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6 minute read
Eric Dodds; Nate Rawlings; Nick Carbone; Courtney Subramanian; Lily Rothman

EMMYS EDITION

GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK

Modern Family

Won Outstanding Comedy for the fourth year in a row

The Amazing Race

Lost Outstanding Reality-Competition to The Voice–a rare defeat

MOVIES

Tupac Lives!

The biopic, that is. Tupac, about the rapper who was gunned down in 1996, just got the go-ahead from Morgan Creek Productions and Emmett/Furla Films after four years of hurdles. But the staunch West Coaster might not have been happy that filming starts next year–in Atlanta.

TRAINSPOTTED

The days when passenger trains were the most efficient way to cross the U.S. are gone–but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other reasons to ride the rails. That’s what artist Doug Aitken showed with his project Station to Station: A Nomadic Happening. He recruited artists, musicians and artisans to board a custom-outfitted train and make art at stops along the way, with proceeds from the events going to support museums around the country. The train reached its destination, San Francisco, on Sept. 28.

1. The train’s Cedar Rapids lounge car is more than 60 years old.

2. A “nomadic sculpture” by Kenneth Anger, on view at St. Paul Union Depot.

3. Thurston Moore performs at the Chicago stop.

4. When the train moves, so does the ink ball in Olafur Eliasson’s kinetic drawing machine, recording the trip’s bumps and lurches.

VERBATIM

‘I was an adult when I was supposed to be a kid. So now I’m an adult and I’m acting like a kid.’

MILEY CYRUS, talking to Harper’s Bazaar, on her recent controversial performances

QUICK TALK

Simon Cowell

He’s been judging televised talent competitions for more than a decade, but Cowell, who turns 54 on Oct. 7, is still coming up with ways to tell people they can’t sing. With the third season of the U.S. version of The X Factor under way and a much-buzzed-about baby due soon, he talks to Time.

–LILY ROTHMAN

The X Factor is one of three major singing-competition shows that are airing this season. Are there too many?

There are. And the problem is, a lot of producers work on one show, then they get poached and they go on another show to add elements of what they did before. So suddenly everything looks the same.

How are you changing X Factor to stand out? [The premiere’s ratings were down 20% vs. last season’s.]

Every show has what we normally call a boot camp or a Vegas week or whatever [to weed out contestants en masse]. We decided to try something different, from a Holland version of our show. We cut the 200 who make it through down to 10 in each category–boys, girls, over-25s, groups–and have them compete for four chairs. We did it in front of 3,500 people. It was like a Roman coliseum.

How has your judging changed since American Idol?

I find the bad auditions funnier. When they’re literally tone-deaf and they think they’re going to be the next Mariah Carey, I shouldn’t laugh, but it cracks me up.

You’re going to be a dad soon. What will you do if the kid can sing?

If he’s good, he can do whatever he wants.

What’s the worst dad advice you’ve gotten?

To change nappies. I couldn’t.

No diapers ever?

Forget it. But I’ll teach him how to drive a racing car when he’s the right age.

What’s on Simon’s pop-culture radar?

“Watching Miley Cyrus develop into an artist at the moment is interesting. I think she’s very smart. This girl’s got real steel in her eyes. She knows what she’s doing.”

ART DIRECTOR

Wes Anderson’s movies–from Bottle Rocket to Moonrise Kingdom–take place in an intricate world of the filmmaker’s imagination where every object and landscape is worthy of attention. The Wes Anderson Collection, by Matt Zoller Seitz (available Oct. 8), is a survey of Anderson’s work and contains previously unpublished art, photos and other material that exemplify his trademark style and attention to detail.

FALLEN RECORD

$800 million

First-day sales of Grand Theft Auto V, breaking the record set by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 in November 2012. Gamers snapped up about 12 million copies of the latest GTA installment in only 24 hours

FIVE STEPS

How to Cure Your Breaking Bad Withdrawal

The Emmy Award–winning AMC drama, whose popularity exploded this summer, is officially over as of Sept. 29. But there are plenty of ways die-hard fans–and even casual viewers–can fill the void.

1 BUY SOME BLUE ROCK CANDY

How better to counteract the emotionally draining finale than by jumping into a sugar high, courtesy of Heisenberg’s signature “blue meth.” This is easy for anyone who was at the Sept. 24 taping of Conan, when the cast of Breaking Bad was handing out bags of the stuff to the audience.

2 DRINK A HEISENBREW

An Albuquerque-based brewery debuted Heisenberg’s Dark, an India Black Ale, in time for the series’ final eight episodes. Sounds like the perfect thing to wash down that blue rock candy with–as long as you’re of age.

3 READ UP ON REAL-LIFE BADDIES

Life has had a way of imitating art with Breaking Bad: Check out the other Walter White, who was arrested in 2008 for trafficking methamphetamine, or the Texas chemistry teacher who was investigated for selling meth in 2012.

4 REVISIT BRYAN CRANSTON’S EARLIER WORK

Did you know that the three-time Emmy winner starred in a Preparation H ad in the early 1980s? And if that doesn’t do it for you, there’s always Aaron Paul’s 1999 shill for Corn Pops.

5 START COUNTING DOWN TO BETTER CALL SAUL

There’s at least one character from the Breaking Bad universe you won’t have to miss for very long: sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). AMC has announced a spinoff is in the works for Walter White’s attorney.

OREOS

COOKIES N’ CREME

TREATS

A Mega Mouthful

Oreo flavors range from gingerbread to watermelon, but the newest addition, Cookies n’ Creme ice cream filling, may be trying too hard. The ultimate mega snack could easily be confused with a Double Stuf Oreo, which we haven’t forgotten isn’t actually double-stuffed.

3 THINGS YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS WEEK

1. Selena Gomez going Gaga in Russia.

The actor-singer was denied a visa to perform, possibly because of fears she would speak out on gay rights.

2. Fifty Shades of everything being so last year.

Author E.L. James has lent her name to a line of Fifty Shades wines, meant to be paired with her racy novels.

3. Jon Gosselin’s star rising again.

The divorced reality-show father of eight is waiting tables and living in a cabin in rural Pennsylvania.

FOR MARY POLS’ REVIEW OF DON JON AND TIME’S COMPLETE FILM COVERAGE, VISIT time.com/movies

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