LAS VEGAS — A 20-year-old Boston University sophomore and a self-described "cellist-nerd" brought the Miss Universe crown back to the United States for the first time in more than a decade when she won the televised contest Wednesday.

Olivia Culpo beat out 88 other beauty queens to take the title from Leila Lopes of Angola during the two-hour competition at the Planet Hollywood casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Culpo wore a tight navy blue mini-dress with a sequined bodice as she walked on stage for the competition's opening number. Later in the night, she strutted in a purple and blue bikini, and donned a wintery red velvet gown with a plunging neckline.

Culpo's coronation ends a long losing spell for the U.S. in the competition co-owned by Donald Trump and NBC. An American had not won the right to be called Miss Universe since Brook Lee won the title in 1997.

Culpo was good enough during preliminary competitions to be chosen as one of 16 semifinalists who moved on to compete in the pageant's finale. Her bid lasted through swimsuit, evening wear, and interview competitions that saw cuts after each round.

She won over the judges, even after tripping slightly during the evening gown competition. Telecasters pointed it out but also noted her poised recovery.

Minutes before the middle child of five was crowned, she was asked whether she had she had ever done something she regretted.

"I'd like to start off by saying that every experience no matter what it is, good or bad, you'll learn from it. That's just life," she said. "But something I've done I've regretted is probably picking on my siblings growing up, because you appreciate them so much more as you grow older."

Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second, while Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, placed third.

All the contestants spent the past two weeks in Sin City, where they posed in hardhats at a hotel groundbreaking, took a painting lesson, and pranked hotel guests by hiding in their rooms.

Culpo was the first Miss USA winner from Rhode Island when she took the national crown in Las Vegas in June.

She grew up in Cranston with two professional musicians for parents and has played the cello alongside world-renowned classical musician Yo-Yo Ma. On her Miss Universe page, she said she hopes to pursue a career in film or television, and cites Audrey Hepburn as a role model because of her "generosity, intelligence and grace."

With Culpo's promotion, Miss Maryland Nana Meriwether becomes the new Miss USA.

The Miss Universe pageant was back in Las Vegas this year after being held in Sao Paulo in 2011. It aired live on NBC and was streamed to more than 100 countries.

Organizers had considered holding the 61st annual Miss Universe in the popular Dominican Republic tourist city of Punta Cana, but Miss Universe Organization President Paula Shugart said that country's financial crisis proved to be too much of an obstacle.

The panel of 10 judges included singer Cee Lo Green, "Iron Chef" star Masaharu Morimoto and Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants.

Asked on the red carpet whether he found playing in the World Series or judging the beauty pageant to be more difficult, Sandoval said both were hard.

Sharply dressed women and men, including a large contingent from South America, held banners and cheered on their favorite contestants.

The pageant started as a local revue in Long Beach, Calif., organized by Catalina Swimwear. It is not affiliated with the Miss America pageant and unlike that contest, does not include a talent section.

Contestants in the pageant cannot have been married or have children. They must be younger than 27 and older than 18 by Feb. 1 of the competition year.

As Miss Universe, Culpo will receive an undisclosed salary, a wardrobe fit for a queen, a limitless supply of beauty products, and a luxury apartment in New York City.

This story is one of the more remarkable things ever to happen to San Diego or even the world: "Anchorman 2" has a release date. Paramount will unveil the highly anticipated sequel on Dec. 20, 2013.

Director Adam McKay was one of the first to tweet the news to his followers.

Producer Judd Apatow wasn't far behind:

After years of speculation, "Anchorman 2" -- actually titled "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" -- was given a green light by Paramount earlier this year. The film reunites the original Channel 4 News Team (Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner) as well as behind-the-scenes creatives McKay and Apatow. Kristen Wiig could be added to the cast, as a love interest for Carell's dimwitted Brick Tamland.

The first "Anchorman" came out in theaters on July 9, 2004 and centered on chauvinist newsman Ron Burgundy (Ferrell), who has his world turned upside by a new female co-anchor named Veronica Corningstone. The sequel will focus on how Burgundy's team handles the evolution of how news is covered.

