I have a small news roundup to do, but I felt this deserved a post of its own. And while “exclusive” might be stretching the truth a little, as I shared the night with at least 300 other people, this report is definitely exclusive to us!

After finding out last week that Neil was going to be hosting this, some hastily booked holiday time from work gave me the chance to head down to London (from Bradford) for the taping. I arrived fairly early, a good couple of hours before my friends, and that gave me the chance to scope out the building. This is something that served me well later when I was let out from a completely different door than I expected!

Even when my friends arrived, we ended up first in the priority queue, and as such when we were let into the studio we were led to what I would consider to be the best seats – front row, beside the centre aisle that the contestants enter the playing area from. After a few minutes with the warm-up man, Terry, they introduced Neil, brought him out and stood him in the aisle beside us to take a few promotional photos. Then things got started!

There were four contestants taped last night, though because they were overrunning there was some uncertainly if they were going to film the fourth one or not. Eventually they decided they would, but I unfortunately had to leave before they brought her out to ensure I’d make my coach. I won’t give you any details about the contestants or how they did, because that’s for you to see when (if) you get to see the episode!

Neil revealed to us fairly early on that he’d been over here for almost a week and had spent three days watching the British version of the show, and as such apologised for talking like a Brit occasionally! He slipped into an accent a few times on purpose, and at one point called one of the contestants “mate” which I don’t think was deliberate! He also said that in rehearsals he had kept slipping and saying “for two thousand pounds…!” instead of dollars.

He had spent the afternoon in the Cube playing some of the games and said that it definitely makes it harder once you’re inside.

We’ve all seen Neil do the hosting thing before, but presenting a gameshow is obviously a totally different skillset. It has to be said, he nailed that just like he has done everything else. He was serious when it was called for, but made the contestants feel at ease in a jokey way that was a joy to watch. Another pleasure was the way he interacted with the audience between shots – the nature of the game means there’s a lot of time spent showing the contestant the game they’re about to play, setting it up, none of which happens on camera so that it comes together seamlessly in the edit. Multiple times Neil came over to the aisle beside our seats and talked with the people around us, saying he was nervous for the contestant currently in the cube, or giving his opinion about the way a previous game had gone. A while before I left he asked us what we thought the hardest game had been so far and a bunch of us mimed the same action and he laughed and knew exactly what we had meant. There was one game that a contestant had played at a relatively high level (for $75,000), and he told us that depending on the amount at stake when the Cube selected it, the game would get harder – more to complete before it was counted as successful. He also said he’d seen people complete it in rehearsals at the very highest level, so he knew it could be done even at its hardest.

The warm up guy came out between shots and tried to keep the audience interested when other things were going on on the stage, and a few times Neil turned around to watch what he was doing with an amused or puzzled look on his face. When one man was asked to blow up a balloon as part of a challenge and failed miserably (he claimed to have been sucking instead of blowing!) Neil came around to watch him with a fantastic look of disbelief on his face that this was actually happening.

He dealt well with shouts from the audience – some (slightly annoying but I think well intended) heckling when he was posing for pictures at the start came in the form of a guy shouting “SUIT UP!” and Neil, who must be used to that by now, replied with “I DID!” There was one point when he laughed and somebody yelled out something about Dr Horrible, and Neil, facing the Cube with his back to the audience, did the proper Dr Horrible evil laugh.

He did a very good job of guiding the players without influencing their decisions too much. His personality meant that they were quite happy to tell him what they were thinking or feeling without too much stressing, and weren’t afraid to be a little sarcastic or jibe back at him on occasion.

All in all, I really hope that CBS decide to pick this up as a series, because Neil was clearly enjoying the experience and I would love to see more of it. And if they don’t, I hope that they at least air this one as a one off for everybody to see.

If anybody who managed to stay until the end has anything to add, please do get in touch!

EDIT: One of my friends who managed to stay after I left had this to add about something that was said after I’d gone: “Neil came over and talked in our general direction and told us he got to pick his suit out because if the show gets picked up, he will have to wear the same suit all the time and they will probably use the pilot contestants in various shows so as not to waste them.”

OnTheRedCarpet.com caught up with Neil in a short video interview at the Academy of Magical Arts awards on Sunday.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris is directing a special production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. He’s no stranger to the stage or the show, (he played Mark Cohen in the 2nd National Tour), but he’s taken some flak recently for casting High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens for the lead role of Mimi.

On The Red Carpet caught up with Harris, who defended his decision, “Vanessa is awesome. She’s a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great.”

io9.com reports that the sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is now in development; no official word on if Neil will return as Steve the Monkey just yet.

Neil’s episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, in which he competes against CSI New York’s Hill Harper and former basketball player Rebecca Lobo, will air this coming Thursday, April 15th at 7pm PST on ABC-TV. Visit the show’s website for a short video interview with him. Neil was playing on behalf of Food on Foot.

Finally, NYMag’s Vulture section has read the script for A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Mild plot spoilers are in the article, so if you don’t want to know, suffice it to say that the script confirms that Neil has a part to play.

I’ve added a Glee page to the television appearances section of the site. More and more spoilers for Neil’s Glee appearance are being released, but I understand that a lot of people might want to remain as unspoiled as possible. So we’ll update all Glee spoilers here, to give you the choice of reading it or not. We’ll continue to let you know here when that page has been updated, though.

Neil recorded an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy late last week, competing against CSI New York’s Hill Harper and former basketball player Rebecca Lobo. We’ll keep you updated with when that will air.

John Cho talked with Collider about the in-development third movie in the Harold & Kumar series:

The good news for fans of the Harold and Kumar series is the sequel is still moving forward and Cho said the plan is to film this June!  He said they’re currently figuring out who will direct the third installment and Neil Patrick Harris is supposed to be in it.  He said the film picks up a few years after the second film and it’s a legitimate holiday movie.

Finally, if you didn’t managed to view the Oscars opening before it was removed from the Oscars website, you can view it officially on YouTube, or PopSugar.

The pilot for the US version of The Cube, which Neil is set to host, is filming in London this coming Thursday, February 4th, at Fountain TV Studios, Wembley Park. You can apply for free audience tickets from Lost in TV. Doors open at 6pm and close at 6.15, and the taping will last approximately 4 hours. The minimum age is 12 and under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Snacks and soft drinks will be provided during the break.

The hit UK TV gameshow THE CUBE is coming to U.S. Television. This is a gameshow with a twist – no general knowledge or physical fitness is required – just nerves of steel and determination. Contestants go head to head with the Cube as they complete simple tasks, under pressure, to win life changing amounts of money.

The Cube is a format originally produced by ITV and hosted by Philip Schofield. The set is already built; presumably should CBS pick up the series, a replica of the set would be built in the US for regular filming.

According to The Wrap’s TV MoJoe, Neil is on course to shoot a pilot for an American version of British game show, The Cube. Hosted by Brit favourite Philip Schofield, The Cube traps contestants inside a perspex cube, forcing them to complete relatively simple tasks in a stressful situation. Like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, the contestant is able to improve their chances against the game; instead of Phone A Friend or 50:50, The Cube offers the chance to “Simplify” each game.

Perhaps trying to prove there’s absolutely nothing he can’t do, the “How I Met Your Mother” star will fly to London later this year to tape a pilot for an American adaptation of “The Cube.” CBS will then decide whether to move forward with a series order.

In addition to hosting, Harris will also serve as executive producer of the Objective TV-produced series. Also exec producing: Adam Adler, Andrew Newman and Andrew O’Connor.

“The Cube” is a deceptively simple format in which folks try to win big bucks by completing simple tasks inside a chamber designed to induce stress. It’s done good numbers in the UK (thanks to great scheduling) and NBC has a similar-sounding show called “In It to Win It” bowing March 14.

You’ll recall that “The Cube” first caught the eye of Fox executives last fall. They were developing a take on the concept for a few months but then confirmed in December they had opted to move on.

But Objective TV, part of All 3, didn’t give up. It found interest in the concept at CBS; the network’s interest in the project no doubt shot up more when Harris began entertaining the possibility of hosting.

Assuming CBS decides to move forward with “The Cube,” it’ll be the latest hosting gig for the mega-versatile NPH. He’s already done stints fronting the Emmys, the Tonys and the TV Land Awards. And just this week, he won mostly raves for sitting in as a judge on “American Idol.”