With running costs of $1,000 per day, Fred Hurt and his crew at Porcupine Creek will only start turning a profit once they extract at least 50 ounces of gold from the mine.
That may not sound like a lot, but it's worth a whopping $80,000 and, as "Gold Rush: Alaska" (Fri., 9 p.m. EST on Discovery) showed, to mine even that much takes months of hard work.
At reckoning time, a tense Fred sat contemplating his pot of gold and admitted that he didn't know if he'd hit the 50-ounce mark or not. "I've not weighed all this gold ever. I've weighed it separately occasionally, but ... I don't know if this is gonna work or not."
As Fred poured the gold onto the weighing scales the other miners fidgeted nervously. They hit 49 ounces, but the pot was looking empty. Would they make it to 50 ounces?
Finally, a whoop of delight from Fred -- the gold weighed in at 50.7 ounces. They were now making a profit!
"Gold Rush Alaska" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. EST on Discovery.
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'Luck': Ace Reveals How He Wound Up In Prison
When Chester "Ace" Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) first walked onto the screen in "Luck" (Sun., 9 p.m. EST on HBO), he was coming out from a three-year stretch in prison. This week, he opened up to his long-time driver Gus about the circumstances behind it. It appeared to be more exposition for the viewer, but Gus (Dennis Farina) had some pointed opinions of his own regarding what went down.
As it turns out, Ace went to prison because he refused the nearly impossible situation the Feds put him in. After his grandson was caught with six kilos of cocaine in Ace's co-op, the kid was picked up and Ace was given a choice. Either roll over on his partner Michael, who had stashed the coke there in the first place, or see his grandson go to prison for the drugs.
As Ace described the boy at the time, "You couldn't send him out to find six pounds of dog food the shape he was in four years ago." So he opted for a third choice. He took the fall for the drugs and did the time himself.
When Gus asked him what Michael would have done had their roles been reversed, Ace knew his old partner would have turned on him in a heartbeat. "I never ratted out anybody in my whole f*****g life, and I wouldn't do it even with that c********r," Ace said vehemently. It's a code.
The heart-to-hearts between Ace and Gus seem to be the emotional core of the show thus far, as is their unlikely friendship and loyalty to one another. With "Luck" already picked up for a second season by HBO, it will be interesting to see if that bond gets tested, or if they take on the world of horse racing side by side.
Find out as "Luck" continues Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.
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Is Steven Tyler Hitting On Carrie Underwood?
Legendary rock singer Steven Tyler got together with country superstar Carrie Underwood for a special joint event as part of the "CMT Crossroads" (Sat., 11 p.m. EST on CMT) concert series. It was a unique meeting of two artists with very different styles, and one very different connection.
As a judge on "American Idol" for the past two seasons, Steven Tyler wasn't on hand for Carrie Underwood's meteoric rise from small town unknown to worldwide superstar during the fourth season of television's number one show. But he can certainly appreciate the talented artist she's grown into, and he can clearly see what a beauty she is as well.
The 63-year old Aerosmith frontman has turned some heads quizzically at some of the comments he's made about some of the younger female contestants on "Idol." This season, he even referenced how hot a teenage contestant was in front of her father. The 28-year old Underwood may not be a kid anymore, but she can still look uncomfortable when Tyler was throwing a compliment her way.
She described herself as shy in a backstage interview with Tyler after he said, "Looking sexy is a mindset." For Underwood, being on stage gives her a temporary self-confidence. "You can be whatever you want to be, and be a little unpredictable. I think that confidence ... that's sexy."
Tyler agreed, adding with a touch on her arm, "I don't know how you can sing half the songs you do and not look sexy, anyway, because ... look who you are, girl. Come on."
Was this just a pep talk like a father would give a daughter, or was Tyler flirting with Underwood?
Steven Tyler can be seen on "American Idol," Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. EST on Fox. "CMT Crossroads" is an occasional series that pairs unexpected artists from a wide variety of musical genres.
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Pat McCarthy Makes It Rain Money On 'Shark Tank'
Pat McCarthy had the perfect pitch for the sharks circling in the "Shark Tank" (Fri., 8 p.m. EST on ABC). As part of his attempt to get some financial backing for his Money fragrance, he came in under a shower of cold hard cash -- well not hard per se as it was bills and not change.
The sharks were certainly impressed with that presentation, and were even willing to witness the wonderful smell of money. They have emotional attachments to money and love the smell of it. But did they love the smell of his Money fragrance?
Barbara Corcoran seemed to think the smell too overpowering, but mostly they were concerned about the competitive perfume market. The cost of penetration into the big department stores they calculated at more than a million, and they weren't confident this product could get there.
