Yvonne Strahovski... does Maxim!

Sorry everyone, but you'll have to indulge my Yvonne Strahovski obsession once again. I say "obsession", but it's more a "slight preoccupation". Anyway, I think Yvonne's about to break-out into the mainstream next year (no offence to Chuck, which made her a star), as she's now doing a glossy Maxim magazine photoshoot. Remember when only women's health magazines bothered to put her on their cover? Those days are thankfully long gone...

You can watch Maxim's behind-the-scenes video embedded above, which is interspersed with a fun little interview with Yvonne about the "French porn mansion" they're shooting at, plus a few details concerning her role in Jason Statham's Killer Elite movie. Sadly, it appear she won't be putting any of her fighting skills to good use, but she still manages to look pretty foxy in a pair of old country boots, no?

CHUCK returns to NBC on 21 October. (There, that officially makes this post on-topic.)

Update: Here are the actual photos from the shoot...

You can realign your jaw now.

Yvonne Strahovski is... 29 today!

I couldn't let today pass without mentioning it's the birthday of the astonishingly beautiful actress Yvonne Strahovski, who turns 29 today. Many happy returns! She doesn't read this blog, I'm almost certain, but the thought's out there. Yvonne's a very personable, talented and drop-dead gorgeous actress, whom I hope goes onto bigger and better things now NBC's Chuck is drawing to a close. I can't wait to see what doors open for her next summer.

If you're a fan like me, and you somehow don't already know, you can follow Yvonne on Twitter, too. I'm sure she'd appreciate a birthday wish. In the meantime, as pure indulgence, here's a fun, sexy, action-packed compilation of the birthday girl's work on Chuck:

Video: Yvonne Strahovski appears in College Humor's "Three Pop Stars, One Song"

"I'm from the year 3000. I'm here to eat your penis."

Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski gets her very own College Humor showcase, in this spoof music video where she takes on the guises of Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Lady Gaga. It's the not-entirely-funny "Three Pop Stars, One Song" music video! But it's worth watching just to see Yvonne wearing a cream-spurting bra and (to a much lesser extent) blowing chunks into a toilet bowl. It's fun seeing her doing something outside of Chuck, anyway.

Yvonne Strahovski in Pop Magazine

I thought I'd upload this photoshoot of Chuck's Yvonne Strahovski from the latest issue of Pop magazine. Hey, it's Christmas, updates are slow, and she was recently voted the Sexiest Woman of 2010 by Buddy TV, so why not?

Karen Gillan is 'Miss Universe' for ShortList magazine

I could pretend this post isn't an excuse to post Karen Gillan's sexy photoshoot for ShortList magazine, but you'd see straight through me. There's not much TV to review this week, so please indulge me. I'm sure plenty of people will appreciate reading the Doctor Who star's interview with said publication, but twice as many will be gawping at the leggy photos. To try and add some professionalism here, the Doctor Who festive special "A Christmas Carol" is set to premiere on Christmas Day (BBC/BBC America). I'm sure you know that already, so onto the photos:

ShortList Magazine

Yvonne Strahovski is... 28 today!

Chuck cutie Yvonne Strahovski was born 28 years ago this very day. There's no other reason for this post, other than the opportunity to upload a sexy photo of Ms Strahovski and wish her a happy birthday. Mission accomplished. Many happy returns!

Yvonne Strahovski: Saturday Night Magazine

Yvonne Strahovski doing a magazine photoshoot is rarer than chicken teeth, so I think it's worth alerting fellow admirers of her appearance in the current issue of Saturday Night Magazine. You can read their interview with Yvonne here, and there are a few more photos to ogle admire below:

Face-Off Result: The Cheerleaders [Poll]

My inaugural Face-Off poll came to a close yesterday. I asked you to vote for your favourite TV cheerleader, with Heroes' Hayden Panettiere and Glee's Dianna Agron as the two options. The voting was literally neck-and-neck for the majority of the week, but the last few days saw one competitor slowly pull ahead. 66 people registered their vote and the winner was: Hayden Panettiere with 56%, to Dianna Agron's 43%. For all Quinn Fabray fans, she put up a strong fight against a more famous actress, more closely associated with cheerleading, and from a show that's been around longer. So, there was no dishonour in defeat. The next Face-Off poll will go live later today, so keep an eye out.

Face-Off: The Cheerleaders [Poll]

I have a new game! The idea behind this one is to hold a week-long poll to determine people's favourite TV/film characters that are similar in some way (occupation, name, archetype, actor, etc.) To get us started, it's a "Battle Of The TV Cheerleaders", as Heroes' Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere) goes up against Glee's Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron). One's an indestructible superhero, the other's a pregnant singer... but who's your favourite? Please cast your vote in the poll below:

This poll will close on Saturday 6 March. The results and a new Face-Off will be posted on Sunday 7 March. If you have a suggestion for a face-off, please e-mail me, and you'll be credited if I use your idea.

