Lifetime has cancelled "Drop Dead Diva," Deadline is reporting.

The cable network will reportedly not go forward with a fifth season, although the dramedy's production studio, Sony Pictures TV, may attempt to find an alternate home for it, says Deadline.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the cancellation comes after Lifetime approached Sony for cost-cutting possibilities, while Deadline reports that the network delayed making a decision on the series' future for as long as possible to allow executives to evaluate their new crop of pilots.

Since the series has been consistent (if not spectacular) in the ratings, averaging more than two million viewers for Season 4, it seems as though the cable network is confident in its new projects for next season. "DDD" attempted to grab a few more eyeballs last season by casting Kim Kardashian in a multi-episode arc.

It's been an unlucky season for "Drop Dead Diva" creator Josh Berman -- his other drama, "The Mob Doctor," was not picked up for a back nine at Fox and ended its truncated season last week.

Are you disappointed by "Drop Dead Diva's" cancellation?

Jodie Foster and I were both born about 1,000 years ago, which makes us roughly the same age, although she is a bit older than I am. ("I'm 50!") She went on to become a famous movie star, and I became a famous writer, or I will be. (Power of positive thinking, people!) Anyway, because we share so much in common, it was no surprise to me that she waited to announce to the world that she is gay on her own terms and in her own time. We're both a product of our environments, and we're both late bloomers, so I'd like to clear up some of the misunderstandings that some of you have about Jodie and the coming-out party that she threw at the Golden Globes.

First, judge not lest ye be judged. How many times have we used this line on our evangelical brothers and sisters? Religious leaders, politicians and downright nasty people have been judging gays since the beginning of time, telling us that we were sinners destined for hell. Did you believe them? Did it feel wrong? Guess what: It is wrong here, too.

I have heard some of you say, "But she is a celebrity, and she should have come out sooner!" Last time I checked, the gay manual offered no official coming-out protocols based on occupation. We should work on getting that corrected for the next publication, but as it stands now, people do what they feel comfortable with. Jodie came out years ago to those whom she knew personally and trusted. When I sought counseling to help with coming out, my therapist told me to call a press conference and announce it to the world so that I could get it over with. Does that make sense? Of course it doesn't. My therapist actually told me to do the same thing that Jodie did: come out to people I love and feel comfortable with and progress at my own pace. As far as I'm concerned, the only people who should be forced out of their closets are bigoted politicians and religious leaders.

We have jobs and need to support our families. Gays can be fired in many U.S. states just for being gay. Jodie is no exception. Yes, she makes a lot more money than most of us do, but she also loves her job. She is her job. Hollywood is certainly not immune to typecasting. How many times have we heard comments about actors not being believable in a role because of who they are perceived to be?

I have also heard the complaint that she was not clear and did not use the "L" word. I actually heard her use the "L" word many times during her acceptance speech -- the "L" word being "love." She spoke about her love for her ex-partner, her love for her children, her love for her mother and heck, even her love for her crew. Oh, you probably thought that she should have said "lesbian." The LGBT rights movement is more about removing labels than imposing them, and at the foundation of that movement is the belief that we should have the right to love whom we choose. As for the supposedly rambling nature of her speech, when you announced your sexuality to billions of viewers, how clear were you?

I don't know Jodie personally, but as I said, we're practically the same age. For the first part of our lives, homosexuality was defined as a mental disorder. We both watched AIDS devastate an entire population and listened to vitriol spewed by "respected" experts denigrating gays. Jodie, I and a host of other late bloomers are slightly damaged, but we're doing the best we can. Give us a break. We're 50! Fifty years old!

William Dameron's personal blog is The Authentic Life.

On "Parenthood," Julia (Erika Christensen) and Joel (Sam Jaeger) have been struggling with adopting 9-year-old Victor (Xolo Mariduena), who's made it more than clear that he's not a fan of his new mom. (He called child services on Julia, continues to compare her to his "real mom" and refuses to eat anything she cooks.)

When we left them at the end of last week's episode, it was clear Joel and Julia were not in agreement about whether or not to proceed with the adoption, especially after he threw a bat at their birth daughter Sydney (Savannah Paige Rae).

(Click here for more from Christensen's TV husband, Sam Jaeger.)

Below, Erika Christensen opens up to HuffPost TV about whether or not Joel and Julia will get on the same page by the end of Season 4, why Mae Whitman (a.k.a. "Parenthood's" Amber) should be winning Emmys, a scene between Crosby (Dax Shepard) and Julia that "Parenthood" creator Jason Katims called "one of my favorite scenes that we've done on the show" and much more.

When you learned about the story arc for Julia and Joel with Victor this season, what did you think?
I was excited because I knew it would be heartbreaking. That's what we do on "Parenthood." [Laughs.] It's such an interesting thing to examine, adopting a fully-formed human. It's kind of like an arranged marriage or something. It's like your hearts are in the right place, but there can definitely be bumps in the road. Obviously for Julia, it's been really trying, like, "How much can I give without getting something in return here?" That's the selfish side of it. The non-selfish side of it is, "How do I know that I actually am the right person for this child if he's not responding to me?" Which is really the bigger issue.

Julia and Joel are at a crossroads now and as we saw when the woman from the adoption agency stopped by, they're clearly in different places about Victor. How will that play out?
In tonight's episode, they find a way to get on the same page.

Jason Katims talked to TV Guide about an upcoming scene in tonight's episode with Julia and Crosby. What can you tell us about that without giving too much away?
He emailed me saying the scenes went so well and I'm so glad! What I can tell you about that scene is there's a level of honesty that can be achieved between siblings that is so valuable in getting to the bottom of things and it just happens that Crosby is able to provide that for Julia in what seems to be the end of this crisis -- she keeps getting closer to the end of her rope.

What was it like shooting a scene with Dax since you two don't get to work together too often?
It was so much fun! When we shot the scene, we were like, "Man! We should work together more often. This is really fun." [Laughs.] We were actually friends before the show so it's been a real treat. He's such an incredibly insightful and intelligent and spirited fellow. It was really fun to be directed by him as well.

Peter Krause and Sam Jaeger directed as well this season. Was it strange being directed by your TV husband?
Not really, actually. It's a pretty smooth transition because we're used to talking about what we're getting at with the scene anyway and then he just happens to also have the overall responsibility. But he's right there as an actor and then, he wants to adjust things he probably would have anyway as an actor. And there's that trust that you really need.

It's been a a really heartbreaking couple of seasons for Julia with Zoe and now Victor. Is there a scene that was particularly difficult for you to film?
Not as an actor or as a character -- I've had more difficulty basically as an audience member, as I read the script and as I realize how rough this is from the outside viewpoint. From the inside, of course it's really rough, but it's exciting. You flip back and forth between, "Oh, this is wonderful! It's so heartbreaking" to, "This is terrible. It's so heartbreaking."

There have been some lighter moments for Julia, like when she and Sarah (Lauren Graham), Kristina (Monica Potter) and Jasmine (Joy Bryant) went out for a girl's night. Do you guys savor those kind of moments since they're so few and far between?
[Laughs.] We did have a good time that night. That was Dax's first day of directing and he had such a great vision for how the episode was going to open with these wild party girls. He basically wanted viewers to be like, "Who are these people? Are these the characters on 'Parenthood?'" [Laughs.] So we had a great time with that. Of course, leave it to Jason Katims to throw a hard left in the middle of this fun scene with Kristina's hair falling out. But that's prefect because that's life and it was fun for all of us to laugh together.

