The 7 Reasons Kiefer Sutherland Strongly Advises You to Watch Touch

Touch, Kiefer Sutherland Remember when Jack Bauer was forced into a situation where he needed some friend (not foe) to get out of his way so he could stop some damn terrorists? He'd perform his mighty headlock maneuver and whisper ever so gently, "Don't fight it." That's more or less how Kiefer Sutherland feels about Touch, the new show in which he stars created by Heroes boss Tim Kring. Watching it is what's best for you, he explained to reporters gathered on a conference call this week. Life after Heroes: Tim Kring on why his new show Touch is unapologetically sentimental In the Fox drama (premiering Wednesday at 9/8c), Sutherland plays widower Martin Bohm, the father of a mute 11-year-old who he realizes harbors the uncanny ability to connect patterns and discover the meaning behind seemingly unrelated events happening all over the world. Each week, Martin will go and deal with his son's predictions, whether it means reuniting lovers or preventing a tragedy. Which is to say, Touch is a good bit more sentimental than 24. But Sutherland says it brings dramatic suspense in a different way. Here are the seven reasons he strongly advises you to give this Martin guy and his problems a shot: 1. Sutherland had no intention of coming back to TV until he was handed the script for Touch. The actor was busy doing Broadway, shooting movies, and after eight seasons of world-saving on 24, he'd about had enough of TV's grueling schedule. Then he read Touch. "I read it almost reluctantly," Sutherland says. "I think it was around page 30, I remember going, 'Oh...'... I just knew I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity. I identified with [Martin] out of the gate." Counting Down to Kiefer Sutherland's Touch: The 6 ways it could remind you of 24 2. No seriously, he really loves this show. "When I take a look at what I think Tim Kring is doing with the show, I certainly haven't been a part of anything more creative," Sutherland says. Thank you and good night. 3. His child co-star, David Mazouz? That kid uses the force. His Jedi mind-tricks include emoting while not speaking a single word of dialogue. "He doesn't talk and yet I can feel his presence, even if he's not looking at me," Sutherland says. "I can always sense that he's listening... That's a real gift." Apparently, Mazouz is also a talented baker. Here's the birthday cake he made Sutherland last month. 4. Martin Bohm isn't so different from Jack Bauer. Both undertake uphill, seemingly insurmountable battles as a matter of everyday course. "Jack Bauer would be faced with unbelievable circumstances in the course of a day and he would never win completely," Sutherland says. "Martin is never going to win either. He's never going to have the quintessential relationship of a father and a son. And yet, he perseveres." Because of that, both characters also suffer from serious loneliness. "One of the things that moved me the most about Touch was that I felt that Martin was terribly alone," Sutherland says. (Too true. It still kills us just remembering that final scene of 24 where Jack says goodbye to Chloe because he's got to run and hide after saving the world. Again.) Check out photos from Touch 5. Sutherland, too, believes we are cosmically connected. Showing how humanity is interdependent and interconnected is a big deal to Kring, who says that theme was the impetus for creating Touch. "I do believe that there is a cause-and-effect ripple upon everything everybody does and they have positive and negative consequences," Sutherland says. "If you start to focus on the kind of minutia of that, it's really quite extraordinary." 6. Martin's missions and the mystery behind those numbers will be plenty exciting! We have Sutherland's word on this, 24 fans: "There is a great deal of suspense within the context of the show, not knowing what the numbers are," he says. "Even though we're not blowing things up, I think that there is enough excitement around the drama of the show that people who enjoyed 24 won't be thrown by it." 7. If he can swing it, his dad will turn up. Who doesn't love Donald Sutherland? "I certainly have conveyed to Tim Kring that my father is someone who I would very, very much like to work with," Sutherland says. And you don't say no to Kiefer, right? Will you do as he says and watch Touch? Or risk the consequences? Tell us in the comments below. And check out a special sneak peek below:

Twentieth, Lake shop 'Ricki Lake' 2.

