Magnolia Pictures

Morton Downey, Jr.

Years before reality TV and today's conservative political pundits, we had Morton Downey, Jr., whose The Morton Downey, Jr. Show in the late '80s was Jerry Springer, Geraldo, The O'Reilly Factor and Jersey Shore all wrapped up into one, giant hoagie.

On May 21, Cinefamily screens a montage of the show's clips, as well as the L.A. premiere of Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, a documentary by Jeremy Newberger, Daniel A. Miller and Seth Kramer that looks at the late talk show host's rise and fall, and how he gave folks like Gloria Allred, Ron Paul, Alan Dershowitz and Al Sharpton (and his feathered hair) their first national forum.

More »

Kevin Scanlon

Doron Ofir

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

"I'm a collector of characters. We're a very interesting breed."

Doron Ofir, 41 — original casting director of more than 100 reality productions, from RuPaul's Drag Race to Millionaire Matchmaker to Jersey Shore — finds the world's most fascinating people. Then he quickly decides whether they have what it takes to be on reality TV. "Ten years ago, this profession didn't exist," he says. "I'm one of the first to create a brick-and-mortar, fully functioning, talent-integration casting company in the world of entertainment."

After spending his childhood in Manhattan, the son of Israeli parents moved to the Long Island town of Great Neck but would venture into the city to be part of the early club-kid scene. That's when Ofir was scouted at the Palladium and became a dancer on Club MTV. "I auditioned to Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody,' and I did not know how to dance," he says. "I was one of the ugliest kids you could ever imagine. See, people do not always agree on what is beautiful, but almost everyone agrees on what is ugly, so the only way to change that is to become interesting. Because once you're interesting, ugly goes away."

See also:
*Our Real Housewives of Beverly Hills coverage

More »

Kevin Scanlon

George Takei

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

At 76, George Takei is in the prime of his life: The Star Trek actor and L.A. native is now a social media maven, a theatrical producer and, with his husband, the former Brad Altman (now Takei), a poster child for marriage equality.

That doesn't mean everyone knows how to pronounce his name properly. It's Ta-KAY, he says, not Ta-KAI — as in "Ta-KAY is gay," he quips.

Takei's dry wit and deadpan style have made him one of the Internet's most beloved celebrities. But it's a dark episode from his childhood that shaped his world.

See also:
*Star Trek Into Darkness Review
*West Hollywood Weddings And Star Trek's George Takei Gets His Marriage License

More »

Kevin Scanlon

Jenna Chong

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

When Jenna Chong books a hand-modeling gig, she often walks onto the set not knowing what the product is, or what she will be asked to do. She might be told to dip a french fry with just the right amount of ketchup, pour pills out of a bottle so that all the logos are facing up, or make a hamburger look happier.

Or even, once, pet a 500-pound African lion.

That assignment came in 2011 while she was hand doubling for Kirsten Dunst on a fragrance commercial. Chong's fears were allayed by the lion's trainers, who assured her that the animal would not do anything to harm her — as long as she wasn't menstruating, and didn't stare directly into the lion's eyes. Oh, and no sudden movements.

"They said, '[The lion] may want to mark his territory and start urinating on you,' " she remembers. " 'If that happens, just sit still until he's done.' "

More »

Kevin Scanlon

Asa Soltan Rahmati

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

What to say about The Shahs of Sunset? The Ryan Seacrest–produced show offers a look into the flamboyant lives of six Persian-Americans as they navigate life, love and the streets of L.A.'s "Tehrangeles" neighborhood. It has shown American audiences another side of an ethnic group often vilified as nuclear weapon–wielding terrorists — yet its focus on its characters' over-the-top lifestyles has irked critics to the point that the City of West Hollywood passed an official resolution condemning it.

If viewers can't quite figure out what to make of the show, well, they're really divided on The Shahs' breakout star: self-proclaimed Persian pop priestess Asa Soltan Rahmati. She's both loved and resented — a successful businesswoman who remains close to her Muslim family, a lover of over-the-top luxury who nevertheless seems down to earth.

Fiercely independent, she refuses to be boxed in. But she has raised eyebrows for bluntly speaking her mind — and supposedly having $30,000 in gold embedded into the foundation of her home for good luck.

Rahmati lets the criticism roll off her shoulders. "They hated it, but they watched it every week, they knew every detail," she says of her Iranian-American compatriots. "I think, secretly, they loved it."

She's probably right.

More »

Kevin Scanlon

Tim Heidecker

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

When Tim Heidecker says his wife is in school studying "criminalistics" to be a "private investigator, in law enforcement," it's hard to know whether to believe him. After all, the Atwater Village–based comedian is known for his stunts, pranks and fabrications. Last year he impersonated Bob Dylan in a 15-minute song about the sinking of the Titanic, and he continued the joke by later "announcing" to his hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers that Dylan would be replacing Beyoncé in the Super Bowl halftime show. (Folks in many corners of the Internet were hysterical.) For a web series called On Cinema at the Cinema, meanwhile, he pretends to be the hackiest, least knowledgeable film critic imaginable.

