Recently in Neil Patrick Harris Category

I'm embarrassed that I'm so excited about this. But I am!

Out in Hollywood's 2008 Star of the Year Neil Patrick Harris was snapped over the weekend leaving sunny SoCal for New York City. It's a big week for the star of "How I Met Your Mother" as he prepares to host the first new episode of "Saturday Night Live" of the new year.

I am quite sure he'll be a riot.

New York has been very good to NPH in the past. In his post-Doogie days, he wowed 'em on Broadway in "Cabaret," "Assassins" and "Proof."

One more shot of Neil after the jump...

I don't find myself at home at 7 p.m. most evenings but when I am, forget about catching "Entertainment Tonight" or checking out Mario Lopez on "Extra." Starting tonight on the Lifetime channel, reruns of the terrific comedy "How I Met Your Mother" start airing weeknights. The cast is first-rate and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris is a real stand-out as Barney. Below is a clip of some Barney-isms. Enjoy!

It's getting harder and harder to keep up with all the Neil Patrick Harris news.

I got home from a screening of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" last night and waiting for me was the new issue of TV Giide with NPH and two of his "How I Met Your Mother" co-stars on the cover! Love it.

Then a few minutes ago, I scroll over to AfterElton.com and they are reporting that Neil will be the first host of 2009 on "Saturday Night Live." That is fantastic! He's such a great comedic actor with such big celebrity now that I cannot wait to see what kind of outrageous stuff they will come up with.

And then there is this series of photos in Entertainment Weekly which has the cast of "Mother" re-enacting some of the big pop culture stories of 2008:

Out In Hollywood fave Neil Patrick Harris was nominated in the category of best supporting actor in a comedy. I knew this was his first nod for his role as Barney Stinson the CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" but did not realize he had twice before been nominated: the first nod came way back in 1989 for supporting actor in a motion picture ("Clara's Heart") then three years later for best actor in a TV comedy ("Doogie Howser M.D.").

Let's hope that NPH pulls out a win this time. To do so, he'll have to beat "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven who had beaten Neil for the Emmy the past two years.

Entertainment Weekly magazine put Robert Downey Jr. at the top of its 25 Entertainers of the Year list. It's a good list, certainly better than Barbara Walters completely ridiculous top 10 most intriguing people of the year special (Tom Cruise, again? WHY?). I'm glad to see the "Sex and the City" ladies represented (no. 8) the great Meryl Streep (no. 11), the dapper Jon Hamm (no. 19) and the talented Richard Jenkins (no. 22). But what really made me happiest was the name next to No. 25: Neil Patrick Harris.

Here's an excerpt of what the magazine wrote about NPH's magical year:

He made an old-school star turn as the titular mad scientist in Joss Whedon's wildly siccessful online musical "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." He continued to mine the self-parody gold of "Neil Patrick Harris" in the "Harold and Kumar" franchise. He brought compelling new depth to his role as Barney on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother" without losing an ounch of womanizing ooze. And if you laughed at all during this year's black hole of an Emmy broadcast, it was probably due to his bone-dry aside about "Howie Mandel's prattling."

While Harris is humble about his current critical mass - "It timed itself out very well, and I had very little do with that" he insists - he'll simply have to accept some of the credit.

"I just hope I'm not going to open up the magazine next week and see the little arrow sticking through me three pages after the Bullseye saying 'NPH, enough already!'"

Not a chance.

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The photo of NPH and co-star Jason Segel has nothing to do with his entertainer of the year honor except that when looking for art to post with this, I came across this same-sex smooch scene. It was amusing and a tiny bit hot.

Sometimes it;s just fun to post a shirtless picture of Neil Patrick Harris because he is so darned cute. He's hosting the Creative Arts Emmys this weekend so I hope to have a moment or two with him on the red carpet.

But Michael Jensen, editor of AfterElton.com, had a lot more than that with NHP recently and posted a terrific, wide-ranging interview today. I'm excerpting a line of questioning that stemmed from Neil's comment in his recent OUT Magazine cover story that one of his role models as far as being comfortable with his sexuality was Danny Roberts from the New Orleans season of "The Real World."

He talks with Michael about what he thinks is the difference between Danny Roberts and someone like Anderson Cooper who does not discuss his private life:

NPH: "...The difference between those two to me is that Danny Roberts was on a reality show, so I was watching him exist in his world and so that was what was empowering was to see him interacting socially and admiring the way he behaved in any given situation. With someone who's sole job it is to relay information, I think the more you know about them, the more things can get muddled when you're trying to pay attention to a story.
AE: I agree with you up until the point where if that person, whether it be Anderson Cooper or anybody else, if they draw a clear line and say this is what I talk about and this is what I don't, then that's completely fine. But if you do things such as write an autobiography and do talk about other personal stuff, don't you sort of open the door to those types of questions?