“We are going to focus on and comment on the transition from what was kind of traditional news to where entertainment forces started melding in, and Ron’s going to be one of the catalysts of that,” Ferrell told ABC.

Beyond that, there will also be songs.

"'Anchorman 2' will include] whole song sequences, absolutely," McKay told The Playlist, and like "Les Miserables," the singing will be done live onset.

"We always do it live on the set," McKay said, referring moments in "Anchorman" ("Afternoon Delight") and "Step Brothers" ("Sweet Child O' Mine") that featured singing. "And my thing is, if the actors get freaked out, don't sweat it, we can always re-record it later. And every time we've done it, we end up using the live track from the recording."

"Anchorman: The Legend Continues" is out in theaters on Dec. 20, 2013.

[via Coming Soon]

VIDEOS: Great Moments In "Afternoon Delight"

This year in entertainment, Colbert took to the political podium while Obama held his own on late-night TV. Blue Ivy Carter was born, as was a celebrity couple named Kimye. Ahead in photos are splits, unions and Kristen Stewart’s wandering eye.

This story appears in the year-end photo issue of our weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, in the iTunes App store, available Friday, Dec. 28.

It was a good night for American pride as Miss USA took home the title of "Miss Universe 2012." Olivia Culpa's win marked the first time since 1997 that the United States took home top honors in the pageant, broadcast on NBC. But even that momentous moment won't go down as the most memorable of the night.

That honor may well go to the bizarre answer Miss Venezuela, Irene Sofia Esser Quintero, gave to the question asking what new law she would want to create.

Her answer: "We should have a straight way to go in our similar or in our lives or as is this ... I am a surfer and I think the best way I can take is the wave that I wait for it."

Maybe something got lost in translation? The strange answer didn't hurt her too much, though. Miss Venezuela came in third on the night. Miss Philippines, Janine Tugonon, came in second.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

Carly Rose Sonenclar closed out the performance finale of "The X Factor" with a song that's become a staple on singing competitions. Nevertheless, her mentor Britney Spears felt that Sonenclar's take on "Hallelujah" was enough to earn her the top prize.

"I feel like that song alone is worth five million bucks, so, you should get out your checkbook, Simon," she told Simon Cowell.

But was it enough? Sonenclar faced off against Tate Stevens -- the two have flip-flipped atop the leader board all season long -- and underdogs Fifth Harmony.

To help them make up their mind, viewers were also treated to duets featuring the finalists. Stevens sang with Little Big Town, while LeAnn Rimes joined Sonenclar on stage. The show's own Demi Lovato hit the stage with Fifth Harmony. Cowell described his all-female group to One Direction, which was formed on the British version of "The X Factor" a few years back, though they did not win.

Who had what it takes to be victorious? Find out during "The X Factor" season finale, Thursday at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

Joan Collins guest-starred as herself on Fran Drescher's TV Land sitcom, "Happily Divorced." Peter was working as Joan's personal assistant, and had Fran step in to help him in a pinch. Only this turned out to be a terrible idea.

"Did you make that reservation for lunch at The Ivy?" Joan asked Fran.

"Oh no, I forgot!” Fran said. "Why don’t you just do it. I’m only gonna forget anyway." She then asked Joan to answer her phone and hold it up so Fran could talk. At least, Fran was the one doing the driving. Regardless, she clearly has no idea what being a personal assistant means.

It was certainly fun seeing Joan's reaction to getting bossed around by the woman who's supposed to be helping her, though.

"Happily Divorced" continues to be a success story for TV Land on Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. EST. The network recently expanded the second season order to 24 episodes, with the back half slated to air later in 2013.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

Seth Rogen went on "Late Show" to promote his new movie, "The Guilt Trip," but David Letterman mostly wanted to talk about marijunana. The host wanted to know how it works, how to buy it, how to smoke it. And perhaps most importantly, he wanted to know if Rogen had been able to light up with his co-star, Barbra Streisand.

