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British actor Andy Serkis is best known for his iconic role as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In the new film, Inkheart, he plays another fantastical villain. He discusses fantasy, reality and why he thinks he should have been considered for an Oscar for Gollum.

When Sesame Street made its TV debut in 1969, it was thanks to Joan Ganz Cooney, co-creater of the show and of the Children's Television Workshop. She laid out the vision, hustled the money and assembled the creative team, including Jim Henson, to create one of the most successful television shows in TV history.

Actor Frank Langella is an early favorite to be nominated for an Oscar — he's already been nominated for a Golden Globe. Langella plays Richard M. Nixon in the movie Frost/Nixon, which chronicles the president's interviews with British TV host David Frost. Langella played the same part in the Broadway play.

Dora the Explorer has a new voice: Twelve-year-old Caitlin Sanchez has taken over the title role of Nickelodeon's bilingual animated adventure series. The Fairview, N.J., resident plays jazz piano and likes John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk.

Actor Benicio Del Toro has wanted to play the role of Che Guevara for years. Now, he has his chance in a sprawling biopic by Steven Soderbergh. He discusses the role and what it was like performing, for the first time, in Spanish.

Filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles' breakout hit Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song rattled the Hollywood status quo when it was released in 1971 with an "X" rating for adult content. Since then, Van Peebles has gone on to write, direct and act in many other projects, which has earned him a tribute in the Gotham Independent Film Awards showcase. He discusses highlights of his career and criticism of his work.

More than 50 student groups across the country are performing Jonathan Larson's edgy rock opera Rent this school year. Like the Broadway show, Rent School Edition is centered on a group of friends in the 1990s dealing with AIDS, gender identity, homosexuality, drug addiction and poverty.

The seventh season of 24 premieres this Sunday. Critic David Bianculli assesses the four-hour, two-night return of counterterrorist Jack Bauer — who's got some new allies, and some new enemies.

The year in television started with a bust — or to be more precise, a writer's strike — but Fresh Air's TV critic says there were plenty of TiVo-worthy programs in 2008. Prominent among them: AMC's Mad Men.

Stephen Colbert, the host of Comedy Central's Colbert Report, got his start as a correspondent on The Daily Show. He discusses the his recent holiday special, A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!

NBC has announced that Jay Leno will leave The Tonight Show in 2009 as planned. But he'll stay at NBC and launch a five-nights-a-week show that will air during primetime. Conan O'Brien will take over Tonight as promised, but since he'll still follow Leno, what does it mean for O'Brien?

Starting in fall 2009, NBC is going to program its 10-11 p.m. hour with Jay Leno five nights a week. NBC wanted to keep Leno though it is committed to giving the 11:30 p.m. slot to Conan O'Brien in 2009, and it is cheaper to produce five hours of Leno than scripted dramas.

This week, NBC announced that comedian Jay Leno would stay at the network past his 2009 contract deadline and host a new prime-time show five days a week. Anthony E. Zuiker, co-creator of the CSI franchise, talks about how that will affect scripted television.

Since joining the Howard Stern Show in 2001, comic and actor Artie Lange has revealed his personal demons to millions of radio listeners.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of "Julia," the show that made Diahann Carroll the first black woman ever to star in her own television series. NPR's Farai Chideya talks with Diahann Carroll about her career and what "Julia" means to her today as part of our ongoing series "Living Legends."

Songwriting brothers Richard and Robert Sherman were honored at the White House Monday for all the songs they've written for family movies, including the theme for the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The brothers, who also wrote "It's a Small World (After All)," received the National Medal of Arts from President Bush.

They look just like telephone booths, but they are decorated with hands folded in prayer, and there's a place to kneel. The prayer booths are an art installation designed to spark dialogue on prayer in the public sphere. There are prayer booths in Jackson, Tennessee, in Ceder Rapids Iowa — and now on a bustling Manhattan street in New York City.

For 15 seasons, actor Sam Waterston has portrayed prosecutor Jack McCoy on NBC's Law & Order. He has been nominated for six Emmy Awards, three for his work on Law & Order. In his time off from the show, he has appeared in countless movies and theatrical productions.

Rainn Wilson plays beet-farming, archery-loving middle-management kook Dwight Shrute on NBC's The Office.

Bars like Whitlow's on Wilson near Washington, D.C., are drawing crowds with an increasingly popular video game called Rock Band. Players can take the stage as rock stars — singing or playing guitar, drums or bass to their favorite hits.

Since turning its animated film Beauty and the Beast into a Broadway hit 14 years ago, the Walt Disney Co. has had the stage to itself for large-scale family entertainment. Now DreamWorks is challenging it with Shrek: The Musical. The big green ogre debuts on the Great White Way on Sunday.

Self-proclaimed "broadcasting legend" Stephen Colbert talks about his upcoming Christmas special on Comedy Central. According to Colbert, it will include goats dressed as reindeer and his own original Christmas songs.

Recent art auctions in New York and London have resulted in weak bids and withdrawn pieces. A commodity once thought to be recession-proof is showing signs of vulnerability. But some insiders say that may not be altogether bad.

Art Basel Miami is sister of the large annual show in Switzerland. The Miami show has been growing in both size and prominence as an international market for art, but will be put to the test in this year's economic slide.

Fashionistas are busy speculating about what Michelle Obama will wear for Inauguration Day festivities. Obsessing over an accomplished professional woman's wardrobe may strike some as sexist, but it's also a sign of the public's fascination with the youthful Obamas.