The other day, I met Chelsea Handler and Chuy Bravo. Jealous? You ought to be. Chelsea Lately is apparently the choice late-night show. ¹

This funny gal kept it seriously real on Carrie Prejean’s interview on The Today Show.

¹According to the 2009 Teen Choice Awards²
²According to Wikipedia

I’d also like to give some play to a Saturday night newcomer, Wanda Sykes, whose show, The Wanda Sykes Show, airs Saturday nights. I thoroughly enjoyed it at a time when people actually watch TV, Monday afternoon. Check out the round table at the end and play along with “Know Your Asians” (at 35:29) in her “Inappropriate Games” segment.

Jocelyn Matsuo (jocelyn@hulu.com)
Video Editor

No. 12: Lean on Me
What’s a high school drama without a rendition of “Lean on Me?” When the gleeks decided to rally about the troubled couple, they chose a cheerful, gospel-twinged version of the standard to let Finn and Quinn they’ll be there to carry their load. Sing it, Artie!

No. 19: Endless Love
Things kicked off with a Rachel-Mr. Schue duet of “Endless Love” (originally performed by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie). It was meant to inspire the other glee clubbers to find a ballad that gets in touch with their emotions and, in this case, it worked too well. “When I’m singing with him, it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time,” Rachel revealed in a voiceover. “And he’s super, super cute!” But this Spanish teacher is no stranger to schoolgirl stalkers: a former student, the aptly named Susie Pepper, downed the world’s hottest pepper when Mr. Schue told her to find someone her own age. She was left in a medically induced coma for days. Freaky!

No. 18: I’ll Stand By You
Meanwhile, Finn was freaking out about fatherhood with Kurt, who encouraged the hunky football player to channel his baby-daddy woes into song; The Pretender’s “I’ll Stand By You,” in particular. But when Finn’s mom caught him singing “Won’t let nobody hurt you…” to a sonogram, the secret’s out. Best part of all this? Kurt used the ballad project as a way to get closer to his crush: Finn.

No. 17 Don’t Stand So Close to Me/Young Girl
Looking for advice on how to handle Rachel’s obvious crush, Mr. Schuester turned to Miss Pillsbury. The guidance counselor sagely advised Will to use song to get his point across, and so he turned to a classic teacher/stalker ballad: The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me,” mashed up with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap’s “Young Girl.” Only problem is, this lesson didn’t go exactly as planned.

Off the Charts: You’re Having My Baby
This week we’re introduced to Quinn’s parents: boozy, Glenn Beck-loving conservatives; the perfect couple. But when Finn sprung a dinnertime ballad on the family, that façade cracked. It could’ve had something to do with Finn’s choice of song. It left no doubt that Quinn’s been harboring a little secret, and Mr. Fabray wasn’t supportive of this new development: he gave his daughter 30 minutes to pack her things and get out of the house.

Which ballads would you have liked to see on last night’s Glee?

We recently spoke to Regan when she was visiting New York to promote the Season 2 premiere of Legend of the Seeker. She’d flown in all the way from New Zealand, where she’d just finished shooting episode 10, and she was kind enough to speak to us about her co-star — “He does have abs of steel, that Craig Horner” — and their relationship, but the actress also told us about a brief encounter she had with a Hulu fan: “During the hiatus, I was in New York and this guy stopped me to say, ‘You’re the chick in the water on Hulu,’” she said. “I guess there was some picture of me smiling in the water on your home page. It was so cool, I was like ‘Yeah, that’s me! I’m the chick in the water on Hulu, sure!’” Keep reading to see what else Regan shared with the Hulu team. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Hulu: Before Legend of the Seeker, you were on a lot of dramas: The Black Donnellys, Six Degrees, New Amsterdam … What drew you to this fantasy role, which must have been a bit of a departure?
Bridget Regan: Oh, it was totally a departure. I actually knew nothing about fantasy. I hadn’t seen Lord of the Rings, and I didn’t really know what I was getting into. I just really liked the part. I liked Kahlan. I liked who she was, and I liked that it was really different than anything I had ever done. I liked that she was really tough and a total badass, but that she was really feminine and cared, was really passionate about what she did and what she was fighting for. I loved it. I liked that it also wasn’t casual. I grew up doing theater — I went to drama school — and there’s something really theatrical about this show. It’s heightened, and not “oh, let’s just play it casual, whatever…” sort of acting. It’s heightened and high stakes and life and death. I love it.

What’s it like playing such a strong female role? I can’t think of many others like yours on TV right now.
No, there aren’t! And that’s why I love it so much. I would audition for roles, and casting directors would be like “Oh, we love her, but she reads just a bit too mature.” It was like I couldn’t find my place often — I mean, I got lucky and got to do all the great New York shows, some pilots in L.A., some movies here and there, and a Broadway show. But I never found a part that embraced that side of me. You know, I’m not a teeny-tiny little thing. I’m 5-9; you can’t push me over — I’m solid. [Laughs] So I needed a character to play that was like that. You know, Kahlan’s tough. She’s really, really tough, and I love it because it’s empowering to play. I get to let off steam beating up grown men every other day.

The books obviously have a cult following, and a lot of them feel pretty passionately about the show. Were you taken aback by all the attention?
I mean, I knew of that section in the bookstore where the paperbacks lived — I’d passed by it, but I’d never really gone into that aisle and looked at them. I really had no idea what I was in for. I kind of surprised myself by how much I loved the books. I tore through Wizard’s First Rule and I’ve probably read it a dozen times now, because I always go back and re-read it to remind myself who she is and how I fell in love with her. I fell in love with her in that book. You know, there was no script when I auditioned, there were just the books. Craig and I auditioned with scenes pulled verbatim, dialogue from the books. I was a bit scared going into it — “Oh gosh, what am I in for, what am I doing?” — but it was kind of a good scary. It was scary and exciting, and I thought I should do this, take the plunge. It’s actually turned out to be really, really cool, and I’m proud that I did it, because it wasn’t an easy decision to pack up my life and move.

Speaking of which, how is life in New Zealand?
It’s pretty super. It’s so different than New York — I mean, I live in a house with a yard, where I lived in an apartment the size of my closet. It was one room, and it was above a pizza place on 14th and 7th in Manhattan. You walk outside, and you’re smacked in the face with New York City. There are no trees! And now I live in this lush landscape. I’m kind of like the odd man out. There are Americans there, and there’s diversity in New Zealand, but it’s certainly not like New York, where it’s such a melting pot.