"She wouldn't smoke weed with me," Rogen admitted. "I tried, but she wouldn't do it. I don’t think she would've functioned well on it, honestly. She’s kind of an over-functioner as it is."

But if she wouldn't smoke with Rogen, then Streisand has apparently mellowed in her later years. According to Jezebel, Babs told Rolling Stone in the '70s that she used to smoke weed for the calming effects. Probably battling the stresses of being an over-functioner.

Catch Seth Rogen and Barbra Streisand starring in "The Guilt Trip," in theaters now. "Late Show with David Letterman" airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. EST on CBS.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

It was a happy moment for Joanna Krupa on the season finale of "The Real Housewives of Miami." She and Romain Zago seemed to be making real progress toward communicating better, and in doing so they'd rekindled their desire to get married.

Romain apologized for everything that he'd done, adding, "I just want to spend the rest of my life with you. You’re the only person that makes me happy, and I just want to make you happy."

"I forgive you. Just don’t ever do that again," Joanna said. "If you have a problem with me, just tell me."

The couple got re-engaged, but it was a touching moment the show would quickly ruin. It was revealed that Joanna and Roman have since taken "a break."

A few days before this episode aired, though, E! wrote that the couple appeared to be back together once again, frolicking together in a very intimate fashion on the beach.

There has been no official word given on a third season of the Bravo reality series. If it does get picked up, fans can probably expect a lot more back-and-forth with this couple.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

On December 3, 2009, "Jersey Shore" debuted on MTV. Three years and six seasons later, the gang said farewell to their digs in Seaside Heights on the series finale of the reality TV phenomenon.

The cast bid farewell to one of their own, as Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino destroyed the duck phone in one of his last bouts of frustration. And then, it was time to say goodbye to the house and the show.But while their comments were heartfelt, they were just as eloquent as their fans have come to expect.

"Yo, my eye is f*cking itchy right now, yo," Vinnie said, denying that he was getting emotional. "Our lives will never be the same again because of this f*cking thing."

Truly, when they talked about how the experience had changed their lives, they absolutely meant it. The entire cast became household names, with many of them already starting to find success beyond the show. It was a rare show that found a success so far beyond being just a television series.

Love it or hate it, you'll surely remember it.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

http://www.aoltv.com/celebs/conan-obrien/1484087/main likes to make comedy about how distinctive he looks. And yet, he wasn't so unique in appearance when his friend Rita Wilson ran into him on the beach this past summer. Wilson was on "Conan" where she shared the embarrassing story.

Seeing O'Brien, Wilson called out the name of her ex-boyfriend. When O'Brien turned around to clarify for her that he wasn't the guy she was thinking of, she still didn't buy it.

"I said, 'Excuse me, what’s your name?' And you said, 'Conan.' And I went, nah, that’s not my ex," Wilson recalled. "And I still didn't recognize you."

"Now here’s the thing: Rita and I have known each other a really long time," O'Brien added. He must look really different under the bright sun of the California beaches.

Wilson also talked about her trepidation in joining the racy HBO series "Girls" for its second season. She'll be playing Marnie's mother. Us Weekly reports that a "no nudity" clause was enough to calm her nerves about appearing on the series.

Catch "Conan" every weeknight at 11 p.m. EST on TBS.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

In 75 years, Jane Fonda has done a whole lot of living.

It seems like with each passing decade, the actress, writer and health and women's issues advocate went through a new reinvention. We first met her as on the big screen, jumping from campy sci-fi sex symbol in "Barberella" to Oscar nominee in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Fonda then became public enemy number one for her support of Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War, raising the ire of many. Personal fitness icon, billionaire divorcée, author, longevity expert, "third act" revolution leader... Fonda has managed to stay busy and on our radar for years.

But throughout each of those reinventions, Fonda has always maintained a refreshingly honest take on her life and the issues that matter most to her -- no matter if she's talking about her "fulfilling sex life" or how to best live your "third act."

On her 75th birthday, we take a look back at some of her most memorable quotes in recent years. Whether you like her or loathe her, one thing is for certain: her vitality is hard to ignore.

