee and NFL games) that are not subject to this agreement.

Ironically, at the same time it is airing these warnings, Fox has repeatedly refused to provide us with a separate offer for carriage of the Fox broadcast stations.

On the one hand, Fox has refused to negotiate in good faith for carriage of the broadcast stations. At the same time, it is informing DIRECTV customers that they may soon lose access to such stations, purposely conflating a potential November 1 deadline for cable programming with the additional loss of broadcast programming the delivery of which is assured through the end of the year. Fox is clearly abusing the public trust by its deliberate attempt to confuse and alarm consumers. Such conduct is certainly not what the Commission had in mind when it made Fox a steward of the nation’s airwaves entrusted to serve the public interest.

DIRECTV still hopes to arrive at a fair agreement with Fox before its subscribers are deprived of any programming. In the meantime, we have demanded that Fox immediately stop running advertisements that mislead consumers by suggesting that DIRECTV subscribers may not be able to receive Fox broadcast stations. To date, Fox has failed to do so.

Do you think Fox needs to lower their demands which would in turn cost satellite subscribers even more money? This is where “per channel” ordering would come in handy.

DirecTV Files FCC Complaint Over Fox Publicity Attacks is a post from: The Inquisitr

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane says sometimes he wishes his hit Fox cartoon series Family Guy would end it’s run.

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter Seth revealed:

 ”Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about the right lifespan for a TV series.”

When talking about the show nearing 200 episodes in it’s 10th season MacFarlane said:

“I talk to the fans and in a way I’m kind of secretly hoping for them to say, ‘We’re done with it.’”

“There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill … but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility.”

Fans of the show shouldn’t worry too much about a cancellation as Fox is winning big with the show which has a heavy male teen and young adults audience that earns the network $220,000 for each 30 second advertisement.

Even if the show was taken off the air MacFarlane’s brand of humor won’t disappear thanks to his never ending supply of cartoons including The Cleveland Show and American Dad. MacFarlane is also working on an updated Flintstones cartoon.

I personally would be bummed out to watch the show go off the air. Are you a fan of Family Guy? If you are do you believe that the show is over the hill or should Seth MacFarlane continue to give his best effort to develop more laugh out loud moments for Peter and the rest of the Griffin family and their quirky gang of friends?

Seth MacFarlane Wishes Family Guy Would Just End is a post from: The Inquisitr

They can cut out the millionaire talk show hosts and just pay me a middle class wage to directly blame poor people.

How Fox News Spreads Lies Using Rich People [Pic] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yesterday our very own Chris Greenhough reported that the Simpsons cartoon series may be going off the air after 23-seasons due to demands by Fox that the shows voice actors take major pay cuts of 45% and now we’ve learned that show producers have been stepping up to take pay cuts of their own in a last ditch effort to save the cartoon.

According to sources several of the shows top-level producers have agreed to take the cuts in place of actor fees. At this time not all of the shows producers are on board and cast members have not yet reached an agreement of their own.

According to Variety it’s very likely that producer pay cuts will not come close to the 45% reduction in voice actor salaries that Fox executives would like to see. We reported yesterday that voice actors Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright and Julia Kavner each earn $8 million per year and have said they would be willing to cut a quarter of their paychecks to keep the show running.

There is a little bit of good news regarding the situation, Entertainment Weekly says all sides want to keep the show running for years to come and they are expected to reach some sort of tentative deal by Friday.

While I don’t find the show to have the same must-see humor it once offered the Simpsons still bring political and pop satire to our nations TV sets, something that would be missed by millions. Would you be sad to see Fox TV pull the plug on a cartoon that has been around for nearly two and a half decades?

Simpsons Might Be Saved Thanks To Producer Pay Cuts is a post from: The Inquisitr

In what sounds like a passable Simpsons storyline, executives at Fox have reportedly said the show will have to be closed down in the spring unless cast members are willing to take a 45% pay cut.

Dan Castellaneta probably owns the most famous Simpson voice, that of well-meaning buffoon and father Homer. Julia Kavner voices Marge, while Nancy Cartwright is tearaway son Bart. Each earns an estimated $8 million per year, yet now Fox is seeking to cut their fees. As one source from the show told the Daily Beast:

“Fox is taking the position that unless they can cut the production costs really drastically, they’ll pull the plug on new shows. 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.”

For its part, Fox feels continuing the show without decreasing production costs is impossible:

“We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model. We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows The Simpsons to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come.”

It seems neither side is willing to budge, though other solutions may be available. In past disputes, executives at the network have threatened to hire sound-a-like actors.

The cast have also offered to take a 30% cut in exchange for a percentage of the show’s profits from global syndication and merchandising, an offer Fox has turned down.

Though its last decent gag was about ten years ago, The Simpsons has played a major role in modern American culture since its debut in 1989. Currently in its 23rd season, its disappearance from screens would mark the end of an era. While it probably won’t return to the unrivaled brilliance it displayed at its peak in the ’90s, it would leave a gaping hole for many viewers.

[Via Daily Beast]

The Simpsons Could be Cancelled if Cast Refuses Pay Cut is a post from: The Inquisitr

Apparently American Idol fans didn’t really care that their favorite show featured Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, they were tuning in to watch the shows format and emerging singers, something they didn’t do for the premiere week of Cowell’s new singing competition show X-Factor.

According to TV ratings company Nielsen the US debut of the show took in just 12.4 viewers far less than the 26.1 million viewers who tuned in to catch the season 10 premiere of American Idol.

In fact the show couldn’t even win the night with three shows ahead in the ratings; Modern Family (14.3 Million), Criminal Minds (14.1 million) and CSI (12.6 million).

Apparent the top prize of $5 million and the promise of Cowell and Adbul clashes simply weren’t enough for Idol fans to make the jump over to the new show.

