NBC’s Friday night series “Grimm” is a fantasy show, but for reasons I cannot fathom the program’s writers chose to mine that most heinous relic of Mittel-Europa: the story of the seemingly good and kind Jew who is really a demonic creature underneath for last week’s episode “Organ Grinders.”

A brief history of blood libels, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• In England in 1144, the Jews of Norwich were accused of ritual murder after a boy was found dead with stab wounds in the woods. This was followed by similar accusations elsewhere, leading to massacres in London and York. In 1190, “the Norwich Jews were butchered in their homes.”

• In France in 1171, a similar accusation against the Jewish community of Bloise led to the massacre by fire of some 40 Jews.

• In Germany, a boy’s body was found in the Lauter river. Based on “miraculous” evidence that “proved” the Jews had hung the boy by the feet and had opened every artery in his body to obtain the blood, the Jews were executed.

• In Russia in 1820, a Jew in Zverki is accused of kidnapping a six year old boy, draining his blood for nine days and dumping his body. In 1997, “Belorussian state TV showed a film alleging the story is true.”

This is the gist of the blood libel: the belief that Jews kidnap children to drain them of their blood. It didn’t die with the Nazis. It is still in currency today. You have only to turn on Syrian or Egyptian television to see. But American TV? (Spoilers Ahead)

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Yesterday, the creators of the hit show “House” announced that at the end of this, its eighth season, Dr. House and his cast of characters would fade into the distance.

“The decision to end the show now, or ever, is a painful one, as it risks putting asunder hundreds of close friendships that have developed over the last eight years,” said executive producers David Shore, Katie Jacobs and Hugh Laurie, “but also because the show itself has been a source of great pride to everyone involved.

The producers have always imagined House as an enigmatic creature;  he should never be the last one to leave the party.  How much better to disappear before the music stops, while there is still some promise and mystique in the air.”

Now’s as good a time as any for a post-mortem on one of the quirkiest, most interesting character shows of the last decade. “House’s” focus on a thoroughly unlikeable character was risky, and it paid off; the creators’ decision to make him a thoroughgoing atheist constantly at conflict with others subtly made the case for the bankruptcy of his ideology.  Or, at the very least, it offered philosophical contrast.

Most famously, “House” featured a very pro-life episode in 2007, “Fetal Position,” in which an unborn child reached out of the womb and touched House’s hand, mirroring the famous photograph. That was mirrored by a pro-choice episode that same season that made the case for abortion for a religious rape victim. That was House’s style.

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There’s nothing better than being able to do the right thing and the politically savvy thing while simultaneously paying back a long-time abuser in spades.

And that’s just what the Republicans in Congress did to Hollywood when it abandoned the rush to pass SOPA and regulate the Internet for the benefit of Tinseltown. Astonishingly, considering its usual inability to perform competently at even the most basic level, the GOP not only managed to embrace good policy but drove a wedge into the Democratic coalition that may well have dramatic consequences down the road. And, best of all, it provided a bit of long overdue payback to the smug oligarchs of LA’s West Side who have spent the last couple decades treating Republicans like something you’d hasten to flush.

Hey, suckers, how do ya like us now?

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is only the latest attempt by Hollywood to breathe some life back into its dying business model. Enraged that online “pirates” are passing around bootleg copies of movies, shows, books, music, and all other manner of intellectual property, the industry did what it has done for years: ran to Congress for ever more burdensome and onerous laws designed to hold back the inevitable consequences of progress. 

But this time, it went too far. Perhaps it was Hollywood’s arrogance. Perhaps it was the provisions allowing Hollywood to use the United States government to shut down any website it pleased on the mere accusation of “piracy” without any due process, a power lefty–fascist bureaucrats would be only too eager to accept.

Not surprisingly, the people who make their living on the web were less than thrilled about giving Uncle Sam and the media conglomerates an off-switch.

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“Saturday Night Live” was at it again last night, turning its satirical sites on the GOP rather than the fellow currently abiding in the Oval Office.

Here, the NBC sketch show mocks former House Speaker and current presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for his lofty plans to colonize the moon.

Last week’s “Spartacus: Vengeance” season opener began with exactly what we want: some good old-fashioned bloodshed.

Spartacus and his small band of runaway slaves defeat of group of Roman soldiers. The show still looks like it should. It’s got the “300″-style CGI blood flying everywhere and plenty of slow motion. It also has a new Spartacus, and his name is Liam McIntyre. And no offense to the man, who seems like a nice enough bloke, but he ain’t no Andy Whitfield.

The first season of “Spartacus,” dubbed “Blood and Sand,” began a bit slow, but once the show found its footing by the third or fourth episode, it became almost too good television. It openly exploited violence and sex to push forward its story of the slave who fights for freedom and for his wife who has been taken from him after he and a group of his villagers decide enough is enough and refuse to continue helping fight the Romans’ war (how Libertarian of them).