But that's just part of his charm. The 37-year-old, eastern Pennsylvania–bred parodist is best known for his experimental, schizophrenic Adult Swim comedy Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, which ran for three years in the late aughts and was created with his former Temple University film school classmate Eric Warheim. Since then, Heidecker has been involved in practically a new project every week, including films (Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie), albums (a parody tribute album to failed presidential candidate Herman Cain) and even commercials — he and Warheim directed a series of Old Spice ads.

See also:
*12 Comedy Acts to Watch in 2013
*10 Best Stand-Up Comedy Shows in Los Angeles

More »

Kevin Scanlon

Tyrese Gibson

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

Tyrese Gibson is checking out new office space for his expanding record label, Voltron Recordz, while talking to a reporter and fielding phone calls from underlings. "I like this space," he tells his real estate agent. "This is obviously a medical office. It looks like a few heartbeats have been checked in this room."

The 34-year-old had his heart checked recently, along with other vitals, as he admits to spreading himself too thin with movies (Fast & Furious 6 hits in May), music and behind-the-scenes moves. This spring he released A Black Rose That Grew Through Concrete, which includes a documentary, a double album and a book about his life. The latter will be the fourth title on Amazon bearing Gibson's name as an author.

Yeah, the kid from Watts who broke into America's consciousness as the star of John Singleton's Baby Boy in 2001 seems to balance more gigs than Bon Jovi, and sometimes it shows. Gibson says he never dreams; his whole life is a dream. "I dream with my eyes open."

More »

Courtesy of Peter Mehlman

Peter Mehlman certainly has a flair for the English language. As a writer for beloved 1990s sitcom Seinfeld, he mainstreamed terms like shrinkage, sponge-worthy and "yada yada yada," the last of which has such a footing in pop culture vernacular that it's part of the Oxford English Dictionary. Heck. Even Jon Stewart used it on The Daily Show as recently as last month.

In his new book of essays, Mandela Was Late, Mehlman, a journalist by training (the book's title stems from an essay he wrote for Esquire magazine), shares observations of working on Seinfeld, living in Los Angeles, and other cultural observations and musings. But he mused for us for free when we called to chat about his book. Here, Mehlman shares his thoughts on television today, catchphrases, character narcissism and why he won't compete with the Modern Seinfeld Twitter account.

You've got a ton of one-liners in your book, such as suggesting the Museum of Tolerance have a lactose exhibit, or responding to a traffic cop who asks where you're heading by saying "Would you believe ... Daytona?" It's almost like you're working standup. But you were trained as a journalist.

I know in the preface I was trying to talk about how my life is gotten so full of these random thoughts and kind of threw them in there. I never even thought of it. The other pieces I'm hoping are more organic.

More »

Photo by Keith Black / HOIXIOH

Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Robert Trachtenberg at Paley Center

Mel Brooks doesn't think he's an American master.

That's someone like Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway, says the creator of the funniest farting scene in the history of film.

But Susan Lacy, executive producer of PBS' American Masters series, thought differently, and convinced Brooks to dispense with his modesty just this once.

More »

Siran Babayan

Morgan Jay, symbol of the Bluth family business

See also:
*5 Awesome Album Covers Inspired By Arrested Development
*5 Best Arrested Development Artworks at Gallery 1988
*Why Emily Maya Mills Could Be the Next Carol Burnett

On Saturday, Silver Lake's Lyric Hyperion Theater staged an Arrested Development-inspired variety hour called Bluth Fest for us fans who were as blue as Tobias Funke when the short-lived, cult show was cancelled in 2006, but are now doing the chicken dance a la Gob Bluth in anticipation of the cast's return on Netflix May 26.

You remember the Bluths, the once-rich, dysfunctional family from Newport Beach that includes mom Lucille (Jessica Walter), dad George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), sons Gob (Will Arnett) and Buster (Tony Hale), daughter Lindsay (Portia de Rossi), her husband Tobias (David Cross) and daughter Maeby (Alia Shawkat) -- a crooked bunch who'd sooner eat the furniture in their fake, model mini-mansion than do an honest day's work. There's also third son Michael, (Jason Bateman) single dad to George Michael (Michael Cera) and the only normal one of the group.

Co-hosts Monika Scott and Rhiannon Houch of sketch duo Theme Party took us on a Bluth-ian journey that featured skits, music and stand-up, not to mention a chicken dance-off -- a celebration of one of the series' running gags, which looks more Mick Jagger than foul. (The theater was even decorated with blue hand-prints, another running gag referring to Tobias' failed attempt to join the Blue Man Group).

Here are some of our favorite moments:

More »