With Reporting by Josh Horowitz

So, Keri Russell’s “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” character is actually Felicity Porter.

Yes, we’re serious. Kind of. Okay, not totally serious, but maybe? Hear us out: In “Dawn,” Russell plays Ellie, a former nurse who worked at the Center for Disease Control. On “Felicity,” Russell played Felicity, a University of New York graduate on her way to becoming a medical professional.

Coincidence? Maybe. But there’s something else to consider: Matt Reeves, director of “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” is also the co-creator of “Felicity.”

When we posed the possibility to Russell herself, the “Felicity” veteran shared our suspicions. She said that when she first arrived to the “Dawn” set, there were a few clues pointing to the “Apes”-”Felicity” conspiracy theory.

“I got into hair and makeup and they said, ‘Matt keeps talking about … when you used to have your hair on ‘Felicity,’ it was very textured and curly,’” she said. “And I was just like, ‘Where is my blown out hair and cat eyeliner and too tight jeans?’ But you know what, I think there’s a part of Matt that did want that. I think he wanted that sweet, sensitive brave girl with that curly fro.”

In actuality, Russell only plays Felicity in the “Dawn” of our hearts, and our fan-fiction. But even if the characters aren’t exact, there’s a common bond between them, and that’s all because of Reeves.

“Even all those years ago making a TV show about a girl following a ...

We know Carmelo Anthony has taken meetings with the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls to decide where he’ll play next. However, based on yesterday’s news, his incumbent team might have the advantage.

TMZ broke the story that Scores New York has offered Melo free lap dances for life if he re-signs with the New York Knicks. Imagine the money he’ll be saving. Just crunch the numbers. A lap dance is $20 (not counting tip). For the sake of argument, let’s say Melo averages one lap dance a week. That’s 52 lap dances a year. He’s 30 years old, so he’s got another 48 years if he lives to the average life expectancy. That’s a savings of $50,000 and that’s not accounting for inevitable lap-dance inflation rates.

Scores New York’s offer also includes:
Judging the “Dollars For Scholars” amateur pole dancing competition.
A new drink called “The Melo Carmelo.”
His own personal ball girl and cheerleading squad for every Knicks game that only cheer for Carmelo.
A topless charity basketball game in his honor, in which he could also play.

Strip clubs of Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Chicago, the ball is court. It’s time to make Melo your offers.

Ryan McKee

The 2014 Emmy nominations were announced today, and “Game of Thrones” came out on top with the most nominations, 19, one more than FX’s “Fargo” miniseries. Not far behind was “Breaking Bad” with 16 nominations for its final season.

Check out the nominations in the major categories below!

Outstanding Drama Series
» “Breaking Bad”
» “Downton Abbey”
» “Game of Thrones”
» “True Detective”
» “House of Cards”
» “Mad Men”

Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
» Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”
» Woody Harrelson, “True Detective”
» Matthew McConaughey, “True Detective”
» Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”
» Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
» Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
» Lizzy Caplan, “Masters of Sex”
» Claire Danes, “Homeland”
» Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”
» Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
» Kerry Washington, “Scandal”
» Robin Wright, “House of Cards”

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
» Josh Charles, “The Good Wife”
» Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad”
» Jim Carter, “Downton Abbey”
» Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
» Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”
» Jon Voight, “Ray Donovan”

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
» Ann Gunn, “Breaking Bad”
» Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
» Lena Headey, “Game of Thrones”
» Christine Baranski, “The Good Wife”
» Christina Hendricks, “Mad Men”
» Joanne Froggat, “Downton Abbey”

Outstanding Comedy Series
» “The Big Bang Theory”
» “Silicon Valley”
» “Louie”
» “Modern Family”
» “Orange Is the New Black”
» “Veep”

Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series
» William H. Macy, “Shameless”
» Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
» Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”
» Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”
» Louis C.K., “Louie”
» Ricky Gervais, “Derrek”

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
» Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”
» Lena Dunham, “Girls”
» ...

DC Comics’ Batgirl has been paralyzed, put through the ringer, gotten her groove back, faced The Joker, tussled with Batman, and now faces her biggest challenge of all: a new creative team.

Starting in October, Barbara Gordon gets a brand new look, and team of writers and artist with “Batgirl #35.” Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher, no strangers to the DC Universe from their work on “Batman Inc.” and “Wednesday Comics” respectively, will write the book, which finds Batgirl’s house burning down, forcing her to reevaluate her life in a big way.

Additionally, the writing team is joined by newcomer, artist Babs Tarr, who along with sometimes artist Stewart, has revamped her namesake’s costume to be way more practical than the skin-hugging body-armor comic fans might be used to.

To find out more, MTV News chatted over e-mail with the new team, and we’re also pleased to show off exclusive first looks at the cover to issue #35, a poster advertising the series, and development work Stewart and Tarr did on the new costume.

(And to fans wondering what’s up with departing, much beloved writer Gail Simone: no worries, we hear she has another project with DC Comics that will be announced shortly. So stay tuned.)

DC Comics

MTV News: Cameron, Brenden you’ve worked together before – but how has the collaboration evolved?

Cameron Stewart: Brenden and I have been close friends for around 15 years now, but we never actually got the chance to work together until last ...

If you ever wanted to get to know the man beneath the mask, here’s your chance.