Daymond John liked the idea of licensing the name and put an aggressive offer of $100,000 for an 80% stake in the company. But it was the only offer McCarthy would see, as the other Sharks all backed out. In the end, McCarthy couldn't part with control of the company and so he walked away with nothing. Money talks, but control talked louder for McCarthy.
See which products are spotlighted next on "Shark Tank," Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.
Nick Cannon: 'I Used To Be A Fast-Food Junkie,' Now Completely Healthy
INDIANAPOLIS — What do you do after recovering from a serious illness? If you're Nick Cannon, you celebrate by attending the Super Bowl.
The entertainer was hospitalized last month after suffering from a form of mild kidney failure, but he says he is now fully healed.
"This is a great place to get back and debut the healthy Nick," he said on Sunday during a break as the host of NBC's pre-show. "Everybody's out here having a good time, and you know people were worried like, `Is he going to be able to do the Super Bowl pre-show?' But I am 100 percent feeling good right now."
Cannon attributes his improved health to a change in diet, but says he does not eat the same food as wife Mariah Carey, who recently lost weight after giving birth to their twins Moroccan and Monroe.
"I used to be a fast-food junkie," Cannon explained. "She gets to have higher protein, which isn't fair because I love my steaks and I can't eat that anymore. Her carbs are lower so we are both on a diet, but it is different."
Cannon, who is a New York Giants fan, attended various events in the days leading up to the Super Bowl.
While his family was not with him, they were not far from his mind. When asked if he'd like to expand his brood one day, he laughed and said: "I would love to have more children. Now my wife on the other hand, I think the twins took a toll on her. She is like, `I ain't doing that again.'"
For all the pomp and excess of Madonna's Super Bowl halftime extravaganza a single extended middle finger by guest singer M.I.A. is likely to be the most remembered piece of the show.
The gesture, accompanied by a barely disguised expletive, came during a performance of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin.'" At the end of her lines, M.I.A. appeared to sing "I don't give a (expletive)," although it was hard to hear clearly.
The incident was reminiscent of Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" eight years ago -- a surprise risque moment in front of tens of millions of unsuspecting viewers. The brief exposure of Jackson's nipple during the 2004 halftime show raised a storm of controversy and put CBS in hot water with the Federal Communications Commission.
The Super Bowl, shown on NBC this year, is routinely viewed by more than 100 million people, the biggest TV event of the year. The screen briefly went blurred after M.I.A.'s gesture in what was a late attempt -- by less than a second -- to cut out the camera shot.
"The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers,"
The NFL blamed a failure in NBC's delay system for allowing the gesture to be seen. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said M.I.A. did not do anything similar during rehearsals and the league had no reason to believe she would pull something like that during the actual show.
"The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans," McCarthy said.
The British singer M.I.A. is best known for her 2007 hit "Paper Planes," a Grammy nominee for record of the year that memorably features a sample of the Clash song, "Straight to Hell." It was featured on the soundtrack to the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."
Madonna had admittedly been nervous about her performance, hoping to position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars with an opulent show and a sharp performance that mixed her new release with more familiar songs. She seemed like Roman royalty when muscle-bound men carried her extravagant throne across the football field to the stage for her opening song, "Vogue."
Guests Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO also appeared with Madonna. The singing and dancing on "Vogue" was smartly choreographed, as Madonna moved more deliberately -- she is 53 -- but still adroitly. She briefly appeared to stumble at one point while trying to make a step on the stage set, but recovered in time.
She let a tightrope walker make the more acrobatic moves during a performance of "Music."
Madonna carried gold pompons for a performance of her new single. Twitter was alight with questions about the vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes, particularly during this song.
The best guest was clearly Cee Lo, who joined Madonna for the final song, "Like a Prayer." They were joined by a robed chorus in the show's most soaring performance. With a puff of white smoke, Madonna disappeared down a trap door in the stage, and lights on the field spelled out "World Peace."
The performance was also carried live on SiriusXM Radio, giving Madonna the biggest single audience of her career. For all the elaborate choreography and flashy effects, the finger incident is the more likely headline from the event.
Earlier, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert offered some pregame patriotism. Shelton and Lambert did a twangy duet on "America the Beautiful" and Clarkson, in a simple black dress, sang "The Star Spangled Banner" without a hitch after last year's performer, Christina Aguilera, flubbed a line.
WARNING: Mature Content: M.I.A. Flashes Middle Finger During Super Bowl Halftime Show:
How Skechers Replaced Kim Kardashian With a Bulldog For Super Bowl
In the world of advertising, sometimes cute trumps sexy.
