Watching Showtime

Don’t think Jennifer Beals will be voting for Barack Obama in November simply because they share the same bi-racial breakdown. Beals will be voting for Obama for much more than that … his policies and politics.

I’ve always harbored a distrust of politicians and I’ve met several and they didn’t really convince me. It wasn’t until I met Barack Obama and I heard him speak that I thought there was a possibility for change — that somebody could actually change the paradigm or even the psychology of politics.

This is the first time I’ve come out in support of a presidential candidate, and I made this choice because of Senator Obama’s unique desire to engage people in the political process.

Jennifer spoke those words last Thursday (April 17) at a luncheon for professional women regarding Obama and his support of not only women, but of the GLBT community. Recently Beals also interviewed Tobias Wolff, Obama’s campaign LGBT chair.

That’s right. LGBT chair. He’s got an entire section of his campaign devoted to making sure the rights and concerns of the GLBT community are acknowledged and even honored. No candidate has gone that far (that I’m aware of) to date.

Here’s a Flickr photo set (shared thanks to Obama’s campaign website) from her time in Philly.

After six weeks on Dancing With The Stars, Marlee Matlin was eliminated after judges finally started to look past the amazingness of her dancing while deaf and started to evaluate her performance. Which they apparently found lacking. Now, I’m not saying it’s not amazing that she made it so far on the show, because it truly is. Deaf or not. I just got tired very quickly of the big deal that was made over her deafness. You’d think that after all this time we’d be able to get past people’s differences, but the reality is that she still has to fight for the rights of all deaf people with her every action.

And so she danced. She danced to prove she could do more than just drama, she danced to prove that deaf people can do the same things hearing people can do. And she danced because she loves to. And she was eliminated, but she made it farther than many of the other hearing-able celebs on the show.

Ok Magazine sat down with her after her defeat, and here’s a few of the things she had to say:

“I came here knowing that America would get to see me do something I had never done before and defy expectations,” Marlee told OK! after being eliminated. “And I’m damn proud of what I did.”

When it comes to her next project, she has this to say:

“I plan to pack my kids’ lunches, take them to school, pick them up at the end of the day, read them bedtime stories, give them a bath, be a wife.”

As for The L Word, here’s Marlee’s thoughts on her character and the final season.

She told OK! she might briefly return to the show The L Word, in which she played Jennifer Beals’ character’s girlfriend, just to tie up loose ends. Otherwise, “I’m looking forward to jumping into another series and doing more features. I just hope that after DWTS that people know there’s a lighter, funnier side of me and there’s certainly no need to think ‘well, can Marlee do this?’ I think I’ve proven I can do pretty much anything. You’ve just got to be willing to listen.”

It’s good to know we’ll get to see Marlee on The L Word again, even if it’s just a brief appearance!

With no word yet as to her character’s arch on Showtime’s series The L Word, it looks like Cybill Shepherd is taking a job on Psych next season. The actress will play the mom of Shawn, one of the “psychics”, when the show begins it’s season on July 18. We know at least two of her episodes will air, according to TV Squad, although there’s no word as to her involvement in the cases the psychics try to solve.

It’ll be good seeing her back in comedy, as she’s been spending a lot of time getting all dramatic over at The L Word. Here’s hoping Molly’s mom comes back for the final season, however, because without Phyllis getting all dyky on her lawyer-love, the series finale wouldn’t be the same.

Now that we don’t get our weekly fix of Papi (unless you serially watch the past seasons DVDs like I do), it’s always a treat to find out Janina Gavankar’s got new television work. This time it’s Stargate: Atlantis, and we’ve got both photos and video!

I’m assuming the shot is for costuming, but she looks great! The videos are on Joseph Mallozzi’s blog, so head on over to watch Janina in action at target practice while participating in weapons training for the role.

As more pictures surface (hopefully), I’ll try to get them posted up for you as often as I can.

It’s no secret that Jennifer Beals is backing candidate Barack Obama, and she’s gone so far as to head to Philly for the primary happening there tomorrow, attempting to drum up support.

