BITS AND PIECES 10/05
agcbli...@yahoo.com
--GEORGE Clooney wants to remake the classic 1976 movie "Network" as a
live CBS special. In the movie, a dark satire written by Paddy
Chayefsky, Peter Finch played ranting newsman-turned-folk-hero Howard
Beale, whose insanity became an instant ratings sensation, saving his
limping network. Beale's "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it
anymore!" became a catch phrase after the movie opened. Clooney, who
starred five years ago in CBS' live version of the Cold War drama "Fail
Safe," told the Associated Press that he was approached by CBS chief
Les Moonves about giving "Network" the same live treatment. Clooney
says he wouldn't change Chayefsky's script, except to update it by
substituting a Black Panther group with a terrorist group. He also says
he screened The original movie for younger people, who failed to see
its darkly satiric commentary on the pitfalls of network television. "I
couldn't understand it, [then] I realized that everything Chayefsky
wrote about happened," Clooney said. "And so, suddenly, the idea that
the anchor is more important than the news story, and that you'd be
doing sort of reality-based shows with heads of gangs and Sybil the
Soothsayer all happened."
--Tonight on "ET": Mark Steines interviews Danny Bonaduce ("Breaking
Bonaduce").
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--LISA Ling has called off her 8-month engagement to media entrepreneur
Philip Levine. Ling - a former co-host on "The View" who left the
daytime chatfest in 2002 to host "National Geographic Ultimate
Explorer" - spends most of her time shuttling between L.A. and New
York, while Levine is based in Miami. And, like many long-distance
relationships, the Ling/Levine fling was destined to fail. Those
craving dishy details should look elsewhere: the split was described by
one friend of Ling's as "amicable."
--TWO celebrity glossies, Us Weekly and Life & Style, have cover
stories out declaring that the Jessica Simpson-Nick Lachey marriage is
kaput. But Simpson's flacks issued a joint statement yesterday saying,
"Nick and Jessica have not separated. Rumors to the contrary are simply
not true." The magazines report Jessica was crying on a flight home to
L.A. and overheard moaning, "Nick doesn't want me anymore!" Similar
stories have been around for months, but the couple - although they
seem disconnected - has pretended to carry on. If and when the split
is official, it will presumably be announced in OK! magazine, which has
an exclusive contract with Jessica.
--MONICA Lewinsky has found a way to make some money while she studies
hard at the London School of Economics. Lewinsky's p.r. gal/manager,
Barbra Hutson, is said to be trolling the British media underbelly
looking for someone to give the former White House intern $100,000 for
her first interview as a U.K. resident. Lewinsky has told pals she just
wants to live a quiet life and find a nice guy to marry - but Hutson
seems hell-bent on getting her a payday. Lewinsky got a six-figure fee
last year when she commented on Brit TV about Bill Clinton's book, "My
Life."
--THE voice yesterday morning was breathy with a mild Texan twang.
"This is Renée Zellweger," she said. "I'm in the lobby, and I wonder
if you could come down because I want to talk to you." Pause. She
sounded like the Oscar-winning actress. "You're probably lying," PAGE
SIX said, "but I'll come down because I don't mind being pranked." A
minute later, we were shaking hands with a petite blonde wearing shorts
and sneakers (great legs) and no makeup. It was definitely Zellweger.
"I just wanted to tell you that story was hurtful about me being with
another man," she said. "It wasn't true, and it made me look slutty."
On Monday, we had picked up a Women's Wear Daily report that recently
separated Renée was planning a trip to Ireland "to visit her new beau,
Irish singer Damien Rice." Turns out Zellweger and Rice are old
friends. Nor is she romantically involved with the guy she accompanied
to a Red Sox game, although she confessed to being a Sox fan: "It's my
brother's fault. He was crazy about Jim Rice and he gave me his
baseball card." If one could overlook such a serious flaw, one could be
a serious Zellweger fan. We parted, and she headed north on Sixth
Avenue, unrecognized in the crowd.
