Google Awarded Patent That Would Block Out TV Spoilers

Google awarded a patent that would block out TV spoilers
According to Time, the “anti-spoiler” patent “suggests that the system would track your TV or movie viewing progress—what episode of ‘Orange Is the New Black’ you’re on, for example—and filter out information on what you haven’t yet watched.”

Taraji P. Henson channels Empire‘s Cookie in her SNL promos
Watch Taran Killam and Henson star in Empire spinoff Umpire.

Louis CK recalls rejecting Jimmy Fallon for The Dana Carvey Show
“I really, really went to bat against you,” Louis CK, then Dana Carvey’s head writer, tells Fallon.

Nicole Kidman’s Grace of Monaco to premiere on Lifetime instead of theaters
The film about Grace Kelly was supposed to be released in November 2013, but it got such terrible reviews that a theatrical released. Instead, it’ll air on Lifetime on Memorial Day.

DirecTV already canceled its Rob Lowe ad campaign before an unfavorable ad campaign ruling
The National Advertising Division, responding to a complaint from Comcast, ordered DirecTV to pull the Lowe ads on Tuesday. But DirecTV had already moved on to ads starring Hannah Davis.

SNL alum Gary Kroeger announces he’s running for Congress
The 1982-85 “Saturday Night Live” cast member announced Monday his intention to represent Iowa’s 1st District in Congress.

TV reruns are no longer paying off for cable
The syndicated audience for shows like CSI and Community has been declining as viewers flock to streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.

Heroes Reborn brings back The Haitian
Jimmy Jean-Louis is reprising his “Heroes” role for the NBC miniseries.

Tavis Smiley: Empire “advances the worst of every pathology that black people have”
The PBS host tells Larry King, “there’s a debate in the black community that hasn’t really surfaced, hasn’t really boiled to the top yet, but I hear it in barber shops and other places, Larry, about whether or not the problem with Empire is that it advances the worst of every pathology that black people have. Crime, and drug dealing, and this and that, and the other, so I think a lot of people are looking for some positive characters that may come out in the second season…”

Former Congressman Barney Frank hates House of Cards
The retired U.S. representative thinks the Netflix series perpetuates a cynical view of politics.

TV’s “Rule of 4” strikes again: The 2014-15 season looks like another game-changer
The 2014-15 season is resembling the 2004-05 season, the 1994 -95 season and even the 1984-85 season — all game-changing seasons that start in a year that ends in a “4.” This season, Empire is the breakout hit. Ten seasons ago, ABC had Grey’s Anatomy,”
Lost and Desperate Housewives. Twenty seasons ago, NBC had Friends and ER. And 30 seasons ago, The Cosby Show broke new ground.

Cecily Strong on hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner: “Against my better judgment I said yes”
“Someone has to,” the SNL star says of hosting the annual “nerd prom” on April 25. Strong also previewed the kind of jokes she may or may not use. Will she use her “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With At a Party” character? “You know, not on purpose ever – but that is so much a part of me that it may come out on accident,” she says.

Some minority actors find a downside to the new trend in “colorblind casting”
Slate spoke to three minority actress to get their take on TV’s new “diversity push.” One black actor said, “I prefer when it’s ethnically specific because then I know (that) what I’m going in for is right for me, and it’s written for someone who looks like me, as opposed to throwing darts in the dark and hoping they stick.”

James Corden stages a Grease musical in the crosswalk outside his studio
Watch The Late Late Show take over L.A.’s Beverly Blvd. PLUS: See the making of Crosswalk the Musical: Grease.

A Twin Peaks reboot without David Lynch could be a good thing
“Even if Showtime went ahead without him,” says Katie Kilkenney, “the sequel wouldn’t diminish the original show’s legacy as the inspiration for a great deal of fantastic television. When it comes to Twin Peaks, a knockoff isn’t necessarily a death sentence—it can be a license to take risks and get strange and creative.”

Jesse Tyler Ferguson gets sex toys in the mail from Modern Family co-star Eric Stonestreet
“I understand somebody was sending you sort of X-rated items in the mail. I wondered what kind of pervert would do that?” Meredith Vieira asked Ferguson. “What kind of pervert would do that?” Ferguson replied. “His name is Eric Stonestreet, he plays Cam on Modern Family.”

Watch Kate McKinnon’s new web series Notary Publix
The SNL star is featured in a web series from Lorne Michaels’ Above Average about sisters who work as notaries.

Larry King on Brian Williams: “I don’t think he’ll be a news anchor again”
“I feel sad because I like him,” says the former CNN star. “But I think the trouble with him coming back will be, first, he’s off for six months. If he came back the story would start all over again. So six months from now when he’s going on the air, all the stories would be repeated.”

Jon Cryer: I turned down my former babysitter’s offer to play an SVU serial killer
“Literally the week after the show (Two and a Half Men) was done,” says Cryer, “I got a call; Law and Order: SVU wanted me to be a serial killer. It turns out the showrunner — this is weird — used to be my babysitter. We grew up in the same building on the Upper West Side, and he used to be my babysitter.” PLUS: Cryer recalls Charlie Sheen “seemed close to dying,” here are all the mentions of Sheen in Cryer’s book, and Sheen has not contacted Cryer since his book excerpt was released.

Conan does 5 chin-ups for Michelle Obama — with Kevin Hart’s help
Conan O’Brien accepted the First Lady’s #GimmeFive Challenge.

Inside Archer HQ
Creator Adam Reed presents a tour of his FX series’ offices.

Stan Freberg, father of the funny commercial and cartoon voice actor, dies at 88
The “Madcap Adman” used “humor to declare war on postwar advertising,” says the NY Times of Freberg’s “multifaceted career that included pretty much inventing the idea of using satire in commercials.” Freberg also voiced many cartoon characters, working for Looney Tunes in 1949 and as recently as 2011.