And great to see you four together, which is a rarity. Is there anyone else you'd like to have more scenes with?
Yeah! Well, we've already established I would love to have more scenes with Dax. I would love to have more scenes with Craig T. Nelson and I would really love to have more scenes with Mae Whitman because she's incredible and she should be winning Emmys.

What has it been like to see Savannah grow up on the show?
Oh my gosh. She's grown up so much. When we first started shooting, she didn't know how to read. So, as an actor, you have to have someone read the script out loud to you and help you memorize your lines. It's a whole different operation than reading it and being able to take it in and just have it be a very pure thing between the page and yourself. So she's grown so much as an actress. It's really cool. And she has a great time, which is a really important thing for a kid.

Can you relate to that a bit since you were a child actor too?
Yeah. I had a great time too. People treat you very much like you're an important part of this equation. They hold you responsible and nobody says, "Don't worry about it. You're just a kid." They go, "Hey! Get it together."

What can we look forward to for the season finale?
I think it's pretty interesting the way Sarah's dilemma resolves because she has the wonderful and terrible problem of choosing between two great guys. [Laughs.] And the whole progression that Kristina has to go through -- obviously it's not like, "OK. Wash our hands of that and movin' on!" It leave its mark on what will be the rest of her life. For Joel and Julia, Joel has a really intelligent observation that seems to make things make sense even though there's a lot of emotion that you have to get through. Oh my gosh. I can't say anything more than that! [Laughs.]

In Season 5 -- because, fingers crossed, there will be a Season 5 -- what do you hope to see for Julia?
Gosh. I don't know. At the end of last year, I was saying that I would love to see Julia completely out of her element because that's what the writers seem to enjoy doing: taking Julia, who feels like she's got the world on a string, and putting her in situations where she has no idea what she's doing. In the first season and second season, it was socially and they did exactly that [for Season 4]. She's a competent lawyer and they took her out of her work place, which was her safe haven where everything made sense, and put her full on into the home life, where things don't make sense to her. She has to work really hard to keep things under control.

So I don't know. Next season, I don't know if we'll be wrapping up storylines or how many seasons we're gonna go, but ... what seems to be happening is Julia ultimately becoming somewhat more comfortable in the home life, giving her some relief there. And, of course, she has a great resume. She could move on to great things career-wise. If she did decide to do that, it'd be really interesting to see how she could work with other family members. That'd be really cool.

"Parenthood" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday reading angry statements on The Huffington Post, Facebook and Twitter about Jodie Foster's acceptance speech for her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes. I grew increasingly frustrated as I read blog posts, Facebook statuses and articles that lambasted Foster for her speech on the grounds that she should have come out sooner.

Ms. Foster has been working in show business since she was 3 years old. For the last 47 years she has been in the public eye and likely under the control of a myriad of agents, publicists and production companies that have tried to control what she thinks, says and does. Having your own voice in that environment cannot be easy. Nevertheless, despite the ostensible homophobia and discrimination that exists in Hollywood, Foster has maintained an incredibly successful career as a respected actor and director, all while raising two children with a same-sex partner. And as far as I know, she has never lied about her sexuality publicly or maintained a false front.

Unlike most of her Hollywood contemporaries, Foster did not deliver the obligatory scripted speech thanking the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and every agent, publicist and director she has worked with. Instead, in an apparently unscripted, raw and heartfelt speech, she took a stand for herself. She publicly declared her appreciation for her career, expressed her love for her children and their mother (Foster's ex-partner), made a heartfelt statement to her own mother (bringing most of us to tears) and proudly declared her sexual orientation to the world while articulating the value that she places on privacy, two issues that, for her, go hand in hand.

I don't care if it is 1913 or 2013; when someone takes a stand for himself or herself against societal expectations, that is a beautiful and refreshing contribution to the world we live in, a world that makes it difficult to be an individual, especially for closeted people in positions of privelege and power. She took a stand for herself and at the same time said what I interpreted as a "f#@% you" to those who think that it was somehow her responsibility to declare her sexual orientation publicly. As she said in her speech, she had been out for years to those who matter and never hid who she is.

Of course, I wish that Jodie Foster had come out publicly 20 years ago, along with every celebrity, politician or person in power who struggled with his or her sexual orientation during the time that I was going through a similar struggle. But it was not her time and not her journey. Thankfully there were others who did come out then and thus became role models to help me take the step out of the closet. I have no doubt that there are closeted people today who are moved by Foster's speech and, because of her strength, are feeling encouraged to take the courageous step toward cracking open that closet door.

Any statement of anger or resentment toward Foster for not making this statement years ago, especially coming from those who have been on a similar journey, is shameful, judgmental and self-righteous. Have you all forgotten about your own journey and the adversity that you had to fight against, and the courage it took to be true to yourself and to others?

With great privilege and power comes great responsibility, but that does not mean that everybody should conform to what we believe is the "right" path, because there is no "right" path, only our own individual paths. We are all on our own journeys, and we can only strive, as individuals, to live a life that is authentic. It is harmful to the LGBTQ community for any one of us to criticize somebody else's coming-out process. Whatever her reasons may be, Jodie Foster decided to take the time, during a great honor in her life and career, and in the most public manner possible, to make this declaration, and that should be celebrated.

I am proud of Jodie Foster for getting to this point in her journey, and I am so grateful that she did it with such grace and dignity. To lambast her for waiting this long, or for any other reason, is reprehensible. Ms. Foster should be praised for having the strength and courage to be authentic in a profession and society that values something quite different than authenticity.

It has been nearly 15 years since Ellen DeGeneres' famous TIME cover with the declaration "Yep, I'm gay," and if recent comings out are any indication, the new celebrity coming out is different. Ben Walters said of Jodie Foster's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, "[T]his was not your standard public coming out." I think we can all agree on that. That said, its unconventionalness need not disqualify it as a coming out. Walters emphatically stated that "it was a coming out," adding, "One would have to be willfully obtuse to doubt the meaning of Foster's remarks." I agree.

Linguists have long analyzed what are called "speech acts," the basic units of interaction. To paraphrase the title of J. L. Austin's seminal book published 50 years ago, speech acts are how we "do things with words," from thanking, promising or giving condolences to requesting, apologizing and commanding. Speech acts are considered to have three levels of meaning: locutionary (the literal meaning of the utterance), illocuationary (the force or intention of the utterance) and perlocutionary (the effect of the utterance).

A speech act may have a prototypical feature or combination of features that constitute a prototypical realization. In American English, for example, "thank you" is a prototypical way of giving thanks, just as "I am sorry" is a prototypical way of apologizing. What happens in real interaction, however, is not always the prototypical realization of the speech act. Lesley Jeffries of the University of Huddersfield described the most prototypical apology as one that is in the first person ("I") and the simple present tense ("apologize"), addressed to the wronged party by the offending party with the infraction in the recent past, and accompanied by additional features, including an expression of concern or an offer of reparation. However, not all apologies contain these prototypical features. The public apology of a celebrity or a political figure may employ the third person ("Mistakes were made") or the future tense ("I will apologize"), and it may occur months, weeks or decades after the infraction or focus on something other than the main wrong (e.g., an apology for the word used rather than for the insult itself). Members of a community may assess a given apology by comparing it with the prototypical apology in order to decide whether or not to accept it, or whether it even constitutes an apology at all.