--FORMER Knick Charles Oakley getting up from dinner at Baraonda with
Damon Wayans to watch Ivana Trump do the hustle with deejay diva Sia
Bayiokos.
--HEATH Ledger and a very pregnant Michelle Williams dining al fresco
at Royal's Downtown in Carroll Gardens, where the couple recently
bought a house.
--NAOMI Campbell - wearing a bandage on her foot - eating ceviche
and tacos with several pals at Mercadito.
--SHARON Stone is painting Paris red - and has eight bodyguards to
help her. The star flew to France this week for her designation at LVMH
corporate headquarters as the face of Dior Beauty. Stone tried to get
into the Klimt exhibit at the gallery in the building but was
surrounded by fans. Her bodyguards were "overwhelmed," so she didn't
stay. Stone will have even more protectors Saturday night when the new
Louis Vuitton flagship store is unveiled in the City of Light.
--THE war is escalating between "Today" show news anchor Ann Curry and
her neighbors over construction on her West 71st Street brownstone. In
August, we reported that Curry's neighbor, Lynne Lummel, went to court
to halt "unsafe and harmful demolition and construction practices" on a
massive addition to the pad. The Landmarks Preservation Commission
issued another stop-work order this week, we're told, after a Sept. 30
inspection found the new rooftop on Curry's townhouse is too high and
is visible from a public thoroughfare, a major violation in historic
neighborhoods. Lummel had put up a sign on her own roof pointing to
Curry's place reading, "Take It Down." "One of the reasons we moved
into a historical neighborhood was to avoid having a high-rise go up
next door or having construction such as Ann Curry's take place,"
Lummel says. "We have been extremely upset at being misled time and
time again by [the] owners and architects." A "Today" rep did not
return calls.
--Hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari - who feels she was sold down the
river for her new Reebok "I am what I am" endorsement - is looking
for new management.
--Shirley MacLaine says the one actor she'd like to have worked with
was Marlon Brando. "We talk about it all the time," she told Fox News
Channel's Bill McCuddy. The co-star of "In Her Shoes," famous for her
other-worldly ways, told McCuddy: "Marlon is doing just fine - and
he's much thinner."
--The E! channel is broadcasting a documentary titled "Bill Clinton:
All the President's Women," and it's not about Janet Reno and Donna
Shalala.
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--JENNIFER Anthony - as one properly brought up such as myself might
address Marc Anthony's missus, Jennifer Lopez - is hiring a decorator
for the Long Island place they are now throwing together. Mr. and Mrs.
Anthony, having places to flop yon and thither, have possibly run out
of ideas for drapes so they've turned to TV's ultimate makeover warlord
- Thom Felicia of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Good. Great. It
should only not look like that segment where he redid a cop's place.
Oy, was that not Architectural Digest. P.S. For their housewarming
party, do not be surprised if Mrs. Anthony serves KFC chicken. It's her
fave. Why? She says, "It comes with free cake."
--SERIAL dater George Clooney said bye-bye - not to Miss American Pie
but to that other confection, Lisa Snowden, with whom he has played
Spin the Bottle 2 1/2 years. However, we all know about that Great
Dating Service Someplace and how it doesn't close one door without
opening another. Georgie's newie beauty is Gianna Cantatore. She
already visited his Lake Como 14-room villa where, because he finds the
master bedroom too large, the master himself bunks in a guest room.
Anyway, after one dinner, the latest not-to-be-Mrs. Clooney sent her
future non-husband white daisies. Sweet, right? But it wouldn't help
her.
--IT has been said publicly that comedian Kathy Griffin and computer
consultant husband Matt Moline are getting a divorce. But when you
speak to her privately, seems they're not yet committed to calling it
quits. She said, "I have a one-nighter coming up in Colorado, and he's
going with me. We're trying to work things out." To me, they seemed a
devoted twosome, and Matt, who just shrunk from 300 to 190 in five
months on a special diet from which he never once veered, a very nice
man. Even Kathy admitted such to me. I'm happy they're trying to make
it work because que pasa with those matching wedding bands. They're
tattoos. Tattoo'd rings on both third fingers' left hands. Hard to melt
that down or sell it.
