Damon Salvatore is the Sexiest Beast in New Poll

Former Lost star Ian Somerhalder's vampire character in The Vampire Diaries has beaten Twilight's Edward Cullen to be crowned America's Sexiest Beast.

The actor's Damon Salvatore finished just ahead of Robert Pattinson's movie bloodsucker in Entertainment Weekly magazine's new poll of favorite TV movie monsters.

Cullen beat Cameron from The Sarah Connor Chronicles, played by Summer Glau, and Salvatore beat Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to make it to the final vote.

Morena Baccarin's V character Anna, Taylor Lautner's Jacob Black, Halle Berry's Storm and Alexander Skarsgard's True Blood character Eric Northman all made the quarterfinals.

LOST: Season Finale Recap & Spoilers!

The 2.5-hour Lost series finale aired on Sunday night after six seasons and some 120 episodes later. It was one hell of a ride — especially the final five minutes!

WARNING: If you have DVRed the show, and have not yet watched it, then I suggest you stop reading right now!

- Jack becomes the new Jacob and protector of the island, the antagonist to the “Man in Black” / Smoke Monster in John Locke’s body
- Jack and “John Locke” go to the heart of the island / tunnel of light with Desmond - bc he is a weapon to the island’s magnetic existence. Desmond drains the light/heart of the island…and the island starts to sink.
- In order to make that parallel universe happen, Jack believes he must kill John Locke and save the island.
- Jack and John Locke have a showdown on the rock cliffs. As John Locke stabs Jack and is about to kill him, Kate shoots and kills him, and Jack kicks his body into the ocean.

In the Flash Sideways:

- Desmond is reuniting all the characters and is helping them remember their time on the island.
- Ben Linus is Alex’s teacher and mentor. Alex invites him to dinner where he shares a romantic connection with Alex’s mom, Danielle Rousseau.
- Desmond works for Charles Whitmore, and connects with Penny through the charity concert the Whitmores are planning.
- Hurley and Libby reconnect through Desmond, and Hurley begins to help Desmond reconnect everyone.
- Hurley and Boone help push Sayid and Shannon back together. Sayid and Shannon remember.
- Daniel Faraday connects with Charlotte at the charity concert event.
- Kate helps deliver Claire’s baby, Aaron - backstage at the Driveshaft / Daniel Faraday concert. They both remember.
- Charlie and Claire come together backstage. Charlie remembers.
- Jack and Juliet are both doctors in the same hospital, used to be married, and had a son together.
- Jin and Sun are pregnant. Juliet is their doctor. As Jin and Sun look at the sonogram, they both remember.
- Jack gives John Locke spinal surgery, it works, and Locke remembers.
- Sawyer and Juliet meet in the hospital. They both remember and reconnect in mutual tears of happiness.
- Jack goes to the charity party and runs into Kate. She looks familiar to him, but he only slightly remembers when Kate touches his face.

Back to the island:

- Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Richard Alpert, and Pilot Lapidus leave the island on the plane.
- Jack, Hurley, Desmond, and Ben Linus go back to the tunnel of light. Jack gives Hurley the responsibility of being protector of the island. Jack puts back the magnetic stone while Desmond is pulled out. Hurley asks Ben Linus to be his helper on the island.

Back to the Flash Sideways:

- All of the islanders meet back up at the church where Jack was supposed to have his father’s funeral.
Just outside the church, John Locke forgives Ben.
- Jack goes inside the church and remembers everything about the island when he touches his father’s coffin.
- When Jack opens the coffin, it is empty.
- His father is standing behind him. Jack figures out that he must’ve died himself. Jack’s father says everyone eventually dies “at some point, at some time”.
- All the characters “move on” to what seems to be heaven all together because they needed each other.
- The episode ends with Jack dying of the knife wound in the bamboo forest on the island. He is joined by Walt’s dog, Vincent and smiles as he watches the plane with Kate, Claire, Sawyer, and the other survivors flying away - and then he dies…at the exact place where the show started.

Lost Producers Tackle Your Burning Questions!

As the brain trust behind Lost, which returned for its sixth and final season on ABC last night, executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse work overtime to keep the show’s secrets secret.

Lindelof and Cuse have already promised to shed light on the Smoke Monster, the Numbers and the Man in Black this season, so Shawna Malcom from People Magazine sat down with the guys for answers to several other burning questions.

