After Brad Womack famously selected no one in his first stint as The Bachelor , the Texas bar owner was brought back for a second go-around last winter. He got engaged to Emily Maynard, but that fizzled out before long. Now it’s Emily being sought by ABC to return for another stint on the reality franchise. In fact, the network has already asked her to be The Bachelorette, sources say, and despite her earlier lack of interest, “It’s basically a done deal.” Wow. Another source close to Emily Maynard , the single mom of six-year-old Ricki, tells Life & Style that while “she hasn’t signed the contract yet, she’s fully on board.” Since splitting with Brad in May after becoming engaged to him on The Bachelor season finale, the North Carolina product has been linked to various men. Jeremy Shockey of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Most Eligible Dallas cast member Matt Nordgren come to mind, though she has denied seriously dating either. Perhaps the allure of being The Bachelorette grew on her. “Emily is America’s sweetheart,” adds the source. “Fans will be thrilled! Everyone loved her.” True. If Emily doesn’t pan out, look for a castoff from Ben Flajnik’s season to fill the role ( The Bachelor spoilers we’ve read single out a few prospects). What do you think: Should Emily Maynard be The Bachelorette?
After Brad Womack famously selected no one in his first stint as The Bachelor , the Texas bar owner was brought back for a second go-around last winter. He got engaged to Emily Maynard, but that fizzled out before long. Now it’s Emily being sought by ABC to return for another stint on the reality franchise. In fact, the network has already asked her to be The Bachelorette, sources say, and despite her earlier lack of interest, “It’s basically a done deal.” Wow. Another source close to Emily Maynard , the single mom of six-year-old Ricki, tells Life & Style that while “she hasn’t signed the contract yet, she’s fully on board.” Since splitting with Brad in May after becoming engaged to him on The Bachelor season finale, the North Carolina product has been linked to various men. Jeremy Shockey of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Most Eligible Dallas cast member Matt Nordgren come to mind, though she has denied seriously dating either. Perhaps the allure of being The Bachelorette grew on her. “Emily is America’s sweetheart,” adds the source. “Fans will be thrilled! Everyone loved her.” True. If Emily doesn’t pan out, look for a castoff from Ben Flajnik’s season to fill the role ( The Bachelor spoilers we’ve read single out a few prospects). What do you think: Should Emily Maynard be The Bachelorette?
After Brad Womack famously selected no one in his first stint as The Bachelor , the Texas bar owner was brought back for a second go-around last winter. He got engaged to Emily Maynard, but that fizzled out before long. Now it’s Emily being sought by ABC to return for another stint on the reality franchise. In fact, the network has already asked her to be The Bachelorette, sources say, and despite her earlier lack of interest, “It’s basically a done deal.” Wow. Another source close to Emily Maynard , the single mom of six-year-old Ricki, tells Life & Style that while “she hasn’t signed the contract yet, she’s fully on board.” Since splitting with Brad in May after becoming engaged to him on The Bachelor season finale, the North Carolina product has been linked to various men. Jeremy Shockey of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and Most Eligible Dallas cast member Matt Nordgren come to mind, though she has denied seriously dating either. Perhaps the allure of being The Bachelorette grew on her. “Emily is America’s sweetheart,” adds the source. “Fans will be thrilled! Everyone loved her.” True. If Emily doesn’t pan out, look for a castoff from Ben Flajnik’s season to fill the role ( The Bachelor spoilers we’ve read single out a few prospects). What do you think: Should Emily Maynard be The Bachelorette?
