matt.mitovich

Casting About: Miss Sunshine as American Girl?

Yep, pocket-sized Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin has been chosen to play Depression-era moppet Kit Kittredge in the upcoming film based on the unavoidable dolls and books, the New York Post reports. The flick goes before cameras this summer and is expected in theaters before year's end. In small-screen casting news, John Cho  the Harold & Kumar star who isn't Kal Penn  has joined an untitled CBS sitcom pilot about a bunch of night owls who hang out at a diner into the wee hours.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

He Shoots, He Scores?: Imus Meets with Rutgers Team

Since her hubby obviously wasn't allowed anywhere near a mike (after being fired by CBS), Deirdre Imus stepped in for him Friday morning at his radio fund-raiser benefiting Tomorrows Children's Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch. During the broadcast, she discussed the meeting that she and the shock-jock host had with the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team on Thursday night, at which he was given a chance to apologize in person for the racist remarks he made about the athletes. Mrs. Imus says the team "gave us the opportunity to listen to what they had to say and why they're hurting and how awful this is." For more details on who at NBC helped get Imus fired, click here.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

Tracey Takes Off: Showtime Steals Ullman from HBO

After 14 years and a Humvee full of Emmys, Tracey Ullman has dumped HBO to go work for Showtime, where she is developing State of the Union, a skitcom about life in the U.S. of A. See, HBO? Lisa Kudrow would never have been so fickle.Meanwhile, having lost its head over the new Henry VIII drama The Tudors, Showtime has already given the green light to begin production on Season 2, Variety reports. The cabler has also ordered another round of This American Life episodes.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

Anna Nicole Diaries Head to Auction Despite Theft Claim

Although the late Playboy pinup's non-babydaddy Howard K. Stern is claming that two diaries being sold to the highest bidder(s) this Saturday are stolen property and as such should be returned to him (though he, um, didn't write them), Dallas' Heritage Auction Galleries says, "In the absence of a judge stopping this auction, this auction will go forward." Also on the block: a $16,954.66 receipt from a shopping spree Smith went on in 1992, a signed bank check (probably no longer any good, just a hunch), and the dimbulb bombshell's 1994 Texas driver's ID (the first of its kind to denote bust size as opposed to eye color).

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

More Bad News for Katie Couric

And the hits just keep comin'. According to the Associated Press, the beleaguered CBS Evening News anchor's online video essay about getting her first library card was A) not her own and B) not even the work of one of her staff, it was plagiarized. The Wall Street Journal first published the article, which Couric delivered in first-person, in a March column by Jeffrey Zaslow. Natch, the red-faced producer who "wrote" the piece was pink-slipped, and the Kate-ster has maintained that she didn't know it wasn't an original. (Although, presumably, she did know she hadn't written it.)

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

Harry Potter Finale Breaks Another Record

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows won't materialize in bookstores for another three months, but J.K. Rowling's final installment in her boy-wizard series has already broken a second record. (Click here for the first.) According to Barnes & Noble, pre-orders for the 784-page title have exceeded 500,000, making it the publication with the most advance requests in the chain's history. Sheesh. Hope they're using recycled paper.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

How NBC Will Spend Our Summer Vacation: Getting Real

Whoever said the reality-TV craze was over obviously hasn't talked to the suits at NBC. This summer, the Peacock will be feathering its nest with three returning reality shows and yet another new one. First up is America's Got Talent, which kicks off on May 29 with incoming ringleader Jerry Springer (sans bodyguards... I assume). Next, the fifth cycle of Last Comic Standing premieres June 13, with Bill Bellamy as host. Frosh date-a-thon Age of Love, fronted by Mark Consuelos (aka Mr. Kelly Ripa), bows June 18. And last but not least, The Biggest Loser hits the treadmills in late summer, with Days of our Lives' minx Alison Sweeney presiding over the weighting game.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

ABC Calls Off Emergency, Streams Degrees

Poor In Case of Emergency. The ABC newbie had only one week left in its only recently extended run, but the network is yanking it on April 18 and putting a Lost repeat in its place. And speaking of dead series, the Alphabet net is adding to its website the first of the remaining five episodes of Six Degrees, on April 27.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

Your Melrose Place or Mine? Locklear's on the Market

It's official: Supervixen Heather Locklear and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora are divorced. And although she's recently been seen in the company of former Melrose leading man Jack Wagner, let's be real — he doesn't stand any better chance than David Spade did. La Locklear's first mate was Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, her second was Sambora.... I'm thinking No. 3 is lookin' a lot like Dee Snyder.