NPH: I don't think so. I think writing a biography is subjective and you write about what you find important in your own life at that time. I think it's separate from inviting Barbara Walters into your bedroom. They're different situations. I find the community very interesting in who it opts to criticize. Because I think the people that take the most heat often don't deserve it.

So I think those two examples are actually kind of radically different. I'm a big fan of respecting someone's skill set. Of course, if anyone wants to stand tall, I think they would be impressing upon lots of people to stand tall as well, but I don't think that one is required for the other. I mean with Danny Roberts, he was inviting cameras into his actual life to film him. And when you're dealing with Anderson Cooper, who is really recounting the news stories, he's doing quite the opposite.

Interesting discussion and there is tons more at AfterElton.com.

Neil Patrick Harris is really in demand and I'd like to think it's not only because he's super talented, but also because he's super gay..

I'm not sure what that means but I guess what I mean is that since he came out as a gay man two years ago, he's just gotten to be a bigger and bigger star. He and Sarah Chalke have been tapped to host the 2008 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy® Awards on Saturday, September 13 from the NOKIA Theatre it was announced Thursday.

That's the show a week before the regular Emmys when they award the guest acting trophies and the reality show prizes, among others. This is the ceremony where, last year, Kathy Griffin told Jesus to "suck it...this award kis my God now."

Here's the bio that came with the press release: Neil Patrick Harris received his second Primetime Emmy® nomination this year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance as Barney Stinson on CBS' "How I Met Your Mother." A television favorite since his Golden Globe Award-nominated role in "Doogie Howser, M.D.," Harris has since firmly established himself in all mediums. On the stage, he most recently starred in Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Other recent theater credits include star-turns in the London musical production of Jonathan Larson's "Tick, Tick...Boom," the Tony Award-winning musical "Assassins," "Cabaret" and "Proof." Harris' additional television credits include the series "Stark Raving Mad," "Will & Grace," "NUMB3RS," the mini-series "Joan of Arc," and the CBS television movie "The Christmas Blessing." Harris' film work began with "Clara's Heart," and includes the recent release "Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

What a stud!

I can't believe I've never posted this commercial. I love it!

Here is the Out Magazine cover of Neil Patrick Harris one of his quotes that I found interesting and sweet:

The first face that empowered me was Danny Roberts from "The Real World: New Orleans." I think before him I'd never seen anyone wear [homosexuality] so comfortably. He was around my age. I could look to him as a role model -- if you could say that, even though he was on a reality show. He represented a way that I could behave and stand tall comfortably without being an overt advocate and without being someone hiding in the shadows. I liked that.

I was driving home from Palm Springs last night and National Public Radio's Terry Gross was playing an encore of an interview she did with Neil Patrick Harris back in 2005. It was that very interview, when it originally aired, that really shaped my opinion of this actor. He was so articulate as he spoke of everything from teen stardom on "Doogie Howser M.D." to a career on Broadway starring in "Rent," "Cabaret" and "Assassins" and, at the time of the interview, with Patti LuPone in a production of "Sweeney Todd."

Anyway, when I got out of the car last night, after listening to this interview, there was a brand-new copy of Out Magazine in my mail with none other than Neil Patrick Harris on the cover! Here are some excerpts from NPH's most candid interview to date on being an openly gay man in Hollywood:
On how the business has changed for gay actors since he first hit the scene as Doogie: "It's all uniquely so personalto each person. I can't say that the business is any different now than it was then because I wasn't 30 years old then and in a position to stand tall and say something. I think the fears that enveloped me then would be the same fears that would envelope people that are 15, 16, 17 now.... Clearly there's way more exposure and a much larger gray area with sexuality and the public's opinion towards it - on almost every level - professionally, artistically, legally. What made it more unique 20 years ago was that there were less examples - so that made it a shock. And I think the shock value has kind of worn off."

On growing up in Hollywood and coming out: Actually I think it was easier for me because I was around a lot of people who were gay and I was around a lot of people who were very confident. I was surrounded by people I could talk to freely about anything, and they were very successful emotionally and otherwise. And yet, part of the coming out process is figuring out who you like and what that means and how to act upon it. Being an actor reduced my level of anonymity. I couldn't just go to some bar and walk in and ask someone out on a date because there was too much awareness of me ... I sort of had to narrow my gaze from afar. If I had any regret, it would be that strange lack of anonymity that created panic within myself that I would be found out. I think that's everyone's big fear."
On his boyfriend, actor David Burtka: "I found a guy who I'm head over heels for ... I think if and when we do (get married), we'd probably announce it after the fact as opposed to making the bog announcement that it was going to happen. ... We both wear rings and I'm giddy when I see all the pictures of people so happy standing there, confirming the love they wish they could have expressed for a long time."