The show featured great performances from all, including John Hannah (who is sorely missed here). But Whitfield was the solid rock of the show. He was a young Clint Eastwood: charismatic, stoic, a great actor. He told the story through his eyes and face, which was quite an accomplishment considering he was either naked or half naked the entire season.

Then tragedy struck, and unfortunately, the great actor is no longer with us. The show continued with a six episode prequel with a brand new lead. It was different but still good, and it continued the “Spartacus” tradition of delving into the darker and more animal-like sides of human nature through its depictions of sex, seduction, bribery, violence, etc. Now the show is put to the real test. Now we have a new Spartacus. (more…)

Adam Carolla didn’t exactly endorse Donald Trump for president today. But the podcast king did toast The Donald’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Carolla, talking alongside fellow “Apprentice” contestant Penn Jillette, says he and Trump may not see eye to eye on every issue. But the country would be in far better shape if everyone approached work with the intensity Trump brings to every project he starts.

When it comes to roll your sleees up, get to work, stop complaining, get our nose to the grindstone, I like that part of Trump … you can start talking about Medicare and Medicaid and social programs, but to me if everyone had Trump’s attitude of, ‘I’m not gonna feel sorry for myself. I’m gonna roll my sleeves up, and I’m gonna bust my ass and get to work,’ we’d be living in a pretty decent country.”

“That part of  Trump, that part of Trump as a president, I would endorse.

Carolla is one of several contestants on the latest season of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice,” set to bow Feb. 19

The following contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.

Michael Jackson!

OK, no matter how you feel about Jackson personally, the man made some awesome music in his lifetime, which is why I was uber excited for this week’s episode of “Glee”… the Michael Jackson episode!

Yup, lots of cool cover songs were there, accompanied by fantastic dance numbers, but this episode bit at me on a personal level. Do you remember the last time we watched “Glee” together (and by that I mean I watched it, and you read about it here), when Finn proposed to Rachel? Well, this week we saw her answer.

Throughout the episode, we saw Rachel hemming and hawing as she tried to make a decision as to whether or not to tie her life to one man for the remainder of her time on earth. For some reason, she decided to go to her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend Quinn for advice. Because, of course, the best place to go for relationship advice is your current boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend (insert eye roll here).

This is where my issue with tonight’s show began and ended. Quinn told Rachel that she shouldn’t marry Finn. Rachel interjected with, “I know he and I haven’t lived together or anything, but, you know, I love him, and he’s the one, I know it.” (more…)

American culture allows comedians of color to say things white comedians can’t.

That helped propel Richard Pryor into the comedy stratosphere and made Chris Rock one of the most incisive commentators on modern living during the early 2000s.

Enter “Key & Peele,” the new Comedy Central series debuting at 10:30 p.m. EST tonight. Biracial comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele share their mixed race ancestry in the show’s opening monologue, the kind of refreshing banter that’s immediately open and funny. The exchange doesn’t feel cobbled together by a team of writers trying way too hard to be casual.

It’s one of the best features of the new show, a program which proves both Key and Peele belong in the sketch comedy trenches – each already paid their dues on both “MADtv” and the short-lived “Chocolate News.” They’re naturals on screen, relaxed and compelling even when they’re just swapping stories.

“On a daily basis we have to adjust our blackness,”  Key says before Peele finishes, “to terrify white people.”

Normally, the pair “sound whiter than Mitt Romney in a snow storm,” Peele adds.

The premiere episode mixes the kind of material you might find on any other sketch show with bits given an edge by their heritage. That edge vanishes when the duo take on the first black president.

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Acclaimed television creator/writer David Milch’s latest HBO offering, “Luck” should be an easy favorite.

It’s about horse racing and the characters the sport attracts. It’s filmed largely at California’s Santa Anita race track and tells the story of racing from so many potentially fascinating points of view: gamblers, owners, jockeys and trainers. It stars a cast that on paper can’t lose, including Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina and real-life Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Gary Stevens. The co-executive producer is Michael Mann, who understands light and sound and color as well as anyone in Hollywood.

But that’s on paper. As bettors know, the horse with the winningest record, the best times, the richest purses and the bloodline for the distance doesn’t always win. There’s no such thing as a sure thing.

Stumbling out of the gate, “Luck” turns out to be a one-trick pony. It hurts to write that, because this show has the pedigree of a champion.

“Luck” begins with a peek behind the daily workings at a busy track. There’s the Peruvian trainer Turo Escalante (John Ortiz) described in press materials as “brilliant but disreputable.” And there’s the hard-luck grinder Walter Smith (Nolte), a good horseman and a good man who deserves the big win.

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Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of NBC’s “Fear Factor” knows the show isn’t for the faint of heart. Or, for that matter, anyone with a semblance of pity for their fellow man.