LakeFor Ricki Lake, everything old is totally new again. The talk show veteran's new syndie strip, "The Ricki Lake Show," has been looked by Twentieth Television at NATPE, and Lake stated Tuesday that she's wishing the show will have the ability harness exactly the same benefit of the late "The famous host oprah Winfrey Show," though she stopped lacking saying she needs Oprah's degree of success."I am wishing we'll have half the prosperity of my old show," Lake stated. Station purchasers, a minimum of, have belief that she'll deliver: By Tuesday, the yakker was removed in 93% of the nation and every one of the nation's top 50 marketplaces.Lake credits a lot of that success to Twentieth's push to obtain her on "Dwts,Inch a move Lake stated she wasn't interested in in the beginning. "It labored superbly," she stated.Lake stated she's wishing the brand new show may have a dark tone of "That old The famous host oprah -- pre-billionaire status, pre-school in Africa." It is the talk maven's positive vibe she would like to emulate: helpful advice and use of experts, instead of chair-throwing. "No screaming matches," she told Variety. "No DNA tests."It is a relief, she stated, to seem like much more of the same partner with Twentieth than she was with Columbia TriStar TV. "To begin with, I had been cast in to the show. They selected me from 100 women," she remembered. "And today we have selected one another."As several people has stated, it's not only Oprah's departure which has produced possibilities during the day schedule. Regis Philbin leaves "Live!" and also the soaps 're going from the air 1 by 1. "This is exactly what I am proficient at,Inch stated Lake. "We did the pilot in This summer and that i thought, 'Oh, God, can i remember how to get this done?A also it was like I'd never left.""Basically have gift," she stated, "it isn't doing the foxtrot or even the Viennese waltz. I've a lot more existence experience now than Used to do to begin with.Inch Contact Mike Thielman at mike.thielman@variety.com

