Donald Trump: ‘SNL’ Originally Asked Me to Appear in 1 Sketch

Donald Trump: SNL originally asked me to appear in 1 sketch

“It started off as a skit, and I said ‘Alright, I’ll do it,’” Trump said this morning on CNN. But Lorne Michaels talked him into hosting an entire. Says Trump: “When they took it up to Lorne Michaels – who’s an amazing guy, he’s run Saturday Night Live brilliantly for many years and he’s a friend of mine – he said, ‘Well wait a minute, he’ll do the skit. Will he do the whole thing?’” PLUS: Trump to begin buying TV ads for his campaign.

With Jon Stewart deal, HBO is trying to redefine itself as something more than a network

“Like everyone else,” says Daniel D’Addario, “they’re playing a volume game, trying to entice as many subscribers as they reasonably can. The primary difference between HBO and streaming-service competitors? With decades’ worth of Emmy wins and banked prestige, they have enough clout to ensure that the second act in a career as storied as Stewart’s won’t feel like a comedown. Even when you’re trying to make snackable online content for millennials, sometimes old-TV values still matter.” PLUS: Will non-subscribers be able to access Stewart’s content?, and introducing OTOY, the company behind Stewart’s HBO short-form projects.

Gwen Stefani suggests NBC may have set her up with The Voice co-star Blake Shelton

Responding to rumors that they’re dating, Stefani tells Ryan Seacrest: “I think that NBC did that. Two divorced people at the same time.”

CBS wants the new Star Trek to pave the way for more original content on CBS All Access

Says Les Moonves: “All Access will put out original content and knowing the loyalty of Star Trek fans, this will boost it. … There’s about a billion channels out there and because of Star Trek, people will know what All Access is about.” PLUS: Can the new Star Trek survive in a Peak TV world?, and CBS isn’t risking much money on the new Trek because it’ll be a hot international seller.

Amazon officially orders Sneaky Pete to series

The Bryan Cranston-produced drama starring Giovanni Ribisi will premiere in 2016.

Trevor Noah mocks Iowa Republican party for banning The Daily Show

The Iowa GOP refused to allow a Daily Show crew to attend its Growth and Opportunity Party because “we were afraid they were going to make fun of Iowa.”

Game of Thrones casts its first Indian actor

Neil Nitin Mukesh is expected to play a “royal” in Season 6. PLUS: Sean Bean weighs in on Jon Snow’s fate, and Emilia Clarke is the new face of Dior.

Miguel Ferrer to reprise his Twin Peaks role

Ferrer is joining the Showtime revival in previous role as FBI Agent Albert Rosenfield.

Check out Maggie Gyllenhaal as a ‘70s Times Square hooker on HBO’s The Deuce

Gyllenhaal was spotted filming the David Simon series this week on the streets of NYC.

Mama June: Honey Boo Boo is returning to reality TV

In making her announcement, the former TLC star says the new reality show will premiere on a yet-to-be-announced network in December: “It will not be Here Comes Honey Boo Boo kind of thing but it will be reality TV and it will be real and unscripted like we have always ever been.”

Suits returns Jan. 27

Watch the promo for the second half of Season 5.

Al Franken: I won’t appear on SNL again until I’m done being a senator

Franken says he still visits Studio 8H, but he won’t appear on camera again until “I’m elderly.”

Once Upon a Time bringing back Giancarlo Esposito

His Magic Mirror character will return for the ABC drama’s 100th episode.

Jimmy Fallon performs an all-clucking version of Ironic with Alanis Morissette and Meghan Trainor

Watch them all dressed up in chicken costumes.

Jimmy Kimmel helps one of his writers play a ghostly prank on his roommate

Kimmel had his writer’s home transformed into a haunted house.

CBS is getting into the zombie business with Dead Mann Walking

Stefan Petrucha’s best-selling book about a dead police detective who’s brought back to life is set to be adapted by CBS.

Tim Gunn admits: “I hated Season 14” of Project Runway

“I hated it,” he says. “I felt that other than a couple of designers, they weren’t working up to their potential. The whole thing was lackluster.”

Syfy’s The Expanse to premiere online 3 weeks before its TV debut

The first episode of the futuristic mystery drama will be available early on a number of platforms.

Is The Affair the fastest-moving romance on TV?

Or is it the slowest murder mystery?

How might Gilmore Girls explain Sookie’s absence?

Melissa McCarthy isn’t expected to sign on for the Netflix revival, so why not hire the original actress to play Sookie — Alex Borstein? PLUS: Why Rory Gilmore was not a good role model.

WEtv orders SUV dating reality show Driven To Love, hosted by Ray J

The reality dating show will have Ray J driving a single around in an SUV in hopes of finding a love connection.

Project Greenlight’s Jason Mann has a punk band past

See Mann’s past life playing in various San Francisco Bay Area bands.

Watch Lego version of Doctor Who’s title sequence

It’s part of the new Lego Dimensions Doctor Who game.

Why ABC should dump The Muppets

So far, says David Berry, The Muppets “seems like a show built around trying to find a way to use a property in the Disney stable rather than one that has any reason to exist on its own.” PLUS: Chelsea Handler to visit The Muppets.