Back in March LOGO crowned America’s Next Drag Superstar in the season finale of their surprise hit competitive reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race and today we get to meet the 12 new contestants vying for that very same title for season 2. All week long, LOGO has been teasing the announcement of the new cast of the new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race (set to debut on LOGO in February ‘10) and today we get our first look at the new set of queens going head to head to become America’s Next Drag Superstar. Here is the first batch of contestants along with some deets about the upcoming second season:

Like Ru says: “You betta watch!” As you can tell, it certainly seems like the show hasn’t lost any of the copious amounts of verve and panache it served up so heavily in the inaugural season earlier this year. (And, here’s a dream within a dream: You can still watch all the episodes from last season online.) In fact, based on the video, I might just love this coming season even more than the last–mostly because of that glorious pink hair that Ru is wearing when she tells her finalists to “Lip sync for your life!” But also because of one particular contestant we see in the above video. That’d be Mystique, the rather curvy and full-figured queen you amazingly saw do the splits. I can tell you already that I’m already gunning for that gurl. Lastly, I’m loving that it looks like Ru slaps someone! That’s right, queens, Ru don’t take no lip! But, the video isn’t the only scoop we’ve got on the new season—after the jump, we serve up some more details from Ru herself… First off, let’s talk guest judges: So far, three of the guest judges we know about are Kathy Griffin (see our First Look with her in this week’s issue of the magazine, which is on stands now), Cloris Leachman, and Debbie Reynolds. Hello, jackpot! “All of the judges,” says RuPaul, “have this sense of show business and this sense of who they are that allows them to really judge what drag is about because they clearly see themselves as drag queens, too.” As for the structure of Drag Race itself, it’ll largely remain the same—except for one slight change. “It will have a fresh look to it,” Ru reveals with a good-natured laugh. “There won’t be as much Vaseline on the lens!” Most of all, though, Ru assures that the contestants are more fired up than ever: “The biggest change in this season is the contestants are actually a bit more—how can I put this?—they’re more tenacious. In the first season, they were a bit more diplomatic because they knew they were representing drag for the first time in a decade. This time around, though, the kids have seen the first show, they know what the prize is, and they know what’s at stake, so they have taken the gloves off.” Well, thank goodness for that!

After the jump, check out the second batch of promo photos of the season 2 Drag Race contestants as well as a list of their names and check out the new promo video that has just been released …

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Vanity Fair magazine and photographer Mark Seliger brings us our first look at the assembled cast of the new musical The Addams Family. The Addams Family have existed on TV and then in movies but this is the first time the fam has been presented on the musical theater stage … behold:

It’s welcome news that Charles Ad­dams—“the van Gogh of the ghouls”— and his perfectly defective American family are coming to Broadway later this season. The immortal Addams family has been a macabre musical waiting to happen ever since the classic 1960s TV series. Besides, the show has at least two assets that make it a neat fit for Broadway: it’s about a dysfunctional family and it’s a cartoon. The Addams Family stars the undisputed king of Broadway musicals, Nathan Lane, as the gallant, dapper layabout Gomez. (The irrepressible Lane even looks like a living cartoon.) The smashing Bebe Neuwirth makes for inspired casting as the slinky matriarchal goth, Morticia. The haute creepiness of the fun-house world of the adorable Morticia and Gomez is, as the jingle goes, altogether ooky. Yet it seems that the utterly nonconformist Addamses are, in their blissfully weird way, timely apostles of acceptance.

I’ve been a fan of The Addams Family since I was a kid … something about the macabre feel of the show (which felt more palpable than, say, The Munsters which is another dark TV series that I loved to watch as a kid) really resonated with me. Fun story: My mom put out a vase of thorny roses and I got the scissors and cut off all the rose buds just like Morticia did on the show … needless to say my mom was pissed as hell and I couldn’t understand why. I was even a fan of the movie versions of these characters. I cannot even express how excited I am to learn they are making a musical production out of The Addams Family. Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia and Nathan Lane as Gomez are PERFECTLY cast. I’m also a fan of Jackie Hoffman (who I fell in love with once I saw her in Xanadu: The Musical) and I think she will make an excellent Grandmama. After the jump, check out a fun behind the scenes video from this photoshoot and get introduced to the entire cast of The Addams Family: A New Musical …

