Backstreet Boy Nick Carter to Guest-star on 90210

Tony Lucca This is how confident we were that Tony Lucca would advance through this week's battle rounds on The Voice: We got a hold of him Monday morning - just as he'd completed a weekend performing on a rock cruise - to ask him if his missing facial hair would make a comeback in subsequent episodes, what really happened after Christina Aguilera failed to recognize her former fellow Mouseketeer ("Wake up," Christina!), and whether or not coach Adam Levine is actually a loveable, cocky rock star (or just a cocky rock star) when the cameras aren't rolling. The Voice recap: Let the battle rounds begin! And, of course we grilled him all about MMC (that's Mickey Mouse Club for those who didn't grow up in the 90s), from dating Keri Russell and making Britney Spears swoon, to his affection for the soap-within-the-show Emerald Cove. In our minds, there's no doubt that it was the Mouse Club faithful that helped send "Tony Lucca" trending on Twitter immediately after he appeared on The Voice's second season premiere. (And - spoiler alert - we were right. The 35-year-old Waterford, Mich. native beat out Chris Cauley in a performance of U2's "Beautiful Day." On to the live shows!) Right after your blind audition aired, "Tony Lucca" immediately blew up on Twitter. You think that's a lot of MMC die-hards reminiscing? Not that your rendition of "Trouble" wasn't damn fine... Tony Lucca: There's a ton of MMC love there. Shortly after MMC was canceled it wasn't long before I was making records and getting on the Internet to see who was out there as far as the Mouse Club fan base. I was trying to hit up message boards to find fans and have fans find fans, just really trying to connect with as many as I could. I had a nice little mailing list going. Then MySpace came along and with it this influx of Mouse Club fans who wanted to know where I'd been all these years. Then came Facebook and another flood of people, and the same with Twitter. I think just when I thought they'd all come out of the woodwork, here comes The Voice. I think we've now seen the last of them. If they missed it before, they know now that I've been making music for the last, you know, 15 years. Entertainment Weekly names you as their No. 1 pick going into the battle rounds. Lucca: I was in Mexico and a friend sent me a text with a picture of that spread in the magazine. I was like, "What?!" That's huge. Well, I mean it's everything and nothing because after the battle rounds everything's going to shift around. And I can't lie and say that I don't think some of it has to do with the runaway story, the barrage of media coverage on the whole Christina thing. I'm sure that sort of helped put me out there a little further in everyone's perception of the show. But, yeah, I was also definitely flattered and honored. The magazine also profiled your coach, Adam Levine, calling him a loveable douchebag. Now that you've worked with him, how accurate is that description? Lucca: What people dig about Adam is yeah, he's got this particular brand of mojo that can be kind of intimidating, but I think ultimately he's very direct. The dude tells it like it is. For someone like me, you're sticking your neck out there to see what happens, you want someone who's going to give it to you straight. And while he kind of throws on the salesman charm when he's trying to get people on his team, I think he comes across as the most relateable in a way. With Cee Lo it's like "Where's this guy come from? What planet does he live on?" Similar thing with Christina. Blake's a pretty normal guy but he definitely clings to the country thing that may turn some people off. Adam is the modern rock star guy. Who doesn't love a good rock hero? Check out clips from The Voice You've been at music for a while, recording and touring as an independent artist. (Lucca's song "Devil Town" was even featured on the Friday Night Lights soundtrack.) Why audition for The Voice now? What makes you feel ready to try your hand at "the big time"? Lucca: If anyone can attest to the plight of the indie artist, it's certainly me. It's a wonderful path, extremely rewarding and gratifying most every step of the way. But after a while it's easy to wear out, making the rounds coast to coast every year only to show up and see the same 75-150 come to a club each time you're there. After a while, you want something else to help catapult you. Three or five years ago, I might have felt like I still had too much to prove, or that [auditioning] was beneath me or something. Or maybe 10-15 years ago I would have thought, "No, I'm going to get it the old-fashioned way. I'm going to get a band and play shows on the Sunset Strip. I'm going to get some A&R guy to come down and discover me and pay me seven figures to be a rock star." [Laughs] Those things are gone. That paradigm is gone. I think independent artists now are constantly looking for the next avenue to break past the ceiling they find themselves hitting. I know for a lot of my friends, they put a lot of their efforts into music licensing, trying to get songs placed on Grey's Anatomy, putting thousands of dollars into campaigning for just one show because it has the power to break an artist. That sort of strategy didn't exist 10 years ago. Everyone's had to