ABC's World News with Charles Gibson mustered a rare ratings win — its first in seven months, actually — last week over NBC and Brian Williams, 9.7 million total viewers to 9.5 mil.... CBS Sports' James Brown will take a turn as coanchor of the Saturday Early Show for two weeks this month and another two in April, as the program seeks a full-time sub for Russ Mitchell.... Kate-Sawyer? Der-Mer? Cast your vote for TV's sexiest couple in TVGuide.com's new poll!
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Mere days after the passing of the Godfather of Soul, Spike Lee has signed on to direct a feature chronicling the life of James Brown, Variety reports. Lee will first rewrite the latest of several drafts of the script, which has been tossed around for years and boasts Brown's blessing (as well as all music rights). He'll then hopefully begin production by late 2007, perhaps early 2008. Hey, Jamie Foxx, do you feel good?
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Felled by congestive heart failure on Christmas morning, James Brown used his final breaths to tell longtime manager Charles Bobbit, "I'm going away tonight," the New York Daily News reports. "I didn't believe him," Bobbit relates, adding that a short time later, Brown sighed three times, closed his eyes and died. Per the News, fellow music legend Little Richard remembers Brown as "an innovator, an emancipator, an originator... Rap music, all that stuff came from James Brown." Adds Public Enemy's Chuck D, "To this day there has been no one as funky. No one's coming even close." Noting the singer's most holy final day of life, the Rev. Jesse Jackson says, "He was dramatic to the end.... He would have it no other way."
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He Knew He Was Right
He stole the child! That whackjob stole the child! Louis Trevelyan's madhouse antics are back, and he's seen some hard living since last we met. Has he been sleeping in a gutter, a morgue, some high-Alps Tyrolean crevasse? Get that man some under-eye concealer! He is in a serious hate spiral, and the only friend he's got left he has to pay to keep around — Bozzle, who, judging from his habit of speaking about himself in the third person ("Best to keep on the right side of Bozzle"; "Bozzle's got considerable connections"; "Yes, Bozzle understands, madame") has been passing his newfound time with little kidnapped Louey by watching Elmo ad nauseam. But the real highlights of Part 2 are the kooky sly-eyed catfights between the 19th century's
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Believe it or not, Michael Jackson has managed to recruit a handful of singers to perform on his Hurricane Katrina charity single. According to reports, Jackson has received firm commitments from Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, James Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliott, Yolanda Adams, R. Kelly and Mary J. Blige. Jacko’s calls to the Chuck E. Cheese's Boys Choir have yet to be returned.
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Somebody sent a feedback comment last week that read: "So Dave, I take it you don't like the show." Let me explain what a "train wreck" is. You're driving by a train accident and no matter how disastrous it appears to be, you can't help but look away. A TV train wreck is similar — a disaster that is so bad, it's good. I can't help but be amazed at what has become of the Whitney Houston I admired when I was younger. I'm talking the "Greatest Love of All" Whitney. The "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" Whitney. And, of course, the "I Will Always Love You" Whitney. But maybe this is how she's always been — maybe she's just hidden this side? The way Bobby acts on this show is the way I assumed he's always been. But Whitney? "It's Not Right, But It's Okay." On to the countdown…
10:00 pm At long last, they're at home or at least one of their homes. This one's the main one — their "country club" home in Atlanta. Whitney tries to braid Bobby's hair.
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