While in town, she stopped off at Bob & Barbara’s, the infamous dive bar with the longest running drag show in town. She stayed for the whole show, and when the festivities were up she was escorted out the back door to avoid the waiting crowds.

Here’s hoping her showing there will encourage voters to get out and make their voices heard … even if it’s not for her candidate. I love that Jennifer embraces her gay icon status, bestowed upon her thanks to the L Word, and uses her fame for good (she was part of V To The Tenth, and now this).

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Hey there. I’m still trying to get caught up on life after a busy weekend, but I wanted to let you all know I guest-posted over at the Rose Rollins Fan Blog! Head on over and check out my thoughts on the end of the L Word and where we can get our girlie fix once it’s done.

I’ll be back soon with two Tudors recaps (I never did get around to last week’s episode) and tons of gossip!

While there’s not much info yet on Curve’s website, Rose Rollins Fan Blog has broken the news that Rose will be on the next cover of Curve!

Turns out stars like to talk about all the things they’re good at besides just acting, and in a recent Macon article, some of Showtime’s stars sounded off on this very topic.

David Duchovny (”Californication”) is good at sports or “anything like that. I’m terrible at anything mechanical. I can’t work anything. I’m stupid at it, and I’m impatient and every machine we get breaks. Both of us (he and his wife, actress Tea Leoni) - every computer, every television, every phone breaks. And we do not know how to work it. Not only do we not know how to work it, but we break it. Tea is terrible too. I’m not even good with cars. She can fix a car. It’s pretty impressive. I make a good sandwich.”

Michael C. Hall (”Dexter”): I think I’m really good at communicating, listening. I think I’m good at being a friend. Yet that’s the very thing I would say I’m bad at, but the thing I want to be better at and continue to cultivate. What I’m sometimes bad at is in my desire to be with another person, to communicate with them, is losing myself. What I’m bad at, what I’d like to get better at is maintaining that sense that I’m a good listener, communicator but also holding on to part of myself that can’t be touched and I maintain in spite of whatever goes right or wrong. It’s kind of an esoteric answer. What I’d like to get better at is having a sense of where this is all coming from and who I am.”

Cybill Shepherd (”The L Word”): I’m really good most of the time at talking to my children and defining limits … I’m hopeless at cleaning up the house. I’m a slob. I just always find something better to do like read or watch a movie or `Let’s go swimming!’”

The tenth anniversary of The Vagina Monologues saw stars show up in droves to New Orleans for the huge finale of events that have been happening around the country for the last few months. At the kickoff in LA were several L Word stars, and the same was seen at the huge wrapup party. Here’s some great pics of the event!

Daniella Sea and Jennifer Beals pose with Ilene Chakin and another woman (I know I should know who she is, but I just don’t right now, and she’s not named with the picture).

The entire cast of The Vagine Monologues poses on stage. That’s Ilene on the left in the first row and Daniela next to her. Jennifer’s hiding towards the back rows, on the right.

Eve Ensler, Kerry Washington, Faith Hill and Jennifer Beals, in a moment backstage.

Jane Fonda joines Eve Ensler, Kerry Washington, Faith Hill and Jennifer Beals with a young friend backstage.

Jennifer Beals, in mid-performance. Notice the awesome fishnets with her knee-high boots and killer red dress!

Jennifer Beals, in mid performance with her L Word friends Daniela Sea and Ilene Chakin (and again, with the ohte woman I can’t name for the life of me. She played Helena’s film-making love interest in the third season, however).

Kerry Washington, Rosario Dawson and Jennifer Beals, after the show.

Conrats ladies on a job well done, and on celebrating ten years of vagina-friendly behavior and prose!