The Voice returns February 5 on NBC, right after the Super Bowl. Already pulling out all the stops to market its sleeper hit singing competition, the network is filming extended commercials to air … during its Super Bowl coverage. That’s one way to remind the audience what’s on next. Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg recently filmed a spot featuring Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Cee Lo Green. Here’s a pic from it: Why watch The Voice when there are a billion other shows like it? One 60-second ad, titled “Vokal Kombat,” plays off an element of The Voice that’s truly unique. The judges’ swivel chairs, which turn to face a contestant during auditions when a judge hears a singer that deserves a shot, are the focal point of the new ads. If more than one judge turns around to face the stage, they must compete against each other to win over the contestant, which can result in a battle royale. The Voice will be competing directly against American Idol , which kicks off its 11th season January 22. Is there room for two? Will you watch either? Both?
Nominations overlook ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,’ ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Bridesmaids’ breakout Melissa McCarthy. By Josh Wigler Ryan Gosling in “Crazy Stupid Love” Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures The 2012 Golden Globes nominations are here, and as always, there are plenty of surprises of both the good and bad variety. Some of our favorite actors walked away with unexpected nominations, while others were shockingly left off the ballot. Movies we did not anticipate making the cut broke past our expectations, while several films we considered shoe-ins were shut out entirely. In other words, it’s just another year at the Globes! From Ryan Gosling to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” here are 10 of the biggest shocks and snubs among this year’s Golden Globes nominees: Shock: Ryan Gosling Goes for Two There’s no question that this was a big year for the Gos. Not only did he break up a street fight in the viral video seen ’round the world, he also acted the heck out of three great movies: “Drive,” “The Ides of March” and “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” We’ve been on the Gosling train for years now, and it’s fantastic to see him getting recognized by the Globes this year. But it’s what he was nominated for that left us shocked. If the choice were up to us, Gosling would be nominated for “Drive,” not “Ides.” There’s not a lot of Globes love for Nicolas Winding Refn’s phenomenal thriller, save for a much-deserved Albert Brooks supporting nom. But, hey, beggars can’t be choosers. We’re more than happy with the double-header for our guy! Shock: “March” On While we’re on the topic, nobody here on the MTV Movies team would have predicted that “Ides of March” would get so much love at the Globes this year. It’s a strong movie by all accounts, but worthy of nominations in three major categories (Best Actor for Gosling, Best Director for George Clooney and Best Picture Drama)? We’re not so sure. Still, we love Clooney, and we love that he’s getting further awards attention besides his predestined “Descendants” nomination. And there’s no need to repeat our Gosling gush. Snub: Melissa McCarthy Misses Out It’s great to see “Bridesmaids” nominated for Best Picture Musical or Comedy and Kristen Wiig in the Best Actress category — the R-rated comedy was one of our very favorite movies of the year, after all — but we’re absolutely floored and disappointed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s snubbing of Melissa McCarthy. Wiig is wonderful in the film, and without her, “Bridesmaids” would not exist. But without McCarthy, “Bridesmaids” would not be excellent. She was the breakout star. She brought the thunder. She not only deserved a nomination, but arguably a win. Her absence from this year’s Globes is almost as embarrassing as what went down in the bridal shop. Snub: Globes Hates Tattoos We’re thrilled that Rooney Mara snagged a nomination for her transformative portrayal of punk-rock computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, but beyond that and recognition for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score, “Dragon Tattoo” got left on the bench. After David Fincher and “Social Network” got burned toward the end of last year’s awards season, we really thought he’d at least score Director and Best Picture Drama nods this year. No such luck. Looking at the film on its own merits, “Dragon Tattoo” is just fantastic filmmaking. The Movies team is obsessed with the crime thriller, as you’ll hear in the coming days and weeks. Its lack of recognition at the Globes is more than deserving of some Salander-style revenge. Shock: Extremely Quiet And Incredibly Far “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” got