Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesGaah! Creepy baby alert! It sure sounds like that's what's headed to True Blood in the coming season, if superhot Joe Manganiello (Alcide) isn't yanking our chain. (Is it wrong if we want him to?)
And speaking of jokes of a questionable nature, we also caught up with a few stars (Jon Hamm!) who loved Ricky Gervais' performance at last night's Golden Globes, as well as Anne Heche who talked about her man James Tupper's, um, manhood. (Ay!) It all went down at HBO's always hot Globes party, where Boardwalk Empire—the big winner of the night—was in full effect, too:
• True Blood castmembers Joe Manganiello and Todd Lowe were both in attendance, and Manganiello told us that if season three was the season of the werewolf, then season four is "the season of the witch." And Todd told us that, "There's a new presence in Terry and Arlene's (Carrie Preston) life." We asked if this new presence were a baby or a monster, and Manganiello teased, "Both! Have you seen The Fly? It's like that." Sexy! Anybody have some Nair?
• In case you were sleeping or have the memory of a flea, HBO's Boardwalk Empire went home with the Best Drama award at last night's Golden Globes as well as a big win for leading man Steve Buscemi. So for you fans wanting to know what happens next, executive producer Terrence Winter spills: "The main story for season two comes from where we left those guys at the end of season one—with some disgruntled former associates and family members working to overthrow Nucky, and we'll go from there. We'll certainly have some new characters, but for the most part it's the same core ensemble that we've seen. Atlantic City and Nucky's world is at the core, but we'll also be in Chicago for a while and New York and a little bit of Philadelphia...a little of the same pastiche we've have—I just used the word pastiche." Fancy!
• Team Ricky! Though we're personally pulling for Robert Downey Jr to host next year's Globes (and for Community boss Dan Harmon to unleash the world's greatest anti-meangirl weapon, Abed, on meangirl Ricky) there was much praise for Ricky's take-no-prisoners performance at the HBO bash. Jon Hamm and girlfriend Jennifer Westerfelt (whom he gave his tux jacket to—awww!) raved about how great Ricky was, having just seen his standup and developed a deep appreciation. Ditto Hung star (and Globe nominee) Thomas Jane, who loved Ricky and said of his own loss in his acting category: "Wearing shoes tonight didn't bring me any luck so maybe next year I won't wear shoes." Something tells me that's not the wardrobe element people are hoping he'll go without (just for curiosity sake). And because you didn't ask, and probably don't want to know, but we are selfish and need to commiserate, Jane's costar Anne Heche joked that her main squeeze (and baby daddy) James Tupper (Men in Trees, Grey's Anatomy) certainly does "measure up" to Thomas Jane's character on Hung and she's very satisfied in that department. TMI, we know!
• We've gotten a handful of emails in recently months asking if The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency starring Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose was ever coming back on. The network has been in radio silence on this issue for some time, but we caught up with HBO president Sue Naegle and asked her directly about the possibility of more Lady Detectives. She told us they're trying to do a series of TV movies to follow on the success of the seven-episode miniseries. The movies are in the script stage at the moment, but they're hoping to get the entire cast back together when the time comes. We'd be delighted to see more of Botswana and Precious Ramotswe—how about you?
• Big Love and Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul shared a little info with us about his return for the series finale of HBO's Love, saying, "Amanda Seyfried—the brilliant and stunning Amanda Seyfried—and I are coming back for the finale as Sarah and Scott, and it was very bittersweet. It was great to see everybody, but it was sad to say goodbye to that chapter of our lives. I can't fill in all the details about this season, but I know that a lot of stuff that happens with this season and I think the fans are going to be very pleased. I'm very excited by how it ends."
Other observations from the HBO bash:
- As far as mixing and mingling went, we spotted host Ricky Gervais sharing a table with his Extras costar Ashley Jensen (nice he hasn't forgotten her a la his Extras character!) and chatting with Helena Bonham Carter, whose outfit appeared to be combine opera costume with mermaid accessories. Elsewhere, Big Love lead Bill Paxton introduced himself to Al Pacino, and Glee star Matthew Morrison made a point to converse with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
- Former Sopranos scribes Terrence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and Matt Weiner (Mad Men) were spotted taking a reunion photo. Weiner tells us that not only did Winter look out for him when he was the new kid on the Sopranos writing staff, but that Weiner's architect wife Linda designed Winter's house.
- We talked a little with Bill Paxton about the upcoming eps of Big Love and he said that the handkerchief he uses in one key upcoming scene belonged to his real-life father. Paxton said he's always modeled Henrickson's physicality after his dad, a Kansas native with "flatland" Midwestern roots.
- One superpowerful executive (who shall remain nameless in case she regrets sharing this later for some reason) told us she wasn't wearing a bra or Spanx so she could be comfortable and actually enjoy the evening. You go girl.
- Would it be unkind to nominate heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko for loneliest-looking guy in the room? Despite having Heroes hottie Hayden Panettiere on his arm, he just didn't seem to be having a very good time.
- Everyone's relative significance was put in better context when astronaut Buzz Aldrin walked by. As Joe Manganiello pointed out, "That guy was on the moon!"
Note: There will be no Spoiler Chat today because of the "holiday"—which is of course a legitimate thing given that our E! offices are closed, but truth be told, we're also scraping ourselves up off the floor after a very full week covering TCA and Golden Globes—and you know, growing a baby and such. Have a happy Monday and we'll be back soon with more scoop from all of our scoop-sleuthing adventures.