matt.mitovich

Box Office: Game Plan Breaks Ben Stiller's Heart

The Game Plan repeated as weekend box-office champ this weekend, adding $16.3 million to its coffers. Playing the role of also-ran was the week's one big debut, Ben Stiller's The Heartbreak Kid, which collected $14 mil. Rounding out the top five were The Kingdom ($9.3 mil), Resident Evil 3 ($4.3 mil) and The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising (opening with $3.7 mil).In limited release, George Clooney's Michael Clayton performed well with $704,000 at 11 theaters. The exceptionally reviewed thriller rolls out nationally this Friday.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Box Office: Game Plan Breaks Ben Stiller's Heart

Lindsay Lohan Exits Rehab; Next Stop the VMAs?

After a full 10 weeks at Utah's Cirque Lodge treatment center, Lindsay Lohan has checked out of rehab. "I'm proud of her," mom Dina tells People. "Things were getting out of control. She took action. She took responsibility. She really needed to heal." Adds dad Michael, "Now that she is going out into the world, I can only hope for the best."Lohan's third and longest rehab came after she crashed her Benz into a tree and then, in a separate incident, was arrested for DUI after allegedly chasing an ex-employee's mother in her SUV (and in the process getting pinched for possessing cocaine). Now, several Britney meltdowns later, she looks comparatively puritan.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Lindsay Lohan Exits Rehab; Next Stop the VMAs?

Deal or No Deal Overexposed? Exec Not Worried

NBC Universal has cleared for next fall a syndicated weekday version of Deal or No Deal, with Howie Mandel on board to perform double duty as host. Tweaks to the half-hour daytime edition include a $250,000 prize cap and faster-paced, self-contained episodes. Asked about the possibility of Millionaire-esque ubiquity, the president of NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution tells the Reporter, "We waited... to make sure the show was going to hold up, and it clearly has. [So] there's really no fear about overexposure." 'Cept when it comes to the models' skimpy dresses.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Deal or No Deal Overexposed? Exec Not Worried

At the Movies: Jaime King Catches The Spirit, and More

Jaime King and Paz Vega have joined the cast of the Frank Miller-helmed Will Eisner's The Spirit, playing Lorelei, a phantom siren, and the knit-wielding Plaster of Paris, respectively.... Also per Variety, Radha Mitchell is a temptress who comes between Antonio Banderas and his partner in thievery, Morgan Freeman, in The Code.... Ving Rhames has come on board The Goods: The Don Ready Story, starring Jeremy Piven as an ace used-car liquidator.... The Reporter also has Queen Latifah making a cameo in the Ashton Kutcher/Cameron Diaz rom-com What Happens in Vegas.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

At the Movies: Jaime King Catches The Spirit, and More

Family Guy, Britney Exposéd and More Short Cuts

Fox's Family Guy celebrates 100 episodes with a half-hour tribute airing Nov. 4 at 8:30 pm/ET. The actual milestone episode, "Stewie Kills Lois," follows.... MyNetworkTV's Celebrity Exposé focuses on Britney Spears and her recent headline-making antics tonight at 8 pm.... Tyler Perry discusses his new movie on Court TV's Star Jones Tuesday at 3 pm.... Hostel: Director's Cut arrives on DVD and hi-def Blu-ray Oct. 23. Hey, whatever gets me some more Barbara Nedeljakova.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Family Guy, Britney Exposéd and More Short Cuts

Criminal Intent Cops Good Ratings (for USA)

The season premiere of the transplanted Law & Order: Criminal Intent delivered 3.8 million total viewers to USA Network and was cable's most-watched entertainment telecast for Thursday, says the Reporter. CI fell shy of the 3.98 mil who caught the debut of time-slot predecessor Burn Notice, yet gave the cabler 98 percent better numbers in the 18-49 category versus a year ago. USA also touts the outing as cable's best-performing Thursday entertainment telecast airing opposite major network programming in two seasons.L&O: CI last fall premiered to 11.57 mil on NBC, and wrapped that season with a finale audience of 9.25 mil.

