the linster's blog

Despite Sarah Paulson’s recent lack of success on TV, she never stays idle for long.

She’s currently starring in the off-Broadway production of Alexander Dinelaris’ Still Life with Frederick Weller (Marshall on In Plain Sight) and her performance as the unlikable Carrie Ann has garnered praise despite mixed reviews for the play.

Broadway Buzz talked to Paulson about Still Life and what’s going on in her personal life. (Yes, she talked about The Breakup.)

Michael Ausiello broke the news today that 90210 plans to give lesbian character Gia (Rumer Willis) a (gasp!) relationship.

And apparently, it doesn’t involve murder, sperm stealing or terminal illness. Executive producer Rebecca Sinclair told Ausiello, “We’re coming at this [relationship] from a genuine place and not going, ‘Let’s do a titillating story that will grab some promotion.’ This is a real aspect of teenager life that’s interesting… And there’s been a real void in the 90210 universe in terms of gay and bisexual characters.”

You’re probably thinking, “Read your own site, Linster. Karman already told us that Mandy Musgrave is coming on the show as Alex, Gia’s ex.”

Well, guess what? Gia’s relationship isn’t with Alex.

(Spoiler alert!)

I love the tagline for Hannah Free: “A film about a lifelong love affair between an independent spirit and the woman she calls home.”

How perfect is that? I don’t even have to see the movie to get teary-eyed.

In the film, Hannah (Sharon Gless) and Rachel (Maureen Gallagher) are two women who face the conflict between small-town values and their relationship.

According to the movie’s website:

Lisa Kudrow, whom I’ve crushed on since she kissed Rachel and said, “I’ve had better,” has always been a friend to the LGBT community. And her latest project is no exception.

Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky, who worked with her on The Comeback, are developing a comedy for Showtime based on the book Why the Long Face? by Craig Chester. The TV series, Rapture, is the story of Chester growing up as the gay son of born-again Christian parents.

If you don’t recognize Chester’s name, you may remember him from playing Nathan Leopold in Swoon or Adam in Adam & Steve, which he also directed.

I have to say that I didn’t think I could love Dollhouse more. But Friday’s episode left me speechless. “Belonging” was easily the most emotionally compelling episode of Dollhouse so far. And a big reason was its featured doll, Dichen Lachman’s Sierra.

Sierra’s back-story is one I’ve been anxious to learn and Joss Whedon certainly did the enigmatic character justice. He also gave Lachman a chance to show us her acting talent — which is substantial.

The LA Times talked to Lachman about her role on Dollhouse. Here are some highlights.

The Toy Story movies confirmed what many of us always suspected: Toys come to life when we aren’t watching.

But I knew more went on than Pixar let us see. And in a new graphic novel, Dolltopia, Abby Denson shows us the subversive side of Toyland.

Dolltopia focuses on Kitty, a ballerina doll who believes that she is destined for things other than dance. But her owner wants her to marry a Ken-ish dweeb, Soccer Steve, so Kitty runs away.

Soon she meets Army Jim, an AWOL soldier toy who is on his way to Dolltopia.

We’ve heard rumblings about trouble between Rosie O’Donnell and her partner Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell for months, but both have kept quiet about the rumors until Tuesday.

In an interview with USA Today, Rosie addressed the status of her relationship with Kelli, saying:

“We are a family. We will remain a family forever. And we are working on our issues.”

The two have been together for more than 12 years and were married in San Francisco in 2004. They have four children: Parker, 14, Chelsea, 12, Blake, 9 and Vivi, 6.

If AfterEllen.com knows anything, it’s actresses. So when erstwhile AfterEllen.com blogger carolinagrrrl, who now collects embarrassing stories for dude TMI! (and occasionally attends class at law school), tipped us off to EW’s latest list, “16 Wildly Underrated Actresses,” I wasn’t surprised that they’re all quite highly rated by us.

As usual, the list could use more diversity (the selections were EW readers, not the editors), but all of the choices are good ones. Here are some highlights:

Alyson Hannigan, How I Met Your Mother

Yes, she’s underrated. And yes, we know it’s ridiculous. Alyson was a revelation as Willow, but when I watch HIMYM, all I see is Lily. It’s an acting miracle.

