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The Women TV Is Still Missing

2013-05-20T14:19:17Z

As all different kinds of boundary-breaking female characters shoehorn their way onto TV these last few years, much has been written about Breaking Bad's "Skyler White Effect," the knee-jerk hatred of male anti-heroes' wives. Somehow, Skyler garners more fan hatred than the brilliant, evil meth cook and murderer she's married (who, it's strongly implied, rapes her, by the way) to because she's "such a bitch."

But there are still certain demographics of women who are barely on TV at all, according to NPR's ">All Things Considered. The good news is, that a think tank run by Geena Davis that studies women in the media found that 44.3% of women characters in prime-time television had jobs, close to the real-life figure of 46.7% (the breadwinning in children's entertainment, meanwhile, was done by men 81% of the time).

WATCH: La Toya's Tearful Break-Up Phone Call

2013-05-20T14:14:28Z

La Toya Jackson thought she was ready to rejoin the dating world after more than 15 years being single. Though she had previously revealed she was nervous about starting a relationship, the middle Jackson sister agreed to go on a blind date on her show, "Life With La Toya." That's how she met George.

After two dates, a round of miniature golf, a night dancing, lots of conversation and a few sips of champagne, La Toya realized that George is a truly nice guy -- but might be moving too fast. In the video, La Toya tells her business partner Jeffré, "I like [George] a lot. I think he has a lot of great qualities. But he keeps asking for kisses and kisses and kisses."

Unready for any physical intimacy, La Toya decides she should stop dating George. "That physical part of it makes me a little bit nervous and I'm not really comfortable moving forward with that," she explains in the clip. Of course, admitting that to herself is one thing; saying it directly to George is another.

But that's what she needs to do, Jeffré says, urging La Toya to call George to officially break things off. La Toya balks. "I don't want to hurt him," she says. She tries coming up with other solutions -- Jeffré should call for her, or she can just send George a letter -- but it's clear that La Toya needs to pick up the phone.

So she does.

Panicked about what to say, La Toya begs Jeffré to coach her through the call. Watch the video to see exactly what she says to George, how he responds to the break-up and why La Toya begins to cry soon after hanging up the phone.

"Life With La Toya" returns Saturday, June 1, at 9:30 p.m. ET on OWN.

WATCH: Annie And Auggie's Deadly New Mission

2013-05-20T14:09:11Z

When "Covert Affairs" returns for Season 4 on Tues., July 16 (9 p.m. ET on USA), Annie (Piper Perabo) and Auggie (Christopher Gorham) will embark on their most dangerous mission yet.

In HuffPost TV's exclusive promo above, Annie has made a shocking discovery about the security of Langley and turns to Joan (Kari Matchett) and Arthur (Peter Gallagher) with some troubling news. Does it have something to do with the mysterious project Henry Wilcox (Gregory Itzin) enlisted her for at the end of Season 3? Tune in for "Covert Affairs" Season 4 to find out on July 16.

And look out for new characters including Manolo Cardona as Teo Braga, a charismatic, enigmatic Colombian rebel leader with secrets that will impact the CIA; Hill Harper as Calder Michaels, a CIA station chief in Latin America angling for a D.C. promotion; and Michelle Ryan as Teresa Hamilton, "an operative with a shadowy past."

Are you excited to see Annie and Auggie as a couple in Season 4 of "Covert Affairs"?

The Female Larry David?

2013-05-20T14:00:12Z

Having appeared in such projects as the HBO series "Bored to Death" and the Noah Baumbach films "Margot at the Wedding" and "The Squid and the Whale," actress Halley Feiffer is way more famous than a lot of people. That just doesn't necessarily translate to Twitter.

"I really don't have that many Twitter followers, which I'm really sad about," Feiffer, 28, joked during a recent interview with HuffPost Entertainment. "I really want people to think I'm more famous, and that happens when you have more Twitter followers."

