BITS AND PIECES 03/02
agcbli...@yahoo.com
--THE producer of "24" says he wants to move the show out of L.A. next
season. "We flirted with going to London last year for six episodes,"
the show's executive producer, Howard Gordon, told TV Guide this week.
That didn't happen, but with the show still going strong - in fact,
ratings are at an all-time high after five seasons - the show may be
able to convince Fox to let them move the locale outside southern
California. "Not with Kiefer necessarily," Gordon says, "but to tell
another story in another part of the globe. "That's something that I
would really love to try to do next year," he says.
--In that weird kind of "anyone can be a star" reality show way, TLC's
"Miami Ink" is looking to replace soon-to-be tattoo artist Yoji Harada
- and it could be you. The show's third season begins filming next
month and will include some changes, including Kat von D being added as
a full-time resident artist at the Miami Ink shop and Harada moving
from shop lackey to tattoo artist. TLC is looking for someone to
replace Harada, with that someone scheduling staff and appointments,
answering phones, etc. Five finalists will be selected to fly to South
Beach to appear in an episode, working with the guys - with Miami Ink
co-owners Ami James and Chris Nunez choosing the winner. Miamiink.com
has details.
--Remember Jane Clayson? The former "Early Show" co-host, who left CBS
in 2002, is now a mom living in Boston. But she'll be one of the
co-hosts of "Birth Day Live," airing March 14 on Discovery Health
Channel. The show, which airs live, will unfold at three hospitals
across the country - in Maryland, Orlando and San Diego - following
mothers as they go through labor and delivery. Vice Admiral Richard
Carmona, the U.S. Surgeon General, will be in Silver Springs, Md., with
former Ch. 5er Dr. Steve Salvatore in San Diego and Clayson in Orlando,
Fla.
--History Channel's "Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces" averaged
2.4 million viewers last Sunday - a Feb. sweeps record for the
network.
--Akimbo (Internet-to-TV video-on-demand) has picked up John Cleese's
classic series, "Fawlty Towers," which ran in two seasons (1975 and
'79).
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--PORN star Savanna Samson's new wine seems to have benefited from last
Sunday's New York Times story, which quoted revered wine expert Robert
M. Parker giving it a rating of 90 to 91 and declaring it a "very fine
wine." Samson has pre-sold all of the initial production of her Savanna
Sogno Uno, a 2004 vintage of an Italian red that will be carried at
Balthazar, Daniel and La Masseria. But porn aficionados needn't
despair: Samson, a former Scores stripper now married to Manhattan wine
merchant Daniel Oliveros, flew out to L.A. yesterday to film her latest
X-rated opus, "Savanna Has Been Blackmaled," for Vivid Video. We can
only guess what the title means.
--"AMERICAN Idol" superstar Clay Aiken can't catch a break. Just a few
weeks after ex-Army Ranger John Paulus blabbed to the National Enquirer
that he had secret gay sex with Aiken after meeting him in an Internet
chat room, the tab has published Web cam pics of the singer exposing
his flabby torso to another online boytoy on Manhunt.net. The Enquirer
quotes an unidentified "22-year-old homosexual schoolteacher" as saying
that Aiken performed the "crude striptease" in a bid to solicit sex
while he was staying at a Boston hotel. A spokesman for Aiken, who has
repeatedly denied he is gay, declined comment.
--DAVE Chappelle, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Dead
Prez and director Michel Gondry convening at the McDonalds on 34th
Street and 10th Avenue before the premiere of "Dave Chappelle's Block
Party" at the Loews 34th Street.
--AXL Rose requesting 50 Cent's "Magic Stick" from buxom deejay
Penelope Tuesdae at Michael Sutton's after-hours Xenii party in
Hollywood.
--SCARLETT Johansson sharing a "large bowl of mashed potatoes" with her
twin brother, Hunter, at Commune.
--The exclusive Christian high school Michelle Williams attended has
bitterly disowned the Oscar-nominated star of "Brokeback Mountain" -
saying it's deeply offended she appeared in the controversial
gay-cowboy flick. "We don't want to have anything to do with her in
relation to that movie," Jim Hopson, headmaster of the posh Santa Fe
Christian School, told the San Diego Union Tribune. "Michelle doesn't
represent the values of this institution . . . 'Brokeback Mountain'
basically promotes a lifestyle we don't promote."
--CBS kingpin Les Moonves, who's suing Howard Stern for "stealing" CBS
airtime to flog his switch to satellite radio, is actually a Sirius
subscriber himself, and that media attention from the lawsuit has,
ironically, triggered a spike in subscriptions.
--HAS Courtney Love found a new man to sink her teeth into? The randy
rock chick was spotted in Hollywood the other night canoodling at a
party with "Capote" director Bennett Miller, according to the London
Sun. Love and Miller, who's nominated for an Oscar for the biopic, were
"all over each other," according to the paper's snitch, after "Capote"
star Catherine Keener introduced the pair. However, "They are not an
item," Miller's rep tells Page Six. "They're just friends."
--WHEN banking heir Matthew Mellon divorced British Jimmy Choo dynamo
Tamara Mellon, the repercussions shook two continents. But the sparring
ex-spouses both turned up Tuesday night when Patrick McMullan feted his
photo book, "Kiss Kiss," at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont. The two man
aged to keep their distances as herds of hipsters spilled out of the
hotel into the lush gardens. "Since this is a 'Kiss Kiss' party, let's
get busy," said Paul Haggis, the Oscar-nominated writer/director of
"Crash," as he planted one on Matt Dillon, the Best Supporting Actor
nominee for the same film. Among the pulchritudinous plenitude posing
and puckering were Pam Anderson on the arm of "Rize" director David
LaChappelle, Daisy Fuentes, Rebecca DeMornay, China Chow and socialite
Marina Cicogna with the soignee beauty she is said to have illegally
adopted. (There is no gay marriage in Italy, you can be sure.) Inside
the fabled hotel, rival Left Coast party promoters Amanda Scheer-Demme
and Brent Bolthouse were spotted having an apparently friendly chat.
NY POST/CINDY ADAMS...
--UMA Thurman and Andre Balazs. The movie star and the hotelier
boyfriend. Closer than a little boy and his dog. Closer than Anna
Nicole Smith and her lawyers. Closer than Angelina Jolie and
whatsisname. Closer than Lisa Rinna and her lipstick. Closer than
Pamela Anderson and her silicone. Close - but no cigar. Or engagement
announcement. They've been together since 10 minutes after her marriage
to Ethan Hawke went kerplunk. Uma is no Paris Hilton in terms of
frivolity, but Ethan was so low-key he was almost a disappearing act.
Balasz likes limelight. Likes p.r. Likes New York's social scene. This
picture-perfect couple has long acted like they're in move-in
condition. But at a recent event, she preferred being photographed solo
and she told friends: "Look, we're just having fun." Just letting you
know what I know.
--Bruce Willis was drinking in a 20-somethingish brunette at the
Peninsula Hotel on Sunday. Where's he get the strength?
--Ben Silverman, whiz behind those hot series "The Office" and "The
Biggest Loser," came for James Taylor's Rainbow Room honor for Ben's
composer dad Stanley Silverman then right back to Los Angeles.
--UNIVERSAL has a hotshot promotion department. When shoving out the
company's Meryl Streep movie "Prime" last year, it shipped prime cuts
of beef to special people. It's doing its thing again. Coming up is
their Billy Bob Thornton-John Cusack movie "The Ice Harvest." They're
putting it on ice. A special promo going out is an actual ice sculpture
(2 feet high by 1 foot across) bearing the film's DVD frozen inside. In
a Styrofoam cooler, shipped with dry ice, the package comes with the
proper gloves for handling. Cute, right? Let us all hope their next
film is not titled "Bad Blood."
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
--Rarely has a female studio executive enjoyed more attention than
Universal Pictures Chairwoman Stacey Snider got last week when Steven
Spielberg wooed her into becoming DreamWorks' chief exec. But Goldie
Hawn isn't impressed. "Women have been absolutely no help, because
they're working very hard to please the men that they're working for,
and they are afraid to stand up for women," Hawn laments. Goldie
recalls when she, Diane Keaton and Bette Midler delivered Paramount's
Sherry Lansing a hit with "The First Wives Club." "It was a great
success, but [Paramount] didn't want to do a sequel," the 60-year-old
Hawn recalls in the AARP magazine. "Diane called me and said, 'We've
got to do this.' ... I got a call from the head of the studio, who
said, 'Let's try to make it work. But I think we should all do it for
the same amount of money.' Now, if there were three men that came back
to do a sequel, they would have paid them three times their salary at
least. ... Then it was reported to me by my agent that the head of the
studio said, 'Isn't Goldie getting a little greedy?' And she was a
female, so in terms of women helping women, this was really a kick in
the butt." Hawn says studios paid attention to her latest project - a
comedy called "Ashes to Ashes," which she wrote and hopes to direct -
only after her longtime love Kurt Russell became involved.: "The studio
reaction always was, 'Who's the man?' ... You can't win."
--Meg Ryan was talking, but her swollen lips were barely moving as she
told Oprah that her ex-beau Russell Crowe "wasn't a homewrecker" and
didn't play a role in the end of her marriage to Dennis Quaid. "[It]
was an unhealthy marriage. I should have left sooner."
PK ADDS: I disagree...I thought she looked lovely, but would have like
to see clean hair.
NY DAILY NEWS/LLOYD GROVE...
--That was Grammy-winning singer Natalie Cole fracturing her right arm
the other day when she slipped and fell on the set of the ABC hit
"Grey's Anatomy." Cole, who was guest-starring as a surgery patient,
was rushed from the pretend medical facility to a real one in Encino.
The diagnosis was a break in the radius bone between the wrist and the
elbow. Quite the trouper, Cole returned to the set with her arm in a
sling and did her scenes. Luckily, the script called for her to be in
bed.
--Lowdown reported that Man of the People Donald Trump was insistent
that the folks who retrieved a platinum-and-diamond bracelet at
Mar-a-Lago the other night got a tip from the lady who lost it. Trump
told me that a waiter and a security guard found the bauble, supposedly
worth $2 million, after Saturday's glitzy Jay Leno-headlined dinner at
the Palm Beach resort. But yesterday, New Yorkers Glenn and Jill
Riedman came forward to claim the glory. "My wife, Jill, was actually
the person who found the bracelet," Glenn E-mailed me. "I would have
pegged its value at around $250K ... still a big sum (lots of diamonds
and I think some big topaz stones)." Jill added: "I called Mar-a-Lago.
I was curious who the woman was, but also curious to hear about the
reward ... and they told me it was just enough to buy something at
McDonald's." Enough, I hope, to super-size it.
--Celebrities whine endlessly about the tabloids, and tabloids whine
endlessly about the celebs, but in the end we're all in the same
business. The proof? Now that Courteney Cox has signed on to play Lucy
Spiller in the upcoming FX sitcom "Dirt," Star and National Enquirer
czarina Bonnie Fuller is inviting Cox to shadow her through her day as
she destroys lives and ruins reputations. "I'm happy," Fuller tells me,
"to help her in her research." Heartwarming.
NY DAILY NEWS/RICHARD HUFF...
--Lynne White will investigate security for the Academy Awards on a
special Oscar preview edition of Court TV's "Hollywood Heat" airing
tonight at 11. The Oscar edition will also include predictions from
experts, and Joan Rivers will weigh in on the Academy Award goody bags.
--TV One will air the annual Trumpet Awards, which honor
African-American achievement March 12 at 8:30 p.m.
--Cable's The N has picked up reruns of "Summerland" and "Dawson's
Creek." "Summerland" will start May 1, with "Dawson's" launching Sept.
1.
USA TODAY/JIM CHENG...
--Sophia Bush is seeking to annul her brief marriage to her One Tree
Hill co-star Chad Michael Murray, citing fraud. According to papers
filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Bush married Murray on
April 16 and the pair separated five months later.
--Alfre Woodard, Morgan Freeman and Usher were among the TV, film and
music stars who gathered Tuesday at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel
to help raise millions for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial
in Washington, D.C. Groundbreaking is planned for November, and the
unveiling is expected in 2008.
--VUNG TAU, Vietnam - Gary Glitter was scheduled to go on trial
Thursday on charges he committed obscene acts with two underaged
Vietnamese girls. The former British glam rocker has been accused of
kissing, fondling and "engaging in other physical acts" with a
10-year-old and 11-year-old last year.
--Underscoring their spending power and musical hunger, grade-schoolers
sent a trio of kid-driven albums to the top of Billboard. High School
Musical, the soundtrack for the Disney Channel's tween-targeted TV
movie, moved to No. 1 from No. 6 after selling 101,000 copies for a
seven-week total of 404,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Kidz Bop
9, the only debut in the top 20, enters at No. 2 with 98,000, and Jack
Johnson's Curious George soundtrack is third. Rounding out the top 10
in a week of slow sales: Mary J. Blige, James Blunt, Barry Manilow,
Andrea Bocelli, Eminem, Carrie Underwood and Jaheim.
--Andre Benjamin's Class of 3000 will premiere on Cartoon Network in
November. The animated story, featuring the voices of Benjamin and Tom
Kenney (SpongeBob SquarePants), centers on a music superstar who
returns to teach at his alma mater, a performing-arts school in
Atlanta. Class of 3000 and Squirrel Boy, premiering in July, lead the
cable channel's programming slate for 2006. Cartoon Network also will
produce four original movies, including its first live-action animated
film, Re-Animated. Premiering in the fall, it's about a 12-year-old boy
who receives a brain transplant from a famous animator, causing him to
see cartoon characters wherever he goes.
--Liev Schreiber returns to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the
Park to star in Macbeth. Previews at the Delacorte Theater in New
York's Central Park begin June 13. Performances will continue through
July 9. Meryl Streep will star in Shakespeare in the Park's second
production, an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage by Tony
Kushner (Angels in America). Previews begin Aug. 8. Performances
continue through Sept. 3.
--Sheryl Crow's brother Steve tells People magazine, on newsstands
Friday, that "all the family has been out in California with her all
week" as the singer recovers from a "minimally invasive" lumpectomy
that took place Feb. 22. Crow, 44, will have radiation treatment this
month, People reports.
--In her first festival appearance, Madonna, 47, will take the stage
April 30 as part of the lineup for the Coachella Valley Music Festival
in Indio, Calif.
DONALD DUCK BUSTED:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0224061monroe1.html
3 A.M. GIRLS/Kiki King, Eva Simpson & Caroline Hedley
--SHAKIRA'S fiance can breathe a sigh of relief. The sexy singer was
rumoured to have got up close and personal with Robbie Williams in LA
last month - but the Colombian beauty is still loved-up with her
Argentinian fiance of four years, Antonio De La Rua. In London
finishing her new video, Shakira, who's new album Oral Fixation Vol 2
is out on Monday, says: "Robbie's a really nice guy, a beautiful
person. We hung out a bit in LA but we're really just friends.
"Antonio's so great. I've been so hectic recently, touring my Spanish
album and finishing my new English material, but he's so supportive.
I've got the ring on my finger - and that's the most important thing!"
Guess we can close the file on that one, then.
--Alan Rickman swinging a squash racket while walking down Westbourne
Grove, London.
--WE know what it looks like, but we're willing to give Jude Law the
benefit of the doubt as he kisses Cameron Diaz. Handsome Jude gave Cam,
33, a little peck on the cheek yesterday morning as they arrived on set
in Surrey to shoot their new film, The Holiday, with Kate Winslet. Our
spy says: "Although Cam was well wrapped up against the British winter,
she greeted Jude very warmly." Nothing for young Jason Timberlake to
worry about then.
--NEVER let it be said that Christina Aguilera doesn't like to pay her
own way... The Beautiful chanteuse, 25, enjoyed the hip Aura Rocks
night in London's West End on Tuesday but refused the hospitality of
businessmen who tried to buy her a pricey bottle of fizz. "Christina
pitched up with hubby Jordan Bratman and a group of four pals," our
onlooker reveals. "Within minutes, a group of rich guys clocked her in
the VIP area and asked a waitress to send her a £200 bottle of Cristal
champagne." But Xtina - in town to record an interview with Parky -
refused the gesture. "She ordered vodka for her party instead. She was
letting her hair down and didn't want these guys harassing her."
L.A. DAILY NEWS/By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
--If you think things are poppin' on "Desperate Housewives" now, think
again. "DH" regular Alfre Woodard reports she's gotten a peek at the
action a couple of months hence and says, "Let me tell you. There are
like major, major fireworks coming. The children keep complicating the
situations. Brace yourself. There's classical, high-epic theater
coming. I'll just say that." The Oscar-nominated ("Cross Creek," 1983),
four-time Emmy-winning actress was on hand for last week's premiere of
Miramax's South African drama, "Tsotsi," nominated for best foreign
language film this year. Based on renowned playwright Athol Fugard's
novel, "Tsotsi" is a powerfully evocative, often painfully gritty movie
about a brutal young gang leader who finds redemption through caring
for a baby he inadvertently kidnaps in a carjacking. Woodard - whose
group, Artists for a New South Africa, co-sponsored the event with
Amnesty International - had some advice for "Tsotsi" writer/director
Gavin Hood. "I told him, 'Even if you don't win - because Oscar very,
very rarely gets it right - it's just the fact that a billion people
will be watching and they'll hear the name 'Tsotsi' that matters."
--With Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush having split five months
into their marriage, "One Tree Hill's" Paul Johansson admits the rest
of the cast didn't know what to expect on set. "We were all a little
gun-shy and nervous about what was going to happen, but I've got to
give them some credit, they really handled it in a very mature way."
The actor, who has helmed his second episode for the series (it will
air on April 5), adds, "I just directed them in a love scene where they
were on a bearskin rug in front of a fireplace out in a hunting lodge.
You would never have known that those two had gone through what they've
gone through. It was a dream for me as a director to not have to deal
with it." In fact, the once tight-knit cast is on a little more distant
terms these days. "After three years, everyone has kind of settled into
their groups. We don't really all hang out that much together anymore.
We used to the first two seasons, but now with the workload, the
traveling, and the promotion to keep the show on the air, it's really
become very professional," Johansson tells us. "Plus, when you get
close to people sometimes, it takes away from the danger in the acting.
They wouldn't be afraid of me if I went out drinking with them every
night."
--If there were any doubts about the power of Oscar, filmmakers
Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman could wipe them out. "Being
nominated, we really won already. So much good has come from it,"
Acquaro says. Their "God Sleeps in Rwanda" half-hour film depicts the
lives of survivors in the aftermath of the Hutu-Tutsi genocide of more
than a decade ago - which left the country with a population of almost
70 percent women. Having no choice but to start over and assume roles
previously filled by men, they've been rebuilding in sometimes truly
breathtaking ways. The film, a nominee for best documentary short
subject, is now being bought by HBO - "and they're very interested in
not just broadcasting it, but in raising awareness of the women," says
Acquaro. "God Sleeps in Rwanda" is also getting some theatrical
release, including a showcase of all four documentary short nominees at
Hollywood's Egyptian Theater beginning Saturday.