Mon, Oct 8, 2007

Criminal Intent Cops Good Ratings (for USA)

Pam Anderson Says, "Why Knot!" and More Love Notes

Pamela Anderson exchanged vows with insta-beau Rick Salomon (as in Paris Hilton's partner in night-vision tomfoolery) on Saturday in Las Vegas  during an hour-and-a-half break between Anderson's two shows as assistant to magic man Hans Klok. The wedding-night video surely is available for download somewhere by now.... Brothers & Sisters' Balthazar Getty and his wife Rosetta welcomed their fourth child, a daughter named June Catherine, on Oct. 2.... Also per People, Montel Williams wed American Airlines flight attendant Tara Fowler on Saturday afternoon in Bermuda. Guests celebrated the newlyweds by throwing impenetrable bags of peanuts.

Sun, Oct 7, 2007

Pam Anderson Says, "Why Knot!" and More Love Notes

Ratings: Fans Keep Friday Night Date

Fridays ratings, at a glance:8 pm/ETGhost Whisperer was up a hair over its premiere, with 8.7 million total viewers. A Pushing Daisies encore drew 4.3 mil for ABC. (How did Daisies fare on Roush's, Ausiello's and Rochell's lists of top five new shows? Check out our updated Fall Preview Guide.)9 pmMoonlight led the hour with 8.25 mil, again showing strong retention out of GW. The long-awaited return of the highly acclaimed Friday Night Lights tied CBS' bloodsucker in the key demos, and with 6.48 million total viewers was up 200 thou over its Season 1 finale. Repeats of Private Practice and K-Ville delivered 4.9 mil and 3.33 mil, respectively.10 pmCBS' Numbers was up (with 9.53 mil), while NBC's Las Vegas (7.41 mil) was down 18 percent from last week's opener. (Did I mention that David Krumholtz will be celeblogging for TVGuide.com? Niiiice.)Entering the mix next Friday: ABC's Women's Murder Club and Men in Trees.

Sun, Oct 7, 2007

ABC: More Kyle XY Is A-OK

This just in...."ABC Family has ordered Season 3 of the original drama Kyle XY, a series that has become the networks signature show, from ABC Studios. Ten episodes have been ordered. A start date has not been determined yet as the show is currently in production on the back 10 episodes of Season 2."For the scoop on the Brat Packer joining XY as one of Jessi XX's parents, check out the Ausiello Report.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Ratings: 30 Rocks On, Big Shots Shrinks

Real quick, since I have a podcast to moderate. This Thursday's ratings:8 pm/ETSurvivor topped the hour with 14.06 million total viewers, which is on par with last week. Betty bungled 1.25 mil to deliver 9.78 mil. While NBC's Earl (eight mil) dipped 520K, lead-out 30 Rock returned to 7.38 mil, a 53 percent surge from its first-season finale. ("SeinfeldVision" does work!) Smallville (4.56 mil) was down 520 thou.9 pmCSI (20.8 mil, down 16 percent from its mondo premiere) again trumped Grey's (18.13 mil, -2.3 mil), albeit not in the key demos. The Office (8.49 mil) lost more than a mil, while Supernatural (2.97 mil) fell short of last season's opener by 800,000.10 pmWithout a Trace won the race with 14.5 mil, albeit a 13 percent week-to-week drop. ER (8.99 mil) saw a mil check out, yet this week bested ABC's Big Shots, which due to massive second-half tune-out plunged to 8.66 mil.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

In the Works: West Wing Alum Feels the Burn, More

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).

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

In the Works: West Wing Alum Feels the Burn, More

Price Is Right Vet Claims She Was Wronged

Deborah Curling, who screened contestants for The Price Is Right for some 20 years, has sued Bob Barker and the show's producers, alleging they retaliated against her and forced her to vacate her post after she testified against Barker in a wrongful-termination suit filed by a former production assistant. An African-American, Curling also describes a hostile work environment where black employees and TPIR contestants were discriminated against. "Barker created an atmosphere of terror [where] any employee who complained... was fired," says papers cited by the AP.Curling's suit seeks an unspecified amount of damages/brand-new cars; a CBS rep declined to comment on the action.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Price Is Right Vet Claims She Was Wronged