Can you bring us up to speed with the show? Last time we saw Richard and Kahlan, they defeated Darken Rahl. What’s happening with the Season 2 premiere?
It’s kind of funny, I think we were all expecting a cliffhanger at the end of Season 1, and it felt like we won. We did it, and now we’re patting each other on the back. We’re celebrating for about two minutes when we’re totally attacked by this creature which is known as a “screeling.” We learn that these are from the underworld, which is kind of like hell. We learn that when we killed Darken Rahl, because he’s this powerful, magical force and Richard used all these forms of magic to kill him, it actually caused this sort of explosion and the earth opened up. Now there’s this crack that separates the world of the living from the world of the dead. These crazy creatures are coming out to get us, and then we learn it’s not just these creatures — people are actually coming back from the dead, so it’s a bit like we don’t know what to expect. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. The Keeper is out to get us. That’s where we start Season 2. Our goal is to find this tiny little Stone of Tears, which is going to help us seal the rift in the underworld. So that’s the journey in Season 2, to find this stone.

The show is full of lots of action. Do you do a lot of your own stunts?
I do nearly everything! Sometimes they won’t let me jump off a horse or roll down a hill because they’re scared I’m going to break something, but I do all my fights. My stuntwoman, Dayna Chiplin, she choreographs them now, which is great because she wears the dress and she knows what it’s like to move in that thing. We have a ball together, I absolutely adore her. [During fight scenes], they shoot facing me and sometimes from behind, but they also shoot Dayna when they cover the “baddies” as they call them. When you see the back of me, odds are it’s Dayna.

Have you had any mishaps on the set?
Oh, there are so many mishaps. I went to the emergency room last year when I accidentally punched a shield during a fight. Everybody thought I broke my finger, but I kept going “It’s fine, it’s fine, let’s keep going, let’s shoot.” But they said, “Nope, you’re going to the emergency room.” And I was right! It wasn’t broken; they were just being wussy with me.

And what’s it like working with your co-star, Craig Horner, who plays Richard?
I adore working with Craig. We got so lucky that we like each other as much as we do, and that we have a connection. We don’t have to work at the connection between Richard and Kahlan. It’s just kind of there. When I look at him, the ground comes in underneath me, and I just feel “Yup, he’s Richard and yup, I’m Kahlan.” You just kind of play like you’re little kids in the background and you believe. I think you kind of need that sort of thing in a fantasy show. You kind of need that playful, childlike attitude towards it. He’s totally got that — he’s such a little kid at heart. And he’s the best movie quoter I’ve ever known. He’s so good. You give him any movie, and he could just go verbatim on and on and on. Get him to do Fight Club or Home Alone — he loves Home Alone.

The onscreen chemistry between you and Craig has caused a lot of people to wonder whether you’re dating. Can you define your relationship for us?
Craig and I are very close. We’re very good friends, and we’ve had a wonderful relationship over the year and half, but it’s just been that.

I just had to ask… On that note, thanks for talking to us, Bridget, and I hope we get to do it again soon.
And thanks for supporting us on Hulu, we love it!

But in a surprising turn of events, the longtime rivals are joining forces to co-host the 2010 Oscars in March. “I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin,” Martin said in a statement. “I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” Baldwin added, referring to Martin’s current gig, touring with a bluegrass band. To mark this new truce, the Hulu team looked back at some classic Martin-Baldwin appearances on SNL. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Baldwin Gets Mugged
In this sketch from Season 31, Steve Martin’s on a hot date with a married woman (Kelly Ripa), and things appear to be going well — until she mentions that Alec Baldwin is about to tie him for the most times hosting Saturday Night Live, that is. Cue a hasty departure from the restaurant as Martin rushes to Studio 8H to secure his position as the king of late night.

Martin Asks for a Raise
The same night, Martin approaches executive producer Lorne Michaels in hopes of getting a raise. After all, the paycheck for hosting duties is still $5,000, the same as it was when Martin delivered his first monologue in 1976. When Michaels refuses, Martin threatens to walk off the stage, but the SNL honcho has the ultimate bargaining chip: Alec Baldwin.

Going Platinum
In this bit from Season 32, we’re treated to a look at the Platinum Lounge backstage at Studio 8H, when host Alec Baldwin tries to give cast member Mya Rudolph a tour. Strangely enough, Baldwin’s frenemy, Steve Martin, is hanging out in the lounge, too, and offers to Baldwin a drink. Look for a pair of surprise cameos (sad as one of them may be) as the two catch up over a glass of Scotch, and Martin reveals his nefarious side.

A Baldwin Classic
In “Platinum Lounge” (above), Baldwin references an older sketch that he’ll never live down. A riff on a talk radio show, it features Baldwin as baker Pete Schweddy, a guest on NPR’s “Delicious Dish.” He’s there to talk about his Christmas goodies — everything from zucchini break to fruitcake — but one specialty is his best. They’re delicate and tender, but bigger than you might expect.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have a long history with Saturday Night Live. Which of their characters have been your favorites?

“Dancing With Myself”
When we think of the 1981 Billy Idol hit “Dancing with Myself,” we don’t think acoustic guitar. (Fun fact: Billy Idol originally released this song as a member of the band Generation X; he went on to hit the jackpot when he released a pop version as a solo artist.) But wheelchair-bound Artie sang us a sensitive version as he rolled through the halls of McKinley High and cast wistful eyes at stuttering Tina in the cafeteria.

“Defying Gravity”
Mr. Schue got Kurt’s attention when he told the club the had to go a more traditional route and sing “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. After all, Kurt has an iPod playlist dedicated exclusively to songs from the Broadway show. But coach had Rachel in mind — and good thing, because it’s her go-to shower song and ringtone — and wouldn’t budge until Kurt’s dad got involved, claiming his son was being discriminated against because of his gender. The only way to settle things? A diva-off, where Kurt and Rachel sang for the rest of the club. Whomever hit the High F and won their fellow glee-ks’ votes would get the lead. Listening to this clip, it’s clear one of them threw the competition.

“Proud Mary”
This one’s for Artie: the grand “Proud Mary” finale made full use of the wheelchairs Mr. Schue picked up for a song (pun intended) at the St. Ignatius thrift store. The glee-ks bopped and rolled across the stage in an upbeat rendition of the Creedence Clearwater Revival/Tina Turner classic, giving due respect to their “handicapable” friend.

See the full episode here and tell us what you think: did “Wheels” deliver? Which musical number was your favorite?