That could happen soon enough. Feiffer co-wrote and stars in the indie comedy "He's Way More Famous Than You," a caustic film about Feiffer's alcoholic alter ego, an actress also named Halley Feiffer. Directed by former "Ugly Betty" star Michael Urie (who also appears as "himself" in the film) and featuring cameo appearances from Jesse Eisenberg and Ben Stiller, "He's Way More Famous Than You" has received strong reviews from both The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times. Slamdance Festival programmer Josh Mandel, meanwhile, compared Feiffer's style to Larry David. It's a connection the actress has gladly embraced.

"I always wanted to be a young, female, blonde Larry David or Louis C.K. That's sort of my goal," Feiffer said. "Both of them, also, play horrible versions of themselves with their own names, which I really like."

Feiffer is off to a good start in that department. The Halley Feiffer in "He's Way More Famous Than You" is selfish, uncouth and obsessed with fame. She treats "The Squid and the Whale" -- the real-life Feiffer's breakout film -- as if it's the most important indie released in the last 50 years.

"That's something I did almost 10 years ago now, when I was a completely different person, and yet that's the thing people recognize me the most from," Feiffer said about Baumbach's film, which came out when she was a junior in college. "I guess that's what I was trying to make fun of a little bit. I don't think I was as entitled as my character, I hope, but I guess I thought it would be funny to explore a world in which I was."

For Feiffer, whose parents are Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer and author Jenny Allen, exploring that world began in a way similar to how the film's fictional script starts for the fictional Feiffer: after a breakup.

"This guy I was dating, we were writing a screenplay together and then he broke up with me and I had a terrible thought: 'Maybe I could just make this movie by myself,'" she recalled. "I was like, 'No, that's a horrible idea. You can't do that, Halley.' But then I thought it would be funny to write a movie where my doppelgänger -- my evil twin, this horrible version of myself -- doesn't realize that writing a movie is a horrible idea."

Feiffer wrote a treatment for what would become "He's Way More Famous Than You," but then tabled it after showing it to a few people who didn't really get what she was going for. It was only after a year, when her friend and fellow actor Ryan Spahn suggested that the duo write something together, that Feiffer pulled the script out of a drawer.

"Ryan was in the treatment," she said. "He was my gay best friend who I asked to be in the movie, and the joke was that he was gay and we had no chemistry but we were always making out in the movie and it was terrible." The final script, which Spahn co-wrote with Feiffer, turned the actor's role into something even more awkward: He plays Halley's brother, and the pair decide to act as love interests in the movie within the movie.

"I had never written a screenplay before so I had no faith that we could actually do it," Feiffer said of the process. "That we actually shot it and it became a movie now in theaters is hilarious to me because I never thought we'd get to page 23."

"He's Way More Famous Than You" puts Feiffer through the ringer -- even if her character doesn't know that. It's an unflattering portrayal of ego run amok, but Feiffer said it wasn't difficult to separate herself from the terrible person staring back at her on the page.

"It didn't feel like I was really digging into my deeper truth because I don't behave this way," she said. "There was one day where I did come home and felt pretty depressed and I didn't know why. We had just written that scene where my agent breaks up with me and I was having sadness about that. No scene like that had happened in real life, but the movie is loosely based on feelings and insecurities I had. Mostly, though, it was just a total blast -- especially because I got to write it with my friend. If I had been doing it by myself it might have been painful; doing it with my friend, we would just laugh and eat french fries and it was so fun."

Not everything, of course, has been as much fun. Feiffer recalled how she recently made the mistake of searching Twitter for comments on "He's Way More Famous Than You" -- "Mostly it has been positive, but we do get some mean things" -- and she has learned to shy away from reading reviews. Well, most reviews.

"I feel vulnerable, because people could watch it and think I am a horrible person. Which I am, I just don't want them to know that," Feiffer deadpanned. "So, I don't read reviews. But Ryan told me there were a couple that were totally positive, and that was OK. Then someone else told me to read one that was positive, and I was like, 'It's sort of positive?'"

Despite that, one of Feiffer's favorite "He's Way More Famous Than You" reviews lives in that nether region between good and bad.

"Someone wrote something on Twitter that I thought was really mean, but now I think it was nice: 'He's Way More Famous Than You' is the dumbest movie I've ever seen. I loved it.' Which I really love, because I totally know what he's talking about. It is, I hope, some combination of low brow and high brow. There are many jokes about blow jobs and then many jokes about Austin Pendleton. How many movies are like that?"

"He's Way More Famous Than You" is out in limited release now and available on VOD and iTunes. Feiffer will next be seen in the play "How To Make Friends and Kill Them," which she also wrote. "How To Make Friends and Kill Them" will debut at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York this fall.

WATCH: A Pace Sister Reveals Painful Childhood Secret

2013-05-20T13:56:13Z

The Pace Sisters are more than an acclaimed sibling gospel group. The seven religious sisters are also a close-knit family -- but even the closest sisters have secrets. When Iyanla Vanzant visits six of the seven Pace sisters to dig deep into their pasts and uncover the burdens weighing them down both mentally and physically, one of the women reveals a shocking secret to her sisters.

In this clip from "Iyanla: Fix My Life," Duranice Pace speaks for the first time about the sexual abuse she says she experienced as a child, at the hands of a family member. The abuse occurred when she was 12, the elder Pace sister says, while she was staying with her grandmother to help her after she suffered a stroke.

"She asked me to take my uncle his food, his plate. I didn't know he was drunk," Duranice tells Iyanla and the rest of the Pace sisters. "He grabbed me. It was scary. He just... swung me on the bed. He tore my clothes off. All I know is I felt the worst pain in my life."

Duranice says her grandmother heard her screams and came upstairs. "My grandmamma came with a broom. She said, 'Get off of her!' and she hit him sore with that broom until it broke," Duranice recalls.

The incident took a severe emotional and physical toll on Duranice. "It scared me," she says. "I bled for three months and the family doctor said, 'She's going to always have problems.'"

In the video, Iyanla explains to Duranice and the other Pace sisters how this childhood trauma affected Duranice's weight and how keeping secrets can have a devastating effect on one's wellbeing.

"Let me tell you something: Secrets kill," Iyanla tells the Pace sisters. "They kill your spirit, they kill your joy, they eat away at you."

"Iyanla: Fix My Life" airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on OWN.

Jason Isaacs Reveals The One Co-Star He Won't Work With Again

2013-05-20T13:54:18Z

It's an unwritten rule that actors never slag off their co-stars in public, but Jason Isaacs, currently starring as Jackson Brodie in 'Case Histories', obviously feels more strongly than most.

Jason Isaacs with his co-star Crunchy - "never again!"

"That f***ing dog," he exclaims of cute co-star The Ambassador, played by Crunchy, some sort of unidentifiable but appealing hound. "It didn't do a thing it was meant to, I spent months covered in sausage meat, and they had to replace my dialogue in almost every scene.

"By the magic of editing and wishful thinking, they've made it look like we've got this great relationship, but if anyone's thinking of hiring this dog - don't!"

Furry face-offs aside, the Harry Potter star is delighted to be returning to the screen in a new set of mysteries for private investigator Jackson Brodie, last seen in the arms of elusive love Louise Monroe. True to form, this first new episode (on iPlayer, our review here) finds him "having right royally f***ed up" according to Isaacs, who delights in his character's flaws.

"I wanted to see what was going to happen to him and his disastrous personal life. Brodie's a human being, always shagging the wrong person. He's a modern-day faceted hero, helping other people solve their problems, while incapable of sorting out his own. We all know that person.

"This is not a love story, but Kate Atkinson (writer) has made him a detective of the soul, much more than of fingerprints. I would always do more of this character. He's an heroic idiot - what else is there?"

Even before he was given the screen role, Isaacs had recorded the audio books of the same series - "I was all the characters, doing all the different voices. When I came to do the telly version, it was actually quite odd to see other people turning up."

'Case Histories' Episode 1 is on iPlayer. Episode 2 is next Sunday at 8.30pm.

