The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating the debacle that was last November's Screen Actors Guild elections. Melissa Gilbert (aka Laura Ingalls Wilder on Little House on the Prairie) narrowly defeated Rhoda star Valerie Harper as SAG president, but a guild committee — citing voter irregularities — called for a rerun election. Results of the follow-up are expected in April.
read more
Nicolas Cage, 38, and Lisa Marie Presley, 34, ended their 10-month relationship two weeks ago, their reps said Tuesday. The statement said the two "hope to remain friendly."
read more
The magical world of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is landing on videotape and DVD with about five minutes of bewitching deleted scenes added in, reports Variety. Both formats of last year's top-grossing film will be available in stores on May 28. Don't worry about forgetting the date: Warner Home Video is planning a massive $25 million marketing campaign to promote the release.
read more
After a decade on the mean streets of Manhattan, many a police officer are ready to pack it in. However, Jerry Orbach, who has played dry-witted Det. Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order since 1992, has no intention of turning in his badge and retiring.
"It may sound a little off the wall to say this, but having the opportunity to do this in this long an arc has given me — and is continuing to give me — a feeling that I'm doing something for the city and for the people of it and for the cops," the 66-year-old Bronx native says. "I see it every day on the street — the profile of Law & Order has gotten bigger and bigger. And the way the city feels about us [cast members]... it's like we're part of the good things that happen in the city."
In the wake of the Twin Towers tragedy, Orbach believes that his small-screen crime-fig
read more
Despite his much-touted departure episode from ER in December, Dr. Peter Benton may still have to scrub up after all. It seems actor Eriq La Salle's exit was premature. The actor has been put on notice by the show's producers that he'll have to return to ER, the New York Daily News reports. "There's a terrific line from Godfather III: 'Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,'" said La Salle, who was getting $9 million a season. He continues, "If they left it up to me, I'd be done, because I feel Benton had a graceful, clean exit and I think Noah Wyle is the future of that show. But I'm under contract still, so it's ultimately their choice. If they want me back, I'll be back."
read more
Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg's Academy Award was stolen after it was sent out for cleaning, but was recovered Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. Goldberg, who won the supporting-actress Oscar for Ghost in 1990, had returned it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which sent it to the manufacturer for cleaning and replating. The Academy packed up the Oscar and shipped it on Friday via United Parcel Service, but the box was empty when it arrived on Tuesday at R.S. Owens Co. of Chicago, the company that makes the statuettes. The Academy said in a statement that it was stolen from a UPS shipping container. Someone apparently opened the package, removed the Oscar, then resealed the box, said Brad Cafarelli, Goldberg's spokesman.
read more
HBO's Sex and the City copped three Directors Guild of America Award nominations for Top Comedy TV Series on Tuesday, while Fox's Malcolm in the Middle and NBC's Will & Grace received the other two. Sex received its nods for episodes directed by Allen Coulter, Michael Engler and Michael Patrick King. Also tapped for the category were Malcolm's Todd Holland and W&G's James Burrows. In the TV Drama category, NBC's The West Wing scored book-end nominations for Paris Barclay and Thomas Schlamme. Also nominated in the drama category were Alan Ball for the pilot of HBO's Six Feet Under, Steve Buscemi for The Sopra
read more
Caustic comedienne Margaret Smith's memories of the Reagan era are a little foggy — or perhaps smoky would be a better word to describe them. "I had a Volkswagen, and I drove it until the back seat caught on fire," she says, adding with a chuckle: "This was before bottled water."
However badly burned the standout stand-up was by the greed decade, she fits right into the cast of That '80s Show, Fox's retro Wednesday-night sitcom (airing at 8 pm/ET). In fact, from the time that the series was conceived, it was almost a foregone conclusion that she would play the most tubular record-store proprietress since Annie Potts in Pretty in Pink. Heck, the character was even named after Smith. "I had some compromising pictures of a coup
read more
British actor Henry Goodman is crossing the pond to make his Broadway debut in the smash hit The Producers, reports The Associated Press. Goodman will take over the starring role of Max Bialystock when Nathan Lane leaves on March 17. Co-star Matthew Broderick is also departing the show on that date, and while no official announcement has been made on who will replace him, former Wings star Steven Weber is said to be in the running.
read more
Lovely ex-Doritos hawker Ali Landry will replace Ed's Michael Ian Black as the host of Spy TV when the NBC hidden-camera series returns this summer... Former '80s teen pop diva Tiffany will appear in the April issue of Playboy, Reuters reports. Her spread hits newsstands March 4... Rock and roll icon Little Richard will be inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame on Feb. 23, announced the civil rights group on Tuesday... MTV will host a global town forum with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Valentine's Day, Variety reports. — Stephen Miller with Angel Cohn and Daniel R. Coleridge
read more