nothing, nada, zip. We won’t call that a snub — it wasn’t our favorite movie of the year — but the fact that it got literally zero nominations is definitely a shock. Don’t count it out of the Oscar race just yet, though: An adapted screenplay nom is almost certainly in its future. Snub: No Nolte Not only was “Warrior” actor Nick Nolte expected to get nominated for Best Supporting Actor, many expected him to win. Surprise: He’s not going to win, because he’s not nominated! Nolte’s nowhere to be found this year, despite his recent SAG nomination . In fact, “Warrior” got absolutely nothing at the Globes. Nolte was really that movie’s best chance, frankly, so we’re starting to wonder about its awards season prospects. Shock: Michael Fassbender has “Shame” The Irish-German actor’s Best Actor nomination was one of the biggest surprises of all. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) Fassbender’s fearless performance definitely deserved recognition, but we’re very surprised — and very heartened — to see “Shame” overcome the NC-17 stigma. Odds of a win aren’t in his favor, but Fassbender’s nomination is much deserved after the actor’s absolutely amazing year. Snub: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Snub Perhaps Gary Oldman’s road to Oscar just isn’t meant to be. The “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” got overlooked by Globes against all odds. It really is close to impossible to believe that Oldman has never been nominated for an Academy Award, and we thought “Tinker” would finally be his chance at not just a nom, but a win. But now that he’s been shut out by the Globes, does he really have any shot at all on Oscar night? We’re still hopeful, but not optimistic. Shock: “American” Success Story Before we go, a quick look at TV land. Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” got nominated for Best Television Series (Drama), a move that’s sure to surprise a lot of people (even if that Jessica Lange nomination surprises precisely no one — she was one of our Top 10 TV Characters of 2011 , after all). “AHS” is one of the most thoroughly disgusting, unsettling shows on the small screen, now or ever: How many other programs this year showcased a school shooting in such gory detail, or stitched deceased fetuses together to create one terrible Franken-baby? That said, “Horror Story” also features one of the greatest casts on all of television, and it pushes its plot forward with a ferocity matched by few other series. Like all things on the FX thriller, the “Horror” nomination is a shock, but a welcome one. Snub: “Breaking” Bust No one’s going to argue that Bryan Cranston deserves that Best Performance nomination, but seriously, there’s not a single other “Breaking Bad” nom? That’s just flat-out ridiculous! “Breaking Bad” just came off its greatest season ever. Cranston nailed it as Walter White, but fellow actors Aaron Paul as reluctant assassin Jesse Pinkman and Giancarlo Esposito as meth kingpin Gustavo Fring also turned in marvelous performances worthy of not just nominations, but full-on awards. (While we’re at it, here’s my super-quick opportunity to say that “Sons of Anarchy” should have gotten some love as well. Like “Bad,” this season of “SOA” was not just its greatest one yet, but perhaps the greatest season of television all year.) Acting aside, “Breaking Bad” deserved a Best Television Series spot much more than newbie “Boss” or even “Horror Story,” much as we’re happy to see it on the list. Needless to say, we’re not happy about the oversight. Besides, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, didn’t you hear? Walter White is the danger! For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Ryan Gosling 2012 Golden Globe Nominations Related Photos 2012 Golden Globe Nominees ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ Five Key Scenes From The Trailer
Is there anything Matt Damon can’t do? He’s been a breakout young star, a bona fide action hero, an Oscar-winner, a leading man, an activist, a screenwriter, a sitcom revelation and even an Internet meme machine. The star is also the topic of GQ’s new cover story , meaning there’s a terrific Matt Damon cover staring you in the face below. You’re welcome, ladies … and everyone really. Damon, who stars with Scarlett Johansson in We Bought a Zoo , plays a widowed father of two who buys a ramshackle zoo in the Cameron Crowe-directed film. In all, he was in five movies in 2011, and has appeared in more than 35 films since his breakout role as an emaciated addict in 1996’s Courage Under Fire . Off screen, he has thrown his full weight (and his money) behind a charity, Water (dot) org, that seeks to provide sources of clean water to the Third World. He has spoken up about teachers, the middle class, and President Obama. Michael Moore even called on Damon to run for president . Not a bad resume, right?
