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When Neil Patrick Harris returns to TV next week, he won't be cracking jokes in another sitcom. Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris (debuting on September 15th on NBC) marks the return — overdue or not — of the variety show, that long-dormant format in which kooky skits, musical guests, and frenzied production numbers are jammed into an hour of family-friendly entertainment. "When you think of the variety shows we all grew upon — Sonny and Cher and Donny and Marie — those [programs] all said, 'Sit on the couch, be entertained with a little song,...

The Grammys are on Sunday, so let’s investigate its most bizarre category: Best New Artist. Both Christopher Cross and Esparanza Spalding have one. That’s real. And that’s why we’re counting down the ten best winners and the five worst losers. Because maybe we’ll learn something! That’s what I’ll go with.

10. Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee may not have had as gigantic a Billboard career following her Best New Artist win as some of the other stars here, but her debut album is such an assured, unpretentiously poetic, rich listening experience. “Chuck E.’s in Love” and “Young Blood” are whimsical and catchy while “Night Train” and “The Last Chance Texaco” are crackling, despairing portraits. She was also so rad, and that made her bohemian folksiness so much fresher than you’d expect.

9. Sade

If timelessness is a criterion for the music and musicians who win Best New Artist,...

The cast of "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" proved that they've still got golden pipes this week when they performed an impromptu rendition of "Afternoon Delight," the Starland Vocal Band song the Channel 4 News team famously sang in the first film.

Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner reprised the tune during the Sydney premiere of "Anchorman 2," inviting the crowd to join in. The audience was delighted by the performance, clapping and singing along, and cracked up as Koechner made his signature wacky sound effect toward the end of the chorus.

Indeed, the cast and fans have plenty to be delighted about: Paramount just announced that the flick will open two days earlier than planned to cash in on audience excitement for the long-awaited sequel to 2004's "Anchorman." The legend will now continue on Wednesday, December 18 instead of the 20th.

Here's hoping the singing continues in "Anchorman 2,...

We’re still several weeks away from the long-awaited release of Anchorman 2 – but Will Ferrell and company are burning the midnight (or maybe it’s afternoon) oil to promote the upcoming sequel. The latest bit of prerelease hyping? An acapella rendition of the Starland Vocal Band’s "Afternoon Delight" for a theater filled with appreciative fans at the Sydney premiere. Ferrell was joined by costars Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner to re-create the classic sing-along from the first film – and surprisingly enough, they’re pretty great live. There’s no Auto-Tune happening in this vid and Rudd actually has a decent voice. Sing along with the clip below and then get ready for the return of Anchorman. The sequel will...

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We just found out that Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is hitting theaters a couple days earlier, but the film is already screening for some audiences around the world. In fact, at a special premiere in Sydney, Australia, the entire Channel 4 News Team was on hand, and Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner treated the audience to something special. While taking the stage in front of the big screen, the quartet performed a rendition of their a cappella version of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight" from the first film. Hearing them with no editing, they're pretty damn good. Watch! Here's the live "Afternoon Delight" from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (via Vulture): Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is written and directed by Adam McKay, the man behind the original 2004 comedy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and comedies like Step Brothers. With the 70's behind him,...

The news team’s still got it. Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner, known on screen as Ron Burgundy, Brick Tamland, Brian Fantana and Champ Kind, respectively, assembled to rock an acapella version “Afternoon Delight” at Sydney’s premiere of “Anchorman 2.” Also read: ‘Anchorman 2′ Moves Up 2 Days to Get a Jump on Crowded Christmas The song, originally sung by Starland Vocal Band in 1976, was reinvigorated by the cast in the original “Anchorman” film. The comedic live rendition at the sequel’s down under opening was truly delightful. “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” will now open on Wed.

It's been nine long years since we've heard the sweet vocal stylings of San Diego's top news team, but recently the guys reunited to promote their new film, "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues."

During the Australian premiere of the highly-anticipated sequel, Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, and Steve Carell busted out an a capella rendition of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight."

By way of introduction, Will asked the audience, "Would you like to sing a song with us? 'Cause there's a song that we'd like to sing for you."

Check out the boys' vocal chops in the video below and catch "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" in theaters on Christmas Day.

I believe the best way to start off a fantastic Thanksgiving is with a little Afternoon Delight. During the Sydney premiere for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, director Adam McKay stepped aside to let his four leads sing a wonderful ditty called "Afternoon Delight" from a group called Starland Vocal Band. Many of you will remember that Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner originally expressed their feelings through the majesty of song in the first film....

