Sports Illustrated cover girl and lust object du jour Kate Upton is channeling Marilyn Monroe ( Not Lindsay Lohan , thank you very much) on the cover of Muse magazine this month, and we’ve only got one thing to say about it: Is that a nip slip we spy down there next to her right elbow?! It might just be wishful thinking, but those Upton udders are still enough to make a grown man cry. Like a baby. A hungry, hungry baby. See more of Kate Upton showing off her supernaturally sexy body after the jump!
As Adele marks one year on the Billboard charts, we look at 21 amazing facts about the equally amazing 21. By Gil Kaufman and James Montgomery Adele Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic The traditional gift for a one-year anniversary is paper. Though, considering that Adele has sold more than 6 million copies of her breakthrough album 21 since its U.S. release one year ago this week, trust us, paper is the one thing the Grammy-winning British songbird has plenty of. What she’s also racked up over the past 52 weeks is a gang of awards, records and amazing feats of music industry daring that most people thought just weren’t possible in the download era. So, on the anniversary of the unstoppable album’s chart debut, we thought we’d take a look back at the year that was, with 21 amazing facts about 21 . 1. In February 2011, 21 debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with first-week sales of 352,000 copies. It stayed in the top three for 24 consecutive weeks and has never fallen out of the top 10 since its release. 2. In the year since its release, 21 ‘s lowest chart position was #7, in November 2011. The following week, it was back at #2, and it hasn’t left the top three since. 3. With her , Adele has broken the record previously held by the late Whitney Houston ‘s soundtrack to “The Bodyguard” by notching 21 non-consecutive weeks at #1. 4. The album’s 21 weeks atop the chart also mean that it spent a staggering 40 percent of the past year as the country’s #1 album. 5. 21 was not only the best-selling album of 2011 in the U.S. — with sales of more than 5.8 million — it’s also the best-selling digital album of all time in this country, racking up more than 2 million downloads to date. 6. The album debuted at #1 in the U.K. upon its release on January 30, 2011, and held that spot for four weeks. After she sang “Someone Like You” on the BRIT Awards telecast, sales increased by nearly 900 percent on Amazon.co.uk within an hour of her performance. She also set a Guinness World Record in September 2011 by becoming the first female artist to have two singles and two albums in the U.K. top five simultaneously. 7. 21 was also the best-selling album of the 21st century in the U.K., passing Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. 8. 21 has topped the charts in 27 different countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Poland and Greece, and has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide. 9. In the U.S. alone, 21 has sold more copies in one year than Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, Rihanna’s Talk That Talk and Beyonc
Denzel Washington’s latest ekes out a win over ‘Ghost Rider’ sequel and ‘The Vow.’ By Ryan J. Downey Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in “Safe House” Photo: Universal Pictures Denzel Washington topped the box office over the holiday weekend as a comic book sequel flamed out. Two holdovers from last week, “Safe House” and “The Vow,” were neck and neck for the top spot during the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend and helped push box-office receipts to 11 percent over the same period last year. Washington’s “Safe House” was #1, with a four-day total of $28.4 million. “The Vow” followed just behind with $26.6 million, according to studio estimates. “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” was #3 with $26.4 million thanks to a very strong Monday. “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” opened at #4 with $25.7 million, followed by the debut of the Reese Witherspoon-starring “This Means War” at #5 with $20.4 million. “Safe House” has made $82.6 million thus far, making it the second-best 10-day run for Washington, just behind “American Gangster.” The drama looks likely to pass the $100 million mark, which will make it the fourth movie in the 57-year-old actor’s career to do so. “The Vow” has earned $88.5 million thus far, which means it is now the highest-grossing movie ever for the Sony/ Screen Gems brand. The second “Ghost Rider” film, based on the Marvel Comics antihero, opened with less than half of the 2007 original’s $45.4 million debut. Nicolas Cage reprises the role of Johnny Blaze in “Spirit of Vengeance,” which, despite featuring a darker take on the supernatural motorcycle rider (courtesy of the directing duo behind “Crank”), suffered even worse reviews than its predecessor. At press time, “Ghost Rider” sat at 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer , which averages reviews from critics, while the sequel sat at 15 percent. The weekend’s other new wide release, “The Secret World of Arrietty,” was #9 on the box-office chart with $8.1 million. The debut for the animated film, which features English-speaking actors recording new performances in the Japanese film, met with Disney’s reported expectations. Similarly, the romance-meets-action of “This Means War” wasn’t far off from the debuts of similar fare like “Knight & Day,” “The Tourist” or “Killers,” all of which had mostly negative reviews and opened between $15 and $20 million. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menance” in 3-D suffered a bigger second-week decline than the similar 3-D re-release of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” but still added enough to the prequel’s all-time box-office total to push it past the original “Star Wars” to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. “Phantom Menace” made $10.2 million over the four-day weekend for a domestic theater total of $36 million for the 3-D version. Two smaller but critically acclaimed pictures continued to benefit from awards season momentum over the weekend. The latest picture from Alexander Payne (“Sideways”), “The Descendants,” starring George Clooney, passed the $75 million mark, while silent film “The Artist” passed $25 million. Both movies are up for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards , among other nominations. Check out everything we’ve got on “Safe House” and “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance’ MTV First: This Means War
No one, as far as I know, has come to the Berlinale in search of Gillian Anderson, the strawberry-blonde vixen who set millions of hearts aflutter — and not just male ones — with her role in the supernaturally beloved ’90s show The X-Files . But Anderson has surprised those of us who love her by showing up — in small roles, but still — in two films here, James Marsh’s Shadow Dancer and Ursula Meier’s Sister . In Shadow Dancer , a thriller set in early-‘90s Belfast, she’s a British secret-service officer who squares off against a colleague (played by Clive Owen). In Sister , she’s the well-heeled patron of a tony Swiss ski resort — and a mom — who befriends a young thief and rapscallion who barely knows what it means to be a child. Anderson hasn’t really been in hiding. She was one of the best things — perhaps the only good thing — in last year’s Johnny English Reborn , and she recently played Miss Havisham in the British TV adaptation of Great Expectations . She chooses her roles carefully and doesn’t seem particularly attracted to big Hollywood vehicles — though it’s more likely that Hollywood isn’t particularly interested in her, which is certainly its loss. There are plenty of movies to parse and examine here at the Berlinale, but at dinner last night with some colleagues (who happened to be guys), Anderson came up in the conversation, and we just looked at one another: “Gosh! Isn’t she something?” is the gist of what we said. Perhaps we love her more because she shows up so infrequently and so fleetingly, like a ginger comet. Her role in Shadow Dancer is small and tokenlike, but it’s interesting for its metallic coldness, not a quality we usually associate with Anderson. Then again, maybe it’s really just a mirror angle of the clinical skepticism she brought to the role of Dana Scully in The X-Files : She’s good at playing characters who can turn the warmth off when it gets in the way of the goal at hand, and in Shadow Dancer , she plays a character who’s all about goals. In Sister , Anderson isn’t strawberry blonde but truly blonde, and the first glimpse we get of her is a mane of glorious, rich-girl hair. At first I could see only the oblique planes of her face and, not knowing she was in the movie, I thought to myself, “Could it be…?” Her role is small but potent: Her character, skiing at the resort with her own kids, meets the young thief Simon (played, beautifully, by a kid actor named Kacey Mottet Klein), and the two are immediately charmed by each other. He pretends to be a the son of the resort’s owner, when really he’s a mighty mite of a hustler who scrambles to make a living for himself and his sister (Léa Seydoux). Anderson scrutinizes his face as he advertises this fanciful false background — you can see, in this tiny but potent scene, that she’s amused by him and yet somehow, instinctively, she also feels protective. It’s not that she doesn’t believe his tale (she seems to buy it all); it’s that her better judgment tells her that this kid is in need of something, and though she can’t be the one to provide it, she grants him the kindest gift she can: She takes him seriously, reacting to him as if he were the miniature adult he’s trying so desperately to be, meeting him on his own scrappy turf. That’s a lot to pack into a few small scenes, and it’s a bit frustrating that her character’s role in the drama isn’t better worked out — her final encounter with Simon doesn’t feel true to the woman we met earlier. On the whole, the picture is unevenly worked out, but it’s ultimately touching, thanks to the bittersweet grace notes scattered throughout. Anderson is one of those grace notes; her presence is as subtle as a sigh, but it’s the kind that sticks with you long after the credits roll. Read more of Movieline’s Berlinale coverage here . Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