Jon Heder Recalls the Festival That Changed His Life

Jon Heder Recalls the Festival That Changed His Life By Jessica Gardner January 18, 2012 Photo by Getty Images One of the biggest actor breakouts ever to happen at the Sundance Film Festival was Jon Heder's. In 2004, his feature film debut, "Napoleon Dynamite," screened at Park City and became one of the top comedies of the year, shooting the then-unknown Heder to stardom. He landed representation soon after the fest and booked roles in such films as "Just Like Heaven," "The Benchwarmers," and "School for Scoundrels" before starring in "Blades of Glory" opposite Will Ferrell. Heder is working on the "Napoleon Dynamite" animated TV series for Fox. He majored in 3-D animation at Brigham Young University and loves bringing together his two passions. "For me, my artistic creative passion is creating characters," he says. "It comes natural because animation is acting. It's bringing life to a character. My skills in acting really led to my animation work and vice versa." Naturally Goofy Before Heder broke out at Sundance, he rose to prominence in his college's film department. Having only acted in school plays and home videos he made with his brother as a kid, he had no intention of pursuing acting professionally. "My oldest brother was always the one who loved being in the spotlight; he was always a lead in all the plays," says Heder. "I just remember thinking, 'I like the arts, but I don't know if this is something that I'm going to be big into.' " He began majoring in film and media arts at BYU, where a friend cast him as the lead in an early production project. "They were like, 'Let's get Jon,' because I think I was just naturally goofy," he recalls. "That started the snowball rolling. I was getting more attention from other students saying, 'Hey, I'm doing a short. Do you want to be in it?' and 'Hey, can I get you to be in this one?' It was like my own little Sundancebreaking out within my college community." Because so many people wanted him in their films, Heder started thinking performing was something he could pursue. He took the required acting class for the film majors and really enjoyed it. "I learned a ton," he recalls. Then he started auditioning for plays and student films. Dynamite Fate Around the time he was taking acting more seriously, he met BYU film student Jared Hess. "Jared said to me, 'Hey man, you're funny; I've seen you around in classes and all these different projects. I think you have a sensibility that matches mine.' He asked me to be in his short film 'Peluca,' about this character Napoleon Dynamite he had come up with," says Heder. Originally, Hess was not thinking of Heder for Napoleon but for a secondary character from the bowling alley scene. "[The person Hess had in mind for Napoleon] was like the real deal," says Heder. "In person he was funny, but he couldn't act like himself because he wasn't acting. It didn't work at all." So Hess asked Heder if he wanted to try the role. "I read the script, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I know exactly who this guy is,' " he says. Hess loved his interpretation and gave him the part. After "Peluca" was a hit on campus, Jared teamed up with his future wife, Jerusha Hess (ne Demke), to write the full-length script that would become "Napoleon Dynamite." Riding Into Sundance Heder says the most exciting part about "Napoleon Dynamite" getting into Sundance was the prospect of watching the film with a full audience in a big theater. "Everybody involved in the film loved the movie," he says. "But while we were making it, we didn't know if anybody was ever going to see it. We all thought it could be popular, but in order to be popular, you have to have exposure, and you need to be seen. It was still quite a bit before the days of YouTube and social networking, where you could really get word out. Our odds were even slimmer. So when we got into Sundance we were completely excited, because we knew there was a chance for something pretty cool to happen." Heder adds, "The premiere was the best. All the people from the film were there, all the actors, my family, a bunch of friends from BYU, and we were so excited. For my wife and I, it was also like the fanciest place we'd ever been. We stayed there all week, and it was such a tripall the photo shoots and everything. None of us had ever experienced any of that. But the premierehaving people clapping and hollering, whistling at the dance scene, well, at all the scenesbut like the crowning moment being the climax: It was magical."Outtakes -Originally from Fort Collins, Colo.