What would you say the fans are asking right now that is a complete waste of their time?
Carlton Cuse: “Are we going to answer all the tiny, little, minute questions?” The focus should be, “How are the character stories going to resolve? What is the destiny of these people that were brought to this place?”
Damon Lindelof: We’re going to answer the mysteries that have relevance to the characters that were on Oceanic 815. If it doesn’t have relevance to them, then we’re pretty much going to let it lie there and let people theorize about it. What’s relevant to the characters on Oceanic 815 and what isn’t? That’s what season six is all about.

What about something like what Claire’s psychic said in season one?
DL: The psychic said to Claire, “You have to raise that child yourself. Your child cannot be raised by another.” Now who’s been raising Aaron? Kate. Is what the psychic said relevant to this season? Absolutely, because we’re playing out who’s going to end up being Aaron’s mom: Claire or Kate? But in terms of what made the psychic psychic, we’re not interested in that.

Several actors whose characters were killed off earlier will return for the final season. Why is that important to you?
CC: That’s something that the two of us as viewers and lovers of television really like. It’s fun when you get to see some of your favorite characters come back — like George Clooney [on the end of ER]. We’ve got some fun ways in which a lot of our returning fan favorites will be interacting with our characters in this new incarnation.

Considering Harold Perrineau claimed after his season-four exit that the decision to kill off his character Michael, without reuniting him with son Walt, played into a racial stereotype, should we be surprised he’s back?
DL: He actually recanted a lot of the comments that he made.
CC: For your character to be killed off and the show to go on, it’s a very hard thing. It’s asking a lot of actors to be completely good with that. But I think we’ve moved beyond that initial disappointment to a place where everybody’s like, “I’m gonna be proud to have been a part of [Lost’s] journey, and I’d love to have my fans see me again on the show before it ends.”
DL: Time heals all wounds in a way. We’ve always loved the work that Harold has done and [his] coming back for the final season is really exciting for us.
What about the couple fans loved to hate, Nikki and Paulo? Will they be making guest appearances?
CC: [laughs] Nikki and Paulo will pop up in someone else’s incarnation of Lost downstream.
DL: Nikki and Paulo are mentioned in the final season, though. They get a shout-out.

Will Kate finally choose between Sawyer and Jack?
CC: The romantic quadrangle with Jack, Sawyer, Kate and Juliet will be resolved.
DL: Come on, we can’t give you a spoiler about the end of the entire series! First off, you might be making an improper inference by asking, “Is she gonna CHOOSE between Jack and Sawyer.” What if one of those guys doesn’t want her? Actually, neither Matthew Fox nor Josh Holloway seems to really want to wind up with Kate.
CC: [laughs] I didn’t expect both suitors to think they should go away empty-handed. We feel like we have a really good plan for what happens to Kate, Jack and Sawyer. It’s satisfying to us.
DL: The show and the character have kind of figured it out for themselves — and we’re doing a good job of listening.

Nestor Carbonell has officially been promoted to series regular. So that means we will finally learn more about the age-defying Richard Alpert?
CC: That feels to us to be on the list of fair questions to expect some answers about. He’s got eternal-youth beauty secrets that he needs to share.
DL: You will know how old he is, you will know his origin story and you will understand what his function on the island has been.
CC: As well as his height, weight and whether he’s right or left- handed.

Is there an actor who auditioned for the show whom you didn’t cast that, looking back, you wish you had?
CC: I think we feel lucky we got everybody we did. I don’t think there’s a single actor we regret not being able to get on the show. Maybe Djimon Hounsou.

Was he in the running to play Mr. Eko?
CC: Yeah. We actually like that actor a lot.
DL: But it’s not like we wish he’d played him instead of Adewale [Akinnuoye-Agbaje].
CC: Adewale did a great job in the role.

As this is the final season, is there anything you’re doing differently behind the scenes?
DL: We’ve been uncharacteristically focused this year. Largely due to the fact that [a new season of] Top Chef is not on!
CC: And it’s a little too early to get our American Idol jones going.

Lost: Six Juicy Secrets from the Set!

Details on the sixth and final season of ABC’s Lost — which premieres (finally!) on February 2nd — have been harder to come by than a smooth landing on Oceanic Airlines. Did Juliet succeed in detonating the hydrogen bomb — and blasting the show’s beloved characters to an island-free existence? If Locke is dead, who’s taken over his body? Can Sayid survive his nasty gunshot wound? Will we ever fully understand what’s really going on with this show?

People Magazine found answers to those pressing questions — plus 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42 more — during a visit to the drama’s top-secret set in Oahu, Hawaii.

