Author: Will Harris

There was a time when Johnny Galecki might’ve been remembered predominantly for his work as David, Darlene’s boyfriend on “Roseanne,” but it’s fair to say that he’s settling into such a groove on “The Big Bang Theory” that we’re approaching a time when the average TV viewer will see him and say, “Hey, that’s Leonard Hofstadter!” Or, at least, that’s what we’re hoping. “The Big Bang Theory” has steadily risen up the ranks of Bullz-Eye’s TV Power Rankings since its premiere, and it stands proud at #12 in the first Rankings of 2009, its highest position to date. Galecki seemed…

This ought to make you feel old: Greg Grunberg has been a television staple for more than a decade now. He’s been acting for even longer than that, of course, but with no small amount of help from his good buddy J.J. Abrams (at least initially), Grunberg has managed to maintain a steady presence since 1998, when we were introduced to him as Sean Blumberg on “Felicity,” and from there, we came to know him as Eric Weiss on “Alias.” For the past three seasons, however, he’s been Matt Parkman, the man who messes with your mind every week on…

You may remember him predominantly as the irascible Lou Grant from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and Mr. Grant’s own hour-long series, but Ed Asner’s never been lacking for acting gigs, and that’s a situation that continues even now. At the moment, Asner can be seen in theaters as part of the ensemble cast of “Gigantic,” and this summer, he’ll be providing the voice to Carl Fredericksen in Pixar’s “Up.” Bullz-Eye spoke to Asner about both those films, his reuniting with Zooey Deschanel for “Gigantic” (they were also in “Elf” together), and, of course, we couldn’t resist bringing up Lou…

Rob Schneider is a man of many identities. Some remember him as “the copy guy” from his days on “Saturday Night Live” (though he’ll always be Tiny Elvis to me), others know him as “that guy who’s always turning up in Adam Sandler’s movies,” and, yes, he’s probably stuck being called Deuce Bigalow for the remainder of his career. Schneider’s expanded his resume recently, however, taking on the challenge of not only starring in but also directing his latest film, “Big Stan,” which recently made its home video premiere, courtesy of HBO. Bullz-Eye had the opportunity to speak to Schneider…

If you think the name “Jim Gaffigan” sounds familiar but you can’t quite place him, then it’ll probably only take two words to make the lightbulb above your head turn on: Hot Pockets. Yes, Gaffigan’s the tall, pale man who occasionally drifts into a high-pitched voice in the midst of his stand-up routine…and he’s hilarious. If you need proof, just tune into Comedy Central on March 29th to see his new special, “King Baby.” Or check out “My Boys,” which returns to TBS for its third season on March 31st. Bullz-Eye spoke to Gaffigan about both of these things, as…

Sit back and learn, my children, of the life and times of “Alien Nation.” First, there was the 1988 movie, starring James Caan and Mandy Patinkin, that told the tale of how a flying saucer full of alien slaves landed in the Mojave Desert and led to the integration of thousands upon thousands of extraterrestrials into our planet’s population. Then, there was the Fox TV series, which expanded on the premise of the film by further exploring life in Los Angeles and how the addition of the so-called Newcomers (otherwise known as the Tenctonese) has changed things. Unfortunately, the series…

Sean Astin has been a regularly-working actor since the early ‘80s, but surely we can all agree that he first achieved cinematic immortality in his role as Mikey Walsh in “The Goonies.” Later, we cheered him as the title character in “Rudy,” and his three performances as a hobbit named Sam Gangee that earned him millions more fans. Now, Astin’s returning to a world not entirely dissimilar from the one created by J.R.R. Tolkien: “The Color of Magic” (airing on Sunday, March 22 on ION Television), adapted from Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” saga. We spoke with Astin about whether he had…

George Wendt is Norm Peterson. Oh, sure, it may now only be every third person who walks past him on the street that bellows out the name of his character on “Cheers,” but it’s the man’s legacy, and he’s as comfortable with it as he can be. That hasn’t stopped him from continuing to work, however. Wendt has been doing a fair amount of theater work in recent years, including turns in “Twelve Angry Men” and, perhaps more notably, taking on the role of Edna Turnblad in the Broadway production of “Hairspray.” Recently, he popped up in a small role…

Given the amount of recognition Rod Lurie has earned as a director in recent years, it’s odd to think that he used to be a film critic as well. Given that he’s been on both sides of the fence, however, it probably makes his positive reviews all that much sweeter, since he knows how hard critics are to please. Fortunately, they’ve been quite kind to Lurie’s latest film, “Nothing but the Truth,” which has come to DVD after studio problems prevented a proper theatrical release. Bullz-Eye spoke to Lurie about his work with the film’s tremendous cast (including Kate Beckinsale,…

Lea Thompson spent a great deal of the 1980s making teenaged boys swoon, whether it was as Miss Amanda Jones in John Hughes’ “Some Kind of Wonderful” or as Marty McFly’s romantically misguided mother in the “Back to the Future” films. From there, she made an impression on TV viewers as the star of NBC’s “Caroline in the City,” and in recent years, she’s been a staple on the Hallmark Channel as the lead in their “Jane Doe” films. Currently, she’s starring the action drama “Exit Speed,” which premieres on DVD this week. We spoke to Thompson about the aforementioned…