No one, as far as I know, has come to the Berlinale in search of Gillian Anderson, the strawberry-blonde vixen who set millions of hearts aflutter — and not just male ones — with her role in the supernaturally beloved ’90s show The X-Files . But Anderson has surprised those of us who love her by showing up — in small roles, but still — in two films here, James Marsh’s Shadow Dancer and Ursula Meier’s Sister . In Shadow Dancer , a thriller set in early-‘90s Belfast, she’s a British secret-service officer who squares off against a colleague (played by Clive Owen). In Sister , she’s the well-heeled patron of a tony Swiss ski resort — and a mom — who befriends a young thief and rapscallion who barely knows what it means to be a child. Anderson hasn’t really been in hiding. She was one of the best things — perhaps the only good thing — in last year’s Johnny English Reborn , and she recently played Miss Havisham in the British TV adaptation of Great Expectations . She chooses her roles carefully and doesn’t seem particularly attracted to big Hollywood vehicles — though it’s more likely that Hollywood isn’t particularly interested in her, which is certainly its loss. There are plenty of movies to parse and examine here at the Berlinale, but at dinner last night with some colleagues (who happened to be guys), Anderson came up in the conversation, and we just looked at one another: “Gosh! Isn’t she something?” is the gist of what we said. Perhaps we love her more because she shows up so infrequently and so fleetingly, like a ginger comet. Her role in Shadow Dancer is small and tokenlike, but it’s interesting for its metallic coldness, not a quality we usually associate with Anderson. Then again, maybe it’s really just a mirror angle of the clinical skepticism she brought to the role of Dana Scully in The X-Files : She’s good at playing characters who can turn the warmth off when it gets in the way of the goal at hand, and in Shadow Dancer , she plays a character who’s all about goals. In Sister , Anderson isn’t strawberry blonde but truly blonde, and the first glimpse we get of her is a mane of glorious, rich-girl hair. At first I could see only the oblique planes of her face and, not knowing she was in the movie, I thought to myself, “Could it be…?” Her role is small but potent: Her character, skiing at the resort with her own kids, meets the young thief Simon (played, beautifully, by a kid actor named Kacey Mottet Klein), and the two are immediately charmed by each other. He pretends to be a the son of the resort’s owner, when really he’s a mighty mite of a hustler who scrambles to make a living for himself and his sister (Léa Seydoux). Anderson scrutinizes his face as he advertises this fanciful false background — you can see, in this tiny but potent scene, that she’s amused by him and yet somehow, instinctively, she also feels protective. It’s not that she doesn’t believe his tale (she seems to buy it all); it’s that her better judgment tells her that this kid is in need of something, and though she can’t be the one to provide it, she grants him the kindest gift she can: She takes him seriously, reacting to him as if he were the miniature adult he’s trying so desperately to be, meeting him on his own scrappy turf. That’s a lot to pack into a few small scenes, and it’s a bit frustrating that her character’s role in the drama isn’t better worked out — her final encounter with Simon doesn’t feel true to the woman we met earlier. On the whole, the picture is unevenly worked out, but it’s ultimately touching, thanks to the bittersweet grace notes scattered throughout. Anderson is one of those grace notes; her presence is as subtle as a sigh, but it’s the kind that sticks with you long after the credits roll. Read more of Movieline’s Berlinale coverage here . Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Short season tells a ‘whole, complete story,’ Eloise Mumford tells MTV News. By Josh Wigler Eloise Mumford and Joe Anderson in “The River” Photo: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. It won’t take long to cross “The River” — only six more weeks, in fact! Despite boasting an intense, mythology-driven premise — a naturalist goes missing in the Amazon, leading his friends and family to search for him while fending off supernatural twists and turns around every river bend — the new ABC series, which debuted on Tuesday, only has eight episodes to unfold in its first season. The two-hour premiere counts for two of those episodes, leaving only six weeks before “The River” overflows in late March. It may not seem like enough time to get to the bottom of the show’s biggest mysteries (What happened to Emmet Cole? What’s lurking in the jungle?), but “River” actress Eloise Mumford told MTV News that the first season’s breakneck pace is actually “a huge advantage.” “It’s an event now,” said Mumford, who stars in the series as young adventurer Lena Landry. “It’s like a miniseries. It’s a little movie every week. And honestly, that’s what we did. We worked our butts off. We shot some really incredible footage. Usually dailies when you shoot a show are, I don’t know, an hour or two a day. We did like 13 hours of footage every day. It’s an insane amount of footage! They edit it all together and it’s just really rich.” Mumford also believes that with eight episodes, fans will see the season weave a very satisfying narrative, because the writers were able to build the story based on a smaller episode order. “People will be able to tune in each week and it’ll leave them wanting more. But also they won’t get sick of it in the middle,” she said. “We knew all along that we were doing eight. That’s what we were planning on. So the arc of the season isn’t like, ‘Shoot, what should our next episode be?’ They had a plan from start to finish. It’s a whole, complete story.” Well, perhaps not a whole complete story. Even if many questions are answered by the end of the show’s first season, Mumford promised that the door is most certainly left open for a season-two comeback. “Obviously there’s a possibility to come back. It’s definitely not wrapped up in a concrete way,” she said. “[Fingers crossed for] season two!” Did you watch “The River”? What did you think? Tell us in the comments!