On Anderson Cooper: "Mmmmmmmmmm. Anderson. He's dreamy, just dreamy. I've been a fan of his since season one of "The Mole.' I just thought he was so cool when he talked on this cool, low super-agent voice - 'If you can accomplish this task...' Listen, no one should tell anyone how big their steps should be or when they can take them."

When Neil Patrick Harris greeted the ladies of "The View" on the show this morning, he gave Whoopi Goldberg and extra loooooong hug.

Then he explained why: "Whoopi popped my theatrical cherry," he explained, referring to their 1988 film "Clara's Heart."

Whoopi made the movie after she was nominated for an Oscar for "The Color Purple" but before she won for 'Ghost." NPH had not yet begun his run on "Doogie Howser M.D."

"Whoopi showed me how to hit a mark and what the camera was like. 'You really were an exemplarary role model,' he said to her.

She musta been. Look how extraordinary NPH turned out!

Emmy nominations were announced veeeerrry early this morning by the inspired pairing of Neil Patrick Harris and Kristen Chemowith. I tell,ya, get the actors with stage experience to do the gig, they just had so much charm and humor and none of that deer in the headlights look that so many other actors who have done the job before have been afflicted with.

Not only were they sensational nomination announcers, but both got Emmy nominations themselves!

Neil, of course, got his second consecutive nod for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for CBS' "How I Met Your Molther." The out actor plays the womanizing Barney and has been the show's breakout character from the beginning. NPH will compete against Jeremy Piven and Kevin Dillon of "Entourage," Rainn Wilson of "The Office" and Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men."

I don't know about you, but I think it's Neil's year! I hope he wins and gives that cute boyfriend David Burkta a big smooch before heading to the stage.

Kristen, a Tony Award winner already, was nominated for her supporting role in "Pushing Daisies" (series star Lee Pace (sigh....) was also nominated.) Kirstin and Neil "surprised" Academy offiicials with a birthday cake because it is Emmy's 60th birthday. Before blowing out the candles Kristen said: "I would sing happy birthday but it's not public domain and the Emmys can't afford for me to sing that song!"

It was also funny when NPH announced Jeff Probst as one of the nominees in the new category of outstanding reality show host. Kristen gave a little cheer then explained: "I had a date with him. He's hot. He's really cute.

NPH to Kristen: "Maybe you'll have a second one."

Kristen: "No, he;s marrying someone else."

Anyway, I think I had predicted that Cynthia Nixon would not only get an Emmy nomination but would likely win for her guest appearance on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." She played a woman with multiple personalities and did so brilliantly. If Cynthia wins, it would be her second Emmy. She won one for her performance as Mirnada in the final season of "Sex and the City." She also has a Tony Award for "Rabbit Hole." I hope she brings her girlfriend and gives her a big kiss too before taking the stage!

Cynthia's award would be handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys which is a non-televised event a week before the main Emmy ceremony. Sounds kinda dull, huh? Well, not with Kathy Griffin in the room! It is at this ceremony last year that Kathy won for Outstanding Reality Program for "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List." She took to the stage and said "Suck it Jesus! This award is my God now!" Well, Kathy is up for the award again and will compete against a strange mix of shows: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Antiques Roadshow," "Intervention" and "Dirty Jobs."
But here's the best part: Kathy has been nominated for TWO Emmys this year and will actually be let into the Kodak Theatre for the main show! Who;s D-List now? "Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell" is up for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy special! I'm rooting for Kathy because, well, she loves the gays. And we love her!

Other nominations I find of interest: Michael C. Hall, at last, is nominated for an Emmy! This superb actor - one of the best working in television for the past decade or so - has been overlooked so many times. First as David Fisher on "Six Feet Under" and last year as a forensic specialist/serial killer on "Dexter." He's up for outstanding actor in a drama series. Last year's winner James Spader is somehow nominated again and if he wins over Hall, I will have to take a moment to collect myself.

Other Greg faves nominated: last year's winner Sally Field for outstanding actress in a drama series for "Brothers & Sisters," Elaine Stritch and Carrie Fisher for outstanding guest appearance in a comedy for "30 Rock" and Jean Smart, outstanding supporting actress in a comedy for "Samantha Who?"

