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Showbiz Tonight
50 Years of Bond; Top Five Stories We Can`t Look Away From
Aired October 05, 2012 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST: Tonight, a special edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, countdown, Showbiz countdown of the best of Bond.
It is the 50th anniversary of 007`s very first movie and we`re naming the top five best Bond girls of all time.
Plus, the connoisseur`s guide to the best of Bond.
You`ll be shaken, you`ll be stirred, by the Showbiz countdown best of Bond.
Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer. I`m so ready for this.
Tonight, it is a very special edition of the Showbiz countdown, best of Bond, the girls, the cars and of course, the Bonds.
It was 50 years ago today that the very first James Bond movie made its debut, it was Dr. No, starring, of course, the very first Bond, Sean Connery.
Which of all of the Bond movies were the best, which of his cars was the coolest, and out of all the Bond girls who was the hottest? That is where the Showbiz countdown begins tonight, as we count down who we think are the top five best Bond girls ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, James.
HAMMER (voice-over): In 50 years of James Bond movies, we have seen 007 love and leave an awful lot of women.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, James, I need you.
JAMES BOND: So does England.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: But a select few are so memorable, they stand head and shoulders above all the girls Bonds loved before, which is why SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is counting down our top five Bond girls ever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
No. 5, Ursula Andress as Honey Rider in Dr. No.
She had the most memorable entrance in Bond movie history.
MARTY BECKERMAN, AUTHOR, THE HEMINGWAY: She`s just super hot.
GRAE DRAKE, ROTTEN TOMATOES: That bikini has done more PR for the ocean than Al Gore could hope for in a thousand lifetimes. She`s everything that Bond girls are supposed to be in that moment. She`s strong, she`s talented, she`s got a knife.
HAMMER: Right behind Ursula at No. 4 in our Showbiz countdown of the best Bond girls, Barbara Bach as Anya Amasova in The Spy Who Loved Me.
DRAKE: Her code name is Agent XXX.
AGENT XXX: When this mission is over, I will kill you.
HAMMER: Agent XXX and Bond don`t meet on the best of terms, with Bond having killed her husband and all.
But spoiler alert --
BOND: Let`s get out of these wet things.
HAMMER: They manage to patch things up and in between, Agent XXX gives Bond a run for his money that is great fun to watch.
DRAKE: Anna ends up being one of the most feminist Bond characters ever who was literally James Bond`s complete equal.
HAMMER: No. 3 in our Showbiz countdown of the greatest Bond girls, Diana Rigg as Tracy Di Vincenzo in On Her Majesty`s Secret Service.
BOND: You`re full of surprises, Contessa.
TRACY DI VINCENZO: So are you, Mr. Bond. There is one big reason we think Diana Rigg`s character ranks among the best Bond girls ever.
BOND: I love you.
HAMMER: She`s the only Bond girl so awesome that Bond had to put a ring on it.
DRAKE: What woman in the world has enough sassitude to land James Bond, and the answer is Diana Rigg.
BOND: Mrs. Bond.
HAMMER: Unfortunately Mr. And Mrs. Bond`s wedded bliss doesn`t last long.
BECKERMAN: Compared to James Bond, Kim Kardashian had a long marriage.
HAMMER: Still, Diana Rigg lasts for a long time in Bond`s memory and ours too.
DRAKE: It was a whole new level of emotional involvement for Bond.
HAMMER: No. 2 in our Showbiz countdown of best Bond girls, Eva Green as Vesper Lindh in Casino Royale.
VESPER LINDH: You`re not going to let me in there.
BECKERMAN: It is a great performance. It is up there with one of the best Bond girl performances ever, I think.
HAMMER: It was this Bond girl`s unbelievable chemistry with Daniel Craig`s James Bond that helped make Casino Royale one of the best Bond movies ever.
LINDH: You think of women as disposable pleasures rather than meaningful pursuits.
DRAKE: These two didn`t have to take their clothes off for there to be this firework explosion between them.
HAMMER: But in our Showbiz countdown of the best Bond girls ever, there can only be one No. 1.
PUSSY GALORE: My name is Pussy Galore.
