Iron Chefs to go shopping in White House garden
NEW YORK -- Michelle Obama's vegetable garden is about to become a culinary battlefield.
The Food Network announced Wednesday that an episode of "Iron Chef America" will be taped at the White House featuring Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Emeril Lagasse.
The three chefs, joined by White House chef Cristeta Comerford, will be welcomed by the first lady and allowed to use anything found in the garden to help create their meals.
The competition will then move back to the network's Kitchen Stadium in New York, where Flay and Comerford will face-off against Batali and Lagasse to produce five dishes showcasing the ingredients.
The judges will include chef Nigella Lawson, Olympic gold medalist Natalie Coughlin, and actress Jane Seymour.
The episode airs Jan. 3.
'Gossip Girl' promos rile up Parents Television Council
NEW YORK -- On-air promos for a sexual threesome on an upcoming episode of "Gossip Girl" have spurred the Parents Television Council to ask affiliates of the CW network to pre-empt the show.
Airing the teen tryst, which is being teased in an ad as a "3SOME," is "reckless and irresponsible," said PTC president Tim Winter in a statement Wednesday. The threesome involves three main characters in the show but they are not identified in the promos.
The PTC has urged CW affiliate stations not to air the episode, scheduled for Monday.
In a letter to the affiliates, Winter asked: "Will you now be complicit in establishing a precedent and expectation that teenagers should engage in behaviors heretofore associated primarily with adult films?"
This is not the first time the PTC has complained about the sexy prep-school soap, which Winter said is "expressly targeted to impressionable teenagers."
In July 2008, the organization spoke out against a racy marketing campaign for its new season. Ads showed intimate moments between the show's characters (on a couch, in the sack or apparently skinny-dipping), accompanied by headlines like "A Nasty Piece of Work" and "Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate."
Pitt looking for new bike after 'little mishap'
TOKYO -- Brad Pitt says he is in the market for a new motorcycle.
The actor, in Tokyo to promote his latest movie, "Inglourious Basterds," said he trashed his favorite bike recently while trying to escape overzealous photographers.
"I had a little mishap," he said. "No injuries, except my ego. I was trying to get away from some paparazzi and instead gave them a good story. It was my favorite bike, so that is really sad."
Pitt, a well-known motorcycle buff, was involved in a minor accident in Los Angeles last month after a paparazzo reportedly cut him off in traffic. He said that while he is in Tokyo he will be looking for a replacement.
"I will definitely be looking at motorcycles," he said. "You've got some of the best builders right here."
"Inglourious Basterds," directed by Quentin Tarantino, premiered in Tokyo on Wednesday. Pitt said he felt lucky to be chosen as the movie's leading man -- Tarantino had initially planned to cast himself in that part.
