Is Ian Somerhalder Shorty Material?

Since Vampire Diaries hottie Ian Somerhalder falls just under 5’10″ in height, it’s a little surprising that he’s been branded Shorty material. It’s not his co-star and real life love Nina Dobrev who has given him the Shorty label, either. Ian’s fans are responsible.

Fortunately, being Shorty material isn’t a bad thing. Ian has been nominated for two Shorty Awards, the awards for the best in social media. His nominations are for Best Actor in Social Media and Best Environmentalist in Social Media. For any of his over 3 billion Twitter followers, those nominations shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ian frequently tweets to gain support for worthy causes and clearly wants to use his celebrity status to change the world for the better.

Vampire Diaries has also gained a nomination for the Shorty Awards for Best Official TV Show. The winners will be announced April 8, 2013, and there is still plenty of time for fans to cast their vote. You can tweet your vote according to the Shorty Awards rules and show your support for Ian Somerhalder and Vampire Diaries.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev Are Scheduled to Suit Up in 2013 Celebrity Beach Bowl

Vampire Diaries co-stars Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev have plans to hit the sand, but not surf, on February 2. In one of the on-screen and real life couple’s rare appearances together, they are scheduled to participate in a spirited game of tag football at the world’s largest indoor beach in New Orleans for the 2013 Celebrity Beach Bowl.

The annual Celebrity Beach Bowl teams hot celebrities against some of NFL’s greats, such as Deion Sanders, Warren Moon and Eddie George. Although they aren’t battling Originals, Ian and Nina still need a little help from friends, and they have an impressive line of celebs on their team, including Jesse Williams, Jenny McCarthy, Josh Hutcherson, Chace Crawford, and Ian’s Fifty Shades of Grey competitor Matt Bomer.

If you can’t make it to New Orleans, you don’t have to miss out on all the fun. The Celebrity Beach Bowl will air on DirecTV, so you can assess Ian Somerhalder and Beach Bowl veteran Nina Dobrev’s skills on the field for yourself.

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

Kristen Stewart Reveals Shucking Her Clothes Is a Cinch . . . That Should Come as No Surprise.

Kristen Stewart may still be reeling from being dumped for the second time by her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, but she is still discussing the recently released On the Road. In the February 2013 issue of W Magazine, she talks about the difficult moments in filming. Although Stewart had to take her clothes off for the film, she reveals that shucking her duds was a cinch compared to something else. It’s also interesting to note that the ease of how her clothes come off had quite a bit to do with her breakup with Pattinson.

“Everyone asks about the nude scenes in ‘On the Road’,” Kristen notes, “but I also had to dance, and dancing is harder than being naked.” Apparently, that was quite some dancing to overshadow any timidity she had about being in the buff on the set. “My character, Marylou, is so exuberant, and I had five minutes to do something that showed she was sort of like the craziest motherf*cker around,” she continues. “In the book, it says, ‘Dean takes Marylou and they do a love dance and no one can take their eyes off them.’ It’s one sentence. And I was mad-intimidated by it.”

Kristen Stewart may not have had a lot of direction for her crazy dance scene, but she figured it out, creating a memorable moment with co-star Garrett Hedlund. There may even be a little chemistry between the two, judging by her description of filming the dance. “We did the dance four times to the song ‘Salt Peanuts.’ By the end, I was as red as a fire truck,” Stewart says. “I was holding onto Garrett because I was going to fall over. I almost passed out every single time.” Maybe after Kristen heals from her split from Robert Pattinson, there might be an opportunity for a Gar-sten coupling to develop.

Photo Credit: Juergen Teller for W Magazine

Miley Cyrus Locks Lips With New Boy In Wake of Slut Scandal

Miley Cyrus hasn’t had the greatest past week or so, illustrating that life in the world of the rich and famous isn’t always as glamorous as it may appear on the outside. She has been publicly branded a slut, potentially lost a friend in Taylor Swift and–to top it all off–her oldest dog, Lila, died. So, how is Miley holding up, and what is she doing to cope?

Although Miley flew up to Philadelphia to visit fiance Liam Hemsworth, she’s been spending a lot of time with a new man. They’ve been spotted walking the streets together after sharing a private jet to go up north. It sounds like a questionable move on Miley’s part, especially after she tweeted a photo of her in a liplock with a boy who is decidedly not Liam with the caption “morning make out.” What the heck was she thinking?

Fortunately, she wasn’t really stepping out on Liam and proving the slut label true. She’s been cozying up with her newest pooch, Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Klai. Although Floyd can’t replace the recently departed Lila, the fluffy pup can provide her a measure of comfort, and Liam can rest easy that he is the only human boy in Miley’s heart.