BOND: I must be dreaming.
HAMMER: Our No. 1 is Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore in Gold Finger.
GALORE: You can turn off the charm. I`m immune.
HAMMER: Bond fans aren`t immune to the charms of this husky-voiced pilot with the crazy name.
DRAKE: This is a woman who literally gives you a good roll in the hay. You asked for this.
HAMMER: And then she goes and flies an airplane.
GALORE: I`m a good pilot.
DRAKE: Honor Blackman was so good at this role and turned it into an interesting thing that you almost forget that her name is completely ridiculous.
HAMMER: And anyone who can make us forget about the ridiculous name Pussy Galore deserves to be remembered as SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s No. 1 best Bond girl of all time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): All right, so did we get it right in our Showbiz countdown of the best Bond girls ever? We are go directly to one of our Bond experts tonight, from Hollywood, Anthony Breznikan.
Anthony, I know you know this stuff.
Did we get it right? Was Anna Blackman as Pussy Galore in Gold Finger the best Bond girl ever?
ANTHONY BREZNIKAN, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Look, anytime you get to this many Bond girls, you always have to debate about the No. 1 Bond girl.
I think you definitely hit it close to the bull`s eye.
I would have said Vesper Lindh, personally, Eva Green`s character from Casino Royale since she`s got part of his origin story, but, you know, the name Pussy Galore, the fact we`re able to say that on CNN is a testament to her staying power.
HAMMER: The fact that they got away with doing it all those years ago. But who would you have added to our top five choices of the best Bond girls?
BREZNIKAN: You know, I would have added Grace Jones from A View to a Kill. She played May Day and she was kind of a villainess in that, had a little redemption.
She was not necessarily the sexiest Bond girl, she`s not my type, she kind of is scary and intense, but the fact that she was that scary makes her that memorable in my mind.
HAMMER: And the fact it is Grace Jones, that is terrific.
Anthony, thank you very much.
Pick up your issue of Entertainment Weekly on newsstands now.
We continue now with something really remarkable. It is life imitating Bond.
Have you ever noticed that a lot of those heart-stopping crises seem to actually happen in real life as well?
For 50 years the spy films have predicted everything from the Cuban Missile Crisis to that Russian nuclear sub that melted down.
Here is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s Nischelle Turner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOND: Tell me, does the thought of American missles really compensate for having no hands?
NISCHELLE TURNER, HLN (voice-over): Just weeks after Dr. No premiered in 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis gripped the world and suddenly the idea of a secret base in the Caribbean threatening the U.S. didn`t seem so far- fetched.
It was the first 007 movie and the first case of life imitating Bond.
It happened in again in 1966 when a military aircraft carrying nuclear weapons crashed off the Spanish coast, and one of the bombs landed under water.
It was just like the plot of Thunder Ball, which came out a year earlier.
And in 1967, three Apollo astronauts were killed in a tragic accident, mere weeks after the opening scene of You Only Live Twice was filmed.
John Cork, who has written numerous books and documentaries about the making of the Bond films, has a theory about why they so accurately and eerily predict the future.
JOHN CORK, JAMES BOND EXPERT: I think one of the keys to success of the James Bond novels and the James Bond films is that everybody involved in creating these stories, from Ian Fleming on to the screenwriters today, worked very hard at trying to figure out what is going to be happening, as they say, ten minutes into the future.
James Bond always needs to be on the cutting edge and so often when you`re on the cutting edge, you happen to be right there with history.
TURNER: And indeed he was. The brainwashed beauties in On Her Majesty`s Secret Service previewed the Manson Cult murders.
Live and Let Die`s head of state/drug lord came ten years before Manuel Noriega in Panama.
And after the release of The World is not Enough, there was a fatal incident involving the nuclear reactor of a submarine.
But no James Bond to stop it.
Is this all coincidence? Or crystal ball?
CORK: A lot of people over the years have said the Bond films just got lucky. But my grandfather always had a saying, the better you are, the luckier you get. They worked very hard at creating James Bond stories that are going to feel right of the moment, and when you do that, sometimes you catch the moment.
TURNER: So pay attention next month when the new James Bond film Skyfall arrives. It could just be another preview of world events.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much do you know about fear?