Impeccable Quickstep: Mya
While most of the stars faltered a bit during the ballroom round, one of them really shined: R&B star Mya, whose quickstep seemed impeccable to our eyes. In fact, Len gave Mya a bit of a scare following her performance, telling her that he was disappointed — but not for the reasons she expected. (Turns out, the cranky old judge was upset he had nothing to criticize for once.) No surprise that Bruno Tonioli was the most enthusiastic of the judges, telling Mya and her partner Dmitry that “this quickstep is like vintage Champagne. After you taste it, nothing else will do.” Their scores: a pair of tens from Bruno and (surprise!) Len; a nine from Carrie Ann Inaba.

Smokin’ Samba: Mya
Dmitry’s ridiculous moustache aside, Mya’s ’70s disco-inspired samba tore up the dance floor, and the crowd ate it up. “Your hips were hypnotic,” Len told her. “You have produced tonight two dances of the highest standard, with no gimmicks.” As far as the judges were concerned, Mya’s hips don’t lie: they earned the team the first perfect score of the season. We’ll let Bruno speak — er, screech — for himself in the clip below.

Futuristic Paso Doble: Joanna Krupa
In the future, fashion will come with lights, women will wear blue lipstick, and men will use lots of hair gel — if this performance is any indication of life in the 2020s, anyway. And though swimsuit model Joanna Krupa called it her hardest week so far (evidenced by her quickstep in the ballroom round), she and Derek really came together for a synchronized reinvention of the paso doble. A slight wobble by Joanna cost the team a point in an otherwise perfect routine: they earned a nine from Carrie Ann and two 10s from Len and Bruno.

Last Dance: Aaron Carter
Though Aaron Carter didn’t exactly shine during his ballroom number, his ’90s samba earned him triple nines from the judges. A tribute to his childhood days as a pop star, his dance evoked all of the great boy bands of that era. He looked completely at ease on the dance floor, and although Carrie Ann said “I thought you were hittin’ it,” the voters didn’t necessarily agree. The samba was Aaron and Karina Smirnoff’s last dance in the competition. Anyone have a Kleenex? Aaron’s sure to be shedding some tears over his departure.

Do you think the voters were right to send Aaron home? Of the four stars advancing to the semifinals — Joanna Krupa, Mya, Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond — who’s your pick to win?

DogTown has all things adorable rolled neatly into one program: kittens, bunnies, ponies, piglets and puppies who need care, and the nice guys who volunteer to help them. This series just warms my little heart. Be prepared for your eyebrows to try to kiss each other and your bottom lip to stick out further than when you’re doing your fish impression.

This docu-series about the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, is just what it takes to cure a little case of SAD or cynicism.

Jocelyn Matsuo (jocelyn@hulu.com)
Video Editor & Lover of All Things Cute

To celebrate their big 4-0, the team at Hulu asked our friends at Sesame Street to pick some of their favorite clips from over the years. The collection features everything from Norah Jones singing “Don’t Know Why” to bits I remember from my childhood, like “Grover and a Fly in My Soup.”

Hulu had the chance to speak to Carol-Lynn Parente, executive producer for Sesame Street, last week as the show ramped up for its Season 40 premiere. The 21-year veteran of the show basically grew up with the likes of Grover and Kermit the Frog, and today, she guides the creative vision for the show. So what’s it like working with a bunch of a bunch of puppets? She tells us all about it below. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

Hulu: One of my favorite things about Sesame Street is the timelessness of certain segments. Have certain ones proven to be consistently popular through the years?
Sesame Street’s Carol-Lynn Parente: One of the things about the show is that not only do we have a lot of history with different segments, but different characters. Each one has kind of its own cult following. It kind of depends on who you’re talking to in terms of what’s popular, but we have a pretty good, consistent appeal across the board.

You’ve had a ton of celebrity guests over the years.
Yeah, it’s sort of a who’s-who of celebrities, the ultimate list. Season 40 is particularly star-studded with everyone from Sarah Jessica Parker to Cameron Diaz and Adam Sandler and Ricky Gervais and Kobe Bryant and Eva Longoria [Parker]. We’re just very fortunate in that we get lots of requests from celebrities, so we don’t really have to go after these guys — they come to us. We try really hard to fit as many of them in as we can, which is so much fun.

How do those sketches work? Do they come up with ideas?
It’s different with everyone. A lot of time, what we do is wait until we have the booking, and then we assign a writer to a project. Sometimes there’s something that we’re parodying about some project that they’re in. Occasionally they want to get involved in collaborating. So Ricky Gervais this year actually wrote his piece, the song that he’s in. It’s really a lot of fun when the celebrities get into it.

What’s it like working with the characters?
Wow, I’m probably the luckiest person on Earth, because I get to come to work with Big Bird and Cookie Monster and Elmo every day. Not everyone can say that. You know, aside from just having a whole lot of fun, these performers are really the best in the business. The show attracts the best in the business across the board, from writers to directors, too. But the performers are real artists, because they’re making characters and emotion out of just these very simple felt and fur puppets.

Do you have as much fun off camera as you do onscreen?
You know, we really do. I think that’s the reason this show is so much fun to watch. There is just as much fun if not more on the set. These guys are really amazing performers. Our outtake reel at the wrap party is an awful lot of fun.

How do you come up with new ideas for the show?
We’re lucky because we have amazing writers. The model of Sesame Street is unique. Part of the foundation of the show from the very beginning was that writers work with producers and researchers, all in tandem. That’s how we get not only really funny scripts — because we have very funny writers — but also educational ones, because they’re working every step along the way with researchers.

The show has seen some of its cast and extras grow up on the set. Do any of them come back to visit?
They do. It’s sometimes just a very small world. We had a crew member that came by, just a rotating crew member — you know, you sometimes need someone to fill in for someone who’s out — and he was actually on the show when he was a kid. We’ve had a press reporter that also came on the show and was one of the extra kids back in the ’70s. It’s very surreal for them to be back on the set.

What’s in store for Season 40?
What’s amazing about Season 40 is that it’s really a complete format change. The show has gone through evolution over 40 years — I think that’s the secret to its success; that it’s kept up with the times and made changes, really, because it’s a real neighborhood. And just as those real neighborhoods that the show was modeled after have changed, so has the show.