Remember a few months ago when we told you about the new Argentine Web series, Plan V?

Of course you do. The V-for-vagina series is smart, funny and hot.

The only problem for many of us was that Plan V is in Spanish, until now. Thanks to the series’ generous fans and volunteers, the first season now has English subtitles. I’ve watched the first few episodes and forgot I was reading subtitles — the sign of good translation and an irresistible story.

Imagine Mandy Lane and Blair Waldorf as Thelma and Louise.

It’s not an easy leap, is it? But ComingSoon.net tells us that Amber Heard (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) and Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) are on board for a new movie, Cowgirl Bandits, described as “a young Thelma & Louise.”

Pshaw.

I have mixed feelings about this week’s news about Radha Mitchell’s upcoming TV show.

On the one hand, I have wanted to see Mitchell featured ever since I saw her in High Art.

Sure, the movie was depressing, but the relationship between Syd (Mitchell) and Lucy (Ally Sheedy) was, well, hot.

As happy as I am that Lauren Graham is coming back to series television, I can’t help wishing she’d waited just a bit longer to sign the Parenthood contract.

Why? Because HBO announced Tuesday that Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino will write and executive produce a new dramedy for the cable network.

The series is about three adult sisters, all writers, sharing an apartment in the upper east side of NYC. Their domineering mother is a “literary lioness” who dotes on their ne’er-do-well brother. According to Sherman-Palladino, “It’s the story of love, hate, family — and finding the perfect opening line.”

Forbes’ lists of powerful women usually are fairly predictable, topped (in every sense) by Angelina Jolie.

But last week, Forbes published its annual list that reveals another side to power: ROI. And the top 10 actresses who provide the best return on a film company’s investment may surprise you.

At No. 1 is Australian actress Naomi Watts.

Watts’ most recent movie, The International, was a suspenseful thriller, to be sure, but it was only a modest box office success. Watts, however, gets less than $5 million a film — and earned the studio about $44 for every $1 she was paid on her last three major movies.

Coming out is different for everyone, but lesbian and bi women seem to share one common experience: that funny feeling in unmentionable places when certain actresses appear on screen. So, in honor of National Coming Out Day, we decided to take a walk down mammary, er, memory lane with AfterEllen.com bloggers who revealed which actresses sent Sapphic shivers down their spines.

Editor in Chief Sarah Warn confesses that seeing Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson in Fried Green Tomatoes when she was 18 (and on a date with her boyfriend) “stunned” her.

She went home immediately and told her supportive mom she was gay. “Of course, then I took it back after convincing myself I was wrong and just hadn't met the right guy yet, because who realizes they're gay from watching a movie? :) A year later, I came out for real.”

If you are a Potter Head, you doubtless raised a butterbeer in celebration of Professor Minerva McGonagall’s 84th birthday last Sunday.

You may not know, however, that the actress who plays the Headmistress of Hogwarts, Dame Maggie Smith, has been involved in a personal battle that makes her performance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince more remarkable than McGonagall’s wizardry.

Right before filming of Half-Blood Prince, Smith found a lump in her breast. In an interview with The Times, she talked about how she dealt with her diagnosis and its aftermath.

“I didn’t think it was anything serious because years ago I felt one before and had been hurled into hospital. It was benign and assumed this one would be too. It was a bit unnerving when it wasn’t.”

I admit it — Grey’s Anatomy has drawn me back in.

I do feel a little like I’m betraying Brooke Smith, but Callie and Arizona are too adorable to resist.

However, one thing about the show really, really bugs me: the relationship between Cristina (Sandra Oh) and Owen (Kevin McKidd).

In Texas, feeling proud of politicians is a rarity. I mean, just as Dubya slinks out of office (to a neighborhood far too close to me), our seemingly eternal governor starts talking secession. At such times, I only know to do one thing, put on an Ann Richards T-shirt and try to remember that once upon a time, Texas got it right.

Ann’s influence reached far beyond Texas, however, and I know many of us harbored the dream that she would be the one to break through the glass ceiling with that immovable hair of hers to become the nation’s first female president.

