Ellen DeGeneres went back on the air this week after honoring only one day of the writers strike. In anticipation of her plans to tape shows in New York City on November 19th and 20th, the Writers Guild of America, East is extremely disappointed to see that Ellen has chosen not to stand with writers during the strike. Ellen's peers who host comedy/variety shows have chosen to support the writers and help them get a fair contract, Ellen has not. On her first show back, Ellen said she loves and supports her writers, but her actions prove otherwise.

Ellen has also been performing comedy on her show. Even if Ellen is writing those segments herself, since those segments would normally be written by the writers on strike, she's performing "struck work". Ellen is violating the strike rules that were clearly explained to all of the comedy/variety shows.

We certainly intend to let Ellen know our dissatisfaction in person if she decides to proceed with the shows she has scheduled in New York on November 19th and 20th. We will also make our voices heard the preceding week if she tries to pre-tape comedy segments on location.

We find it sad that Ellen spent an entire week crying and fighting for a dog that she gave away, yet she couldn't even stand by writers for more than one day - writers who have helped make her extremely successful.

Every show and film set has a production staff and crew that is beloved by their writers. Ellen's staff is no more important than the rest of the industry. When shows refuse to stand with us they create huge revenue streams for the companies and that prolongs the strike for the thousands of staff and crew members who are noble enough to honor our picket lines. We find this situation hurtful to those people and extremely unfortunate.

The writers did not cause this strike. The companies' greed caused this strike and it could end tomorrow if they were finally willing to negotiate a fair deal. We ask Ellen to cease doing shows immediately. She should stand by all writers and help us bring this strike to a quick conclusion. We owe that to the thousands of people who are caught in the middle.

If you agree that Ellen should stand with the writers on strike, please contact her and tell her so at: ellen.warnerbros.com/show/dearellen/. Or, contact the show's production office at (818) 260-5600.

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Dave Letterman to Appear on Oprah

David Letterman has at long last been invited to be a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Feud? What feud? David Letterman will make his first appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" next month, another sign the talk-show titans have buried the hatchet after a rift that lasted more than a decade.

Letterman will tape the interview, a rare appearance on someone else's show, on Sept. 10 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Winfrey's production company announced Wednesday. Their reconciliation began in 2005 when Winfrey appeared on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman." It was Winfrey's first guest appearance with Letterman, though she twice appeared on his NBC show before the comic jumped networks in 1993. Letterman frequently joked about Winfrey, and she rejected repeated offers to appear on his program. In 2003, Winfrey told Time magazine she wouldn't appear with Letterman because she had been "completely uncomfortable" as the target of his jokes.

When Winfrey appeared on Letterman's show two years ago, she told him, "I want you to know, it's really over, whatever you thought was happening." Letterman responded: "Are you sure it's over?"

What a glorious day for Dave! After ten years, he finally gets to be on the Oprah show. Will he behave himself? Surely he won't pull out any "Uma/Oprah" jokes? Let's hope they do a nutty cooking segment. Those are always good. Or maybe he'll bring his baby. That works.

Posted on August 29, 2007
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Gravely Ill Tammy Faye Messner On Larry King Live Tonight

Tammy Faye Messner bravely appears on Larry King Live tonight on CNN. She is suffering from inoperable cancer, and is just wasting away. But her spirit is still strong, as is her great sense of humor. She says she craves a hamburger and fries, although she can only eat chicken soup and rice pudding these days. Tammy garnered a huge new fan base when she apppeared on The Surreal Life and won everyone over with her generosity of spirit and her ability to poke fun at herself. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Tammy Faye!

You can see a clip from tonight's show here.

Update Tammy Faye Messner died at age 65.

Posted on July 19, 2007
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Jimmy Kimmel Has Emergency Appendectomy

Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy.

Jimmy Kimmel's funny bone remains intact, but his appendix is down for the count. The late-night talk show host is recuperating at home after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

"The surgery was a success," Lewis Kay, Kimmel's publicist, said. "He is resting comfortably and is looking forward to getting back to work." The 39-year-old comedian will be taking a few sick days while he recovers from the side-splitting, if unamusing procedure. Kay says Kimmel won't be back on air until Monday at the earliest.

