Breaking news. The National Enquirer claims that Isaiah Washington is being fired from Grey’s Anatomy, and reportedly, T.R. Knight wants to quit.

Now before you quickly write this off as tabloid fodder, keep in mind, the Enquirer was the same magazine that broke the news that there was a fight on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, and that Isaiah Washington had called T.R. Knight a faggot. Turned out to be true.

Additionally, a source close to Luke MacFarlane, the Brothers & Sisters actor who is supposedly dating T.R. Knight, says T.R. is asking to get onto the cast of the new spin-off starring Kate Walsh and Taye Diggs, and if T.R. is leaving, Katherine Heigl wants to leave as well. Note: that was not a part of the Enquirer’s story.

This will certainly screw over ABC’s biggest hit show by basically obliterating their cast. They’re left with Ellen Pompeo (ew), Patrick Dempsey, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers and Chandra Wilson. Would you still tune in?

Woohoo! I’m so happy today because my Desperate Housewives ladies Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman nabbed Golden Globe nominations! The show itself also got a nomination for Best Comedy Series.

But something interesting about this year’s nominations is…they nominated three people multiple times. Clint Eastwood got two Best Director nominations, Helen Mirren got two nominations for Best Actress in a Mini-Series as well as a Best Actress in a Drama nomination, and Leonardo DiCaprio received two nominations for Best Actor–one for Blood Diamond and one for The Departed.

It seems REALLY stupid to me, because obviously the person cannot win for both. It’s a waste of a nomination, especially when there are other deserving candidates who could be nominated. Luckily, there’s rules against this at the Oscars.

Some other nominations that made me happy:

Jeremy Piven - Entourage
Toni Collette - Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Patricia Arquette- Medium
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Katherine Heigl - Grey’s Anatomy
Ugly Betty
Thank You For Smoking

Snubs:

Vanessa Williams - Ugly Betty
Mariska Hargitay - Law & Order: SVU
Bill Condon - Dreamgirls (Best Director)
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson (One of Leo’s noms would have gone to him)

You can view the entire list of nominees here.

Even though Sunday night's Emmy telecast proved to be a snorefest minus some very deserved wins, the fashion was as always, something to talk about.  There were a few hits, and of course quite a few misses.  Okay…a lot of misses. 

Worst Dressed

  Dear Jesus.  This debacle is almost as bad Reese Witherspoon's hopeless Oscar dress.  One of those ghosts should have whispered to Jennifer Love Hewitt that less is more.  Not even Cher would look twice at this shit.   This looks like something that at one point was actually a decent dress, and then they turned it over to a new employee at Michaels Arts and Crafts.  The hair's pretty decent though–kind of old-school Hollywood.  Reminds me of Katharine McPhee's Big Sexy campaign.

 

 Mariska, girl, I love you.  And I'm so glad you finally won that Emmy you've for so long deserved–even more glad you look so stunning after just giving birth.  But this dress looks like a pack of rosebushes attacked you and slit your dress right up the middle.  I know vertical lines are slimming, but next time go for stripes. 

 

 

What's with all these talented women pulling off fashion no-nos this year (mind you, I'm not referring to Hewitt)?  Kyra Sedgwick (or as some know her, Mrs. Kevin Bacon) was the only other woman worthy of taking that Emmy trophy for Lead Actress in a Drama if it weren't Hargitay, but this sack of curtains savagely mauled with garden shears probably made the academy go back and change the name in that envelope.  The dress wouldn't have been so bad were it not for that huge circular thing right under her left hip.  It looks like a prop from "The Big Comfy Couch".

 

 

What..the hell?  I could swear I've seen that print on one of my aunt's walls.  It doesn't surprise me that loopy Paula Abdul would show up to the Emmys in true drunken and heavily medicated fashion with a horrid excuse for a gown, but lord woman, being 50 doesn't mean you have to dress like Betty White's bed sheets.

 

 

Let's not get started on how disgusting it is that Sandra Oh was passed over for the snoozer Blythe Danner.  But considering the "Grey's Anatomy" star's choice of outfit, I'm inclined to forgive.  The bottom half of the dress is actually half way decent–it's very haute couture.  But the top half is what does it in–it turns into some kind of Hallmark frill-fest.  And of course Sandra has to make it even worse with the overdone jewelry she bought from the street vendors in the East Village.  Side note: People who have big foreheads should not wear their hair back.  Just ask Toni Collette–she knows why nobody went to see "In Her Shoes".