The show format was modeled after variety-type show like Laugh-In, in a very magazine-like format, that’s not the case anymore. In fact, now there are entire networks devoted to preschool programming. We’re an hour-long show, which is a long time for preschoolers, and that’s unique in the preschool programming world. We decided to think of our hour as a block. It’s formatted that way so we have four anchor shows within our hour, and a brand-new show as part that block is Abby’s Flying School with Abby Cadabby, who’s taken the form of 3-D CGI, and so she will appear in the show in puppet form, but she has her own format, this show within a show. It’s really part of that evolution of what kids are watching, what they’re used to watching, that style of graphics animation. And it allows us to be more physical than we can be with puppets, which is great.

Thanks, Carol-Lynn! Good luck with the 40th season.

Think our collection is missing a shining Sesame Street moment? Tell us which in the comments section. We’ll include some of our favorites in a brand-new collection.

Hulu: What sparked your interest in the relationship between porn and Internet technology?
Vanguard’s Christof Putzel: If you use the Internet, it’s hard to ignore the existence of porn. It shows up in your inbox as spam, as links to your unrelated search inquiries. It’s everywhere. It’s no secret that pornography has been at the cutting edge of media for decades. Pornography is what we have to thank for some of the expansion at the early days of the Internet. So what I was interested in was, in this day and age when mainstream industries like the movie business and the music business are all struggling to figure out how to best utilize the internet and not keep losing their shirts, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how the porn industry was doing. It’s traditionally been one step ahead of mainstream businesses when it came to distribution formats.

What were some of the biggest surprises you encountered while working on this story?
I think that I was most surprised by just how much the adult industry is hurting as a whole. There’s a common misconception that anyone can make a dollar dabbling in Internet porn. While there might have been some truth to that 10 years ago, even the well-established companies are having trouble staying in business today. There’s just so much free pornography out there on the Internet, whether pirated or homemade. Many consumers just see the need to pay for it anymore. That’s kind of ironic, that the same technologies that helped push the industry forward — you know, things like cheap cameras and faster Internet connections — are today bringing it to its knees.

Did you find that you were shocked by any of the things that you saw?
Oh man, yeah. I was shocked by a lot of things when I visited Kink.com’s offices. I’m no prude, but the porn that Kink was producing was unlike anything that the darkest, most warped part of my conscious could come up with. Their business model is based on appealing to those with niche fetishes. So it can be a bit much to handle for an unfamiliar outsider, like myself. The company houses its offices and production studios inside the old San Francisco Armory building. When you walk through the hallways, it has this dungeon-castle type atmosphere. The first room that I was taken to was the blacksmith’s workshop, where they build all the cages and the props. When I walked in, the blacksmith was trying to figure out how to construct a device that could simultaneously send electric currents from a car battery to various parts of the female anatomy. That was just like, “Oh, just another day at the office” for them. And then I was escorted into a room that contained multiple shelves lined with various electronics: a KitchenAid cake mixer, a leaf blower, chainsaw; all modified to perform the task that their website implies. But perhaps the most surreal machine was a replica of the beloved Johnny 5 robot from Short Circuit. That movie stirs up fond childhood memories for me, it’s a 1988 classic. It kind of threw me a little bit when the robot followed me around the room.

Do you feel like you ever became more comfortable around all of it?
I think what was most shocking was just how normal I found everyone to be. You have this feeling that it’s gonna be like a kid in a candy store. It was actually just a lot of people working. I guess as someone who works in media production for a company that has a giant website and is into new media, I think I had a preconceived notion of the types of characters who would sink so low to take a job in an industry that’s widely considered to be at the bottom of the barrel. But every employee that I met appeared very cheerful, and genuinely ecstatic and grateful for the opportunity to work there. And they were smart. Many of them had turned down job offers at mainstream companies to have the opportunity for more creative freedom. The guys in the IT department really felt like they were on the cutting edge, Internet-wise. They felt that they were getting challenges and opportunities that they couldn’t get at other companies. I think that’s what I found most shocking. It kind of blew away my stereotypes.

As far as being desensitized, I think that no; it was still a pretty new experience for me to see people having sex right next to me. I think it was hard for me to become desensitized because, in both instances, when I went to Kink and when I went to Wicked, I actually went and interviewed and talked to them first, and got to know them a little bit. So then seeing them take their clothes off and have sex felt wrong in a way. I think that’s why it was a little hard to become desensitized.

Of course, you touch on this a bit, but how did the insiders feel about their jobs?
You know, that was another one that blew me away. The interns at Kink.com couldn’t be more ecstatic to be cleaning [props], hoping for the chance to be promoted to one day be producing or directing their own porn, or at least play a larger role in the production process. I think that was another part that was just so shocking. Everyone I met genuinely believed in what they were doing. The common perception is that there is a lot of abuse in the industry, and while I’m sure that still exists, the people that I encountered were definitely doing what they were doing because they wanted to be. I’d say people like TomKat [seen in the web extra] seems to absolutely love her job. The geeks in the IT departments, I think one of them said to me “We’re a company where you can fulfill not only all of your sexual fantasies, but all of your technological fantasies, as well.” That’s a geek thing to say, but he clearly likes it.

What also became very clear was that, to stay afloat these days in the adult entertainment industry, you’ve got to work really hard at it, and you’ve got to really want to stay afloat — because otherwise, you’ll go under. I think that a lot of the characters from back in the day that might have been sluggish to get online and stuck in their ways, or technically just not very bright, I think they’re being weeded out.

Can you touch on some of the innovations from porn that are now present in mainstream Internet technology?
E-commerce. The first pioneers of e-commerce were in the adult industry, pushing further what kind of credit card transaction could take place over the Internet. Affiliate marketing was pioneered and embraced by porn online and quickly became a system basically every mainstream company that advertises on the web uses. Kink certainly was the first one to be doing multiple galleries of photos, high-speed streaming video. At the time I interviewed them, Kink.com was the only company who had figured out how to stream high definition live on the web. It’s fascinating to see these guys in the basement building the technology out of wood and spare parts, and figuring out how to do it. I thought that was very telling.

How is the rise of Internet porn affected the more established porn companies?
It’s affected them tremendously. The technology has kind of caught up with itself. The same technology that pushed the industry forward is now killing its profits. It’s doing that mainly through privacy, where people are just ripping off DVDs and putting them online through tube sites and bit torrent sites. The genre’s changed, where people like gonzo and amateur porn, which is incredibly cheaply produced and it’s very short. Now people just want to see two or three minutes of porn and, you know, get it over with, and aren’t necessarily sitting down in their living rooms with a DVD that they just bought to watch a whole storyline unfold. A lot of people were predicting, like all the format wars — BetaMax vs. VHS, DVD — whatever porn chose would win. A lot of people were predicting that Blu-Ray and the HD DVD war would be decided by porn. And it wasn’t. The theory of why it wasn’t was because the Internet had been involved this time. People want to watch porn in privacy, on their laptops or on their iPhones. They don’t necessarily need the high-def value and surround sound that the living room would require.