BOND: Not much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: And you know that plot of Skyfall is being as closely guarded as one of Bond`s top secret files. So we`re all just going to have to wait until November 9th when Skyfall opens and then we`ll see if it holds yet another prediction for the future.
Well, still ahead, we`re counting down the top five best Bond movies ever.
Plus, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT names the coolest Bond car ever.
But will you agree? Stick around and you will find out.
Adele`s theme song revealed, the official track for the latest Bond film dropped today and Adele says agreeing to do the Bond theme was a no- brainer. Reviews online call the song a throwback, haunting and classic. I agree.
Skyfall is in theaters November 9th.
More Bond coming your way, a connoisseur`s guide to 007 next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back.
We are shaking up the martinis tonight because now it is time for perhaps the most divisive 007 debate of them all.
After the first Bond movie, Dr. No, premiered exactly 50 years ago today, another 22 Bond films followed, but out of all of the Bond movies, which are the best? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT watched, analyzed and debated over all of James Bonds` greatest adventures and we picked the top five.
What we picked as No. 1 is sure to cause some controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOND: Bond, James Bond.
HAMMER: For 50 years, we have watched James Bond defeat more villains.
BOND: Your time is running out.
HAMMER; Rock more tuxes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think my mouth is too big.
BOND: No, it is the right size. For me that is.
HAMMER: And hook up with more women than we can count.
But, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can count down the top five greatest James Bond movies.
BOND: That would be splendid.
No. 5 on the Showbiz countdown, 1977`s The Spy Who Loved Me. It included that cool amphibious car and a bad guy with a cool ocean fortress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within minutes, New York and Moscow will cease to exist.
DRAKE: I think The Spy Who Loved Me is one of the better Roger Moore Bond movies.
HAMMER: No. 4 on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s countdown of the top five Bond movies, 1969`s On Her Majesty`s Secret Service.
BECKERMAN: A lot of Bond fans have a soft spot for On Her Majesty`s Secret Service.
HAMMER: This movie tends to get a bad rap because it stars the only one- time James Bond, George Lazenby.
BOND: This never happened to the other fellow.
BECKERMAN: He`s the Brandon Routh of James Bonds, he`s always the guy that was Superman once. George Lazenby will always be the guy who was Bond once.
HAMMER: But with the intense, no-nonsense action, and a shockingly tragic ending that still packs a punch.
BOND: No hurry, you see. We have all the time in the world.
HAMMER: On Her Majesty`s Secret Service is now widely known as perhaps the most underrated of all James Bond movies.
DRAKE: On Her Majesty`s Secret Service holds up.
HAMMER: No. 3, 1963`s From Russia with Love.
BOND: Mr. Bond here.
DRAKE: From Russia with Love is more of a hard core James Bond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My order is to kill you.
DRAKE: It is still a lot of good punching and driving and loving.
BOND: You`re the most beautiful girl I`ve ever seen.
HAMMER: Speaking of loving, From Russia with Love gets points for a completely modern plot twist.
Bond gets threatened with the release of a secretly made film of him, um, Bonding with a beautiful woman.
BECKERMAN: Today threatening to release a James Bond sex tape wouldn`t be like a blackmail plot. It would be something that would get him a reality show.
HAMMER: No. 2 on the countdown of the five greatest Bond movies, 1964`s Gold Finger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Choose your next witicism carefully, Mr. Bond. It may be your last. Gold Finger had some of the most iconic images in Bond history.
There is Bond versus the laser.
BOND: Do you expect me to talk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
HAMMER: The gold-plated girl.
BECKERMAN: I hope he kept the gold body because that`s only going to go up in value.
HAMMER: And the girl with the very memorable name.
GALORE: My name is Pussy Galore.
HAMMER: Plus --
DRAKE: An amazing theme song, Gold Finger, which I secretly sing to time. (Singing) Gold Finger.
HAMMER: Which all brings us to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s choice for the No. 1 Bond film ever.
A word of warning, it is an unconventional choice.
BOND: Yes. Considerably.