“Fear Factor” combines outrageous physical stunts – don’t try this at home, or this … or this – with dares you wouldn’t pin on your enemy. Yes, eating some bugs can be nutritious, but there’s a good reason 99.9 percent of us choose Big Macs over Cockroach cupcakes.

The show’s latest gross-out stunt nearly got spiked by NBC suits. Even network executives had to think twice about approving an episode where contestants gulp down donkey semen. But the show will go on as scheduled.

Sources involved in the production tell us the stomach-churning stunt was shot last summer — but NBC honchos were having a tough time swallowing this one as the air date approached.

We’re told the challenge involved teams of twins drinking the full glass of donkey semen — with a glass of urine thrown in for good measure. Contestants had to drain both glasses in order to move on to the next round.

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Tonight marks the end of a tumultuous five-season run for the NBC action-comedy/spy-drama series Chuck, from creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.

The story of “Chuck” revolves around computer service technician Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who inadvertently becomes a CIA/NSA asset when his former Stanford roommate turned CIA operative downloads the only copy of a secret government database, the Intersect, directly into Chuck’s brain. The government assigns two agents to protect and work with Chuck, CIA Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and NSA Major John Casey (Big Hollywood’s own Adam Baldwin).

The supporting cast includes Chuck’s best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez), sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), brother-in-law Devon (Ryan McPartlin) and fellow computer technicians and lackeys Jeff and Lester (played to comedic brilliance by Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahay). Guest stars over the years have included Chevy Chase, Scott Bakula, Linda Hamilton, Timothy Dalton and Carrie-Anne Moss.

The cast worked incredibly well together which, when combined with good writing and interesting storylines, produced a series that was extremely entertaining and kept me watching from the first episode. For whatever reason, the show was never able to draw in a large audience and slipped in the ratings in each subsequent season.

Chuck was able to stave off cancellation numerous times thanks to a very vocal and loyal, but unfortunately small, fan base who mounted multiple “Save Chuck” campaigns. If not for a unique sponsorship deal with the Subway restaurant chain, the series would have never even seen a third season. A deal between production company Warner Brothers and NBC for a 13-episode fifth season was only struck to get to the minimum syndication threshold of 88 episodes, which brought the series to a total of 91 episodes.

I recently spoke with Big Hollywood contributor Adam Baldwin about the series, its finale airing at 8 p.m. EST tonight and being a conservative in Hollywood.

How did you get involved with “Chuck?”

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Will Ferrell should still be apologizing for “Land of the Lost.”

Instead, he’s making excuses for President Barack Obama’s first term.

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The increasingly political “Saturday Night Live” alum is co-chairing a Feb. 15 fundraiser for the president’s re-election campaign. But you have to be a one percenter to afford the entrance fee – $35,800 each. Let’s hope that includes Ferrell wearing his cheerleader outfit for some high-energy kicks and jumps.

The bigger issue is getting Obama re-elected, and Ferrell argues the president’s case with a little fuzzy math.

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Everything’s not coming up Rosie for the former Queen of Nice.

Rosie O’Donnell’s new OWN talk show is still struggling to find its audience. So the minds at Oprah Winfrey’s nascent network decided to start the new year with a fresh executive producer and set.

Shane Farley, who worked with O’Donnell on her previous Emmy-winning syndicated talker, The Rosie O’Donnell Show, has come on as executive producer … Farley has more than 15 years of experience producing talk shows, most recently Rachael Ray. The Rosie Show kicked off 2012 with a new smaller and brightly-colored set. It fits about 70 audience members, about a fifth of the original set, and is inspired by Rosie’s art studio at her home in New York….

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Christians recoiled at the notion of a new ABC drama dubbed “Good Christian Bitches.”

More of the same Christian bashing content from Hollywood, people of faith feared after hearing the proposed show. The offensive show title was merely the icing on the devil’s food cake.

ABC blinked on the name controversy, switching it to “Good Christian Belles” before simplifying matters with “GCB.” But our first peek at the new series, which doesn’t debut until March, shows that the content will still rile Christians.

The initial “GCB” teaser above appears rather harmless, as a gaggle of Christian ladies stir up old hostilities toward a woman who once gave them fits in high school.

The new show peek, exclusive to The Huffington Post, paints a far less flattering portrait of the aforementioned “Belles.”

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Ben Stiller doesn’t have to work the boob tube circuit.

The star of those “Focker” films as well as the “Night at the Museum” franchise is a pretty safe bet in box office circles. So why did he just sign a deal with HBO to direct, produce and star in a new Jewish family comedy alongside Alan Alda?

A cynic might say it’s a sign Stiller feels insecure over the weak box office receipts for his last film, “Tower Heist.” Even mega-stars can be as paranoid as screen newbies. Why else would Will Smith sign up for “Men in Black III” after his drama “Seven Pounds” gave him a rare flop?