Sexiest Women On TV 2010: #10 - 1

Here we go! The Top 10 Sexiest Women On TV 2010. Please check out part 1, 2 and 3 if you haven't done so already, but here's the final ten for those who have...

She's dropped five places this year because, well, the days of the cheerleader costume are long gone on Heroes, but Hayden Panettiere's still cute as a button and season 4 titillated us with a lesbian kiss -- even if the show just didn't have the maturity to take Claire's sexuality anywhere interesting. Still, Hayden's a diminutive, curvy treat for the eyes. And here she is on a shoot for Self magazine:

A slight drop two places, as Tricia Helfer's status as the statuesque bombshell on Battlestar Galactica kind of got forgotten about in the final season (not least because of an on-screen pregnancy), but she fought back with a guest spot on Chuck as a super-spy who got to wear a rubber police uniform for a pole/lapdance sequence. It wasn't really as hot as you're perhaps imagining (Chuck's a family show), but how can you not find your heart skipping a beat when scenes like that happen? Anyway, here she is posing for an issue of Maxim magazine, with BSG co-star Grace Park:

Quite a tumble down the chart from 4 to 8, once again because Ali Larter's role on Heroes was significantly reduced and, beyond a few near-naked shots the writers threw fans of hers, there wasn't too much to get hot-under-the-collar about in season 3 or 4 of the superhero drama.

Our first new entry in the Top 10 is former-Firefly babe Morena Baccarin, who's now playing the lead sexy alien in the remake of V. In a grey suit and pixie haircut, Morena's elfin goodlooks and svelte physique are certainly enough to charm most men into alien servitude. Here's a quick video of Morena, with V co-stars Elizabeth Mitchell and Scott Wolf, behind-the-scenes for a TV Guide shoot:

Yet another victim of a drop down the chart, Summer Glau falls four places to land at #6, primarily because the final seasons of both Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse didn't do much to promote Summer's sexuality. Still, she's always very cute and her role as an egghead on Dollhouse was sweetly done, which ensured she didn't slip put of the Top 10 this year. Here's Summer on a photoshoot with GQ magazine last year:

Our second new entry for 2010, Eliza Dushku's lead role on Dollhouse was perfect the perfect way to tease audiences with a variety of saucy outfits and her appearance in a tastefully nude advertising campaign. Considering the show's parallels to a high-tech brothel, it was no surprise to see the writers find ways to put Eliza in knee-high socks, short skirts and dominatrix leather every other week. Last year Eliza posed for Maxim as their March covergirl, so why not take a look behind-the-scenes:

Unarguably the most successful new entrant, if only because India de Beaufort's placing is based entirely on six appearances in comedy dud Krod Mandoon & The Flaming Sword Of Fire. Maybe it's adolescent memories of Xena at play here, but there's just something about longhaired girls in medieval garb showing plenty of thigh. India played a promiscuous, feisty warrioress in this short-lived series, and her fun attitude and beaming smiles were its only highlight. And yes, after the pagan striptease sequence below, I'm not surprised she became a few people's favourite pinup.

I haven't seen much of Smallville, where Laura Vandervoort played the leggy Supergirl for awhile, otherwise she'd have been a veteran of SWOT by now. Thankfully, she's now playing a sweet alien teen in V, who's designed to be every randy teenage boy's fantasy girl come true. It's a job well done. The fact her character's actually a gross green lizard underneath that flesh? Ignorance is bliss. Anyway, here's a rather good video montage someone put together of Laura, set to Beyonce's "Halo":

The highest new entry this year is the best thing the Cassidt family Cassidy ever did; create the stunning beauty that is actor/singer David Cassidy's daughter, Katie Cassidy -- best known to me thanks to her role as the plucky bride in Harper's Island, but also now playing a bitch on Melrose Place. Basically, imagine a healthier-looking Megan Fox without the ugly tattoos, who can actually act. Here's a behind-the-scenes look at Katie's shoot for Saturday Night Magazine last year:

Predictable? Yeah, maybe. For the second year running Yvonne Strahovski is still my #1, although there are worrying signs she might not be next year. Don't get me wrong, I still think she's dazzlingly cute and a genuinely pleasant and humble person in real life, too, but her character on Chuck's beginning to grow tiresome. A lot of that is because Yvonne's rarely allowed to smile -- instead, her character's usually required to look pensive, upset or moody. And that's a shame, because whenever Yvonne's gets to play sexy, playful and funloving, you're in for a good time watching her. Still, her regular sexy scenes and variety of revealing dresses/costumes are still a source of delight for "Strahotski" admirers, which is great. But I do wish they'd just let her have some fun on the show. Anyway, she's still wonderful, and fans are still making funky video montages of her like the one below: