Last night’s episode of The Hills had some pretty monumental developments (at least, by the show’s standards) but despite all the monumentalness, I really found the whole ep very unthrilling. The highlight for me was “the letter” that was read aloud during the ep … as well as the fall-out from said letter:

There was a bit of go-betweening happening in last night’s drama and a poorly shoved in side plot but for the most part I found that there really wasn’t much to latch onto … well, except for that letter. After the jump, find out who penned what do who and who was pissed at who as a result in the ep titled If She Never Met Spencer …

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Oh, Lord … I don’t know if this is a good thing or a very, very bad thing but Variety magazine is reporting that FOX is planning an Americanized version of the hit British comedy Absolutely Fabulous. Now, before you AbFab fans go ballistic, there is a very important element to this proposed remake … AbFab creator Jennifer Saunders (who also starred in the original version of the series) will be on board to executive produce this new version of the series. I mean, I can see how the show could be a huge success (the remake will be set in LA) but the worrier in me fears that it could also be a huge, disappointing failure:

Edina and Patsy are ready to take on L.A. Fox is developing a redo of Jennifer Saunders’ enduring Britcom “Absolutely Fabulous,” to be exec produced by Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum and Kim Tannenbaum for Sony Pictures TV, Tantamount and BBC Worldwide America. Christine Zander (”Saturday Night Live”) is set to write the script and will exec produce along with the BBC’s Ian Moffet and original series creator Saunders. Fox has given Sony a script order with hefty penalty attached. The latest attempt at a U.S. rendition of “Ab Fab” will be transplanted to L.A. but retain the basic template of the original, revolving around the friendship of two boozy, over-40 best friends who are desperate to stay hip and youthful and who carry on under the disapproving eye of Edina’s teenage daughter, Saffy … Original series starred Saunders and Joanna Lumley. It was a big hit in Britain and successful import for Comedy Central. In the U.K., “Ab Fab” ran as a regular series from 1992-95, with a two-part finale airing in 1996. Saunders and Lumley reunited for further adventures with fresh segs produced in 2001 and 2003.

Personally, I am really consumed right now with the way that the new NBC remake of Kath & Kim (which debuts this week) will do before I can focus on this proposed AbFab remake. Not that one has any bearing on the other but as a fan of the original versions of both of these series, I am concerned that bad remakes might tarnish the specialness of the original incarnations of these shows. The thing I loved most about AbFab is all the stuff they were able to get away with that would generally not work (or be allowed?) on a major US television network. The appeal for me was enjoying the outrageousness of a show that American audiences were not given ready access to. If the new incarnation is able to match the spectacular wanton excess of the original version of the series, then sign me up. If it’s gonna be a watered down version of the show, then I’m really not interested. I’m encouraged that Jennifer Saunders will be involved and casting will be key … until we find out who is cast in the roles of Edina and Patsy, I’m reserving all judgment. As I said, I’m hopeful that Kath & Kim will be able to find new life as Americans but … the jury is still out. I suspect that FOX will be watching to see if and/or how well K&K does in the ratings very closely. Do any of y’all think this is a good idea?

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This past weekend we learned that Nicole Kidman would be receiving a special tribute from Hollywood legend Shirley MacLaine at the 15th annual Women In Hollywood Tribute event hosted by Elle magazine — and last night was the big night. Celebs of varying stature and caliber made their way out to The Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills, CA last night to partake of Elle magazine’s tribute to, in their estimation, the most worthy women in Hollywood. Here are a few pics from the event’s red carpet arrivals last night:

Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, Diane Keaton and Halle Berry joined dozens of other stars in a ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel on Monday for Elle magazine’s 15th annual Women in Hollywood tribute, honoring seven noteworthy women in entertainment. Fonda served as an informal entertainment ambassador before the program, chatting up actress Kat Dennings and introducing Amber Tamblyn to Shirley MacLaine. Meanwhile, the evening’s host, Chelsea Handler, shared laughs with Jenny McCarthy and Cheryl Hines. Other guests included Kate Beckinsale, Courteney Cox, Eva Mendes, Angie Harmon and Cheryl Tiegs. Elle’s annual dinner pays tribute to women “who are telling our stories” in Hollywood, said editor Roberta Myers. This year’s honorees included Berry, Fonda, Kidman, Anne Hathaway, Sigourney Weaver, Isla Fisher and director Catherine Hardwicke — all of whom are featured in the magazine’s November issue. “Someday hopefully it won’t be necessary to allocate a special evening to celebrate where we are and how far we’ve come,” Weaver said. “Someday women writers, producers and crew members will be so commonplace, and roles and salaries for actresses will outstrip those for men, and pigs will fly.” Though things have improved for women, “we do have a long way to go,” she said. Hathaway said in today’s Hollywood “women are about so much more than how they look. I think it’s pretty remarkable that, at 25, I’m able to say that my role as a woman in Hollywood is purely as an artist, not a cause,” Hathaway said. “I’m free to play my characters as I imagine them, far beyond what size jeans they wear.” Fisher thanked “my baby daddy SBC” (Sacha Baron Cohen) and paid homage to Kidman, “who paved the way for all us Aussies.” MacLaine continued the praise. “Nicole Kidman has been a revelation to me, and it’s not easy for me to be revelated,” she said, calling Kidman “my star child.” Kidman thanked all the directors who “molded” her, particularly Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack. “They were men in Hollywood who loved women,” she said. Fonda thanked all the women in the house — and Hollywood itself. “Aren’t we glad we’re not bankers,” she said. “We are in the most fantastic business.”

