Lynne Spears Opens Up About Britney on Today

While promoting her new memoir, Through the Storm, on Wednesday's Today show, Lynne Spears spoke candidly about how life has been a "whirlwind" ever since daughter Britney first broke out on the scene...
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Punchless Vikings bench Jackson, turn to Frerotte as starter

The Minnesota Vikings, with an 0-2 start to the season, are turning to veteran Gus Frerotte to bring them out of the hole...
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Metallica hits No. 1, Jessica Simpson falters

Metallica's first album in five years soared to No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart Wednesday, while Jessica Simpson's country debut and hip-hop icon LL Cool J's label swan song faltered.

The hard rock band's "Death Magnetic" sold 490,000 copies during the week ended September 14, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But it was on sale for only three of those days, because it was released worldwide on Friday. Albums usually come out on a Tuesday in the United States, and a day earlier everywhere else...
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Reeling Mets hoping for good Knight in Washington

The New York Mets' late collapse last season has been well- documented. It seems another could be on its way for the club, which resumes a four-game series tonight against the host Washington Nationals...
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Getting In Palin’s Hair, or Close to It

While any girl or boy can, technically, grow up to be president, only Tina Fey can become Sarah Palin, at least on “Saturday Night Live.”

And even for her, that means a hairdresser, a team of wig makers, colorists and a pound of human hair...
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Schwarzenegger to Veto Budget and Other Bills

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he would veto a long-overdue state budget, and he threatened also to veto hundreds of other pieces of legislation, as the state’s 78-day budget crisis dragged on...
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IMDb Launches Streaming Service

Already the bible on movie data, the Internet Movie Data Base has now added video streaming to its arsenal...
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Barbra Streisand Sings Support for Obama

Barbra Streisand sang and spoke out Tuesday night for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a star-studded fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif...
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MTV bids adieu to 'TRL'

The suits over at MTV have decided to pull the plug on Total Request Live after 10 years on the air -- which for MTV is equivalent to maybe 200 in human years. Executive producer Dave Sirulnick says the show, which will conclude on a Saturday in November with a two-hour special, isn't gone for good, but just taking a rest -- which sounds a bit like a concerned parent telling the children at Grandpa's funeral, "See, it's kind of like he's sleeping." Apparently, MTV's new Pete Wentz-hosted FNMTV show is being touted as the next-gen TRL...
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David Petraeus hands Iraq baton to Ray Ordierno

General David Petraeus today handed over control of coalition forces in Iraq to General Ray Odierno, the imposing, bullet-headed infantryman tasked with keeping the peace in Iraq, while reducing American troop numbers...
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Romo the hero for Cowboys in MNF classic

There was never a Dallas-Philadelphia shootout like this before.

Combined points: 77. All-purpose yardage: 1,165. Lead changes: Seven. Suspense: Plenty until the final 37 seconds. That's when the Cowboys finally secured a 41-37 victory Monday night thanks to one dead-eyed gunslinger (Tony Romo) outdueling another (Donovan McNabb)...
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Maddy Albright is Mr. Right

Madeleine Albright can be referred to as Former Secretary of State, Madam Secretary, even Mrs. Albright. But sounds like our photog got the whole gender thing a little confused. That aside, Albright had high praise for Tina Fey ... Amy Poehler, not so much.
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NATO Chief Says Road to NATO 'Wide Open' For Georgia

NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says the road to joining the alliance is "wide open" for Georgia - despite Russian opposition.

He made the comment Tuesday during his visit to Tbilisi. He said the alliance will continue to expand...
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Pink Floyd's Richard Wright Dies at 65, The Recording Academy® Reacts

Pink Floyd founding member and keyboardist Richard Wright died Monday after briefly battling cancer, Reuters reports. He was 65. ET has reaction from The Recording Academy®...
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Eagles’ McNabb did everything but win

The Dallas Cowboys had seen this before: Donovan McNabb escaping a sure sack and throwing the ball underhand; McNabb sitting in the pocket for 5.8 seconds before throwing the ball for a 20-yard gain; McNabb throwing a touchdown pass and nearly another...
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Heart attack scare at O.J. Simpson trial's first day

A heart attack scare halted the kickoff of O.J. Simpson's trial Monday when a star witness clutched his chest while testifying how the Juice kidnapped and robbed him.

Prosecution witness Bruce Fromong portrayed Simpson as an angry thug who barged into his hotel room with a gun-packing posse. ...
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Jennifer Hudson's new reality: She's engaged to David Otunga

The "American Idol" contestant just got engaged Friday night -- on her birthday -- to her boyfriend (of less than a year) David Otunga, also a reality TV star. Of sorts.

You may recall David Otunga, or you may not, from his appearance last year as "Punk" in the VH1 reality show "I Love New York 2."...
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McCain-Palin Ad Says Economy in 'Crisis'

While John McCain suggests the fundamentals of the American economy are strong, his latest television ad suggests it's in "crisis" and will require "proven reformers" named McCain and Palin to fix it...
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New Britney Spears album 'Circus' due Dec. 2

As Britney Spears continues trying to reassemble the shards of her personal and professional lives, the troubled pop star will put out her next album just before Christmas, her record company announced today.

