Long Island high school student Samantha Garvey continues to capture people's hearts with her story of academic success amid her family's hardships. In a show that airs today Ellen DeGeneres presents Garvey with a $50,000 scholarship for the college of her choice. Watch this video—and, uh, you may get something in your eye: more ›

Or is it Ellen DeGenerous? A Bronx mom wrote to the talk show host, who held a Dough-vember contest, about her troubles: Rozina Pijuan was out of work since she was studying to be a radiology technician. And even though she moved in with her mother, Pijuan couldn't afford Metrocards and had to walk her two boys to school and walk to her own school, adding that she did get her license, in hopes of some day getting a car. On Tuesday, DeGeneres surprised Pijuan with a gift of a GMC Terrain SUV, a year's worth of Metrocards for herself and her kids, and "$10,000: $1,000 to cover gas, $2,000 to buy the kids Christmas gifts, $5,000 to pay off their debt and an additional $2,000 for good measure." The show will air next Wednesday at 4 p.m. on NBC. more ›

Is Ellen Degeneres starting a boycott of growing burger chain Five Guys? This poorly-written flier says so! Eater found some of these stuck to the windshields of cars left on Waverly Place last night, but this is the first anyone's heard of night manager Carlos "Leo" Rivera's "discriminating views" of the neighborhood gays. more ›

Members of the Writers Guild of America have been striking in Los Angeles and New York this past week over details of a basic contract between writers and producers - one of the biggest sticking points is the amount of residuals writers get from DVD and new media distribution. The NY Times op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd asked Seth Meyers (who we spoke to on Tuesday) to give her a weekend update about the strike:... more ›

Starting on September 10th, WNBC will be making a seismic shift on the local television landscape. Live at Five is gone, with infotainment show Extra taking its place at 5 p.m. with News 4 You remaining at 5:30 p.m. However, there will be not net loss of newscasts, since WNBC will be starting a new 7 p.m. newscast, but it is not as new an idea as it would seem, since WNYW aired a 7 p.m. newscast from 1987 to 1993. WNBC’s Station Manager and Senior Vice President of News, Dan Forman, noted: “Our news at 7pm meets the needs of viewers coming home from work and is a perfect compliment to ‘NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,’ which precedes it.” more ›

READINGS: Papermag points out an interesting reading tonight for "Queens of the Kingdom: The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks." more ›

7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an idiot, as are Joan and Melissa Rivers. But we want to know what Jennifer Lopez is wearing! (It turns out to be Marchesa.) more ›

A look at some noteworthy televison shows this week: more ›

Two days after Wesley Autey jumped into subway tracks to save another straphanger from an oncoming train, everyone still wants to hear his story. With good reason: Not only is it an incredibly heroic story, Autrey's matter-of-fact explanation for his actions ("it's just being able to be here and help the next person.") and his humble demeanor:

"I don't think I did anything heroic. I just saved a life. I don't call myself a hero because the real heroes are overseas dying for you and me."

• The Braunstein search becomes more and more made for the tabloids: now he may have a bomb.
• A crazy lady attacked three people on the subway yesterday.
• Hillary Clinton went to Staten Island yesterday, with Ellen Degeneres.

Good lord. It's not even five minutes into the Emmys and Gothamist (and friends Aaron Dobbs of out of focus and a Gothamist contributor, and Margaret Lyons, formerly of Chicagoist) is very very frightened. There is no reason why Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas should force Doris Roberts to dance with them. Doris needs to get the AARP to fight the fight with her. Welcome to Gothamist's attempt to liveblog the Emmys, until the show drains every single molecule of life from us, which we believe will happen in the 10PM hour. more ›

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No, not really. The AP promptly covers the finale's details. The best quote comes from Ellen DeGeneres: ".'" more ›

If it involves movies or television, Gothamist is interested. And if it's the tiniest bit related to the Oscars, then we're all over it. That's why Gothamist has produced a Golden Globes commentary similar to our Oscar commentary from last year. Yes, awards shows are self-congratulatory and ridiculous, and the Golden Globes are not a reliable predictor of the Oscars (which aren't that great anyway but their usefulness as a marketing tool cannot be denied), but it's just become a part of our DNA to enjoy an evening of watching, wondering, and whining. more ›

The Chicago Sun-Times has drawn up a list and looked it at least once of who the best supporting actors of this summer's movies have been: more ›