Gawker: defamer, unhitched

Six Degrees Of Carrie Bradshaw's Vagina

Jessica — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:20:00 EDT

There was a time when a place in Carrie Bradshaw's vagina was the most coveted hot spot in premium cable. Honest-to-goodness stars like Vince Vaughn and Mikhail Baryshnikov visited Carrie's wonder spot, but it's not what you could do for Bradshaw's bits, it's what Bradshaw's bits could do for you. Just like Courtney Love, who famously said, "I have a magic pussy, If you fuck me, you become a king," doing time in Carrie's nether regions is a one-way ticket to televised success in 2008. Carrie Bradshaw's boyfriend is officially the new Jerry Seinfeld's girlfriend, as TV stars like Teri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, and SatC's own Kristin Davis did it with Jerry before they hit the big time. After the jump, find out the four men who originally appeared as Carrie's beaux and are now part of the most critically acclaimed shows of the year.

Dean Winters
Role on Sex: Carrie's fuck buddy John McFadden. After her second massive break from big, Carrie attempts to make her fuck buddy John into a real boyfriend. This attempt fails miserably.
Where Is He Now: Since his hard time in Carrie, Dean Winters moved on to greener pastures: he has a recurring role as Liz Lemon's hilariously deadbeat boyfriend on 30 Rock, Dennis "the beeper king" Duffy. He also has a recurring role on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

John Slattery
Role on Sex: Bill Kelley, an up-and-coming politician and total silver fox. His relationship with Carrie fizzles because he's obsessed with golden showers.
Where Is He Now: As silvery and foxy as ever, John plays slimy-yet-handsome ad exec Roger Sterling. He also had a recurring role on Desperate Housewives, but our hearts belong to Roger.

David Duchovny
Role on Sex: Carrie's erstwhile high school boyfriend Jeremy. He lives in Denver, but has taken a trip out East so he can go to a mental institution. His relationship with Carrie is a no-go because of his mental fragility, but that did not preclude them from knocking the boots a couple times.
Where Is He Now: We all know that David stars as a sex addict on the acclaimed Showtime dramedy Californication and also in his actual life. He was already a bona fide TV star before his time on Sex, but perhaps his time in Carrie-land inspired him to take the more emotionally complex role of Hank Moody on Californication.

Craig Bierko
Role on Sex: Creepy jazz-obsessed Ray King. Things do not work out with Carrie because he can barely hold a conversation that doesn't involve music.
Where Is He Now: earlier this year, Craig starred in a Fox sitcom called Unhitched with Rashida Jones. He played Jack 'Gator' Gately, a 35-year-old who recently divorced his college sweetheart. He is back in the dating scene and totally clueless. Even though it was produced by There's Something About Mary scribes Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the show was canceled after six episodes. However, we know that Carrie holds a leprauchan-ish pot of gold between those gams of hers, so we have high hopes that Craig's TV career will rebound in the near future!

Fox's Promotional Campaign For 'Unhitched' Goes To The 'Seinfeld' Well Twice Too Often

Mark Graham — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:53:24 EST

Despite the dearth of new programming options on television these days, successfully launching a new show can still be quite the challenge. Fox's new show, Unhitched, is no exception. While it has a strong pedigree (EP'd by The Farrelly Brothers), there's still a lot of work to be done in getting viewers to pay attention to a show that has no stars (we crush on Rashida Jones, too, but her name doesn't exactly equate to appointment viewing). And although the show debuted strong when it aired this Sunday (Mediaweek reported a 4.5/7 in overnights, good for a 92% hold from its Family Guy lead-in), the suits at Fox are taking no chances in their promos for the show. Their latest work invokes not one, not two but THREE quotes from TV scribes who compared the show to Seinfeld. Subtle, it is not. As for its effectiveness, we'll just have to wait and see. Oh, and for what it's worth, we liked the pilot quite plenty. [Fox]

WATCH VIDEO

Fox And Farrellys Feed Free Franks!

Seth — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:48:43 EST

Craving a Pink's hot dog, but were hoping to wait until the lines creep up towards Sunset before making the trip? Then you might want to swing by on Friday or Saturday, as Fox has decided to extend the themed lunch promotions that have delighted patrons of the News Café for years (dating right back to their Late Show Starring Joan Rivers pulled pork sandwiches in 1986) to the general public. That's right: "the 'Wieners' Who Brought You There's Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber" are pleased to provide the first 500 customers to arrive at the landmark tubesteak stand a complimentary "Unhitched Dog," along with your choice of Farrelly Bros.-themed condiments, including tangy There's Something About Mary hair-gel-onnaise. Enjoy!

Unhitched [Fox.com]

Brave Fox Exec Lets Assistants Play Around With His Midseason Schedule A Little Bit

Mark — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:10:02 EST

While most industry executives are content to let their assistants carry out their primary functions—lying to unwanted callers about their current whereabouts, caffeinated-beverage procurement, Blackberry target practice—without a second thought as to how they might be utilized in less brain-numbing tasks, progressive Fox scheduling guru Preston Beckman recently offered his underlings a chance to partake in the TV-magic-making process in a meaningful way. Briefly freeing the assistants from their chains, he invited his young staffers, who conveniently fell within the demographic sweet spot midseason sitcom Unhitched is targeting and wouldn't require the $50 stipend he'd otherwise have to waste on focus group cattle, to help him solve a problem.

Reports Variety :

Instead, the net enlisted a group of young Fox assistants to screen the series' five post-pilot episodes. The group of 35 mostly twentysomethings were then asked to pick the order in which the episodes would air.
Fox scheduling topper Preston Beckman, who generally decides these things himself, said "Unhitched" provoked a wide reaction at the net — some staffers found the show hilarious, others, not so much. (Beckman, for the record, finds it funny and even "Seinfeld"-esque.) [...]

"This was a way to empower some of the younger assistants and make them feel a part of the process," Beckman said. "I gave my word that we'd air them in the order that they chose."

Of course, Beckman's unorthodox pledge to follow the assistants' scheduling guidance didn't come without strings attached. In return for partly entrusting them with an element crucial to the fledgling show's success, he demanded positive results: for each Nielsen share point the show lost week to week based on their recommendations, he'd fire five of his new, inexperienced consultants, teaching the survivors an important lesson about how to take the heat for a boss's crazy idea.

Fox assistants play programmer [Variety]