Tim Robbins
Now Tim Robbins really has something to complain about.
Despite good buzz for the speechifying actor's pharmaceutical drama pilot, Possible Side Effects, Showtime is taking a pass.
At least Robbins is in good company: The cabler has passed on all four pilots it ordered this outing. The other three are the L Word spinoff starring Leisha Hailey, the Matthew Perry/Peter Tolan comedy The End of Steve, and the comedy Ronna and Beverly, from a team that includes Weeds creator Jenji Kohan.
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Ellen Burstyn by Rosemary Goldhar/WireImage.com
A possible side effect of Tim Robbins' new series? It's got Ellen Burstyn on its roster.According to Variety, the Oscar-winning actress has joined the upcoming Showtime drama, Possible Side Effects, that explores the inner workings of a family-owned pharmaceutical company.Burstyn will play the matriarch of the Hunt clan, which presumably includes already-announced stars Josh Lucas and Tim Blake Nelson.Robbins is writing, directing and executive producing the project, along with Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and Daniel Thomas. Now how about we get Susan Sarandon on board too? — Joyce Eng
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Bradley Whitford by Art Streiber/NBC Photo
Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell (Party of Five) are set to front Burn Up, a four-hour global-warming thriller being shopped around to the networks, says Variety.... Showtime has given a pilot order to Possible Side Effects, a drama about a family that runs a pharmaceutical company, says the Reporter. Tim Robbins wrote and directed the pilot and will exec-produce the series, but will not star in it.... Versus will premiere Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller on Nov. 6, to air Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET.... Lewis Black has been tapped to moderate The Root of All Evil, a Comedy Central series that will "put pop culture on trial" (whatever that means).
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Tunnels cover art courtesy Scholastic, Inc.
Who will spellbind young moviegoers once Deathly Hallows has come and gone? Warner Bros. has picked up the big-screen rights to the seven-book Septimus Heap series, while Relativity Media has acquired Tunnels, a children's fantasy series out of the U.K.... Also per Variety, Aaron Sorkin is penning three films for DreamWorks, kicking off with The Trial of the Chicago 7, which Steven Spielberg hopes to direct.... Per the Reporter, Naomi Watts will star opposite Clive Owen in the thriller The International.... Tim Robbins and Martin Landau have joined the fantasy feature City of Ember, starring Bill Murray.
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• Tim Robbins will write, exec-produce and direct Possible Side Effects for Showtime, a drama pilot about a dysfunctional family tied to the big-bucks pharmaceutical industry, says Variety.• Sources tell the New York Post's Page Six that Star Jones, who just recently booked an SVU gig (detailed below), has inked a deal to host her own Court TV show later this year. UPDATE: Court TV announced Wednesday that Star will front a show about criminal justice issues that intersect with the pop culture world. • Filmmaker Curtis Hanson (8 Mile, L.A. Confidential) has inked a multiyear deal to create, develop and produce programming for CBS Paramount Network Television.• Lifetime has ordered 13 episodes of Side Order of Life, starring Marisa Coughlan as a photographer who rethinks her life after a pal gets cancer, with Jason Priestley playing her fiancé. A July premiere is slated.• Fox News is in talks to pick up 24 creator Joel Surnow's 1/2 Hour News Hour, which ...
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Susan Sarandon
She's calm, cool and classy — and not too big for a behind-the-scenes gig. Between making movies and her upcoming guest arc on the new season of Rescue Me (premiering May 30), Susan Sarandon still found time to narrate a revealing documentary on one of the industry's legends, Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (tonight at 8 pm/ET on TCM), and she was gracious enough to chat with TV Guide about the film, fame and Oscar.
TV Guide: You know I have to say it: You've got
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Jon Stewart hosts the 78th Annual Academy Awards.
The Daily Show's Jon Stewart, host of the 78th Annual Academy Awards (airing Sunday at 9 pm/ET on ABC) answers TVGuide.com readers' burning questions!
What can you tell me about your Oscar-hosting gig? — Paul Strouse, Pittsburgh, Pa.Jon Stewart: This may be the most devastating, controversial, powerful, dangerous awards show ever.... No, I'm looking to have fun with it. If people are kind enough to spend four hours watching this damn show, I'm hoping to give them something other than a numb ass. And I won't sing; I want them to be happy.
Will you have The Daily Show's Rob Corddry or Ed Helms on hand to help on the red carpet with some impromptu interviews? Or Stephen Colbert —
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Question: My mom and I have a disagreement about the movie Cradle Will Rock, and we'd like you to settle it. I say it's based on true events, but Mom says they just added real people to a fictional story to make it seem more authentic. A pint of Ben & Jerry's is riding on the answer. Answer: Actor-turned-filmmaker Tim Robbins' Cradle Will Rock is based on actual events, though it takes liberties with the details. Marc Blitzstein's 1937 anticapitalist operetta The Cradle Will Rock, about the effort to unionize steelworkers, was originally produced as part of the Federal Theatre Project. The Federal Theatre Project (1935-1939), in turn, was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was created in 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Ever wonder where Oscar winners go after being led — or, in some cases, dragged — off the Kodak Theater's stage? No, they don't just toddle on back to their seats. First, they've gotta come backstage to meet the press. That's where the stars tell a roomful of reporters whatever they lacked time — or the presence of mind — to say to the billion viewers watching at home. Bear in mind, these Tinseltown luminaries are often still shell-shocked when they reach us, which means lotsa memorable moments. Here's a handy-dandy timeline of Sunday night's backstage highlights:
6:03 pm/PSTIf you thought Mystic River's Tim Robbins had a case of award-show anxiety onstage, he was even loopier backstage. How did the best supporting actor feel, now that he and longtime companion
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