HAMMER: Yes, we`re calling 2006`s Casino Royale the greatest Bond film of all time.
BOND: You`re joking.
HAMMER: Easy, Sir Connery.
BECKERMAN: It is gritty, dark, smart.
BOND: Tell him I`ve hidden the bodies down here.
HAMMER: It remains the top grossing Bond film ever and as a first time Bond, Daniel Craig kills it.
DRAKE: Daniel Craig manages to bring a real humanity to Bond.
BOND: Whatever is left of me, I`m yours.
HAMMER: What really sets this one apart, the super hot and super tragic love story between Daniel Craig`s Bond and Eva Green as the doomed Vesper Lindh.
LINDH: As charming as you are, Mr. Bond, I will be keeping my eye on our government`s money, and off your perfectly formed (inaudible).
BOND: So you noticed.
LINDH: Even accountants have imaginations.
DRAKE: They have this amazing way of talking that made it feel like it was foreplay, that energy hadn`t been captured in a Bond film in a long time.
HAMMER: That`s the best part about James Bond movies. For 50 years now, there is always another one around the corner.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): A bold choice.
Did we get our countdown of the top five Bond movies right? Weigh in on our facebook page.
And if you want to do your own James Bond movie countdown, you`re in luck.
All 22 James Bond movies are now available in a special new 50th anniversary Blu-ray DVD collection.
Coming up, the connoisseur`s guide to the best of the villains, heart racing action and, of course, the cars.
Bond`s incredible car is probably as famous as his martinis.
Which of the sweet rides will be the best ever?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: We`re back on this special Bond, James Bond edition of SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, 50 years to the day the first Bond movie, Dr. No, opened.
As we raise a glass to James Bond on this his 50th year anniversary.
From martinis to caviar, Bond of course is not just any old super spy, oh, no, he`s a super connoisseur.
And tonight we`re going into 007`s refined world with a guy who knows all about Bond, as our guide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you having, Mr. Cook?
CORK: I`ll have a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred.
BOND: You expect me to talk?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.
CORK: For me, the best Bond villain of all time is Art Goldfinger. He`s sexually obsessed with gold.
And you would think somebody like that would be easy for James Bond to foil, but he actually gets smarter as the film goes along.
BOND: I know I`ll never find another girl like you. Will you marry me?
CORK: The best Bond girl, Tracy, from On Her Majesty`s Secret Service. She`s the woman that Bond marries. She has everything that you could want in a great Bond woman character. She is brilliant, she`s strong, she`s beautiful. She`s also incredibly troubled and her father happens to be one of the great crime lords of Europe.
Best action sequence in a Bond film is one where Bond doesn`t have to rely on technology, can`t rely on technology. Casino Royale, the free running sequence, great chase, amazing leaps over a building under construction. It really shows James Bond`s determination, drive, guts and ingenuity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ll be using this Aston Martin DB-5.
Best James Bond car, the Aston Martin DB-5, the hand built British sports car, cost more than most British citizens made during the course of the year when it came out.
You see it not only in Gold Finger and Thunder Ball 100 percent but in all the recent Bond films as well.
Best James Bond moment in the franchise, when Bond skis off the cliff in The Spy Who Loved Me, tumbles through space, everybody watching it holds their breath until the Union Jack furls and the James Bond theme kicks in.
UNIDENTIFEID MALE: You should give up smoking. Cigarettes are very bad for your chest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. (Inaudible) believes in a healthy chest.
BOND: Really.
CORK: I think all of the actors who played James Bond brought something unique to the role and something to the series that kept it alive.
My favorite, of course, is Sean Connery, who introduced the world to James Bond, made him a phenomenon.
But a close second, Daniel Craig.
BOND: The name is Bond, James Bond.
CORK: I think if you were going to show one Bond film to a person who had never seen any films in this series before, Casino Royale would be that film. Daniel Craig`s first Bond film has all of the elements that make the cinematic James Bond so memorable.
But it also has all the elements that made the Ian Fleming novels so wonderful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: I`m thinking you may need one of Bond`s martinis for the next countdown, a showdown between a lady and a wild bear.