Racing a pack of greyhounds, the pooch Mr. Quiggly appears in the ad sporting the brand's GOrun sneakers.
The dog not only takes first place, but also manages to moonwalk across the finish line to rapper Tone Loc's hit single, "Wild Thing." Also starring in the ad? Billionaire entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
Fans took to Twitter commenting on this Skechers ad.
For years, viewers have tuned into the NFL's Super Bowl as much to see what the advertisers roll out as how the two teams vying for the sport's top prize perform. This year is no different. Each time that NBC cuts away from Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots a hush will come over most Super Bowl parties as everyone -- and not just the diehard sports fans with a rooting (or betting) interest -- focuses entirely on the ads.
While iconic Super Bowl commercials like Apple's '1984' ad and Coke's 1980 ad starring Mean Joe Greene will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails.
How does this Super Bowl ad stack up?
CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2012 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most memorable from years past.
The Avengers Assemble In 'Avengers' Super Bowl Trailer
If 14 seconds of "The Avengers" Super Bowl trailer wasn't enough to assemble your feelings of expectation and anticipation, perhaps 30 seconds will do the trick! The Super Bowl spot for "The Avengers" has arrived, and features all your favorite stars (including Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, absent from the teaser for the teaser), lots of explosions, and one pretty impressive heroes's shot of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow. No idea who they're fighting or whether this will all come together in the end, but for now: sweet!
Directed by geek icon Joss Whedon, "The Avengers" storms into theaters on May 4. Watch the extended version of the trailer below.
Madonna's Halftime Performance: Star Slips, Stuns
Love her or hate her, there's no doubt that only Madonna can bring a certain level of pop flair to a performance.
Madonna's Roman-themed Super Bowl halftime show included a medley of her hits and assistance from her younger counterparts on the pop music scene.
The singer debuted her new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin,'" during a set that also included classic hits "Vogue," "Music," "Express Yourself" and "Like a Prayer."
During "Music," Madonna appeared to slip on the stage, but quickly recovered (see video above).
Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., LMFAO, and Cee Lo Green (and his marching band) joined Madonna for the pop icon's first Super Bowl appearance. M.I.A. flashed the camera her middle finger during "Give Me All Your Luvin,'" a move censors didn't seem to catch.
In the end, Madonna disappeared in a puff of smoke as the words "World Peace" were projected onto the field.
Watch: Madonna's halftime show performance (article continues below):
Before the game, Madge promised a show that would contain "no nipples," a reference to the infamous wardrobe malfunction that took place when Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed at 2004's big game.
Madonna told Anderson Cooper she was extremely nervous about her performance. Last year's Super Bowl drew 111 million viewers, and early estimates expected this year's game would surpass that mark.
Based on the board game -- and produced by Hasbro, the folks behind "Transformers" -- "Battleship" stars your favorite "Friday Night Lights" fullback as a rebellious naval officer thrust into a battle with a bunch of mean extra terrestrials. Liam Neeson and Alexander Skarsgard co-star, but what you really care about is Rihanna. Er, the massive explosions, epic scope and seemingly awesome special effects.
Peter Berg, doing his best Michael Bay impression, directs. "Battleship" hits theaters on May 18. Add your own "Battleship"-related joke in the comments below.
What To Watch On TV This Week
This week is full of big premieres, major milestones and some Valentine's Day love.
NBC's "Smash" and ABC's "The River" both premiere, and AMC's "The Walking Dead" returns, followed by their new series from Kevin Smith, "Comic Book Men." For Valentine's Day, there are plenty of big guest stars popping up on our favorite comedies. The handsome James Wolk is playing Max's (Adam Pally) ex on "Happy Endings," and Mary Steenburgen joins recurring guest star James Marsden on "30 Rock."
What should you be watching? Check out the slideshow for the full rundown of what to tune into this week.
Watch The Super Bowl Trailer For 'John Carter'
Whether "John Carter" ends up being the start of the next big Disney franchise, or a washout along the lines of "Sucker Punch" remains to be seen, but at least the trailers are fun.
The latest marketing for "Carter" arrived during Super Bowl XLVI in the most manly way possible: with Tim Riggins Taylor Kitsch swinging a boulder and a remix of Led Zepplin's "Kashmir" blasting on the soundtrack. If you can get past the silly way co-star Lynn Collins says "John Carter," this one has the potential to be pretty cool. After all, it looks like a mix of "Star Wars" and "Avatar"; might as well steal sci-fi tropes from two of the best!
Out in theaters on March 9, "John Carter" stars Kitsch, Collins and Willem Dafoe. Watch the Super Bowl spot above.