 

 

Once again, the forehead rule applies.  Tyra herself has even said she's got a "fivehead", yet she insists on wearing the hair up and back.  I think I might actually like this dress if it was a solid color like Sandra Oh's or Kyra Sedgwick's, but this weird mosh posh of lavendar, black and see-through just isn't doing it for me.  I know, I know–it's not really see through–it's that skin-colored crap.  But either way, it looks just as tacky (see Britney Spears–2000 VMAs). 

 

 MTV VJ Vanessa Minnillo probably looked the worst out of every single woman on the red carpet.  I know your salary isn't that great working at TRL, but can't new boyfriend Nick Lachey lend you some change so you can have a decent Emmy gown?  Wait..why are you at the Emmys anyway?  Whatever the reason, it looks like some Bollywood dress meets 2nd grade art project gone very, very bad.

 

 

What is with the Grey's Anatomy women and horrid fashion?  You're already second to Desperate Housewives in ratings and award wins, why must you let them show you up on the red carpet too?  Maybe if this were a different material it could be a decent dress but this dress, those eyebrows, the Kellie Pickler hair–it just ain't working Ellen.  The material's too T.J. Maxx, and the design's too Lady of the Lake.

Best Dressed

Does Evangeline Lilly ever look bad on the red carpet?  I swear, she's a goddess.  Very classic, simple, elegant.  Love it.  She looks great in blues, greens, and purples.

 

 

Not really feeling the hair do on Heidi Klum, but the dress is grade A fashion–even if it does look like it came off the maternity rack.

 

 

Her show didn't win anything, but Jamie Lynn Sigler still looked nice, flowy, and delicate.  Kind of looks like something you could buy at J.C. Penney, but it's beautiful nonetheless.

 

 

Damn, at least somebody's representing from Grey's Anatomy.  Ms. Katherine Heigl looked absolutely stunning in her cream-colored, sparkly gown.  This is how sparkles should be done, Ms. Hewitt!  Katharine looked like a 40s bombshell on the red carpet with her smoky eyeliner and classy finger wave.  Kudos to Izzie Stevens.

I have to give it to two-time Emmy winner Julia Louis Dreyfuss.  Even though I'm not a big fan of hers, of Seinfeld, or of her new show The New Adventures of Old Christine, I must admit she had the best dress on the red carpet this Sunday.  It was simple, crisp, chic, and the black trim around the bust was brilliant!  I need to find out who made that dress so I can worship them forever.

Nominee Jaime Pressley was an eye-catcher with this exquisite deep purple gown that almost looks as if it was chiseled by Jesus to fit her body.  Everything about it is fabulous, the train at the bottom, the cute little design above the knees, the print, the color–just everything.  Love it, love it, love it.

Even though it's a little ridiculous that Debra Messing was nominated yet again this year for Will & Grace, a show that went down the toilet years ago and has been rotting there ever since, I will forgive her shutting out the brilliant Marcia Cross for wearing this dress.  The odd thing is that I feel like I would hate it were it on anyone else, but something about the way it hangs on her, the color of the dress perfectly matching with her gorgeous complexion, and of course her beautiful face and fiery red hair to top it all off.  Both of Grace's gays (Will and Jack) would approve.  Karen's a tough one to please though.

We of course can't leave out the men.  Even though is wife's dress makes me both go blind and wanna puke, nominee Denis Leary looked ravishing in his sleek blacknsuit with the perfect red tie to finish off the look.  And of course someone as cool as Denis couldn't go without the shades.

-sigh- Jeremy Piven.  Could this man get any more dreamy?  I was ecstatic that he was finally given the Emmy win that he deserved for playing Ari Gold on HBO's Entourage but I couldn't forget how great he looked.  He was by far the most fashionable man on the Emmy red carpet.  Of course…he could wear a trash bag and a handful of extension cords and still be the hottest thing in Tinseltown.

For anyone who was wondering what the real reason is for Ellen Pompeo being afraid of marriage, her friend has revealed it, according to a published report.

According to friends, the ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘ star, 36, is afraid to marry her long-time lover Christopher Ivery, 38, because she can’t get over the felony conviction that landed him in jail for over a year.

A friend tells the Enquirer, “Ellen loves Christopher to death but she can’t help feeling that there may be someone else out there better suited for her.”