Katherine Heigl has an affinity for and love of animals so strong that she helped found the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, which has a mission of helping stop the euthanization of animals. She went on "The Tonight Show" to talk about it, and brought collars for Jay Leno's pets that she'd designed. Leno had a gift that he'd designed for Heigl as well.

His was a pooper-scooper, with a most disturbing design. Leno's face was on the bottom of the scooper, so that his jaws opened with the "jaws" of the scooper.

"That is so, so twisted! It is so fantastic. Jay, I’m gonna send you a photo of me using this," Heigl said.

But while she may have found it "twisted" and "fantastic," The Hollywood Reporter thought it more "unsettling." How long before they're available in the NBC gift store?

Catch Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST on NBC.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

I am over 50 but "This Is 40," the new movie starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, empowered me more than any self-help book I've read about middle age and long-term marriage. And I've read a lot.

Director Judd Apatow, who is best known for his signature crude humor, has crafted a surprisingly moving, totally honest and absolutely hilarious movie which made me feel like he had been eavesdropping on my life.

"The best thing you can do as a creative person is to share your story with people," Apatow told me, "because it makes other people feel less alone and it makes them feel better."

Here are 40 apparently-universal truths about middle age that are featured in the movie and to which, for better or worse, I totally relate:

1. We have fond memories of growing up without electronics.

2. Women don't want to know their husband is taking Viagra.

3. Megan Fox's body makes us feel bad about ourselves.

4. Sometimes we just want our spouse to go away so we can miss them.

5. We freak out on birthdays that end in a zero.

6. Sprinkles cupcakes are as addictive as cigarettes.

7. The combination of our hormones and our teenage daughters' hormones is explosive.

8. Our iPhone calendar is filled with doctor appointments.

9. Women still like to talk about problems, and men still want to escape.

10. Top 40 music can keep us young or make us feel very old.

11. Widowers get more action than widows.

12. We can rationalize getting high because it's medicinal marijuana.

13. Shopping at certain stores feels like a rite of passage we don't want to go through yet.

14. We understand why Meatloaf was "praying for the end of time."

15. Our seduction attempts often look like wardrobe malfunctions.

16. It's hard to remember what year we used for our birthday.

17. We miss passion.

18. One night away can do wonders for a marriage.

19. One minute back, and it's like nothing has changed.

20. We still crave our parents' approval.

21. We realize money is finite.

22. "Lost" leaves us lost, but "Mad Men" is smoking.

23. We like to keep a little mystery in our marriage.

24. Mama bears get more ferocious with age.

25. Our spouses often feel like siblings -- or business associates.

26. Men of a certain age have a tendency to look like pedophiles.

27. One partner needs to be the fighter.

28. Bodily functions do not constitute foreplay.

29. We still have our childhood insecurities.

30. Moods change very quickly.

31. We have less of a filter when we speak.

32. Being the meat of the sandwich generation makes us want to become vegetarians.

33. We remember Graham Parker in his heyday.

34. Some days, everything our spouse says is just plain annoying.

35. Husbands want their wives to look at them in the same loving way they look at the kids.

36. We believe the wisdom born of age has made us smarter than everyone else.

37. It's impossible to connect when one partner is on Venus and the other is on Mars.

38. Laughter can get us through almost anything.

39. We still like to be flirted with.

40. Marriage is worth working on.

NEW YORK -- Well aware that the television audience may be particularly sensitive, the Showtime network aired a disclaimer warning audiences of violent content in the season finales of its dramas "Homeland" and "Dexter" last weekend. It was two days after a gunman killed 26 people in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

The political thriller "Homeland" that night featured the burial of a bullet-ridden body at sea and a car bomb that killed scores of people. "Dexter," about a serial killer, had a couple of murders.

Viewer sensitivity, it seems, was not an issue: Sunday's "Homeland" was the highest-rated episode in the two years the series has been on the air. "Dexter" was the top-rated episode of any series in Showtime history.

