According to MTV.com, a San Diego judge ruled on Tuesday that the producers of CBS' Rock Star: Supernova must come up with an alternate name for the band composed of Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted, Gilby Clarke and the winner being crowned tonight. Last month, Supernova, a punk trio from Orange County, California, filed for a preliminary injunction halting the Rock Star quartet from performing or recording as Supernova if the band fails to modify its name. (Sorry, Tommy, I already have dibs on "Supernova: Our Take.") Yesterday's ruling acknowledged that "the marks are identical, the parties operate in very similar or identical markets, the [name] Supernova is distinctive and therefore strong, and there is evidence of actual confusion in the market." The group now-never-to-be-known-as Supernova is slated to launch a tour December 31 in Las Vegas, complete with $85 concert shirts that say "?"
read more
Depending on which tabloid you read in the back corner of the convenience store, on Tuesday Britney Spears gave birth to a second son. Or her first daughter. (Having paid close attention in high-school bio, I can tell you that at least one of the stories is right.) At press time, the consensus seemed to be that there's a stem on the apple, though the newsstands had recently trumpeted the news that Spears had a girl on board, and had even decided to name the lass Jailynn, after her folks Jaime and Lynn. Instead, Spears and her hubby may opt to go with a combo of Kevin Federline's parents' names, which, K-Fed guesses, "would be Mop. Or maybe Pom?"
read more
In a statement cited by the Hollywood Reporter, the NAACP has said that it will wait and see before coming down hard on the segregated Survivor: Cook Islands, premiering Thursday. "Whether we like the concept or not
read more
Just one episode into the new season of The Wire ? and despite a 21 percent dip in total viewers (versus those who tuned in for the previous opener) ? HBO has picked up the crime drama for a fifth and final round. "I had no question in my mind about the quality of the show, but you never know," HBO entertainment prez Carolyn Strauss tells the Hollywood Reporter. "The show is extraordinary and breathtaking." Though the network's options on the cast have expired, Strauss expects the core ensemble to be back for Season 5, the length of which has yet to be determined.
read more
Turning a blind eye to the horror that was The Grinch, Jim Carrey again will give life to a Dr. Seuss character, this time voicing the titular elephant in a CGI-animated take on Horton Hears a Who, Variety reports. The Office's Steve Carell will voice the Mayor of Whoville.... Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Kline, Christopher Lloyd ("Marty!!"), William H. Macy and Sigourney Weaver are among the voice cast of The Tale of Despereaux, an animated adaptation of the award-winning children's book about a mouse, a rat and a servant girl with cauliflower ears.... Warner Bros. is remaking Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, this time minus the "of Europe" (xenophobia alert!) and featuring Huff's Oliver Platt as a dessert chef's ex.
read more
Fox's House was named outstanding drama series, and Hugh Laurie was crowned best drama actor, in the first annual MediaVillage TV Fan Awards, which were based on online voting at Jack Myers MediaVillage.com. Other winners include The Office (best comedy), Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell (drama actress), Grey's Anatomy's T.R. Knight and Sandra Oh (in supporting categories), and Scrubs' Zach Braff and Gilmore Girls' Lauren Graham (as comedy leads).
read more
The coroner who examined Anna Nicole Smith's son, Daniel, after he suddenly died on Sunday, tells the New York Daily News, "We have a cause of death, but I am reserving it pending complete toxicology reports," suggesting that drugs may have figured into the 20-year-old's passing. "It was not natural causes," adds the coroner. "[And a] heart attack was ruled out." Though unconfirmed, one newspaper from Nassau, Bahamas, where Daniel Smith died just days after meeting his newborn sister, has alleged that "various medications, along with drugs," were found in his system.
read more
Having worked alongside Lindsay Lohan on Georgia Rule, Jane Fonda says "it was good" that the production company's CEO recently and publicly scolded the hard-partying ingenue, whose late nights and tardy arrivals on the set irked cast and crew. "Every once in a while, a very, very young person who is burning both ends of the candle needs to have someone say, 'You're going to pay the piper, you better slow down,'" Fonda told Tuesday's Access Hollywood. "You always know what she's doing because you can just read about it in the tabloids. She's young and she can get away with it.... But it's very hard after a while to party very hard and work very hard. She learned that, I hope."
read more
Yeah, yeah, Angel Cohn, among others, beat me to blogging about our favorite new fall shows. But out of fairness to ABC, I was waiting on the screeners for Brothers & Sisters and Men in Trees, among others. Which new series most impresses me? Is it Friday Night Lights, Six Degrees or Men in Trees? Here's how my assorted expectations met reality:SundayBrothers & Sisters, ABC: Expectations were modest, as a stellar cast (Calista Flockhart, Sally Field, Rachel Griffiths, Ron Rifkin, to name but a few) was balanced out by foreboding backstage buzz and shuffles. The pilot starts off slow (the first 20 minutes felt like an eternity), but by the end I was pulled in. The show is just a wee heavy-handed with the constant references to Calista's character being this Ann Coulter-type talking head. We. Get. It.The Game, CW: This one (as well as ABC's Knights of Prosperity) I have yet to watch, sorry. I never watched UPN's Girlfriends, so perhaps I'm afraid I'd be helplessly adrift with ...
read more