-Has a twin brother, Daniel, who appears on an episode of "Punk'd" to prank him-Speaks fluent Japanese-Was the voice of Reginald "Skull" Skulinski in "Monster House" and Chicken Joe in "Surf's Up." Other credits include "When in Rome," "For Ellen," and the TV series "Woke Up Dead," "FCU: Fact Checkers Unit," and "Dead Grandma." Jon Heder Recalls the Festival That Changed His Life By Jessica Gardner January 18, 2012 PHOTO CREDIT Getty Images One of the biggest actor breakouts ever to happen at the Sundance Film Festival was Jon Heder's. In 2004, his feature film debut, "Napoleon Dynamite," screened at Park City and became one of the top comedies of the year, shooting the then-unknown Heder to stardom. He landed representation soon after the fest and booked roles in such films as "Just Like Heaven," "The Benchwarmers," and "School for Scoundrels" before starring in "Blades of Glory" opposite Will Ferrell. Heder is working on the "Napoleon Dynamite" animated TV series for Fox. He majored in 3-D animation at Brigham Young University and loves bringing together his two passions. "For me, my artistic creative passion is creating characters," he says. "It comes natural because animation is acting. It's bringing life to a character. My skills in acting really led to my animation work and vice versa." Naturally Goofy Before Heder broke out at Sundance, he rose to prominence in his college's film department. Having only acted in school plays and home videos he made with his brother as a kid, he had no intention of pursuing acting professionally. "My oldest brother was always the one who loved being in the spotlight; he was always a lead in all the plays," says Heder. "I just remember thinking, 'I like the arts, but I don't know if this is something that I'm going to be big into.' " He began majoring in film and media arts at BYU, where a friend cast him as the lead in an early production project. "They were like, 'Let's get Jon,' because I think I was just naturally goofy," he recalls. "That started the snowball rolling. I was getting more attention from other students saying, 'Hey, I'm doing a short. Do you want to be in it?' and 'Hey, can I get you to be in this one?' It was like my own little Sundancebreaking out within my college community." Because so many people wanted him in their films, Heder started thinking performing was something he could pursue. He took the required acting class for the film majors and really enjoyed it. "I learned a ton," he recalls. Then he started auditioning for plays and student films. Dynamite Fate Around the time he was taking acting more seriously, he met BYU film student Jared Hess. "Jared said to me, 'Hey man, you're funny; I've seen you around in classes and all these different projects. I think you have a sensibility that matches mine.' He asked me to be in his short film 'Peluca,' about this character Napoleon Dynamite he had come up with," says Heder. Originally, Hess was not thinking of Heder for Napoleon but for a secondary character from the bowling alley scene. "[The person Hess had in mind for Napoleon] was like the real deal," says Heder. "In person he was funny, but he couldn't act like himself because he wasn't acting. It didn't work at all." So Hess asked Heder if he wanted to try the role. "I read the script, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, I know exactly who this guy is,' " he says. Hess loved his interpretation and gave him the part. After "Peluca" was a hit on campus, Jared teamed up with his future wife, Jerusha Hess (ne Demke), to write the full-length script that would become "Napoleon Dynamite." Riding Into Sundance Heder says the most exciting part about "Napoleon Dynamite" getting into Sundance was the prospect of watching the film with a full audience in a big theater. "Everybody involved in the film loved the movie," he says. "But while we were making it, we didn't know if anybody was ever going to see it. We all thought it could be popular, but in order to be popular, you have to have exposure, and you need to be seen. It was still quite a bit before the days of YouTube and social networking, where you could really get word out. Our odds were even slimmer. So when we got into Sundance we were completely excited, because we knew there was a chance for something pretty cool to happen." Heder adds, "The premiere was the best. All the people from the film were there, all the actors, my family, a bunch of friends from BYU, and we were so excited. For my wife and I, it was also like the fanciest place we'd ever been. We stayed there all week, and it was such a tripall the photo shoots and everything. None of us had ever experienced any of that. But the premierehaving people clapping and hollering, whistling at the dance scene, well, at all the scenesbut like the crowning moment being the climax: It was magical."Outtakes -Originally from Fort Collins, Colo.-Has a twin brother, Daniel, who appears on an episode of "Punk'd" to prank him-Speaks fluent Japanese-Was the voice of Reginald "Skull" Skulinski in "Monster House" and Chicken Joe in "Surf's Up." Other credits include "When in Rome," "For Ellen," and the TV series "Woke Up Dead," "FCU: Fact Checkers Unit," and "Dead Grandma."

