Bird-Flipping Globes Could Cost NBC With Feds

NBC musical dazzles critics... mostly

(NEWSER) - If you watched the Super Bowl, you just might have heard of Smash, NBC's new drama about the making of a Broadway musical. It premiered last night, and critics are (mostly) giving it a standing ovation:

• The buzz has gotten so intense that the conversation isn't even about whether it'll be good. "Good? Darling, it's great!" gushes Mary McNamara of the LA Times . The creators have "managed to capture the grand and sweeping gesture that is musical theater and inject it with the immediate intimacy of television," an impressive, unprecedented feat.

Octogenarian's hosting stint tops Ben Affleck's November 2008 effort

(NEWSER) - With Betty White hosting , Saturday Night Live drew its best ratings of the season and the largest audience since Nov. 1, 2008, when John McCain appeared with the Tina Fey version of then-running mate Sarah Palin. The broadcast thrashed not just its time-slot competitors but also every primetime show, reports Entertainment Weekly . Your move, Alec Baldwin . More»

'Late Night' host beats out team of Justin Timberlake and Amdy Samberg

(NEWSER) - Jimmy Fallon will host the Aug. 29 Emmy Awards telecast, which not coincidentally will air on NBC. The announcement is no surprise—predecessor Conan O'Brien did the honors in 2002 and 2006—but the identity of the runners-up for the gig may be, the Los Angeles Times reports. Justin Timberlake and Saturday Night Live star Andy Samberg, who shared an Emmy for "Dick in a Box" in 2008, got a serious look. More»

This year's network pilots include four with non-white stars

(NEWSER) - The upcoming crop of pilots for network TV offers hope that the industry taboo against minority leads in dramas can finally be put to rest. Four of the most high-profile projects in the works feature non-white actors, notes the Hollywood Reporter , including Forest Whitaker in a spinoff of Criminal Minds for CBS. More»

Check out the Golden Globes' best speeches, red carpet moments

(NEWSER) - What did you miss if you skipped last night’s Golden Globes? Well, Ricky Gervais was funny, Mo’Nique was emotional, and Meryl Streep was long-winded. New York , Gawker , and the Daily Beast chose some of their favorite (and least favorite) moments from the evening, and we’ve selected a few more (after all, who doesn’t want to watch Tina Fey mock herself and NBC?); watch them in the gallery. More»