Los Angeles City Council President (and possible Mayor hopeful) Eric Garcetti will take a second spin in primetime tonight as fictional L.A. Mayor Ramon Quintero on TNT's drama "The Closer." Garcetti last trod the TV boards in the fall in the same role. more ›

The last time we saw L.A. City Council President Eric Garcetti acting on TV, it was a bit... awkward turtle. Last night, however, casting directors for "The Closer" did perfectly, having him play Los Angeles Mayor Ramon Quintero (he is part Mexican and speaks Spanish fluently) at a news conference, where on-the-job experience made the scene go smoothly. Next to him stood his dad and former L.A. County District Attorney, Gil, who played the retiring LAPD Chief of Police. more ›

It's been teased for years. Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti will run for Mayor of Los Angeles. That's yet to be seen, but Hollywood seems to like him and his father Gil, a former Los Angeles County District Attorney. For example, a fictional character running for D.A. of Gotham in the viral campaign for The Dark Knight was named Roger Garcetti, and in HBO's "The Wire," Baltimore City Councilmember Tommy Carcetti became mayor. more ›

CBS is counter-attacking NBC with "Project L.E.N.O.", an acronym that stands for Late Prime Enhanced News Opportunity, an aggressive multi-tiered local campaign to pump up their 10pm programming. more ›

Shows get their renewals due to their populaity right? Now there's a new tool for measuring the "online engagement" of TV viewers called the TV Fandex. The first week of Fandex measurement has shown that HBO's "True Blood" has the highest level of online engagement of any TV program, go figure. If the series stays as good as last night's episode, "True Blood" will rank very high for the rest of its season. more ›

We love Amy Sedaris and we love the fact that we can see her on something other than just a few minutes with David Letterman - this time as a somewhat wacky psychic on "The Closer" tonight @ 9:00pm on TNT. more ›

NBC made sold $260 million worth of ads for yesterday's Super Bowl - forgetting the movie trailers (GI Joe?), what was your favorite ad? more ›

Last night had some great TV. What'd you watch: "True Blood", "Mad Men", "Entourage", the VMAs? Any comments? more ›

So there's this thing called the Olympics on TV and it's as if TCM, HBO, and Showtime aren't even attempting to compete by showing some decent movies. If you're not into sports it seems as if no other network is stepping in to make an offer for your time, it's kind of pathetic. more ›

Season four of "the #1 ad-supported cable series of all time", aka TNT's "The Closer" returns to TV tonight. I've always had a problem with this series, whether it was the annoying music, Kyra Sedgwick's overpainted lips and weird accent, or the fact that her character, LAPD Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, has somehow attained the status of Deputy Police Chief despite being "hopeless at LAPD politics". Still, the series is well-funded, looks decent and the supporting cast is capable. The series is interesting on a basic level by having Sedgwick's Johnson in the very human, read "quirky", female lead in a cast that is almost 100% men - she does seem very isolated and you do pull for her. Unfortunately the season premiere has two laughable caricatures: a super-hipster "Times" reporter and a "crazy" psychopath arsonist who has jokes worthy of the original "Batman" TV series; hopefully the tone of the season won't be established by this first episode. more ›

A fairly mundane week of new releases. is coming this Christmas. Kevin Dillon's career shows eerie parallel to Johnny Chase's. Psycho religious freaks raise normal son. The HD/Blu-Ray assault continues... more ›

Lakers 132, Jazz 102 - A few years ago, it wouldn't be a big surprise to see the Lakers dump the Jazz and Kobe score more than 50 points. Back then, Kyra Sedgwick was Behind The Red Door. But this is 2006; Utah is in first place and Kobe has knee problems. None of that mattered tonight, as Kobe slammed the door on the Jazz by going 9-for-9 from the floor and 10-for-10 from... more ›

The Conan Countdown goes on and the world's longest lame duck continues to be lame. more ›

The Prime Time Emmy Award nominations were announced today and yes, LAist was left out again this year. We keep waiting for the opportunity to use that old yet tried and true saying "its just a pleasure to be nominated" but we never seem to get the chance. more ›

The SAG awards start with a bunch of actors telling their stories to the camera. more ›

Speaking of driving, last night's episode of The Closer -- TNT's new police drama starring Kyra Sedgwick and based in LA and the LAPD -- opens with Sedgwick's Captain Brenda Johnson on a sunny hillside street, Thomas Guide in hand, trying to figure out the difference between Mulholland Drive and Mulholland Circle and how one street can have two different names depending on how far in a given direction you take it. more ›