That's just one illustration of how violence and gunplay are baked into the popular culture of television, movies and video games. While gun control and problems with the mental health system have grabbed the most attention as ways to prevent further incidents, the level of violence in entertainment has been mentioned, too. There have been unconfirmed reports that gunman Adam Lanza was a video game devotee.

In the world of movies, danger is a constant refrain. James Bond has a personalized gun that responds to his palm print in the currently popular "Skyfall."

"The Avengers," this year's top earner with a box office gross of $623 million, features an assassin with a bow and arrow and the destruction of New York City. No. 2 is "The Dark Night Rises" ($448 million), with considerable gun violence including the takeover of the New York Stock Exchange. "The Hunger Games" is No. 3 ($408 million), with an entire premise based on violence – a survivor's game involving youngsters.

The top-selling video game in November was "Call of Duty: Black Ops II," according to the NPD Group, which tracks game sales. For players, "enemies swarm and you pop their heads and push forward," PC Gamer described. The magazine called "Call of Duty" "Whack-a Mole, but with foreigners."

The second-ranked "Halo 4" is dark as well, and in the No. 3 "Assassin's Creed 3," a game where players get points based on how quickly and creatively they kill pursuers.

NPD did not immediately have the year's sales figures available. Top video games can earn anywhere between $1 billion and $6 billion in revenue, said David Riley, executive director of the NPD Group.

He emphasized, however, that November's sales list may be a little deceptive; while "Grand Theft Auto" is among the top-selling video games of all time, the majority of the big sellers are not violent.

The body count piles up on television, too. Seven of the 10 most popular prime-time scripted series this season as rated by the Nielsen company are about crime-fighting, often violent crimes. The series are CBS' "NCIS," "NCIS: Los Angeles," "Person of Interest," "Criminal Minds," "Elementary" and "Vegas," along with ABC's "Castle."

A "Criminal Minds" episode around Halloween was particularly gruesome, involving a woman who kidnapped people to treat her imaginary illness – including a pregnant woman killed for her placenta.

Hollywood often scours its product output to appear sensitive when a tragic event dominates the news, and makes adjustments like the disclaimer Showtime used on Sunday. NBC last Friday said it pulled a rerun of a Blake Shelton holiday special because it had a short animated segment where a reindeer was killed, and told its stations to show a Michael Buble special instead.

To date, there's been no evidence of a network pulling the plug entirely on a series because of violent content in the wake of Newtown.

Fox is moving forward with "The Following," a series starring Kevin Bacon that is the network's most highly-regarded midseason premiere. Based on the first few episodes, the series depicts several murders by stabbing and mutilation. Several young women who share a house are slaughtered. A man is doused with gasoline and set ablaze. A woman kills herself by driving an ice pick through her eye and into her skull.

The question for many who follow popular culture is what the cumulative impact of so much violence is on a user's brain, particularly someone mentally vulnerable.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, questioned on Fox News Channel last weekend, said he believes the violent content causes people who use it to be more violent. President Obama's adviser, David Axelrod, tweeted that he's in favor of gun control, "but shouldn't we also question marketing murder as a game?"

In a junket promoting his new movie "Django Unchained," actor Jamie Foxx said he believes violence in films does have an impact on society.

His director, Quentin Tarantino, batted down such concerns. "It's a western," he said. "Give me a break." Associated Press movie critic David Germain described "Django Unchained" as containing "barrels of squishing, squirting blood."

Violence in video games seems more and more realistic all the time, notes Brad Bushman, a professor of communication and psychology at Ohio State University. Video game makers have even consulted doctors to ask what it would look like if a person was shot in the arm – how the blood would spurt out – in order to make the action seem real, he said.

Bushman conducted a study that he said showed that a person who played violent video games three days in a row showed more aggressive and hostile behavior than people who weren't playing. It's not certain what the impact would be on people who played these games for years because testing that "isn't practical or ethical," he said.

An organization called GamerFitNation has called for a one-day "cease fire" on Friday, asking video game players to refrain from playing violent video games on the one-week anniversary of the Newtown shootings.

Bushman understands the thirst for answers.