Amy Winehouse’s life, while tragic, would make an amazing movie. The rise to stardom, the drugs, the disaster that is Blake Fielder-Civil, the late night melees and most of all the music … it’d be brilliant if the right woman played her. Rumors are swirling that Lady Gaga herself covets that very role. And better yet, Amy’s father, Mitch Winehouse, supposedly gave his stamp of approval on the casting: “I have heard Lady Gaga is keen to play Amy in a film,” the elder Winehouse is quoted as telling the U.K.’s Mirror . “I don’t know what her English accent is like.” “It’s not just an English accent she would have to perfect – it’s an English-Cockney-Jewish accent so she better start practicing now. But she would be great.” When this triggered a firestorm of speculation, Mitch later walked it back. “I never said Lady Gaga will play Amy in film,” Mitch himself Tweeted, later claiming that his daughter’s story ” will never be told in film ,” and adding: “It would hardly be a biopic without the music and we’d never allow the songs to be released.” Really? Not even a few years down the line? It’d be great, Mitch. Think about it. Speaking of Winehouse’s music, her new album was released last week.
For a few weeks in early 2011, we all got a laugh out of Charlie Sheen. Remember these Korners ? But Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, who battled publicly with his show’s lead, tells TV Guide Magazine this month that he and CBS higher-ups weren’t finding the actor’s actions very funny. At all. “The [studio and the network] chose to make a moral decision as opposed to a financial one,” Lorre says . “This was not a game. This was drug addiction writ large. This was big-time cocaine, and in his own words, an ‘epic drug run’ that could have ended with either his death or someone else’s.” Lorre said he chose to reboot the franchise with Ashton Kutcher because he had little to lose, adding that everything with Sheen simply spiraled out of control: “He was a great friend and partner for eight years. And every time he got himself into trouble, we believed that there was healing that was going to come. I certainly believed that sobriety is something that he wants in his life, and I was wrong.” Why did he shut down production on Two and a Half Men ? “I didn’t want to be writing a sitcom while my friend died. Or worse, hurt someone else. We couldn’t be complacent. There was a tragedy unfolding right in front of us. There was violence and blackouts. On a certain level, if you’re looking the other way, you’re responsible. “You couldn’t do that much cocaine and work. It was falling apart. It was heartbreaking to be around here then.” Now, all seems okay for all parties, though. Two and a Half Men remains a wildly-popular show (around 15 million viewers per week) and Sheen has a new FX sitcom in the works. Lorre’s final words for his ex-underling? “I hope he’s happy, I hope he’s healthy. I hope he’s able to be there for his kids.”
Damn, it turns out pedophilia is just running rampant in sports. And the stuff this guy Dodd is accused of is just sick. The Amateur Athletic Union announced that it has contacted Memphis police and launched its own investigation after ESPN reported on Friday that the organization’s longtime president, Bobby Dodd, allegedly sexually abused two young basketball players during the 1980s. Ralph West, now a 43-year-old who lives in Miami, and a man who requested anonymity told ESPN they independently confronted Dodd about the abuse last month after former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexual abuse. The second man said Dodd, 63, apologized for the abuse during an eight-minute phone conversation on Nov. 11. The men say the abuse occurred between the ages of 12 and 16, when they played basketball for Memphis-based AAU teams directed by Dodd. The men say Dodd fondled them and masturbated in front of them while they were in their teens. Neither man reported the abuse to the police. When an ESPN reporter contacted Dodd, the AAU’s top official since 1992, for comment, Dodd’s assistant responded with an email that said Dodd had cancer and had retired from the AAU on Nov. 29 for health reasons, the network said. Other AAU officials, however, said his departure was news to them. The sports organization said Dodd would not return and named an interim leader. West and the other man told ESPN that Dodd kept hundreds of photos of players’ clothed backsides and crotches in filing cabinets. He also had bags filled with dozens of pairs of teenage boys’ underwear with names and dates on them. Dodd also had samples of boys’ hair that he kept in envelopes or affixed to the dashboard of his car with petroleum jelly. West said he once found Dodd hiding in the attic of the coach’s home, in his underwear, with a video camera. Dodd, who had told players they could use his home to party with girlfriends because he would be out of town, was apparently trying to record West and a girl. The former player said Dodd offered him $1,000 if he agreed to let Dodd perform oral sex on him while he was blindfolded and bound. The anonymous player told ESPN that Dodd had plied him with alcohol and drugged him one night, and he believes the coach abused him while he was passed out. West said he had sent an email to the AAU’s compliance department on Nov. 9 alleging that Dodd was a pedophile because he was concerned the AAU leader still had access to children through his Memphis AAU club and as the head of a national organization that serves more than 500,000 children. Nobody followed up, he told ESPN.