The lady chastises a bear, sending him on the run. I guarantee you will not be able to turn away from this video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Will the lady and the bear take the top spot in our countdown, Can`t Look Away, or will the bizarre biting attack on Danny Bonaduce take the prize? Danny is here to help us with the Showbiz countdown.
Right now on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, it is the Showbiz countdown, Can`t Look Away.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: But will Danny`s story be number one on the showbiz countdown, the biggest stories we just can`t look away from.
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" continues right now.
Welcome back to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." And thank you for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer.
And tonight in the "Showbiz" countdown can`t look away. And believe me when I say we`ve got the top five stories that will have your eyes fixed to the screen.
So let`s kick it off at number five. It`s biting Bonaduce. Never thought I would actually say that on television. Former "Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce is certainly no stranger to the weird and wild ways of fame, but this has got to take the cake.
Now Danny was just at a meet and greet at a casino in Washington State. And a fan asked to kiss him. Well, then she leaned in and bit him. Right there in the cheek. What the heck was she thinking? And what does he think about getting mauled, literally by a fan?
I`m going to ask him right now as Danny joins me tonight from Seattle. What, Danny, what? I`m giving you your big intro here and you already interrupting me.
DANNY BONADUCE, STAR, PARTRIDGE FAMILY: I`m sorry. I was freaking out man because I`m up here in Seattle which is the greatest city in the world. We lie to you people because we don`t want you to move here.
But in Washington State, that`s where they shot all "Twilight" movies. So this chick is latched on to my face and biting me. And there is a lot of blood. I mean, a lot of blood. And everybody is yelling where werewolf, werewolf, werewolf. And I`m yelling bath salts, bath salts, bath salts.
And have been asked this a couple of times. I really thought it out. I think she hung on for a full minute because she was biting so hard when people tried to pull her off me, I thought she was going to take a hunk of her face with her. So I had to hold on to her.
Finally the police got her off. They put some salve on. They measured how big the bite mark was, and they got her away. And I refused to press charges. But it was at a tribal casino, and their laws are different. So I don`t know what will happen there.
But I didn`t want to press charges. I`ll tell you why real quickly. My hero is Johnny Carson. And if the night Johnny Carson passed away I had a great joke, I would tell it. And the reason is it doesn`t make somebody less dead because you told a joke. I thought I won`t be any less in pain if this girl gets to go see the show. But they arrested her anyway.
HAMMER: Wow, it`s just great to see you in one piece, Danny, I must tell you. Do we have the picture that Danny`s wife took of the injury? Because, look at that. I mean, there is blood there, Danny. I saw this and I`m thinking, you know what? You put yourself out there. You have always said look, I`m in the public eye. People are going to want things from me. She wanted to taste you, Danny.
BONADUCE: She did. She want a taste of Danny. I`m thinking about putting out my own fragrance.
HAMMER: Maybe you should. OK. So you didn`t press charges. I have respect for you for doing that. But now the question is as much as you`ve been through, does this sort of take the cake of all of the things you have encountered and the craziness with fans that you have seen over the many years you`ve been in the public eye?
BONADUCE: No. And that`s the weird thing. When a girl bites your face, it should take you at least a second to think of a weirder thing that has happened to you, but it didn`t. A police officer said to me is that the weirdest thing that ever happened to you? And I said no. And I told a story. I went to see the premier of the movie "the song remains the same" in 1977. I went with the ex-wife of a very famous drummer. So she knew Robert Plant very well, and said something to him that he didn`t like, so he spit at her. And I didn`t know that nobody knew that I didn`t really know this girl. So it looked like he spit on my date. I got to go be a tough guy.
So I went up and made a fist near Robert Plant, and everybody just beat my brains in. So I went home, and I went to sleep, fully dressed. I wake up in the morning fully dressed. The girl is in my bed fully dressed. My girlfriend comes in my apartment. She has a target pistol her father gave her. The girl jumps in the closet. My girlfriend goes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, five shots right down the middle of the door. So, all I can think is well, I got a dead giant in my closet. This is going to be a long day.
And she has one in the chamber left for me. And I swear to you that this is true. I said are you really, really willing to spend the rest of your life -- and I was only 15. I said are you really willing to spend the rest of your life in jail over a cheater and liar like me? And she said yes. And she pulled the trigger. That was a weirder night.
