Colin Hanks to experience Themself on Happy Being

Colin Hanks Following his dark turn earlier this season on Dexter, Colin Hanks' next TV role is decidedly more upbeat! The 34-year-old actor will have themself with an approaching episode of Happy Being, Entertainment Weekly reviews. Start looking: Happy Being will get romantic for Valentine's Hanks befriends Dork (Zachary Knighton) when Dave's steak food truck turns into a Chicago hotspot filled with designer drinks. The episode is slated to air sometime later this year. Hanks is better noted for his roles in Oc, Mad Males and also the Good Men. Happy Being airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.

John Levy dies at 99

John Levy, the first prominent African-American personal manager in the jazz or pop music field, whose clients included Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis, died Friday in his sleep at his home in Altadena, Calif., less than three months before his 100th birthday.An accomplished bassist, the New Orleans-born Levy performed with such jazz greats as Stuff Smith, Billie Holiday, Erroll Garner and Billy Taylor in the 1940s before joining pianist George Shearing's original quintet. In the early 1950s, he became Shearing's full-time manager and later went on to form his own management agency, John Levy Enterprises.Levy's client roster over the years included more than 85 artists, including Wilson, Lewis, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Betty Carter, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Shirley Horn, Freddie Hubbard, Ahmad Jamal and Abbey Lincoln as well as comedian Arsenio Hall.In 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized Levy as a Jazz Master, the nation's highest jazz honor.He is survived by his wife, Devra Hall Levy. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Sundance Brings Out A-List And Indies Stars

With the kickoff of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, almost as many A-listers are heading to Park City, Utah as industry newcomers. The fest has always been a place for established actors and filmmakers to branch out and go indie for a movie or two. We've looked over the scheduled screenings and rounded up a list of some of the celebrity attendees and the projects they're representing at Sundance this year. Peter Jackson "The Hobbit" director Jackson is stepping out of Middle-earth and into Park City to support "West of Memphis," a new documentary he produced about the West Memphis Three. The doc chronicles the convictions of teenagers Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley for the 1993 killings of three boys in Arkansas, unearths new evidence implicating a different suspect in the killings, and follows through to the August 2011 release of the three men after 18 years in prison. Jackson and his producing partner Fran Walsh were actively involved in the effort to prove Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley's innocence. John Krasinski Krasinski is no stranger to the streets of Park City, having taken his directorial debut "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" to Sundance in 2009. He returns this year as a actor in "Nobody Walks," where he plays a husband and father tempted by the woman staying in his pool house, played by Olivia Thirlby. "The Office" star has always maintained his fair share of indie cred, and with "Nobody Walks," he's becoming a more and more familiar face at the festival. Robert DeNiro One of Hollywood's most legendary actors has lost some his esteemed in recent years. (He was in "New Year's Eve," afterall.) But there's no place like Sundance to earn some of that back. He'll star in "Red Lights," director Rodrigo Cortés' follow-up to his 2010 festival favorite, "Buried." The film follows a psychologist who investigates paranormal activity and a world-renowned psychic. DeNiro leads an all-star cast that includes Sigourney Weaver, Cillian Murphy and Elizabeth Olsen. Bradley Cooper Occasionally, you'll find a Sundance entry with an A-list cast that rivals most major studio releases. Bradley Cooper leads a cast that includes Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde and Dennis Quaid in "The Words," a drama about the fallout after a writer claims the work of another as his own. The movie will represent a significant change of pace for Cooper, Wilde and Saldana who have made names for themselves recently with big budget studio pictures. Kirsten Dunst Dunst experienced somewhat of a career boost last year on the festival circuit with "Melancholia," and at Sundance this year, she'll look to start a hot streak with "Bachelorette." The film also stars Isla Fisher and Lizzie Caplan and sounds from most descriptions like a darker version of last year's wedding party hit, "Bridesmaids." Dunst drew some serious awards talk with "Melancholia," so this may be the next step back to the top. Zac Efron The former "High School Musical" star has spent the last few years attempting to re-establish himself as a legitimate leading man with roles in "Charlie St. Cloud" and "The Lucky One." So Sundance seems like the natural place to go for that kind of career move. Efron will star alongside Sundance-breakout Elizabeth Olsen and writer-director Josh Radnor in "Liberal Arts." The movie follows a college professor who falls from one of his much younger students. Spike Lee One of the pioneers of modern-day independent film returns to Sundance with a movie in the vein of the ones that made him famous. "Red Hook Summer" brings Lee back to Brooklyn, the setting of his monumental "Do the Right Thing." But Brooklyn isn't the only character returning from "Do the Right Thing." Lee's character Mookie is making an appearance as well. Stay with MTV Movies for everything you need to know about Sundance 2012.