I feel I must echo Sigourney Weaver’s comments and am also very much looking forward to the day when events like this are no longer necessary. Hopefully the day will soon come when there’ll be no need to honor women in Hollywood on a singular night of tribute because they will be afforded the same tribute as their male counterparts every single day. I find it criminal that Johnny Depp (and no offense to him in any way) can demand $55 million dollars for a film role when women cannot garner the same pay. There is still a huge disparity between wages paid to men over women. We may have come a long way (baby) but there is still a long way to go yet. In any event, congrats and kudos to the women honored at last night’s event. It sounds like due tribute was paid to some very deserving women.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Jennifer Lopez gave a very candid and thorough interview with the just launched new website The Daily Beast wherein she talks about topics ranging from her new experiences with motherhood, to the possibility of sending her twin children to a Scientology-based school, to what she plans to do with the money she made by selling the first photos of her kids. This new interview took place about 4 months after she gave birth to her twins and was conducted at her home. Here are pics of J. Lo at ELLE Magazine’s 15th Annual Women in Hollywood Tribute event which took place at The Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, CA last night … and portions of her new interview:

After refusing to have a nanny for the first four months of her children’s lives, she has reluctantly ceded that she may need one. “I’m trying out my first one today,” she whispers. “But I still can’t stand the sound of my babies crying without tending to them myself.” Lopez, wearing an orange Scoop T-shirt dress, looks as gratefully exhausted as any new mother. I ask her if she needs some privacy so she can nurse the twins who are beginning to squirm. “Is that something you’ve chosen to do? To breast-feed?” “No,” she says as I ask if the La Leche League has come after her for such a decision. She laughs and readjusts the twins in her arms. “No. No. Some people are radical about it. But to each his own.” “If you had had only one child would you have chosen to breast-feed?” “No … I … ah …. it’s not that … I’d rather not discuss it. It’s a whole other thing. If you want to go off-the-record I’ll tell you.” We decide to stay on-the-record … Any sort of depression is hard to imagine from a woman who seems to barrel through any sort of emotional problem. “I don’t get nervous. I don’t get depressed. Blah blah blah,” she says, but pauses to reconsider. Still staring into her daughter’s eyes, she reaches an instant, instinctual decision. She will start now, in this moment, not-lying in her daughter’s presence. “There was a time when I was very overworked and I was doing music and movies and so many things. I was suffering from a lack of sleep. And I did have a kind of nervous breakdown. I froze up on a set. Well, not on a set, but in my trailer. I was like – I don’t want to move. I don’t want to talk. I don’t want to do anything. It was on that movie Enough,” she says, referring to the film in which she played a battered wife who finally fights back. “Yeah. I did. I had a nervous breakdown” … The conversation turns to Scientology. “I know a lot of your friends are Scientologists,” I say. “Your father has been a Scientologist for about 20 years …” “More than that now,” she says. “Scientologists don’t believe in shrinks. Would you ever call on Scientology if you were having those problems again?” I ask. “I do know a lot about Scientology. And I know about the practices. I know all about what the technology is and all that kind of stuff. It’s very helpful. So in a sense, yeah, you do call on it.” “Do you consider yourself a Scientologist?” “No.” “If you were, would you be open about it?” “Yeah. I wouldn’t have a problem saying it because I know what it is. I have no problems with it and it really actually bothers me that people have such a negative feeling towards it.” “That it is too exotic? Too cultish?” “Just negative feelings.” “Would you consider schooling Emme and Max in a Scientology school?” I ask. “Yeah. I wouldn’t mind. Not at all. Because I know that the technologies that they have are very helpful… It’s all about communication. That’s the thing I really don’t like about talking about this. I do know so many great people who do do it, who choose it as a lifestyle and really follow it and it is their religion…I just wish that people wouldn’t judge it without knowing what it is.”

Interesting … she seems very open about discussing Scientology and would even consider sending her kids to a Scientology school but she does not consider herself a Scientologist. If she really is trying to combat the “negative feelings” that surround the religion, why not just come out and embrace it publicly? I suspect her career restraints are keeping her from going down that path … a path that she would happily send her kids. It’s not necessarily a bad thing (I believe everyone has a right to follow whatever religion they choose) but it is an interesting revelation. The interview goes on to discuss the huge sum of money that J. Lo was paid for the publication of the first photos of her children. She reveals that she donated a portion of the money to charity and put the rest away expressly for her children’s future. She also confesses that the whole “diva thing” is a misrepresentation of who she really is and believes that she is only a target for such classification because her success has made her “a favorite to pick on”. You can read the interview in its entirety HERE. Personally, I think it is the most candid interview I think I’ve ever read from her. She really opened up about some things in an honest and real way. What do y’all think … is this the Jennifer Lopez you thought you knew?