IT'S OFFICIAL

2013-05-20T13:47:04Z

UK's ITN confirmed on Monday that ITV editor Deborah Turness will resign from her post to become the president of NBC News. The Guardian's Josh Halliday tweeted the news and reported that NBC News confirmed Turness' appointment.

Turness became the UK's first female editor of a news division in 2004, which is equivalent to a news president in the U.S. Reports surfaced earlier this month that NBC News, which had been searching for a new president since Steve Capus stepped down in Feburary, decided on Turness. Her appointment will once again prove historic as she will become the first female president of a U.S. news network.

She will remain at ITV till July. Michael Jermey, ITV's director of news and current affairs, said of Turness, "Deborah has made an enormous contribution to ITV News over many years and we wish her all the very best in her new role. She leaves ITV News in great shape."

Speaking of her new role, Turness said in a statement:

It is quite simply the greatest imaginable honour to be named as the next President of NBC News. I am hugely excited by the opportunities that lie ahead and look forward to working with the talented journalists and technicians who make it one of the great global news operations. I owe so much to ITN for nearly 25 fabulous years of adventures and challenges. It has been a huge privilege to be the Editor of ITV News and to work alongside such a wonderful team of motivated, brave and loyal people.

The first time Turness' name was floated as a candidate in NBC News' search was by the Los Angeles Times' Joe Flint in April.

10 Things We'll Always Love About 'Buffy'

2013-05-20T13:41:06Z

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" gave viewers a world rich with witty, independent women, fantastic monsters, hellish high school sagas and so much more.

It's been 10 years since Joss Whedon's TV masterpiece ended -- May 20, 2003 was the last time a new episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" aired -- and we still can't get enough of the show. Buffy's adventures continued on in comic books written by and executive produced by Whedon, but there's still something to say about the world crafted on the series.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series finale, here are 10 things we'll always love about the show.

What are your favorite parts, moments, characters, episodes, etc.? Tell us in the comments below.

How Cable Is Changing Broadcast

2013-05-20T13:26:26Z

NEW YORK — The most striking thing about the broadcast TV networks announcing their new fall schedules this past week was how little that actually meant.

Television schedules seem more like sketches these days. Even the networks admit their prime-time plans for September will be different by January, even more so a few months later. That's not even taking into account the inevitable failures among the 56 new series ordered into production by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW.

Broadcasters are more frequently embracing the cable TV idea of limited run series, of taking favorites off the air for a time instead of showing reruns, and of not treating summer as an afterthought.

"We're not constrained by the traditional broadcast schedule anymore," Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment chairman, proclaimed in a presentation to advertisers.

Television has typically started its new season in late September, a calendar that was set to coincide with the time auto manufacturers rolled out a shiny new line of cars, and wanted something shiny and new on TV to advertise them on. That's the time most new shows appeared, offering a feast for fans and, lately, for digital video recorders.

Not quite half of the new shows – 27 of them – will be on the schedules when a new season starts this September. There are scheduled premiere dates, mostly in mid-winter, for many of the rest. Others have only a vague promise that they will appear, sometime, somewhere. Rebuilding NBC ordered 17 new shows, but only six will be on opening week.

Even established programs are left in limbo. NBC's cult favorite "Community" was renewed, with no hint of when it will be on. Same thing for CBS' comedy "Mike & Molly," even with a 22-episode order. The CW will wrap up its "Nikita" series with six episodes, but no one knows when.

Fox's Reilly unveiled a fall schedule, a late fall schedule and a winter schedule, with chips moving all around. It's about as complicated as a pro football playbook.

Fox has also resurrected the idea of miniseries, which will begin next year with a short-run return of Keifer Sutherland and "24," and continuing with producer M. Night Shyamalan's "Wayward Pines."

The idea is to attract top talent that might not otherwise want to commit to a long season slog. Matt Dillon has already signed on for "Wayward Pines." The approach has worked for cable networks, where "seasons" are generally shorter and creators don't have to worry about their shows being abruptly canceled.