Here’s something to make your afternoon delightful.

The Kvwn Channel 4 News team — otherwise known as Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, and David Koechner — reprised their a cappella rendition of the Starland Vocal Band’s 1976 hit “Afternoon Delight” from the first Anchorman film for the Sydney Premiere of the upcoming sequel. And it is awesome. Luckily, it was all caught on film because, as Ferrell says in the beginning of the clip, they are only going to do it once. Those lucky Aussies. (Except for that one time they also re-created the number at last week’s live Anchorman script reading!

Have you ever wondered what true love sounds like? During the Sydney premiere of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, the film's stars, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carrell and David Koechner offered a possible answer, reprising their wonderful rendition of Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit "Afternoon Delight" for an ecstatic crowd. The quartet famously sang the not-so-subtle love song a capella during the first Anchorman, and nearly a decade later they sound spry as ever, with Carrell still hitting all the right high notes and Koechner nailing his trademark "whoooops.

The cast of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues treated attendees at the movie's Sydney premiere to a live performance of "Afternoon Delight." At Sunday's event, the movie's stars -- Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner -- covered the Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit, which they also performed in the original film. Photos: From 'Anchorman' to 'Office,' Steve Carell's 10 Best Roles The stop marks the latest in a promotional blitz that has seen Ferrell make several appearances in character as Ron Burgundy, including an appearances on Conan during which he stumped for embattled politician Rob Ford, and

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Even when he’s stripped of the polyester suit, bushy mustache, and ’70s news desk, it’s always hilarious to hear Will Ferrell shout, “Great Odin’s raven!” Ferrell and the rest of the Anchorman cast gathered at Santa Monica, California’s Broad Stage on Thursday night for a live reading of the 2004 comedy’s script, a benefit for the nonprofit writing and tutoring center 826La.

Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy was joined by the rest of his Channel 4 News Team — Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), Champ Kind (David Koechner), and Brick Tamland (Steve Carell) — along with lady love Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate). Jack Black,...

Five of the best examples of cinema characters unexpectedly bursting into song

You know how it is – you're watching a film, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the characters burst into song. Fine when it's a musical – much more surprising when it's not. Here's some of the best of these moments – but can you think of any others? Share them in the comment thread below..

500 Days of Summer

Joseph Gordon Levitt's adorable Tom finally spends the night with the beautiful and quirky Summer and launches into a cheery, dance-filled rendition of You Make My Dreams Come True by Hall and Oates. Almost as elating as losing your virginity, this happy, colourful scene is easily one of the highlights of the film. Sadly the next scene is not nearly so cheerful…

Reading on mobile? Watch the clip on YouTube

Anchorman

Taking a break from the hyper-macho guy talk, the Channel 4...

There is only one man who can accept the MTV Movie Awards' inaugural Comedic Genius Award. But he is a man of many names: Ricky Bobby, Frank the Tank, Alex Trebek and Mugatu, to name just a few. The one he's most often credited as is Will Ferrell, "Saturday Night Live" legend and star of such hits as "Anchorman" and the forthcoming "Anchorman: The Legend Continues."

Boiling down Ferrell's funniest moments to five is a nearly impossible challenge, but it's one we're happy to rise to. Get your jazz flutes ready and join us as we dive into the award winner's five most comedically genius moments.

5. The Tragic Fall of Mustafa: In which he is still alive ... just very, very badly burned.

4. Will's New Job: All kidding aside, if we don't get a Will Ferrell Security Guard movie sometime soon, then there is truly no reason for us to go on as a species.

Feature Ryan Lambie 4 Apr 2013 - 06:34

In spite of a minimal plot, Anchorman remains one of the finest comedies ever thanks to perfect casting and characterisation, Ryan writes...

By rights, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy should have been an unqualified failure. Originally conceived as a much more complex movie with a plot that involved a group of organized criminals called The Alarm Clock, Anchorman was radically edited before release, with entire chunks of its story ditched (these excised scenes eventually found their way on the DVD-only Wake Up, Ron Burgundy) in favour of an unconventional tale about male chauvinism in TV journalism, love, redemption and the birth of a panda in a San Diego zoo.

Couple the finished film’s decidedly loose storyline, and a group of characters which, in theory at least, are by turns sexist, small-minded and arrogant, and you have the makings of what could have been a comedy misfire.

The Wanted were more surprised than they had a right to be when it was announced the band won the Favorite Breakout Artist award at the 2013 People's Choice Awards. Claiming that they have "never won anything before," the British boy band thanked the fans -- and Ellen DeGeneres.