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

Hey, It's the Other Shoe! CBS Radio Drops Don Imus

Disregarding the outcome of our TVGuide.com poll, CBS on Thursday announced its decision to cease broadcasting the Imus in the Morning radio program, effective immediately and on a permanent basis. "I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent," CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves says in a statement. "Those who have spoken with us the last few days represent people of goodwill from all segments of our society  all races, economic groups, men and women alike. In our meetings with concerned groups, there has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision, as have the [communications] we have had with our...

Fri, Apr 13, 2007

The View's Elisabeth Finds New Friends

Is Elisabeth Hasselbeck testing the waters for life beyond The View? The conservative member of ABC's daytime coffee klatch will be guest cohost of Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends on Monday, the cable channel has announced.Hasselbeck, whose had some highly publicized on-air run-ins with RosieO'Donnell on The View, will be filling in for Fox & Friends cohost Gretchen Carlson while she's on vacation.  Reporting by Stephen Battaglio

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

David Duchovny Engages in Californication

Showtime now has a title for its new comedy series starring David Duchovny and debuting in August. Californication, which starts lensing in June and costars Natascha McElhone (The Truman Show), Madeleine Martin (Hope & Faith), Madeline Zima (The Nanny) and Evan Handler (Sex and the City), concerns Hank Moody, a novelist struggling to raise his 13-year-old daughter (Martin) while still carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend (McElhone). Says Showtime's press release, "[Hank's] obsession with truth-telling and self-destructive behavior  drinks, drugs and relationships  are both destroying and enriching his career."

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Idol's Haley: Let's Talk Singing, Not Strutting

The day after exiting American Idol, Haley Scarnato told TVGuide.com that though she shrugged it off on stage, Simon Cowell's quips about her flesh-flashing definitely twigged her. "Yeah, they hurt a little bit," she said, wishing that she had instead received constructive feedback on her pipes versus her pins. "They always say, 'This is a singing competition,' yadda-yadda-yadda, so I'm like, 'OK, this is a singing competition....'" But as all she heard about was her look, "You just brush it off and do the best you can."Later in the press-conference call, Haley rebuffed the notion that she was overtly parlaying her sexuality, saying that with regards to her spirited take on "Turn the Beat Around," "The style of the song was about in-your-face rhythm. It was funky and Latin, with a sexy vibe, and thats what I was going for. When it's time to sing, it's time to sing. I was enjoying my moment."

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Idol's Haley: Let's Talk Singing, Not Strutting

Casting About: Rita Moreno Gets Ugly, and More

Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner (what, couldn't score a Cleo?) Rita Moreno will guest-star on a May episode of Ugly Betty, playing (along with Six Feet Under's Justina Machado) long-lost Suarez family members. In the same ep, Rebecca Gayheart (Vanished) plays a woman Alex dated before his (her?) faked death. I see a chance here to put Aniston-Cox to shame. In other casting news, Billy Dee Williams is on board for SOAPnet's General Hospital spin-off. See Soaps News for deets.... Jane Lynch returns to Two and a Half Men on April 23.... Joey Lawrence is a serial killer on the April 25 CSI:NY.... ER alum Sherry Stringfield defends a child abductor on Shark April 26.... Joel Murray (Dharma & Greg) hangs with CBS' Men April 30 (in an eppy directed by Jon Cryer), while the hitcom's May 14 season-ender features a visit from Robert Wagner.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Fall 2007: Grammer-Heaton Sitcom Recasts Two Roles

The latest fall-pilot castings, per the Reporter: Jay Mohr, a recurring player on Ghost Whisperer this season, will play straight man to gay writing partner Brian Austin Green in CBS' untitled laffer from Will & Grace's David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. If the pilot's not picked up, Mohr will be upgraded to a series reg for any possible third season of Whisperer. Fox's Back to You (née Action News, and starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton) has recast two cast members. Josh Gad (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) replaces Paul Campbell as the TV station's young news director, while Ayda Field (Studio 60's Jeannie) takes over for Aimee Garcia as a pageant winner turned weather girl.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Oprah Is Game for Slurred Rutgers Hoopsters