The limited run concept is also increasingly being applied to regular series. Fans are impatient with series that are interrupted by repeats during the season, so executives are looking at ways to run consecutive original episodes, then putting another series in the time slot for a few months when the original show takes a break. ABC programming chief Paul Lee said his network is considering doing that with several shows next season, although it's still not clear which ones.

CBS, the traditionalists' network, said there's a risk to this strategy.

"Most of the nights of the week, people want to see their (favorite) shows, and we're going to give them to them," said Kelly Kahl, CBS chief scheduling executive.

Even CBS has scheduled its new serial mystery "Hostages," to have a season finale in January, to be replaced by a new drama, "Intelligence."

ABC's Lee is a big proponent of debuting series at times other than September so they don't get lost in the crowd (even though the eight series ABC is bringing on this September is more than any network). Viewers expect new series to pop up any time of the year on cable networks, and Reilly said broadcasters should do the same.

"I'd like to strike the word `midseason' from our lexicon, frankly, because it makes it seem like there are only two times of the year when you can launch shows," he said.

The networks have learned, through brutal experience, that viewers punish them for summer schedules clogged with reruns. They've gradually shifted the summer balance to fresh shows – primarily reality – but more scripted shows will be there, too. Fox's "24" starts next May, followed immediately by "Wayward Pines." CBS' high-profile Stephen King series, "Under the Dome," starts June 24.

For all the talk of breaking traditions, of broadcast networks losing relevance in a digital age, the annual week of schedule presentations offered a firm rebuttal. A media sector that is dying doesn't invest in 56 new programs, each with scripts to be written, production budgets to be kept and actors to be hired.

"Broadcast is not an old medium being left behind for new ones," said CBS Corp. CEO Leslie Moonves. "Far from it."

That's easy for CBS to say; it is finishing one of the most dominant seasons a broadcasters has had for years in relation to its rivals. The heaviest investments have come from the networks chasing CBS: NBC has ordered 17 new series and ABC is bringing on 14.

Jimmy Kimmel, whose routine at the ABC presentation is always one of the week's highlights, described the process to advertising executives as "throwing a bunch of (stuff) against the wall and seeing what sticks. You guys are the wall."

Some big names are coming to TV, or returning, with Michael J. Fox leading a new NBC comedy and Robin Williams pairing with Sarah Michelle Gellar on a CBS sitcom. Adam Samberg, James Spader and Greg Kinnear will also play new TV characters.

For NBC, the idea of low-rated critical favorites has lost its appeal. Quirk is out. Children play prominent roles in several of its new comedies. In drama, NBC is reaching for brand-name characters like Blackbeard and Dracula, and brand-name creators J.J. Abrams and Dick Wolf.

Fox's dramas are darkly violent, including a gruesome update of the Ichabod Crane tale and an Abrams fantasy about cops being paired with androids. The lawyer played by Kinnear in Rake is about as appealing as Hugh Laurie's House.

ABC's biggest move is on Tuesday, where half of its eight new shows will be found. "Lucky 7" is one of the few new dramas this fall without a fantastical concept; it's about how a lottery win changed the lives of a group of working class friends.

The Robin Williams comedy (he plays an up-to-date "Mad Men" advertising executive) may be CBS' most-anticipated but not best new comedy. The clip reel for Will Arnett's "The Millers" has more laughs.

True to tradition, the actors in the CW's new dramas are pure eye candy; now they have to be vampires, aliens or possess telepathic ability. High concept is practically a requirement at a small network now. "You have to make noise," said Mark Pedowitz, the CW's president. "It's very hard these days to make noise with smaller, softer shows."

Ultimately, it will be up to viewers to decide what new shows will be hits, what will be misses and which is part of Kimmel's tongue-in-cheek test.

"One of the shows you see here was written by a third-grade class," he said. "Your challenge is to figure out which one."

___

Associated Press Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE – David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org or on Twitter (at)dbauder. His work can be found at http:bigstory.ap.org/content/david-bauder.

