BITS AND PIECES 10/10
PUSSSYKATT
--"SNL's" Will Ferrell is all over the place. Not only did he guest star on
last night's "Undeclared," but he's going mano-a-mano with James Lipton, the
"Inside the Actors Studio" host who Ferrell has lampooned mercilessly on "SNL."
Lipton - he of the balding head and weird beard - will appear with Ferrell on
stage this Sunday (7 p.m. on Bravo) as "Inside" celebrates its 100th episode,
which features an hour-long interview with Gene Hackman and a retrospective
look at Lipton's sitdowns with Kevin Spacey, Julia Roberts and others.
--Tonight on ABC: Barbara Walters interviews Robert Kramer, the president of
BioPort, the only U.S. company able to produce Anthrax. The interview airs at
10 p.m.
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--Trish Bergin, the blonde newscaster who dated Billy Joel and "Survivor" star
Dr. Sean Kenniff, is now seeing Russell Weichbrodt, an environmental lawyer for
the Town of Southampton . . .
--Charlotte Ronson, the fashion designer whose twin sister Samantha is a
deejay, is overjoyed Jay-Z gives her a mention in "Jigga That Nigga," a cut on
his hit album, "Blueprint."
--MAYBE conspiracy theorists should take another look at the unsolved 1998
murder of Yale senior Suzanne Jovin. At the time she was found dead of 17 stab
wounds on a New Haven street, Jovin was working on her senior thesis in
political science and international relations. Her topic? Osama bin Laden. The
prime suspect in the widely reported case, Jovin's thesis adviser James Van de
Velde, now works at the Pentagon in a job with top-secret clearance.
--THEIR lesbian love scene in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" wasn't hard for
comely co-stars Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring (above). "We were
definitely getting lost in the moment," Watts purrs to Premiere magazine. Elena
Harring, a Mexican-born former countess and onetime Miss USA, adds: "When we
were done, I was like, 'I wish I had a boyfriend.' I mean, my face was
flushed." While their sexual chemistry wasn't a problem, the ladies were
flummoxed by the bizarre plotline. "David absolutely wouldn't tell us what any
of it means," Watts says. "He'd just sit back and delight in our frustration."
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
--Joan Kennedy, former wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, checked into a
Massachusetts rehab facility last week for treatment of alcoholism. Rep.
Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), her son, released a statement Monday, hoping for a
"speedy recovery" from the "chronic disease." Joan was admitted last week to
McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., where she'll stay for an indefinite period,
a spokesman for the congressman said. Kennedy, 65, was given two years
probation in November after her fourth drunk driving arrest since 1974. She and
Sen. Kennedy split in 1982 after 24 years of marriage.
--"Town and Country" is long gone from the theaters. But director Peter Chelsom
hasn't forgiven his star, Warren Beatty, for his alleged meddling on the
"fiasco," as even Chelsom calls the critically drubbed comedy. "I just can't
understand why Warren Beatty now has to go around telling everyone that he had
nothing to do with all the delays that held it up," Chelsom told Webster Hall
curator Baird Jones at a screening of his new film, "Serendipity." "Warren
insisted on dozens of script changes and reshoots. He now wants to pretend that
he was just one of many actors following directions like everyone else. It's
ridiculous and insulting. Just the other day Diane Keaton took me aside and
said that at least I should take comfort in the knowledge that I'd never have
it that bad again. Was she referring to the fact that I would never work with
Warren Beatty again? Well I guess we both knew."
USA TODAY...
--Drew Barrymore has decided to host Saturday Night Live this weekend. The
actress had declined hosting duties, saying the Sept. 11 attacks and the
bombing of Afghanistan made her leery of flying to New York. "I was leaning
towards not going," she said Tuesday from the set of SNL. "But then I turned on
the TV and saw (New York Mayor) Rudolph Giuliani asking Americans to be brave.
I was teetering between the words coward and caution, and decided brave was
better. So I got on the plane and came here." Barrymore will stay in New York
next week to promote her film Riding in Cars With Boys, which opens Oct. 19.
--Scarecrow, Garth Brooks' first album of regular studio material in four
years, featuring duets with George Jones and Trisha Yearwood, will hit stores
Nov. 13. Brooks delivered the album's first single, Wrapped Up in You, to
country radio stations nationwide during a press conference Tuesday at
Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame. The album's title refers to The Wizard
of Oz character who "thought with his heart," he said. Brooks, who announced
last year that he would retire after making this album, said he won't tour
behind it. "If anyone wants to see me, I'm at soccer three times a week,"
watching his daughters. He did, however, hint at plans that would put him on TV
"once a week for many weeks before Christmas." He also announced his first
commercial endorsement deal — TV spots for Dr Pepper airing next month —
and a number of AOL tie-ins: a site (key word: garthbrooks) providing general
information, upcoming recordings of generic AOL greetings ("You've got mail,"
etc.) and a live chat on the album's release date.
--O-Town is getting a reprieve on TV. Starting Jan. 4, MTV will air the third
season of Making the Band, a reality series featuring the boy band. The series
previously aired on ABC. MTV will stick to the original format, which captured
the public and private moments of the band's members from their casting calls
to recording their first album. The series will cover life on the road after
the group joins the Britney Spears tour on Oct. 26.
--Tim McGraw, Vince Gill, Clint Black, Lee Ann Womack, George Jones, Lonestar,
Charlie Daniels and Sara Evans have joined the lineup for the Country Freedom
Concert on Oct. 21, which will be broadcast live from Nashville at 8 p.m. ET/PT
on the Country Music Television cable network. The concert will pay tribute to
the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and will benefit the Salvation
Army.
--Chelsea Clinton might want to listen to Kate Beckinsale, star of the romantic
comedy Serendipity with John Cusack. Londoner Beckinsale, 27, spent three years
at the University of Oxford, where the former first daughter is now studying
for her master's. Asked for some advice for Clinton, 21, Beckinsale's first
suggestion was, "Don't inhale?" She added, "I was such a big square. I was just
working when I was there," majoring in French and Russian literature. After
studying a year in Paris, she dropped out to pursue acting. But she says
Clinton should beware: "I'm sure she'll be doing a lot of the drinking vodka
out of her shoes and all the ancient drinking games and initiation rites they
have there."
E! ONLINE.. by Mark Armstrong
--Eminem's divorce to Kimberly Mathers getting finalized in Michigan. According
to court papers, the rapper will pay her $1,000 per week in child support, and
they will have joint custody of their five-year-old daughter.
--The Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync joining Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith
and others for United We Stand, an all-star benefit concert October 21 at RFK
Stadium in Washington, D.C. Tickets are expected to go on sale October 12.
--Charlie's Angels director McG signing a deal with Fox to create a new
undercover cop series, Variety reports. He's teaming with TV veteran John
McNamara for the project, tentatively titled Fast Lane, described as a Starsky
and Hutch and Miami Vice-style series.
--Asif Kapadia's Indian film The Warrior taking top honors at the 12th Dinard
British Film Festival in France Sunday.
--Ghost World director Terry Zwigoff in early talks to direct Bad Santa,
Variety reports. The Coen Brothers-produced film centers on two con men who rob
shopping malls dressed as Santa and an elf, only to be reminded later of the
true meaning of Christmas by a troubled 8-year-old.
--Comedy Central renewing three of its original series, Let's Bowl, The Man
Show and Insomniac with Dave Attell, for 2002. That will keep The Man Show
(currently the network's highest-rated original show behind South Park) running
through its fourth season.
--Johnny Carson donating several Emmy awards, magazine covers and other
memorabilia to the Elkhorn Valley Museum in his hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska.
--The drummer for the Bay City Rollers allowed to continue his job as a nurse,
despite being convicted of kiddie porn. A British nursing authority issued only
a warning to Derek Longmuir, who had denied downloading indecent pictures of
children on the Internet, but said he pleaded guilty to avoid a media circus.
E! ONLINE...by Chuck Kim
--Minnie Driver gets stuck in a romantic traffic jam in New Cardiff. Driver
plays a bride-to-be who nixes her wedding. When her ex-groom (Colin Firth)
hooks up with a small-town girl (Heather Graham), Driver decides she wants him
back. Filming begins this month.
--Rap star Snoop Dogg makes like a hip-hop Robin Hood in USA Films' Lady T. and
Mojo Slim. Snoop plays a low-level criminal who falls for a policeman's
daughter. The couple goes on a crime spree, using their ill-gotten gains to
help the less fortunate.
--Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin hits the big screen in his first feature,
Collision Course. Irwin takes on the part of himself in a fictional story set
in his native Australia. Few details are known, but the film will surely take
advantage of Irwin's famed animal-wrangling skills. Cameras roll next year.
ASSOCIATED PRESS...
--Mavis Leno, an outspoken critic of Taliban suppression of women in
Afghanistan, canceled her lecture at Wilmington College due to security
concerns. The lecture had been scheduled for Tuesday. ``It was canceled by
Mavis Leno and her organization, Feminist Majority,'' said college spokesman
Randy Sarvis. ``They contacted us on Sunday evening and felt that for security
reasons, it would be prudent to cancel.'' The United States and Britain began
bombing Afghanistan on Sunday in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. As
part of the Los Angeles-based Feminist Majority Foundation, Leno has supported
humanitarian aid to Afghan women since 1997. She promoted her view during an
appearance on husband Jay Leno's ``The Tonight Show'' last week.
--The Rev. Billy Graham fell and broke his foot, two days before the start of a
four-day crusade. The ailing Graham, who suffers from Parkinson's disease,
arrived at a news conference in a golf cart Tuesday and explained that he
couldn't stand because of a fracture to his right foot. ``I've had a little
accident this morning, I'm sorry,'' Graham said before making brief remarks at
the California State University, Fresno, football field. The injury will not
affect Graham's plans to preach each night of the Central Valley Crusade, said
Graham spokesman A. Larry Ross. Graham injured himself early Tuesday morning
when he went to adjust the thermostat in his hotel room. He fractured his small
toe and a bone in his right foot, said Dr. J. Philip Hinton at Community
Medical Centers. His foot was placed in a splint at the hospital and Hinton
said the 82-year-old evangelist would be able to stand while addressing the
Fresno faithful. ``It's the kind of thing that could happen to anyone of his
age,'' Hinton said.
www.zap2it.com....
--ABC has ordered a full-season pickup for the Damon Wayans sitcom, “My Wife
and Kids,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series from Touchstone TV
was an immediate midseason success for ABC following its March premiere. Last
week, the show attracted 11.9 million viewers in the Wednesday 8 p.m. time
slot, the network’s highest rating in that slot since “My Wife and Kids”
debuted. The full pickup of the series, co-created by Wayans and Don Reo, adds
nine more episodes, bringing the second-season total to 22 shows.
--Actress Lori Heuring, 25, has signed on to appear in two episodes of ABC's
spy drama "Alias" according to Variety. She will play a woman assigned to get
in the way of the show's heroine (Jennifer Garner) on the Oct. 28 and Nov. 4
episodes. Heuring was No. 64 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 List and Miss December
for the men's magazine's 2001 calendar. She has previously appeared in such
films as "The In Crowd" and David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive," which was
originally shot as a pilot for ABC. In related news, Gina Torres ("Cleopatra
2525") makes her first of two appearances this Friday (Oct. 14) on the spy
drama as Sydney's deadly rival. Torres plays Anna Espinosa on "Alias," an agent
for K-Directorate. Aside from "Cleopatra 2525," Torres has an upcoming role in
the sequels to "The Matrix" and has appeared in the series "Dark Angel" and
"M.A.N.T.I.S."
--While HBO has had trouble keeping Americans glued to its 10-hour miniseries
"The Band of Brothers" following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the British
appear to already be hooked. The BBC2's premiere of the series was a
spectacular success, with more than 5 million viewers tuning in to watch the
opening double episode, according to Variety. The success of "Band's" premiere,
which pulled an impressive 24 percent audience share, has made BBC1's decision
not to air the pricey, high profile series look foolish. The BBC paid a record
7 million pounds ($10 million U.S.) for the series, but network executives
later decided to move it to BBC2 over fears that it would not be mainstream
enough.
--Writer Nancy Miller and producer Gary Randall are taking a "Voyage to Mars"
for NBC. The duo behind Lifetime’s "Any Day Now" has signed a seven-figure
overall deal with Studios USA, which gives the studio first look at the TV
movie for NBC, confirmed a spokesman for Studios USA. "Mars" is based on the
book of the same name by Laurence Bergreen. David Weddle and Bradley Thompson
are currently writing the script for the two-hour movie, which will also serve
as a pilot for a possible series. The movie, set 10 years in the future,
follows the assembling and training of the crew for the mission, triggered by
the discovery of life on Mars. Randall described the story as a mix of "The
West Wing" and "The Right Stuff." "This is science fact," Randall tells The
Hollywood Reporter. "This is a totally grounded-in-reality look at what NASA is
actually going to be doing to prepare for and actually execute the first manned
mission to Mars." The movie is being developed with NASA’s cooperation.