Similarly, "I am gay" or "I am a lesbian" may be the prototypical realization of the coming-out speech act, against which all other coming-out speech acts are judged. Deborah A. Chirrey, a member of the faculty of Edge Hill University and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Language and Sexuality, explains,

[S]peakers make use of numerous locutions that they select as more or less suited to the particular hearer. One way in which locutions vary is in their directness in referring to sexuality. One can represent this as a continuum with, at one end, [the use of a] locution [that] involves the use of a term which clearly and unambiguously labels the individual's sexual identity.

Naming the process (coming out) but not the identity label is at the center of the continuum, while referring to partners is toward the less direct end of the spectrum and is "a strategy familiar to many lesbians and gay men." Finally, at the most indirect end of the continuum is expressing opinions and attitudes that "represent a non-heterosexist view of the world."

Last year Anderson Cooper came out to Andrew Sullivan in a publicly available email in which he said, among other things, "The fact is, I am gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud." Similarly, back in 2006, Neil Patrick Harris stated in a magazine interview, "I am ... quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man." These are but two examples of prototypical comings out.

However, does this mean that it is not a coming out if the individual does not utter the words "I am gay" or "I am a lesbian"? Reference to a same-sex partner, either by name or by pronouns, is not a new strategy and is an alternative that many gay and lesbian people use in their daily lives as a way of being open about who they are without, as Chirrey says, "demanding that attention be paid to their gayness." Astronaut Sally Ride, for example, in effect came out posthumously when she mentioned her "partner of 27 years" in the announcement of her death. While there was some debate as to whether or not she should have come out earlier, before her death, there was no debate that the act constituted a coming out. In fact, I had already considered Foster's thanking of "my beautiful Cydney" during her acceptance of an award a coming out back in 2007.

It is for the LGBT community to decide whether Jodie Foster's utterance categorizing Cydney Bernard as "one of the deepest loves of my life, my heroic co-parent, my ex-partner in love but righteous soul sister in life" is or is not a coming out. Personally, I agree with Ben Walters that, while not prototypical in form, Foster's speech does constitute a coming out. Though people may wish that she had done it sooner or more directly, I urge people to consider that while a simple declarative sentence may be the most prototypical realization of the coming-out speech act, it is not the only way that it can be realized. In Foster's case, the illocutionary force of the speech act, or the utterance's force/intention, was to come out, and that was its perlocutionary effect. She may not have uttered, "Yep, I'm gay," but Jodie Foster came out, and Jodie Foster is out.

A few things crossed my mind when I watched Jodie Foster's speech at this year's Golden Globes, where she was handed the Cecil B. DeMille award for her career in film. The first thing that took me by surprise was that she is 50 years old; she's certainly looking good for it. I like Jodie Foster, and I've always regarded her as somewhat underrated. I know she's been nominated for the Best Actress Oscar four times (winning twice), but still, her decision to shy away from the pull of the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle has, in my eyes, resulted in her often being overlooked in debates about the best female acting talent. I guess she's my female William H. Macy (if we forgive his turn in Jurassic Park 3). For years now the gay rumor machine has been working overdrive when it comes to Foster's orientation, the general concensus being that she's gay but simply not comfortable talking about it in the public arena. And why should she have to?

In a recent interview with rucomingout.com, Scissor Sisters' front man Jake Shears said that "gay celebrities at least have the responsibility to come out." When I published Shears' interview, I was really interested in hearing what other people though about that particular comment. The reaction was pretty mixed. Many people agreed that as role models to young (and older) lesbian, gay and bisexual people who may be looking for inspiration, actors, pop stars, athletes and politicians shouldn't waste such an amazing opportunity to show that you don't have to settle for low aspirations just because you aren't straight. Other readers of the website had completely opposite views and suggested that Shears was irresponsible and insensitive in his comments. I have to say that I could kind of see both arguments.

Coming out means very different things to all of us. Some of us see it as making a statement, being proactive in standing up and saying proudly, "This is who I am, and I am happy." Other people feel that as long as there's no outright denial of one's sexuality or a purposeful lie to hide possible embarrassment, then that's also a job well done. I don't think that anyone has a duty to stand up and shout their sexual orientation to the world if they choose not to; however, I do feel that if you are at a point in your life where you are comfortable with who you are, then you have a duty to yourself to feel able to talk about your sexuality in relevant situations without fear or shame. However, although we've come a long way in gay equality, this still isn't always easy to do, whether you're famous or not.

I have always respected Jodie Foster for not bowing down to media and public pressure and talking about her private life in interviews in which she is only required by contract to sell the film she's currently staring in. Does this make her less accessible to her fans? Yes, of course it does. Does it make her less of a role model? Of course not. People should not idolize Foster just because she is a lesbian. Young girls (and boys) should look up to her and admire her work because she's an amazing talent. However, she isn't an amazing talent because she is a lesbian. Foster has a natural talent (she's been working since she was 3 years old) and a great work ethic. She is selective when it comes to choosing her films, which can be seen in her relatively limited filmography. These are the reasons that she should be admired and looked up to.

The majority of young lesbian, gay and bisexual people who may be struggling with their sexuality in 2013 won't grow up to be Golden Globe winners. They will be shop workers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, hairdressers, builders, office workers, travel agents, engineers, charity workers, volunteers. That's not to say that our future film stars, pop stars and Olympians aren't these same people struggling with their sexual identity, but the voices of inspiration they need to hear should come from everyone, not just someone who graces magazine covers around the world. Why should Jodie Foster, Jake Shears, Anderson Cooper, Ellen DeGeneres and Gareth Thomas shoulder this responsibility simply because the careers they chose happen to make them recognizable if you were to pass them in the street? Of course, it would be great if they did feel comfortable opening up their private lives to the world, but being famous is not a prerequisite to have to do this.

The reason I respect Foster is because she used her speech to defend her right to protect her and her family's privacy throughout her career. She hasn't kept quiet specifically about her sexuality all these years; she's simply not comfortable with the idea of laying out her private life in the public domain for all to pore over. Part of me felt sorry for her for having to stand up there on that stage in front of her peers, her family and the rest of the world. She was being rewarded for her skills as an actress, not for being a lesbian, and yet she felt that she had to at least refer to it. It may sound strange coming from the founder of a website that encourages people to share their coming-out stories with others, but I kind of wish she hadn't bowed down to that pressure after all. She didn't ask to be a lesbian, and she doesn't have to talk about it if she doesn't want to. The acknowledgment of her "modern family" and her reference to her ex-partner and co-parent Cydney was enough for anyone still needing that confirmation that Foster is gay. This wasn't a coming-out speech, because, as she said, she "already did her coming out about a thousand years ago."

What Foster has achieved with that speech, however, is making people all over the world look at what coming out means today, in 2013. The day will come when people don't have to live in the closet, because coming out won't be seen as a huge shock to people. That day isn't here yet, though, and we have a long way to go until it is. It's great when public figures stand up and talk about being gay, but it's also great when those of us who don't act, sing or play sports for a living stand up and talk about our experiences (both positive and negative) of being gay.

I would love for Jodie Foster to one day write about her experiences of discovering her sexuality and her coming out, but only because I think it would be a really interesting read. If this never happens, I'm not going to think anything less of her as an actress, lesbian or human being. Everyday heroes exist around us. Since my website started almost a year ago, over 125 people have written and shared their coming-out stories with the world, with the sole purpose of trying to make other people who may be going through what they did feel hopeful about their futures. I'd ask any gay, lesbian or bisexual person who has criticized Foster for being so tight-lipped about her sexual orientation over the years to do the very thing they are criticizing her for not doing: share your coming-out story. My email address is wayne@rucomingout.com. If you write and send me your coming-out story, I will publish it, and it will help people. Whether or not you choose to do so is your decision, and one that no one else has the right to judge you for.