HAMMER: Well, you`re still here. Although both stories involved saliva.
But Danny, as traumatic as that bite was for you, I have to tell you, it did not beat our number four story on the "showbiz" countdown of stories that made us say we can`t look away, unless of course you worrisome pink swim trunks on national television.
At number four, Liam Neeson`s near naked stunt on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Ellen just kicked off breast cancer wariness month with a celebrity splash tank for charity. Now Liam happened to be lucky celebrity guest number one who if he got splashed would earn cancer research $10,000. So that`s a good deal. And I can tell you, the ladies here at "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" could not look away for very obvious reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
ELLEN DEGENERES, TV HOST: Oh my God. If someone is just tuning in, you look naked in there. All right. You get as many as you want. Go ahead. Hit that.
(CHEERING)
DEGENERES: All right. That`s $20,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Spectacular. And he did look naked. But to his credit, Liam actually convinced Ellen to double the cash if he took off his rove to $20,000. I got to bring in VH1 Hollywood "Exes" star Sheree Fletcher who is in Hollywood tonight.
Sheree, Liam`s sequel to his hit movie "taken" will be out on Friday. Were you taken by what he did there? He was such a good sport, pink shorts and all.
SHEREE FLETCHER, STAR, VH1`S HOLLYWOOD EXES: Yes, I was absolutely taken. And I think that some things shouldn`t be taken. Like his robe.
HAMMER: I`m going to read into that.
BONADUCE: I disagree.
HAMMER: Yes, go, Danny.
BONADUCE: I disagree completely. This is a complete coincidence, because I didn`t know the stories. I hope this frame is right for you. This is a coincidence.
HAMMER: What is happening? Pink shorts. You are kidding me. Danny Bonaduce --
BONADUCE: No, swear. That`s a complete coincidence.
HAMMER: Look at that. But, you`re keeping the rest of your clothes on, and I guess Sheree`s point, maybe that wasn`t the best thing for Liam to do.
BONADUCE: If I had known this was happening, I would have walked in there like and you would have thought what a great sport Danny is. This is just a coincidence.
HAMMER: Well, I think Ellen needs to donate more money for breast cancer research right there because Danny Bonaduce is wearing pink skivvies tonight.
All right listen, if Liam`s skipping near naked splash on scenes like a bare of a task and then it was on national television after all, and Danny was too just showing his.
Well, out number three story on our "showbiz" countdown of stories made us a we can`t look away. I love this. The brand-new viral video of the woman who yelled at a bear like a child to get off her porch. And what did the bear do? He got off her porch. Let`s watch what happens as the bear approaches.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bear is here. Let me go in your office, because he might come after me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get down, right now! Go! No! Down!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: That poor bear!
(LAUGHTER)
HAMMER: I mean, she actually just yelled at him. You know, people yell at their dogs or their kids.
Sheree, is that how you would have handled that? I mean it could have wound you up on you tube with nearly a million hits like this woman has gotten?
FLETCHER: Can I tell you, she is my hero of the day. I love her. I want a new doorbell chime with that sound bite. She is amazing.
HAMMER: I think Danny Bonaduce might have gone after the bear`s face personally. So listen. If a near naked Liam Neeson, a woman chastising a bear and a bitten Bonaduce didn`t top our countdown of can`t look away, well, imagine what we have in store for our top two. Just think about it.
Danny, Sheree, stay right there as we find out the top two-stories we couldn`t look away from. They`re next.
Also ahead, from "Family Guy" to Oscar guy, Seth Macfarlane the talk of Hollywood now that he has been named the host of the 2013 Oscars. And his quirky humor is already going into overdrive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have invited you here today to tell you I`m hosting the Oscars. This should be huge news to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, that`s wonderful news. But also the fact that you`re getting almost brand-new bathing suits is also good news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Will Seth be the precise burst of energy the Oscars show desperately needs to stay relevant?
This is "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Tonight we are counting down the top five stories that we can`t look away from. And here is where we are so far.
