Little known fact about TV star Lee Pace: His after school job in high school was working at Gallup Poll, doing surveys for Citibank. He made so many phone calls during his time there that if you tell him an area code, he'll know what city it belongs to. While that's quite the talent, it probably doesn't compare to bringing people back from the dead, right?

In the fantastical, hit ABC dramedy, Pushing Daisies, Lee, 29, stars as the endearing Ned, a pie maker whose touch can magically bring life to the dead. Of course, it's not that simple—if Ned touches that person a second time, they will be dead forever.

That brings us to Ned's current predicament. He brought his childhood sweetheart, Chuck (Anna Friel), back to life, and to keep her alive, he can never touch her again. Their chemistry is undeniably palpable and adorable, but their physical separation breaks your heart.

Upcoming episodes, however, might help piece your heart back together. Though Lee admits he's not very romantic in his own personal life (damn!), he says that not only is Ned "insanely romantic," but he "is much more romantic this season than he was last season...This year he's a little more enthusiastic about making the changes that he needs to in his life, like being a better man for Chuck." Hint: Lee said his most romantic Pushing Daisies scene to date will take place in episode five. And, in episode eight, Ned comes up with a new invention: "There's a spooning contraption so that we can spoon. It's like a plastic screen with a big arm sleeve so I can wrap my arm around Chuck." Can we all say, "awww" in unison?

Unfortunately, this season Chuck decides that she should live her second chance at life to the fullest. Will that mean becoming involved with a man she can touch? According to Lee, "It's a big possibility, but we haven't shot that yet. She's headed down that road... but the thing about Chuck and Ned is that they're soul mates. It's not going to be easy for them to split up."

For all you Ched/Nuck fans out there, don't fear. Lee knows that everyone wants to see the couple together. "It's more fun to watch Ned and Chuck against the world versus Ned and Chuck against each other."

As fans of the show know, it's not always just about Ned and Chuck.They round out their posse with Pie Hole waitress Olive Snook (Kristen Chenoweth) and private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride). Expect some new faces though, as the cast will be getting bigger. David Arquette is joining the show to give Ned a friend. Of course, to be on Pushing Daisies, the character has to be quirky, and with Lee's description of David's part, he's sure to fit right in. "He has a fun hobby that's similar to Ned's hobby. He taxidermies animals, so he brings animals to life in his own way." (Notice the eyeball in David's hand in the photo on the right.) I'm getting excited just picturing these two in action together.

Be sure to check out Pushing Daisies on ABC, Wednesday nights at 8 pm.

Are you ready for the return of Serena, Blair, Chuck, Nate and Dan? The catfights, love triangles and steamy scenes will be in full swing when Gossip Girl returns to the CW on September 1 at 8 pm.

If you can't wait until then, check out this five minute clip from the first episode. Enjoy!

xoxo,

Gossip Girl

Supermodel Janice Dickinson and her posse of models are back! The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency returns tonight on Oxygen at 10 pm.

Yesterday I had the privilege of not only watching a modeling competition emceed by a drag queen (specifically Miss Understood, also of Project Runway fame)—the winner had a chance to become a Janice Dickinson model—but I also had some one on one time with Miss Janice herself.

As you may already know, this season the models are moving into a house together. And, to top it off, Janice will be joining them! If that's not going to cause drama, then my name's not Jacki!

Aside from the fact that the models are "absolute slobs," Janice gave us a little insight into the new living situation, any why the younger models were chosen to move into the house:

"In the new episodes, the younger models need more nurturing than the older models. So of course, divas like Traci and all those other people that do things just for effect, like Kehoe trying to get more television time, to me it's a joke. To be honest with you, the models that really need the nurturing are the newer models, like a great girl named Xian, a great girl named Hazuki, Dominic of the older models... I gravitate towards the models that really are working on their craft."

Check out the show tonight to watch how the older models react to Janice's extra attention paid to the newbies, and to see Janice's way of spying on the models (hint: there's a surveillance system!).

For the first time in my life, I'm speechless. At first I thought it was cute when Tori Spelling and hubby Dean recorded a song together on the previous episode of Oxygen's Tori & Dean. But then they took that song and remixed it into a music video, and all I can say is that you need to see it.

Why? No, not because it's the best song you've ever heard or the most genius directing of a music video to date. Nope, that's not why. Instead, you must watch it so that your jaw will be dropped like mine as you view Tori and Dean impersonating some of the best couples of all time.



So tell me... how was it? Are you freaked out? Are you laughing? Or maybe crying? Personally, I'm still in shock, and may be for a verrrrry long time to come!

(For those of you who want to see this again on the big screen, the video airs tonight on the finale of Tori & Dean on Oxygen at 10 pm)

Poor Ryan Seacrest is being demoted this year.

Now, don't get too excited. He'll still be hosting the Emmys. He just won't be alone. This year the Idol host will be joined by Heidi Klum, Jeff Probst, Howie Mandel and Tom Bergeron.

