Uh oh - there's definitely a little drama for five well-known performers as the Albany DA's office continues its probe into steroid trafficking. The Times Union reported yesterday that Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Timbaland, Wyclef Jean and Tyler Perry were "among the thousands of customers of the pharmacies" DA David Soares' office has investigated. more ›

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. more ›

Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! more ›

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and several smiles as well as lots of cash were raised by some plucky urban ironing. London is apparently full of lies and whales: one of these things is true. We leave that up to you to figure out. more ›

Yesterday Merv Griffin lost his battle to prostate cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He received his first treatment for this in 1996 and in late July of this year it was publicized that the cancer had come back. In a statement on Merv.com his son Tony said: "My father was a visionary. He loved business and continued his many projects and holdings even while hospitalized. We take solace in knowing that until the end he had his two favorites by his side--his family and his work. His legacy will be honored through the continuing operations of The Griffin Group under its current leadership and by the millions of lives he continues to affect through entertainment." more ›

(directed by John Landis) more ›

Join Denise Landis, recipe tester for The New York Times, as she shares recipes and expertise from her newest cookbook, Dinner for Eight. Free tasting and book signing to follow the demonstration. Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street (between Broadway and University), 3 PM, free. more ›

Charting the New York Times bestseller list for the third consecutive week is a memoir by the 42 year-old Las Vegas chef Jeffrey Henderson. Cooked: From the Streets to the Stove, from Cocaine to Foie Gras, is Henderson’s tale of becoming a teenage drug dealer in South Central Los Angeles, getting caught and going to federal prison, and of how Henderson ultimately flourished in restaurant kitchens as a chef, something that changed his life. When he sold cocaine, the 19 year-old Henderson was making up to $35,000 a week; now he’s the executive chef of the Bellagio Café, which grosses 25 million dollars a year. Two weeks ago, it was announced that Will Smith’s production company will make the movie version of Cooked, with Smith possibly starring as Henderson. more ›

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... more ›

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association voting pool for the Golden Globes only consists of 83 members, but every year their mainstream tastes become one of the potential early prognosticators for the Emmys and the Oscars. Over in Beverly Hills today, the stylists are putting the finishing touches on the stars' couture, that long red carpet is being laid and some assistant is double checking the seals on the envelopes. Here in New York of course, we get to play the more enviable armchair critic job hashing out who might be taking home this year's statues after tonight's telecast [8 - 11 pm on NBC]. more ›

Best quote from Grenier on how Williamsburg differs from Hollywood, "...no manicured lawns, things are a bit more grimey, a little more real. I was in Williamsburg before Williamsburg was Williamsburg. Yes, I was an innovator." more ›

Aaron Spelling, one of TV's most influential producers, passed on yesterday. Holding the world record for most prolific television producer, he was 83. more ›

more ›

Jason Schwartzman, Actor, Shopgirl more ›

Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett, Writer/Director, Little Manhattan more ›

Hey all you would-be Broadway composer types: Gothamist has just heard that the New York Musical Theater Festival has just started accepting submissions for this year's festival, with a submission period going from Jan. 10 until March 11. The festival itself will run Sept. 12-Oct. 2 at various venues here in lovely NYC. more ›

Gothamist wonders what would be left to put in that shopping complex. A Lowe's? While we would love a Costco (the idea of five gallon containers of olive oil is pretty tantalizing - we would redistribute it to our friends), Gothamist doesn't really want a Sam's Club. more ›

Huh? Really? The most talked about school? Actually, Gothamist would have expected Columbine High School to rise to the top. Or even Stuyvesant. But West Beverly High from the good old Bev-Niner? If you're going to reference a fictional high school, at least make sure it's at least Ridgemont. Degrassi High would have been better (though maybe it's best known as Degrassi Junior High, which has one of the best TV theme songs ever). We suppose writer Ashlee Cross also has the catchphrase, "Donna Martin graduates!" tattooed in her memory as we do, but come on.
more ›

The new Coen Brothers movie, Intolerable Cruelty, stars George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Intolerable Cruelty is supposed to be a throwback to screwball comedies of the 30s: more ›

Jason Lewis will be playing Kim Cattrall's boyfriend in the upcoming season of Sex and the City. Jason Lewis is a model and sometime actor (Beverly Hills 90210), but his biggest role recently has been as fiance (now ex-fiance) of Paris Hilton.
more ›

more ›