Fairplay Fouled, Yet Bonaduce Acquitted in Beatdown

Survivor alum Jonny Fairplay has filed a police report claiming that his teeth were knocked out during an onstage tussle with Danny Partridge-Bonaduce at Wednesday's Fox Reality Channel Awards. In video captured by TMZ.com (and viewable here), Bonaduce approached Fairplay, who was in the midst of presenting, to say that the crowd was booing because of him. Fairplay then leapt up on Bonaduce and started "hugging" (read: monkey-humping) him. Danny then flipped Jonny face-first onto the floor. In an interview with TMZ, Fairplay claims he then required two and a half hours in dental surgery.Know what's really bizarre here? There's a Fox Reality Channel Awards show.UPDATE: According to papers filed by the Los Angeles district attorney and obtained by People, there is not enough evidence to charge Bonaduce with battery: "It did not appear that the suspect intentionally tried to cause injuries, but simply reacted to the victim's actions."

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Fairplay Fouled, Yet Bonaduce Acquitted in Beatdown

J.Lo to Announce Pregnancy (Wha?!), More Love Notes

Jennifer Lopez plans to (at long last) cop to her otherwise undeniable pregnancy at her Saturday-night Madison Square Garden concert, sources tell Page Six.... Growing Pains' Tracey Gold is three-months pregnant with her and husband Roby Marshall's fourth child, says ET. Their other rugrats are 10, 8 and 3.... Nick Cannon and Victoria's Secret model Selita Ebanks have called off their engagement and are "taking a break," says People.... Pete Doherty is marrying a model  and it's not Kate Moss. Instead, he is betrothed to Romania-born Irina Lazareanu, the heroin-chic mannequin tells WWD.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

J.Lo to Announce Pregnancy (Wha?!), More Love Notes

Owen Wilson, BSG, Top Chef and More Short Cuts

Owen Wilson returned to the public eye for the first time since his recent troubles by appearing at the Los Angeles premiere of The Darjeeling Limited.... Top Chef 3: Miami's Wednesday finale served up 3.1 million viewers, a 25 percent increase from the Season 2 closer and the time slot's most-watched basic-cable program.... Sam J. Jones of the 1980 cheesefest Flash Gordon guests on TV's Flash Gordon tonight. Sci Fi Channel also is debuting the Battlestar Galactica: Razor two-minute flashbacks during the episode.... George Clooney's Leatherheads, also starring The Office's John Krasinski, has had its theatrical release pushed from Dec. 7 to April 4.... Speed will launch an HD channel in February, while Spike TV will do the same sometime in the first quarter of '08, says TV Week.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Owen Wilson, BSG, Top Chef and More Short Cuts

Grey's New McLoveInterest? Or McSis? Plus 24 News

Lauren Stamile (of the WB's Off Centre) has landed what is being described as "a major recurring role" on Grey's Anatomy  specifically, playing opposite Patrick Dempsey, though sources won't confirm for the Hollywood Reporter that this newcomer is the new object of McDreamy's affections. Perhaps another McSister?.... Ever Carradine, who is already a recurring player on ABC's Women's Murder Club, now boasts a similar gig on 24, playing (all together now... ) "a young female FBI agent."

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Grey's New McLoveInterest? Or McSis? Plus 24 News

Fed-up Judge to Britney: Take Drug Tests... Or Else!

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon has given Britney Spears a stern warning and reiterated the drug testing and therapy plan she must submit to, or else lose the supervised visitations with her kids. "A missed test, refusal to submit to a test or failure to respond to the testing agency's call... shall be deemed a failed test," Gordon says in court papers released Thursday. The judge also spelled out that Brit must complete "at least three individual counseling sessions" and "at least three joint [therapy] sessions" with ex-hubby Kevin Federline by the next court date (Oct. 26), and gave child services the charge to end her visitations "immediately" if any further erratic behavior is observed.That "erratic behavior" clause may be put to the test when Spears' "Gimme More" video (now playing on YouTube) officially premieres Monday on MTV.TV Guide Network premieres the special Britney: Breakdown Saturday at noon/ET, to be repeated frequently throughout the weekend.