She 'Can't Be Prouder' Of 'Buffy'

2013-05-20T13:10:22Z

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ended 10 years ago on May 20, 2003. Yes, it's been a decade since the Slayer and the Scoobies closed the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, California.

Series star Sarah Michelle Gellar is returning to TV opposite Robin Williams with "The Crazy Ones," a new comedy on CBS this fall. At the CBS 2013 upfront red carpet last week, Gellar was surprised by how much time has passed since she last wielded a wooden stake on TV.

"Wait, wait. Hold on. Really?" she replied when The Huffington Post told her the 10th anniversary of the "Buffy" finale was upon us. "Wow. God, you just blew my mind." Williams, who accompanied Gellar on the red carpet said, "It's kind of wonderful."

"It is," Gellar said. "I'm incredibly proud of that show -- proud of everybody on it, of what we did ... You can't be prouder of that show. It still holds up in reruns and I'm blessed every day ... I've been pretty lucky."

Danny Strong, the writer of "Recount" and "Game Change," appeared as Jonathan, a former high-school geek who became one of the villains in Season 6 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and said the show is bigger now than when it was originally on.

"It just gets bigger each year. It's really exciting how much it penetrated this public consciousness in a way. People teach courses about it and there are Joss Whedon courses in universities. People write their dissertations on it," he told The Huffington Post. "It's incredibly flattering and I'm really honored just to have been a part of it. It's very exciting."

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" lives on in comic book form with new adventures from Dark Horse Comics executive produced by series creator Joss Whedon.

'30 Rock' Actress Ties The Knot

2013-05-20T13:07:25Z

"30 Rock" actress Katrina Bowden is married! Us Weekly reports that the actress, who played sassy secretary Cerie on the hit NBC sitcom, tied the knot with Armor for Sleep frontman Ben Jorgensen on Sunday at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York.

The bride, 24, and groom, 29, said "I do" in front of 127 guests. "I think when you meet the right person, you just know you want to be with them forever," Bowden told the publication. "I mean, I wouldn't have gotten married if I was 17 or 18, but we knew each other so long ago, and I loved him then, and then I loved him even more. It felt so right. I've never felt that way with somebody."

Jorgensen proposed to Bowden in January 2012 with a stunning platinum and diamond engagement ring worth a reported $30,000. The couple had been dating for two years but had known each other for much longer. "Ben and I first met seven years ago and we knew our connection was special," Bowden told Us Weekly in 2012, after her engagement. (Both Bowden and Jorgensen hail from Bergen County, in New Jersey).

Esquire's 2011 "Sexiest Woman Alive" added: "He was the one guy I could never stop thinking about. Then when we met again two years ago, all those feelings came rushing back and I found out he always felt the same way about me, too. We mean everything to each other and couldn't be happier!"

PHOTO: The happy couple in 2012.

God Talks To Anne Heche

2013-05-20T12:59:01Z

What happens when you tell a pastor that God talks to you? He's very impressed, apparently.

In The Huffington Post's exclusive clip above from the second episode of NBC's "Save Me" (two-episode premiere on Thurs., May 23 at 8 p.m. ET), Beth Harper (Anne Heche) opens up to the pastor at her church about a very ... interesting talent she's developed after having a near-death run-in with a sandwich.

"Pastor Jim? I have an espresso maker I'd like to donate to the church if you can use it somehow," she says, before adding, "God talks me."

"Lucky you!" he exclaims.

Here's how NBC describes the first two episodes of "Save Me":

"The Book Of Beth" (Pilot)

"Save Me" premieres with Emmy nominee Anne Heche starring as Beth Harper, an absentee wife and mother who suffers a dramatic near-death experience and is revived only to discover that she now receives messages from God. As she warms up to her powers and begins dispensing advice that is astonishingly accurate, her husband Tom (Michael Landes) is skeptical and their teenage daughter Emily (Madison Davenport is horrified. Complicating matters even more, Tom's mistress Carly (Alexandra Breckenridge) shows up to confront Beth about the affair and quickly gets a shocking surprise. Heather Burns (as Jenna Dennings) and Joy Osmanski (as Maggie Tompkins) also star.