Coming in at number five, biting Bonaduce. Former "Partridge Family" star Danny Bonaduce reveals how he was literally bitten in the face by a fan. Imagine that.
And number four, "Taken 2" star Liam Neeson takes off his clothes, talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, all to raise money for breast cancer charity.
And number three, what would Mama Bear think? A woman yells at a bear to get off her porch, and he actually obeys. That takes us to number two of the "showbiz" countdown of the top five stories that we can`t look away from.
Nick and Vanessa`s big bundle of joy. Look at this. Nick Lachey and his wife Vanessa showed a brand-new photo of their brand-new bundle of joy. It`s a bundle of boy named Camden John. They put this up on their twitter accounts.
Vanessa hosts the ABC family reality show "wipeout." She was the first the tweet out the photo of 2-week-old baby with this message, Nick and I are honor and humbled to introduce you to the new love of our lives, born at 6:54:00 p.m. He came in to this world at eight pounds and nine ounces and 21 inches. Love has truly been redefined for both of us. That`s sweet. Mazoltov to both of you, Nick and Vanessa.
And that leads us to number one on the "showbiz" countdown of the top five stories that we can`t look away from. And I can assure you, you will not want to look away. Two brothers, Mires and Bailey Leonard endured a tragedy when their father died suddenly when they were kids.
Well, fast forward to the boys as young men and brother, Bailey, joins the marine. His younger brother, Mires is crushed when Bailey leaves for Afghanistan. And its Bailey`s emotional home coming that is going to leave you in tears. This video first aired in March, but right now it has gone beyond viral on the web. It is our number one show in the "showbiz" countdown of the top five stories that we can`t look away from. Get the tissues ready.
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BAILEY LEONARD, MARINE: Despite me only being 22 months only than Mires, I like to think of myself as somewhat of a fatherly figure to him. After our father passed away, me, Mires and my mom, the three of us slept on the living room floor with blankets and candles. No electricity, no water, no furniture. With hardship and getting through hardship, that only helps bring people closer together. August 2008, that was the day I left for boot camp.
MIRES LEONARD, BAILEY`S BROTHER: It was just a shock to me. I went in my room and cried. I had never had my brother. Now that he is in Afghanistan fighting for our country, it kind of scares me every day that he is in the line of duty. But, you know, he has always been there for me.
BAILEY LEONARD: The last time I saw Mires play was in January of 2010. I`m guessing he has absolutely no idea I`m even outside this stadium right now.
The reason I wanted to come see him play so bad is the fact that he didn`t know I was going to be here.
Hey Mires!
MIRES LEONARD: What the --!
BAILEY LEONARD: Come here!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BAILEY LEONARD: You all right?
MIRES LEONARD: I`m good. I can`t believe this is happening. I`m so glad to see you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: It`s so great. Just amazing to see that. And I told you, you wouldn`t be able to look away. That`s why that was our number one tonight.
Well, as we move on, Tyler Perry is a Hollywood powerhouse. TV shows, movies, plays. His empire is growing. So could his Midas touch become just the thing for his good friend Oprah Winfrey`s floundering network? We`ve got good news about Tyler and O, just ahead.
This is "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on HLN.
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SETH MACFARLANE, CREATOR, FAMILY GUY: I`m very happy to be here as myself, Seth Macfarlane, even though the voices did kind of get me where I am tonight. All right. You`re doing good, doing good, you are very likable so far, keep it up. Do not look at the lady in a front row with the big knockers.
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HAMMER: That`s the very creator of "Family Guy," Seth Macfarlane. That is one of his hosting "Saturday Night Live" just a couple of weeks back. Seth just got tapped to host Hollywood`s biggest night, the academy awards. So is this just a taste of what we will see come Oscar night?
Well, Seth Macfarlane is not the only movie director making a big buzz today with his big hosting duties for the Oscars telecast. Director Tyler Perry is also taking on a new role and reuniting with his good friend Oprah Winfrey. That story tops the buzz today.
