· Pundits are saying the second presidential debate turned a corner for the Obama campaign, as he was much more successful in interacting with the cadavers propped up in chairs at the Town Hall Meeting of the Dead. [Variety] · Billy Kemp has been named the new VP of casting and talent at FremantleMedia North America, where he'll continue to comb the planet for new American Idol judges to threaten Paula Abdul. [Variety] · Forest Whitaker will play Louis Armstrong in What a Wonderful World, a biopic from the same French studio that produced La Vie en Rose. [Variety] After the jump: Yet more George Romero madness! Which of his cult classics is getting a remake?· A remake is on the way for George Romero's 1973 movie The Crazies, a small Kansas town who go insane after being infected by the local water supply. As if Kansans weren't already crazy enough! Hahahaha! [Variety] · The studios are so threatened by Alan Rosenberg's pledge to coat every single SAG member in kerosene and light them ablaze sooner than allow them to step foot on set that they've decided to move ahead with their 2010 slates anyway. We don't know about you, but we could just sit back and watch this forever. Labor unrest just never gets old! [Variety]

Though Sarah Palin may claim to "tolerate" gays (with all her heart!), pop superstar Madonna owes her entire livelihood to them, and she certainly knows which side her bread is buttered on. At her Monday concert at Madison Square Garden, then, the fledgling director and potential A-Rod squeeze put on her pundit's hat, announcing that "Sarah fucking Palin" was decidedly not invited to the concert (a message Palin may have already gathered from Madonna's tasteful McCain/Hitler montage) and exhorting the crowd to "get that bitch out of here!" What's the matter, Madge — no residual "Papa Don't Preach" love for the knocked-up Bristol Palin? Video, after the jump.

This election has seen a wealth of celebrity PSAs (some amusing, some snooty), but no ad yet produced can rival the visceral reaction produced by YOUVOTE's latest, star-studded salvo. The first two minutes of earnest political encouragement from Kathy Najimy and the cast of Gossip Girl are standard fare, but things really go haywire at the end (excerpted above), when all the celebrities engage in hideously embarrassing, new agey dancing. Sure, the ad may claim to be bipartisan, but the full roster of famous Obama supporters (like Kate Walsh and Samuel L. Jackson) degrading themselves so fully suggests an act of celebrity sabotage by rival John McCain. Also, Dana Delany? Reprising your "sock it to me" dance from the Emmys was not a good idea. [YOUVOTE]

This past weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live continues to make news; first, everyone was talking about the Tina Fey-enhanced vice presidential debate sketch, then, praise trickled down to Andy Samberg's Mark Wahlberg imitation and Kristen Wiig's tiny, tiny hands. Over on the right-wing side of the blogosphere, however, the sketch that ignited conservative appreciation was a takeoff on the government bailout (spoofing Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Golden West Financial founders Herbert and Marion Sandler) where Jason Sudeikis as President Bush noted, "Wasn't it my administration that warned about the problem six years ago and it was Democrats who refused to listen?" The skit initially appeared on NBC's website but was abruptly yanked yesterday, causing a conservative furor. Now, NBC says a censored version will be reuploaded today. THR has the scoop:

Change We Can Believe In: Though John McCain recently made headlines for conceding the swing state of Michigan to Barack Obama, there's one battle he's not giving up on, and that's the perilous McCain/Letterman War of '08. Begun not with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand but with McCain's Late Show cancellation, the war has raged on for two perilous weeks without a peep from the presidential candidate, allowing Letterman to gather strength (as well as a celebrity army comprised of Paris Hilton and Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Now, says the New York Post, "McCain representatives and Late Show executives are negotiating an appearance on Letterman's show sometime around the final presidential debate on Oct. 15," when McCain will be in New York for the Hofstra University-set debate. Start steeling yourself for the awkward, self-effacing "heh heh hehs" now. [New York Post]

This just in from CNN.com: In an address at a manufacturing company in Chantilly, VA, President Bush—who rarely fails to shoot from the hip—has reassured a panicky population that, despite the fact that Wall Street has spent its load on bogus mortgages, the growing crisis and stiff economic times ahead are something that will eventually blow over. He then paused solemnly, and added, "Not the tip! It gets really sensitive."

Yesterday's unlikely emergence of Sherri Shepherd as The View's new foil to Elisabeth Hasselbeck was no fluke! As you might be able to discern from the fierce, finger-wagging screencap up above, Shepherd set it off on today's program (and View producers helpfully sat the two budding rivals next to each other for maximum in-your-face screaming).As Hasselbeck again brings up this week's Republican talking points by linking Barack Obama to William Ayers, Shepherd goes ballistic, shouting, "Can we talk about poor judgment?" The evisceration of Cindy McCain's homewrecking ways that follows stuns Hasselbeck ("Wow, this is super personal now!") and even the unflappable Joy Behar, who rises and... mimes flashing the audience? We're not entirely sure, but now that The View has become a reliable daily source of politically-charged catfighting, we suppose some T&A wouldn't be entirely out of place.