Do you think X-Factor will pick up more fans based off the talent they demonstrated during the first week or is the show a big misstep for Simon Cowell who is reportedly making hundreds of millions from the series?

X-Factor Ratings Can’t Topple Cowell’s American Idol Days [Neilsen Report] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Zooey Deschanel has said she wants to play her character Jessica in new Fox comedy ‘New Girl’ “for ever and ever and ever.”

The much-hyped sitcom debuts tonight, with model, musician, and actress Deschanel starring alongside Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Hannah Simone, and Lamorne Morris. Speaking to The Kansas City Star, the 31-year-old Deschanel said she had no problem with putting her movie career on hold to film a TV comedy:

“Literally, reading the pilot script, I was laughing out loud, having such a good time. Every time we rehearse, I have a great time because the writing is so good. I felt like they don’t make as many movies now as they used to. I know there’s just been a huge change in the movie industry, and I don’t know if I’ve ever read a role this good for myself. So I just had to jump on this opportunity because it’s an amazing one.”

In the show, lead girl Jessica has a habit of breaking into song. As part of an indie rock duo and the writer of music for the feature film ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ this appealed to Deschanel.

“It’s just part of how she expresses herself. When there’s an awkward moment, she sings. We kind of play with it, like she likes to kind of sort of sing in different styles depending upon her mood and the moment: Ethel Merman, jazz standard, heavy metal.”

‘New Girl’ airs at 9pm on Fox tonight, and there’s a full preview trailer of the show below – anybody tuning in for this?

Zooey Deschanel Talks About ‘New Girl’ Role is a post from: The Inquisitr

Are you ready to ditch American Idol for something new? Simon Cowell is banking on that fact with his new series The X Factor which once again places singing contestants up against one another.

Unlike American Idol the show is open to singers and bands and it appears that all auditions are handled right on the big stage in front of sold-out crowds, quite the nerve racking experience and something America’s Got Talent contestants are familiar with.

Funny fact about the show, while American Idol judges are always seen with “Coke” cups for their refreshments, Simon and his team for X Factor are now sipping out of Pepsi cups, which Paula Abdul probably has filled with something more “potent.”

The X Factor also has no age limit like Idol and the top prize is the highest in TV history at $5 million.

The show debuts on Fox on September 21, in the meantime here’s the eight-minute preview:

Fox TV bought the rights to the show for $60 million and early reports say the deal could net Simon Cowell upwards of $500 million on the backend, which explains why he turned down a reported $30+ million per season to stay with American Idol.

Are you ready to tune into another Simon Cowell helmed project?

X-Factor Debuts Exclusive 8-Minute Preview [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week Fox Network announced that they were pulling all day after access for their shows being viewed on Hulu. Needless to say this sparked a bit of outrage but it turns out that outrage may not be the only thing the move has caused.

In a post by Ernesto over at TorrentFreak this morning he reveals that the team at the blog did a little bit of a quick review of download stats for two of the premier shows on the Fox Network: Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef, to see what effect this new 8-day delay was having on torrent downloads of the shows.

Well unsurprising it has as both shows have seen a radical increase in downloads.

Over the last week TorrentFreak tracked two Fox shows on BitTorrent to see if there was an upturn in the number of downloads compared to the previous weeks, and the results are as expected. For both Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef the download numbers have surged.

During the first 5 days, the number of downloads from the U.S. for the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen increased by 114% compared to the previous 3 episodes. For MasterChef the upturn was even higher with 189% more downloads from the U.S. For MasterChef; the extra high demand may in part have been facilitated by the fact that it was the season finale.

Ernesto also noted in his post that comments on the various torrent sites thanked those who uploaded the shows saying that they had wanted to watch them legal but couldn’t. Meanwhile the comments on Hulu and Fox.com were definitely on the negative side of the scale.

Yup that was a smart move Fox.

Fox’s stupid 8-Day delay on Hulu sparks increased “piracy”. DUH! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Bill O’Reilly is passionate to say the least, whether he’s confronting President Obama or Jon Stewart he loves to get in the face of those people he interviews and tell them why their wrong and it turns out his TV persona is all an act.

While speaking this week with Karl Rove the top rated Fox News talk show host revealed that in his personal life he’s actually quiet and reserved.

Here’s a video of the big reveal:

This news doesn’t surprise me to say the least, the guy would have no friends if he acted in real life like he does on the TV. Are you surprised by O’Reilly’s admission?

Bill O’Reilly Admits That His TV Persona Is Just An Act is a post from: The Inquisitr

This story wins the WTF category for the entire year so far.

So apparently, just so you know, the Secret Service has a Twitter account. Can anyone even begin to understand exactly what the hell the Secret Service should even be tweeting about? Are there very many more agencies that rely as much on keeping things under wraps? The word secret is right there in the name.

Anyway. Today on the Secret Service’s Twitter account, the person tasked with tweeting for the intelligence and counterintelligence agency accidentally posted something not meant to be shared. The unidentified agent said:

Had to monitor Fox for a story. Can’t. Deal. With. The. Blathering.

I know what you’re thinking… get this man a medal! But alas, the opinion wasn’t official. Although there was some speculation it was fake, the Secret Service stepped up, claimed it, and apologized in a statement:

“An employee with access to the Secret Service’s Twitter account, who mistakenly believed they were on their personal account, posted an unapproved and inappropriate tweet. The tweet contained no vulgarity, security or pertinent agency information. The tweet did not reflect the views of the U.S. Secret Service and it was immediately removed.

Hopefully, this dude didn’t get into any trouble and higher-ups saw as much humor in it as we do.

Secret Service bashes Fox News in accidental tweet, apologizes is a post from: The Inquisitr