Last year, the biggest-selling porn DVD wasn’t from any big porn companies, it was Paris Hilton. She’s what they call the “accidental porn star”. That’s giving these big companies a serious run for their money and putting a lot of them under. Now the challenge that they’re facing is how do they continue to innovate? How do they provide a service people will pay for? Essentially, it’s what everyone else is trying to figure out — journalism, Hulu. Everyone’s trying to figure out how to make a dollar off of this. Some of the more innovative companies are trying to provide experiences that can’t be pirated, being more interactive, creating communities, doing things live. I think you see at the conference, there’s an on-demand service that syncs with a machine you can attach to yourself and watch things in sync. That’s an experience you won’t be able to pirate. That’s what’s coming next. I think that, like everyone else, they’re just scratching the surface.

What was that experience like?
I was kind of so flabbergasted at the time that something like this existed. But you know, yeah, I got where they were going, definitely. … I don’t know if that’s the future, but it’s very telling of what they discovered that they need to provide in order to survive.

Changing gears a bit, what will you be covering next on Vanguard?
Right now I’m editing a piece about cocaine trafficking in Europe and the growth of the Nigerian mafia. Cocaine use in Europe is at an all-time high, and in order for South America to meet the demand, they have started trafficking cocaine in high volumes through West Africa for geographical and proximity issues. It’s creating quite a stir. It’s called “The Cocaine Mafia.”

What have been some of your favorite assignments for Vanguard?
I think we have the greatest job in the world. We travel around, getting to meet people and understand situations that most people would probably even know. I think that going to Mogadishu was certainly probably one of the most intense reporting experiences I’ve ever had. We went there with our own private militia of 16 armed guards and were some of the first Western journalists to report from there in 15 years. I’d say that it was a petrifying but amazing experience. Definitely one of my favorites.

I’ll be that the porn piece seemed kind of safe after some of your other assignments.
You know, it did. I think Vanguard has covered a lot of doom and gloom. I covered Africa multiple times; disease, drugs, death, destruction, war, fighting, and honestly, I need to lighten it up a little for myself. So that’s kind of why I chose this story. I needed something a little lighter, just to take a break. I think that this season needs to be broken up a little bit and provide people a little something different. If you use the Internet, it’s almost part of your everyday life.

Have you had any scary experiences in general, stuff we could share with our users?
There’s a great scene in Mogadishu. There are two great moments in that story: one when we’re first entering Mogadishu for the first time and we’re basically stopped at gunpoint, and we think we’re about to be executed. There was another moment where we were trying to hide up on a hill while filming the largest public prayer gathering in a mosque in 15 years. We’re hiding up on the hill when everybody, the thousands of people below us, turned and faced west to begin praying and we realized that we were to the west and everyone was staring right up at us. I think the line in the piece was, “If there was ever any secret that two white guys were hanging out in Mogadishu, that cat was now out of the bag.”

I went and interviewed these skinheads in Russia and I ended up in the middle of the woods in this training camp. I was really trying to understand what was behind these guys’ motivations. When I discovered that this guy I was talking to was genuinely ecstatic watching himself beating people up, it was my first realization that I was interviewing a psychopath. That was pretty scary.

For more about Vanguard, visit their website.

Justin Timberlake: Host with the Most
Few artists from the Billboard charts have managed to resonate with the SNL crowd as well as the guy who brought sexy back. Whether he’s wearing a Chess King button-down in digital shorts like “Motherlover” or rocking a white leisure suit as Robin Gibb in the hilarious “Barry Gibb Talk Show” sketches, Justin Timberlake is gold as far as SNL is concerned. Here, he shares some family history in a little sketch called “Immigrant Tale.”

Paul Simon: The Original
Long before Justin Timberlake was born, singer-songwriter Paul Simon paved the way for generations of musical guests looking for hosting duties. His monologue was self-effacing, good-spirited — and still funny after all these years.

Sting: The Rocker
Promoting his 1991 release “Soul Cages,” Sting put on a punk rock wig to channel his inner Billy Idol for this classic sketch featuring the who’s-who of 1990s SNL. In the end, the sketch served as a vehicle for the late, great Phil Hartman to deliver his belligerent Frank Sinatra impression, but Sting did a respectable job as the snarling rocker.

Queen Latifah: Crossover Artist
Though her 2004 movie Taxi — also starring Jimmy Fallon from SNL — bombed in the box office, Queen Latifah is one of the few music artists who can hold her own in front of the camera. In this fake commercial, she played up the stresses of being one of the only two black women in her office. Fortunately, she had just the cure.

Ludacris: Sharing the Spotlight
In November 2006, actor-rapper Ludacris stepped aside for the debut of the much more talented Blizzard Man (Andy Samberg at his dorkiest), whom ‘Cris lauded as “Marvin Gaye mixed with a little Stevie Wonder.” And though Samberg is definitely the scene stealer here, Ludacris’ performance proves that the SNL writers can’t go wrong when they ask their double-duty hosts to just play themselves.

Janet Jackson: Tongue-Tied
Granted, when Janet Jackson — that’s Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty — hosted, she was no stranger to acting. After all, she starred in “Good Times” in the 1970. Her “SNL” gig was nearly 30 years later, though, so it’s no wonder she tripped up in this tongue-twister of sketch that was full of innuendo.

Jon Bon Jovi: ’80s Flashback
While Amy Poehler is the true star of this ’80s flashback sketch, a cloud of Aqua Net fumes brought a bandana-clad Jon Bon Jovi to life, straight from the “Slippery When Wet” era. For those of us old enough to remember “You Give Love a Bad Name,” it’s a delight to hear that the young Jon Francis Bon Jovi, Jr., was just another fat kid who played the French horn.

Steve Martin: Role Reversal
SNL alum Steve Martin was no stranger to hosting duties when he headlined the late night show last January — after all, it was his 15th time delivering a monologue — but this time, things were different. Martin also performed “Late for School” as musical guest. In addition to his folksy banjo ditty, he presented one cool digital short: “Laser Cats 4.”