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

A very deluded Billy Ray Cyrus has been quoted as saying that he sees much of himself in his daughter’s older boyfriend, model/singer Justin Gaston. I, for the life of me, cannot see it:

Granted, in his interview with Access Hollywood, Billy Ray was talking specifically about Justin’s “heart and soul” and “determination” but when it comes to overall resemblance factor, I have to say that there isn’t much to compare:

Billy Ray Cyrus doesn’t have a beef with his 15-year-old daughter Mile dating 20-year-old aspiring musician Justin Gaston. “He actually reminds me a lot of myself when I was 20-years-old and I was living and searching for the dream,” Billy Ray tells Access Hollywood of the model (and former Nashville Star contestant). “He’s got a great heart and soul, and a lot of determination,” Billy Ray added. “I think that’s the true measure of a man, is when you measure his heart.”

It’s hard to tell who is in more love with Justin Gaston … Miley Cyrus or her dad Billy Ray. I mean, it’s easy to see the lad’s appeal … but I don’t really see that much of a resemblance between Billy Ray and the much younger, very hot guy he is trying to associate with. Don’t mean to break your achy-breaky heart Billy Ray, but at the very least these two are a mullet and a chicken grease-stained tank top away from any sort of resemblance.

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Stop the presses … could it possibly be true that famed Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner has ended his romantic affiliation with his highest ranking girlfriend Holly Madison? Well, according to Holly — yes, the couple are dunzo. In a brief, spur-of-the-moment interview with TMZ, Holly let slip that she and Hef are “no longer together”. Even tho Hefer has been denying a split on the grounds that he and his three girlfriends Kendra Wilkinson, Bridget Marquardt and Holly are “still filming” their E! reality TV show Girls Next Door, it really sounds they may not be as “together” as he and E! producers would like us to believe. Whether or not Hef is “no longer together” with all three girls or it’s just Holly who got the boot it really does sound like they are dunzo:

Girls Next Door star Holly Madison has confirmed that she and Hugh Hefner are officially over. When a TMZ cameraman recently asked her if she can get him into an upcoming Halloween bash at the Playboy mansion, she replied: “I have no pull anymore. Hef and I aren’t together.” Still, she said she, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt are “still filming stuff together. We’re having fun.” Of their upcoming sixth season, she added, “It’s going to be even better. We love season five, but I think every season gets better.” Madison’s new comments come days after Hef denied reports of a split. “It’s all rumors without question. We have just completed our fifth season, and we’re all still together and have just signed on to a sixth season, which we start filming in the new year,” Hefner said at last week’s FOX REALLY Awards Show taping in Hollywood, according to Fox News. “There may be some transitions to the relationships though, we’ll see.” Last month, Hefner confirmed to Usmagazine.com that he and Madison’s relationship was “in transition.” “She is still my girlfriend,” he said. “Now will that last? I don’t think anything lasts forever. “I love her very much, but you know, she wants very much to get married and have children. That isn’t very much in the cards for me,” he adds. “So there has to be a certain reality there.”

Say it ain’t so! What is the world coming to when a 28-year old buxom blonde bombshell cannot find true love and happiness with an 82-year old pornographic magazine founder/publisher? This sad, y’all. That being said, there’ll prolly be Help Wanted signs going up at the Playboy mansion very soon (well, at least after the next season of Girls Next Door finishes airing) to fill the vacancy in Hef’s harem left by Holly and/or the other girls. Time to brush up those résumés ;)

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Britney Spears’s new single Womanizer (the first from her new album Circus) is now officially available for download on iTunes RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW. To celebrate, Britney.com has been updated with a few photos that were snapped on the set of the Womanizer video that is set to world premiere this Friday night on ABC’s 20/20 … behold:

From BRITannica, the Britney.com webmistress: It’s true, it’s true!!! The music vid for “Womanizer” will indeed premiere worldwide THIS Friday, Oct. 10 on ABC’s 20/20 at 10pm ET. Remember last year when the “Piece of Me” video first aired on the show, too? Ah, memories. Anyway, get psyched, ’cause we’ve got *EXCLUSIVE* “Womanizer” photos … Which Brit look is your fave — the blonde sex kitten, the sassy secretary or the vampy waitress? I’m kinda partial to her sex kitten look. I just love me some blonde Britney. But then again, her sexy secretary glasses are hot (got a similar pair, myself!), and I do have a thing for tattoos a la the vampy waitress. This one’s a toughie, lovies…

Shoot, I love me some Britney in whatever incarnation she appears. I’m fairly certain that this song will go straight to #1 much like Gimme More did when it was first released on iTunes about a year ago. Support the comeback, y’all … download your copy NOW :)

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