CES Calendar of events

8:30 AM-12:30 PM Variety Entertainment Summit (see pages 9-10 for complete program) North Hall Room 258, Las Vegas CC 8:30-9:33 AM LookeeTV Press Conference S227, Las Vegas CC 9 AM CES Innovation Power Panel featuring Ursula Burns (Xerox), Lowell McAdam (Verizon) and Alan Mulally (Ford) Las Vegas Hilton Theater 9:20-9:40 AM CoolHotNot Press Conference S228, Las Vegas CC 9-10 AM Bang & Olufsen product unveilings and media briefing (invitation only) Suite 35108, The Venetian 9-11 AM Connect2Car: Connection Automotive and Consumer Electronics Lifestyles panel featuring Jon Bucci (Toyota), Joni Christensen (Chrysler), Chris Cook (Mobile Electronics Retailers Association), Myles Kovacs (DUB Publishing), Nick Pudar (OnStar) and Jake Sigal (Livio Radio), moderated by John Waraniak (SEMA) with presenter Patti Kreh (SAE) North Hall N255-257, Las Vegas CC 10-11 AM Escort presents "Premium automotive products that integrate bluetooth and cloud networking" S227, Las Vegas CC Noon-1 PM Panel: "Argue the Future," with Drew Bamford (HTC), Nilay Patel (The Verge) and Aaron Woodman (Microsoft); moderated by Joshua Topolsky (The Verge) North Hall N255-257, Las Vegas Convention Center Audi press conference S227, Las Vegas CC 1 PM Keynote: Hans Vestberg, president and chief executive officer of Ericsson Palazzo Ballroom, Level 5, Venetian 1:30 PM FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski joins CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro for a candid conversation about the FCC. North Hall N255-257, Las Vegas CC 2 PM ESPN 3D's SportsNation Central Hall, ESPN 3D Booth #13632, Las Vegas CC 4 PM Brand Keynote: AT&T's David Christopher, General Electric's Beth Comstock, Facebook's Carolyn Everson, Walmart's Stephen Quinn, Hyundai's Steve Shannon and Unilever's Keith Weed Las Vegas Hilton Theater 4-7 PM CES Tweet Up: Twitter followers are invited to meet the CES social media team. Las Vegas Hilton, SpaceQuest Lounge 5-9:30 PM iHollywood LaunchFest Party ($50 tickets; first 500 tickets free for party after 8 PM; go to www.ceslaunchfest.eventbrite.com) Clarion Hotel Theater, 303 Convention Center Way 5 PM What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision Stars of CES Awards: Centered on the audio exhibits in the Venetian, Stars of CES will highlight the show's most impressive debuts, from high-tech streaming solutions to traditional hi-fi and AV. Suite 29-326, Venetian 6:30 PM Leaders in Technology Dinner (invitation only) Wynn Las Vegas, Lafite Ballroom 8 PM MashBash Mirage, 10AK Nightclub 10-11 PM The Official EM Party with an appearance by Eliza Dushku (invitation only) The Palazzo, LAVO Nightclub Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Hungarian TV dispute gets worse

The departure of among the top executives at Hungary's Magyar Televizio, and also the pubcaster's refusal to reinstate reporters who continued a hunger strike over alleged political meddling in news coverage, have ratcheted up tension within the country's media sector because the confrontation between your government and opposition parties spills in to the roads.MTV communications director Laszlo Szabo was lower on Wednesday after it had been found that editors had electronically removed a picture of the former top court justice from the news video the judge had fallen from favor with Hungary's ruling Fidesz party. On Thursday, leaders of opposition parties Politics Could Be Different (LMP) and also the socialist MSzP guaranteed more street demos after 1000's of protesters marched in Budapest the 2009 week to protest against a brand new metabolic rate, that they say undermines democracy and freedom of expression.Protests started at MTV on 12 ,. 10, when TV news reporters Balazs Navarro Nagy and Aranka Szavuly continued hunger strikes after being fired for neglecting to obey management orders they considered politically motivated. They've now started again eating and can continue a "moving strike" to highlight press-freedom issues within MTV. Trouble continues to be building in Hungary for any year since Pm Viktor Orban introduced curbs around the media. The most recent protests happen to be amplified by intends to close Klub Radio, a station dramatically critical from the government, and change it in March by having an unknown rival, Autoradio.The furor over this along with other radical moves by Fidesz has arrived at Washington, with U.S. Secretary of Condition Hillary Clinton voicing her concerns in letters to Orban, that has yet to reply, based on Hungarian media reviews.Throughout a trip to Hungary in June, Clinton known as for "a genuine resolve for the independence from the judiciary, free press and governmental transparency."Fidesz, which won a 2-thirds majority in parliamentary elections in April, has unsuccessful to reply to critique, including calls in the Eu the questionable new metabolic rate be scrapped. Experts say it removes constraints set up in 1989 following the collapse of communism. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