--“NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER: FREEDOM UNDER FIRE” Premieres 9:00-11:00
p.m. ET. In more than 20 years of war in Afghanistan, no film has so intimately
captured the extraordinary nature of life and death on the front lines, as well
as behind them. Join The Perfect Storm author Sebastian Junger and
world-renowned photographer Reza as they explore a nation steeped in history,
rich in tradition, and torn apart by war. EXPLORER also follows the two
journalists on their search for Ahmed Shah Massoud, the resistance leader known
as "The Lion of Panjshir." Massoud died in September 2001 from wounds sustained
in an assassination attempt a week earlier. To reach Massoud, Junger and Reza
trek to the front lines deep in the Hindu Kush Mountains--a treacherous place
in the best of times, a death trap in war. Two generations have come of age in
Afghanistan knowing nothing but war. Refugee camps, makeshift medical clinics,
and a near starving population are the order of the day, but Junger and Reza
capture personal stories of families, fighters and their warrior leader. Their
journey reveals a country's tortured yet hope-filled struggle toward peace in
the face of conflict, disease, and death.
--“MSNBC Investigates: Blackhawk Down- The Somali Connection” Premieres
9:00-10:00p.m. ET (Repeats from 1:00-2:00a.m. ET) Dateline NBC’s Stone
Phillips hosts a special “MSNBC Investigates” that takes a look at the
attack on American forces in Somalia on October 3, 1993. It is the story of a
United Nations military mission mounted by American Special Forces - a
humanitarian mission to save a nation on the verge of self-destruction due to a
civil war. A mission plagued by a lack of planning, a lack of support and a
lack of intelligence. And while no one knew it at the time, it was America's
first battle with the forces of Osama Bin Laden. On October 3, in a battle
called by the US Army, “the most intense ground combat since the Tet
Offensive in Vietnam,” 18 American soldiers were killed and 76 wounded when
Somalian troops took down a US Army Blackhawk helicopter. Phillips interviews
soldiers who experienced the battle first hand.
--“MSNBC Investigates: Heroes of Flight 93” Premieres 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET
(Repeats from 1:00-2:00a.m. ET) They were regular passengers, strangers...But
on September 11th, in the face of terror, they became a band of heroes. Facing
certain death, the passengers on United Flight 93-- the last of four hijacked
planes to go down-- fought back. And in the process, they saved countless lives
on the ground. John Seigenthaler hosts “MSNBC Investigates: Heroes of Flight
93.” How did this group of strangers rally themselves to take on terrorists?
What was their plan? And who were these individuals who have emerged as heroes?
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Bird Lady
agcgoss...@aol.com says...
Which station shows NG Explorer? I'd like to watch this tonight.
bel- not very TV savvy
> --“NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER: FREEDOM UNDER FIRE” Premieres 9:00-11:00
> p.m. ET. In more than 20 years of war in Afghanistan, no film has so intimately
> captured the extraordinary nature of life and death on the front lines, as well
> as behind them. Join The Perfect Storm author Sebastian Junger and
> world-renowned photographer Reza as they explore a nation steeped in history,
> rich in tradition, and torn apart by war. EXPLORER also follows the two
> journalists on their search for Ahmed Shah Massoud, the resistance leader known
> as "The Lion of Panjshir." Massoud died in September 2001 from wounds sustained
> in an assassination attempt a week earlier. To reach Massoud, Junger and Reza
> trek to the front lines deep in the Hindu Kush Mountains--a treacherous place
> in the best of times, a death trap in war. Two generations have come of age in
> Afghanistan knowing nothing but war. Refugee camps, makeshift medical clinics,
> and a near starving population are the order of the day, but Junger and Reza
> capture personal stories of families, fighters and their warrior leader. Their
> journey reveals a country's tortured yet hope-filled struggle toward peace in
> the face of conflict, disease, and death.
>
Dennis Lewis
wrote:
>
>Which station shows NG Explorer? I'd like to watch this tonight.
>
>bel- not very TV savvy
MSNBC's site indicates this episode will be shown on MSNBC at 9 p.m.
Friday, not tonight:
http://www.msnbc.com/onair/default.asp?program=2
(scroll down to bottom of page)
And the on-screen digital cable guide confirms MSNBC isn't showing
National Geographic tonight. (And I even obscured one of Wolf Larson's
scenes in "Tracks of a Killer" on Lifetime Movie Network to check.)
On the other hand, the National Geographic Explorer site indicates the
episode will air on MSNBC at 8 p.m. Oct. 14 -- so if MSNBC doesn't
show it at 9 p.m. Friday, check back Sunday night at 8.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/explorer/
>In article <20011010081600...@mb-ms.aol.com>,
>agcgoss...@aol.com says...
>