Ricky Gervais: Fame Used To Be Mixed With Respect
On Sunday, 19 February, HBO will start airing my third sitcom. It's called Life's Too Short. It's a return to the fake documentary format like The Office. But if The Office reflected those quaint docu-soaps of the 90s that followed ordinary people having their 15 minutes, Life's Too Short reflects the more modern age -- desperate, fame-hungry monsters who will do anything just to be on the telly.
You know, so-called role models living their lives like open wounds to accumulate column inches, so they can then get some ghost-writer to spread those inches over several "autobiographies" to cash in on their infidelity, drug abuse, life of crime and personal tragedy. You can't help but think many should have called a doctor before they called a publicist.
I've always been fascinated by the subject of fame. Probably because I've never really understood it. Or rather, I've never really understood why people would put fame above all else. And it seems to be getting worse. A recent university survey asked a sample of 10-year-olds what they wanted to be when they grew up. They answered "famous." Just famous.
I guess I always wanted to be eminent. That's the old word for fame, by the way. Being known for something. Being known for being good at something. Maybe even the best at something. "Fame" used to be fused with "respect" in some ways. That's what distinguished it from infamy. But not any more.
I never tried to be famous. I was never shy and I never minded being the center of attention, but not at any cost. I didn't want to be the center of attention for being the loud drunk at a party (the Golden Globes doesn't count) or the bloke fighting over the pool table, or the kid who would eat slugs for a dare.
I was willing to be the center of attention in a small group of friends for saying something funny. Even interesting. I wanted to be the funniest person in the room, not the most famous. I never knew I was honing a skill that would eventually transcend sociability to become a lucrative career. In fact, I never really thought about even having a career.
I used to be the laziest, least ambitious person I knew. Well, lazy in terms of work. Career success, if you will. I had artistic ambition, I guess, but being a working-class Brit I believed it was better to never try than to try, and run the risk of failing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the president of the United States. British kids are told, "Don't be stupid. It won't happen for you."
I suppose I was cursed with some early success. I was smart. The smartest kid in my class. Then the smartest kid in the next class and so on. I actually used to pride myself on the fact that I didn't have to even try to pass exams. This is my greatest regret. It's a disgusting attitude and potentially a waste of a life. Writing and directing The Office was the first thing I ever tried my hardest at. The reward was revelatory.
At 40 I was addicted. Not to success. I was addicted to trying my hardest. That's the reward in itself. It's what life's about. The struggle. It's the only way you can be proud. You can't be proud of luck.
Born clever? So what? What are you going to do with it? Your best, I hope, and no less.
I started late, sure. But it really is never too late. Now I seize the day. And I love that day much, much more. I'm a workaholic. But as Winston Churchill said, "If you find a job you really love, you'll never work again." Well, I feel like I'm working, but that's the bit I like. I'm not proud of earning a million times what a nurse earns. I can only be proud of working as hard. And even then I feel guilty about loving the hard work. My only hope is that nurses love their work too.
Then I'm just paid too much. That's another reason why I try my hardest now. It's the least I can do. Sometimes I think I'm doing too much. (Sometimes critics think I'm doing too much.) But I can't help it. I'm an addict. I'll tell you more about that in my third autobiography.
Kelly Clarkson's National Anthem Performance: No Errors
Well before Kelly Clarkson stepped onto the field at the Super Bowl, bets were already being made as to whether or not the singer would make any mistakes.
Those betting against Clarkson will surely be disappointed, but the rest of those watching the game were treated to an error-free performance which TV commentators immediately praised as "rousing."
The first "American Idol" winner sang the anthem a week after rock icon Steven Tyler was widely panned for his performance at the AFC championship game (Tyler later defended his performance).
At last year's Super Bowl, Christina Aguilera omitted some words in her rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
Other stars who have performed the anthem at the Big Game include Carrie Underwood, Whitney Huston, Billy Joel and Neil Diamond.
Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert preceded Clarkson with a rendition of "America the Beautiful." Madonna, Nicki Minaj and more celebrities are slated to perform at this year's halftime show.
CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, Blake Shelton's name was misspelled. We apologize for the error.
Weekend Roundup: Celebrities At The Super Bowl; 'Glee' Star Busted; Britney's Ex Speaks
Are you ready for some football? While the Super Bowl dominated the headlines, a lot happened off the field this weekend as well. From celebrities getting in on some football action of their own to a "Glee" star's cop encounter, check out the top headlines from the weekend:
Before the New York Giants and New England Patriots suited up, celebrities including Matt Bomer, Chace Crawford and David Arquette hit their own playing field for the 6th annual DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl.
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