But Ivery’s criminal track-record didn’t always bother Ellen. It started bothering her after she started acting in top-rated TV show ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘, because now she has a future to consider.

“She’s had a few of her co-stars try to set her up on dates with some well-known bachelors. Ellen declined the offers for now, but she’s having second thoughts.”

“Marrying a guy with a criminal past is just not something she envisioned for herself.”

In Christopher pleaded guilty to theft and credit card fraud back in 1994, and was in prison for 14 months.

The friend explains, “If she hasn’t married Chris by now, it may never happen.”

“She owes it to herself to find Mr. Right and not settle for a man she’s having second thoughts about.”

After a red-hot second season, the “Grey’s Anatomy” cast is getting a little extra green from the show’s producer.

Sources said Touchstone Television recently handed out $200,000 bonuses to each of the show’s principal cast members, including Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey, James Pickens Jr., T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson, Isaiah Washington, Justin Chambers and Kate Walsh.

But sources close to key cast members say the bonus is not likely to head off pressure from the actors for the Disney-owned studio to renegotiate their original series deals at a higher pay rate in light of the show’s meteoric ratings spike this past season. Indeed, ABC hopes the medical drama will reinvigorate the network’s fortunes on Thursday with its bold move of the show to the 9 p.m. slot in the fall.

Touchstone TV, which declined comment on the “Grey’s” bonuses, has a history of giving cash bonuses to the ensemble casts of its hit series. In early 2005, the studio rewarded the principal cast members of “Desperate Housewives” with bonuses said to be about $250,000 each four months into the run of the show. The “Desperate Housewives” actors also received salary bumps. Meanwhile, in January, the “Lost” gang received salary increases, with Matthew Fox also getting a bonus.

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo is frustrated by the way her character in the show is written and finds it a struggle to shoot her scenes.
The star, who plays Dr. Meredith Grey, is discouraged because she has no input into her character’s storyline.

She explains, “I just show up and say my lines. There’s no collaboration on the characters and the writing. “This is a 9-to-5 job. I have to show up and say what they write.

“Something I say a lot is, ‘Why does she keep making these stupid mistakes? She’s smart enough to make it through medical school, but she can’t figure out that she shouldn’t be sleeping with strangers.’ “My biggest fear about doing a series television show is that I would be bored. But at the same time, there are episodes where I struggle with the choices that Meredith makes.”

Averaging about 19.6 million viewers this season and actually beating ratings juggernaut (and sister show) Desperate Housewives for a few weeks (thanks in large part to a certain bomb and the Superbowl), Grey’s Anatomy has become a bona fide hit for the, at one point, desperate ABC.

Its ratings have cooled down since its monster post-Superbowl numbers, but the show is still holding its own, which should be further proven in the coming weeks as May sweeps heat up and Grey’s Anatomy unveils its three-part Season Finale.

Grey’s, which was a mid-season replacement for the James Spader legal dramedy Boston Legal — a show that was not doing well in the 10:00 time slot behind Housewives — has enamored critics and audiences in the past year and a half. The show ended up netting much more of Housewives’ audience than Boston Legal did and allowed ABC to monopolize Sunday nights, including the hour before Housewives with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Patrick Dempsey, known for Sweet Home Alabama and Scream 3, plays Derek Shepherd, the love interest of main character Meredith Gray (of the title), played by Ellen Pompeo (Moonlight Mile and Catch Me If You Can). At the end of the first season, after Meredith and Derek have played out their romance, it is revealed that Derek is in fact married. This obstacle to their romance provided the major storyline for season two.

Other notable performers are Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award winner Sandra Oh, whose Cristina Yang not only provides diversity to the show along with her co-stars Isaiah Washington (Dr. Preston Burke), Chandra Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey), and James Pickens Jr. (Dr. Richard Webber), but brings a sardonic wit to the show that balances out its inherent melodrama.

Other stars include Kate Walsh as Addison Shepherd, Derek’s tough but compassionate wife, Justin Chambers as the obligatory sexy hospital villan Alex Karev, T.R. Knight as the shy and lovable George O’Malley, and Katherine Heigl as the smart but emotional Izzie Stevenson. Katharine, whose character on the show is quite nice, is apparently, sources say — not so much. Heigl reportedly had a temper tantrum on set a few weeks ago — according to sources, she is nothing like her good-hearted character. I think it’s a load of crap, but you never know with performers.