Photo Credit: Miley Cyrus, Twitter

Teen Mom’s Jenelle Evans Gains License to Drink

If there wasn’t enough drama going on in Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans’ life, a new catalyst has been added to the mix that will undoubtedly spark new erratic behaviors and headlines. Jenelle can legally drink alcohol, and those close to her have fresh worries to deal with. Jenelle is certainly no stranger to partying, but, with the advent of her 21st birthday, there is nothing to prevent her from tying one on any time she pleases.

Although Courtland is oblivious to the inherent danger of this birthday as he prepares a surprise for his new wife, Jenelle’s mom, Barbara, sees the writing on the wall. Babs tweeted, “HOLY CAHRAP!! Tha day I’ve dreaded FAHEVAHlook what friggin day it is!!! IM GUHNA HAVE TA STAHT BUYIN JENELLE WINE!” Although Mom may need remedial English lessons, her powers of observation are unsullied.

Jenelle’s gaining the license to drink does not bode well for her fragile family dynamic. She has proven time and again that she does not know the definition of moderation, but perhaps she has learned a few lessons in recent years and can manage the fresh responsibilities that come from being of legal age to imbibe spirits. If Jenelle has grown as an individual and not just in age, it would be the best thing for her and little Jace, but fans shouldn’t bank on it.

Photo Credit: Jenelle Evans, Twitter

‘Gossip Girl’ Season 6, Episode 3: “Dirty Rotten Scandals”

In the third episode of the final season of Gossip Girl, the relationships between the core characters are strained even more. It seems Blair and Serena will never be BFFs again. Sage acts like a spoiled brat, and Dan screws over Nate. In a surprising twist, the only person acting like a human being is Chuck, who comes to Blair’s rescue.

Blair is suffering from exhaustion just as the big make-it-or-break-it Waldorf fashion show approaches. Although Chuck is trying to make sense out of the clue Amira left behind, he takes time out from his mission to destroy his father to organize the show for Blair. By the time B recovers, she barely has to do a thing, thanks to Chuck.

Meanwhile, Serena tries to suck up to Steven’s daughter, Sage, by being her ‘mentor,’ much to Nate’s amusement. She manages to get Sage a spot in Blair’s show, but Sage fails to show any gratitude as she makes every effort to sabotage the event. Sage’s behavior becomes just another source of resentment for Serena and Blair toward each other.

Dan breaks his deal with The Spectator mid-stream and opts for Vanity Fair to publish he rest of his new book instead, leaving Nate in the lurch. They only had a verbal agreement, so Nate can’t take any action when Dan jumps ship. Without the Gossip Girl expose or Dan’s book, the future of the magazine is uncertain.

What did you think of this episode? Will Serena and Blair ever be friends again? Will Dan get off of his high horse and treat his friends right?

Photo Credit: The CW

‘Emily Owens, M.D.’ Pilot Recap

Judging from the series premiere of Emily Owens, M.D., it seems like it will be a strong new show for The CW, although it has some development work to do if it will be a viable replacement forHouse. No pilot alone, however, can live up to such a predecessor, and there was enough of interest in it to tune in next week.

The protagonist Emily Owens, played by Meryl Streep’s daughter Mamie Gummer, has just entered her residency at Denver Memorial Hospital. Although you’d think her first day would deal with meeting all sorts of new people and just learning her way around, she is joined with two former classmates–her archenemy from high school and dreamy young Tom Cruise look-alike crush from medical school.

Emily gains some short-lived notoriety when she saves the life of a young girl she was in the process of discharging. Although the 12-year-old girl, Julia, had been diagnosed with a simple case of vasovagal syncope, causing her to faint at the stress of being around a cute boy in gym class, she really had parocardial effusion, or excess fluid around the heart. Surgery is necessary, and Emily even gets to somewhat assist the less-than-likeable Dr. Bandari in the operating room.

With some inspiration from her gawky young patient, Emily declares her feelings for Dr. Will Collins, her old med school classmate. Unfortunately, he shoots her down and gives the classic line about not wanting to jeopardize their friendship. It seems, however, that he is already becoming involved with the nefarious high school enemy, Cassandra. He apparently moves fast for only knowing her one day.

Although romance isn’t on the near horizon with Will, Emily may have another potential love interest in Dr. Micah Barnes, who covers for her when she loses a patient with Alzheimer’s. Although he has just learned his mother has pancreatic cancer, Micah comforts Emily when she turns to the vending machine to assuage her own bad day (after the brush-off from Will and half the staff thinking she’s a predatory lesbian, thanks to helping out Tyra, the Chief of Staff’s daughter).

What did you think of the pilot of Emily Owens, M.D.? Will you tune in next week to see how Emily copes with working around Will after rejection?