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Now that Ashlee Simpson has been relieved of her acting duties on Melrose Place, it appears that she’s now got herself a bunch of free time to fill up. Rumor has it that Ashlee will be heading to Broadway now that she is in need of a new job. As you may recall, we learned back in August of 2006 that Ashlee would be appearing on the London West End stage as Roxie Hart in their production of Chicago … word on the street is that Ashlee will be reprising that role in the Broadway production of Chicago sometime soon:

Where does a crazy Melrose Place character go after she dies? Apparently, the Windy City by way of the Great White Way. According to reports, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, 25, isn’t taking a break after getting axed from the prime-time soap. Instead, she’s set to play Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago, starting in December for six weeks, Gossip Cop reports. It’s not an unfamiliar role. Simpson-Wentz played the role in the London run of the musical. It would, however, be her Broadway debut.

HMMM … altho I remember hearing positive reports from folks who saw Ashlee’s Chicago stint in London back in ‘06-’07, I dunno how I feel about this rumored stint on Broadway. It makes sense that she would want to return to the stage now that she’s been fired from TV. At long last, folks on this side of the pond will be able to see if Ashlee’s got the acting chops to perform on the Broadway stage. Considering the dire economic straits that Broadway productions have been facing in recent months, it’s a risky move to pin one’s hopes on the acting/singing prowess of Ashlee Simpson. Are any of y’all excited to see Ashlee Simpson in Chicago?

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Johns Hopkins University will fill in as Harvard University in the new Facebook movie titled The Social Network which has already started production. The film will tell the tale of how a Harvard student came up with a way for other students to interact with one another … a social network, if you will … and will star Jesse Eisenberg (the poor man’s Michael Cera) as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. It turns out that folks at Johns Hopkins aren’t too happy that their school is being portrayed as Harvard but hey, that’s showbiz. Here are a few pics from the set this week:

The Johns Hopkins University passed itself off as Harvard in a movie Monday without feeling the least bit flattered. “It feels degrading somehow,” said Diego Ardila, 19, as he watched workers remove the words “Latrobe Hall” from a stately brick building and replace them with “Kirkland House.” Hopkins’ Homewood campus is standing in for Harvard in “The Social Network,” a movie about the creation of Facebook by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. The movie, like some Hopkins students, couldn’t get into Harvard, which has a longstanding policy against commercial filming on campus. So the production has opened some old college-admissions wounds. “The general consensus is, a lot of kids are not pleased,” said Lorre Atlan, 20, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering. “It’s obvious they [the filmmakers] could get Hopkins and not get Harvard.” That’s left Hopkins, one of the nation’s most selective colleges, feeling like a safety school. “It’s kind of like a blow to our pride,” said Ray Tsai, a 19-year-old sophomore studying biomedical engineering, an academic subject in which, he and others noted, Hopkins is rated more highly than Harvard. The sea of Hopkins hoodies and T-shirts on the campus’ quads Monday only looked like genuine school spirit. It was attempted sabotage. An anti-Harvard Facebook page urged students to “poke” into the movie by walking by the set in Hopkins wear. “Hopefully one slips in,” said Jack Chan, 19, a sophomore who pulled on a black Hopkins sweat shirt as he watched filming begin outside Shaffer Hall Monday afternoon. Not everyone thinks playing Harvard, which was tied for first with Princeton in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent college rankings, is beneath Hopkins, which came in a none-too-shabby 14th. “I think the people who have a problem with it are the same people who have latent self-loathing from the college admissions process,” said Sam Biddle, 22, a senior philosophy major. Jan Lee, 21, a junior in biomedical engineering, conceded, “A lot of people came here because they didn’t get into Harvard, Yale or Stanford.” Hopkins spokesman Dennis O’Shea put it in terms that might appeal to the competitive student body: “I prefer to think that we play Harvard better than Harvard can play Harvard.”