1. Under Pressure: “I don’t think ‘panic’ is the right word,” says Damon Lindelof of co-writing the highly anticipated premiere with fellow executive producer Carlton Cuse, “but it was like, ‘How do we do this?’” The producers have said that time traveling through the ’70s is history, as are the show’s traditional flashback/flash-forward narrative structures. “We haven’t [told the story] like this before,” Lindelof says. “It’s like, ‘Are we gonna be able to pull it off?’” Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Jin, believes they have. “I knew it would be something inventive because that’s how this show rolls,” he says. “But we’ve definitely increased our scope.” His three words to describe his reaction to the first episode? “Intrigued. Excited. Curious.”

2. All About Character: For all of Lost’s elaborate and feverishly dissected mythology, the series has always been, at its core, a character drama — and that won’t change. “The final season is really when you’re going to learn what these characters’ destinies are,” says Cuse. Expect man of faith Locke (Terry O’Quinn) — or whoever he is now — to prove a central figure, along with man of science Dr. Jack Shephard. “About midway through [the season], Jack will absolutely know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his whole life has brought him to this point in time,” Matthew Fox says of his tortured character, “and that he is meant to do something very, very important.”

3. About That Mythology: SPOILER ALERT! In the two-hour premiere, one of Lost’s biggest mysteries — one that’s been rattling around since the pilot no less — is fleshed out. (Got goosebumps yet?) How about this? “We might be seeing Hurley’s guitar case in some way again,” says Jorge Garcia, who plays the lottery winner. What’s more, one character’s first line of dialogue in the season-opener was actually handed to fans way back in July at Comic-Con. Let the theorizing begin!

4. Sun’s Safe House: Lost quickly earned a reputation for a willingness to kill off main characters, including Boone, Charlie, Mr. Eko, and Michael. This season, it doesn’t take long to realize that more names will be added to the list. Yunjin Kim, who plays subservient wife-turned-revenge-seeker Sun, may be the only one who’s not worried. “Back at the end of season two, I said, ‘I bought a condo [in Hawaii] and if I get killed off, you’re going to have to buy it from me,’” Kim says of a conversation with producers. “Carlton was like, ‘Well, we’re never going kill you off.’ I was joking but it didn’t seem like he was.”

5. Lost Stars Are Still Lost: “No actor has been given the full blueprint of what the ending of the show is,” Cuse says. “And no one’s asked us either.” That doesn’t mean the actors don’t have ideas about their character’s fates. Dae Kim hopes his is integral to the show’s final conflict — whatever it may be — while his onscreen wife hopes Sun doesn’t get her happy ending: “I would be really disappointed if we wound up being a happily married couple,” she says. She’s not the only one who thinks love is overrated. After five seasons of love triangle-ing over Kate (Evangeline Lilly), neither Sawyer or Jack seems sold on winding up with the feisty fugitive. “Jack and Kate have always cared deeply for each other but [their] circumstances may be too much for that relationship to ever really have a chance,” says Fox. Josh Holloway is more blunt: “Sawyer and Kate have a love that is undeniable but maybe it must be denied.”

6. She’s Back: That would be Emilie de Ravin, who returns full-time playing baby Aaron’s (dead?) mama Claire after being M.I.A. in season 5. “I didn’t watch the show at all while I was gone,” she says. She has a good excuse: de Ravin was busy shooting last July’s Public Enemies with Johnny Depp and the upcoming Remember Me with Robert Pattinson. But what can she tell us about Claire’s hiatus? “It’s in a very unexpected scenario,” she says, choosing her words carefully, “and she’s not quite the same.” Does that also apply to Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder), both of whom return for guest shots? Lips are sealed! But one thing is certain: off-screen, Holloway is a changed man. “I have become quite the lightweight [since becoming Dad to daughter Java Kumala last April],” Holloway reports. “Three beers and I’m, like, gone. It’s ridiculous! But it’s wonderful. Just being with the little one — that makes me feel intoxicated.”

Check back for more secrets from the set of Lost as the final season begins!

Behind the Scenes at Josh Holloway’s Sexy Cool Water Ad Shoot

Josh Holloway is venturing into modeling again, stepping in front of the camera for the second time for Davidoff Cool Water cologne for the scent’s newest campaign.

The ads will feature the 40-year-old star looking tanned, buff, brooding and shirtless with the sea as a backdrop — just like his character Sawyer on Lost.

“I am very honored to represent Davidoff Cool Water again for this new campaign. Cool Water represents power, masculinity and freshness. That’s what the ocean is to me. The power of Cool is back!” says Holloway in a statement.
The Hawaii resident and extreme-sports fan continues, “I love Cool Water because it is simple, powerful and timeless. To me, the Cool Water man is not someone who is trying to be cool, he is someone who is comfortable with his masculinity.”

