Rumour has it…

that Madonna & Ed Hardy’s Christian Audiger will be making sweet sweet fashion amour, the result of which could be rather interesting.  Sticky & sweet skull tatoos, anyone?

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Grey’s on its deathbed?

Katherine Heigl as Dr. Izzy Stevens

Reports from US Weekly have surfaced, corroborating the not unexpected statement that two of the original characters from ABC’s  cash-cow hit series, Grey’s Anatomy – Isobel “Izzy” Stevens played by Katherine Heigl, and George O’Malley, played by T.R. Knight – are set to leave the show this season. When asked whether or not Heigl and and Knight are poised to leave the show, James Pickens, Jr. (Chief of Surgery Dr. Richard Webber), told US Weekly that both are ready to move on to the next chapter.  At the current moment it seems that Grey’s storyline is prepped for the departure of Izzy Stevens, but US Weekly comments that a “source” says that Executive Producer & writer Shonda Rhimes and her team are working to find a plausible wrap for George O’Malley’s character that will “leave the door open for him to come back someday.”  Heigl has already made a fairly successful jump to the silver screen, and is set to star in the upcoming flick “The Ugly Truth” alongside Gerard Butler, with a relase date of July 2009.

T.R. Knight as Dr. George O'Malley

Heigl and Knight have been with Grey’s Anatomy since its launch in 2005; the series is now in its fifth season. These actors mark the second and third depature of first season characters on the show; many will remember Isaiah Washington’s (Dr. Preston Burke) end of tenure. Brought on at the end of season one, Kate Walsh’s major character, Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd left to star in a spin-off helmed by Rhimes: Private Practice. 

Grey’s has become a revolving door for lifeline characters: think Meredith’s mother and father, Izzy’s love Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan of impending Watchmen fame, who actually returned in the 5th season as a ghost), Alex Karev’s (Justin Chambers) infatuitious love Rebecca, and Dr. Erica Hahn (Brooke Smith), who writer’s used to flare up the sexual orientation of Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez).  Grey’s has started the trend of sliding down a slippery slope of introducing new main characters in an effort to keep the show afloat, yet in the process seems to be destroying any vestigate of creditability that they once had. We all pined away at the original Denny-Izzy-Alex love triangle, and sobbed alongside Izzy at Denny’s death, but having him return as a litterally tangible ghost that she find annoying? Way to ruin a brilliant piece of screen play. And the Erica Hahn / Callie Torres relationship – what a great way to break down some cultural barriers and bring the real world to TV – too bad ABC studio execs axed that storyline before it really had time to develop (so the word on the street goes). They let George’s storyline as a repeat intern die, never fully gained closure on the Izzy-George or Cristina-Burke flings, and have now taken away Cheif Resident & hard ass Miranda Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) greatest asset – her quick wit, smart comments, and shut the front door before I make you stares, instead opting for her weepiness over children that seems to degrade her entire character (dying children is sad, of course!  but it’s not something I would imagine would completely strip her of her former self – she’s now someone completely different. 

Off-screen friends Heigl & O'Malley play on-screen pals Izzy & George

The revolving door started early on with now main-staples such as  Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), then started introducing even fresher blood in order to mix it up, such as Lexie Grey (Chyler Leigh as main character Meredith Grey’s younger sibling), and Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), a new love interest for original cast member Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh). 

The depature of Heigl and Knight marks a dark day for Grey’s – with the show’s focal point of Meredith and Derek stuck in the same old song and dance, and the emotional unavailability of Yang, Karev, and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) only making a tiny bit of progress, how much more can the show squeeze out of its original characters? Arguably they are the driving force – we’ve stuck with this show since it started, following the story arc with the hope of a graceful finalé, but the same old rotation keeps getting drawn out. While the new characters may be the future lifeblood of the show, start shaking things up with the original characters, just a tad more – they started with Izzy – (potential SPOILER ALERT) –  it seems she has a brain tumor, but oh, wait, she’s leaving the show. Guess it takes an exit cue to bring the good TV.

Grey's Anatomy Original Cast

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Oh Potter, you Rotter

(c) Warner Bros.

No New November Harry

Sad news for all you Potter fans – the next Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the half-blood Prince, originally set to drop November 2008 is now being postponed until 17 July of 2009. In the Warner Bros. press release, President & Chief Operating Officer for Warner Bros., Alan Horn, blames the writer’s strike for delays, even though post-production was completed on time. It seems, however, that the strike delayed the completion of other potential summer blockbuster hits, such as “JLA”  (Sting), and studio execs want to plump up their summer season for 2009 as well as. However, the change in date for this HP should not affect the proposed November 2010 release date of the 2 part film installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which will also be directed by David Yates.

Ah, now for some quasi-good news: before the drop date of Half-Blood

Prince, we can expect to see the launch of “Harry Potter: The Exhibition,” put on by the Becker Group & Warner Bros. Consumer Products. At 10,000 sqaure feet, the exhibit will premiere in the Spring of 2009 and will appear in ten plus cities over a five year period.  According to Warner Bros., the exhibit:

Yeah, sooner than the movie, anyway.

 

“will include elaborate displays of authentic costumes, props and artifacts from popular environments featured in the films such as those from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including the Gryffindor common room and Hagrid’s hut. During its run, the exhibit will also be updated to include artifacts from the final installments of the Harry Potter film series.”

Take a look at the pretty sweet Harry Potter Exhibition website for more info on the exhibit, ticket prices, a gallery & news,  but be warned, it’s not entirely updated just yet – it’s “coming soon.”

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As Close to New Harry Potter as You’ll Get

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Cover of Beedle the Bard

Looking for another Harry Potter fix? Sadly the only new official Potter you’ll get is on-screen this November, but you can get your hands on some more literature from super-écrivaine J.K. Rowling (or at least get on the waiting list).  December 4th, 2008 (just in time for the Holiday rush) marks the date of the release of Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a book of wizarding tales all handwritten and illustrated by Ms. Rowling. True Potter fans will recall The Bard’s role in the seventh book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Dumbledore leaves Hermione the book, which give Harry clues that help him defeat Voldemort.  The only tale out of five revealed in The Deathly Hallows was the Tale of the Three Brothers; the others will be revealed in the book’s release this winter. Formerly only seven in existence, Amazon dished out the healthy sum of approximately $4 million dollars (£1.95 million) at Sotheby’s last year for one of the charitable copies. Announced today in celebration of Harry Potter’s birthday (July 31st), editions of the book available to (and afforable by) the public will be published by Rowling’s non-profit, the Children’s High Level Group (CHLG). As for the different editions of the book, the CHLG Press Office announced that they will: 

Title Page of Beedle the Bard

 “publish three editions of the book, all in the English language, to be printed and distributed by Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Amazon.  The Bloomsbury and Scholastic editions (£6.99 / $12.99) will feature additional commentary on each fairy tale from Professor Dumbledore and an introduction by J K Rowling.  Amazon will produce up to a maximum of 100,000 Collector’s Edition copies (£50 / $100), which will aim to closely replicate the look and feel of the original ‘Beedle’.  All editions will go on sale on Thursday 4 December 2008.”

All net proceeds from sales of the book, which are expected to be roughly $8 million (£4 million), will go straight to the CHLG, which focuses on the education, health, and welfare of children in Europe. Check out the full press release about the book by the CHLG. For more information on CHLG, visit their website at: http://www.chlg.org/

Reserve your copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard at Amazon.

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