"Take It Back"

Beth (Anne Heche) begins a new life on the straight and narrow and wants to make amends with old friends she has offended. Her efforts to return a long-ago stolen espresso machine to next door neighbor Maggie (Joy Osmanski) are rebuffed. Meanwhile, Tom (Michael Landes) learns to adjust to his wife's newfound ability to communicate with God and they both try to re-establish some sense of normality with their old friends and their daughter Emily (Madison Davenport). Alexandra Breckenridge and Heather Burns also star.

"Save Me" premieres on Thurs., May 23 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

This Is Mesmerizing

2013-05-20T12:40:53Z

Japanese TV has done it again! From the land of the wackiest game shows ever comes this clip of a pommel horse routine that's unlike any you've ever seen.

Watch the silly (but totally mesmerizing) bit from Japanese TV show "Masquerade" in the video above and tell us if you think we've found the next Olympic sport in the comments.

Via Tastefully Offensive

FINALLY!

2013-05-20T12:31:37Z

An outtake from Patton Oswalt's "Parks And Recreation" guest appearance in which he improvises an eight-minute pitch for the next "Star Wars" sequel blew the Internet's mind last month.

Now, we finally have a real idea of what that ridiculous film might look like.

Watch the animated version of Oswalt's mesmerizing, X-Men/Iron Man/and more-infused "Star Wars" movie pitch made by YouTube user iZacLess above -- and just try telling us you wouldn't see it in 3D.

Via Daily Of The Day

Jon Stewart Becoming A Hit In China

2013-05-20T11:22:07Z

By Jane Lee

SHANGHAI, May 20 (Reuters) - Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up millions of fans in China, where his gloves-off political satire is refreshing for many in a country where such criticism is a rarity - especially when directed at their own leaders.

A recent segment on North Korea scored over 4 million views on microblogger Sina Weibo, and even stodgy state broadcaster CCTV has used Stewart's "The Daily Show" in a report, though they wouldn't let a Chinese version of him near their cameras.

Recent popular sequences have included one in which Stewart lampooned the Chinese hackers who hacked into the New York Times computer system earlier this year, wondering if that was the best they could do.

But far from squelching Stewart, CCTV even used one of his sequences on Guantanamo Bay to criticise Obama in a regular broadcast - a move widely derided by netizens.

In China, however, such criticism tends not to be welcomed by the government. Dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who regularly criticises the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and human rights, was detained for 81 days in 2011, sparking an international outcry.

"There's nothing like political satire here," said David Moses, who studies and writes about Chinese humour.

Though the exact timing of Stewart's entrance to China is unclear, many have been watching him for four or five years, mainly through the Internet and Weibo.

"Being a journalist, you have to find out the truth," said Mao Moyu, a Shanghai journalism student who got hooked on Stewart four years ago.

"If there's ... something that hurts the public interest you have to stand out, no matter how sharp the thing is. You have to stand out and say that's not right."

Part of Stewart's popularity is that he seems cool to young people in love with all things foreign, but a thirst for satire that is not afraid to show its face contributes too, Moses said.

The closest thing that exists in China is coded references and puns that tweak official pronouncements or sound like obscenities.

"That's just shooting a finger at the government. But this is full-fledged jokes and routines about North Korea or about China and trade...It's just what they wish they could do here," Moses said.

Free translations into Chinese by Stewart's fans have boosted his popularity. In fact, one - known as Gu Da Bai Hua - now even has his own fan base.

China's thirst for foreign satire is so great that Stewart is not the only popular U.S. comic. Some Chinese say they prefer rival television satirist Stephen Colbert - although humour may not be the only issue at stake.

"I think I like Stephen Colbert's pronunciation more because it's much clearer for me," said Shanghai student Peng Cheng.

For a video link, click here: http://link.reuters.com/gux28t (Editing by Elaine Lies and Michael Perry)