Here is a video of Neil and Kristen this morning:

I love it!!!

It's official. Neil Patrick Harris is now such an established star on "How I Met Your Mother" and in the "Harold and Kumar" movies that he is able to spoof his teenage role on "Doogie Hauser" in this ad for Old Spice.

Gee, what was that they used to say about what would happen if an actor came out publicly as gay? Never work again. Lose endorsements. Abandoned by fans. NPH has turned all that on its ear!

It's a new world!

...ha!

Hey, I can't help it if the guy is newsworthy. It's just been announced that NPH will join the adorable Kristin Chenoweth on July 17 to reveal the nominees for the Emmy Awards which will be marking their 60th year.

I think Neil has an awfully good chance of snagging his second supporting actor in a comedy nod for "How I Met Your Mother" and it would really be cool if Tony winner Kristin was recognized for "Pushing Daisies."

The Emmy awards will air on Sunday, Sept. 21 on ABC.

Whether it's talking about his sex life with boyfriend David Burtka on Howard Stern's radio show or admitting that he got an erection when kissing a female co-star on "How I Met Your Mother," Neil Patrick Harris has become increasingly outspoken and confident since coming out a few years back. AfterElton.com takes a look at NPH and writer Brent Hartinger interviewed me for the piece. But you'll have to read it on AfterElton.com.

He doesn't dwell on it, but Neil Patrick Harris' coming out as a gay an nearly two years ago seems to have done wonders for his career. The Emmy-nominated star of "How I Met Your Mother" and the "Harold and Kumar" movies was already on a career upswing when he was compelled to confirm his sexuality when certain bloggers began applying pressure. He did so with grace and, for the first time, began to let us know him as NPH the man, not just the actor. He's witty and charming and utterly self-confident and his presence on talk shows, a game show like "Password" or as a guest host for Regis Philbin, have become a very welcome treat.

So happy 35th birthday Neil and thanks for letting us in a bit, you're a credit to us all.

Got home from Palm Springs just in time to watch the new prime-time Password. It was fun but not like the show I remember. This is so fast-paced which is a far different tone than the original. But, time marches on and I quickly adjusted to the new scene.

At one point after a loud music intro, guest star Neil Patrick Harris said: "I feel like I'm in 'Cats!'

In the second game, NPH was paired with a hottie bartender with gorgeous big, blue eyes named Eric Greenlund, who needed the prize money because someone had broken into his apartment and stole some loot. Eric is from Providence, R.I. and his nickname is E-Rock. I'm not sure why.

When host Regis Philbin asked Eric what he did for a living, he said: "I make drinks of loooove." I thought that was kinda hot. Eric won and got to play for the big money with NPH. After each successful round, they'd do knuckles. The knuckle clash was so fierce after the $50,000 round, they almost knocked each other over. When Eric won $100,000, NPH signaled that it was time for a hug. E-Rock looked absolutely crestfallen when he just missed out on winning $250,000 and because of that failure, his winnings were reduced to $25,000.

I thought he was gonna cry.

By the way, I found this gem of a clip from "Super Password" in 1980. What a line-up! It was Allen Ludden as host and the celebrity guest stars are Lucille Ball and Dick Martin. Dick, who died just last week, co-starred with Miss Ball during the first - and best - seasdn of "The Lucy Show." And here's the kicker about this clip: one of the contestants is a pre-fame Kirstie Alley who identifies herself as an "interior designer."

Sunday night is the premiere of "Million Dollar Password" to be hosted by Regis. I'm pretty pleased with the celebrity line-up of Neil Patrick Harris, Rosie O'Doinnell and Betty White. Betty was married to original Password host Allen Ludden and frequently guested. I was a Password freak as a kid, used to dream about being on the show and remember being over the moon when my parents gave me the board game for Christmas one year.

Neil Patrick Harris thinks he's pretty hot stuff in a love scene - even if it is with a woman!

The Emmy-nominated star of "How I Met Your Mother" joked to The Hollywood Reporter: , "I made out with Cobie Smulders last week on the show, and when I watched it I got an erection. And she's a chick, you know what I'm saying?"

NPH reflected a bit about his coming out back in summer 2006: "There have been very few negative repercussions about my revelations about my personal life, partly because I was on the show already playing Barney, partly because I was very candid with everyone in my work world about my life so it asn't like this big scandalous revelation. It was a nice moment of clarity and exhalation to see that everyone kind of shrugged...there's a lot of people that appreciate that an actor acts."

I love that NPH can convingly play a womanizer on TV, but I'd actually like to see him have his first same-sex love scene sometime!