adapt. I think when The Voice came along, they showed you that not only were they not shying away from artists who had been established before, but that they were highlighting them. This was the show that was going to shed light on people who have been at this and are deserving of this kind of break. Obviously, that appealed to me greatly. So it's safe to say you never auditioned for American Idol or The X Factor before? Lucca: I never did. That approach, that kind of star-making machinery, didn't appeal to me. The Voice seemed a little more artist-friendly, a little more authentic. Obviously, you knew that there was a possibility that Christina, whom you worked with on MMC, could wind up as your coach. Would that have been too weird? Lucca: Yeah, I think if we were reunited and working together, that might make for some exciting TV, but I think as the show progressed it might be a little problematic, like a conflict of interest. But I was tickled to see that she turned around. I wasn't totally surprised that she didn't seem to recognize me there... Really? You guys used to perform very memorably together! Lucca: Well, in that environment, a zillion things running through your mind, I don't fault her. I mean, it's been almost 20 years. But to be totally honest, Adam is who I was hoping would turn around - and he turned around first. He pushed two buttons; it was a no-brainer for me. Fall 2012 TV scorecard: Which shows are returning? Which aren't? So truth - you knew Britney had a crush on you, right? Lucca: I'm not gonna say I was naïve to the idea that that might have been going on. But again, I think it was more that the younger kids on the show looking up to the older kids. Specifically, with regards to Britney, she was a big Keri Russell fan and I was dating Keri at the time. I think that her crush might have just been like, "Oh, I love Keri's hair, Keri's car... and Keri's boyfriend." Thinking back on those early days, what do you remember more fondly: Emerald Cove or Malibu Shores? Lucca: [Laughs] There was a little more innocence going into to Emerald Cove that was a really wonderful time with those friends of mine. Driving to Malibu every day to go to work on Malibu Shores didn't suck. But thank God that was short-lived, you know? It could have been detrimental had it gone on too long. I was certainly flattered and grateful for the opportunity to be on an Aaron Spelling show on NBC show, but the scripts each week seemed like they were really trying to sabotage it somehow. We had a Saturday at 8 o'clock timeslot, so it seemed doomed from the get-go and you wonder who was in on the sabotage [Laughs]. But yeah, both those shows I have a lot of fond memories of for sure. Has your son, who appeared with you before the blind audition, seen any of your work on MMC? Lucca: Yeah, there's plenty of stuff on YouTube, but I don't know that he gets it entirely. It was a really quirky, goofy show. There wasn't much on there that I think would appeal to him. He definitely gets it in terms of people asking about it all the time, and I think it really hit him when he came out to L.A. with me and realized how big a celebrity this Christina Aguilera girl is. [He's] like, "You were as famous as her once?" When he sees me doing the choreography and the dancing and singing, he gives me this funny look. Did you shave all that facial hair off just for The Voice? Lucca: I did [Laughs]. When I went in for my first audition in Chicago, I was in the middle of a tour so I had a very big beard and longer hair. Since it's all about "the voice" I wasn't really concerned about it. When I got a callback to go to Los Angeles, I'd taken the advice of friends and family who had said, "You know, you should take the beard off." I shaved and when I showed up in L.A., I walk into the production office, and they're like, "Aaaaand, who are you?... What? Why did you do that?" My indie artist spirit wants to just look rough and rugged and not really give two sh-s, but I'm not sure I'll be able to grow it back for the show. We'll see. What can you tell us about preparing for the battle rounds? How much did you actually get to work with Adam? Lucca: We worked quite a bit. It's all very surreal, because at this stage of the game they don't want to give anyone too much of an advantage on any one team. It's not like I got his phone number and said, "Hey dude, I'll meet you at the Whiskey at 8 o'clock and we can hang out and talk about this battle round." Most of the time spent with the coaches is on-camera. They want to capture that excitement and element of surprise because of the guest advisers. That being said, it's very constructive time. ... Going into each of the sessions with him was just wonderful. I just took advantage of each little moment with him. I wasn't so surprised who he paired me up with, but I was a little bummed because I really took to this person. We had a nice rapport together. Adam picked the song and it's a big one -- huge. It required getting the greenlight from the original artist themselves. You start to realize, I guess we are at that level of the game where if Adam Levine wants a song for The Voice, he can just call the artist up and get it. What do you think of Tony Lucca's chances of winning The Voice? Do you miss MMC and can you still recite the theme song?