"The rest of this week's tapings of Jimmy Kimmel Live have been canceled until he is back on his feet," Kay said. ABC will round out the week with reruns of interviews with Geoffrey Rush, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Kevin Costner and Leslie Mann.

That sounds like no fun at all. We wish him a speedy recovery!

Posted on June 21, 2007
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Conan O'Brien Visits Lucasfilm

Conan O'Brien recently visited the San Francisco-based headquarters of Lucasfilm in this two-part series of video clips from NBC. The second video clip is especially entertaining. Conan gets to put on a special suit and play Lucasfilm's Schwa and C3PO digital characters. The segment was written and directed by George Lucas.





Posted on May 3, 2007
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Mel Gibson Aplogizes

Tomorrow morning viewers can tune in to see Diane Sawyer grill Mel Gibson about his drunken anti-Semitic tirade that turned him into a virtual pariah overnight. Sawyer is reportedly pretty hard on Gibson, and he takes it. As well he should.

"The stupid ramblings of a drunkard." That's what Mel Gibson calls his anti-Semitic comments to police when he was arrested for drunken driving in Malibu, Calif. The star, 50, sat down with Diane Sawyer for his first in-depth interview about the July 28 incident.

*****

He says that he hasn't had a drink in 65 days and that he started drinking again just months before the arrest. "Years go by, you're fine. And then all of a sudden ... somebody shoves a glass of mescal (tequila) in front of your nose, and says, 'It's from Oaxaca (Mexico),' " he says. "And it's burning its way through your esophagus, and you go, 'Oh, man, what did I do that for? I can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.' "

We love Diane Sawyer -- she's a tough interviewer. Good Morning America airs Thursday, October 12th at 7:00 am Eastern time on ABC.

Posted on October 11, 2006
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Vince Vaughn Chats With Oprah

Vince Vaughn appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss his new romantic comedy with Jennifer Aniston, The Break-Up.

Now Vince stars opposite Jennifer Aniston in The Break-Up, a romantic comedy about a couple falling not in but out of love. In recent headlines, Vince was the rumored groom in the $8 million wedding Oprah was supposedly throwing for her friend, Jennifer Aniston. Vince says he doesn't plan on getting married anytime soon, but jokes, "I'm expecting a pretty good band for $8 million!"

Vince speaks highly of his Break-Up co-star, whom he is also dating. "Jennifer's great. She's one of my favorite people," says Vince. "She's just really smart and funny and easy to be with—very considerate. She's great." Does Vince want to have kids? "At some point I would," says Vince. "I've always liked kids a lot—but no plans for the future. First we have to have the $8 million wedding!"

Has Vince discussed having kids with Jennifer? "No, I have not talked about having kids with Jennifer," he says. "I think [having children] takes a lot of focus, takes a lot of attention. I think it would be nice at some point to have a different priority in something else as you've sort of done stuff and challenged yourself, I think that time would come. But not any time in the near future for me, I don't think."

The clips from The Break-Up look really funny. It hits theaters nationwide June 2, 2006.

Posted on May 11, 2006
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Britney Tells Dave She's Expecting Second Child

Britney Spears ended the tabloid speculation about her expanding waistline by announcing to David Letterman that she is expecting her second child.

The baby bump is for real. Britney Spears told David Letterman on Tuesday that she is pregnant with baby No. 2. "Don't worry Dave, it's not yours," the pop princess quipped on "The Late Show."

The revelation ended weeks of speculation in entertainment magazines, which have been regularly publishing pictures of Spears' apparently expanding waistline. Spears, 24, and her husband, backup dancer-turned-rapper Kevin Federline, 28, were married in 2004 and have an 8-month-old son, Sean Preston. Federline also has two children, Kori and Kaleb, with his former girlfriend, Shar Jackson. Child welfare officials and a sheriff's deputy reportedly visited Spears' home in April after her son accidentally tumbled from a high chair.

In February, authorities visited the home after photographs showed the singer in a car with her son in her lap, rather than in a car seat as required by law. Spears later apologized, saying she held the boy in her lap because of a "horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi."

Britney looked good, although the confirmation that she is having yet another child with the horrible K-Fed is sending shockwaves through the Britney Spears fan base. She says she will go back to work, but will try to balance motherhood and her work. This means that K-Fed now has four children. The man is a menace.

Posted on May 10, 2006
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