‘I was trying to destroy myself physically,’ McElhenney says of gaining 50 pounds to play Fat Mac, one of MTV News’ Top 50 TV Characters of 2011. By James Montgomery Rob McElhenney as Fat Mac in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Photo: Joey L./ FX Gregor Samsa became an insect. Hulk Hogan dyed his beard black and joined the nWo. Metallica used to be awesome. Transformations are as much a part of life as eating, breathing and making fun of Lulu, yet rarely are they as unexpected as the grand, grotesque metamorphosis Rob McElhenney pulled off on the seventh season of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” when he turned the formerly fitness-obsessed Mac into a bulbous, bloated buffoon … mostly because he thought it would be funny. But McElhenney was also making a deeper point, too. By gaining 50 pounds of solid fat, he took a not-too-subtle jab at one of TV’s oldest tropes: Namely, that as shows go on, characters don’t age and they seemingly get better-looking. It’s the kind of deconstructionist slant that has made “Sunny” a cult favorite and made Fat Mac one of the year’s best characters. Because while, sure, it was funny to watch him inject insulin into his ginormous gut, you couldn’t help but ask yourself why there aren’t more characters like him on network shows. So, in celebration of Fat Mac’s inclusion in MTV News’ Top 50 TV Characters of 2011 , we spoke to McElhenney about piling on the pounds, the silky comfort of Tommy Bahama shirts, and how, someday, he hopes to be considered “the De Niro of basic-cable comedy.” MTV News : First off, congratulations on making our list of the Top 50 TV Characters of 2011. Fat Mac actually came in at #8 on the list. Rob McElhenney : I made the top 10? F— yeah! That’s really awesome. Who was ahead of me? [We start reading McElhenney the list, but he makes us stop when we reveal that Snooki came in at #3.] What? Are you f—ing kidding me? I refuse to hear anything else. Jesus Christ. MTV : Mac’s transformation was one of the television highlights of the year, and not just because it’s funny to see him, you know, lug around a garbage bag filled with chimichangas. You just don’t see characters put on that kind of weight on sitcoms now, or really ever before. McElhenney : Yeah. Vanity is such a huge part of television, and if you watch any average sitcom, you notice that the actors get better-looking as the years go by. And I caught myself sitting in the editing room last year, looking at myself, and I said, “Man, I don’t look very good in this scene; I should try to find a different shirt or something next time.” And I realized, “Wow, that is the first time I’d ever really thought that.” So I realized I needed to go in the extreme opposite direction. It’s always been our goal to do the opposite of what any sitcom on network television would do, so that’s what I did. MTV : So it went beyond, just, “It would be funny to see Mac gain an obscene amount of weight …” McElhenney : It wasn’t just a stunt. I thought, if we were being true to the characters, and we were really showing what these people would look like if they lived the way that they claimed to live, this is what we would look like. All we do is sit around and drink and eat terrible food, and there’s certainly no exercise going on, and we don’t seem to really care about our health. So when you hit a certain early-30s, mid-30s range, it’s going to start to fall apart. So, to me, it was less of a stunt or a gag and more of an actual representation of what Mac really might look like at this point in his life. MTV : So once you decided you were going to gain the weight, how’d you go about doing it without, you know, totally destroying your body? McElhenney : Oh, I was basically trying to destroy myself physically as much as I possibly could. I was trying to eat around 5,000 calories a day, and at first I was doing it as healthy as possible, but after like the 3,000th calorie of grilled chicken breast and rice, you realize you literally have to consume twice as much volume as opposed to just eating a cheeseburger. So after a while, I started eating a lot, a lot of doughnuts. It was really hard, man. The key