Former on and off-screen friends/rivals/enemies Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth have, apparently, buried the hatchet and grown into maturity … at least, that’s the way it seems to have turned out now that the ladies are working together again, co-starring on the new Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off series that will debut on The CW next Tuesday, 09.02. Shannen and Jennie are both featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine … here is their cover photo and some excerpts from their joint interview with the mag:

EW: Did you ever think the two of you would be sitting here talking about playing Brenda Walsh and Kelly Tay­lor again?

Jennie Garth and Shannen Doherty: [In uni­son] No.

Garth: I thought [Beverly Hills, 90210] had a beginning, middle, and an end. It was very neatly in its coffin and it was done. When they told me they were do­ing it, I thought: No! Like something sort of sacred was being disrupted. Some part of who I was and a piece of my history was being messed with. It took me a while to settle into that idea.

Doherty: Early on, my publicist got a call asking her “Would she do it?” I was kind of like, Why would I play Brenda Walsh again? There was an “I Hate Brenda” newsletter. Why would I pos­sibly get myself back into that? I think it was too scary for me. I didn’t want to go back to people hating me. It just wasn’t something that I considered for a good chunk of time. At some point it hit me that this is what the fans want­ed. They put a roof over my head. They allow me to eat and to feed my dogs. The only reason I survive is because of them. If there’s one way to possibly say thank you, it is to go back and play a character that you never even liked yourself.

EW: You didn’t like Brenda?

Doherty: There were parts of Brenda I loved. They just took her in a really odd direction that I didn’t necessarily agree with at the time. I still kind of look back and think, Eh, it’s not what I would have done, but I understand. Every show has to have that character full of teenage angst and drama. I think she was driven by insecurity that was at the root of everything.

EW: The other day you had your first scene together in 14 years. When did you last see each other before the scene and what was it like shooting together again?

Doherty: [Laughs] Oh, God. When was it? Ten years ago? I don’t know. A long time. I can only speak for myself, but being with someone I knew made it easier for me my first day on set. At least for me there was an appreciation that we’d been through the first 90210 together and now we’re going through it again, but in such a different way be­cause we’re both adults now. The only weird thing was while we were trying to catch up everyone was watching us. Every single eyeball was on us. I don’t know what they were expecting. I was more interested in talking to her about Dancing With the Stars. I thought she did an amazing job.

Garth: There had been so much buildup. Everyone was asking me before what it was going to be like. I was like, “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to her in 10 or 15 years.” I had that tension and I started to let it get to me. Is she going to be nice? Is it going to be a bad envi­ronment? But when I saw her every­thing was fine. [To Shannen] I was go­ing to call you and tell you this—I got your number from Gabe but I never called. I felt a certain comfort too in having you there and I did not think I would feel that way. It was at some point around 2 a.m., and I felt like it’s so nice to have someone here who is a partner, someone who knew where we’d been and what it was like with the real show.

Doherty: I think when you’re 18, your per­sonalities conflict, and then you meet up 10 or 15 years later and the playing ground is totally different and you’re fine. Like Jennie said, of course there were nerves going in. But half of it was the buildup everyone else put on it. When I was driving to the set I was get­ting phone calls, and I finally turned my phone off because I thought, I have to go in there with a completely fresh attitude and start over and give everybody a chance and everybody has to give me a chance. Once I was able to turn all of that off, the first moment I saw her it was like, Okay, this is going to be good. It was like, “Hey.” Then a hug. It’s like going to a war together. You’ve already been in the trenches together. You learned so much from that first war. That second war, you know what you need to do to make the set the most peaceful environ­ment you can possibly have.

EW: Okay, but back to the fistfight: fact or fiction?

Garth: I don’t think we ever hit each other.

Doherty: We had our moments.

Garth: I just remember being outside and the boys having to try to settle us down.

Doherty: No, we never punched each other.

Garth: Scratching? I’m not going to deny that.

OMG! Love.It! I think it’s neat that the girls are all chummy-chummy again … and I love that they are finally talking about the drama from the old days (something they never did publicly back in the day) before new drama has a chance to spring up (scratching?! love it love it love it). There may have not been any punches thrown last time but who knows what might happen if the girls start misbehaving again. After the jump, find out what Shannen thought about her portrayal in Tori Spelling‘s book sTORI Telling and check out a few photos (and video) from Shannen and Jennie‘s EW photoshoot …

Entertainment Weekly caught up with Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor) and Shannen Doherty (Brenda Walsh) this week to get their take on the news that Tori Spelling has pulled out of appearing on the new Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off for The CW. Jennie, who will be reprising her role as Kelly Taylor on 90210, revealed that while she is “bummed” that Tori won’t be reprising her role as Donna Martin on the show (thus far, that is) and she maintains that she is “not at war” over salary with Tori … I bet Shannen, who will be reprising her role as Brenda Walsh, was just happy to be asked for a comment:

For those Beverly Hills, 90210 fans out there who were crushed by recent online reports that Tori Spelling will not be appearing on The CW’s new 90210 reboot this fall, take heart — Jennie Garth feels your pain. The star, who will reprise her role as Kelly Taylor on 90210 this fall, tells EW.com that she was disappointed by online reports that Spelling dropped out of The CW series after not being offered the same amount of money as Garth and fellow former co-star Shannen Doherty. “[The press thinks] we’re at war over salary with Tori. I didn’t know I was at war with Tori,” Garth told EW.com. “I’m really bummed because I love Tori and I was psyched Tori was going to be on the show. I think she should definitely get paid as much as either of us is getting paid. Her father created the show. It just seems wrong if that’s the case. I don’t know what really happened because I haven’t talked to her. I would like to talk to her.” Doherty adds that she isn’t taking the deadlinehollywooddaily.com report about Spelling’s salary dispute — which claimed Garth and Doherty were being paid “$35,000-$50,000″ per episode versus Spelling’s proposed salary of “$10,000-$20,000″ per episode — at face value. “They didn’t even get the numbers right,” says the actress, who will reprise her role as Brenda Walsh on The CW’s drama, “so I don’t know if it’s about the money either.” Whatever the case, Garth hopes the door isn’t closed on Donna Martin’s return: “I’ll try to butt my head in whenever I can and tell people what I think about it.”

HMMMM … could this possibly just be a case of building more buzz for the show? Everyone knows that there were feuds amongst the ladies back when Beverly Hills, 90210 was on the air … could all of this money/feud talk just be a way to drum up even more promo buzz for the show? Who here thinks that the issue will eventually be resolved and Tori Spelling will end up appearing on 90210? I think that is a very likely outcome.

[Source]

To promote the upcoming 4th season of The Hills on MTV, Lauren LC Conrad is featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly … a feat that neither Heidi Montag or Spencer Pratt have achieved yet. HMMM. Here is LC‘s cover, a couple of photos from inside the mag and a portion of the coverstory:

The phenomenon of The Hills — which returns for season 4 on Aug. 18 at 10 p.m. — has gone beyond the weekly tabloid covers (mostly chronicling Lauren’s feud with her former BFF Heidi Montag), the endless spoofs (see Mila Kunis and James Franco’s dead-on Audrina/ Justin Bobby on FunnyOrDie.com), or even its place in the current presidential campaign. (After Heidi endorsed John McCain, he joked that he never ”misses an episode of The Hills”; Barack Obama promised David Letterman, ”My first act as president will be to stop the fighting between Lauren and Heidi.”) The series has also transformed an ordinary California girl into a West Coast reincarnation of Carrie Bradshaw (if Carrie were a millionaire), while giving MTV its biggest success in years. Season 3 averaged 3.9 million viewers, making it MTV’s highest-rated show since 2004′s Real World: San Diego, and its May 12 finale topped even the broadcast networks in the 12-to-34 demographic. ”I would go out on a limb and say this is probably the biggest show we’ve ever had,” says MTV Networks’ president of entertainment, Brian Graden. ”With Lauren Conrad, a whole generation of women see themselves in her.” Says Tony DiSanto, MTV’s exec VP of series programming and development, ”It’s almost becoming like a novel at this point, like this generation’s A Tale of Two Cities or Oliver Twist.” Whether or not you equate drunken nights at Hyde and Les Deux to the classic literary works of Dickens, the show’s success is undeniable. And no one has reaped more benefits than Lauren. While she has yet to graduate from L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, where she majors in product development, she’s already launched her own eponymous clothing line (in partnership with MTV), which is sold in 500 boutiques across the country. Forbes estimated her 2007–08 income to be $1.5 million — and Lauren says she used her own money to purchase the reported $2.3 million home she lives in on The Hills. ”I see her as a global brand,” says Max Stubblefield, Lauren’s agent at UTA. ”Fashion and beauty are the drivers, but we’ve had a lot of interest from a lot of different categories.” Since The Hills premiered in 2006, Lauren has landed endorsement deals with Mark cosmetics and AT&T, has a book proposal in the works, and wants to launch her own television and film production company. ”It’s about empowering girls,” says Lauren, when asked to describe what she represents as a brand. ”You’re gonna have bad boyfriends and best friends-turned-enemies. You need to be yourself, you need to work hard, and you’ll get there.” And if you can get someone to give you a reality show along the way, it can’t hurt.