Clint Eastwood took himself and his new film Changeling to its US premiere last weekend at the New York Film Festival. Just like we had for our audience with Mickey Rourke, we sneaked in via a film canister to check out the scene and lob a question his way; still, as lovely and reliably austere as Changeling is, we had more pressing issues on our mind than how little Eastwood rehearsed with Angelina Jolie (answer: hardly at all). To wit: How is a long-time conservative, former elected official and John McCain supporter like Eastwood getting his head around the Celebrity Election of '08 — Sarah Palin's candidacy in particular? Was this a circus anyone could have foreseen 57 years ago when he joined the GOP? He wasn't really going there, we soon learned (he was only slightly more candid at the recent New Yorker Festival, vaguely alluding to Palin's truthfulness in her debate with Joe Biden). But as reformed Republicans go, Eastwood still packs a robust skepticism alongside his tux when he travels."My mortgage is in the toilet, too," he replied. "I haven't been very active in politics. Yes, I started out as a Republican in 1951; I was a young 21-year-old in the Army, and I wanted to vote for Dwight Eisenhower. He, like all politicians, was always promising something, and he promised he would go to Korea and end the Korean War. But the Republican Party, as has the Democratic Party, has changed dramatically in the 50-some years that I've been involved with it, so I've sort of drifted to a more Libertarian point of view. The Libertarian Party never got going as a party — just leave everybody alone. It was very appealing to a guy like myself who came up in the '30s and watched my parents struggle through the Depression and [who] nowadays is wanting for nothing. "Now, of course, everybody is promising everything," Eastwood continued. "That's the only way to get elected: You have to promise to give people all kinds of stuff. You have to give away new cars like on Oprah or something. We'll give you anything to go down and vote. It's kind of perverted politics as far as I'm concerned. Whether Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama... Whatever happens there, who knows? There are a lot of promises going on there, too. It's a very confusing era." We couldn't agree more — we'll be so much happier when no one has to worry any longer about distinguishing Palin from Tina Fey. [Photo: Getty Images]

For all too long, Sherri Shepherd has stayed relatively quiet on The View, keeping a low profile (except for the occasional blow-up at Bill Maher) and generally avoiding the sort of "flat earth" gaffes that would draw the pity spotlight away from her cohost Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Today, though, in the midst of another Hasselbeck political rant about Barack Obama's association with William Ayers, a surprisingly prepared Shepherd jumped in to rebut the show's token conservative with a "Wait, wait, wait — no you don't!"Following her interruption with a laundry list of facts, dates, and counterpoints, Shepherd was eventually cut off by Barbara Walters, who was not ready for the cohost to do anything but smile beatifically and occasionally chirp, "Ludacris!" Is our little Sherri all grown up and ready for war? Watch out, Elisabeth: Sherri Shepherd's got a whole fleet of angel-babies at her command — and they're hungry!

Tina Fey had better watch her back — if she continues with her cutting Sarah Palin impressions on Saturday Night Live, she might find herself fired (or sniped from above thanks to a far-afield Alaskan helicopter). Fortunately, her 30 Rock costar Alec Baldwin will be available to step into the breach: he unveiled his own Sarah Palin impression on Friday's edition of Real Time with Bill Maher. While the vocal mimicry isn't quite up to par with Fey's (or Baldwin's own tour-de-force 30 Rock therapy scene), we have to breathe a sigh of relief that Baldwin didn't call the candidate a "lipsticked, vile little pig." Thank goodness for small favors! [Real Time with Bill Maher via HuffPo]

Appearing in the flesh on Saturday Night Live is a time-honored ritual for many political names, including the three biggest of this past election cycle: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both put in cold opening cameos, while John McCain actually hosted SNL in 2002. Still, for all the mileage that the show has wrung out of Sarah Palin's vice presidential candidacy, Palin herself has yet to appear on the show — though according to the Chicago Sun Times, that may change very soon. In fact, sources in the McCain camp say that they have a very specific idea in mind to help Palin avenge herself upon the fired, lifeless body of her nemesis, Tina Fey:

With less than a month left to go in this presidential election, Saturday Night Live expands its resurgent political brand into special Thursday episodes starting this week, though it's hard to see how they could possibly outdo the trilogy of Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin appearances that continued into last night's episode. Spoofing the mega-rated vice presidential debate, Fey joined Jason Sudeikis as Joe Biden and the previously-rumored Queen Latifah as moderator Gwen Ifill for a blockbuster, near-twelve minute sketch that left no participant unscathed. Still, despite the skit's jabs at Biden and Ifill, this was, as ever, Fey's moment, and she delivered her most cutting performance yet. Do we have video of the sketch after the jump? Doggone it, you betcha:

You Betcha! Sarah Palin isn't simply ratings gold when Tina Fey is playing her. The vice presidential debate last night was the most-watched VP matchup ever, even surpassing by 33% the Obama/McCain debate from last week. According to THR, 69,989,000 viewers tuned in, which makes it the biggest debate audience since 1992, when Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Ross Perot all faced off. Palin has since had all three men fired. [THR]

Just as British funnymen Ricky Gervais and Simon Pegg have resolved to patch up their "fat idiot" feud, along come Sarah Silverman and Jackie Mason to fill the void with their own bit of culturally specific warring. Perhaps you'll recall Silverman's recent video for thegreatschlep.com, an organization designed to coax young, Jewish Obama supporters to travel to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote Democrat. Creaky comic Mason is not a fan of this idea (to put it mildly) and in an ad paid for by a Jewish Republicans group, he tears into both Obama and Silverman, calling the latter a "sick yenta." Careful, Jackie — if Silverman can handle talking shit about her ex-boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel, she's not going to be daunted by your dated patter. Both videos, after the jump:

It's a Bad Thing: Buried deep into HuffPo founder Arianna Huffington's blog entry about last night's debate is the response everyone wants, that of domestic doyenne Martha Stewart. "The home-spun homilies [Sarah Palin uses] have to go," Stewart sniffed to Huffington. "And, oh my god, words do have ending consonants." [HuffPo]

Having already given up any hope of Jessica Alba and Hayden Panitierre's muzzled tryst persuading young people to get out the vote, Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions this week corralled an ensemble including Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, Halle Berry and scads of others to keep up the fight via reverse psychology. "Don't vote," they implore to America's youth, none more so than Jonah Hill, whose exhortations "The economy's in the toilet. Who gives a shit? I don't care — I've got so much money" and "I've never fought a war on drugs; I've never done shit on drugs besides played Halo 2" have stirred nearly 300,000 viewers since yesterday. We pass it along to you (after the jump) as a public service of our own whether you've already heard the message or plan to vote or not, if only because it never gets old hearing Hill share such intimate ideology. Particularly the part about his 19 kids — who knew? [YouTube]

The Tina Fey-as-Sarah Palin phenomenon has officially found its absurdist zenith in France (where else), where the daily paper Le Soleil recently printed a photograph of last week's Palin/Couric SNL sketch to accompany a story about Palin's "hesitant, troubled and clumsy" press-handling skills. The minor controversy that ensued had photo source Agence France-Presse scrambling to defend itself Thursday, insisting it had accurately identified Fey and Amy Poehler in the SNL still and that the caption goof was the paper's fault. But really — does it even matter?Frankly, we've never appreciated a French newspaper more than we love Le Soleil at this moment. Sure, SNL can corner the Palin impression market, but it takes a special kind of postmodern zeal to own such willful ignorance of arguably the most famous female politician going right now. We can hardly wait for the next "accident" attributing mythic, messianic public-speaking genius to Democratic presidential contender Fred Armisen. If it hasn't been published already.

From megastars like Matt Damon to Cutting Edge alums like D.B. Sweeney, it seems like every celebrity in Hollywood has an opinion about this November's presidential election. Earlier this week, actress Jessica Alba decided to muzzle herself if that's what it would take to get America to vote (an enticing motivator, though perhaps not as compelling as keeping Diddy out of sight forever). Now, a curiously able-to-speak again Alba has decided to pay it forward, muzzling other celebrities like Heroes star Hayden Panettiere and 90210's Tristan Wilds (is this because he made out with Dakota? Is it?!). Props must be paid to Alba, whose maniacally enthusiastic pitch should probably shoot to the top of her reel. Extra points if she can sew Dane Cook's lips shut next time! The clip, after the jump:

Though pundits like Time's Mark Halperin are claiming that last night's vice presidential debate left Saturday Night Live little to parody (really?), it's hard to imagine that SNL would leave its ratings on the table by ignoring what was perhaps the most-anticipated Sarah Palin event of the entire election year. Now, according to EW's Michael Ausiello, SNL does indeed plan to cover the debate, which leaves it with one problem: the moderator, Gwen Ifill, was a black woman, and SNL still has none in its cast. It's the same problem the variety show has run into when covering Michelle Obama, and just as rumors flew that Lorne Michaels had approached Maya Rudolph about that role, SNL has its sights set on a very specific Ifill impersonator who's not a member of the actual cast:

On John McCain's last fundraiser jaunt through Hollywood, he attracted a motley crew of the men and women who make up the industry's smallest club: Republicans. Hollywood titans like Wilford Brimley, Craig T. Nelson, and Jon Cryer (who was just gathering information!) all turned out to support the candidate who thinks "celebrity" is a dirty word and has the endorsement roster to prove it. So what glittering surprises did McCain have up his sleeve for last night's McCain/Palin fundraiser across the street from CAA? Let's take a look!