Like Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy has come under a little scrutiny lately for its lagging storylines and cooling humor, as well as having many fans voice their disdain for Ellen Pompeo’s gratuitous “Mary Alice-esque” “A-wise-man-once-said” narration at the beginning and end of the show. Needless to say however, the show is still going strong.

Star Pulse reports what’s coming up on Grey’s Anatomy May 14 and 15:

“17 Seconds” - Finn gives a health update on Doc, Meredith has to work with Callie for the day and George must spend the day with McDreamy. Meanwhile Burke and Izzie are still searching for a heart for Denny. This is all going down on part one of the season finale on Sunday, May 14.

In the first hour of part two of the season finale — “Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response” — Izzie and George take care of Denny while the clock continues to tick for finding him a new heart. Cristina is in charge of an ER and Dr. Shepherd (the male one) find himself with his friend’s life in his hands.

In the second hour, “Losing My Religion,” Richard investigates a patient’s condition, Callie finally grills George about his feelings for her, and Meredith and Derek talk about Doc. Part two of the season finale of “Grey’s Anatomy” airs Monday, May 15.

By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Talk about a show exploding.

Boosted by a Super Bowl launch pad and a bazooka-bomb-in-the-belly plotline, Grey’s Anatomy has rocketed into record ratings and much more intense attention. And it has done so without straying from its chosen path: The deft blend of comedy, drama, sex and romance has turned this show into one of the most enticing hours on TV.

Grey’s heightened success could not come at a better time for ABC; the network’s biggest hit, the once-white-hot Desperate Housewives is showing signs of cooling. We shouldn’t read too much into last week’s ratings, which found Grey’s on top of Housewives for the first time: Housewives is still a vastly popular show, and deservedly so. But there’s no doubt that the buzz is off the rose, which is what generally happens to an instant phenomenon.

It’s possible, of course, that many of the folks who were hooked into Grey’s Super Bowl special will now go on their way. Those who return Sunday, however, will be treated to an incredibly appealing episode that is more in tune with the show’s low-key norm.

Odds are, thanks to the promo, Grey’s most sharp-sighted fans have figured out some of what happens. But in deference to those who haven’t, and to creator Shonda Rhimes‘ admirable attempts to keep her secrets intact, I won’t give away any plot points.

At any rate, the impact of events on Grey’s isn’t always immediately evident. So let’s just say that major secrets are revealed as some desires are fulfilled and others are frustrated. Love isn’t always smart on Grey’s and it isn’t always enough, as much as we might wish it were.

The real constant on this show is the warm embrace in which it envelops its characters: Burke (Isaiah Washington, who is pretty McDreamy himself), who is so perplexed by his love for Cristina (Sandra Oh); George (T.R. Knight), the quintessential nice guy who can’t get the nice girl to notice him; Izzie (Katherine Heigl), who is drawn to Alex (Justin Chambers); and our beloved Bailey (Chandra Wilson), whose role this week is mostly a baby-carrying cameo.

At the center is TV’s most complex and convincing romantic triangle as Derek (Patrick Dempsey) tries to find his way between his love for Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and his obligation to Addison (Kate Walsh). It’s a tribute to all three actors that each side seems equal and that each can make a valid claim on our sympathy while equally taxing our patience.

In the end, that rooting interest is what separates Grey’s from Housewives. It’s easier to believe in Grey’s characters and to care what happens to them. To its fans’ relief, Housewives has overcome an awful seasonal start and turned back into an entertaining, over-the-top camp romp. But the problem with romps is that they can become tiring.

There’s no question that Housewives lost something essential when it let go of last year’s central mystery, the suicide of a suburban mother. That plot allowed the show to tap into a zeitgeist angst that has eluded it so far this year, as it wanders between unconnected plots and unbelievable incidents.

Still, though it has faltered a bit, Housewives is still big and brassy and fun. Grey’s is a softer, smaller show with a very different feminine energy — one that is just as sexual and competitive but far more nurturing. Last week, Grey’s compared the male fantasy of a ladies-shower-a-trois with the female reality. Housewives exists in a colorful, bangle-beaded world of its own beyond fantasy and reality.

That can be a nice place to visit, but in the long run, you might rather live with Grey’s. The occasional bomb notwithstanding.