It’s one of the great mysteries of The L Word. Once the writers feel they’re done with a character, he or she is written out of the story without much thought. The whole cast seemed to move on from the death of their friend Dana with surprising resiliency, and Marina got ditched pretty fast as well. So when Papi didn’t show up for season five, none of us should have been surprised. Her larger role in the fourth season didn’t guarantee she would continue on the show: she wasn’t dating one of the main characters and her pseudo rivalry with Shane never really caught on. Never mind she and Tasha were pretty much best friends, her presence was no longer needed.

This doesn’t mean fans of the show haven’t been wondering what happened to Papi. And while I have no definitive answers (I’m betting a lot of sex is in there somewhere, however), I can tell you a few things that have been going on in the life of Janina Gavankar, the woman who brought Papi to life.

According to What’s Worth Watching, she’s been cast in at least one episode of the 5th season of Stargate: Atlantis. She’ll be part of an all-female SGA team, which is pretty cool, although there’s no word yet as to the role’s potential for recurring. It sounds like at least one member of the team is already getting a recurring role, so here’s hoping Janina’s character isn’t killed off. Either way, I’ll try to find out when her episode airs and let you all know!

While you have to be a subscriber to Diva Magazine to read the article on Mia Kiershner and her alter-ego Jenny Schecter, the mag gives us a taste of the article on it’s website. And makes me want to become a subscriber just so I can read all about Mia’s adventures off-screen, which seem so much better than Jenny’s on-screen antics.

For example, did you know that Mia’s writing a book about the displaced peoples in the Far East, and will be donating the profits from it to Amnesty International?! Neither did I! But there she is Mia Kirshner, proving there’s more to her than Jenny leads us to believe. And tomorrow I’m off to the bookstore to buy the issue!

On April 11 and 12, the Superdome is being transformed into a space for free concerts, performances, storytelling circles and more, all as the culmination of the V Day tenth anniversary celebrations that have been going on around the country. Eve picked New Orleans because, since the Katrina Disaster Ensler has been working with organizations such as the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women and Katrina Warriors. I’m assuming then, that at least some of the proceeds of the event will go to these organizations.

Ensler will be busing in over 1,200 women for the event, at which stars such as Oprah Winfrey (reading a new piece entitled “Hey Miss Pat!”, about a woman who used to cook out of her home for the homeless before the disaster) and many cast members of The L Word, including Jennifer Beals.

Pregnant while the hurricanes were ripping apart the city she loves, Beals recalled memories of her first visits to the city in an interview with the Times-Picayune. “I feel a great affinity for New Orleans,” Beals said. “It was the first time I saw myself reflected in someone else’s face other than my own family.”

Tickets to the event range from $25 to $1000 and are available through Ticketmaster. With celebs such as those above, and musical performances from the likes of Faith Hill and Jennifer Hudson, if you’re in the area it sounds like it’s an event not to be missed!

Greatest. Website. Ever.

Just a few quick notes as I get ready for the second episode of The Tudors!

Elizabeth Keener (Dawn Denbo) is going to star in a new hour-long series for Here TV. She will play a lesbian FBI agent who’s sent into a small town, and strange things will most certainly take place. For more info, head to The Advocate. Oh, and check out this interview with Elizabeth on the L Word Fan Site.

In Tudors news, Peter O’Toole gave an interview with TV Guide recently. The hilarious interview can be read in full over at the TV Guide site.

And finally, here’s the last of the L Word podcasts. It’s with Pam Grier, and she talks about the fight for The Planet.

Missing the “great romance” that is Tibette? Sad that you can’t get your Jennifer Beals fix for almost a year? Have no fear, because Desolation Sound will air on Lifetime april 9th (Jennifer Beals stars). I have no idea what the movie is about, but seeing as it’s airing on Lifetime, I’m betting romantic somehow, sad in many ways, and totally worth hunkering down on a Wednesday to watch. If you’re too ashamed to turn Lifetime on in real-time, just Tivo it!

Julie Benz (Rita on Dexter for those not in the know), has signed on to be in Saw V. I have no idea if this is a good thing or not. I felt the same way about her being in Rambo, though, and I’m sure that’s done wonders for her career. But Saw? I can’t help but express my distaste, if only a little bit.