Nathan Sykes, Tom Parker, Siva Kaneswaran, Max George and Jay McGuiness had promised DeGeneres that, if they won the award, they would sing her a song on stage -- though it probably wasn't the one she was expecting. The Wanted jumped into a rousing, "Anchorman"-style rendition of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight."

"The one thing I wanted to do is win a massive award," Sykes remembered telling his mother. "Fans, you guys did."...

Let’s face it Christmas television in recent years has become pretty dire; here is a list of alternative programs and Christmas specials for you to enjoy over the Christmas holidays!

12. Community, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”

Known for it’s endless pop culture references, Community carried on this theme with their Christmas episode. What makes it stand out from the rest of the Community episodes is the bold directional choice to have it filmed in stop motion animation.

Insisting he must find the meaning of Christmas through an animated adventure, his friends (who usually mock his ways) decide to humour their friend and assist. He finds a thoughtful discovery, which moves the episode into an unexpected emotional tone, complete for holiday viewing.

”

11. The Office, “Christmas Specials

Before Jim Halpert and Pam Beesley showed us the predictabilities of the office life, there was Tim Canterbury and Dawn Tinsely in the original BBC version.

The Grammy nominations will be announced on Dec. 5. One of the most hotly contested races is always for best new artist. Some years, the Grammys have gotten it right and picked acts who went on to have long careers. Other years, they’ve made regrettable choices: Starland Vocal Band or A Taste Of Honey anyone? To be eligible, an artist must have released at least one album, but cannot have released more than three. The eligibility period runs Oct. 1-Sept. 30, which means such hot artists as Meek Mill are not eligible since debut album came out after Sept. 30. Artists...

The Korean pop hit "Gangnam Style" has become a viral smash and brought a lot of attention to Psy, the singer of the dance hit ditty.

But only time will tell whether Psy can put together a string of other hits like Elvis, The Beatles or Rihanna -- or whether he becomes the latest musician to be tagged with the label "one-hit wonder."

Pop culture historian Brent Mann admitted he's no psychic, but bet that Psy will soon join Los Del Rio, Kyu Sakamoto and the Baja Men on the list of great one-hit wonders.

"It's pretty fascinating, but that's precisely what this is," Mann, author of the 2003 book "99 Red Balloons And 100 Other All-Time Great One-Hit Wonders," told The Huffington Post.

Even if Psy never has another hit, his song is sure to be remembered in the future -- especially on Sept. 25, semi-officially celebrated as "National One-Hit Wonder Day" by music fans across America.

A lot of us hated on Chris Brown during the Grammys Sunday, mostly because he’s an awful piece of sh*t who beat his girlfriend bloody and has made numerous bumbling homophobic remarks and really had no business performing at the Grammys, but this week, Brown Tweeted this iron-clad response to all the H8erz: “Hate All U Want Becuz I Got A Grammy Now! That’s the ultimate F**K Off!” He’s right! We better drop the argument because he’s got a Grammy, thus completely vindicating him both artistically and personally. For the record, some other artists with Grammys: Milli Vanilli, The Baha Men, Shaggy, Christopher Cross, Mc Hammer, Starland Vocal Band, Nelly, Hootie And The Blowfish, Rob Thomas, Coolio, Zach Braff, and the song “Believe” by Cher, and literally 77 more people every year, so they’re all great too. And few if any of those...

As Bridesmaids arrives in UK this week, Glen looks at the finest songs in its producer Judd Apatow's other hit comedies...

Judd Apatow is a dominant force in the world of movie comedies, with his work as producer and director seeing great successes over the course of his career. With the upcoming UK release of Bridesmaids, which is produced by Apatow, I thought now would be an ideal time to look at some of my favourite musical moments from the films he's been involved with.

Step Brothers: Boats ‘N Hoes

Huff 'N Doback /Prestige Worldwide (written by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly)

This isn’t the first time that either Step Brothers or Ferrell and Reilly will be appearing in this list. It’s a film that I have a lot of love for, and one of the few to leave me unable to breathe for laughing...

This week’s Glee used the theme of high-school sex-ed to explore…Will Schuester’s latest love triangle? Don’t worry: It’s not quite as creepy as it sounds. You see, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Holly Holliday was back in the halls of McKinley High School, subbing for the health and wellness teacher, who’d come down with “a mad case of the herp.” As Holly realized that her students, and in particular the members of New Directions, were woefully under-informed about the birds and the bees, we saw Will’s other ladycrush, Emma Pillsbury, struggling in her role as...