"Parenthood" fans' hearts have been breaking watching the storyline unfold with Victor (Xolo Mariduena) and his adoptive parents Joel (Sam Jaeger) and Julia (Erika Christensen).

"You definitely see that this adoption is tearing this couple apart," Jaeger told HuffPost TV via phone. "This week, things really come to a head."

Below, Jaeger discusses more about Victor's fate, Matt Lauria's return, which awkward "Parenthood" scene rang true for him, why he's OK with not being as perfect as Joel and much more.

(Click here for more from Jaeger's TV wife Erika Christensen)

When you learned of the story arc for Joel and Julia with Victor this season, what did you think? Did you have any concerns?
I was actually really relieved. Our creator Jason Katims is one of those rare creators -- most can be dictators and once they've got their vision, sometimes it's hard to get another through -- but Jason is that rare leader of our group, who really feels that the best way to get the team to create the best work is by empowering them. So we got to talk about where the story was going to go and how things with Victor would unfold before the season started.

I'm really thankful that this show has a lot of complications. Victor has highs and lows throughout the season in regards to his adapting to this family and it's messy, just like not only parenting is, but particularly, adoption. You take in this person who's not your blood and give as much love [as you can] to and that's a difficult situation for anyone involved.

When the woman from the adoption agency stopped by, we saw that Joel and Julia are in different places. Is this going to affect their marriage?
Yeah, I think so. When there's a question this big looming in any couple's life, it can only cause a lot of friction and they are clearly not on the same page here and they need to get on the same page pretty quickly. These next couple of weeks are about them trying to come to terms with their decision yet to be made and thankfully, unlike some seasons previously, we've known that we were going to have this many episodes so the writers and Jason took the care to make sure that this was, in a sense, wrapped up as fulfillingly as possible. I'm really excited to share with our fans what happens at the end of this season.

Joel is incredibly understanding and patient, but this just a really difficult situation. I actually think he's too perfect. Is this the situation that is going to kind of crack him?
[Laughs.] I've heard that for years! I've been trying to live up to Joel. One of the questions I get asked most is, does my wife get pissed that I'm not more like Joel? And the answer is surprisingly no. She had very low expectations for me going into our marriage so the fact that I've surpassed that level is a success story on her part.

But I think he is the patient one and I think it takes a patient person to marry a Braverman. [Laughs.] When there's a family this dynamic that's so full of these really passionate people, there's always the in-law, kind of on the outside looking in, who is the patient one, who is the one who tries to see the throughline and I think that happens in a strong relationship, too -- if there's someone who's more frenetic, then there needs to be a stable one.

I won't say Joel cracks -- he doesn't go on a rampage or anything like that. [Laughs.] But you definitely see that this adoption is tearing this couple apart and in the second-to-last episode this week, things really come to a head.

Matt Lauria, who plays Ryan, also comes back in this week's episode. Will he finally apologize to Joel?
[Laughs.] Yeah, but the question is: Is it too little too late? So there is an apology scene and then there's another scene beyond that. But I really like their dynamic because for one, it's nice to see what Joel's life is like beyond the Braverman home and two, I think Matt's character Ryan is in many ways Joel's equal. He has a lot of issues, but is kind of the younger version of what Joel turned into.

So you were happy to learn that Joel was going back to work this season?
I was. I think it was an interesting storyline to see Julia really struggle with being at home. I know a lot of mothers who define themselves by their success or failure in the home, so to speak. I think there's a lot of pressure on mothers -- it's not enough to be a great mother now; you have to be a great mother and a great professional. So I think seeing Julia struggle with how to define herself has been really exciting.

The storyline with Ryan and Joel led to more scenes for you and Mae Whitman. Is there anyone else you wish you worked with more?
I loved working with Mae. Everything she does is so fresh and fun. I love working with Craig [T. Nelson] too because just like with Mae, you never know what you're going to get from Craig. At this point, I've been on the show for so long. In the past, I always worried about my position on the show and where Joel was going and what I was going to do; now, I'm just so thankful to be on this show. I mean, it is so rare to be doing the job that you love. I think this is one of three jobs I've had in my entire career that I can legitimately say I'm proud of so I have no other hope beyond getting another season or two to tell the Bravermans' story.

It's been such a heavy season with Kristina's cancer and Victor and Drew and Amy last episode ...
Yeah. There haven't been too many Braverman dance parties. [Laughs.]

Do you guys do anything to keep the mood light on set? That "Girl On TV" music video was pretty great.
[Laughs.] Well, one of the great things about this cast is they're some of the funniest people I've been around. Monica Potter has this huge, tremendous responsibility this season and yet -- thank God -- she has such an incredible sense of humor. I think even when you're dealing with an issue as big as breast cancer, even survivors would say that humor is one of the only ways to get through some of the hardships and man, I just laugh my ass off on set all day. We have a great time putting out really, really depressing material for all of you. [Laughs.] I would say that the show is about the fact that the Bravermans do endure. At the end, there's always some kind of uplift, which I think separates our show from a lot of the other great shows on television. It doesn't hurt to have some happy endings every once in a while.

You also directed an episode this season for the first time, which did deal a lot with Kristina's cancer ["Everything Is Not Okay"]. What was that experience like?
It's not as different as you would think because it is such a collaborative show to begin with. A lot of our days start with talking through scenes as a group with the director and the other actors in the scene so it's kind of like there's just one less person collaborating. [Laughs.] But it was kind of my responsibility to keep Jason's spirit alive in what we were doing. I directed an independent film called "Take Me Home" and there is a difference, which is, with "Parenthood," I'm trying to lend my voice to someone else's vision and I tried to do that as good as possible. It's so much easier to fulfill that when the cast is so good. They create this world that I just have to navigate here and there so I look forward to doing it again.

Has anything ever happened in your life, maybe as a husband or as a father, that you wanted to incorporate into the show?
I don't know if there's anything directly that's gone in the show because my son is much younger than my children on the show and my step-daughter is much older, but there have been moments on the show where I realized that we were doing a scene that happened to me directly. When my step-daughter was about seven or eight, I remember her asking specifically, "How do babies get born?" Her mother wasn't going to lie to her and say, "This is 'hoo hoo' and this is 'na na.'" So she said, "There's a penis and a vagina and that's how it happens." We were on a car trip and my daughter just said, "So ... Mom, I get that the sperm goes into the egg, but how does it get there?" [Laughs.] And my wife and I knew she had just put us in a huge corner and it was almost identical to the show: The only thing we could do was turn up the radio. [Laughs.]

What are your hopes for Joel in Season 5, should there be one?
I just have hopes for Season 5. I don't have any specific aim. [Laughs.] I don't know. I'm wondering where the storyline with Victor would be come September, but really, I just hope these Bravermans stay alive for another season.

You have a couple movies coming out soon too.
Yeah. I'm going out to Sundance for this indie film with Jessica Biel called "Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes," which is a really unusual story. I play Jessica's estranged husband. It's just a small scene, but it's pretty integral to the plot so that was fun to do.