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Fed-up Judge to Britney: Take Drug Tests... Or Else!

J.J. Abrams' Top-secret Sci-fi Show Lands at Fox

Following a heated bidding war, Fox backed up the Brinks truck and made a series commitment to Fringe, which was until now a super-hush-hush new project from J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Fox reportedly will pony up some $10 million for a two-hour pilot  that's on par with Lost's own debut  as well as pay a sizable $2 mil-per-episode licensing fee to Abrams' Bad Robot.Oh yeah, the premise: Fringe concerns a young female FBI agent (my favorite kind) who in the name of investigating a rash of unexplained phenomena teams with an institutionalized scientist whose life's work may be at the heart of the strange goings-on. The series' previous working title? "The Eureka Files."

Fri, Oct 5, 2007

Al Gore Rocks a Role on NBC Sitcom

Is NBC's 30 Rock at risk of going the way of stunt-casting addict Will & Grace? A piece in USA Today reveals that in addition to Edie Falco's upcoming three-episode stint (first reported by TVGuide.com), no less than former vice president Al Gore, Friends alum David Schwimmer (as an out-of-work actor, natch), Steve Buscemi (as a PI hired by Jack), Meredith Vieira and Carrie "I Now Guest-star for a Living" Fisher have been booked for appearances during Season 2. America's paper also reveals details on Falco's previously unspecified role: She's playing a Democratic congresswoman from New Hampshire who hooks up with... Jack?!As for 30 Rock's season-opener, airing tonight: as funny as it is  and it is funny  dare I opine that next week's episode, for me at least, was even more howl-worthy? Will Arnett slays me.

Thu, Oct 4, 2007

Ratings: Daisies Blooms, Addison Beats on Jaime

This Wednesday's ratings recap:8 pm/ETABC's Pushing Daisies pushed all comers to the side, premiering to 12.83 million total viewers and also dominating in the key demos. Deal or No Deal placed second (with 11 mil), followed by Kid Nation (7.5 mil, down another 110 thou) and Fox's sitcombo of Back to You (6.58 mil, down a mil) and 'Til Death (holding steady with 6.22 mil). Top Model (4.52 mil) dropped another 330K.9 pmSurging 1.7 mil from its season premiere, Criminal Minds came out on top with 14.4 million viewers (albeit a No. 3 finish in demos). Private Practice (12.3 mil) dipped 15 percent from its debut yet stayed on top of Bionic Woman (10.94 mil), which itself slipped 19 percent. Gossip Girl (2.8 mil) got people talking again, inching up a quarter-mil.10 pmCSI: NY won the hour with the same tally as last week, 12.7 mil. ABC's Dirty Sexy Money saw 670,000 cash out yet kept ahead of NBC's listing Life, which with 8.8 mil was down 13 percent.

Thu, Oct 4, 2007

Ratings: Daisies Blooms, Addison Beats on Jaime

In the Works: A Day in the Life of Dannielynn's Daddy?

Larry Birkhead tells the New York Daily News he has an agreement-in-principle with a television producer to do a series sharing a "day in the life" look at the biological father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn.... ABC has given a pilot order to an untitled drama penned by Grey's Anatomy's Jill Soloway and produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot. According to Variety, the series revolves around a cable-access psychologist who is forced to become a mobile notary.... Comedy Central is not renewing The Showbiz Show with David Spade  having decided, "I liked it the first time I saw it... as David Spade's Hollywood Minute" — while History Channel has picked up new seasons of The Universe and Cities of the Underworld.

Thu, Oct 4, 2007

In the Works: A Day in the Life of Dannielynn's Daddy?

Eddie Murphy at a Loss for Words, More Film News

Eddie Murphy and Norbit director Brian Robbins are in final talks to reunite for A Thousand Words, a DreamWorks comedy about a glib man (Matt Lauer?) who learns he has only a thousand words left to speak before he croaks.... Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley are scientists who become superstahs as they combine different animal DNA to create fantastical new creatures in the sci-fi thriller Splice.... Eduardo Rodriguez will direct Fragile, a zombie pic based on the graphic novel by Stephano Raffaele (shop Amazon).

Thu, Oct 4, 2007