PGA taps Sprung as associate director

SprungSusan Sprung has been appointed to the newly created post of associate national exec director for the Producers Guild of America.The appointment was announced by national exec director Vance Van Petten. The org, which recently passed 5,000 in membership, said the hire is the result of the PGA's growth in members and the breadth of their programs.Sprung previously served as special counsel at the law firm of O'Melveny and Myers in Los Angeles. Prior to that, she was an associate at Barrett Smith Shapiro Simon and Armstrong in NY and specialized in general corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, large bank financings, private placements and public offerings.She also served as corporate counsel to Trizechahn Corp. during completion of the Hollywood and Highland project. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Being a parent: Crosby's Dilemma, the following Twist in Julia's Baby Mission and Wants Season 4

16 days lower the Boiuna, and also the determined folks searching for Dr. Emmet Cole within the Amazon . com happen to be attacked by cockroach storms, the creepy dolls of the dead girl, el corpo seco, spontaneous blindness, along with a hanging guy who can't die. However the really freaky stuff is not likely to originate from outdoors from the Magus for considerably longer. Find Out More > Other Links From TVGuide.com Bruce GreenwoodLeslie HopeJoe AndersonMichael GreenThe RiverZach Estrin

FX Renews Archer for Fourth Season

Our top moments of the week: 13. Lamest Return: Chad Michael Murray makes his much-anticipated return to One Tree Hill when Lucas comes to town to pick up his niece and nephew for a vacation to distract them from their dad Nathan's abduction and... well, that's it. Not only do all of Murray's scenes take place in the airport, but would Lucas Scott really come to Tree Hill after two years away and not see his other friends? We're glad Murray came back for the show's final season, but our imagination of how Lucas, Peyton and Sawyer are was much more exciting than reality. 12. Most Outrageous Reveal: After surviving their... Read More > Other Links From TVGuide.com American IdolDesperate HousewivesOne Tree HillChad Michael MurrayJennifer BealsThe BachelorHow I Met Your MotherPhil KeoghanRyan SeacrestLamar OdomTom ColicchioTop ChefCastleParenthoodThe Walking DeadSarah GruenebergAmazing Race 20Danny HoralJoey LasallaMaiya TanakaMisa Tanaka