EW is totally right, The Hills — whether you love it or pretend to hate it — has become something almost otherworldly (the bit about Dickens, well, c’mon … that’s a bit much). Almost everyone attached to the show has exploded to astronomical proportions … whether folks wanna admit it or not, it’s true. The Hills has infiltrated the presidential campaign … it’s nuts! As much as I love the show, I just can’t buy the whole “empowering young girls” mantra that folks associated with the show keep trying to sell. In the end, they are selling a show, selling their products and selling their personas … if there is empowerment in there somewhere, I can’t see it … unless we’re talking about empowering the characters on the show to make more money and achieve more fame, that is. I love it, I can’t get enough of it so I am not hatin’ at all. August 18th can’t get here fast enough for me!

[Source]

And so … another San Diego Comic Con has come to pass … and as usual, I was out of the country and unable to attend — but there are a lot of fun pictures to check out that will kinda sorta make it feel like I’m part of the experience but, you know, without having to actually endure all the ridiculous costumery in person ;) Here are a few pics of some of the more zealous Comic Con attendees this year:

And here are a few pics of some of the principal stars of the NBC hit Heroes who attended the Con this year to promote the upcoming third season of the show:

Honestly, there are just too many things that were presented at this year’s Con that I can’t possibly post them all … but Entertainment Weekly was in the hiz taking photos of some of my fave sci-fi/comic booky things at this year’s convention to give a nice overview. After the jump, check out a few EW photos of some of my fave things that I would’ve checked out had I attended this year’s Comic Con …

The new issue of Entertainment Weekly is devoted primarily to a preview of the San Diego Comic Con which runs next weekend but there are other great previews and spoilers in the new issue as well. Here is a promo pic of Nicole Richie from her upcoming guest star stint on the NBC show Chuck, wherein she plays a “bitchy mean girl” cheerleader who comes back guns blazing:

I don’t watch the show but I am intrigued that they asked Nicole to play a role like this. She looks great. I will deffo keep my eyes open for this particular ep (scheduled to air in October) cuz I kinda want to watch Nic kick some ass.

[Source]

Here’s the WTF? of the day … fans of CSI: will be very bummed (and most probably as shocked as I am) to learn that Entertainment Weekly is reporting that William Petersen, the actor who plays lead CSI Gil Grissom, has decided to “say goodbye” to the show and step down as the main man on the show. Petersen is reportedly staying on as an executive producer on the show and will reprise the role of Gil Grissom “whenever CBS asks” but after this season’s 10th ep, he will no longer be a regular castmember on the show:

CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn has confirmed exclusively to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello that William Petersen (Gil Grissom) will be gone by midseason! And not “off too do a play” gone like he was back in 2006. No, this season’s 10th episode will be his last as a full-time series regular. “Billy is leaving,” confirms the show’s executive producer, Carol Mendelsohn. “But he will remain throughout the run of the series an executive producer. And he will, whenever CBS asks, come back. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Gil Grissom.” Neither does Petersen. In fact, in an exclusive interview conducted last Friday, the eight-year CSI vet seemed almost reluctant to characterize his departure as, um, a departure. Citing both his ongoing role as an executive producer AND his intention to return on occasion as a (very special) guest star, he said, “I’m in a great place in terms of knowing that I’ll be more free to make choices. And I’m responsible enough to not do it in a way that would hurt [the show]. I want it to work for the writers, I want it to work for the cast, and, MOST importantly, I want it to work for the audience,” he added. “I don’t want them to abandon the show.” In the meantime, Mendelsohn is plotting one hell of a send-off for her leading man. The events of last season’s finale — specifically the death of Gary Dourdan’s Warrick — will push Grissom to the breaking point. “The easiest way to describe Grissom is ‘in crisis,’” Petersen told me. “As a man. As a scientist. As a teacher. As a middle-aged person who has been very successful at what he’s done… [he] wonders, ‘What’s the point?” Helping Grissom through the crisis will be his true love, Sara, played by Jorja Fox, who is returning for multiple episodes, starting with the season premiere. “I wouldn’t want to say exactly what we’re going do — I want people to watch, certainly,” he chuckled. “But Sara is involved… It’s often darkest just before the dawn.” And lest anyone read any hidden meaning into that statement, the actor reiterated, “For me, it’s a really good situation. I don’t want the audience to think it’s NOT… [It isn't] like there’s something going on, like ‘Petersen’s unhappy,’ ’cause it’s not true. It’s quite the contrary” … Executive producer Carol Mendelsohn also says that her team was anything but blindsided by the upcoming departure of William Petersen. “We do have a plan,” she says … “We’re not saying whether or not Warrick lives or dies,” hedges Mendelsohn, “but we WILL say the the premiere may be the last time our loyal fans see the entire original CSI cast together.”