And the other movie I got to do was the Spike Jonze movie "Her." It's been one of my dreams to be in that guy's movies. They are just so wonderfully bizarre and this was no exception. Actually, for the longest time, it was called "The Howard Something Something Project" and there were rumors that Charlie Kaufman had written it so it was all shrouded, what this movie would be about. The whole making of it was as strange as the film itself. [Laughs.] But it was fun to do.

"Parenthood" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC.

CHICAGO -- Chicago rapper Chief Keef has been taken into custody after a juvenile court judge decided a video of him firing a semiautomatic rifle at a New York gun range was a violation of probation.

The artist, real name Keith Cozart, was sentenced last year to 18 months' probation after his conviction on aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charges for pointing a gun at police officers.

Defense attorney Dennis Berkson told Walker his client never took the gun outside of the range and the target practice was supervised.

Chief Keef's first album, "Finally Rich," was released last year to mixed reviews.

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Just because you’re a celebrity, doesn’t mean you can dodge neighborhood associations. And former Playboy bunny Holly Madison is a perfect example of why not.

According to Las Vegas Weekly, Madison is moving out of her Rancho Circle house because her homeowner's association won’t leave her alone about her giant dog house. Yes, you’ve read that correctly -- a giant dog house.

Madison, who currently has three dogs, built a “ridiculous human-sized dog house,” in her backyard. And, according to the interview, she is getting fined $100 a month because she painted it pink, even though she (technically) did follow the HOA’s rules. “[My contractor] told me it has to match the architecture of the house, so I did that with the roof because people would see the roof. It’s possible you could see the roof from the street, but you can’t see any of it from the street, actually,” she told the magazine.

So far she hasn’t been paying the fines, just sending nasty letters, but because of the overall aggravation the pregnant Madison is feeling, she’s taking her giant dog house and hitting the road. And in honor of her pooch compound, we've put together a slideshow of the most ridiculous dog houses we’ve ever seen. Click through and head over to Las Vegas Weekly for more information.

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When "The Carrie Diaries" aired on The CW on Monday night, viewers noticed one glaring omission from the '80s New York City skyline: the Twin Towers.

Although broadcasting a post-9/11 sky backdrop was seemingly unintentional, "Carrie Diaries" creator Amy B. Harris told the L.A. Times that it was decision they came to after a lot of thought.

"We didn't want to cause anybody hurt," Harris said. "If we caused one 16-year-old who lost a parent in September 11 any pain ... it would have made me feel terrible.

"I wouldn’t want anyone to think we’re trying to pretend something didn’t exist," she added. "Our show is about love and romance. It felt like the wrong place to acknowledge it."

Between inconsistencies in Carrie's backstory and diehard "Sex and the City" fans' insisting that no one can fill Sarah Jessica Parker's Manolo's, the "Carrie Diaries" criticism has already been flying.

But co-executive producer and "Carrie Diaries" and "Sex and the City" author Candace Bushnell told HuffPost TV she's prepared for the criticsm.

"For us it’s about making the best show that we can make. I think that that’s one’s contract with the audience, to make the very best product that you can make," she said. "That’s really all you can do. So, there are going to be some people where it’s not the show for them."

"The Carrie Diaries" airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

By Amy Lynch

With awards season in full swing -- the Golden Globes and People's Choice Awards luminaries still glowing from their wins, and the Grammys and Oscars steadily approaching -- it's impossible not to fall prey to the endless fashion chatter about what everyone's been wearing on the red carpet. But what about the things entertainers are doing with their time and resources that are genuinely worth talking about?

Celebrities and charity often go hand in hand; a "do well and do good" philosophy is arguably an easy one to adopt. Particularly when at the top of one's game, it certainly doesn't hurt a star's public image when they're snapped doing something good in the world, and it's not difficult to pull off; after all, any celebrity can flash a smile on the red carpet at an awards show or charity gala without breaking a sweat. But while episodic fundraising and public service sound bytes are by no means harmful, a few celebrities are getting knee-deep in causes close to their hearts and doing far more than the occasional society page photo opp. In fact, several in particular are going above and beyond to make a difference in the world.

Here, we present ten celebrities epitomizing the beauty of humanitarianism in ways about which we're betting even the hosts of E!'s Fashion Police can't find anything to criticize.

International Ambassadors: George Clooney and Angelina Jolie

Our modern-day Danny Ocean has been anything but quiet about standing up for what he believes in, and this year, he even got his very own rap sheet for it. While participating in an anti-genocide protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, the Cloon and his father, veteran journalist Nick Clooney, were arrested and booked for crossing a police line along with fellow protestors including several Congressmen, Martin Luther King III and NAACP president Ben Jealous. The event was held with regard to the escalating crisis at the Sudanese border.

Shortly before the arrest, the younger Clooney told the gathering press, "We are here really to ask two very simple questions. The first question is something immediate -- and immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The second thing is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them and stop starving them. That's all we ask." The week before the protest, he testified before Congress on the matter. The group he co-founded, Not On Our Watch, continues the fight against genocide in Darfur and beyond.

It's apparent that Angelina Jolie, the longtime love of Clooney's pal Brad Pitt, is equally passionate about international crises affecting impoverished populations. Aside from being a personal ambassador for adoptions around the world, Jolie works closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which provides assistance to 20 million refugees in well over 100 countries. Her highly publicized humanitarian missions shed light on issues around the globe, connecting those causes with audiences that might not have been made aware of them otherwise.

Per the UN: "As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina uses her status as a superstar to generate media coverage about the plight of refugees and the conditions under which they live. She has traveled widely to remote refugee camps and receiving centers in countries including Tanzania, Namibia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Thailand and Ecuador. To further raise awareness, she has released her personal journals for select field visits that can be accessed at USA for UNHCR. For her efforts, Angelina has been honored with the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program Humanitarian Award."

High School Heroes: Sandra Bullock and Lady Gaga

Last week, the Golden Globes awarded Sandra Bullock its first-ever Favorite Humanitarian award for her work rebuilding the Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans after it sustained more than $4 million in damages from Hurricane Katrina. Speaking about the staff and volunteers who work at the school, which has a 100 percent graduation rate in a state that's tied with Florida for the fifth-lowest rate in the nation, Bullock said, "I'm not at all being modest when I say I don't do anything compared to what they do on a daily basis. I am simply blessed to be able to do what I do because of what you (the public) allow me to do, and that is write a check and be a really good cheerleader and that's it."

In conjunction with Bullock's award, Walgreens partnered with the Golden Globes to donate $100,000 to the school, on top of which Walgreens will also donate $1 for each person who likes the company's Facebook page throughout the remainder of this month.

Bullock isn't the only woman in entertainment helping youth deal with adversity. This week in Tacoma, WA, outspoken LGBT advocate and anti-bullying icon Lady Gaga unveiled her inventive new "BornBrave Bus," which will promote self-acceptance among her fans through free mental health counseling and group therapy sessions for several hours prior to each show on her "Born This Way Ball" concert tour.

"At the BornBrave Bus, you have access to professional private or group chats about mental health, bullying, school and friends," the diva tweeted recently. Fans can pre-register for the bus experience through the Born This Way Foundation's website; with a $1.2 million personal donation, Gaga started the foundation to combat bullying and promote acceptance of the LGBT community. Oh, and there's also the little matter of her pledge to the Red Cross in the wake of Hurricane Sandy: a cool $1 million.

If that's not reason enough to "just dance," nothing is.