The campaign was shot by famed fashion photographer Mikael Jansson on the luscious beaches of Hawaii, with the ads breaking this week.

Top 10 TV Series of the Decade

Every decade has its landmark TV shows, and there will or should never be complete agreement on which 10 series belong at the top of the list.

For purposes of this list, a TV show is eligible only if it premiered in or after 1999. In addition, TV shows were judged on their artistic merit and overall contribution to the medium, not on their ratings or profit margins.

10. MODERN FAMILY (ABC, 2009-present)
It's a little risky to pick a new show as one of the best of the decade, even after seeing about a dozen episodes. In the case of "Modern Family," the risk is minimized by the track record of its creators, Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd. At a time when most new shows are just finding themselves, this one has been so consistently funny, smartly produced and crisply written that it has all the earmarks of a classic in the making.

9. LOST (ABC, 2004-present)
Part adventure, part mystery and part sci-fi, "Lost" defies convenient characterization. Supposedly conceived as a blend of "Lord of the Flies," "Survivor," "Gilligan's Island" and "Cast Away," the series developed a unique mythology and an unconventional rhythm that mixed stories of the present with those from the past and future. Creators Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof created one of TV's biggest casts, then made each character utterly fascinating.

8. 24 (Fox, 2001-present)
Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow conceived this series when the idea of a terrorist attack that would bring down the World Trade Center towers seemed inconceivable. But when the unthinkable happened, America rallied around indefatigable agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and some super-suspenseful, action-packed, provocative stories. Even the real CIA took notes. With an uncanny knack for selecting guest stars and a real-time format, "24" injected shots of excitement to the small screen.

7. 30 ROCK (NBC, 2006-present)
Maybe it's because Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels know TV from both sides of the camera. More than that, they understand the nutty things that happen when the surf of corporate culture pounds the shore of creative anarchy. "30 Rock," a TV show within a TV show, is occasionally guilty of biting the hand that schedules it, but never runs out of business and showbiz targets ripe for being lampooned.

6. MAD MEN (AMC, 2007-present)
Matthew Weiner rewound the clock nearly a half-century to create a drama that provides a fresh look at relationships and business and gender through vintage glasses. Set in the early 1960s in a prominent ad firm, "Mad Men" is beautifully written and blessed with a strong cast, starting with Jon Hamm as flawed executive Don Draper. You've come a long way, baby, but it sure is fun to look back.

5. DAMAGES (FX, 2007-present)
Few if any creators have ever spun more intricate and surprising yarns than Glenn Kessler, Todd A. Kessler and Daniel Zelman in "Damages," a high-stakes legal drama in which almost nothing is exactly as it seems. A superb cast, starting with Glenn Close, brings to life some of the most ambitious plots ever conceived for TV. This may be as intriguing and addictive as TV gets.

4. THE SHIELD (FX, 2002-2008)
Just as David Chase found a new and powerful direction for crime drama, Shawn Ryan shattered the mold for police drama. "The Shield" was everything no police series had ever been, starting with antihero Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), a sympathetic but impossibly corrupt Los Angeles cop who made up his own rules of law enforcement as he went along. Moral ambiguity provided a gateway to stories that were stark, real and absolutely incredible.

3. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO, 2000-present)
From his earnings as creator of "Seinfeld," Larry David could have bought one of the Virgin Islands and retired to a life of leisure and luxury. Instead, he trumped himself with a comedy series that poked fun at political correctness and poked even more fun at a curmudgeonly version of himself. Plotted but not scripted, "Curb Your Enthusiasm" raised mortification and tactlessness to art forms.

2. THE WEST WING (NBC, 1999-2006)
Creator Aaron Sorkin swore this show wasn't his way of making civics palatable to a mass audience, but it did just that. Neo-cons ran the real White House during most of the show's run. On TV, though, a team of highly principled progressives operated the levers of TV government. Quite possibly, this unfailingly witty and intelligent series, packed with powerful performances, whetted the country's appetite for change it can believe in.

1. THE SOPRANOS (HBO, 1999-2007)
From its opening musings about ducks in Tony Soprano's swimming pool to its ambiguous and much-discussed ending, "The Sopranos" pioneered a new form of drama. Creator David Chase brilliantly melded the dark, violent world of organized crime boss Soprano (James Gandolfini) with the conventions of middle-class suburbia. It dominated water cooler conversation even though, as an HBO program, it was available in only a small fraction of the nation's households.