By Tom O’Neil

HollywoodNews.com: What’s up with those snobbish Grammy voters, eh? Never in the history of the recording academy has a male heartthrob star like Justin Bieber or a solo rapper like Drake ever won Best New Artist. Voters’ refusal to grant them trophies as the breakout stars of the year gets a bit much after a while. Heck, Justin Bieber was already voted Best New Artist by the American Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards. Why deny him the Grammy?

Consider these past races for the Best New Artist Grammy: 50 Cent lost to Evanescence (2004), Puff Daddy and Hanson lost to Paula Cole (1998). Some serious music fans might even get upset over the Backstreet Boys losing to Lauryn Hill (1999).

But this year Esparanza Spalding not only beat Justin Bieber and Drake, but two other music acts with much higher profile: Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons!

Welcome to the No Fact Zone’s new column on musical performances on the Colbert report. Stephen is quite the entertainer, and also has fantastic musical guests from a variety of genres and backgrounds on the Report. Check back at the end of each week for a round-up of music in the show!

I’m back! And so is MeTunes, this feature’s namesake. Stephen threw out his picks for the Grammys, but who really won the battle for Best Alternative Music Album? Stephen still had all of his teeth after the break, so I’m guessing the lovely gentlemen of The Black Keys1, Vampire Weekend, and the Recording Academy came to their senses and put down their weapons. But we never really got to find out Stephen’s pick for the Grammy. Based on what we saw last Tuesday I can make a fairly good educated guess, but first let’s review what happened.

There was a time when the Grammy for Best New Artist was a kiss of death, as acts like Starland Vocal Band, Men at Work, Milli Vanilli, Arrested Development, Paula Cole and Shelby Lynne won the award and were then never heard from again. But lately, it has been a pretty good indication of an artist who has enough of what it takes to make it (recent winners include Alicia Keys, Maroon 5, John Legend and the Zac Brown Band). This year's crop of nominees (announced last night during a special live concert event) is particularly strong, as it's a good mix of artists who already have a handful of hits in their pockets (Justin Bieber and Drake), bands with ampersands in their names who have been steadily building a following (Florence & the Machine and Mumford & Sons) and one person you've never heard of (Esperanza Spalding).

Who Should Win

Of all the artists nominated,...

As any critic worth his Pitchfork byline can tell you, the Grammys have a really dubious history of picking winners and nominees. One of the most uneven categories is Best New Artist, where winners range from legends like the Beatles, the Carpenters, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash, to -- well -- un-legends like Marc Cohn, the Starland Vocal Band, and Milli Vanilli. This year the category earned double the scrutiny by shunning shoo-in Lady Gaga, with Grammy president Neil Portnow noting that her single "Just Dance" was nominated for a dance award last year. Now that Portnow's coterie has released the 2010 nominees, we can call him on his bluff and point out five examples of Grammy's mistaken "rookie" commemoration.

One of the most highly coveted Grammy Awards is for best new artist, but the award has a spotty history. For every year the voters got it right, such as when the Beatles won in 1965, there has been a year when a dubious choice, such as Starland Vocal Band or Milli Vanilli took home the prize. To be sure, time proved the Grammy voters prescient in selecting up-and-coming talents such as Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera and Norah Jones. But, just for fun, let’s look at some of the nominated artists who lost...

Sept. 6: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 72. Country singer David Allan Coe is 70. Country singer Mel McDaniel is 67. Singer-bassist Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 66. Actress Swoosie Kurtz is 65. Comedian-actress Jane Curtin is 62. Country singer Buddy Miller is 57. Country drummer Joe Smyth of Sawyer Brown is 52. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 51. Actor-comedian Michael Winslow ("Police Academy") is 51. Guitarist Pal Waaktaar of A-ha is 48. Country singer Mark Chesnutt is 46. Actress Rosie Perez is 45. Singer Macy Gray is 42. Singer CeCe Peniston is 40. Singer Darryl Anthony (Az Yet) is 40. Singer Dolores O'Riordan (The Cranberries) is 38. Actor Dylan Bruno ("Numb3ers") is 37. Actress Anika Noni Rose ("Dreamgirls") is 37. Actor Justin Whalin ("Lois and Clark") is 35. Singer Nina Persson (The Cardigans) is 35. Actress Naomie Harris ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest") is 33. Rapper Noreaga is 32. Rapper Foxy Brown is 31.Sept. 7: Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is 79. Singer...