The Safe House @ VartanHo.com

MV at Katrina Relief Benefit
Michael attended a Hurricane Katrina relief benefit on September 26, and we've posted a couple of pictures. Two of Michael's friends, Hank Azaria and Ben Stiller, were among the hosts of the event. You can read some info about it here. Michael clearly was taking advantage of the fact that he wasn't having to shave for "Alias"!

Ice, ice baby
Perri sent along some more of her photos of Michael from the Stars With Sticks hockey game. They're in the last two rows. Thanks, Perri!

MV birthday project
The folks at Vartanfan are partnering with the Pediatric Epilepsy Project for a fundraiser for Michael's birthday. You can read all about it here. Our birthday project for Michael this year won't involve fundraising, since we just finished the big ad/CFF fundraising project, so we heartily encourage you to donate to PEP. We know Michael will appreciate it because of his personal connection to the charity through Greg Grunberg's son.

I'm off to the county fair today. Mmmmm, candy apples!

Saturday, October 1, 2005

Update by: Souris, Vartan Ho #4

No return for Vaughn set
This is a pretty long update, so get comfortable! According to Kristin at EOnline, ABC is now trying to get Michael back for a 1-to-3-episode guest spot, but he hasn't agreed to a deal yet. Gee, do you think that maybe now they realize they made a big mistake in firing him? And it shows there was no original plan to bring him back, just a lot of stringing the fans along. Personally, I hope he's far too busy to take them up on their majorly underwhelming offer.

The Hollywood Reporter for non-Americans
We've added information to the ad page on how you can order a copy if you live outside of the U.S. For those of you getting a copy, we're told the ad is on page 11, so you'll know exactly where to turn. We're still waiting on our copies, too!

Growing Ho-dom
Recent events seem to have caused a surge in Ho List signups, with about 50 new members in the past few days. A big Ho welcome goes out to Joanne, new Vartan Ho #3950. You can see the new entries here and here.

Michael on the Phone
We've added the results of our September Caption Contest! The captions were really creative and clever this time. Thanks for participating and congrats to Jess for winning! You can try your hand at the new pic now.

All hail the Fox! (Not Mulder this time)
I think it would be great if Michael's fans wrote to Fox and "Kitchen Confidential" thanking them for casting Michael in an episode and telling them how much we're looking forward to it. The ratings for "Kitchen Confidential" are pretty bad, and I think it might help ensure that the show sticks around long enough for Michael's ep to air if they saw how loyal his fans are. Here are some addresses:

Kitchen Confidential
Darren Star Productions
427 N. Canon Dr., Ste.105
Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Kitchen Confidential
P.O. Box 900
Attn: FOX BROADCASTING Publicity Dept.
Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900

(Name of Person)
(Job Title)
FOX Broadcasting Co.
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA 90213

These are some Fox executives that you can write to in care of the third address:

Peter Liguori -- President, Entertainment
Kristen Graham -- Vice President, Talent Relations
Chris Carlisle -- Executive Vice President, Marketing
Marcia Shulman -- Executive Vice President, Casting
Bob Huber -- Senior Vice President, Casting

I'd like to apologize that the October calendar page isn't done yet despite the fact that today is October 1. I've been working on the ad for the past few weeks, and I haven't gotten the calendar done. I'm very sorry, and I hope to start work on it shortly!

Friday, September 30, 2005

Update by: Mel TM, Vartan Ho #13

Update: Michael's next project
Well, at least we don't have to wait long to see what Michael will be doing next. According to Variety, Michael will be a guest star on an episode of "Kitchen Confidential" on Fox, Bradley Cooper's new sitcom. He will play a French chef. No word yet on when the episode will air, but we'll be sure to let you know! "Kitchen Confidential" hasn't been doing well in the ratings, so maybe this will give it a little boost. That would really be nice. (And as an aside, this is compelling evidence against any theory that it was somehow Michael's decision to leave "Alias" -- actors are pretty much always forbidden from appearing on another TV show if they break their contract with a show.) Thanks to all who sent this news to us! It was a good way to wake up.

It's Michael appreciation day!
Today is the day our ad in celebration of Michael appears in the Hollywood Reporter. We're really excited about the way it turned out, and we hope you are too. Our goal was to show some of the many things we appreciate about Michael and thank him for the enjoyment he has given us through his work and his commitment to furthering good causes.

We want to give a huge, heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported and especially contributed to the ad, because obviously you are the reason this was possible in the first place. We also want to thank Marcus Edwardes and Stuart McDougal for allowing us to use the great images from the Freeze the Disease hockey games in the ad.

And now, without further ado, you can see the ad right here. This page also contains information about how to order a copy of this issue of the Hollywood Reporter, as well as the final totals for donations and how much money we were able to send to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on Michael's behalf. Thank you so much, everybody!

MiL when you want it
Cherie, Vartan Ho #2235, let us know that according to the DIRECTV website, "Monster-in-Law" will begin airing on Pay-Per-View on October 13. Thanks Cherie!

