Blog Posts by Tara Ariano

In Canada, whence I hail, health care is free (humblebrag), but that doesn't mean hospitals don't still need the occasional fundraising boost to improve facilities and services; for some reason, the default charitable vehicle for such efforts has become the home lottery, where in exchange for an outlandishly high ticket price, you are entered — with decent odds — into a drawing for a house, or equivalent cash value.

I explain all this to give you context for this kind of hilariously awesome clip. This week, the local news team at Global BC, in Vancouver, drew the name of the winner of a home lottery to benefit a children's hospital in the city, it immediately rang a bell with the two anchors on duty — because it belonged to their absent colleague: sportscaster Barry Deley.

Sure, a $2.5 million country estate SOUNDS like a great deal, but in the Vancouver area, that might only get you a three- or four-bedroom fixer-upper with a moldy basement. (Because Vancouver real estate is

You again! (Fox)Suddenly Everywhere: Lake Bell

You Might Know Her From: Her role as Sally Heep in both "The Practice" AND its spinoff, "Boston Legal." Or maybe from NBC's short-lived "Lost" ripoff, "Surface."

First Location Of Her Recent Campaign To Be Suddenly Everywhere: As original series narrator Cat Black on the (awesome) Adult Swim series "Childrens Hospital."

Next Location Of Her Recent Campaign To Be Suddenly Everywhere: As Rachel in HBO's "Jeantourage"...I mean, "How to Make It in America."

The late ABC Family dramedy "Greek" got something a lot of ratings-challenged series don't: the chance to wrap up its storylines the way its creators envisioned them. But as Megan Masters of TVLine notes upon the release of the show's final season on DVD, showrunner Sean Smith was prepared for the possibility that the network might not order a fourth season, requiring him to put a bow on things slightly prematurely. Wondering how the show would have ended had there been no Season 4? WONDER NO MORE.

The new (temporary) Regis. (Barry Brecheisen/WireImage.com)As "Live with Regis and Kelly" spends the next two weeks sending off co-host Regis Philbin, it's announced one guest host who will help Kelly Ripa host through her inevitable separation anxiety immediately following Philbin's departure: Jerry Seinfeld.

Seinfeld — who, like virtually other celebrity on earth (Neil Patrick Harris, Anderson Cooper, Mark Consuelos, probably at least four of you reading this post), has guest-hosted "Live" before — will join Ripa in those super-high chairs for the first three post-Philbin episodes of "Live," the Monday through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. The report doesn't indicate whether Seinfeld is a prospect to take over from Philbin permanently, but given that his eponymous sitcom has made him a multi-krillionaire, it's doubtful that he's in the market for a day job.

Remember back in September when I wrote about the ten people who'd never hosted "Saturday Night Live" that I thought probably should do so this season and how one of them was Charlie Day? Okay, that one was probably a no-brainer, given that Day co-starred with "SNL" cast member Jason Sudeikis in the summer hit "Horrible Bosses," but I'm still taking credit for calling it. Day will host the show on Sunday, and considering that one of these segments hammers on the point that Day may not be a household name for many "SNL" viewers, let's hope he takes advantage of the opportunity to impress America instead of sleepwalking through the experience (cough ROBERT DE NIRO).

Today happens to be the 25th birthday of "Gossip Girl" star, Occupy Wall Street supporter, and sexy-face maker Penn Badgley, in honor of which the Huffington Post has unearthed his very first screen role. As a pre-teen, Badgley played "Boy #1, Todd" on a 1999 episode of "Will & Grace": While Jack (Sean Hayes) waits in a school hallway while Karen (Megan Mullally) meets a teacher about her stepson, Badgley's Todd briefly teases a maybe-gay kid, until Jack defends him. The Penn Badgley of yesteryear evinces no sign of the progressive politics and passion for social justice we see in him today.

[Huffington Post]

First things first: Billy Eichner is a genius. He's been making hilarious man-on-the-street videos for years, and finally someone at a network has taken notice and given him his own real show on TV: a game show, for Fuse, produced by Funny Or Die. The first full promo is out and should give you an idea of what you're in for (though Fuse will probably bleep the curses, which are completely audible in the clip below).

The series is set to premiere December 22, which gives you plenty of time to find Fuse on your DVR. I can't wait. [@BillyEichner]

Local news reporters don't always get a choice in the stories they cover, and it seems as though this clip featuring Kimberly Craig of WXYZ is an example of a story/reporter mismatch. Covering a local haunted house, Craig is beset by zombies and...well, then things get even worse. Judging by her reaction, it was probably a tense ride back to the station in the newsvan.

[The Daily What]