Radical Renegades: J.K. Rowling amd Omar Todd

When it comes to going big or going home, here's something everyone at Hogwarts would be proud of. Although Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling was named the first female billionaire author in 2011, the reason she didn't make the 2012 list of the world's wealthiest folks is the fact that she'd given so much of her earnings to charity.

According toForbes, "New information about Rowlings' estimated $160 million in charitable giving combined with Britain's high tax rates bumped the Harry Potter scribe from our list this year." Among the author's favorite charities are her own non-profit, Lumos, which works with disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, and the Scottish group One Parent Families, which provides empowerment and support to single-parent families in need of assistance. The renowned writer has also released three books for charity, generating an additional $30 million for various causes. Ultimately, while Rowling technically may have been kicked out of the high rollers' club, it's clearly an expulsion worth feeling good about.

Speaking of rabble-rousing, some might argue that focusing the public's attention on environmental issues can take a bit of shock value to pull off. Such is the case for Omar Todd, a film producer who's also the CIO of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, featured in the award-winning Animal Planet show Whale Wars, in which seafaring conservation activists risk life and limb in the name of saving the whales.

Todd also served as a consulting producer on 2010's documentary Confessions of an Eco-Terrorist, which followed a fleet of sea vessels whose mission is to ram into the boats of illegal whalers, seal hunters and drift-netters in an effort to stop them from harming protected species. The star of the documentary, activist Peter Brown, established the marine conservation group The Blue Seals, for which Todd has served as director. Turns out, being behind the camera can wield a socially relevant power all its own.

Eco-Entrepreneurs: Jessica Alba and Adrian Grenier

There are, of course, those who prefer to take a more subtle approach to getting an environmental point across. That's a perfect description of Entourage star Adrian Grenier's branding strategy when it comes to SHFT, the website he co-founded with indie film producer Peter Glatzer. The lifestyle site caters to a style-conscious audience that cares about sustainability and is interested in seeing a shift, so to speak, in the way products are made and consumed.

In addition to editorial content, SHFT offers a marketplace featuring a curated collection of products spanning 17 different categories, from art and music to food and fashion. With mentors including HuffPost's own Arianna Huffington and Virgin Group's founder Richard Branson, this social enterprise has a power-packed backing that's sure to help it grow into a daily online destination for many.

Grenier isn't the only sex symbol who's turned out to be quite the environmental ambassador. Jessica Alba has joined the ranks of social entreprenurism as well with her brand, The Honest Company. After becoming a mother in 2008, Alba became frustrated at the lack of unquestionably safe, eco-friendly, beautiful products for her baby. Upon forming a partnership with Christopher Gavigan, the former CEO of non-profit organization Healthy Child Healthy World, The Honest Company was born.

"Our dream is to re-define the 'family brand' and create something... that's better for all families, everywhere," Alba and Gavigan explain through the brand's site, which sells plant-based diapers, pure bath supplies, gentle home cleaning products and more. A portion of proceeds from the company's eco-friendly offerings goes to a California charity supplying families in need with baby gear and children's clothing.

Charitable Couple: Beyonce and Jay-Z

Arguably the fiercest couple in the entertainment industry, music phenoms Beyonce and Jay-Z are hitting all the right notes when it comes to giving back. For her part, Blue Ivy's mom is helming a $5 million housing project in her hometown of Houston, which will result in 43 housing units for the underprivileged. Her Survivor Foundation, ostensibly named after the old Destiny's Child anthem, assists AIDS patients and victims of disasters as well as the homeless population. It's donated more than $2.5 million to Houston communities in need.

And as for Jay-Z, his Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation focuses on affording second chances to kids whose circumstances leave them largely ignored by traditional scholarship programs, including previous incarcerations and early parenthood. Almost two-thirds of the foundation's scholarship applicants come from homes with annual household incomes of less than $40,000.

With an intense focus on giving underserved individuals a fresh shot at success, combine this power couple's efforts in charitable harmony and poof -- it's a perfect duet indeed.

Know of other celebs doing interesting and innovative things to make a mark somewhere other than Hollywood Boulevard? Tell us in the comments section.

About Milkshake: Milkshake is a website and weekly email featuring people, products, brands and organizations dedicated to doing good things in the world. Some Milkshake stories are sponsored by third parties; sponsorships are only considered when partners are relevant to the Milkshake mission of making a difference in the world through environmental and humanitarian causes.

About the Author: Amy Lynch is the editor of Milkshake and Milkshake Kids, sharing original weekly features on good finds that give back and make a difference in the world. Her work has been featured in media outlets including CNBC.com, AND Magazine, YourTango and The Huffington Post.

Dear Jodie Foster,

Good to see you at the Golden Globes. Your acceptance speech was not what I'd expected.

Jodie, come out, or don't come out. Whatever. I'm not that invested either way, and I'm not interested in your being a role model for my gay kids. But please don't claim that you have been out all along, or come out without acknowledging that you were able to stay in -- and be wildly successful -- thanks to those who did come out and then got screwed by the very industry in which you have been wildly successful, or go on about wanting a private life while reaping all the benefits of living as a celebrity, or behave as if privacy were any less important to those of us who have come out, or as if we all came out because we're press whores.

I know it's way too much to ask other celebs to stop fawning all over you for your "courage," because all their brown-nosing makes them feel better about themselves despite having done jack shit about gay equality for decades.

You've done many good works (for the Trevor Project, for example), your talent is formidable, and you've skillfully navigated the sexist Hollywood boys' club and become a powerful star and director. And you won that Golden Globe. My beef is not with your unlikely friendship with Mel Gibson or the rambling quality of your speech, nor is it with your decision to stay in, or half in, the closet. And yes, sister, you do look fabulous for 50, and for 40, for that matter, although I might have picked a different dress and hairdo for you to rock. But you were at best insensitive and at worst clueless, self-absorbed and condescending in the way you spoke about the out gay men and women -- many of whom are your fans -- who are largely responsible for your ability to stay in the closet and become a prosperous, award-winning actor and director. And frankly, masquerading as a straight woman in order to reap the benefits of heterosexuality plays to the worst kind of sexism.

Ultimately, all this is important not because the entertainment industry is intrinsically interesting or essential (and I hope we can now move on to whether John Boehner will or won't destroy the world economy) but because it is influential, and the high-profile press that covers such stories is unable to analyze the backstory and presents you as -- whatever else -- indisputably heroic for "coming out," an idea that your colleagues and the millions who follow the Hollywood press have gobbled up and swallowed without chewing.

You are many good things, which made it all the more infuriating and painful to watch you make a fool of yourself in front of a worldwide audience. I'd have more compassion for you if you hadn't been so snotty and disdainful while making arguments that could only come from someone who has led a thoroughly sheltered, privileged life. Celebrities are not some sort of oppressed minority, after all.

All the best,
Andrew Miller

It's been nearly 20 years since the vocal powerhouse and musical icon made famous for belting out "It's Raining Men" to generations of adoring gay men has released a solo album. Thankfully, that hellacious hiatus has finally come to an end and Martha Wash has released her second solo album, entitled Something Good.

Martha's career has long been defined by dance music. She started out as a backup singer for disco legend Sylvester and then paired up with fellow backup singer Izora Rhodes to form The Weather Girls. Martha was the true voice behind Black Box in the late 1980s and was a featured vocalist for C+C Music Factory in the '90s. With that type of history, it would have been all too easy for Wash to produce another dance album, yet, quite courageously, Martha's latest album breaks new ground as an uplifting adult-contemporary compilation.