I'm going to refrain from giving my thoughts on last night's "Alias" episode because I want to focus on the positive today, and the only thing positive I have to say is this: Kudos to Michael on making the best of what he had to work with in this episode and giving a fine final performance. I know none of us can wait to see what he does next.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Update by: Mel TM, Vartan Ho #13

"Total Access" recap
From Musicat: Michael did appear on "NFL Total Access" last night around 7:15 p.m. Central time (it looks like the celebs are appearing in the last half hour of the 90-minute segment). He didn't plug any projects, unlike most of the other guests (hmm). And here's Musicat's account of what happened: "Michael was adorable as usual complaining about his players in his usual witty way, e.g., his running backs are just that -- they run backward. The host also played a voicemail Michael left him after his loss last week which was cute and embarrassed Michael (in a good way). One of his players wrote and delivered a haiku on tape about the Wizard Sleeves and their losing streak. (At least Michael's players are bright!) The whole thing was fun." Thanks for the details, Musicat!

Big alert! Michael on UK TV
We received this e-mail today from Jackie Collins' publicity director: "Last week at her home in Los Angeles International bestselling novelist Jackie Collins recorded an exclusive interview with her friend Michael Vartan for 'This Morning' on UK TV - The interview will air w/c 3rd October 2005, for transmission details please see: itv-thismorning.co.uk."

That's exciting news! Judging from the blurb on the Web site, I'm not sure if Michael's segment with Jackie will air on Oct. 3, or if that's just the day when her series of interviews with various celebrities will start. If any of our visitors from Britain could record the program and get it to us to share with everyone, we and the entire Ho nation would be eternally grateful!

Poll-stuffing time
Today's poll at TV Guide asks if you'll still watch Alias if they kill off Vaughn. You know what to do. ;-)

"Alias" premiere tonight. Watch at your own peril. I can't wait to see the ad in print tomorrow, and I hope you all are pleased with it!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Update by: Lugia, Vartan Ho #8

MV on "NFL Total Access" tonight
We've got some additional information from Musicat regarding tonight's show: "Wednesday night is the usual time they catch up on the Fantasy Football league. They have one of the [team] owners stop in and joke around, plug their stuff, and go over the weekend's action and current standings. [...] In my area (Chicago), I've found the Fantasy Football [segment] coming on sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 1:15 a.m. They do promote it as 1:30 a.m. (verbally on the air as they go through the evening), so I think they do all their announcements on Eastern time."

When you look up the schedule on their Web site or in cable guides, you'll notice lots of repeating times for "NFL Total Access." But as Musicat let us know further, the problem is that NFL Network lists most of their programming as just "NFL Total Access." They aren't always clear about which segments they're going to show. It could be a repeat, or a discussion round, or their catch up on the Fantasy Football league. So it's probably recommended to check into it all night to see when Michael comes on, although that's obviously very frustrating. Thanks for the warning, Musicat!

For what it's worth, their "NFL Total Access" page lists the weekly schedule as follows:

7 p.m. ET/PT, Monday through Saturday
10 p.m. ET/PT repeat, Monday through Saturday
Additional re-airs of the 7 p.m. show each following morning (Tuesday through Friday), each hour, from 4 a.m. to noon.

Wednesday and Friday shows will be 90 minutes, while Tuesday and Saturday are 60-minute shows.

Speaking of fantasy football, Michael's team isn't doing very well at all. I bet he'd do better at fantasy hockey!

May the luck be with you!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Update by: Souris, Vartan Ho #4

"Total Access" to Michael
Pam wrote to let us know that Michael is supposed to be on "NFL Total Access" on Wednesday (tomorrow!) to discuss the Hollywood fantasy-football league. It airs on the NFL Network, and you can check out their schedule here. They say those are Eastern times, but those of you who are lucky enough to get this channel (not me, alas) might want to double-check that because of the previous confusion about the airing of the fantasy-football draft. Thank you so much for the heads-up, Pam!

Ad update
We wanted to let you know that we have paid for the ad that will run Friday and it's been sent to The Hollywood Reporter. We'll put up an image of the ad on Friday, as well as provide the accounting information and information on how you can order a copy from them if you want one.

Tonight is "The Amazing Race" premiere! Whee! I'm a little skeptical of the whole "family edition" concept, but I'm excited to have it back nonetheless. And then tomorrow we find out who was at the door on "Veronica Mars"! Good times.

Monday, September 26, 2005

Update by: Lugia, Vartan Ho #8

Watching The Wizard Sleeves
Remember the "NFL Total Access Hollywood Fantasy Football Draft" show after Labor Day? The one that aired later than expected? We were unable to post a clip because we don't get NFL Network, but Debbie sent us a recording of the program, so now we can! Yay! Thanks so much, Debbie!

The MV excerpts include some nice interviews and goofing around with a football. The stars are putting together their fantasy teams there and Michael's called "The Wizard Sleeves." To see how they're currently doing, check NFL.com.

Have a sporty Monday!

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