2 decades of Garbage That Opened up on Oscar Weekend

Since the Academy which is site visitors gather Sunday to readily slap congratulatory-calloused backs within the Oscars, a really different condition will overtake multiplexes country wide. There, audiences will probably be confronted with a 1-joke hippie comedy with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston (Wanderlust), an Amanda Seyfried thriller withheld from experts before opening day (Gone), the Navy SEAL recruitment effort (Act of Valor), and frequent Oscar week artist Tyler Perry, departing from his matriarch Madea for something different (Good Deeds). This kind of weak area is hardly an anomaly the initial several days round the calendar previously will be the wasteland in the release schedule, using sharp contrast for the Academy's annual celebration of movement picture "greatness." A curious paradox is usually in play - in those days Hollywood crows about its best, it frequently provides numerous its worst. To gauge this phenomenon - and display the film industry's staggering self-unawareness - this can be a think back at what's been foisted round the public through the final 2 decades of Academy awards weekends: 83rd Academy awards (2011): A year ago the tepid comedy Hall Pass first demonstrated at No. 1, while ex-Oscar heavyweight Nicolas Cage offered up his pulpy 3-D actioner Drive Angry, that may only achieve No. 9. 82nd Academy awards (2010): An infrequent occurrence of the standard, popular effort as Disneys Alice's adventures in wonderland opened up as much as almost $150 million in operation, because the sprawling cops-and-gangs saga Brooklyns Finest lagged well behind. 81st Academy awards (2009): Tyler Perrys lengthy lasting hits ongoing with Madea Visits Jail. Also featured was the roundly overlooked comedy Thrilled - possibly best-recognized for sporting the poster that basically mentioned F-U to audiences. 80th Academy awards (2008): Convoluted espionage thriller Perspective, with one-time Oscar king Forest Whitaker, first demonstrated at No. 1, outpacing the forgettable comedy Be Kind, Rewind inside a distant No. 8. Also languishing were Ray the Cable Males Witless Protection, and Charlie Bartlett, both showing on over 1,000 screens and landing well in the top. 79th Academy awards (2007): Tellingly, no era could be capable of unseat Ghost Driver within the top Jim Carreys not successful thriller The Total Amount 23 did best, Reno 911: Miami barely registered, and Warner Brothers and sisters put Billy Bob Thorntons The Astronaut Player by 50 %,000 theaters, where it crash-showed up at No. 10. 78th Academy awards (2006): Can remember the Bruce Willis/Mos Def pairing 16 Blocks? That was an Oscar weekend debut. Also forgotten were Ultraviolet, the mermaid tale Aquamarine, and basically to improve the execrable color theme, The Pink Panther within the fourth week. 77th Academy awards (2005): Tyler Perry had his first large-screen hit with Diary from the Mad Black Lady. Then came the not successful horror title Cursed, which sparked Wes Cravens self-enforced sabbatical from filmmaking. A whole lot worse was the dreadfully unfunny Guy of the house, featuring once-proud Oscar-champion Tommy Lee Manley. 76th Academy awards (2004): Mel Gibsons pet project The Passsion of Christ shocked the earth in order to $600 millon global, while Ashley Judd offered within the formulaic Twisted, the useless follow-up Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights did little business, as well as the coldly overlooked comedy Club Dread did little of anything. 75th Academy awards (2003): Most likely the weekend while using finest departure from Oscar greatness. How did Decreasing the home remain unseated after 72 hours? It absolutely was challenged by rectal-breaking aliens in Dreamcatcher plus an unfunny airline travel farce with Oscar-champion Gweneth Paltrow referred to as View within the Top. Most likely probably the most blatant affront to Academy excellence came with the hate crime referred to as Boat Trip, starring Oscar exile Cuba Gooding Junior. 74th Academy awards (2002): The vampire follow-up Edge 2 acquired some attention, grew to become part of with the 20th anniversary reissue of E.T, as well as the roundly side walked mix-dressing comedy Sorority Boys. 73rd Academy awards (2001): Sigourney Weaver and Jennifer Love-Hewitt sitting towards the top getting a memory-repel lark referred to as Heartbreakers, largely unchallenged having a familial outing referred to as Brothers and sisters as well as the Chris Klein implied-incest comedy referred to as Say It's not So. 72nd Academy awards (2000): Romeo Must Die wasn't sufficiently strong enough to oust Erin Brockovich from remaining on top. Another Chris Klein misfire, Here In The World, begged for attention, and therefore did the very first James Franco contemporary Cyrano update referred to as Anything. 71st Academy awards (1999): Trophy individuals who win Sandra Bullock and Film Clip tried to fake chemistry in Forces of Character, while Clint Eastwood trailed behind with True Crime. Add the animated remake in the King & I for the mix for bad measure. 70th Academy awards (1998): As Titanic steamed within the Oscars as well as the box office alike, drowning within the wake were the political misfire Primary Colors, the sexy thriller Wild Things and Jackie Chan as Mr. Nice Guy. 69th Academy awards (1997): Jim Carrey needed occur in the Oscars to supply, mugging for the crowd while he suggested how good his Liar, Liar had completed that weekend. Furthermore, it marked the transformation of Jennifer Lopez from Fly Girl into thespian along with her biopic Selena. 68th Academy awards (1996): Handful of switched up for Sharon Gems remake of Diabolique since it placed a distant third (clearly searching for a nude scene), and Spike Lees Girl 6 was roundly overlooked. 67th Academy awards (1995): Living around its title was the Damon Wayans comedy Major Payne, which nevertheless did a lot better than the Stephen King adaptation Dolores Claiborne. Alas, neither could exceed Outbreak within the third week of release. Disneys Tall Tale was an also-went. 66th Academy awards (1994): The franchise parody Naked Gun 33 1/3 will be a modest hit. A young Thora Birch wasn't as fortunate: Her animal slapstick outing Monkey Trouble (professional-produced by three-time nominee Ridley Scott) was barely seen. 65th Academy awards (1993): Melanie Griffith and Don Manley revealed their vanity project Born Yesterday, but nonetheless could not topple the next iteration in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Best Actress champion Marlee Matlin appeared to become in the forgotten thriller, Hear No Evil, that ought to have appeared better on paper. 64th Academy awards (1992): White-colored Males Cant Jump did relatively well. Still, there's plenty of dismay available inside the Rodney Dangerfield embarrassment Ladybugs. Doing worse: the curler skating romance The Key Edge. Kaira Slager has talked about movies and entertainment for Film Threat, Mediaite, which is a author at CHUD.com. His less informative impressions on entertainment can be found on Twitter. [Photo illustration: Movieline via Shutterstock/AMPAS]