Two supernatural thrillers joined a pair of spooky holdovers in the top five of this weekend’s box office, where one of the world’s biggest stars was no match for the low-budget telepathic shenanigans of Team Chronicle . And, er, what happened to Drew Barrymore? Your Weekend Receipts are here. 1. Chronicle Gross: $22,000,000 (new) Screens: 2,907 (PSA $7,568) Weeks: 1 The found-footage phenomenon continues! It’s only a matter of time before Martin Scorsese is inspired to legitimize the genre with the story of a boy who lives in a train station and unearths the secret identity of an old toy-seller with the help of obscure archival film thought lost to the ages. Oh, wait. 2. The Woman in Black Gross: $21,000,000 (new) Screens: 2,855 (PSA $7,356) Weeks: 1 “What did they see?” indeed. Daniel Radcliffe’s strong post- Harry Potter debut indicated as much about his smart choices as they did about his loyal fan base. I still don’t understand how that Allen Ginsberg role is going to work, but at least he’s on the board as bankable beyond the Hogwarts bubble. 3. The Grey Gross: $9,500,000 ($34,756,000) Screens: 3,208 (PSA $2,961) Weeks: 2 (Change: -51.7%) Yikes. For all the credit I gave Neeson last week, it’s worth noting that The Grey sustained an unusually high week-two drop — nearly three times higher than Taken in 2009, and well above even last year’s Unknown . What gives, America? That’s just mean. 4. Big Miracle Gross: $8,500,000 (new) Screens: 2,129 (PSA $3,992) Weeks: 1 Cue the “Who’s going to free Drew Barrymore’s career from the thickening, encroaching arctic ice ?” lines in 3…2… OK, forget it. 5. Underworld: Awakening Gross: $5,600,000 ($54,353,000) Screens: 2,636 (PSA $2,124) Weeks: 3 (Change: -54.7%) More like Underworld: Sleepening ! Seriously, folks, I’ve got nothing. [Figures via Box Office Mojo ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Critics agree that the supernatural movie brings new life to the found-footage technique. By Kevin P. Sullivan Alex Russell in “Chronicle” Photo: 20th Century Fox With “Chronicle,” found footage comes to the superhero genre. It’s a fun and exciting take on a story you’ve probably heard before, and the critics agree. You can check out MTV’s review over at the Splash Page . We’ve rounded up a mostly spoiler-free sampling of the reviews out there for your reading pleasure. Check out what the critics are saying about “Chronicle.” The Story “Told mostly (we’ll get to that in a bit) through the video-camera lens of a pasty Seattle high school loser named Andrew (Dane DeHaan), the film “documents” the aftermath of his encounter with a mysteriously glowing space rock. Along with friends and fellow discoverers Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), Andrew realizes he can levitate objects and possesses super-human strength.” — Ty Burr, Boston Globe The Leads “From the start, there’s an undertow of cruelty to the teenagers’ high jinks as they learn what they can do, as when they levitate a stuffed animal to frighten a child. Mr. Trank brings a light touch to these self-discovery scenes — the three are flexing fast-evolving muscles — as well as a creeping sense of menace. In this respect, Mr. DeHaan, whose vulnerability and physical awkwardness here can evoke the young Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,’ is invaluable. Mr. Russell and Mr. Jordan are as likable as their characters, but it’s Mr. DeHaan who pulls you uneasily in.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times The Writer and Director “Sometimes a movie arrives out of the blue that announces the arrival of considerable new talents. Josh Trank is 26, and this is his directing debut. Max Landis, also 26, has written a couple of shorts. His father is the director John Landis, but connections don’t teach you how to write.” — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times The Found Footage “One of the cleverest conceits is the way in which shots are framed so that it really does seem as if we’re seeing everything through Andrew’s lens. Helped by the keen eye of cinematographer Matthew Jensen, mirrors — really, any shiny surface — help fill in the settings.” — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times The Final Word “Bolstered by the natural performances of a trio of little-known actors, the very watchable ‘Chronicle’ keeps us captive throughout.” — Claudia Puig, USA Today Related Videos Talk Nerdy