Yeah, I dunno know I feel about this idea of a Facebook movie. I understand they are trying to do something with Twitter as well … and I can only dread what they would turn out if they did a project on My Space. While I’m sure it’s somewhat interesting to see how the whole Facebook phenomenon got started, I can’t say that I’m all that impressed with the notion of a movie. It seems like just a way to capitalize on these new online ventures in order to make a quick buck. The fact that it is being directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) does speak to its merit but … I dunno. Are any of y’all interested in watching a movie about Facebook? I’m not sure that I am … I can barely be bothered to poke my friends on the social networking site itself. By the way … are we Facebook friends yet?

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In early October we learned the somewhat surprising news that James Franco would be joining the cast of General Hospital and today we get our first look at the actor in his new role as soap star. ABC released a promo pic of Franco on GH … and here it is:

You guys, we’ve been waiting on pins and needles for this moment, and now we have it: the first images of James Franco in his much talked-about performance on General Hospital. Still no word on who James will be playing (beyond that it has something to do with Jason), but feel free to speculate away based on the image. And don’t forget: James’s first air date is Friday, November 20th! What do you think of this first shot? What’s this character all about? What’s with the all-black ensemble? Does that have something to do with Jason too? Start speculating!

Now, I don’t watch General Hospital at all … not since my college roommate used to make me watch it with her. I’m a total Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful fan (tho B&B is really trying my patience these days) so I have NO idea what is going on on GH. I still don’t know what James Franco is doing on a soap opera but it’s deffo a boon for the show. Folks who don’t watch the show but love Franco are more likely to tune in and get hooked. I won’t be one of those new viewers (I already watch way too much TV) but, again, it’s a big score for General Hospital. Do any of y’all watch the show … are you excited that James is joining the cast?

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It’s beginning to look like the end is nigh for the NBC series Heroes … in an attempt to grab viewers, I am assuming, E! news is reporting that the producers of the series have decided to kill off a major MALE character … and you’ll never guess who it is!

Now, in order to keep the news as quiet as possible for those of you who wish to remain unspoiled, I’ll keep news of the reported death behind the cut. But I will say publicly that I was very surprised to learn that they are planning to axe one the main O.G.s from the first season. After the jump, find out who it is …

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While we wait to hear about any movement on an official Friends reunion, Entertainment Weekly brings us the great news that Lisa Kudrow has officially signed on to do a guest stint on Courteney Cox-Arquette’s new hit sitcom Cougar Town!

It’s not an actual Friends reunion, but I’ll take it: Lisa Kudrow has signed on to guest star opposite ex-Friend Courteney Cox on Cougar Town, an ABC spokesperson confirms. “She’ll play a dermatologist that my character can’t stop going to even though [she's] mean to me,” Cox told tvguidemagazine.com. The Cox-Kudrow reunion episode will shoot next month and air in early 2010.

And this is how Cox described Kudow’s character to TV Guide:

“If it all works out, she’ll play a dermatologist that my character can’t stop going to even though the doctor is mean to me.” Is it a Botox thing? The show’s writers are not exactly sure yet, says Cox, who’s also producing the show, “but whatever it is, she’s the best in town at what she does and I become addicted.”

It turns out that both Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston have been considered as future guest stars … this is what Courteney had to say about the prospect of having other former Friends castmates appear on the show:

“I did ask Matthew [Perry] if he’d play my boyfriend on the show,” she says, “but he thought it was a little too much after Chandler and Monica.” Then there’s Jennifer Aniston, whom Cox has remained closest with among the Friends stars. “I’d love for her to be on the show, too,” Cox says. “Obviously we can’t cast her so close to Lisa’s appearance but if there’s a great part for her, I’d send it right away. She’s younger than me so she can’t play my contemporary even though she did on Friends, but I think we can find something great for her to play.”

This is all very exciting stuff to mebbe look forward to … but for now, I’m perfectly content with having Phoebe and Monica together again … er, Lisa and Courteney, that is ;) The Friends reunion may never actually take place but in the meantime, we have Cougar Town to enjoy!

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