Thursday's Oprah will play host to the Rutgers University women's basketball players who landed in the headlines this past week when since-disgraced broadcaster Don Imus tossed a racial slur in their direction that hit the rim like a public-relations brick. Coach C. Vivian Stringer and the 10 team members will appear live, via satellite, says the AP. Meanwhile, I imagine the Tennessee team that actually won the finals must be like, "Um, hello? Anyone care about us?"Should CBS Radio drop Don Imus, as MSNBC did? Vote in today's poll.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Lost Finds the Most Viewers via DVR

Those numbers I toss at you every Thursday? Goose Lost's by a good 20 percent. So says Variety, which deems the ABC serial the biggest beneficiary of time-shifted viewing. The Nielsen numbers sent out each day only account for DVR playback by 3 am the next morning, but a "live plus seven-day" report includes those who don't cue up Lost until over the weekend. The latter tally bumps Lost's demos by 24 percent  the greatest leap for any show  and its total viewership by two million, to 13.8 mil. Advertisers, though, don't heed "plus seven" much, since that viewer tends to fast-forward through commercials.In 18-49 demo inflation, Lost is followed by Heroes and The Office (18 percent), and 24 and (wha?) One Tree Hill (17 percent).

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

CBS Tell-all Targets Katie "Jackie Robinson" Couric

A new memoir from former CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg takes big shots at network big shots Les Moonves and Katie Couric. According to the New York Post, his book Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right mauls CEO Moonves for dubbing Couric "the Jackie Robinson of network news" when she became the first solo woman anchor of an evening newscast. After detailing Robinson's battles with bigotry, Goldberg's book lists the "indignities" Couric must contend with, such as "that pesky $15 million salary," "nasty limousines that whisk her about town," road-trip stays at "the most luxurious suites at only the finest hotels," and "those dreadful Park Avenue A-list parties." Reps for neither CBS nor Couric had comment.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Ratings: Sopranos Takes a Hit, Shield Shines

 The Sopranos' Sunday return was watched by 7.66 million total viewers, a marked drop from the 9.47 mil who tuned in for the start of the series' previous run. In key demos, though, Tony & Co. placed second behind the Housewives. Entourage (3.77 mil), meanwhile, was up 40 percent from its previous kickoff. With HBO's returning dramas now in play, Showtime's The Tudors (775,000 viewers across two airings) was down 39 percent from its premiere. This Tuesday's The Shield (2.4 million) was up 300K from its season premiere.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

At the Movies: Fraser In, Weisz Out of Mummy 3

Per Variety, Brendan Fraser has finally signed on the dotted line for The Mummy 3, but leading lady Rachel Weisz took a big, fat pass. The follow-up, penned by Smallville's Miles Millar and Al Gough, features Jet Li as the baddie.... Producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis are out to reinvent Barbarella as "a free, modern gal who survives in a futuristic world through her intelligence, fighting skills and sexuality." Hate to say it, but Lindsay Lo just found a franchise (intelligence can always be faked).... Forest Whitaker has joined The Great Debaters, a fact-based drama directed by and featuring Denzel Washington as a small-town college debate-team coach.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

PBS Says "O-Que" to Amending Ken Burns Doc

Responding to activists' complaints that Ken Burns' The War doesn't give proportionate due to Latino WWII vets, PBS has promised to hire a Latino producer to create additional content for the 14-hour documentary, which is set to unspool in September. The head of the New York chapter of the National Hispanic Media Coalition tells the AP the tweak is a "big victory for the Latino community."

Thu, Apr 12, 2007

Office Shout-out Makes Wiki Wonky

Michael Scott's reliance on Wikipedia in dealing with salary negotiations did a number on the user-edited online resource. After last Thursday's episode, the site was flooded with Office viewers looking to "update" the "Negotiations" entry with the lousy "tips" cited by Michael (e.g., abruptly change the meeting site), forcing Wiki admins to lock out newbie visitors. According to the AP, only twice before has Wiki had to enact such a fail-safe measure.All this Wiki, Wiki talk has me remembering Buck Rogers.

Thu, Apr 12, 2007