Just this past week, HBO announced the addition of Gretchen Mol to the cast of its upcoming series 'Boardwalk Empire,' starring Steve Buscemi as Atlantic City gangster Nucky Thompson. With a string of respectable supporting roles, Mol's made a career out of not-quite making it, starting with her famous 1998 'Vanity Fair' cover that asked the entirely premature question: "Is Gretchen Mol Hollywood's New It Girl?"

But though Mol didn't exactly fade into obscurity (she earned kudos for her eye-opening turn in the indie 'The Notorious Bettie Page' and co-starred in ABC's short-lived 'Life on Mars'), neither did she become the huge success the industry predicted she would be. What happened? Was it luck, timing, bad choices or simply a case of too much hype? Whatever that case, Mol's casting got us thinking about other "Almost It" girls that Hollywood left behind about as quickly as it tried to make them mega-stars.

Hey guys, remember when you were a kid and you really wanted to see a boobie but your parents had Cinemax blocked and your house did not yet have the ability to magically access the bottomless reservoir of nudity on the Internet? Your mind would do whatever it could to see a boobie. It would trick you into thinking two conveniently placed melons were boobies. It would make you think that the Calgon commercial accidentally showed a boobie. It would get you to watch every episode of Benny Hill with the hope of seeing a boobie.

That's how I feel of this recent news post at Newsbusters that claims 2012 star John Cusack uttered a rather nasty word on a recent episode of The Early Show. And no, it wasn't boobie.

Maybe it's just my hearing. Can you hear the word? It's supposed be towards the end of the video after host Harry Smith asks Cusack "Does it seems like 20 years ago already?" in reference to the 20 year anniversary of his classic film Say Anything.

Joan Cusack has made a career of finding the comedically crumbling foundations beneath what are at first normal-seeming characters. The two-time Oscar nominee also has a knack for making the most out of her roles, and in the new Lifetime movie Acceptance, both of her greatest skills are on display.

In the movie, which debuts on Saturday at 9PM ET, Cusack plays Nina Rockefeller, the hard-driving and high-strung mother of the movie's protagonist, Taylor (played by Mae Whitman of Arrested Development). The movie examines the pressure on high school overachievers to go to just the "right" college, and the story is told in a way that looks at it from both the students' and the parents' perspectives.

Cusack called me from Chicago (where she lives full-time) earlier this week. We talked about college pressures, if the notion of a Lifetime movie has changed, and why she loves working with her brother John so damn much.

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today on TV Squad Daily:

• Jeremy Piven and John Cusack are no longer friends; Piven blames his success.
  
• Barbara Walters, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears' stylist all practice the art of denial.
• American Idol promises a big surprise this season. I'll be surprised if I'm surprised.
  

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