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HAMMER: Tyler`s own deal. Tyler Perry just struck an exclusive deal with Oprah Winfrey`s own network. The television producer behind sitcoms like house of pain will now exclusively write for own, helping the cable network transition to scripted series with two shows set to premier in mid 2013. Own has own broadcast unscripted series until now. The collaboration with Perry is the network`s biggest programming change since its 2011 launch.
Oprah, who is close friends with Perry tells "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" we are all energized by the opportunity to collaborate with Tyler who has a proven track record of producing highly successful cable series. He has an incredible ability to illuminate life stories and characters in his unique voice, and inspires and encourages people all over the world.
Seth thanks the academy. Seth Macfarlane will make his first appearance on the Oscar stage as the host of the 85th academy awards. The academy made the announcement Monday, just weeks after "the Family Guy" creator hosted "Saturday Night Live`s" season premier.
Macfarlane also announced the new hosting gig to his twitter followers with a spoof featuring his dad.
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HAMMER: So here is what you didn`t see when Seth told his dad about hosting the Oscars.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyway, listen, I brought you these bathing suits. And I want you to have them. They don`t fit me anymore, obviously.
MCFARLANE: I don`t really need bathing suit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Listen. They are beautiful bathing suit. They were barely used.
MCFARLANE: I don`t - I`m not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take them. Take them. I wore it only once and I had underwear underneath there. So, nothing of an importance have attached to mess.
MCFARLANE: I have invited you here today to tell you I`m hosting the Oscars. This would be huge news to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, just wonderful news. But also the fact that you are getting almost brand new bathing suits is also good news. And I think that thank you is an order --
MCFARLANE: Fine. Fine. Fine. Thank you. Thank you for this. Wow. Three new bathing suit were kind a new. This - I will issue a press release.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me those.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I want to give there to Billy Crystal. Just Brilliant.
With me now from Hollywood Ken Baker, the chief mews correspondent for E! Henxu (ph) novels called "Fan girl," and it is out today.
Ken, you and I are at the Oscar every year, watching what goes on behind the scenes as they get ready for the show. I think this is going to be such a cool thing and bring such a great vibe to the Oscars this year. Do you think that Seth can do for the Oscars what Ricky Gervais did for the golden globes?
KEN BAKER, CHIEF NEWS CORRESPONDENT, E!: I think he totally can. In fact, I know he can. I went to the comedy central roast of Charlie Sheen last year, and guess who hosted that? Seth Macfarlane. And he was awesome. He was so funny. There were all these comedians that they had up on the stage. But Seth was the funniest. And he does a really good job because he also has that baritone voice, and he can kind of very much control the ceremony and bring some dignity to it when it needs to be done. But at the same time, he is very funny. He is very alternative in his humor. But he just basically does know how to make people laugh. And I think that`s what people are looking for out of the show. They really need it. I mean, when you look at how far they have come now, a couple years ago we had James Franco and Anne Hathaway. That did not go very well.
HAMMER: No.
BAKER: This is much better.
HAMMER: It will be a great shot in the arm for them.
All right, Ken. Thank you so much. And by the way, good luck with your new novel "Fan Girl" and I must offer, congratulations. As soon as I saw this news, I thought it was so cool. Elijah Wood in the starring role- playing you in "Late Bloomer."
I mean, I can`t -- your head must have exploded when you got that news. The film, of course, is based on your memoirs. Congratulations on that.
BAKER: Thank you. I suggested you for the lead role. But they passed.
HAMMER: I`ll give you five bucks the next time I see you.
As we move on tonight, you could call it the house that Jay-Z built. As Jay-Z celebrates the opening of the Barclay center with eight sold-out concerts, you have got to see this amazing video of how the Barclay center grew in Brooklyn.
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HAMMER: Jay-Z has paid homage to stomping grounds in Brooklyn with so many hits like "empire state of mind." Well, now his ultimate tribute stand all in the heart of BK. It`s the new Barclay center where the new Brooklyn nets will play.
Tonight we`re taking a look at how the arena was built from the ground up. This is an awe-inspiring video that is trending big tonight. It took more than two years to build the stadium, but there is this time lapse video that has everyone talking tonight where we get to see construction completed in just two minutes. Let`s watch.
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HAMMER: And that is it for "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Thanks for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer. HLN continues right now.
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