Watching Showtime

This much we know: Henry desperately wants to bed Ann Boleyn, who has him convinced she will do no such thing until she is his wife. Katherine, the king’s first wife, holds on strongly to her throne, although it will not be long before she has no choice. The king’s closest friend, Charles Brandon, has married and buried the king’s sister. This season, all these seeming loose ends will be tied up, thanks to divorce, more death, a religious Reformation, and so much more!

“If the lion knows his own strength, no man can control him.”

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With the second season premiere of The Tudors a mere hours away, it’s time for any last-minute news we can find on the internet.

• The Boston Herald’s entertainment section has an article on the series, highlighting the executive producer/writer of the series. Hirst discusses his desire to bring the Reformation to the small screen, something he did for the big screen with Elizabeth (both the first and the sequel), which he also wrote.
• Looking to see who the female hotties of the Tudors world are? Check out what Cuzoogle has to say on the matter. And with three of the ladies making their first appearances in this second season, it definitely gives the guys another reason to tune in!
• The latest rumor about Jonathan Rhys Meyers is much lighter than the last few. This time, a reporter supposedly asked the star what he does with all his money, an attempt to search out his spending habits. Meyers, ever the jokester, supposedly replied, “I’m Irish. I keep it in mattress.�? Who knows how true this rumor is, either. With most Hollywood rumors, the truth usually lies far from what’s being written. Funny story if it’s true, though!
• Did you know Natalie Dormer supposedly makes an uncredited appearance in Flawless, a movie hitting theaters this weekend? Neither did I. Someone will have to go see the movie and tell me if it’s true.

Two newer interviews with Jonny have him revealing ever more of himself to the press.

Talking with Expo Say about his on-again, off-again lover Reena Hammer (who is a makeup heiress), he says she’s his polar opposite. While their love is very much on-again, he says he’s iffy about becoming a father one day, although is co-stars and directors seem to disagree.

Kristen Sheridan (his August Rush director) had this to say: “”He had such an emotional response to the idea of playing a father.”

When talking The Tudors, however, Meyers is not so ambivilant. “I like growing older,” he muses, sitting in his trailer at Dublin’s Ard¬more Studios, puffing on a Marlboro Light. “I just turned 30, and it does inform the way I play Henry, who is much more mature and less erratic. I’ve changed over the past year.”

It’s good that he’s bringing more maturity to the role, as the Henry he’s playing now is supposed to be entering middle age!

With the massive amounts of sickness that have been flying through my house, it’s taken me longer than I’d like to put up the contest winners here, but I’m FINALLY doing it! Prizes are being mailed out tomorrow, also a bit later than I’d have liked, but again with the sickness (and excuses).

Winning the Tracey Ullman giveaway is Angelo. He’ll be getting the promo disk mailed out to him, along with some Tudors schwag cuz he’s waited so long!

And winning the L Word Fantasy Challenge is SuzyQ! She mastered the game, bested even me, and will be getting an L Word shirt sent out, as well as an Amazon gift certificate e-mailed to her.

Congrats to you both, and for the rest of you, keep an eye out on the blog, because I’m always running new contests!

• There’s some potential news about the third season of Dexter surfacing. Not sure how true it is, as the writers have just gotten down to the business of writing episodes, but at least it gives us one person’s take on what might happen. (Film Rotation)
• Salon.com has a review of The Tudors up on its site. Head on over there to read their take on all the sex and intrigue.
• Admiring Natalie Dormer has tons of videos up from the second season of The Tudors. Don’t click through to them if you don’t want to see spoilers, but I think that even the most naive viewer knows that Anne’s life isn’t long and happy!
• I love to read Paul’s reviews of shows, and his review of the season finale of The L Word didin’t disappoint! (Infinite Regress)

This morning we have a super amazing treat. Grey from The Rose Rollins Fan Blog is sharing with us part of an interview she had recently with Rose!

Monday, I was on the phone with “The L Word’s” Rose Rollins. She is disarmingly charming. Her voice is both rough and smooth. Her laugh forces you to smile even if you don’t want too. I’ve talked to Rose before and every time I’m caught a little off guard. She has … something. I don’t know what you call it…Mojo, Voodoo, “Who Doo”. Whatever it is she’s got it. During this conversation she’s getting ready to catch a flight from San Francisco back to LA. I’m supposed
to be working, but not getting a damn thing done. But who cares. I’m on the phone with Rose Rollins. Here are some highlights of our conversation.

Tasha’s Attitude

Many believe Rose’s “L word” character, Tasha Williams, has an attitude. I asked Rose about this and simply told her, “You know when black women hear this it throws us into a frenzy.” Rose said she understood when she took the role it would be an issue. She adds that she really tried to be true to the character while showing there were very good reasons for Tasha’s behavior. She believed in season five we learned more about Tasha and she laughed and smiled a lot more.

Did/Does race play a role in Tasha’s relationship with Alice?

Tasha and Alice are different, but race was not the issue. It’s more about them being very different people. Rose believes social class and money played much bigger roles. She also added sometimes people want what they think they can’t have, and once they get it it’s not what they thought it would be.