Miss Wisconsin Crowned Miss America 2012

Miss America, Laura Kaeppeler Miss Wisconsin Laura Kaeppeler is the new Miss America. Kaeppeler, 23, will receive a $50,000 scholarship and will represent the pageant for the next year. For her talent, she performed operatic vocals at Saturday night's competition, held at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino and hosted by Chris Harrison. Catch up on today's latest news Kaeppeler said she will focus on emphasizing the importance of education and plans to use her winning scholarship money to go to law school, according to People. Kaeppeler is only the second Miss Wisconsin to win the competition in its 91-year history. The two-hour pageant - which once attracted tens of millions of viewers and was one of the most-watched annual events on television - averaged 6.68 million people on ABC and a 1.8 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds, a 13 percent increase vs. last year.

Homeland, Modern Family and The Artist Top Golden Globes

Claire Danes Homeland and Modern Family topped Sunday's Golden Globe Awards, winning series awards, while The Artist solidified its status as Oscar front-runner with three wins.Check out all the Golden Globes fashion hits and missesHomeland won two of its three awards: best drama series and TV drama actress for Claire Danes. The actress is now a perfect 3-for-3 at the Globes. Her co-star Damian Lewis lost drama actor to Kelsey Grammer (Boss). It was a big ceremony for Showtime, as Episodes' Matt LeBlanc scored his first Globe for TV comedy actor after four nominations.On a night dominated by cable, Modern Family prevented a network shutout, winning comedy series on its third try. Its nominated supporting actors, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara, lost to Game of Thrones's Peter Dinklage and American Horror Story's Jessica Lange, respectively. This is Lange's fifth Globe, tying her for third-most wins of all time with Rosalind Russell. Enlightened's Laura Dern pulled an upset in in TV comedy actress, triumphing over New Girl's Zooey Deschanel.Check out all the Golden Globes red carpet arrivalsIn film, The Artist won best comedy film, best comedy actor for Jean Dujardin and best score. Berenice Bejo lost the supporting actress award to Octavia Spencer (The Help).The winningest Globes performer, Meryl Streep, extended her record to eight trophies out of a record 26 nominations, triumphing in film drama actress for The Iron Lady. It's her first win in drama since she won for Sophie's Choice 29 years ago and her fifth Globe in the past nine years. George Clooney, who had four nominations, didn't go home empty-handed, nabbing his third Globe for film drama actor for The Descendants. Other film winners include My Week with Marilyn's Michelle Williams for best comedy actress, Beginners' Christopher Plummer for supporting actor and Martin Scorsese (Hugo) for best director.See the full list of winners below.TELEVISIONDrama Series: HomelandComedy/Musical Series: Modern FamilyActor - Drama: Kelsey Grammer, BossActress - Drama: Claire Danes, HomelandActor - Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, EpisodesActress - Comedy: Laura Dern, EnlightenedTV Movie/Miniseries: Downton AbbeyActor - TV Movie/Miniseries: Idris Elba, LutherActress - TV Movie/Miniseries: Kate Winslet, Mildred PierceSupporting Actor: Peter Dinklage, Game of ThronesSupporting Actress: Jessica Lange, American Horror StoryFILMDrama: The DescendantsComedy/Musical: The ArtistDirector: Martin Scorsese, HugoActor - Drama: George Clooney, The DescendantsActress - Drama: Meryl Streep, The Iron LadyActor - Comedy/Musical: Jean Dujardin, The ArtistActress - Comedy/Musical: Michelle Williams, My Week with MarilynSupporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, BeginnersSupporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The HelpScreenplay: Woody Allen, Midnight in ParisAnimated Feature: The Adventures of TintinForeign Language Film: A Separation, IranOriginal Score: The Artist, Ludovic BourceOriginal Song: Madonna, "Masterpiece," W.E.