Photo Credit: The CW via Facebook

‘Revolution’ Recap, Episode 5: “Soul Train”

In episode 5 of NBC’s Revolution, Charlie and Miles race the clock to rescue Danny from Captain Neville’s clutches. Neville waits with his troops for crews to clear the train tracks to Philadelphia so he can take Danny to Bass and finally see his wife, Julia, after a year of searching for Miles and Ben. Yes, there is a steam-engine train up and running, spelling bad news for Charlie and Miles if they can’t get to Danny before he is put on board.

Miles and the crew with Nate/Not-Nate in tow as a prisoner finally catch up with Neville and aren’t too thrilled at the news that the train is set to depart the following morning. They split up, leaving Aaron to guard Nate, to see if they can figure out where Neville is hiding Danny with the promise that, if one of them even gets a whiff of Danny’s whereabouts, she will track down Miles to deal with it. Nora, however, has a plan of her own and hooks up with another rebel in town, Hutch, so they can blow up the train.

While Charlie is performing reconnaissance, Neville himself approaches her, asking who she is and what she’s doing. She thinks fast, giving the name Sara McGill, and says she is spying on her boyfriend because she thinks he’s cheating on her. Neville buys the story and tells her anyone that would cheat on her is a fool, and he takes off. Charlie ignores her promise to Miles and follows Neville on her own.

Unsurprisingly, Neville notices she is following and threatens Charlie with a knife. Fortunately, Miles comes to the rescue just in time, but the cat is out of the bag that Charlie is Danny’s sister. Both Miles and Charlie escape, but, with Neville knowing about their presence, he moves Danny again and steps up the schedule for the train’s departure.

Nora and Hutch ready the bomb on the train, mixing gunpowder into the logs necessary to run the steam engine. That way, they don’t have to use an unreliable fuse. Meanwhile, Nate escapes as Charlie questions him about where Neville might be hiding Danny. It’s not long until they figure out Danny is already on the train, and it’s preparing to take off to Bass in Philadelphia.

Nora starts feeling guilty about endangering Danny with the bomb; she had hoped Miles would find him before the train’s departure. She tries to retrieve the bomb, but Hutch stabs her in the side. Miles and Charlie hop on the train and search the cars from the outside for Danny, leaving Aaron to take care of the injured Nora.

Charlie finds the car with Danny alone with Neville, and Danny spots his sister in the window. He jumps on Neville, and Charlie forces her way inside. Just as it seems they may have a chance of escaping together, Nate grabs Charlie from behind, and Neville is able to regain control over Danny. Elsewhere on board, Miles finds the bomb and throws it from the train just before it explodes. During the distraction of the explosion, Nate lets Charlie go, telling her to watch her head as he tosses her from the train. Miles also jumps ship, and they watch the train leave them behind.

The crew re-groups, and it looks like Nora will be okay despite her wounds. Charlie doesn’t want to waste any time getting to Philadelphia, although she admits it is likely a suicide mission. Everyone else agrees to help.

The train arrives safely in Philadelphia, and Neville is reunited with his wife, where it is revealed that Nate is actually Captain Neville’s son. Laura, accompanied by Bass, sees Danny arrive beaten to a pulp. To protect her family from any more tragedy, she agrees to help Bass. She draws a picture of one of the mysterious pendants, and tells Bass the first step to getting the electricity back on is to find all 12 of them.

What did you think of this episode of Revolution? Were you surprised by the big reveal that Nate is Neville’s son? Do you think Miles and Charlie stand a chance of rescuing Danny now that he’s in Philadelphia?

Photo Credit: NBC via Facebook

‘Gossip Girl’ Season 6, Episode 2 Recap

The second episode of the final season of Gossip Girl reunites Serena with the crew in Manhattan and the drama in the lives of the elite. There are two major events going on. Serena makes her entrance into adult society by hosting a charity event to benefit the local parks, and Blair readies her fashion collection to be featured in Women’s Wear Daily. They may be doing grown-up things, but how it all plays out proves they haven’t outgrown their school ways.

Nate has formed a relationship with Sage, his new intern, and he tells Serena how fond he is of her. Unfortunately, just as he begins to gush about Sage’s positive attributes, Nate and Serena spot Sage holding hands in a restaurant with Serena’s new squeeze, Steven. Instead of simply confronting the pair on the spot, they take to their cells to ‘solve’ their relationship problems. Nate breaks up with Sage via voicemail, and Serena asks Steven if he is having an affair.

Meanwhile, Blair enlists the help of her airheaded minions to look good for the interviewer fromWomen’s Wear Daily, but it blows up in her face when she discovers the reporter is none other than Nelly. Despite being traumatized by her brush with the in-crowd, Nelly has acquired style and has moved up in the world. That means the launch of Waldorff Designs under Blair’s new management hinges on Nelly’s review, which she plans to juxtapose against Poppy Lifton’s designs.