to it was force-feeding myself this milkshake that I made every day that had weight gainer, chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, and creatine, which creates bloating, and force-feeding myself two of those every day, and those were about 1,000 calories a piece, and that’s what really put it over the edge. MTV : You know, it’s funny, because you hear about all these actors gaining or losing weight for roles, and they’re almost always lauded for doing so. Does it bother you that, after going through so much, people only see Fat Mac as this sort of stunt? McElhenney : Well, I’d like to enter that conversation. You know, “the De Niro of basic-cable comedy.” [ He laughs. ] Nah, it doesn’t bother me. We’re not that kind of show. But I don’t think people understand how hard it was to just gain all this weight. I started at 162 and I got up to 212 … and I was also working out, just doing, like, powerlifting, because I noticed that most of my weight was just going to my gut, and it wasn’t filling out everywhere else and it wasn’t really playing, so to create that sort of non-defined, smooth look, I had to lift weights, and then the fat just sort of sat on top of the muscle. I was trying to create David, and as we all know, Michelangelo had to start with a slab of marble and then whittle it down. So I was just creating the slab. MTV : Another great thing about the character this season is that he introduced the Tommy Bahama shirt into the national conversation. McElhenney : [ He laughs. ] I see a lot of people wearing them. And I think middle-aged guys wear them because they think it hides their gut, and it doesn’t. In a bizarre way, it makes them look bigger, and originally I was wearing these super-tight T-shirts, and since my fat was kind of rolling out from underneath it, you would think that you would look bigger onscreen that way, as opposed to this big, flowing shirt. But for whatever reason, they actually accentuate the size. They’re like a muumuu. And the truth is, once you slip one of those bad boys on, they’re unbelievably comfortable. They’re made out of silk, and they really just flow and they breathe, and I was like, “Goddamn, I kind of really love these shirts.” I took some home, but my wife [“Sunny” co-star Kaitlin Olson] wasn’t having it. MTV : One of the key episodes this season was “How Mac Got Fat,” which, as the title implies, explained why he put on all the weight. There are scenes of you in flashback when you were skinny. Can you explain the backstory of that episode? McElhenney : We shot it last season, and it was a completely different episode and we were going to air it this year, because we had one less slot last year. So that was always the intention, and then as we started the season, and I went through this endeavor, we realized we couldn’t just air this episode because it wouldn’t make sense anymore. So we sort of broke down the episode and said, “How can we tell this as a flashback, and create this as being the reason why Mac did this in the first place?” So we rewrote it, based on the cut and based on the footage we had, and then we went back and created this completely different episode. It was literally the last thing we shot this season. MTV : So, finally, we know you’ve dropped most of the Fat Mac weight now. Looking back, how do you feel about the entire endeavor? McElhenney : Yeah, I’ve dropped almost all of it. I think the remaining 10 to 12 pounds are probably just going to stay. I’m OK with that. [ He laughs. ] And, you know, I’m really happy I did it. It was hard, but it was worth it. I can tell you right now that this never would’ve happened on network television. Because when I would’ve gone in to pitch it to the network executives, they would’ve said, “Absolutely not.” Because the glamour is such an important part of how they sell their shows, so trying to make the actors look as good as they possibly can is an important part of the process. And our show has never been about that. MTV will reveal the best artists, songs and movies of the year. Come to MTV News each day to see more big reveals and check out more of MTV’s Best of 2011 music, TV, movies and news coverage.