What do these five folks have in common? They're all nominated for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. It's sure going to be strange when one of them wins that category and then they all have to continue on with hosting the show together.

What do you think? Will this be better than the strange "in-the-round" Emmys that took place with a solo Seacrest? Or will five hosts just be waaaaaaaay too many to focus on? Would you rather see a "real" actor in their place?

The Emmys will air on September 21 on ABC.

When I first heard that Jo De La Rosa and Slade Smiley were getting their own reality show, Date My Ex: Jo & Slade, I didn't know what to think. Jo and Slade could be considered the most boring of the Real Housewives of Orange County cast.

Then Bravo aired a special called Jo & Slade: The Breakup and I was hooked. The show chronicled the ups and downs of the duo's relationship that took place during Housewives. And, I kind of fell in love.

You see, Jo and Slade were adorable together. They decided to break up—not because they didn't like each other anymore—but because they were truly at different stages in their lives. They remained the best of friends and still do love each other deeply... as friends... or so they say.

Any viewer can totally still see the connection between the two former lovebirds. So, why then, would I like a reality show in which Slade helps his ex-fiance find a date? Well, because I kinda-sorta-really-really hope they get back together.

Each episode Jo goes on a bunch of dates and then decides who she wants to go on a second date with. As the episodes progress, the second daters have to battle it out. But, the guys also have to live with Slade and Slade gets to watch all the dates on a monitor. (Um, hello heartbreak!)

Now I have to watch the show because I'm dying to know if Jo truly falls in love with another man (and Slade cries), or if Jo and Slade reunite and live happily ever after. Which are you rooting for?

Date My Ex premieres tonight on Bravo at 10 p.m. ET.

At midnight tonight, the deal between the Screen Actors Guild and the studio expires, and guess what? No new deal has been agreed on.  So, does that mean the actors will strike?

Well, SAG president Alan Rosenberg said, "We have taken no steps to initiate a strike authorization vote by [our] members. Any talk about a strike or a management lockout is simply a distraction."

That's good, right? Not really. Midnight is only a few hours away, and unless a deal has been reached by then, there is no contract. And no contract means that actors can't work. Faaaaaabulous.

Luckily a lot of TV shows already filmed some fall episodes, so we'll still have something to watch if there is a strike (depending on how long it lasts - if it even happens). As for movies... well, no actors means no movies.

There's the chance that a temporary contract could be put in place to help avoid the strike, but that doesn't fix the fact that no long-term deal would exist.

Fingers crossed!

Update: Though no contract has been agreed upon, SAG is letting its members continue to work under their existing deal until further notice.

Yes, that's right. Matthew McConaughey isn't the only star in his family.

Matt's bro Rooster has his own reality show on truTV called Black Gold. The show airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

P.S. Rooster's son's name is Miller Lyte, after his favorite beer. Just saying.

The second season of Bravo's Shear Genius premieres tonight at 10 p.m.

It's been decided that NBC News' Tom Brokaw will be the temporary moderator of Meet the Press through the 2008 presidential election.

Brokaw will begin his gig next week by saying he "volunteered for the job" in order to honor the late Tim Russert.

I feel like this is the best decision NBC could have made, considering, at least to me, Tom Brokaw seems like the proud dad to all the news anchors in the bureau. I can't imagine anyone else stepping in during this tragic time, especially during such an important election season.

Steve Capus, NBC News President, said, "To have someone of Tom's stature step up and dedicate himself to ensuring its ongoing success is not only a testament to his loyalty to Tim, but his enduring commitment to NBC News and our viewers."

Do you think Tom Brokaw is the right choice for the Meet the Press hosting gig?

Last week I spent some time with all the Design Star finalists of season three. When the event started, host Clive Pearse introduced each of the finalists to the audience in New York City's Greeley Square.

Though these intros did nothing to test the designers' abilities, it was a very interesting way to see how the designers were with a microphone in hand when they had to engage an audience.

Here's the rundown (in the order they were introduced), with additional comments from my interviews:

Jennifer: Very spunky. On marrying a British man, she told the audience: "I suggest everyone try it." Had a lot of energy but stumbled a bit on the mic, and didn't speak very eloquently, as a host must. Later on I joked to her that I had no idea how she and her husband stayed together after only one of them was chosen to be on the show. "I'm so lucky. My husband is the coolest guy ever and he just totally supports me," she said. But if she were the one staying home? "Oh it'd be totally different," she laughed. So why did Jennifer get chosen over her man? "I think it's maybe the bubbly personality versus his. He was all mad that I didn't make him get a haircut and a shave before it. Who knows, maybe it was secret sabotage!" Jennifer said their dream would be to have a show together.

Tricia: Well-spoken, though her vocabulary could use some work. Used the word "fun" about five times during one answer she gave, and then used the word "passion" just as often in another answer. However, she did engage the audience. She's in amazing shape as well. Plus, Tricia has three kids and talked about juggling work and home life, which is appealing to people.