When Richards died in 2006, friends and admirers needed three funerals to say goodbye. But one of her friends, Holland Taylor is doing her best to make sure we remember what Ann was all about.

Melissa Etheridge and her family have a lot to celebrate this year. Etheridge, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, has just past the critical five-year mark with no recurrence.

Of course, with cancer, nothing is absolutely certain. That’s why Breast Cancer Awareness month is so important — and why Etheridge is taking an active part. This year, she’s once again raising her voice — and raising money for research — as part of Hard Rock’s Pinktober initiative.

The campaign features parties and live music in Hard Rock hotels and cafés worldwide. A host of famous musicians are participating, from Joss Stone to Bonnie Tyler to The Bangles.

With so many shows that revolve around nurses — Nurse Jackie, HawthoRNe and Mercy, to name a few — a list of the 10 Sexiest Nurses was inevitable.

But the recent list created by Nerve apparently used much different criteria for sexiness than I had in mind. I mean, the first nurse on the site’s list is Florence Nightingale.

Seriously? True, Flo did attract admirers, if not suitors, of both genders. But she certainly did not encourage romance; in fact, her biographers generally agree that the pioneer nurse remained celibate all her life. (Despite Nerve’s implication that she might have been a lesbian, her writings indicate that she wasn’t too fond of women in general.) Nightingale’s accomplishments are worthy of admiration, to be sure, but I’m not sure I’d call her “sexy.”

While Nerve does include one of the best TV nurses ever, “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit), the list is more noteworthy for who it doesn’t include. We can do much better. I’ll get things going with a few of the sexiest nurses on television, starting with the first one I remember.

One of the more intriguing premiers last week was new show FlashForward, which features lovely British actress Sonya Walger, whom you might have seen in Lost, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles or Sleeper Cell.

Walger plays Dr. Olivia Benford, who is in the middle of surgery when the pivotal series event, the “flash forward” occurs. Everyone in the world blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds and sees the future as it will happen on April 29, 2010 at 10 p.m. Chaos ensues.

FlashForward raises interesting questions about how we would live if we knew the future and whether that future can be changed. I agree with scribegrrrl’s assessment that the key to the show’s success will be more emphasis on the apocalyptic and less on the sentimental.

If you’re searching for a sign of intelligent life in television, look no further than this latest big of casting news. Next season’s nemesis for Damages’ Cruella-like attorney Patty Hewes will be played by our favorite multiple-personality lesbian, Lily Tomlin.

FX announced this week that Tomlin will guest star on Damages’ third season as the head of a powerful family. Campbell Scott will play her son and Martin Short will be the family’s “high-powered attorney.”

Yes, that Martin Short.

One of the many conflicts about Thursday night TV is this:

I don’t watch CSI regularly (weak stomach), but the thought of Jorja Fox and Marg Helgenberger together forever with no Grissom in sight certainly earns the show a place on the DVR, even if I have to FF through the icky parts.

But a spoiler dropped this week turns out to be ickier than all of the carved corpses in creation. (Spoiler, I say! Stop now if you don’t want to know!)

Love it or hate it, Rolling Stone does one thing very, very well: covers.

The magazine’s Oct. 1 cover inspired its editors to publish a collection of 25 leading ladies that have appeared on its cover.

Here are some highlights.

Remember how He’s Just Not That Into You kept packing in great stars but turned out to be a not-so-great movie?

The production company, New Live Cinema/Warner Brothers apparently does not remember — or, more likely, doesn’t care since the movie made $94 million. So we’re getting the same movie for next Valentine’s Day called, with classic Hollywood originality, Valentine’s Day.

OK, it’s not exactly the same movie. But the formula is very familiar.

Start with a big-name cast.

AfterEllen.com is one of the few places that I can admit this: I was a Dawson’s Creek fan. It was appointment TV for me. I marked it up to a crush on Joey Potter but, to be honest, I was just plain into the show.

We were so young and gay. Well, one of us was.

One character I couldn’t quite figure out, though, was Jen Lindley. She moved to Capeside to live with Grams after some kind of scandal and slowly-but-surely shed her bad-girl persona to become a beloved member of Dawson’s tribe.