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--THERE WAS a lot of embracing and tears the other day at the "Regis
and Kelly" show when Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel and Rosario
Dawson stopped in to chat up the soundtrack for their movie version of
"Rent." (The musical is still running on Broadway at the Nederlander
Theatre.) Pascal, Diggs and Menzel - she is Mrs. Diggs in lucky
real-life - are original members of the stage show. And they get
emotional about their work in "Rent," a modern reworking of "La
Bohème." Pascal says, "We all felt such a responsibility to honor the
memory of the show's creator, Jonathan Larson." And so, apparently, did
the film's director, Chris Columbus, who, according to Pascal, "really
fought" for the stage actors to be allowed to re-create their roles.
(Larson's death on the night of the show's opening has become part of
theater legend.) Menzel, a Tony winner for "Wicked," laughed over the
unusual exception to the rule: "We used to joke around and wonder what
big movie star was going to play our parts!" Menzel has just been
signed as a solo artist by Warner Records - the company releasing
"Rent." I guess they liked what they heard. Clearly, the all-for-love
theme of the show rubbed off. After their TV duties, the four actors
hugged and kissed unashamedly backstage. (Miss Dawson, who stars as
Mimi, wore a flimsy, delicately wrought, what-are-we-seeing, black lace
top. The fervid hugging put a provocative strain on the material.) The
movie opens Nov. 23 but, the Rob Cavallo-produced soundtrack, with its
famous anthem, "Seasons of Love," is in stores now. Also in the cast is
the adorable Jesse Martin (Detective Ed Green) of TV's "Law & Order"
fame. Maybe he doesn't seem adorable as a tough cop, but in real life,
he couldn't be sweeter. And he is said to be a revelation in "Rent."
--I GUESS you gotta get Barbra Streisand to get those big charity
bucks. Streisand was the surprise guest at Andre Agassi's 10th Grand
Slam for Children gala in Las Vegas this week. Looking glam in black,
Barbra sang a medley of her hits and remarked to her former lover,
"Thank you, Andre, for being so generous." She was talking about his
charitable nature. The event raised $7.5 million. Then the tennis ace
threw in $2.5 mil, bringing the total up to $10 million. Here's a guy
who contributes to his own cause - which is not always the case!
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY...
--On Sunday, at Tribeca Hardware on Chambers St., angelic sounds filled
the store. "Who's that?" a customer asked. Zach Stoppard, the hip,
young son of owner Steve, said it was Jay-Z, performing - with a choir,
no less - on Young Jeezy's tune "Go Crazy." "We thought he'd retired
from performing," the customer said. "He can't," said Zach. "He'll
never be able to." Zach was right. The rapper and Def Jam president,
who also did a Mariah Carey tune for a DJ Clue disk and once told us he
"had no choice but to perform," is going back into the studio - alone.
"He's looking to get an album out by the beginning of summer, says a
source close to the performer. "It's on his radar." "He's been talking
with [Island Def Jam chairman] L.A. Reid about it," our source says.
"The guest spots made him miss recording. He looks around and knows
there aren't a lot of people, except maybe Kanye [West], who can touch
him." Meanwhile, the restless man from the Marcy Houses in Queens, aka
Beyoncé's life partner, continues to grow in his day job. "He's in the
office every day by 10 a.m., he's always checking the SoundScan [record
sales] numbers; he discovered Rihanna and made her a star in six
months," the spy says. "And some people thought he wouldn't take the
job seriously." Some people are fools.
--Golf's latest phenom, Michelle Wie, may be playing with the boys and
raking in the bucks (to the tune of $10 million) but, off the links,
she is just like any other 15-year-old girl. "My agent says he might be
able to arrange for me to meet Brad Pitt!" she squeals in Fortune
magazine's Power Issue. "My homework assignment is ripping pictures out
of Us Weekly - you know, to figure out what my style is going to be.