"Violent behavior is a very complex thing," he said, "and when it happens, you want to say what the cause is. And it's not so simple."

Lindsay Cross, a Fort Wayne, Ind., woman who writes for the "Mommyish" blog, said it's important for parents to talk to children about games they are playing and movies they are watching.

"We always want there to be something to do to protect our kids," she said, and violent media is right there as a convenient scapegoat. "It makes us feel like we're doing something to help. It's a natural reaction."

At the same time, it's hard to overlook the millions of people who enjoy these games, shows and movies and don't turn into violent killers, she said.

For whatever concern that politicians and moral leaders show about violent media content, it's those millions of users and viewers who will ultimately decide whether gore stays on the menu, said Marty Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication.

If fans lose interest, so will Hollywood, he said.

"Hollywood is exquisitely reactive to the marketplace," he said.

____

Associated Press Movie Critic Christy Lemire in Los Angeles, Television Writer Frazier Moore in New York and writer Lou Kesten in Washington contributed to this report.

Christmas came early at "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on Thursday, as the host teamed up with a couple of comedy legends to recreate the classic bit made famous by Abbott & Costello, "Who's On First".

With announcer Steve Higgins in the bewildered Costello role and Fallon as Abbott, the "Late Night" version of the sketch added on to it by actually bringing out players Who, What & I Don't Know, played by Billy Crystal, "Late Night" head writer A.D. Miles, and Jerry Seinfeld respectively.

Check out the clip above and then tell us about some of your all-time favorite comedy bits.

Mila Kunis is the target of an anti-Semitic attack unleashed by a Ukrainian politician.

Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Miroshnichenko targeted Kunis in an anti-Semitic Facebook post saying that the actress is not a true Ukrainian because she is a "zhydovka," according to TMZ. The term "zhydovka," which translates to "dirty Jewess," is a slur that has been used against Jewish people since the time of the Holocaust.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, a global Jewish human rights organization that confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, has come to Kunis' defense in a letter to the Ukrainian prime minister, according to TMZ. In the letter, Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper express their "outrage and indignation" and say Kunis is owed an apology.

The slur is laced with historic anti-Semitism. “The last time this term was used in any official way was during the Nazi occupation, when the Jews or ‘Zhyds' of Kiev were ordered to convene in preparation for their mass murder at Babi Yar,” Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, told Jewish news entity JTA. “The Justice Ministry and politicians should adjust their definitions and language according to what Ukrainian Jews consider offensive, and we find the word ‘zhyd’ to be just that."

"The temperature around this discussion is rising," he added, saying that the Jewish community in Ukraine is “highly concerned” by how “anti-Semitic speech is becoming more prevalent in Ukraine, especially online.”

Jewish activists have petitioned the ministry to prevent right-wing nationalists from using the slur "zhyd" or its feminine derivative "zhydovka," according to the Times of Israel.

The petition, however, failed. The ministry cited a Ukrainian academic dictionary to state that the term "zhyd" is merely an archaic term for "Jew" and not necessarily a slur, according to the Time of Israel. The ministry did admit that "Jew" should not be used in official government communications.

Kunis' family immigrated to America from Ukraine when she was just 7 years old.

NEW YORK — A famous image of Marilyn Monroe with her skirt billowing atop a New York City subway grate is on display in a picture-perfect spot: outside the Times Square subway station.

The supersized version of Sam Shaw's well-known picture is part of an exhibit. The exhibit also features eight of Shaw's other Monroe pictures, on view inside the 42nd Street-Bryant Park station on the B, D, F, M and 7 lines.

The show opened Thursday. It'll be up for a year.

Shaw shot the subway grate photo for the 1955 film "The Seven Year Itch." He took the other pictures in 1957.

The exhibit is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Arts for Transit program. Manager Lester Burg says matching a mass transit setting with a popular figure from mass culture seemed a good fit.

Senator Ben Affleck isn't happening. Yet.

In a new interview with Bob Schieffer, Affleck didn't deny that he would be interested in running as a candidate to replace John Kerry as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts should Kerry be nominated as Secretary of State, but said he was too busy at the moment to really consider it an option.