The album, “Circus,” is slated for release Dec. 2 -- that's the day she turns 27, and a little more than a year after her album “Blackout” came out. That album has sold 894,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, a far cry from her previous multimillion sellers. A new single, “Womanizer,” is due to hit the radio next Monday...
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Fey-as-Palin Wins the Early Vote On 'SNL'

"Saturday Night Live" season premieres are almost always on the shaky side, and the 34th season debut was no exception. It took off, however, like a skyrocket.

Saturday's "cold open" sketch -- a "Nonpartisan Message From Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton" -- rose to the occasion and then kept rising, right into the stratosphere. Former writer and cast member Tina Fey, making a brief return to the show, played the Republican vice presidential candidate, with pregnant cast member Amy Poehler doing her sure-fire, time-tested Clinton right beside her...
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Remembering David Foster Wallace

It was a strange and horrible sensation seeing the headline announcing author David Foster Wallace's death as I turned a page of the Sunday paper. I gasped—a reaction I'd never had before upon receiving bad news. Perhaps some things are so surprising, and so unmooring, that we unconsciously suck in air to remind ourselves that we're still alive...
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Patriots Show Season Is Far From Lost

Bill Belichick reeled in his grin as quickly as he could Sunday night, but the brief flash of giddiness he revealed to the cameras made it clear that New England’s 19-10 victory against the Jets was among the Patriots’ most meaningful regular-season victories in recent years.
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Digital Content Wherever You Want It

How do you make digital entertainment more entertaining? A sprawling consortium of Hollywood content providers, consumer electronics companies, and Internet players said on Sept. 12 that its members are planning to develop a standard that will let consumers buy movies and other digital content once and play them almost anywhere, on any type of device, without the onerous restrictions that have hobbled the growth of digital downloads...
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Giants Win on the Road, Again

The competition for the Giants will no doubt improve as the season grinds on. Perhaps Giants fans who are concerned about their chances to repeat as Super Bowl champions can worry just a little about how the Giants led by only 7 points in the fourth quarter against a team as woeful as the Rams (0-2)...
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"The Simpson's" wins 10th best cartoon Emmy

"The Simpsons" once again claimed U.S. television's highest honor for a prime-time cartoon on Saturday at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, extending the show's record winning streak...
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'Burn After Reading' Fires Up Box Office

After several straight super-slow weekends, the box office has gotten fired up. Defying many projections, Brad Pitt and George Clooney's comedy Burn After Reading led a team of four major new releases to generally better-than-expected performances, boosting the cumulative theatrical take by nearly 34 percent over the same frame a year ago.
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Jeter ties Gehrig for most Stadium hits

Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig for the most all-time hits in Yankee Stadium with 1,269, hitting a solo home run off the Rays' David Price in the fifth inning on Sunday...
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Apple week in review: iPods, iTunes, and software, oh my!

We would completely understand if you went on a self-imposed Apple news boycott this week, as there was a lot of hype over some otherwise fairly average product releases. Still, there were some pretty interesting tidbits popping up here and there, so in case you missed it, here are the top Apple news stories for the week...
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Germany's Vettel Becomes Youngest-Ever F1 Grand Prix Winner

Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Roso on Sunday became the youngest-ever Formula One race as he took the Italian Grand Prix, beating Heiki Kovalainen in a McLaren-Mercedes into second place...
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Camera-bugged Kanye West is unlikely to face felony rap

Kanye West may have snapped on the paparazzi, but his bad boy behavior may not rise to the level of felony, a law enforcement source said.

"The thing Kanye had was a detachable flash. It's not of felony value. It wasn't worth $400," the source said. ..
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It's an opportunity - for the Patriots

Schadenfreude is all the rage.

Schadenfreude is the German word to describe the phenomenon of taking pleasure in someone else's suffering. From the moment America saw Tom Brady limp off the field last Sunday, America has been awash in schadenfreude...
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Xbox 360 Price Cut Spurs Sales

Microsoft last week was quick to remind cohorts that price drops work, days after the company slashed the price of the Xbox 360 for a second time last Friday.

According to Microsoft, retailers saw a 100 percent surge in Xbox 360 sales last weekend compared to the previous one. Starting last Friday, Xbox 360 prices were cut US$50 to $80 depending on the model...
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Did Tina Fey out-Palin Palin on 'Saturday Night Live'?

As it used to be years ago, the word "live" was appropriate.

Ever since Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was announced as Sen. John McCain's running mate, people have remarked on her strong resemblance to former "Saturday Night Live" head writer Tina Fey...

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Mortgage Bailout Lowers Rates

The government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has pushed mortgage rates lower, a boon for some home buyers and for homeowners seeking to refinance, but it is not automatically going to make home loans easier to obtain...
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No survivors in Russian jetliner crash

A jet carrying 88 people crashed early Sunday morning in western Russia, killing everyone on board, an airline spokesman said.

Twenty-one foreigners were on the flight, including passport-holders from Azerbaijan, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Ukraine, said Lev Koshlyakov, spokesman for flight operator Aeroflot Nord...
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Chrome or Explorer?

Google Inc. has introduced yet another fancy, free new product. So has Microsoft Corp.

Google's latest innovation is called Google Chrome, an open-source Web browser. Windows Internet Explorer has also introduced a new version of its Web browser, Internet Explorer 8, which is also free. Both browsers are still in public beta testing, which means they are not yet finished but are available for the public to use. Chrome was released on Sept. 5. The beta 2 version of Internet Explorer 8 was released on Aug. 27...
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