Early reactions and reviews have been good. RuPaul, star of the popular RuPaul's Drag Race series and also a longtime Marth Wash fan, posted several tweets in praise of the new album and its shift to a new genre, saying, "She switched it up & Im really diggin it!" One of the more surprising shifts on Something Good is Martha's soulful rendition of the Aerosmith classic "Dream On," but the soaring vocals on "Proud" and "It's My Time" are equally impressive, if not more so. And devotees of the dance floor need not worry: The album's title track, "Something Good," is quite a toe tapper (and I would not be surprised to hear a dance remix in the near future). With only eight songs, the album may not have all the usual gimmicks, bells or whistles, but don't let Martha undersell it. Something Good is really something wonderful.

In the fall of 2007, I was with my best friend on a European publicity tour of a film I had worked on. We'd been to London, Paris and Rome, enjoying ourselves to the fullest every step of the way, but I'd noticed a slight change in my friend's demeanor; he seemed to be every inch as tired as I was. And this was not like him. No, I could be the "burnt out" one, from interviews and interpreters and reporters and answering oh so similar questions repeatedly until it all strangely resembled some form of Chinese water torture, but my friend, on the other hand, was wisely using his time renting a Vespa and shooting across the cobble stone streets near Piazza De Popolo, or going to see the masterpieces that lined the hallways of the Louvre. The stuff a young and fortunate man's dreams are made of. But, dog-tired he was, and only shortly after we got back from the trip, he called me and told me why.

He was 21, and had testicular cancer. Shocked as anyone is to hear that their best friend has cancer of any kind, I was thoroughly distressed. Later the next day I confided in a man I greatly admire (who will here go unnamed), and despondent, and in a most defeated and resigned tone, told him about my friend's situation. I had almost given up hope.

"Unacceptable." He said, shaking his head. "That is unacceptable."

He went outside the restaurant, lit a cigarette, and took out his cell phone. He made the call, right then and there.

He called Lance Armstrong.

Within the hour, Lance was on the phone with my friend, giving him the lowdown on what he would be going through as far as the chemotherapy sessions and surgery would be like. He was supportive and encouraging, constantly giving my friend the attention and motivation and optimism that means so much to someone who is in a scared and vulnerable place. It was the first of several conversations they would have. After my bud got off the phone, he told me he broke down crying, because it meant so much to him. Here, one of the greatest champions to survive precisely what he was about to go through -- into that black scary chasm of the sick and unwell, the great purgatory between life and death -- the man who had triumphantly returned from that land had given him a pat on the back and a deepened will to win.

Over the next several months, my friend went from being a supremely fit physical specimen, a naturally gifted athlete in his own right, to a walking stick figure. He was wildly emaciated, all his hair fell out, and his tan brown skin turned pale and ghostly. We had long talks about life and death and our place within the universe. He kept a copy of Armstrong's book right beside his bed the whole time.

My friend had had a pain in his lower back and testicles for months before he ever went to the doctor. He just hoped, probably not unlike many young men who can't fathom their own mortality, that it was just an STD that would go away on its own. So in that incubating time the cancer spread to his lungs and other parts of his body, and was worse than it should have been due to his own pride and fear. But, Armstrong's cancer was even worse. Hell, the cancer had spread to his brain -- they cut his skull open to take some of it out, according to my friend. Lance had told him all about it. Seeing the courage that it took my friend to go through what he did, and face possible death as bravely as he did at such a young age, I'd like to go on record not as defending Lance Armstrong's admission of using banned substances, or his subsequent years of lying and denial, but to encourage people not to forget all the good for the world that Armstrong has done. My friend is one of many, many people that Armstrong has helped and been an inspirational figure for. Without Lance's guidance and support to my friend at such a crucial juncture in his diagnosis and life, I honestly don't know what would have happened to my friend; that was the kind of support Armstrong gave him. My friend went on to survive -- now, he's back to his specimen status to the chagrin of many a jealous nerd.

So, let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I asked my friend what he thought about the whole Armstrong scandal when it was blowing up again. It's not that it didn't faze him; it's just the way in which Armstrong had helped him was something that went deeper than sports.

"That guy's Superman," he said.

There are no excuses for the level of lying and deception that Armstrong has possibly committed on the people of the world. But he still helped out my friend at a crucial point in his life, like he has for many others in their darkest places, and for that, I'm thankful.

Deadspin.com is no longer the only media outlet investigating the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax story that rocked the sports world Wednesday. Nev Schulman, the host and executive producer of MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show" tweeted Wednesday night that he was looking into the mysterious online identity of Lennay Kekua and had spoken to a woman involved in allegedly duping the Notre Dame linebacker.

I am working on finding out more about this @mteo_5#Catfish story. I have been in contact with the woman involved and will get the truth.

— Nev Schulman (@NevSchulman) January 17, 2013

"Catfish: The TV Show" is an MTV docu-series that helps people involved in online relationships determine if the person they've been communicating with is actually who their virtual profile says they are. It grew out of a 2010 documentary of the same name in which Schulman searched for the truth about his own shady online acquaintances. The term "catfish" refers to a person who has created a fake social media profile designed to seduce and deceive someone online.

Kekua, who Te'o described as his girlfriend, was reported to have died of leukemia on the same day as his grandmother. The Heisman runner-up's tragic story of loss served as a powerful backdrop to Notre Dame's run to the BCS Championship game. But Deadspin's story revealed that Lennay Kekua was not actually a real person.

Statements from Notre Dame and Te'o Wednesday night asserted that Te'o was the victim of a cruel hoax. Still, there are unanswered questions about his possible involvement in the story.

Jodie Foster's reality show "would be so boring," she told the world at Sunday night's Golden Globes, where she was awarded for a lifetime in front of the camera. Foster's speech was hotter and colder than a Katy Perry song. Wearing a "coming-out gown," she seemed to reluctantly come out, and come out, while demanding privacy at one of the most public events on, well, the globe. These contradictions have ignited polarizing "blogofires" across the blogosphere, largely inflamed by Foster's latent declaration of her sexual orientation.

I am of two minds on the speech. As a gay person I'm frustrated, disappointed and nonplussed by a public figure drawing attention to her sexuality while simultaneously defending herself against identification with our community, but as a psychotherapist I'm openly and empathically curious about her, a compartmentalized person struggling for a cohesive sense of self, hoping to be recognized by us in all her authentic contradictions -- not unlike how I, and many in our community, hope to be recognized by her.

Such dilemmas of perspective often present themselves in my work with clients. At these times I find that the questions are far more valuable than answers.

Some questions to consider: Why did Foster use this platform, this symbolically terminal moment in her career, to address her sexuality? Why expose herself (and make her publicist "nervous") if only to be defensive? Why give us what she suspects we wanted and then criticize us for wanting it? Was her tone defensive because she felt a general invasion of "privacy" (after all, she had no problem sharing images of her children, her "unfamous" friends or referring to her mother and even her ex-lover), or was the subject of her sexual identity the grain of sand that clogged the whole machine?

As much searching, ranting, probing or blogging we do, we won't find objective answers to these questions, and perhaps they don't exist. The only answers I'll ever have are my own imperfect, subjective responses to the speech she gave, and her own imperfect, subjective justification for giving it.

