Photograph of Queens native Amy Ryan, nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Gone, Baby Gone At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines. You can prep yourself with the Oscar nominees list as you watch (or avoid) red carpet coverage. You could read NY Times......

Things got a little ugly since the Golden Globes fell victim to the writers' strike. Here are two quotes from both sides of the picket line: “We [WGA] are grateful to our brothers and sisters in SAG for their continued solidarity and support. The entire awards show season is being put in jeopardy by the intransigence of a few big media corporations. We urge the conglomerates to return to the bargaining table they abandoned and......

When it came to New Year's Eve countdown broadcasts, we were traditional and stuck with Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Which means we missed out on $275-million man Alex Rodriguez counting down with Carson Daly on Daly's New Year's Eve program. New York sports talk radio was discussing the Yankee's appearance, jokingly calling him "Mr. New York." Well, not only is A-Rod loving NYC these days, he's also being managed by Guy Oseary......

New Year's Eve wasn't all confetti, LED-lit crystal balls and...diapers; despite the impression Dick Clark gives to the world at large, there's always just as much excess, overcrowding and diminished expectations to be found outside of Times Square on Amateur Night. Last night we received a tip from Gawker containing this link about post-NYE detritus in one of those sleek Williamsburg condos. There was spilled wine, a hole in the wall and an unused tampon......

A sparkling new 700-pound ball, tons of confetti, and over a million people helped ring in the New Year from Times Square last night/early today. Mayor Bloomberg and police Police Academy valedictorian Karolina Wierzchowska, who also served in the Iraq War, hit the switch that brought the famous Times Square New Year's ball down. The Daily News called it a "shimmering pole dance," and it was the 100th time Times Square has had a......

Remember when you were a kid and it was a big deal to stay up and watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV? Then you grew up and at some point realized that Times Square is the last place you’d want to spend your New Year’s Eve, right? But what if that jaded point of view is just keeping you from celebrating a one-of-a-kind experience in harmony with thousands of your brothers......

In Ryan Seacrest is Famous, his debut collection of pop-culture enthused short stories, Dave Housley makes you think, makes you laugh, and, if you're a writer, inspires you to run to your computer and get started on that premise you've been putting off. Whether it comes in the form of an alcoholic clown, people obsessed with Fight Club, or a DJ hiring a prostitute in an attempt to win back his old flame, Housley's stories......

Last night the 59th Annual Emmy Awards took place on the left coast, but New Yorkers made out very well. New York productions/creative types that took home the gold: Late Night with Conan O'Brien (writing), The Daily Show (variety-comedy show series), 30 Rock (best comedy), and Dick Wolf (for producing Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee). In the would-have-been arena, America Ferrera won best actress in a comedy, Ugly Betty, which was originally supposed......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., WNYW 5) All you have to know is that Ryan Seacrest hosts this years awards. Your decision to view is based on your personal Seacrest tolerance and your need to watch the Yankees vs. Red Sox over on ESPN. Plus you can find out the results on line, so you don’t really have to watch. Mystery! - The Inspector......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Drive (Sunday and Monday, 8:00 p.m., WNYW 5) Sunday has the two hour debut of Drive crossing the starting line. The show is a drama that follows the participants of an illegal cross country road race who aren't like those you would find in The Cannonball Run. One of the forces behind the show is Tim Minear who has worked on shows like Firefly and Wonderfalls, which......

It's that time of the year again: When Hollywood honors its moviemaking the way it knows (and not always in equitable ways, given that Alfred Hitchcock nor Robert Altman, to name a few, have never won Directing Oscars) and America gets to watch hours of pre-show hosted by idiots. Giving commentary for Gothamist this year, Karen Wilson, Margaret Harper, and Jen Chung. 7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an......

Yes, yes, last night was the Golden Globes. And boy, that Warren Beatty NEVER SHUTS UP. People looked pretty (but Jennifer Love Hewitt, what the hell were you wearing?), and it was nice to see Helen Mirren rack up the awards, even though it got a little boring and we think more people saw Prime Suspect than Elizabeth I. Sure, Dreamgirls won big (Jennifer Hudson is a star - here's more and more confirmation......

New Year's mayhem on the Gothamist Newsmap: fourteen shootings and three stabbings since midnight. Panoramas.dk continues their annual tradition of creating a 360-degree shot at the center of Times Square just after midnight. Now with more Ryan Seacrest! Interesting subculture of the day: hardcore underground videogamers in the West Village. Signature tagline: "You got pwned!" Congrats, Park Slope-- you're one of America's top eco-neighborhoods. Sadly, Bozeman, Montana edged you out for third place! "Warning:......

Over a million people packed into Times Square to ring in 2007. The weather probably encouraged even more people to wait and party for hours. Mayor Bloomberg, clad in his festive American flag sweater, pushed the button to released the Times Square ball with ten members of the armed forces. One woman who traveled from Venice, Italy to celebrate in Times Square told the AP, "This is the center of the universe. There is......

After last year's mess of an awards show and this year's joke of nominations (where is love for Lauren Graham, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences?), we were going to swear off this year's Emmys. But then we realized Conan O'Brien was hosting, so we must watch and liveblog. And there's the hope of a good Steve Carrell bit, not to mention awkward reaction shots of Candy and Tori Spelling during the Aaron Spelling tribute.......

Before getting cast on the Surreal Life, going to rehab, getting engaged...or whatever else celebrities do while white knuckling on to their career and/or become "edgier", they go to Misshapes. Love it or hate it, this party gets more press than some of it's guest stars on the decks. It has the ability to turn Hilary Duff from Disney to deejay, it lets Madonna show everyone her ego isn't bigger than the small clubs she......

Last night as we counted down 2005 in the comfort of a friend's living room and copious glasses of champagne, we turned to watch the return of Dick Clark. Screw Ryan Seacrest and Hillary Duff, it's all about the world's oldest teenager who finally (though sadly) seems more like the septugenarian that he is. As the AP noted, he remained seated and slight "hard to understand":"Last year I had a stroke. It left me in......

So during the strike the streets felt really crowded. We all can agree on that. But has anybody else noticed that the streets still feel really crowded? Because apparently they have been. Mechanical counters in Times Square registered a 57 percent increase in congestion this week over the same period last year. Mostly, authorities think this is due to yet another "perfect storm":There was the transit strike itself, which prompted many in the region......

What good are parents if they can't make up stories as to why you had to have a backing track while singing? In the aggressive counterspin in the SNL wake, minister-turned-manager/stage dad Joe Simpson told Ryan Seacrest that the acid reflux made her voice "hoarse" and "Just like any artist in America, she has a backing track that she pushes so you don't have to hear her croak through a song on national television. No......

The route for the Olympic torch relay in New York City has been announced and the torch, which will have had stops in L.A., Atlanta, and St. Louis before coming to NY, while be handed off at the start in Queens this Saturday. Mayor Bloomberg said: On June 19th, when the Olympic Torch leaves Athens Square Park and travels through New York City�s diverse and vibrant neighborhoods, it will be as if it were passing......