Everyone wants to be the one to discover the next low-budget and/or indie supernatural shocker, the stylish, wicked little thing that scares the bejesus out of you and sends you running to your friends, saying, “You’ve gotta see this!” UK filmmaker Ben Wheatley’s Kill List isn’t that wicked little thing — not by a long shot. Yet it’s a frustrating case. Wheatley drops enough unnerving bread crumbs in the first two-thirds to leave you wondering where the hell he’s headed, and even the big finale should be satisfying enough: It just belongs to a different movie, and it’s unsettling in a way that doesn’t feel earned. That Kill List begins, seemingly, as a standard domestic drama is just one of Wheatley’s intentional red herrings. (He co-wrote the script with Amy Jump.) In the movie’s opening scene Jay (Neil Maskell) is bickering with his wife, Shel (MyAnna Buring), in the presence of their somewhat daft-looking young son, Sam (Harry Simpson). It turns out Jay, an altogether regular-looking and somewhat doughy husband type, hasn’t worked for months: He’s a hit man and the hits just haven’t been coming, since he botched his last job. Then buddy and former associate Gal (Michael Smiley) shows up at the couple’s home for a dinner party, a leggy stretch of girlfriend in tow: He wants to loop Jay into a gig he’s been offered, which requires offing a number of targets. Meanwhile, the sultry, doe-eyed girlfriend, Fiona (Emma Fryer), who looks pretty friendly and normal-like (she explains to her hosts that she works in “human resources”), slips into the couple’s bathroom, removes a mirror from the wall, and does something funny to the back of it. It’s the first of the movie’s numerous “What the — ?” moments, some of which involve episodes of grim brutality that are at first discreetly presented, and then less so. That’s part of Wheatley’s MO: When the violence first kicks off, he cuts away, lulling you into thinking he’s not going to be exploitive. Surprise! Get ready for – and there’s a minor spoiler ahead, though it has nothing to do with the movie’s allegedly supershocking finale – seeing a bunch of brains blown all over a table, like the contents of the world’s ewkiest piñata. Later, we’re treated to a partial view of a rabbit skinning – yum! Should we commend Wheatley – who previously made the 2009 crime comedy Down Terrace – for putting us off guard only to pull the rug out from us? Or is he really just being a sneaky cheat? The more I think about Kill List, the cheaper its shockeroo tactics seem, despite the fact that through its first two-thirds, the picture is compelling almost in spite of itself. Kill List features lots of unapologetic art-house cutting: Scenes are edited into jagged shards, the better to dislocate us with. And in places, it’s bitterly funny. When Jay and Gal approach the first mark on their list – I won’t tell you who it is, but it’s the type of person neither you nor I would be particularly happy about killing – Gal says dryly, “Well, at least it’s not a toddler.” But the plot of Kill List depends too much on Jay’s descent-into-madness routine, and it doesn’t quite wash. This is definitely a guy with a habit of flying off the handle: He threatens physical harm to a bunch of meek, happy Christians who break into a spirited rendition of “Onward Christian Soldiers” in a restaurant. (OK, maybe that’s not so bad.) The idea is that this seemingly devoted family man has, you know, a dark side. This is a guy who’s so used to killing without reason that he no longer needs a reason: Kill List has been carefully and disingenuously front-loaded with post-Iraq meaning. And that’s before it takes a sharp left turn into Wicker Man -style folderol. Kill List is meticulously designed to be a cult film, which means it can never truly be one: It grabs its audience by the collar instead of beckoning seductively and carelessly. The conclusion of Kill List would be more unsettling if the subtle gradation of clues leading up to it didn’t raise so many unanswered questions, just for the hell of it. A mysteriously infected hand, instances of people thanking other people for things they haven’t even done yet – those could have been superb little macabre touches, if only they’d been woven more tightly into the narrative and not just left dangling like shabby hangnails. By the time Kill List jumps off the deep end into occulty weirdness, it’s almost too late for shock value. The ending is designed to make us recoil in horror. But you might be left wondering why you’d bothered with any of it in the first place. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