Wow! This is a huge shocking change to an already very solid, very popular TV series. I was really bummed when Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle) left the show last season (but am relieved that she is coming back for “multiple episodes”) and was surprised that they decided to kill off Gary Dourdan‘s character (Warrick Brown) in the season finale (no matter what they won’t say, Warwick got Peaced the Spork Out) but this Peterson leaving CSI: thing is madness. He is the crux of the show … I can’t imagine any other character stepping in to take Gil Grissolm‘s place. This is a risky move … I hope it plays out well. I love this show and would hate to have it turn to garbage by replacing half the cast with new folks who may possibly ruin the show. Thankfully hottie George Eads (Nick Stokes) is still on the show … if he leaves, I’m out.

[Source]

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who star as Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan in the new movie adaptation of the teen vampire novel Twilight by author Stephenie Meyer, are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine. While I’ve yet to read any of Meyer‘s Twilight books (even tho I have them stacked on my ever-expanding reading pile) I am very interested in, not only this book series but also the burgeoning movie franchise that is set to hit the big screen later on this year. Here is the artwork for this week’s issue of EW with the Twilight stars on the cover:

I’m not entirely sure why but I’ve been a big fan of vampire lore for pretty much my entire life. It’s pretty obvs that I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan but before Buffy I was a big fan of Anne Rice‘s book series The Vampire Chronicles as well as horror movies like ‘Salem’s Lot (which ruined my life for a whole month when I was a young child), Lost Boys and the classic Dracula movies. Even most recently, I became a fan of the ill-fated CBS drama Moonlight. And, not that I’m all that proud to admit it, I may have enjoyed a game or two of the White Wolf role playing game Vampire the Masquarade (perhaps my vampire clan was Brujah, for those in the know) back in the early ’90′s. I’m actually pretty surprised myself that I’ve yet to take on this series of books. I’ve heard only good things about them and am encouraged by EW‘s assertion that the Twilight series are the “hottest books since Harry Potter” (you may recognize Robert Pattinson as the bloke who played Cedric Diggory in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). I love that new hype is being generated for another series of books aimed at getting kids to read … it’s very heartening to know that kids can get excited about reading! Anyways, I’m looking forward to finding out more about these books before the movie gets released … if any of y’all have read the books, lemme know what you think about them in the comments. Something tells me that my inner Goth may enjoy this Twilight series after all.

[Source via Source]

Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, in their roles as Batman and The Joker, are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly … here is the magazine cover and an excerpt from the coverstory that contains no spoilers but gives you a good understanding of what the article is all about:

With The Dark Knight, Nolan and Bale return to Gotham City for a second, even moodier and more savage installment of the superhero franchise they revamped in 2005 with Batman Begins. The movie delivers on its promise, pitting Batman against the freaky new fiend in psychotic cosmetics who robs banks and blows up hospitals for the sheer anarchic kick of it. Most of the familiar faces (and one new Two-Face) are on board, including wry butler Alfred (Michael Caine), stalwart police detective Gordon (Gary Oldman), and lawyer-slash-love interest Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, taking over the role from Katie Holmes), as well as a new crusading district attorney named Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). The Dark Knight has everything fans expect from the series: gizmos like a sleek new ”Bat Pod” motorcycle, eye-popping stunts (most performed the old-fashioned way, with real stuntmen and real explosions), and, of course, the brooding Bale, arguably the best, certainly the most serious actor ever to growl under the cowl. Still, when the film opens July 18, Ledger will be Topic A. His turn in The Dark Knight would have been widely talked about this summer even if the 28-year-old actor hadn’t died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose last January. It might have even earned him another Oscar nomination (it still could, posthumously). Now the performance is shrouded in tragedy, though, and may well be Ledger’s last cinematic testament (it’s unclear what Terry Gilliam will, or can, do with the actor’s unfinished footage from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). And that loads The Dark Knight with a poignancy its creators never anticipated. Certainly one they never desired. Along with the grief it caused friends and family, Ledger’s death cast a shadow of uncertainty over the film. It had Warner Bros. reexamining its entire marketing plans for the movie, conducting taste tests on the appropriateness of Ledger’s clown face on publicity stills and in trailers. Hardly the way the studio had hoped it would be launching its biggest summer thrill ride.

To be honest, I haven’t even read the entire coverstory for fear of reading too much about the movie that is still over a week away from release. If you are so inclined, you can read the article online HERE and risk the spoilers for yourself (a new trailer for The Dark Knight ran in front of Hancock last night and I tried to cover my eyes … there’s just so much TDK stuff out there that I don’t want to see any more until the movie comes out on the 18th). Even still … there is a lot of cool stuff that I think we can see safely, without fear of spoiling the movie. After the jump, check out a photo of Heath Ledger wearing The Joker prosthetics on his face but without make-up … it’s kind of an eerie thing to see …