American Idol: Back In Tune

American Idol Around this time every year, Fox executives and the American Idol producers start to panic, wondering if the show's huge audience will return en masse for the start of a new season. But this winter is different. Idol defied the odds last January, engineering a successful reboot with the addition of new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler. And more importantly, the show's talent made a comeback as well, thanks in part to the countrified sounds of finalists Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery. Now, as American Idol enters its 11th season, no one's predicting the show's demise. Even with The X Factor and The Voice on the scene, rivals concede that Idol, the granddaddy of them all, remains a ratings monster. For the first time in four seasons, there are no changes at the top, as the team of host Ryan Seacrest and judges Lopez, Tyler and Randy Jackson returns intact. (Mentor Jimmy Iovine is also expected to return.) TV Guide Magazine sat down with the quartet. TV Guide Magazine: How have the auditions gone so far?Jennifer Lopez: Last season our Hollywood week was easy breezy compared to this year, which was brutal. We had kids falling by the wayside.Steven Tyler: Literally falling down.Randy Jackson: Passing out, fainting.Lopez: Kids were forgetting their words. Shaking in their voice. People we thought were going to be in the Top 10 were just crumbling. We were like, "What is going on?" I guess it was the pressure of seeing the previous season and how it was big.Ryan Seacrest: Some crumble and then others rise to the occasion. It was physically intense for a lot of contestants.Jackson: I think it was even more intense for us. TV Guide Magazine: What's causing all this added stress?Jackson: The talent feels different this year. It's a different kind of crop to me.Lopez: They're hungry. We have some from last year who came back who are so improved, I can't even believe it's the same person. I'm like, "Wait, you were the one with the hair like this, right? Wow, your voice has gotten so much better."Seacrest: There's a do or die about it. It mirrors what's going on around the country, because some of these contestants have truly made up their minds that they're going to go for their dreams. They are really passionate. TV Guide Magazine: Anyone they're emulating in particular?Lopez: Adele. You have some people who do their own rendition of her who do it beautifully and then you have the people who fall a bit short.Tyler: There have been about 10 contestants who just nailed it. We're just so tired of hearing it, though. Every three songs it's that same song.Everyone: "Someone Like You."Lopez: That's the one. But you have to let them sing because you never know who will nail it. TV Guide Magazine: Talk about the talent. Anyone to keep an eye on?Tyler: We've got another Casey [Abrams], a drummer who started off playing the drums and singing. We've got a couple of massive talents there.Lopez: And a lot of diverse singers, just like last season. We had our gospel singer, we had our R&B singer, we had our pop, we had our country, and we had our jazz; we have the same thing again this year. Lots of different voices. TV Guide Magazine: A year after the Idol reboot, is the pressure gone?Seacrest: I can't believe it's only been a year. Each night when they walk out from behind the logo and you see this group of judges, it just seems meant to be. We don't look back.Jackson: I don't think there's any facet of recorded music or the music industry that we don't know almost everything about. We've been doing it, and have been really successful at it.Tyler: I came from a really down time [in my career] and jumped into this. It allowed me to keep busy with something that's really relevant. To be on TV [where people] could see the other side of me, where I can be personable and show that I've got a weak, sensitive side, it's just so perfect. TV Guide Magazine: What were your weaknesses last season?Tyler: It wasn't so easy to listen to some 16-year-old sing a song that was just awful. It would have been better TV if I had just said, "Hey, listen, get out of here. Who taught you how to sing?" But I was at a loss for words, which I'm usually never.Lopez: Last year it was hard for me in the beginning to say "no" at all. But as time went on I found my own personality and I just thought, "What if it was me standing there? How would I want someone to speak to me?" TV Guide Magazine: There's talk of you guys being tougher this year.Lopez: I wouldn't say we're tougher. We're just as honest and just as compassionate, but maybe a tiny bit more blunt about it. I think you'll see a little bit of a difference.Jackson: I have no issue with saying it was awful or it sucked or was terrible. All the ridicule I got as a kid growing up is what really helped me to whatever greatness I've achieved in this life.Lopez: You need a little bit of tough love sometimes. But it has to be tough love. Maybe we're a little tougher on the tough-love part this year.Jackson: We don't want to kill anybody's spirit. We're not gods. Maybe just lords. American Idol premieres Wednesday, January 18 at 8/7c on Fox. For more with the Idol judges, pick up this week's issue of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Thursday, January 5! Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!