For Stiller, the chance to oversee his own HBO comedy offers the kind of creative outlet he can’t get with movies. And that’s a sad thing to say about an industry obsessed with remakes, sequels and other too safe bets.

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FOX’s newest hit show gives viewers an unusual look at a familiar subject.

In the show’s version of history, when Alcatraz Prison was shut down in 1963, its prisoner population disappeared into thin air before they could be transferred to other jails around the country. Fifty years later, they begin reappearing one at a time, killing new victims.

San Francisco homicide detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) shows up to the scene of the first crime, the murder of the former deputy warden of Alcatraz, only to be unceremoniously dismissed by federal agent Emerson Hauser (Sam Neill). Rather than moving on, she begins her own investigation, leading her to author and Alcatraz historian Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia). Hauser is more than he appears, having been expecting the return of “The 63s” – the missing Alcatraz inmates – for a long time. Eventually he recruits Madsen and Soto to join his team and help him capture The 63s as they return. Joined by Hauser’s assistant Lucy Singleton (Parminder Nagra), they work together to investigate how The 63s disappeared and whose orders they are following now that they are coming back.

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When HBO announced it was making a film based on the 2008 election chronicle “Game Change” conservatives imagined yet another GOP hit job from a network known for its liberal bias.

The book painted a glowing portrait of Obama while McCain’s campaign was cast as chaotic at best. Turns out the film is worse – much worse – than any Red State denizen could imagine, according to a review based on an early screening of the film.

While the book covered both the Obama and McCain campaigns, the movie focuses like a laser on Palin. And none of it is pretty:

It is made crystal clear that Palin didn’t really understand why there was a North Korea and a South Korea. She clearly thought that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks. She needed to have Germany’s role in the Second World War explained to her. She thought “the Fed” referred to the federal government, not the Federal Reserve. The Governor of Alaska was as ignorant of the world as a four-year-old….

In one scene, she is catatonic, curled up, immobile in a fetal position because she’s been dieting. In another she screams at a McCain staffer on her cellphone and then smashes the phone against a wall. She is depicted as someone who could be taught to memorize generic replies to questions from journalists, but could not recognize her own ignorance. As the movie shows it, after every appearance before cheering crowds her ego swelled and she simply declined to listen to any advice about anything.

An interesting side note is how the assembled scribes reacted to the screening:

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ABC’s “Modern Family” represents the very best of the current broadcast television lineup.

Smart scripts. Singularly great characters. Big laughs buffeted by an array of smaller ones.

So why are two of the show’s cast members trying to milk a controversy that doesn’t exist in the first place? Tonight’s new “Family” episode features gay parents Cam and Mitchell (Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) freaking out when their adopted daughter says the F-word.

It’s a scenario many parents have faced, especially those who accidentally swear in front of their wee ones. How do you respond when your young child says a naughty word? Ignore it? Scold the child?

News outlets picked up the episode’s theme as if it were something truly revolutionary. Had the child actually uttered the word on-air, that would be a step in a more libertine direction.

That isn’t the case.The offending word will be bleeped during the broadcast. But both Stonestreet and Ferguson have been using their Twitter accounts to blast anyone offended by the storyline.

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The following contains spoilers. You’ve been warned.

“Glee” was back last night after a month-long hiatus, which means that I’m back now – the morning after. Didja miss me? I missed you. And I missed “Glee” too. On what other show can I get my musical numbers and teenaged drama all wrapped in a giant bow of glorious propaganda?

There is no other.

This week, “Glee” was high on love, down on the military, and big on acceptance. Unless, of course, you actually want to join the military, in which case it’s all doom on you, and the military turns you into a drug addict and therefore your widowed mother into a liar.

Hmm… let me back up a moment.

Toward the beginning of the episode, Finn confesses to Mr. Schuester that he met with a recruiter… an army recruiter. The Glee Club coach appears troubled by the news, because you know, who joins the military unless they have to? (more…)

Kregg Janke makes a very compelling case that the Showtime series “Homeland” is anti-American propaganda. After thoughtful consideration, I disagree. Not vehemently. But I disagree.

Janke could turn out to be right, and I will look like a sucker. Which is fine. Maybe I am a sucker, but there are worst things that being a plain old sucker…or are there? My overall point is that we’re one season in on a series that is an unfolding drama. Things that seem anti-American now might not be in the grand scheme of things.

Even with that qualifier, I don’t think Season One of the show is anti-American.

Spoilers Aplenty Ahead

As the series opens, CIA field agent Carrie Mathison (a seriously, ridiculously superb Claire Danes), learns from an imprisoned CIA asset in Iraq that an American P.O.W. has been turned by Al-Qaeda. She thinks nothing of it because there was no reason at the time to believe that Al-Qaeda had American POWs, much less that one had been brainwashed.

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