Garth Brooks: Alter-Egos
In November 1999, the second time country singer Garth Brooks hosted SNL, his alter ego, Chris Gaines performed as the musical guest. The writers played up this peculiar lineup with an ongoing gag about a bizarre love triangle between Brooks, Gaines and Chris Kattan’s “Mango” character.

“There’s a lot of stuff going on. Some of the scenes near the end of the episode were really fun to shoot. It’s an action-packed episode with a lot of drama. It’s actually kind of sad, too,” Scott Michael Foster (who plays Cappie) told us. “There’s a lot of stuff going and emotions are high. It’s always cool to shoot scenes like that, because we always want to make sure we have good finales for the audience.”

Now that Cappie’s back together with Casey, he has to break the news to a possibly less-than-supportive Evan. “When we were reading the scripts and finding out where they were going to go with this storyline, we wanted for them to all stay friends and be happy,” he said, “but drama has to come from somewhere, so it’s definitely hard for the three of them to have a relationship. You’re going to see how it all affects them in the finale.”

Ready to see what happens? Here’s the full episode.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Hulu’s ZBZ Wannabe

Hulu: First, can you tell us why you decided to do a series about Hong Kong?
Chef Yan: Well, if anybody has traveled to Hong Kong, it’s a city that not only never sleeps, but it never slows down. Hong Kong has always been considered the gourmet paradise and the Mecca of great foods. Being an international city and colonized by the British for over 100 years, Hong Kong is the crossroads of all the great foods. You have some of the best Western restaurants, French restaurants, Italian restaurants, Russian restaurants, Southeast Asian restaurants, and you also have the best Chinese restaurants. They actually refer to Hong Kong as the “fragrant harbor.” There are more restaurants per capita in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world.

How did you decide which dishes and which parts of Hong Kong to focus on for this series, since Hong Kong is such a diverse large city?
I actually trained in Hong Kong. When I left Guangzhou, China when I was 13, I actually spent six years in Hong Kong working in restaurants. And after I graduated from college, I went back to Hong Kong to work. I worked for a food magazine, so I have a lot of fond memories, and I have some favorites of Hong Kong. Normally what I do in the Hong Kong Series, basically, is to feature the uniqueness of Hong Kong and what makes Hong Kong so different. Each show actually has a theme — for instance, bamboo. In Hong Kong, when they build high rises, they don’t use steel racks. They use bamboo scaffolding, all the way up to the 30th or 40th floor, so it’s very, very unique. You see people climbing up and down the bamboo scaffolding. And then the whole theme is on bamboo, talking about the use of bamboo in China and Southeast Asia. We talk about using bamboo shoots, cooking bamboo shoots, when whole bamboo is used, and when the bamboo leaf is used to wrap Chinese tamales in dim sum restaurants. Each one is about what makes Hong Kong so unique.

In another program, we talk about water. Hong Kong is an island, a peninsula island that is all surrounded by water. You water everywhere: you see deep water, you see the bay, the harbor, and then you see seafood restaurants everywhere. There’s an abundance of seafood from all over the world, not only the surrounding area. The whole series is about life, food, lifestyle, arts and the excitement, and what makes Hong Kong so unique.

Which episodes are your favorites?
They’re all my favorites. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put them in the series. I’m a world traveler. Normally my focus is not just on featuring one subject matter and one theme, but also to give people a broad understanding and an introduction to a great city. You see London, Paris, Tokyo, and New York and Los Angeles… Hong Kong is probably if not the most, then one of the most exciting cities in the world. You ask anybody who has visited Hong Kong, and they never forget all the excitement, all the energy. You go to New York – -and I love New York, I love London — but you only see part of New York, or part of London. You only see the theater district or Times Square, a certain area that never sleeps. But in Hong Kong, the entire city never sleeps. If you’ve ever been to Hong Kong, you’ll notice that it’s not just part of Hong Kong, but the entire city of Hong Kong is always bustling. There’s 7 to 8 million people living in a place that’s smaller than Chicago.

How often do you travel to Hong Kong?
I go there eight times years. I just landed, and I’m going back there in November and December. I do shows in China and Hong Kong, and I bring a lot professional chefs. I bring a leisure, gourmet tour as well as professional chefs to Hong Kong and China.

And why did you decide to put this series on Hulu?
Hulu is a great medium to reach a good audience. People who are interested in information, interested in entertainment would be browsing around Hulu and watch the programs. It’s also a new medium and excited. I’m very excited to partner with Hulu, and hopefully this is not the end, but the beginning.

I read that you’ve hosted over 3,000 cooking shows …
Yeah, I’ve done more cooking shows than most people. Not necessarily all people, but most people. I started doing the cooking show in 1978, 1979, for 30 years now.

How do you keep finding new ideas?
Well, I travel a great deal. I’m passionate about food and I love to eat, and I have a lot of friends everywhere. Everywhere I go, people always give me the best. Because of that, they inspire me. Being a guy that loves to eat — some people love tennis, some people love hiking, some people love swimming or surfing. I happen to love to eat and love to cook. Also, when you eat different food, like Cuban food, or Russian food, or Burmese food, you also understand the culture and the backdrop of the people. It’s a fascinating thing, a study of anthropology, of history and lifestyle when you go to a restaurant. Like when you go to an Indian restaurant, you see the decor. You go to a Thai restaurant and you see the wood carvings and the embroidery. You go to a Vietnamese or Cambodian restaurant, you see something. So the restaurant is a reflection of the culture and heritage. Just like people collecting stamps, you can study a lot about the people and their history. Food and restaurants are the same. Food is an expression of the chef and the owner. It’s how they want to present themselves and what kind of target audience they want to reach. For me, it’s always a cultural and culinary journey when you go into a restaurant, and it’s the same thing when I travel and when bring the program to people. I constantly learn from the chef, from the people, from home cooks. You cannot possibly know all the cuisine and the culture in the world, so by traveling, I bring all my memories and all my experiences with the people to the audience. I hope Hulu will continue to be in the forefront of bringing all this information and excitement and entertainment to people.

And when you’re at home, are you the one that cooks?
I always cook for myself. People always ask my wife, “Who cooks at home?” My wife always points her finger to me. When I’m home, I cook. I have three refrigerators and two sinks, and a big counter and a professional cooktop in my house. Everything is given to me by GE Monogram, so I can cook at home. I entertain a lot at home. When I’m home, I invite all my friends and neighbors to come and have dinner. A lot of times, I ask everybody to get involved, though. I normally cook one or two items, and they bring the dessert and salad and everything. Food and cooking brings everyone together. I hope my program on Hulu will bring more excitement and fun to the people that love food and travel, because all my programs are a combination of traveling and food and cooking.

