Now Trending: Hillary Clinton plays name-dropping game with Stephen Colbert

NAME-DROPPERS

When it comes to dropping names, Hillary Clinton takes a back seat to no man – especially Stephen Colbert.

The New York Daily News reports on the former first lady's unannounced visit to The Colbert Report on Tuesday night for a mock competition with the show's wry host.

The game kicked off with Colbert – in full faux conservative mode – announcing that he had recently listened to an audio version of Clinton's new biographical tome, Hard Choices, which documents her four years spent as U.S. Secretary of State under Barack Obama.

"Here is the Colbert review: This book is 656 pages of shameless name-dropping!"

Taking quotes directly from the book, the show referenced Clinton's tales of meetings with rich, famous and important people, ranging from Tanzanian prime minister Mizengo Pinda to U2 front man and philanthropist Bono.

Added Colbert: "I just don't buy any of this. There is no way on Earth one woman can be in so many places at once."'

Of course, Colbert's bluster was simply the setup for Clinton's surprise entrance onto the stage, which earned a round of cheers from Colbert Report studio audience.

Over the next few minutes, Clinton and Colbert playfully sparred with each other about which one had the most memorable celebrity encounters.

You can watch the episode in its entirety here.

To summarize the segment, Colbert made claim to being close pals with the likes of George Clooney, Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey.

Clinton dropped the names of Meryl Streep and Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa.

As the game stepped up, Colbert boasted, "I know Paul McCartney." Clinton countered with: "I negotiated with [Afghanistan president] Hamid Karzai."

At that point, all Colbert had left was, "I shared an office with Steve Carell…"

Obviously bested at the name-dropping game, Colbert then attempted to throw down what he believed was his trump card: "I will have you know, madam, that I once did an entire show with President Bill Clinton."

Responded Clinton coolly: "I hate to break this to you, Stephen, but I've met him, too."

In the sit-down's closing moments, Clinton told the host, "Your choice: Promote my book or I will not appear on your show."

Reasoned Colbert: "But you have already appeared on my show."

At which point Clinton snapped her fingers and her head was suddenly pixilated on-screen to hide her identity.

"I learned that from George Lucas," said a triumphant Clinton, referring to the creator of the Star Wars film franchise.

And because the truly wise man knows when he's lost a battle, Colbert then said resignedly, "Fine, fine. Buy Hard Choices. Buy it in bookstores everywhere where there are still bookstores."

Make that game, set and match to Ms. Clinton.

THE BIG SPLIT?

Rumours continue to swirl that Beyoncé and Jay Z are heading for a breakup. In the latest issue of Us Weekly, several unidentified sources say that the celebrity super-couple continue to spend time apart while crossing North America on their current On the Run tour. "They stayed separately in both New York and L.A. for several nights," said a source allegedly from Jay Z's camp. Perhaps even more telling, a "real-estate insider" told the magazine that Beyoncé was recently shopping for apartments by herself in New York's trendy Chelsea neighbourhood. "There was no Jay Z in sight," said the source.

Source: Us Weekly

SHARK'S TALE

Although most movies make the move from big screen to television, Sharknado 2: The Second One will swim in the opposite direction. The SyFy network has announced that the schlocky blockbuster will play in more than 400 U.S. theaters on August 21 for one night only. The fleeting theatrical release will also provide moviegoers with a behind-the-scenes special on the making of the sequel. Reuniting the team of Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, Sharknado 2 drew a record 3.9-million U.S. viewers for SyFy on July 18. The simulcast on Canada's Space network earned slightly more than 400,000 viewers.

Source: The Wrap

NEW GUY

All signs point to James Corden taking over for Craig Ferguson as host of CBS's The Late Late Show. The Wrap reports that the British actor has agreed to helm the late-night talker when Ferguson departs in April, 2015; CBS has not yet officially confirmed the decision. Best known for his long-running stint on the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, Corden, 35, recently played a key support role in the film Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. Perhaps more importantly, Corden currently has 4.35-million Twitter followers.

Source: The Wrap

FRESH FACES

The student body will expand to include brand-new faces for the upcoming sixth and final season of Glee. Series creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy recently revealed that the musical show's final campaign will introduce five new fulltime characters into the halls of McKinley High. Among them: Roderick, described as "chubby and shy with a voice like Otis Redding," Jane, who is "righteous, ambitious and unconventionally funny" and boy-girl twins Mason and Madison, who are "super-positive and extremely weird." So far, no casting decisions have been announced in regard to who will play the new characters. Glee is scheduled to return on Fox and Global in early 2015.

Source: TVLine

GIVING BACK

The grim reality series Intervention will resurface, but it won't air on A&E. More than a year after A&E cancelled the show providing addiction counseling to needy individuals after 13 seasons, the concept has been revived for a 14th campaign by the Lifetime Movie Network. LMN, which is owned by A&E, will begin shooting the unscripted series this fall with a tentative return date of early next year.

Source: Hollywood Reporter