"The Real Skinny"

Credit: TLC

Now that we have a fleet of TV shows about very large people trying to become much smaller people, it seems that this had to happen -- a show about excess skin removal after extreme weight loss. Despite the playful title, "The Real Skinny" (premieres Mon. March 12 on TLC) is about real people, many of them traumatized by excess hanging skin, undergoing drastic surgery. It's often moving, but you might be forgiven for thinking about Hannibal Lecter when you see gobs of flesh being sliced and diced. Watch a clip from the show below. 

 Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt

Credit: HitFix

Before we dug into our interview, Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor dug into a pre-lunch snack (which you can see a bit of here). Thankfully, it wasn't salmon, though fish sticks were served for lunch. While the theme worked for promoting the movie, I'm pretty sure Blunt and McGregor preferred the macarons. 

While Blunt and McGregor have an easy rapport that makes them seem like the perfect pairing in this interview, the connection is harder to see at the beginning of their new movie, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen." A story about a fishing expert (McGregor) who finds himself muscled into assisting a wealthy sheik on what seems like a fool's errand -- building a dam and stocking it with fish in Yemen so that the sheik can pursue his beloved sport fishing -- it brings together McGregor and Blunt as a very unlikely couple.

 "Project Runway All Stars"

Credit: Lifetime Television

Final four! As we learn from Angela Coathanger, this week's client is New York designer Nanette Lepore. She's based in the New York fashion district, which is dying a horrible death because it's so damn expensive to make clothing in the U.S. I think this is a much bigger and more complex issue than can be tackled by "Project Runway All Stars," but kudos to the show for trying to bring it up, I guess. Next week we will commit two minutes to the national debt and another minute to how Congress really works. Ah yes, "Project Runway" is "Schoolhouse Rock" for the 21s century.

Isaac Mizrahi

Credit: Lifetime

Isaac Mizrahi has had countless ups and downs as a designer, but that roller coaster ride may be just what makes him such an empathetic judge (and in many ways a counter to the merciless but funny Michael Kors) on "Project Runway All Stars." In a conference call with reporters, Mizrahi tackled topics ranging from his love for Teletubbies, why not watching the show has been good for him and his favorite moment on the show.

Which designer do you think has grown the most over the course of the season? 

"The Talk"

Credit: CBS

Apparently being Mrs. Les Moonves has its privileges. Julie Chen (and her chatty co-stars Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler) will return with 'The Talk' for a third season.

"Top Chef"

Credit: Bravo

Given how fractious and tearful this season of "Top Chef" was, I had high hopes for the reunion show. Surely the big issue of how the mean girls behaved themselves would be covered in depth, right? And Bev would have her moment to call out all the haters and disbelievers, right? Um, well, sort of, but  not really. Sadly, this reunion show was more about joking around, cute clip montages and some tears over things that viewers weren't fully aware of, which left me with more questions than when I began. Not as bad as a dish made with frozen shrimp, but not great.

"The Real Housewives of Orange County"

Credit: Bravo

Dear Bravo: I know you have a deep and abiding love for your "Real Housewives" franchise. It was undoubtedly hard for you to give the Washington D.C. edition the boot, to say nothing of how it felt to say goodbye to New York's Jill Zarin and Alex McCord. But is it possible to stick a fork in "The Real Housewives of Orange County"? Because my Lord, after seven seasons, it is SO done. And I'm not just talking about the fake bakes and fried hair. This corner of SoCal is just played out.

Mark Wahlberg

Credit: AP Photo

Mark Wahlberg is getting involved with teamsters. More specifically,  he's joining forces with fellow executive producers Stephen Levinson, Kevin Harrison and Bill Thompson to create an unscripted pilot focused on the Teamsters Local 25 in Boston for A&E. The working title of the show? "Teamsters,"  of course.

Set in the real-life world of films like "The Fighter" and "The Departed," "Teamsters" promises to give viewers a first hand glimpse of the union in the most territorial city in America: Boston. Here, the Teamsters Local 25 battle for the rights of their 11,000 members.

"A&E strives to remain ahead of the curve while delivering first class auspices to our audience,” said Bob DeBitetto, President of A&E and BIO. "We’re so proud to collaborate with this group of producers and offer an authentic point of view from the unique characters this world provides."

"We believe A&E is the perfect venue to create a cutting-edge show that promises to be like nothing else on television," said Levinson.
 

 
 

"Cougar Town"

Credit: ABC

Courteney Cox is worried you aren't watching her show. Since "Cougar Town" was unceremoniously bumped from the schedule, only to make a welcome recent return (the show now airs on Tues. at 8:30 p.m. on ABC), Cox and her co-stars fear that fans of the show don't necessarily know where to find them. The good news? The show is not only back, but according to our own Alan Sepinwall, it's cooking with gas. I spoke with Cox and her co-star Josh Hopkins briefly about the latest episode (which Cox directed), what's coming up for the show (expect the relationship between Cox's character Jules and Hopkins' Grayson to develop further -- and a baby may be on the horizon) and why wine is a great after-breakfast beverage. No, really.

"The Bachelor"

Credit: ABC

Tonight's episode is really just ABC's attempt to milk a little more ratings juice out of this season of "The Bachelor," though it does promise a welcome dose of drama. Courtney, aka Widdle Baybee Cowdney, the creepily childlike black widow who has somehow ended up in the final two, will be facing the rest of the women she shoved out of the way in her merciless pursuit of Ben. While these "Women Tell All" episodes can get catty, this is the first one I can think of that might actually end in gunplay. Although this season also featured the most milquetoast and homely bachelor in recent memory (and possibly ever), a lot of women seemed to dig him, and their resentment toward Courtney for being a two-faced monster is palpable. If nothing else, I'm expecting screaming and insults, and we'll see how it goes from there.