Creative Differences
Kelly may never officially reveal the inspiration behind “Male Prima Donna,” but she’s more than happy to let “The Office” cameras follow her around as she produces her first music video. The Dunder Mifflin break room is converted into wardrobe — as Oscar’s trying to eat lunch, naturally — so Kelly can do Ryan’s makeup (he likes a lot of blush and eyeliner), and the parking lot serves as an impromptu set for a scene involving a priest and a smoking bride.

The Replacement
While the SubSex girls may have lost one of their video extras, they soon set their sights on a replacement: Andy, a former member of Cornell’s “Hear Comes Treble” a cappella group. What can we say? He had us with his ode to a vending machine.

The Music Video
In the end, the video had room for all the key players: Ryan in a white top hat and cane as Mr. Understood, while the Nard Dog puts on quite the show in the Dunder-Mifflin warehouse. Meanwhile, Kelly and Erin tear it up as they get down to the chorus: “But I can’t help but want ‘cha / I’m an independent diva / But I still kinda need ya” in gold spandex, wedding clothes and pirate garb. Need a last-minute Halloween costume? We think you’ve found your inspiration.

Good Parents Always Offer Their Two Cents
In the season opener, Mitchell and Cameron have a daunting task ahead of them: the gay couple needs to tell the rest of the family about their newly adopted baby. But Mitchell’s family isn’t known for keeping their opinions to themselves. As he’s about to break the news, Jay interrupts to share his thoughts on the subject of Mitchell and Cameron’s relationship. As a result, Cameron misses his cue and makes his dramatic entrance — with baby in tow — a few beats too soon.

Good Parents Teach Life Lessons
When Claire and Phil’s son, Luke, shoots his sister with a BB gun, they decide it’s time to teach Luke an important lesson: retaliation. As punishment for his actions, Luke must get shot with a BB gun himself, and so Phil takes his son to the backyard, where (as expected) nothing seems to go according to plan. Lesson learned? Who knows, but we’re sure Phil will never look at a gun the same.

Good Parents Give Older Boyfriends a Chance
Claire’s eldest daughter, Haley has a new boyfriend — a high school senior — and mom and dad aren’t so sure about their daughter dating an older boy. But when Dylan shows surprising insight during a volatile family moment, they decide to give him a chance. All that changes, though, when he performs a completely inappropriate but surprisingly catchy song he wrote for his sweetheart in front of the entire family.

Good Parents Want their Kids to Excel
Some of our favorite “Family” moments involve Mitchell and Cameron. In this scene, Mitchell shows his competitive side at baby play group, while Cameron — the diva of the bunch — shows off his dance moves.

Good Dads Enjoy Time with the Family
Hapless son-in-law Phil is always trying to bond with Claire’s dad, but Jay isn’t so tolerant of Phil. That said, Phil convinces his father-in-law to take him out to fly his model plane, and Jay reluctantly agrees — but never gives Phil the chance to take the controls. Instead, he decides to show Phil one of his favorite tricks, one that requires Phil to cross the air field and stand far, far away from Jay.

Good Parents are “Cool”
“Modern Family” fans know that Phil’s desperate to seem cool to his kids, and he goes to great lengths to show his kids how “with it” he can be. Unfortunately for Phil, his attempts at being hip usually miss the mark, as seen here, when he tries to impress — and intimidate — Haley’s boyfriend Dylan.

NBC Sports’ National Heads-Up Poker Championship has all the head-game of regular televised Poker, but the format has the fierce, one-on-one battle of the minds that makes for a good spectator sport, even over an entire season. You get to know the pros in style, personality and tells. In fact, you already know some of the competitors from your favorite 90’s sitcoms: Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett get invites, as well as Don Cheadle and Jennifer Tilly.

This series is especially good for poker novices. Heads-Up greatly simplifies the odds and the commentary is clear, while giving player-history that is actually interesting. And with Hulu’s continuous play feature, you can watch episodes back-to-back, just like you’re in the tournament. Here are the starts of the 2008 and 2009 championships to get your started.

2008

2009

Jocelyn Matsuo (jocelyn@hulu.com)
Hulu’s Card Shark

Fifty years from now, I hope to tell my grandkids this: Back in the day, we watched web video in a player, surrounded by ads, low quality, in our basements as a party started to wind down. The only way you could find the funnies was to be in the same room, taking turns showing what you could play if you got really good at the ukulele.

Those times have already changed. I find that as a yuppie, I don’t have time to surf around through sub-par web video to find some viral cat that eats its own booger. Good thing I found G4’s Web Soup:

Web Soup serves up hilarious viral videos in our favorite, high-quality Hulu form.

Jocelyn Matsuo (jocelyn@hulu.com)
Content Editor

The Leading Man: Donny Osmond
Poor Donny Osmond’s working like a dog these days, trying to balance a busy Vegas act (you can see him and Marie four nights a week) and master two new dances for the competition. But hard work suits him: he and partner Kym Johnson delivered an intimate Argentine Tango that actually seemed sexy — that’s right, Donny Osmond and “sexy” in the same sentence! Judge Carrie Ann Inaba agreed, too, exclaiming “The Argentine Tango loves Donny Osmond! … I just fell in love with you. There’s a whole new side of you tonight … it was so darn sexy!” The intensity between Donny and Kym led Bruno Toniolo to compare the squeaky clean entertainer to Donnie Darko — “broody, moody, dangerous and sharp as a blade.” While Len Goodman was a little more reserved, giving Donny a 9, Carrie Ann and Bruno each gave Donny 10’s, for the highest score of the night.

Drama Delivered: Mark Decascos
While Iron Chef chairman Mark Decascos errs on the side of cheesy more often than we like, he toned down the cheese and embraced his macho bullfighter side this week. But really, his Paso Doble with partner Lacey Schwimmer was all about her crazy, frizzed-out, banana-clipped hair. That aside, Mark delivered a dramatic Flamenco opening that managed to show off his sexier side. While Len Goodman commended Mark on his mastery of the “three P’s” — posture, passion, performance — Bruno focused on something else: “You’re turning into Mephisto, the devil. You were on it!” Lacey took a risk giving Mark a solo, but it paid off, earning the duo their highest scores so far.

Chemistry Experiment: Joanna Krupa
PETA activist/swimsuit model Joanna Krupa suffered two major blows this week, but she managed to dance her way through to another round. Not only did she have a costly stumble in the middle of her routine, but her partner Derek Hough was sidelined with the flu. Fortunately, the producers had a stand-in at the ready: the recently eliminated Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who just happens to be a Ukrainian Latin Ballroom dance champion. Lucky for Joanna, she and Maks managed to spark some chemistry after just a few days of practice. (Some partners — Melissa and Mark, Natalie and Alec — just never seem to come together.) Joanna and Maks started off strong, but Joanna’s misstep threw off the rest of the routine. “I was living my fantasies up until that stumble. Up until then, you could have had anything you wanted,” Bruno told them. Because of the change in partners, we suspect the judges were lenient with Joanna and Maks, granting them triple 8’s for the night.

Daddy’s Little Girl: Kelly Osbourne
Ozzy’s little girl found confidence doing the Charleston last week, but could she master the decidedly serious Paso Doble this time around? Faced with that challenge, Kelly did what any daughter would do: She gave herself a Sharon Osbourne ‘do while her partner, Louis van Amstel, channeled his inner goth with a lot of eyeliner, and together they danced to Ozzy’s “Crazy Train.” Her goal was to be as fierce as possible, but Kelly went off the rails from time to time. “You’ve got to learn the routine, but that’s just the start. You’ve then got to work on getting into the character,” Len told her. It wasn’t played up during the night of dancing, but it turns out Kelly actually sprained her foot and suffered a contusion (fancy doctor-speak for a bruise) during her routine, though she should be fine to dance next week.

Wooden Nickel Award: Michael Irvin
Last week, former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin was crushed by the judges’ critique of his Bolero, but the voters gave him a second chance by keeping him in the game. Of all the stars on “Dancing” this season, he seems to be having the most fun, and he worked hard to master the Paso Doble. The secret, it seems, came from his partner, Ann Demidova, who told him to walk like he had a coin between his butt cheeks. And so, what did this self-respecting football star do? He stuck a nickel between his cheeks and marched and swirled his cape around like a master bullfighter. While it’s clear Michael isn’t a natural dancer, he showed improvement as far as the judges were concerned. “Finally, somebody put their game face on!” Carrie Ann told him. “It’s my favorite dance so far… the intensity was there.” Len like his posture, expressiveness and the haughty way he walked the floor. As for the always eloquent Bruno, we’ll let him speak for himself.

Swan Song: Natalie Coughlin
To our admittedly untrained eyes, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin always seemed a beat behind as she did the Paso Doble to “American Woman,” but there’s no doubt that she looked strong and powerful. In fact, this dance, which mimics the movements of a Spanish bullfight, seemed to play to her strengths: a long, lean swimmer’s body and an aggressive, competitive side. The judges all agreed that she performed a very clean, precise dance, but she needed to develop a character and show more chemistry with her partner. And while Bruno, Len and Carrie Ann looked forward to seeing Natalie’s progression, the voters didn’t agree. Much to the shock of everyone in the “Dancing” studio, she was sent packing with tears in her eyes.

Tell us what you think: Were you surprised to see Natalie go home this week?

Could these “TGS” changes reflect something going on behind the scenes at 30 Rock? “We write what we know,” said executive producer Robert Carlock on a recent teleconference. “I think if it does make it into the script, it’s only because it’s sort of an interesting tension that the people in our fake world live with, too. We want to please as many people as we can. We also want to please ourselves. We’ve been very, very lucky in terms of pleasing ourselves and pleasing the Emmys, which is very, very gratifying and rewarding, and sure, it’s a conversation here. We wish we were the No. 1 show in America, and maybe we’ll get there this year. It sometimes makes for a story, but it certainly doesn’t come from a place of bitterness.”

So how does the cast of “TGS” handle the changes? Find out in the full episode embedded below. Looking for a little more Lemon and friends? Be sure to check out our 30 Rock page for the premiere episode and clips from the last 3 seasons.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

“Hate on Me”
When she hears that the minority glee clubbers felt ignored by Mr. Schuester and the rest of the club, Sue realizes she’d found her “chink in the armor.” Her plan: “Sue’s Kids,” an opportunity for the minority singers to have their voices heard. To curry their favor, she brings along her own brass section to accompany a contemporary R&B song: Jill Scott’s “Hate On Me.” It’s a chance for the soulful Mercedes to really let loose and for Mike to pop-and-lock as much as he wants.

“No Air”
As for Mr. Schuester, he focuses on getting his kids ready for sectionals, pairing Rachel and Finn for a cover of Jordin Sparks’/Chris Brown’s “No Air.” As the two tear up the rehearsal hall, you can see Quinn become more and more jealous of the chemistry blossoming between the two leads.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
The tension between Finn’s two love interests — Broadway wannabe Rachel and the pregnant cheerleader Quinn — comes to a head following a stairway run-in, giving Quinn the chance to prove that she’s got pipes, too. Accompanied by the rest of the Cheerios, she tackles The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” on the football field. Is it just us, or do we see overtones of an early Britney Spears in this production?

“Keep Holding On”
For the episode’s grand finale the Glee producers went for a show-stopping reinvention of Avril Lavigne’s “Keep Holding On.” This time, all the kids are on stage (yay!) as all of Quinn’s emotions rise to the surface.

Bonus Track: “Ride With Me”
In the midst of the Sue vs. Mr. Schuester infighting, the glee kids came together for a covert jam session, Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me.” Though the single didn’t make it onto iTunes, it’s one of the least produced numbers we’ve seen on Glee — and we loved it. What did you think?

Which number was your favorite this week?

The Mole is a reality/game show that’s more than the producers creating challenges for a bunch of people hunting stardom. It is a full-on mystery that kept me rapt (and ultimately wrong in my suspicions until the end). Who knew Anderson Cooper could be so devious?

This game show starts out with a classic premise: A group of strangers compete at different games to win money for a collective pot. Only one person will make it to the end to win all the money at the end of the show. There’s the twist, though: One of the players works for the producers to keep the cash prize low. Paranoia, deceit, strategy … bring all your cunning.

I’ll warn you though: don’t check this out unless you’ve got some time on your hands. Season 2 is compelling and you don’t want to waste it by feeling pressured by time and skipping to the end — that’s just not as satisfying.

Jocelyn Matsuo (jocelyn@hulu.com)
Video Editor