Entertainment Weekly’s Tanner Stransky wrote a post on why the joke is offensive. And he’s right—it’s pretty awful. But the real problem is the series’ larger concern with masculinity, and a growing trend in returning to so-called traditional gender roles. You can see it in the title Last Man Standing. Don’t they mean Last “Real” Man Standing?

In many ways, this is nothing new: sitcoms frequently fall back on misogynistic and homophobic humor for easy laughs. And all of the gay jokes are based on effeminacy—the idea that there’s nothing worse than acting like a woman. But this is 2011, and it’s no longer inherently amusing to mock someone’s limp wrist. Why do shows like Two And a Half Men, Last Man Standing, and the upcoming Man Up! still exist?

My theory is that “real men” (AKA “assholes”) are more threatened than ever by what they perceive to be a move toward political correctness, gender and sexual equality, and the terrifying gay agenda. Series like Modern Family and Happy Endings—also on ABC—offer relatable gay characters. Not to mention female characters who frequently upstage and generally prove more competent than their husbands. It feels like Last Man Standing is the old-school sitcom alternative: after you’re done learning about tolerance, you can sit back, scratch your balls, and laugh at the inferiority of femininity.

Suck it up, dudes. For macho men, you sure do a lot of whining. While series with “Man” in the title may not excuse their characters’ prejudices, they continue to assert that misogyny and homophobia are hilarious. It’s not Last Man Standing’s lame gay joke that’s offensive: it’s everything the show stands for. We continue to perpetuate the image of the man’s man who just wants to raise a family away from what Last Man Standing’s Mike calls a “hippie-hippie rainbow.”

I’m not saying every sitcom has to be as feel-good as The Cosby Show, or that a series about men is inherently anti-women. (See TNT’s gone-too-soon Men of a Certain Age.) But we need to hold our shows to a higher standard of humor—joke about gender relations and human sexuality all you want, just don’t take cheap shots that reinforce your prejudice. There are far worse things than growing up to dance on a float: namely, growing up to be a douchebag who doesn’t respect difference.

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If there was any doubt about the last statement, this year — Idol‘s ninth season — has effectively silenced it. Now that original judge Paula Abdul has packed up her crazy and headed home and co-creator Simon Cowell will be following her at the end of the year, the show has to redefine itself. And, judging by the choices they’ve made so far, the next season of the show could veer wildly off the rails.

While Ellen DeGeneres is a great host and TV personality, her role on Idol still doesn’t completely fit because she’s outside the music industry. Sure, she’s there to represent the voice of the common folk, but the common folk’s voice is well-represented already since they get to vote. Randy Jackson may have experience in the music biz, but he has been useless for about seven seasons now, recycling the same “It was pitchy, dawg” and “Girl, you can saaaang”-type comments for every contestant. This year, because the show hadn’t nailed DeGeneres down as a permanent judge by the time auditions started, a revolving door of celebrities took their turn appraising the wannabe singers. Some of the choices — Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, a Jonas brother — may not have been the most musically gifted, but their popularity on the Billboard charts at least gave them a reason to be on the show.

Now, though, it looks like Idol is desperate. One of the guest judges for this season is going to be … Paula Deen. As in, the Savannah chef who hosts multiple Food Network shows and is known for her unabashed embrace of the deep fryer. We may like a lot of Paula Deen’s food, but there’s absolutely no reason for her to be on Idol. In the past, guest judges always had some kind of connection — even a tenuous one — to the music industry. Guest judges/mentors like Mariah Carey, Burt Bacharach, and Dolly Parton provided both music advice and industry advice to the show’s contestants and provided them with great material to cover on the show. Quentin Tarantino popped in to guest judge on Season 3, and all they could come up with for his connection to music was that he likes to use a lot of it in his movies. We really can’t wait to see what farfetched reason they come up with to shoehorn Paula Deen onto the show — maybe it will be something borderline offensive, like asking her to guest judge on Country Week or something. Because you know what reminds us of Johnny Cash? Paula Deen. Yep. Totally logical. Replacing one Paula with another Paula is TOTALLY SUBTLE, Idol. Surely we won’t be able to tell the difference between the one with the Southern accent and the one who sounds like she’s drunk.

As for the ridiculous rumor the show was going to replace Simon Cowell with shock jock Howard Stern? It seems surprisingly likely now, considering that the producers are embracing their love of stunt casting.

(Photo by WENN)

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Hilary Duff will make her first of 6 (or potentially 7) guest appearances on Gossip Girl on the CW on October 5, 2009 in the episode “Dan de Fleurette,” which is also known by the title “Limitation of Life”.

“Dan de Fleurette” Pictured: Hilary Duff as Olivia Photo Credit: Giovanni Rufino / The CW © 2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

In the episode, Hilary Duff appears as Olivia Burke, an actress famous for a series of vampire movies. Hilary will be enrolling at NYU to have a “traditional college experience,” where she’ll room with Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) and will develop a romantic interest with Dan (Penn Badgley), who at this point has no idea she’s a famous actress.

“Dan de Fleurette” Pictured: Penn Badgley as Dan and Hilary Duff as Olivia Photo Credit: Giovanni Rufino / The CW © 2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
“Dan de Fleurette” Pictured: Hilary Duff as Olivia Photo Credit: Giovanni Rufino / The CW © 2009 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

For all the latest on Gossip Girl stay tuned to GossipGirlReport.com

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The scene previewed by Tyra appears to be from that fake vampire movie, Fleur, which is presumably the latest one to open up at the movie premiere we see here.

So exciting!!

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And check out the second-to-last image of Hilary talking on her phone while in her flapper dress – stunning!!

Images: splashnewsonline.com, Fame Pictures

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Check out here for more of the Gossip Girl cast dressed for the theme.

And finally we have one last photo of Hilary back in her own clothes and looking great – love the jacket!!

Images: Fame Pictures, Bauer-Griffin, Zuma Press

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By my rough estimate, this may be the 3rd episode that Hilary Duff has filmed for Gossip Girl, out of the 6 scheduled. I look forward to hearing more about how this scene fits in!!

Images: splashnewsonline.com

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Just check out that steamy kiss!! Yowza!

Images: Bauer-Griffin & Zuma Press & splashnewsonline.com

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Hilary Duff’s Gossip Girl co-star, Blake Lively, recently told People that she was excited about the upcoming season and its high profile guest appearances, including that of Hilary Duff.

“Hilary Duff is on for a few episodes and Tyra Banks makes an appearance also. I’ve known Tyra since I was a kid, so getting to work alongside her was great. She’s so gracious and kind and Hilary is just a fun, sweet girl. I love getting to know her and having people on that we really enjoy.”

Images: Bauer-Griffin & Pacific Coast News & Zuma Press

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This second picture shows Hilary carrying a blanket that we earlier saw was Lola’s blanket, so probably she had her dogs with her again. Cute! Update: now with photos with Lola!

Images: INF and splashnewsonline.com

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