That isn't to say that my reactions aren't valid, reasonable or real; for me they very much are. I still feel teased and slapped by her "anti-coming-out." I still feel that the pros of queer public figures explicitly owning their identities (e.g., giving LGBT people who live in fear, shame and doubt a point of identification and hope) far outweigh the cons (e.g., the possibility of being blocked from "straight" roles, one Brett Easton Ellis raised in a tweet about the openly gay Matt Bomer). I can't help but believe that the applause her audience was itching to give her if she had just spoken the words "I'm a lesbian" would not have been for her alone; it would not have been in the spirit of a private support group. I imagine it representing so much more, honoring the progress we have witnessed in the LGBT community thanks to the bravery of entertainers like Ellen DeGeneres (and the celebrities who followed in her footsteps), the advocacy and support of leaders like Barack Obama and, most of all, the brazen willingness of millions of non-famous people who have lived their lives truthfully, against all odds. This, I believe, is the applause she denied by declaring her lack of declaration. (I also can't hide my involuntary grimace and confusion over the fact that she chose Mel Gibson -- infamous for homophobic, racist and anti-semitic rants -- as her date on the night that she chose to address, or at least insinuate, her sexuality).

Though my imagination can never approximate the traumatic rupture to her privacy that she experienced when John Hinckley cited his love for her (a college student at the time) in explaining his attempted assassination of President Reagan, I can't help but also see that as an adult she chose to remain in an industry (you can be forced into acting at 3, but not at 33) that sells entertainment based on an audience's virtual "love" of the entertainers. She is a bona fide public figure, and that comes with opportunities, choices and challenges but not a contract with the public that states, "You can identify with this piece of me but not this one. You can ask about this but not that.

But if I were her therapist, I would use these reactions to feed my curiosity instead of my frustration. I would consider the unique circumstances under which she grew up: in front of a camera and, to use her words, always "fight[ing] for a life that felt real and honest and normal." I would wonder about her decision to stay in the limelight even as it threatened her sense of "real" and "normal." I would consider that perhaps "real" and "normal" are words that she feels ambivalent about, words that she associates with reality TV stars, such as Honey Boo Boo Child (whom she derisively singled out in her speech). Perhaps she learned to find authenticity through compartmentalization (e.g., leading lady, lesbian, lover, mother, etc.). Perhaps this sense of authenticity was more achievable for her when entertainment was less "reality"-focused than it is now: "[H]ow beautiful it once was," she says. Perhaps the shift in how entertainment is sold (i.e., actors now face more pressure to promote their personal lives instead of just their films) has created a rupture in the "self" she had spent years organizing, causing her to confront the unfortunate contradictions between her identity as "leading lady" (which implies heterosexuality) and "lesbian," for example. Perhaps we can understand her defensiveness as an attempt to keep the identity she had pieced together so effectively from unraveling, and maybe this defensiveness suggests that she doesn't like the reductiveness of Hollywood (a system we all contribute to) any more than we do.

If I were her therapist, I would invite a space between our realities, a third space, in the hope of breaking through her defensiveness and breaking down my frustration. Psychoanalyst Philip Bromberg describes such a space as "[a] space uniquely relational and still uniquely individual; a space belonging to neither person alone, and yet, belonging to both and to each; a twilight space in which 'the impossible' becomes possible; a space in which incompatible selves, each awake to its own 'truth,' can 'dream' the reality of the other without risk to its own integrity."

I am not her therapist, of course, and we are not afforded such exchanges of perception with our entertainers, so my intervention will remain a fantasy; as Bromberg says, "this process requires an enacted collision of realities between [two people]." Instead, I will have to remain disappointed and frustrated, and perhaps she will remain defensive, but in the meantime we can all continue to be curious about Jodie Foster and hope that she continues to be so about us.

The new season of "American Idol" is upon us, and it delivered on exactly what has been promised in all the hype. New judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey were spatting and bickering from the opening minute until the bitter end. Fellow new judge Keith Urban was almost completely overshadowed by the two women surrounding him, and arguing through him.

In fact, for the most part, the contestants were, too. Probably more people will remember various comments, accents and gestures made by Mariah and Nicki before they remember anything about the young hopefuls who stood before the panel and showed what they had.

It's not to say there wasn't some talent, but it wasn't as dynamic and exciting as one would expect from New York City. Nevertheless, 40 hopefuls made it through, and the judges seemed to be finding a sort of rhythm by the end of the second day. But with all they hype over the dueling divas, it looks to keep being contentious through the audition rounds.

USA Today sided with Minaj in Day 1 of their feud, saying that she stole the spotlight and presented a clear vision of what she was looking for in a winner, as well as showing a compassionate heart. And while The Atlanta-Journal Constitution agreed that the judges brought pizzazz to the panel, will it be enough to lift the flagging series' ratings?

What did you think of the new judges? Season 12 of "American Idol" rolls on, Wednesday and Thursday nights at 8 p.m. EST on Fox.

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While the hooded vigilante faced off against a new villain with a penchant for fire on "Arrow," Laurel got her hands on the cell phone he'd given her father for communication. Oliver had been out of commission and in a personal rehab for the past six months, leave the Starling City wondering where the masked avenger had gone. They'd even come to start calling him a hero that was good for the city.

It took some pushing from Diggle -- and a plea from Laurel -- but Oliver finally got back out there in time to stop the villain, better known as Firefly to comic fans, and save the day. And Laurel used that cell phone to contact Oliver and pull him out of his malaise.

When her father found out she had the phone, he feigned anger to get it back. He then had an apparent change of heart and gave it back to her, but it was all so he could plant a device on it that would be able to back-trace any calls made. That way, the next time she contacted the vigilante, they could trace the signal and find out where he's at.

Find out if it works by tuning in to "Arrow" every Wednesday at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.

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It was a big day for the Delgados on "Modern Family." It was Manny's birthday, and both Gloria and Jay had set up a huge surprise party for him. Only the party didn't go as planned. Since they were pretending they had no plans, Manny actually brought a girl home and shared a kiss with her -- in front of the whole family hiding in the dark.

If that wasn't the worst, Gloria went into labor. Determined to not force Manny to share his birthday with the new baby, she tried her best to pretend it wasn't happening, but that became hard to do when her water broke. As bizarre of a story as the birth day of the new baby will be, Luke has video evidence of everything.

At the hospital, the family rallied around Gloria and the new addition. Claire wasn't too thrilled that Gloria was immediately thin and beautiful again, but no one could deny how adorable the baby was. Even crusty Jay was moved by Gloria's vulnerability in that moment. She was scared they were too old and out of practice, but he assured her they would be fine, and he would be there with her always.

That magical balance of heart and laughter that TV Fanatic loves so continues on "Modern Familiy" every Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

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The sordid love life of Kim Kardashian has been tabloid fodder for years, so David Letterman can't be blamed for poking fun at her expense on "Late Show." He admitted to cracking jokes about her 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries when she and Kourtney Kardashian appeared on the show Wednesday night.

Kim, though, called him out on a technicality. See, she and Kris are technically still married. "Well those jokes really can’t work, because I’ve really been married for almost 2 years," she explained. "So it hasn’t been 72 days, it’s been almost 2 years. So those jokes have to stop."

If she wants to get specific, the couple wed on August 20th, 2011 so they've only been married a year-and-a-half. But still, it was over after 72 days, so Dave's not going to stop with the jokes.

As for the idea that Kim married for publicity, Kourtney nixed that one. She said that Kim would have married someone who was actually famous if she was in it for the publicity. Well, Kanye West is famous and now Kim is having his baby. Can people read anything into that?

Catch David Letterman cracking jokes about the Kardashians -- probably -- on "Late Show" every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST on CBS.

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