In light of Rainn Wilson’s impending new show, the MTV News team has compiled its own wish list of TV spin-offs. By Josh Wigler Rainn Wilson on the “Office” Photo: NBC “The Office” is reportedly following the “Battlestar Galactica” model of launching a spin-off of its very own: a show following Rainn Wilson ‘s maniacal assistant regional manager assistant to the regional manager, Dwight Schrute. In the spirit of Dwight leaving Dunder Mifflin for greener, beet-ier pastures, the MTV News team has created its own wish list of TV spin-offs. Dwight’s permanent relocation to the Schrute family beet farm is a controversial move, certainly, but also a potentially awesome one. Think about all the television characters from your favorite series, both canceled and ongoing, that you would want to see in a show of their own. Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister yucking it up with mercenary buddy Bronn all over Westeros? “True Blood” hunk Eric Northman’s days as a Viking before arriving in Bon Temps? There’s simply no way that these shows would not be incredible, or, at the least, wonderfully epic failures. Read on for our highest hopes, and drop your own wishes in the comments section! “Full Measure” The most we ever learn about Mike on “Breaking Bad” comes from the episode “Half Measures.” During a four-minute monologue, he shares a story about his previous life as a beat cop and one of the biggest regrets of his life, the time he didn’t kill an abusive husband when he had the chance. A spin-off following Mike during his transition from beat cop to hired muscle would work not only because he’s a total badass, but thematically his arc would mirror Walter White’s in a way. When did the cop become a drug lord’s right hand? That’s a show I’d watch. — Kevin P. Sullivan “Masuka: Forensic Investigator” Sure, Dexter’s fine. But what about everyone’s favorite quirky, bald pervert? Masuka’s spin-off would be a lot like “Dexter,” except with less murder and more strippers. Like, way more strippers. In fact, 75 percent of the show would take place at a strip club. Just think of all of the raunchy things he would say in his inner monologue! — Ryan Rigley “Lost: The Hurley Years” Of course the most epic spin-off of all would star none other than Hugo “Hurley” Reyes of “Lost” fame. He and Ben Linus could go around the world recruiting awesome young people with supernatural bird-killing powers whose plots never get resolved, and eating all the Mr. Cluck’s the world has to offer. I’d call it “Hurley’s Super Fun Time Island Action Team Protection Squad,” or something to that effect. — Brian Phares “The Ugly Truth” This series is based on the aftermath of the drama-filled “Pretty Little Liars” finale in which it is revealed that Aria is undoubtedly “A” and the brutal murderer of “Queen Bee” Alison. After it is exposed that Aria is the one responsible for all the torment, trickery and burden “A” caused, her friends, family and basically every breathing thing hates her. Forced to live in a world full of “Haters,” Aria’s life is filled with everlasting sorrow and “she be dealing with some issues that you can’t believe!” #KanyeVoice. — Miranda Johnson “The Smash” Coach Eric Taylor, Tim “33” Riggins, Matt “QB1” Saracen… great characters, all. But the “Friday Night Lights” star I find myself thinking about most often is Brian “Smash” Williams, the astonishingly talented Dillon Panthers running back who left early in season three to bring his A-game to Texas A&M. Unlike most actors who came and went on “FNL,” we never saw Smash again following his departure (save for a few shout-outs here and there). Of all the later season cameos, how on earth did we never get to see him again? Haven’t you heard: he’s the Smash, baby! Peter Berg, Jason Katims and Gaius Charles, I’m begging you: bring the Williams family back to the small screen with Smash’s days as an Aggie and, inevitably, his transition to the pros. After all, you know what they say: clear eyes, full hearts, awesome spin-offs — can’t lose! — Josh Wigler Tell us the TV spin-offs you want to see in the comments section!