Blair gains intel that Poppy and her used the same fabric, meaning it can easily look like she stole designs and spell the ruination of Waldorff. She also learns that Poppy plans to show off her new line at Serena’s charity event, so she hatches a scheme to keep Nelly from seeing Poppy’s fashions. Although Blair isn’t on the guest list, she shows up as her hanger-ons send some of Poppy’s models to the wrong location and strip the others of their clothes. Just as Blair is sucking up to Nelly, it all blows up in B’s face. Waldorff’s new line won’t be featured in WWD at all, and Serena has security escort Blair off the premises.

Sage also shows up to the event to beg Nate not to dump her, and it comes out that she is actually Steven’s 17-year-old daughter, who has been sneaking around and skipping school to hook up with Nate. Steven punches Nate, but Serena ends up smoothing everything out. Nate and Sage can continue to see each other provided she returns to school, but Sage isn’t exactly grateful to S and vows to break her and her dad up.

In the midst of all this, Chuck and his father butt heads over the company, and it comes out that Amira had a brief affair with daddy back in Dubai and there may be a lead for Chuck to follow in gaining the company back. Also, Dan agrees to let The Spectator publish his new book in chapters provided Nate prints it word for word, not caring what bridges he may burn among his family and friends.

What did you think of last night’s episode of Gossip Girl? Is Serena really as grown up as she thinks she is? Can Blair still succeed in fashion? Will Nate really continue seeing a 17-year-old, even if it’s legal?

’30 Rock’ Recap: “Governor Dunston”

The second episode of the final season of 30 Rock brings a little political satire to coincide with the real-life debates, but it has some unexpected consequences in the fantasy world of Rockefeller Plaza. How much could a change in the Republican ticket affect Jack and Liz’s plan to tank NBC?

Such a change does occur. Paul Ryan drops from the VP race because it has been discovered he was born in Kenya, and Mitt Romney picks up a new running mate in Governor Dunston of Alabama. Although Jack had made Liz promise to avoid political skits because they are good for ratings, Dunston, a Tracy Jordan look-alike, is too difficult to resist.

Of course, Tracy goes on to portray Dunston on TGS, using only words that had actually come out of the governor’s mouth (providing Liz with a little loophole with Jack since she didn’t write a word). There’s so much real-life fodder with Dunston’s puking in hats, sitting on his testicles and promotion of re-segregation that the piece is a natural hit, prompting Hank Hooper to request the show going five nights a week.

Meanwhile, Criss and Liz are trying hard to conceive, but Liz’s libido is getting in the way. Although Criss is doing a lot of the leg work like keeping up with Liz’s menstrual cycle, Liz just hasn’t felt like doing the deed. Now that TGS has gone viral, however, and she’s caught up in organizing all sorts of spreadsheets and the like, Liz feels far more in the mood. This presents a new dilemma: If she reverts to the plan of tanking the network, her chances of pregnancy also revert to next to nil.

Jack is also faced with a dilemma. After Cooter Berger stops in Jack’s office, announcing he is the Deputy Chief of Media Relations for Romney-Dunston 2012, Jack learns that the skits on TGS are actually helping the Republican cause. Satirizing Dunston makes the vice presidential candidate seem more loveable, shifting the focus from how the governor actually just instituted re-segregation in Alabama schools. As a die-hard Republican, Jack must put his plan to sabotage the network on the back burner.

In a lesser story line  Jenna is disappointed with the performance of her latest CD. Her royalty check is a mere $90. Tracy explains that it’s all the fault of “Al Gore’s stupid Internet;” no one buys CDs anymore. Apparently, that played a part in Tracy’s own decision to get out of the music business.

Meanwhile, Kenneth’s mother Pearline and friend Ron show up, and Pearline hands Kenneth a CD, attracting Jenna’s attention. Jenna must chat up Pearline and Ron to gain insights into the rare people who still buy CDs. During this discussion about musical tastes, it comes to light that Pearline and Ron got married seven years ago. Kenneth thinks Ron is an idiot, and throws a hissy fit, fleeing the room.

Later, Pearline and Ron seek Jenna’s advice on how to get through to Kenneth. Jenna, as usual, is more concerned about herself than others’ problems. She has decided to target her music at “unhappy middle aged bummers,” and asks them to sing a song for inspiration. When Pearline and Ron sing a ditty in praise of Kenneth, Jenna insults them. Kenneth overhears this and storms into the room to take up for his mother and stepfather, realizing that Ron is family no matter what.

What did you think about this episode of 30 Rock? Did you enjoy getting a peek at Kenneth’s family? Do you think Jack and Liz made the right decision for their futures by abandoning the plan to tank NBC?