If you turned on the TV late last Saturday, for a second you might have felt as if you were back on grandma's couch circa 1989 waiting for a night of 227, Amen, Golden Girls and Empty Nest to begin.
And yet Tina Fey was there, too.
The Betty White renaissance continued with her big splash on Saturday Night Live. And while some of the sketches were funny mainly because there was an 88-year-old woman saying "lesbian" over and over again, it was still way more of a treat to watch Betty than see Kristen Stewart fidget through one more "oh, isn't being famous hard" interview.
Seriously, wannabe starlets weren't being sentenced to jail on camera in Betty's day, nor were scorned alleged mistresses hiring Gloria Allred or Real Housewives prematurely tweeting the birth of their frenemies' babies.
Alas, there's no harkening back to a less bizarre time after the jump...
TWIHARD: If Kristen Stewart's biggest concern is not disappointing Twilight's diehard fans, then she should work on her delivery when telling jokes about Robert Pattinson being pregnant on The Oprah Winfrey Show…The idea of Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene not coming back for a proposed Breaking Dawn Part 2 didn't go over very well…New Moon scored five nominations for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, bested only by The Hangover, which has six. They're both up for best film.
GOLDEN OLDIE: Facebook's great effort came to fruition last weekend when Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live. Reviews were mainly positive, the show scored its biggest audience since the Sarah Palin days, and the cast reportedly had a great time working with the 88-year-old TV veteran. In related news, muffin sales are down dramatically. But if SNL wasn't the culmination of the campaign to return White to the center of the showbiz universe, where does it end? The Emmys? The Oscars? A sex-tape?
GAY RIGHTS (AND WRONGS): Kristin Chenoweth and Glee creator Ryan Murphy lashed out at Newsweek and one of its pop-culture writers over an essay entitled "Straight Jacket" that dissed Sean Hayes Tony-nominated performance in Promises, Promises (opposite Chenoweth) and Jonathan Groff's work on Glee as two instances where gay actors playing straight doesn't work. "Mind-blowingly bigoted" and "horrendously homophobic" were some of the words used. GLAAD wants an apology too, so stay tuned.
PRETTY STUPID: Pretty Wild star Alexis Neiers took her lumps like a pro (i.e. denied any culpability) after being sentenced to 180 days in jail for her role in burglarizing Orlando Bloom's house. We haven't been this proud since E! True Hollywood Story Investigates: The Murder of Lobster Boy.
PRETTY AWESOME: E! is actually proud about our (and Community's) very own Joel McHale being tapped to get up at the crack of dawn on July 8 to announce the nominees for the 62nd Annual Emmy Awards along with Modern Family's Sofia Vergara. Way to go, Joel!
CHEAT SHEET: Matt Lauer supposedly splitting up with his wife (again) because he was having an affair turned out to be the least weird thing about the random report, which he and the missus totally shot down...David Boreanaz is too busy spending time with the missus to comment on Rachel Uchitel's excited reluctantly made revelations about the lovey-dovey text messages he supposedly sent her.
FAMILY TRAGEDY: The 25-year-old son of late Diff'rent Strokes star Dana Plato, who died of a drug overdose, killed himself as the 11th anniversary of his troubled mom's death approached. There was way too many sad child-star stories (from that show alone).
TV LAND: Heroes is no more. Darn...But Chuck lives!...Lost took a turn for the huh?! and the wha'?!...American Idol down to three…Dancing With the Stars down to four…America's Next Top Model crowned a winner…Law & Order has been canceled after 10 inspired, groundbreaking seasons and another 10 formulaic, repetitive seasons…The Sarah Silverman Program was canceled after three envelope-pushing seasons…The Real Housewives of New York explain it all...Ellen DeGeneres pulled an Oprah and took herself out of the running for top talk show host for the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, so her show only got eight nominations (which was nothing compared to General Hospital's 18…Mia Michaels is switching places with Mary Murphy on So You Think You Can Dance…Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum headed up the noms for the fans' choice 2010 CMT Awards...As always, Watch With Kristin's Spoiler Chat is your one-stop shop for scoop.
AMAZING LACK OF GRACE?: Amazing Race winners Dan and Jordan Pious come off like gracious, victorious competitors, not like cheaters, no matter what the ticked-off also-rans think.
FAREWELL: Pioneering chanteuse Lena Horne died at 92.
KNOTS LANDING: Colin Hanks swapped vows with Samantha Bryant, who now counts Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson as in-laws…Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott renewed their vows, as did Heidi Klum and Seal, who technically re-re-re-re-renewed their vows…Bobby Brown's engaged, which is just great for the institution of marriage…Twilight's Jamie Campbell Bower is planning to marry Harry Potter's Ginny Weasley, er, Bonnie Wright…Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton are getting hitched.
BABE WATCHING: Bethenny Frankel had a daughter, Jill. So there!
CANNES CAN: Our coverage from the 2010 Festival de Cannes will make you feel like you're strolling hand-in-hand along the Croisette with many hot celebrities.
LEGAL EASE: British actress Charlotte Lewis says Roman Polanski sexually assaulted her when she was a mere 16...The Tito Ortiz-Jenna Jameson clash has slipped through the court's fingers like so many grains of sand…Dwayne Wade's wife, Siovaughn Wade, was arrested for skipping a court date in their divorce proceedings…Miami Beach police looking into another alleged Jersey Shore smackdown...Lil Wayne caught with contraband in jail...Anna Hathaway's boyfriend accidentally stole some art, but all is well now...Sean Penn avoids jail but not anger management for latest paparazzi clash...Nicholas Brendon back in rehab back to rehab to avoid jail...ESPN sued Erin Andrews' stalker...Kate Jackson sued her ex-business manager...Warrant frontman Jani Lane popped for DUI.
HOT TALK: Katy Perry topped Maxim's list of the 100 hottest gals alive—but Selita Ebanks got the cover, weird…Meanwhile, the Awful Truth graciously caved to its esteemed commenters and reinstated Robert Downey Jr. in the Last Real Man in Hollywood poll, replacing the lagging Clive Owens. Vote now, or forever hold your peace…And Donald Trump says there's nothing wrong with the Miss USA contenders posing for lingerie pics. Though heaven help them if he finds out they took pictures in their underwear that were not sanctioned by the Miss Universe Organization!
ONSCREEN: Check out the Inception trailer...Brett Ratner wants Robert Downey Jr. to play Hugh Hefner in his upcoming biopic...Jessica Simpson shoots her Entourage guest appearance...Jennifer Aniston in talks to play a jerk in Horrible Bosses.
IN FOR REPAIRS: Barbara Walters underwent a heart-valve replacement…Regis Philbin is going to have surgery to remove a blood clot in his leg...Bret Michaels is doubling up on post-hemorrhage treatments in order to rock both the Celebrity Apprentice finale and his comeback show.
SEEN: Celebrities with fake boobs...The amazing "Paparazzi"-singing boy!...Miranda Lambert's wedding rock…Justin Bieber shopping with mom on Mother's Day…And doing dinner with Miley Cyrus...Pictures of Sandra Bullock's New Orleans mansion...Thousands of sunflowers outside Michael Jackson's mausoleum...MJ's kids on YouTube...Christina AguileraJ helping out in Haiti...Tom Cruise on Oprah, again...Ashton Kutcher on Nightline...Kim Kardashian with no makeup...Kim wearing makeup while out with a few Dancing stars...Miley gettin' down on the set of The Last Song.
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