Morning Meme: ABC Picks Six, "True Blood" Comics, and Ronnie Kroell's Nudie Shoot Is Done

Plus, we get a literal interpretation of Ke$ha, wonder what ABC's new series The Gates is about, and console the nation of Japan.

In the ongoing battle with Newsweek to make them read their own article before they try to defend it in public, we have a couple pieces of news. First, per a second open letter from Ryan Murphy, Ramin Setoodeh has accepted his invitation to not only visit the set, but to sit in on auditions for Glee and meet the actors.

The second development is that Alan Cumming has risked breaking a synthetic nail to pen a funny, heartfelt, scathing indictment of everything Newsweek. Oh – and the Screen Actors Guild isn’t happy either, and has lawyers issuing statements. Saban, of Mighty Morphing Power Rangers fame, is the leading contender to buy Newsweek. *snort* *giggle*

We have so much pilot pickup news I can’t really lay it in any logical form. ABC said yes to three comedies: Happy Endings with Elisha Cuthbert about a bride who leaves her groom at the altar; Mr. Sunshine has Matthew Perry owning a sports arena; and Better Together has Joanna Garcia as one of a pair of sisters at different stages of romance. On the drama side they grabbed legal show The Whole Truth and two ensemble dramedies, Generation Y and Detroit 187. Noticeably absent was It Takes a Village with Cheyenne Jackson. They also formally axed Scrubs, FlashForward, Romantically Challenged, and Better Off Ted (Portia de Rossi).

NBC was busy. They renewed Chuck for a half season, picked up Kindreds (sounds vampire, but is really lawyers – wait, that’s the same thing, right?). They reportedly canceled Law & Order, which is sad, because another season would have let it break Gunsmoke’s record for the longest running scripted series. A deal for a six episode mini-season just for that purpose may still happen. Heroes is supposed to be toast.

CBS has been mostly quiet, but they did say yes to Mike & Molly. “A comedy about an overweight couple” is the only description I’ve seen, but it’s from Chuck Lorre, who gave us Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, so I have hope.

The first six pages of the first True Blood comic are available online. I’m just speculating, but I think a gay man did the art, because the men remain smoking hot, while the female characters seem … off.

It’s official – we’re done with wired phone lines. Fully a quarter of all households no longer have a traditional landline. I haven’t had one since 1998, and that was only because I had DSL at the time.

I’m not saying the Prop 8 trial wasn’t important – it’s incredibly important. But I wouldn’t say it was sexy. So how do you make something dry into something people learn for their own good? Have pretty people reenact it. Marisa Tomei, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Urie, and Alan Cumming and others participated. I know this is one teaching method that would have worked on me in high school.

Emmy nominations haven’t even been announced, and already people are trying to decipher whether Glee and Modern Family can take the comedy category away from The Office and 30 Rock. NBC’s best hope seems to be that most of the newcomer’s casts submitted in the Supporting Actor/Actress category, leaving Tina Fey and Steve Carell safe.

Mary J. Blige has been cast to play Nina Simone. I adore Nina Simone, and “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” is in my all-time Top Five, but I think Mary has the wrong voice for this.

Ronnie Kroell has completed his Playgirl shoot, and the first pictures hit Playgirl.com Saturday. I have my alarm set.

This is the first picture of Will Arnett from his new comedy Running Wilde, set for Fox in the Fall. He's playing a rich, entitled Beverly Hills jerk who falls in love with a tree hugging hippie.

He's got the look.

From the new season of Futurama. Zap and Lela in a Garden of Eden scene, which could be from the "Rebirth" first episode, or really, anything. This show never made a lot of sense.

I'm surprised Zap bothered with the leaf.

This is the 2011 Porsche 911 GT2 RS, the most powerful production Porsche. It's going to run you $245, 000, give 620 hp, and go 0-60 in 3.4 seconds to top out at 205 mph.

Who's getting me one for my birthday?

I'm not sure if this is technically irony, but it's something.

ABC has a new series called The Gates that's about to start. It seems like Stepford Wives, but with vampires/zombies/demons - I'm really at a loss.

Memo to Japan: In America, we survived George W. Bush as our president. He gave shoulder rubs to a German Chancellor, and couldn't pronounce most words that were related to his job, when his father was president vomited on your predecessor,. The fact that your Prime Minister wore an ugly shirt is not a big deal, even if it was really, really ugly.

Hulu has a new video player. For a bit of meta-commentary, you can watch this video from Hulu highlighting changes in the new video player, which plays in the old Hulu player, if I'm not mistaken.

And here's what that annoying Ke$ha song should be about. It's like they're inside my head.

Because I feel odd leaving you for the week on that note, here's the only Nina Simone I could find, the Felix da Housecat remix of "Sinnerman."