Stephanie: Very perky. When she was introduced, the song "I Will Survive" played, and Stephanie danced her way onto the stage. Had tons of energy. Surprisingly enough, she said to me, "I like the attention, but not really. I would rather live on a farm with a bunch of cows." But the reason she wants to be on TV? "It's for me to get out there—little old me—I'm not that seasoned in the design field yet. It's hard to get your name out there, especially as a young designer." What's she say to Michael then? "That's just him. I'm amazing too." And lastly, "I saw some previews of me crying... so I'm realllly excited to show everyone how upset I was," she joked.

Everyone thinks it's weird that Hugh Hefner has three girlfriends—Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson—but it's even stranger that they're all friends.

Or so we think.

According to TMZ, there's a catfight going on at the Playboy Mansion, as Kendra "hates" number one Bunny, Holly. Apparently it's so bad that the girlfriends can't even be in the same room for more than five minutes. Bridget is trying to keep the peace between the two, but has found little success. 

Here's my question: If the girls dislike each other that much, how were they able to pose in this picture, which was taken just five days ago? True, it's all for publicity, but I don't know if I could sit at a dinner table next to someone I truly hated.

I wonder how the Girls Next Door producers will handle their cast being at each other's throats.

As all you HGTV Design Star fans out there know, we're back underway with the third season of the reality show where you crown the next HGTV star.

But, before we talk about this season's Design Star, here's some scoop on what two former Design Star contestants are up to:

You know Eric Stromer's HGTV show, Over Your Head? Well, production on the seventh and eigth seasons begins on July 7, and they will feature none other than last year's Design Star runner-up, Todd Davis, as the new carpenter/contractor. Want to appear on the show? Head over to http://www.overyourhead.tv/.

And, check out this exclusive dish: Sparkle Josh Johnson will be a judge on HGTV's new show Summer Showdown, in which HGTV designers (like Vern Yip and Cynthia Rowley) go head-to-head in design competitions. The four-episode series premieres on Sunday, August 3 at 10 p.m. (immediately following the Design Star finale). Subsequent episodes will air Sundays at 9 p.m. on HGTV.

Okay, back to the current season stars... last week I spent a few hours in New York City's Greeley Park where the nine Design Star finalists—Trish, Jennifer, Stephanie, D. Paul, Tracee, Scottie, Matt Locke, Michael and Mikey V.—participated in a mini-Design Star challenge.

The designers were split into two teams and were given twenty-five minutes to decorate either the living room or bedroom of a fake version of Sarah Evans' tour bus.

Tori Spelling is back in the spotlight. First, her reality show, Tori and Dean, returns to Oxygen tonight. Second, she's going to guest star on the new 90210. And third, she just gave birth to her second child, daughter Stella Doreen McDermott.

Now, when most people think of Tori Spelling, they immediately yell, "Donna Martin graduates!" (At least that's what I do.) And now that Tori is reprising her role on the 90210 spinoff, we can all rejoice in Beverly Hills happiness... except for one thing: Brian Green is busy on the Fox show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and has no plans to return to 90210. So does that mean that Donna and David are no longer living in holy matrimony?

We spoke with Tori during a conference call recently (right before she gave birth), and she had no dish on the Donna and David relationship, except to say, "I see her as - you know, Donna was pretty determined so I see her as a hardcore, you know, career woman that's been pretty driven all these years. So it'll be interesting, at least for me, to see how that affected her marriage and where she stands with that, if they have kids and stuff. So I'm just as interested as the fans are to know where she's at."

So who do you want PJ (Jordana Spiro) to take on the plane to Italy?

I'll admit that I already know who the mystery man is, but since I don't want to ruin it for you, let's just chat as if neither of us know, okay?

First, let's go over PJ's plane choices:

1. Evan, the botanist
2. Thorn Packer, the globe-trotting reporter
3. Matt Dougan, the Cubs player

Or, maybe it's a member of PJ's crew: Bobby, Brendan, Kenny, Mike, or even brother Andy?

Let me just say this, Jordana told me, "Well there's a wedding… I'm not going to say if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but there is a wedding."

A wedding!? Between whom? I can't imagine any of those guys (except Andy) settling down just yet. Maybe it's Stephanie? My guess is that it's not PJ in the white dress.

It's not that I don't think PJ will get married at some point, I just don't think the time is now. First, Jordana said, "I think I know in PJ's mind the perfect guy would really actually be a combination of all of the guys around the poker table"... and that's not an easy guy to find! Second, Jordana joked, "If Johnny Depp wanted to do a little arc, we'd be cool with that... I mean I'd have to audition him, but I think we could make it work." Sadly for the ladies on the show, I'm not so sure Mr. Depp will be stopping by any time soon. Third, I wonder if the show can really go on if PJ finds Mr. Right?