"For one thing, the state of Massachusetts has two extraordinary senators. So there is no vacancy," Affleck said. When pressed by Schieffer about what would happen if there was a vacancy, Affleck side-stepped this issue like an expert Washington insider. "Well, one never knows. I'm not one to get into conjecture."

Continued Affleck: "I do have a great fondness and admiration for the political process in this country, but I'm not going to get into speculation about my political future."

As Affleck told Schieffer, he likes being involved in government from the "outside," something that has allowed Affleck to advocate for the Congo and use his Oscar-contending film "Argo" as "a springboard for dialogue about our relationship with Iran."

"So, I've got a lot on my plate," Affleck joked.

Despite the tip-toeing, Affleck could find himself running for office eventually. An anonymous source told HuffPost Celebrity that anyone who underestimates the idea of Affleck as U.S. Senator is in for a rude awakening.

"He's very focused and smart. People once laughed when he said he wanted to be a director, and now they are not laughing. Also, never forget that this guy survived Bennifer -- so anything is possible."

Affleck was in Washington D.C. this week to discuss the human rights situation in the Congo, which he reported has endured 5 million deaths in the last 14 years.

"Resolving the cycle of violence does not necessarily require a significant new financial investment by the United States or U.S. boots on the ground. It does, however, require American political leadership -- moral leadership even -- to bring the parties together to address the larger sources of instability in the region," Affleck said in his testimony.

For more on Affleck's D.C. trip, head over to Politico. Watch Affleck chat with Schieffer in the video above.

The episode of "Face the Nation" will air on Sunday, Dec. 23.

[via THR]

NEWARK, N.J. — The rap artist "Fat Joe" pleaded guilty Thursday to failing to pay taxes on nearly $3 million in income he earned over two years for performances and music royalties.

The platinum-selling artist, whose real name is Joseph Cartagena, was once a Billboard chart topper with hits like the duet "What's Luv" with the R&B singer Ashanti.

Cartagena entered the plea in federal court in Newark because some of the companies he earned money from are incorporated in New Jersey.

The 42-year-old Miami Beach, Fla., resident entered pleas to two counts covering years 2007 and 2008. His sentencing will take into consideration the government's initial allegation that he failed to pay income taxes for years 2007 through 2010. Federal prosecutors said the total tax loss to the government for those four years was $718,038.

Wearing a navy suit, Cartagena looked fit and considerably slimmer than the former size that had earned him his rapper nickname. He has been very public about his efforts to shed weight after fellow rap stars died from obesity-related issues and was recently in Newark to speak to schoolchildren about health and fitness.

In federal court Thursday, when asked by U.S. Magistrate Cathy Waldor if he understood the charges he was facing, he replied, "I super-understand it."

Cartagena's lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said outside federal court that his client "had already taken steps to resolve this situation" before he had been charged. He said the rapper hoped to pay back the taxes by the time of his sentencing April 3.

Cartagena owned the Somerville-based Terror Squad Production Inc. and Miramar Music Touring Inc., according to court papers. He also earned income from FJTS Corp., during the time in question.

The judge set bail at $250,000 and released Cartagena until his sentencing. He could face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000, plus penalties from the Internal Revenue Service.

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This is the way "The X Factor" ends, not with a bang but with a lovely Britney Spears outfit.

It's been a big season for Ms. Spears, 31, whose gig as a judge marked a career comeback for the former teen pop sensation. The highest-paid female musician of the year, Spears hasn't always matched her top earning potential with her sartorial aptitude. There were those ill-advised blonde wigs, the maybe-too-tight bandage dresses and the fringe-laden crop tops.

But luckily, Britney's style swerve came to an end at Thursday night's season finale, where the "Scream & Shout" singer hit the red carpet in a flowing black sheer paneled gown, with her hair pulled back in a sleek updo. Embellished with diamond studs, a cross necklace and sexy cat-lined eyes, the look was the perfect wrap-up to her 2012 comeback year.

Bravo, Britney. Over and out.

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