Entertainment Ones Mind Of Scripted TV Noreen Halpern Exits

EXCLUSIVE: Noreen Halpern, Entertainment One Television’s mind of scripted programming, is departing the organization after three years. The move signifies a parting of the methods for Halpern and lengthy-time partner John Morayniss, who can serve as eOne’s mind of TV. In 2002, Halpern and Morayniss left Alliance-Atlantis together to produce their very own independent studio, Blueprint Entertainment. In 2008, Blueprint was acquired by eOne. Within the 3 years since, as Leader of Dramatic Programming, Halpern centered on purchase of content, including using non-traditional financing for TV drama, and proper close ties. She oversaw all eOne’s scripted series and longform projects, including drama series Hell On Wheels (AMC), Rookie Blue (ABC), Haven (Syfy), Hung (Cinemax) and also the Firm (NBC). It has been a thrilling journey, and Im really happy with the shows weve placed on the environment,” Halpern stated. “Theres an amazing development slate Im departing having a wonderful team who'll keep things continuing to move forward. But you will find other mountain tops to climb and Im searching toward that.” Based on eOne, the parting is “amicable” and Halpern will stay at the organization to assist using the transition. Noreens numerous contributions enabled eOne Television to grow and flourish every year, stated Patrice Theroux, eOnes Leader, Shot Entertainment. Noreen is really a creative leader and visionary in the market and we'll certainly miss her presence.”

Familiar women in TV pilot casts

As of this early on inside the pilot casting process, it's mainly female stars acquiring the visit competing for spots inside the 2012-13 TV season. Kirstie Alley, Roseanne Barr, Jami Gertz, Judy Greer, Marcia Gay Harden, Anne Heche, Reba McEntire, Rhea Perlman and Sarah Silverman are the significant stars with smallscreen pasts that are already installed on greenlit comedy aircraft aircraft pilots. Getting most likely probably the most nostalgia might be the pairing of Alley and Perlman, 19 years following a pair ended their run together on NBC's "Cheers," in ABC's "The Manzanis." Alley and Perlman will co-star with Robert Costanzo and Michael Rispoli inside the comedy of a boisterous Italian family, put together by Dork Flebotte and Marco Pennette. Barr, star of one other classic sitcom from individuals years, is reteaming with "Roseanne" professional producer Eric Gilliand on "Downwardly Mobile" for NBC, a multicam comedy of a surrogate mother in the rv park. Barr came out on tv in last year's Lifetime unscripted series, "Roseanne's Nuts." McEntire, whose "Reba" went for 125 episodes round the WB and CW, is starring in ABC's "Malibu Country," a multicam series from Kevin Abbott of a divorcee who moves along with her kids and mother from Nashville to Malibu. Greer, who starred in midseason comedy records "Miss/Brought" for ABC in 2008 and "Mad Love" for CBS this season, can provide another use "American Judy" for ABC. Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan written the pilot devoted to some lately-married stepmother inside the and surrounding and surrounding suburbs, a premise making the show a potential companion with ABC newcomer success "Suburgatory." Moving the choice direction is Silverman just like a lately single lady inside the NBC untitled comedy she's co-writing for NBC, which bought pilot "Isabel" with Harden (whose dabblings in TV add a 13-episode arc on "Damages" three years ago). "Weeds" veteran Kevin Nealon may have Harden's husband in the comedy, put together by Howard Busgang and Tom Nursall, about middle-class parents from the daughter with magical forces. Adding to NBC's early run inside the casting department is Heche, an ordinary on HBO's "Hung" for 3 seasons which has charge in NBC single-cam comedy "Save Me." The John Scott Shepherd-written pilot involves a housewife who involves believe she's a prophet. 2 decades after her TV breakthrough inside the cast of CBS' "Square Pegs," Gertz has already established a web-based insurance lead role inside the untitled ABC comedy from Serta Fogelman ("Crazy, Stupid, Love") of a regular family whose Nj gated community has people from another planet. Tim Jo, Toks Olagundoye and Simon Templeman are actually cast in roles intriguingly named Joe Montana, Jackie Joyner Kersee and Wilt Chamberlain. Meanwhile, Digital digital rebel Wilson ("Bridesmaids") will star and write in CBS comedy pilot "Super Fun Evening," of a trio of pals who make an effort to make every Friday evening an memorable one. In addition to cable will get to the act, with Lizzy Caplan ("Party Lower") joining Michael Sheen inside the cast for Showtime drama pilot "Masters of Sex," about sixties researchers William Masters and Virginia Manley. Paul Bettany happen to be initially cast inside the Masters role before yanking out. Casting progress is further behind on network dramas, but hardly non-existent, with Kevin Sausage developing a rare foray to the series world by having an untitled Kevin Williamson work with Fox dedicated to an steered obvious of killer. Jason Ritter fronts "County," Jason Katims' hospital-centered work with NBC, while Frances Conroy and Toyah Feldshuh have grew to become part of the ensemble cast for your Peacock's near-future fantasy drama "Beautiful People," put together by "MadTV" grad Michael McDonald. Contact Jon Weisman at jon.weisman@variety.com