(Although, technically, we already know the man beneath the mask thanks to “Attack of the Clones,” but let’s try and pretend like that never happened, okay? Okay.)

Actor Jeremy Bulloch is not a household name, but his “Star Wars” character is. Bulloch suited up as ruthless bounty hunter Boba Fett in “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” saying few words but making one hell of an impact on fandom.

To this day, Fett remains one of the most popular figures in the entire “Star Wars” universe, expanded or otherwise — and even though Bulloch wouldn’t get recognized on the street as easily as Harrison Ford or Carrie Fischer, the actor nevertheless has a close relationship with both Boba Fett and his fans.

The connection between Bulloch and the Boba Fett-ishists grew closer than ever during a Reddit AMA this week. Read on for some of the highlights:

On His Inspiration For Boba Fett:

“I always remembered that Clint Eastwood, in A Fistful of Dollars, he and Boba Fett had the same sort of cape. He stands up and he’s looking at someone and takes a draw of a cigarette, all done in slow motion, and that’s how I felt Boba Fett should be: all done in slow motion. He has time, he’s never rushing around. His movement its very literal and that’s what he does. He does his job very well and then ...

Demi Lovato wants to tell you something.

“I believe that love comes in all different shapes, sizes and colors,” she says in a new 45-second public service announcement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Americans for Marriage Equality effort. “So whether you’re LGBT or straight, your love is valid, beautiful and an incredible gift. So let’s protect love and strengthen the institution of marriage by allowing loving, caring and committed same-sex couples to legally marry.”

And she’s not wrong. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, a majority (58 percent) of Americans now support same-sex marriage, an all-time high. Among people 18-29, support shoots up to 81 percent.

Check out the video:

Gil Kaufman

By Maurice Bobb

Young Thug liked being a part of Rich Gang’s single, “Lifestyle,” so much, he decided to drop his own version of the song ahead of the release of his new mixtape 1017 Thug 2.

Although hinged on the same name and subject matter, Thugga’s latest sonic offering is an entirely different delicacy.

While employing his signature staccato flow, the Brick Squad representer spits impishly sinister rhymes like, “I got a whole lotta sh–, ain’t paid a dime, we take everything, we’ll steal the scene, we take n—as bling.”

Thugga’s proclivity for catchy hooks continues here with a lean toward the lavish as he spits, “I’m livin’ that YSL lifestyle, he livin’ that 1017 lifestyle, we livin’ that rich n—a lifestyle.”

MTV News Staff

Nelly had quite a showing during his appearance on “Wild ‘N Out” on Wednesday night (July 9). As the guest for the new season’s second episode, not only did he show his comedic chops — like during his remix of the “Alphabet Song” (or is it called the “ABCs”?) — but he also hit the stage to perform one of the biggest hits of his career.

“E.I.,” off of his 2000 debut album, Country Grammar, still gets a crowd going as much almost a decade and a half later as it did at the turn of the century. As the St. Louis native kicks the opening verse to the early-career single, he rocks his championship belt with pride. And why not?

Make sure to tune into “Wild N’ Out” every Wednesday night at 11/10c on MTV2.

Adam Fleischer

Sometimes the dishonesty of a “Catfish,” no matter how remorseful they are for their actions, can be too much for the person they deceived. And, on tonight’s episode, that was the case for Bianca.

The North Carolina native contacted Nev and Max because she wanted to uncover the truth about her crush Brogan, a girl she met on Facebook. The two had instantly connected, discovering that they shared similar passions including musical tastes and a love for body modification. But they never saw each other in person: Bianca resisted video-chatting because she found it awkward and kept their communications limited to the telephone.

Eventually, though, Bianca was ready to take the next step. But Brogan wasn’t — she disappeared, leaving Bianca to struggle over the failed relationship. A year later, however, Brogan was back, and Bianca was determined to unearth her real identity.

Nev and Max, who were aided by their “supermodel intern” Selita Ebanks, quickly discovered that Bianca wasn’t speaking to the girl in the pictures Brogan had sent. In fact, Bianca was communicating with a young Iowa woman named Tia.

Accompanied by the cyber sleuths, Bianca met her catfish. Tia’s explanation for the sham: She was afraid to be herself and face possible rejection, but swore that her feelings for Bianca were real. She was hiding a second secret: During her freshman year of high school, she said, she was the victim of sexual assault. Soon after, she became depressed and gained weight, eventually ballooning to 300 ...

By Maurice Bobb

B.o.B. is not afraid to part with his worldly treasures in the new video for “Follow Me.”

The contemplative track from his latest mixtape, No Genre 2, is accompanied by visuals set in the desert.

The PhillyFlyBoy-directed clip finds Bobby Ray pulling into a remote gas station in a black Ferrari before tossing the keys to the attendant and walking down the highway with his thumb extended to hitch a ride.

As the camera pans from the mountains to up-close facial shots, the Atlanta rapper spits thought-provoking rhymes about the pitfalls of materialism, “Well as I walk this narrow road, meeting faces I approach/ Though some try to buy my soul, but all that glitters is not gold.”

After a cowboy picks him up in a dusty pickup truck and takes him to his destination, the Strange Clouds MC hops out the back and pays for the ride with his hefty gold chain.

No Genre 2 is available for download here.

MTV News Staff