You know Kate Hudson? I love her look."
--Heath Ledger and a very pregnant Michelle Williams were spotted
dining on the patio at hip new eatery Royal's Downtown in Carroll
Gardens, Brooklyn.
--Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. canoodled in the VIP
room at Aer on Saturday while celebrating a friend's birthday.
--Gene Simmons and "Entourage's" Kevin Connolly dined at separate
tables at Uncle Jack's Steakhouse.
--Adrienne Curry and Kal Penn extolled the glories of grass at High
Times' annual Stony Awards.
--A fun night for a serious guy: Oscar-nominated "Hotel Rwanda"
director Terry George will be honored tomorrow at the New York Athletic
Club. Kim Cattrall, Pete Hamill, Cara Seymour and other luminaries will
be there, and it's all to benefit Chelsea's Irish Arts Centre.
--James Franco is more than just a pretty face. Tobey Maguire's
"Spider-Man" co-star wrote, directed and stars in "The Ape," which
he'll show at the Savannah Film Festival at the end of the month.
Sidney Lumet, Natasha Richardson, Buck Henry, Jeff Daniels, Ellen
Burstyn and others will show films and talk about their work, Oct.
29-Nov. 5.
--Eddie Murphy wants to keep his kids away from his wife's new
boyfriend, businessman Alan Daniels. In divorce papers, the "Shrek"
star is also recalling a 12-year-old prenup to protect his $37 million
estate from estranged wife Nicole Murphy.
NY DAILY NEWS/LLOYD GROVE...
--A better buy than Britney's bra: Bidding on eBay was approaching
$3,000 yesterday for the Michael Jackson and Scott Petersen trial press
passes of MSNBC host and NBC legal correspondent Dan Abrams - who
intends to give the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity and the Court
Appointed Special Advocate, a nonprofit that provides legal help to
abused kids. Meanwhile, Britney Spears' bejeweled bra was topping
$31,000. Hey, whose chest is more prestigious, anyway?
NY DAILY NEWS/RICHARD HUFF...
--VH1 officials have convinced a handful of celebrities to participate
in a sing-off in "But Can They Sing?," launching Oct. 30 at 10 p.m.
Among the stars: Morgan Fairchild, Kim Alexis and Antonio Sabato, Jr.
--"Reunion" cast member Amanda Righetti said in the November FHM
magazine that her character is loud and attention-getting. "For the
audition [for 'Reunion']," she said, "I wore legwarmers and pumps. It's
scary looking back on '80s fashion. Spandex is just ugly. They like
having me in spandex on the show. It's tight, so guys probably like
it."
--Showtime picked up "Sexual Healing," a new documentary series from
the producers of "Taxi Cab Confessions" that will follow couples in
relationship workshops. It will air next summer.
3 A.M. GIRLS/With Kiki King, Eva Simpson And Caroline Hedley
--CAMERON Diaz claims us Brits are all bed-hopping partner swappers.
The 33-year-old actress, who's currently dating toyboy Justin
Timberlake, 24, has the cheek to say: "The British are so incestuous.
They pass around partners as if they were passing popcorn at a movie.
"I saw 10 minutes of Love Actually the other day and I was like, 'Oh my
God, he's in love with his friend's wife!' "And I also have English
friends - every time I show up, that person is with that person and
that person is now with that person. I don't get it." Maybe they don't
get your cradle-snatching either, dear.
--MADONNA rides again! The singer has announced her first stage
appearance since falling off her horse in August... and it's a biggie.
She'll be performing the worldwide debut of her new single Hung Up -
out on November 7 - at the MTV Europe Awards in Lisbon, Portugal on
November 3. Coldplay, Robbie Williams and The Black Eyed Peas will also
perform at the bash, while Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat will
host the event. It will be Her Madgesty's first time on stage since the
47-year-old broke her hand and fractured her ribs in a riding accident.