Fox orders aircraft pilots for just two dramas, comedy

Fox is loading on pilot orders, giving greenlights to some murderer project from Kevin Williamson murderer project, a legitimate drama from Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim along with a comedy pilot from scribe Dana Fox, Chernin Entertainment and twentieth century Fox TV. Williamson and Berlanti/Guggenheim dramas hail from Warner Bros. TV. Williamson's project involves a murderer who uses social networking to produce a network of murderers as he's being hunted by an FBI agent. Williamson composed the script and it is professional creating his first work for a internet apart from the CW in a number of years. Composed by Guggenheim, the drama "Guilty" focuses on a defense attorney who assumes tough cases and seeks to find those who had him wrongly charged of fraud. Guggenheim and Berlanti are professional producers. Around the lighter side, the Dana Fox single-camera comedy involves a parent who ends up employing her brother to function as a "manny" to her children. Tentative title is "Ben Fox is My Manny." Fox, an element scribe whose credits include "What Goes On in Las vegas," "The Marriage Date" and "Dark night and Day," professional produces with Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

The Secret Circle: Where We Were and What's Next

Britt Robertson Behind on The Secret Circle? Here's what you missed: Cassie returned to Chance Harbor and discovered she's a witch in a coven. The teenage coven bound themselves together and accidentally released a demon. Said demon inhabited Nick, who was then murdered. His brother Jake took his place in the circle, but he was secretly working with witch hunters to take down the circle. The hunters kidnapped Cassie, who discovered she's full of dark magic. Cassie and the circle escaped their terrible fate, though unbeknownst to them, someone in the coven is related to Cassie and has dark magic as well! Now let's find out what's next from executive producer Andrew Miller: The Secret Circle Scoop: There are two of them?! What's next? Cassie Blake (Britt Robertson)Where We Were: After her mother was killed in a mysterious house fire, Cassie returned to her family's hometown where she discovered that she was not only a witch, but came from the evil Balcoin lineage, which is filled with dark magic. What's Next? "Immediately, we're going to see Cassie have to confront this whole dark magic thing," Miller says. "We're going to really see Cassie's transformation into a new sense of awareness in power and strength, both the bad side of that and the insanely tempting side of that. The first half of the season, she was trying to understand herself through her mother. This half of the season, she's trying to understand herself in terms of her father. Her father's lineage plays such an important part in defining who she is." Faye Chamberlain (Phoebe Tonkin) Where We Were: After Faye began to lose control over her powers, the circle decided to bind themselves together, frustrating Faye, now unable to do magic on her own.What's Next? "She's going to be pissed off because if anyone should have dark magic, it should be her," Miller notes. "She's the one who deserves it, she's the one who wants it. Immediately, she becomes distanced from Cassie. No one is more angry about all this than Faye. That anger is going to lead Faye in a direction in this half of the season that's incredibly fun and dangerous. She's a desperate girl grasping at straws to get what she wants, while she looks to her right and sees someone who has almost everything she wants." Exclusive: The Secret Circle lands two new bad boys Diana Meade (Shelley Hennig)Where We Were: Living a seemingly perfect life, Diana's world was rocked by the arrival of Cassie, who made Adam's head turn on many occasions and eventually lead to their breakup. What's Next? "Diana is a bit of a control freak," he says. "The last several years of her life have laid out exactly the way she wanted and planned until now; until Cassie [arrived], until breaking up with Adam. She's going to be struggling for a bit, but... there will be love for Diana in this half of the season, it'll just come from an unexpected place." Adam Conant (Thomas Dekker)Where We Were: After being told he and Cassie were destined to be together, Adam and Diana's relationship began to crumble, leading to their eventually breakup.What's Next? "Adam will be incredibly conflicted [about his feelings for Cassie] from the beginning," Miller says. "Diana is pushing Adam away, Jake is gone and it's a good time to explore Cassie. If he doesn't explore that, he's selling himself short and maybe screwing up every relationship in the future, even if he ever gets back with Diana. He needs to understand what the deal is between him and Cassie. The closer he gets to understanding that, the more he becomes concerned about who she really is because she's only discovering who she is now. That's going to be a real conflict for everyone." The Secret Circle's Britt Robertson dishes on the mystery of John Blackwell Melissa Glaser (Jessica Parker Kennedy)Where We Were: She finally gained some sense of self when she began dating Nick, but then he was inhabited by a demon and killed by Dawn and Charles.What's Next? "Melissa had a taste of empowerment, and will continue to, but there's a reason that she turned to a guy like Nick to begin with, and there's a reason she's been in Faye's shadow for a long time," he teases. "She has some demons in her, literally and figuratively, that she needs to figure out. We're going to put her through a little more hell before she comes to terms with everything." Jake Armstrong (Chris Zylka)Where We Were: Still angry over the events that took place 16 years ago, claiming the lives of many of the coven's parents, Jake began working with the witch hunters to take down the current circle, but lost his nerve when he began to develop feelings for Cassie.What's Next? "I don't think he can be trusted," Miller reveals. "Him coming back to Chance Harbor feels like the stupidest thing he could possibly do because there's no one in the circle that wants him there, but he is going to come back. He only comes back because he has to, knowing full well that no one wants him there and no one is going to trust him. When he does come back, it's because there's no choice - someone in the circle will need him to or else they're in big trouble." The Secret Circle Exclusive: Hunter's Stepfanie Kramer to play creepy Charles' mom Charles Meade and Dawn Chamberlain (Gale Harold and Natasha Henstridge)Where We Were: Pulling the strings from the shadows, they finally reunited the circle, only to be forced to kill the inhabited Nick. To cover up their many misdeeds - including killing an elder - they had to tamper with Jane Blake's memory.What's Next? "We're going to find out that Dawn is a little bit more Machiavellian and diabolical than even Charles knows," Miller says. "The consequences of their actions come calling in this next episode, 'Darkness.' The way they both react to that will redefine their relationship and force them into positions that they had never intended to be in. We love those two together - whether they're fighting or the opposite of fighting - which I couldn't speak to right now, but they're just a fun couple together. We're going to throw drunk Ethan [Adam Harrington] into the mix also because they were all part of the same circle when they were younger. The younger circle will find out a little more about what happened 16 years ago." The CircleWhere We Were: After binding their circle, they lost Nick to a demon, and then were nearly murdered themselves by the witch hunters.What's Next? "The circle is heading down a road that their parents had headed down very unsuccessfully," he says. "Unless they figure that out and come up with a way to avoid it, they're screwed. The first half [of the season] was about binding the circle and coming together to create more power as a group than they could individually. This next half will be ripping that apart, and putting them in great danger, both individually and as a group. What are you most looking forward to? The Secret Circle returns Thursday at 9/8c on The CW.