Matthew Fox Plans No More TV After Lost

Matthew Fox has no plans to return to the small screen after he finishes filming hit TV show Lost - because making movies allows him to spend more time with his family.

Fox and wife Margherita have two children - 12 year old daughter Kyle and eight year old son Byron.

The filming for the sixth and final series of Lost begins later this year, and Fox plans to take up to six months off work afterwards to spend quality time with his family.

The star also insists when he returns to acting he will reduce his hectic schedule by only shooting one or two movies a year.

He says, "I am not going to do television again. That is not because I think film is better than television. Not at all, in some respects some of the best story telling is happening on television.

"I have done two TV shows - Lost and Party of Five - that have each run for six years. When you add it all up it is in the vicinity of 300 hours of television. I want to find a way to have more control over when I am working and when I'm not. I'm looking for more flexibility."

Fox also admits he fears he will regret the amount of time he spends working: "I am 42 and a father of two children and I don't want to miss them growing up. I don't want to find myself 10 years from now feeling like I was an absentee father because I was so focused on my career."

ABC Hands Out Early Pickups for 2009/2010 Season

ABC doled out some good news to producers Thursday morning, giving early pickups to its top primetime performers.

Others weren’t so lucky — yet — although momentum is building for the returns of "Samantha Who?" and even "Scrubs," which was originally expected to close shop after the season.

There weren’t many surprises in the Alphabet’s renewals, which included key series "Desperate Housewives," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Brothers and Sisters," "Private Practice" and "Lost," which had already been given a go-ahead and will now complete its final season next year.

Biggest news was probably a firm go-ahead for another season of bubble show "Ugly Betty," but ABC execs had been hinting for months that the show wasn’t in danger.

On the unscripted side, staples "Dancing With the Stars," "The Bachelor," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "America’s Funniest Home Videos," "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny" are a lock for 2009-10.

Speculation continues to grow that the Alphabet may find a way to bring back "Scrubs" for a ninth season after all.

Although not on Thursday’s pick-up list, "Scrubs" has had enough of a creative streak this season — and ABC still lacks much in the way of half-hours — that a deal to bring the show back is now quite conceivable.

According to insiders, talks continue about ways to lower the show’s license fees and bring back most or all of the cast, including star Zach Braff (who would perhaps do at least a portion of the episodes).

The other real question mark on ABC’s sked remains "Samantha Who?"

Once a solid Monday night performer and shoo-in for renewal, "Samantha" struggled on Thursdays — so much so that the show was pulled two weeks earlier than expected, with seven episodes still in the can.

That means "Samantha" remains on the bubble, although insiders believe the show will ultimately get another season on air.

Also among half-hours, there remain fans inside ABC of "Better Off Ted," which has earned strong reviews even though its ratings haven’t reflected that.

"Surviving Suburbia" hasn’t made any friends with critics, but if producer MRC offers to bring back the show at a lower license fee, it might still find a way to return next season. Then there’s "In the Motherhood," which is now off the air — likely for good.

On the drama side, bubble shows include midseason hours "Castle," "The Unusuals" and "Cupid."

Alphabet was said to be hopeful about "Unusuals," giving it a Tuesday night showcase this week in addition to its Wednesday home. But that experiment fell short, likely hurting the show’s chances. With "Cupid" not making much noise that gives "Castle" the best shot of the three to return next season.

Back to the returning shows: Pickups make it season six for "Desperate Housewives," "Grey’s Anatomy" and "Lost." It’s the fourth season — bringing it close to off-net sale time — for "Brothers and Sisters" and "Ugly Betty." "Private Practice" is entering its third year.

Among the reality shows, "America’s Funniest Home Videos" will hit its 20th season this year; "The Bachelor" is back this fall with its 14th cycle; "Dancing With the Stars" will return with its ninth set of celebs; "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is back for a seventh season; and "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap" are both back for their sixth year.

The complete 2009/2010 fall season for all networks will be announced in mid-May.

Matthew Fox Quitting TV After Lost

Lost star Matthew Fox will quit the small screen when his run in the hit TV show comes to an end next year.

Fox, who has played the role of troubled surgeon Jack Shepherd in the series since September 2004, landed his first major role in 1990s family TV drama Party of Five.

And after 18 years of small screen parts, he's determined to focus on building up his film credits - starting with a biopic about late American film actor Steve McQueen.

He says, "I'm pretty sure that (Lost) will be the last television thing that I will do... Steve McQueen was pretty f**king cool. He was an action guy and a man of few words and he liked his roles like that."

Lost producers plan to wrap up the storyline with the sixth and final series in 2010.