--ACID-tongued comedienne Joan Rivers has branded Tom Cruise's
26-year-old fiancee Katie Holmes talentless and says getting engaged to
him was her wisest career move to date. Rivers, 72, reckons Tom's
former partners exploited the 43-year-old star to boost their box
office standing and believes the Batman Begins beauty will be no
different. She says, "Each woman has done very well by him - Nicole
Kidman, Penelope Cruz. So this one, Katie Holmes, who doesn't seem to
have much talent, is probably the luckiest of all. "I saw her in Batman
Begins and let's just say she better hang on to Tom for a while."
LAS VEGAS JOURNAL/NORM CLARKE...
--That's some kickoff being planned for The Comedy Festival on Nov. 17
at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. The lineup for the "Earth to
America" extravaganza will include Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Will
Ferrell, Steve Martin, Ray Romano, Martin Short, Ben Stiller, Dustin
Hoffman, Cedric The Entertainer, Al Franken, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin
Nealon, Wanda Sykes, Robin Williams, the cast of Avenue Q, Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Ticket information for the
three-day festival: www. thecomedyfestival.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
Individual prices: $54.55 to $113.64.
--Donald Trump is no fan of Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. In a Monday
interview with KMXB-FM, 94.1 morning team Mark and Mercedes, The Donald
was asked whether he would participate if Mark Burnett, producer of
"The Apprentice" and "Survivor," ever approached him to do a celebrity
"Survivor" show. Yes, said Trump, and he'd bring along his friend Steve
Wynn. When told Omarosa was also on the island, Trump fired back, "I'd
have to take a pass then."...
--Pamela Anderson, doing a photo shoot with celebrity photographer
David La Chappelle at Binion's on Tuesday. She's still scouting for a
location for the club she wants to open. The Killers' drummer Ronnie
Vannucci, visiting UNLV music profs Tim Jones and Dean Gronemeier on
campus Wednesday. The Killers often used Gronemeier's garage to
practice before hitting it big.
--Among the red-carpet parade at the VIP screening of "Two for the
Money" at Brenden Theatres at the Palms on Tuesday night: co-star
Jeremy Piven, Brandon Link (the film is based on the former local
sports handicapper) and Alla Wartenberg, the ex-stripper/Las Vegas
salon founder who is among the cast in Trump's latest "Apprentice" (and
reaches the final few shows, an informant says).
--Howie Mandel, checking out Pure (Caesars Palace) late Tuesday.
USA TODAY/By Mary Cadden....
--Here's something you don't hear every day: Regis Philbin and Donald
Trump singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The duet by the daytime
talk-show host and the real estate mogul-TV reality star is featured on
The Regis Philbin Christmas Album, Hollywood Records announced Tuesday.
Philbin, co-host of Live With Regis and Kelly, made his Hollywood
Records recording debut last year with When You're Smiling, a
collection of American pop standards - and his first recording in 36
years. Among other holiday favorites on the new album: Baby It's Cold
Outside and I'll Be Home for Christmas, sung by Philbin and his wife,
Joy; Marshmallow World, sung with Steve Tyrell; Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas ; and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. Trump's NBC
reality show, The Apprentice, is now in its fourth season.
--David Zenoff, a former Nevada Supreme Court Justice who performed
Elvis Presley's marriage ceremony in 1967, has died. He was 89. Zenoff
died of a respiratory ailment at Scripps Memorial Hospital in
Encinitas, Calif., near his home in La Costa, his family and colleagues
said. "He was a good leveling influence on the court," former Justice
Cliff Young said. "He was a credit to the judiciary." Zenoff was a
district court judge in Las Vegas from 1958 to 1965 before serving more
than a decade as a Supreme Court justice. After retiring in 1976, he
became the state's first senior justice and occasionally participated
in high court cases. As a Supreme Court justice, Zenoff performed the
May 1, 1967, marriage of 32-year-old Elvis Presley and 21-year-old
Priscilla Anne Beaulieu at the Aladdin hotel in Las Vegas. Zenoff also
was a boxing judge for the state Athletic Commission at nine world
championship bouts.