What do you think about interracial dating? Do you date men outside your race?

Rose said she has and does date men outside her race. That there are many factors in choosing to date someone, but race isn’t one of them. It’s more about the person.

Are you currently dating anyone?

She laughed and said she doesn’t like to put labels on things, but says she likes someone and he likes her. She stated that her life is going through a big transition right now, and she’s traveling a lot so could not commit to a relationship right now.

For more of my “convo” with the beautiful and talented Rose Rollins visit me at The Rose Rollins Fan Blog.

ETA: As I’ve stated already in this post, I DO NOT believe this rumor is true. I am simply making others aware that such a thing is being said. I did not link to anything that’s stating the rumor because unless it becomes substantiated evidence, I will not give people the impression I think it deserves further pause.

HOWEVER.  It is something that is being passed around the internet, and as someone who updates on all things surrounding Showtime, I felt it was my job to put it up here.

So, the newest news to hit the internet surrounding Jonathan Rhys Meyers isn’t near as good as the premiere of The Tudors. It would seem Jonny boy has been having some inappropriate conversations with former co-star Freddie Highmore. The link I’ve found is on a personal blog, and I can’t find the story in People, so I’m not sure how true this is.

Apparently, Freddie Highmore’s parents have cut off all communications between Freddie and Jonny after they found some chat messages the two had shared. What those messages said, no one knows. But it was enough to refuse to allow their son to communicate with the star any further. The pair had grown close during filming, with Jonny gifting Freddie his first guitar.

I’m choosing not to believe this story until I can find the information on People or some other site like it. Even then I might not believe it. For all the things JRM has been and done, I can’t imagine him being inappropriate with a child in ANY WAY.

So, now that you’ve had time to soak into all the last episode drama, I’ve got a few of my own predictions for you for next season. Mind you, none of this is based in reality, as I’m not so cool I’ve got connections of any sort. This is just based on my love of the show, how I’ve seen things happen over the last five years, and how I think they’ll want to end things now that we all know they are, in fact, ending them.

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With the season having just finished, it’s hard to decide what my all-time favorite moments were. Instead of giving you a top-ten list or anything like that, I’m going to go by character. Each of these women has had so much happen in the last twelve weeks, it’s only fair that I give each of them time in the spotlight!

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Well, it’s L Word wrap-up week here at Watching Showtime, and I’ve got a lot planned for you. Not only do we get to discuss what we loved and hated about this season, we get to predict what will come for next season. I’ll announce a winner in our L Word Fantasy Challenge contest (after you all tell me your point totals), and we’ve got a guest post to look forward to. In the midst of all that, we’ve also all got to switch gears for the season premiere of The Tudors, which comes to us on Sunday night!

So let’s get this week started off right. What were your final point totals for The L Word Fantasy Challenge? Remember, even if you haven’t been sharing your points throughout the season, you can still list your totals here. The one with the highest point total wins an L Word tee shirt and a $25 Amazon gift card! You have to also list your Fantasy Team name here, however, so if I want to I can check to be sure you were actually playing (not that I think anyone would cheat. I’ve just got to cover my bases).

With Adele still in charge and Jenny still on the outs, she and Tina go into a meeting with a major studio, who is thinking of distributing the movie. Three super straight men (one chomping down on an apple for goodness sake) tell them that they’re super excited to market the movie, as long as one “minor” issue is fixed. The ending. They want Jessie to go back to her boyfriend in the end, rather than end up with a woman. They feel the “fly-by” states aren’t ready for an out lesbian ending such as the one Jenny’s written. That’s not going to go over well! And why is Adele still there? When does Jenny bust in all crazy-eyes and kick her ASS?!?!

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A little bit late, but here’s the segment from The View with Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Natalie Dormer.

• There’s finally a release date for the second season of Dexter to DVD. It’s officially available for purchase on August 19 … such a long time to wait, but it lets those catching up with the first season on CBS get on the same level as all of us older Dexter fans before the third season.
• The New York Times has an article previewing the second season of The Tudors, reminding us all why we love it so (the costumes! the sets! the sex scenes!)
• I love love love these shots of the extras on the set of The Tudors, listening to their IPods and rocking their cell phones. Hilarious!

It’s just hours away (less than?) from the season finale of The L Word, so stick around as I’ll be recapping it shortly!

• Women’s Wear Daily profiles Tracey Ullman in an article about the “hazards” of comedy. Juxtaposing Ullman’s seemingly normal life to that of many famous male comedians, they discuss her 20+ year marriage to the same man, her ability to live in LA without succumbing to the traps and pitfalls. A great article! (Women’s Wear Daily)
• The Shane/Cherie romp that signaled the official end of Shane’s relationship with Carmen (even if Carmen didn’t know it yet) made the list of TV Guide’s top ten small screen hot scenes, coming in at number 10. While the list was full of “traditional” sexy scenes, it was bookended with a lesbian romp and a vampire-love fight-fest (Buffy/Spike). Good for TV Guide! (Cinema Blend)
• Are you a Natalie Dormer nut? Well, if you create a piece of fan art with her as the subject, you can enter to win a poster of the beauty! (Admiring Natalie Dormer)