--The first live episode of NBC's The West Wing will pit its two
presidential candidates, played by Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits, in an
hour-long debate Nov. 6 (8 p.m. ET/PT). The entire episode will feature
only the two candidates and a moderator. Executive producer John Wells
spearheaded the live episode of ER in 1997.
--Musician Wyclef Jean is developing a comedy series with HBO loosely
based on his life. Jean will produce and star in the project, which he
is co-writing with Seth Rosenfeld and Danny Hoch (HBO's Subway Stories:
Tales from the Underground). Jean also plans to write original music
for the series through his Platinum Sound studio.
--Britain's Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, are to tour the USA
next month, their first foreign engagement as a couple, royal officials
said on Wednesday. The heir to the British throne and the Duchess of
Cornwall will travel to New York, Washington and San Francisco, a
spokesman said. During the early November trip, the two will meet U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York and dine with President Bush
at the White House. CBS' 60 Minutes has taped an interview with Charles
that will air during his visit.
--New Orleans music legends, including Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Allen
Toussaint and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, are recording Our New
Orleans to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds go to Habitat
for Humanity. The album, from Nonesuch Records, will be in stores Nov.
22. Thomas and Toussaint join Ann Peebles, Billy Preston and Mavis
Staples on the just-released I Believe to My Soul. A portion of the
purchase price goes to Gulf Coast recovery via the Red Cross.
--Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City) will be a guest on an upcoming
episode of the Fox hit House. She will be playing a patient who suffers
a seizure and matches wits with House (Hugh Laurie). The episode is
slated for December. House, on a break during the baseball post-season,
returns Nov. 1 (9 p.m. ET/PT).
marika
> NY POST/MICHAEL STARR...
> --GEORGE Clooney wants to remake the classic 1976 movie "Network" as a
> live CBS special. In the movie, a dark satire written by Paddy
> Chayefsky, Peter Finch played ranting newsman-turned-folk-hero Howard
> Beale, whose insanity became an instant ratings sensation, saving his
> limping network.
Thats a bit odd.
It's like a remake but LIVE?
reminds me of a very insane coworker who one day called one of the
coworkers out of the blue, and told her he was in
"one of those states", but he couldn't remember where. But that was a
long time ago.
>Beale's "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it
> anymore!" became a catch phrase after the movie opened. Clooney, who
> starred five years ago in CBS' live version of the Cold War drama "Fail
> Safe," told the Associated Press that he was approached by CBS chief
> Les Moonves about giving "Network" the same live treatment. Clooney
> says he wouldn't change Chayefsky's script, except to update it by
> substituting a Black Panther group with a terrorist group.
o why not just substitute a community legal services organization.
black panthers and terrorists? that's just not fair
>He also says
> he screened The original movie for younger people, who failed to see
> its darkly satiric commentary on the pitfalls of network television. "I
> couldn't understand it, [then] I realized that everything Chayefsky
> wrote about happened," Clooney said.
young people tend to be ok for a while especially in new situations.
They would probably start
out not paranoid with a happy attitude and then slowly crumble with the
the unfolding plot.
>"And so, suddenly, the idea that
> the anchor is more important than the news story, and that you'd be
> doing sort of reality-based shows with heads of gangs and Sybil the
> Soothsayer all happened."
>
no GEorge the anchor sounded very ill. what you are saying is that all
anchors flip out on air so kids are used to it.
I'm not sure when exactly this happened on supposedly serious tv news
much less once, please do not include the reality shows and crazy
springer clones. if kids cannot distinguish between those kidns of
shows and real news then it is sad
mk5000
"I wouldn't let my dear saviour [] in
Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night
Praise the Lord I saw the light.
I saw the light I saw the light"--Hank Williams