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Bonanza Prequel Is Under Development
5 January 2001
PAX TV says that it plans to develop a "prequel" series to the classic western program "Bonanza", which aired between 1959 and 1973. According to the network, the series will launch next fall with a two-hour movie, followed the next week with the first one-hour episode of the series. »
College Bowl Game Produces Big Victory For ABC
5 January 2001
ABC's telecast of the annual Orange Bowl game, which pitted Florida State against Oklahoma, overwhelmed the competition Wednesday night as it averaged a 17 rating and a 25 share, peaking in the 9:30-10:00 p.m. period with a 19.0/27. NBC, which aired reruns of its popular Wednesday-night fare, was well behind in second place with a 9.0/13. Fox ranked third with a repeat of the movie Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) while CBS came in last among the major nets with a 7.3/11, »
We Interrupt These (MTV) Programs ...
5 January 2001
From 10:00 p.m. next Wednesday until 4:00 p.m. the following day, MTV will substitute its regular program with slides featuring the first names of hate-crime victims and a description of the crimes. The event, being mounted by MTV, is part of a year-long Fight for Your Rights campaign against discrimination. During a telephone news conference on Thursday, MTV programming chief Brian Graden was asked how the network could square its anti-discrimination stance with the anti-gay content of rapper Eminem, whose music videos are featured on the network. Graden replied that while Eminem's music is still played on the cable network, it is no longer being promoted. "We took the position it's not an artist we want to get behind, " he said. »
Sony Introducing 40-Inch Direct-View Screen
5 January 2001
Sony is expected to unveil a 40-inch direct-view television set today (Friday) at an electronics convention in Chicago, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The new TV, which will weigh between 250 and 300 pounds is expected to sell for about $4, 000. »
CBS Says It Has Learned From Florida Debacle
5 January 2001
Two months after experiencing the greatest embarrassment in its history when it miscalled -- twice -- the outcome of the Florida presidential balloting, CBS News announced a new set of guidelines for covering elections that it said would help it "to serve the public with the greatest possible accuracy and reliability in the future." Among other things, the guidelines contained in an 87-page report called for CBS News personnel to wait until all polls in a state close before they forecast voting results. The news unit also said that it will reexamine its affiliation with Voter News Service, the partnership of the major networks and the Associated Press to conduct exit polls and predict winners. "Either more resources will be invested in Voter News Service to address its problems or a new consortium will be formed to build an alternative service, " the CBS statement said. »
News Corp Shuts Down Web Units
5 January 2001
Caught in a cash crunch, News Corp is pulling the plug on its online News Digital Media subsidiary, eliminating more than 200 jobs in the process. The company said Thursday that it plans to merge its three primary Web sites, FoxNews.com, FoxSports.com, and Fox.com with the television operations that they are affiliated with, and use them primarily as a marketing tool. According to analysts, the cost-cutting move was forced by the recent decision of Haim Saban News Corp's partner in Fox Family Worldwide to exercise a put option requiring News Corp to buy his 49.5 stake in Fox Family Worldwide for about $2 billion. News Corp also needs cash in order to negotiate a deal to buy the DirecTV satellite service (or its parent, Hughes Electronics). Moreover, analysts noted, News Corp's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, and his lieutenants have expressed doubt that Internet sites can become profitable from advertising revenue alone. »
Billy Elliot Dominates For London Awards
5 January 2001
Billy Elliot has been nominated in nine categories for this year's 21st annual London Film Critics' Circle awards. The awards ceremonies are due to be held at London's Savoy Hotel next month. »
Cigarette Product Placement In Films?
5 January 2001
A Dartmouth Medical School study of cigarette smoking in movies implies that producers are flouting a 1990 voluntary ban on cigarette product placements. The study points out that of 250 films studied, 25 percent featured four recognizable brands, with Marlboro accounting for 40 percent of the total. The research, published in the British medical journal The Lancet brought this reaction from Amanda Sandford of the U.K.'s Action on Smoking and Health (ASH): "Branded products don't just appear by accident. A lot of planning goes into what products appear in films and who will be using them." In an interview with the BBC, Sandford added: "The finger of suspicion points towards a tobacco industry campaign to get round other marketing restrictions." »
Stone May Star As Lana Turner
5 January 2001
Meanwhile today's (Friday) Hollywood Reporter reported that Stone has been in talks to star in Stampanato, a film based on the real-life relationship of gangster Johnny Stampanato and actress Lana Turner. The trade paper said that Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club) is in early negotiations to direct the movie. Turner's often violent relationship with Stampanato ended in 1959 when the movie star's 13-year-old daughter, Cheryl Crane, stabbed the gangster to death, reportedly in an effort to protect her mother. »
Back To Drawing Boards For Basic Instinct 2
5 January 2001
Unable to land a suitable male lead, MGM has pulled the plug on Basic Instinct 2, New York Daily News columnist Mitchell Fink reported today (Friday), citing no sources. Although Sharon Stone had been cast to reprise her original role -- in a $15 million pay or play deal -- and David Cronenberg had agreed to direct the film, the producers, Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna, apparently concluded that it would not be possible to find an actor to play opposite Stone prior to the looming WGA and SAG strikes. Nevertheless a spokeswoman for Stone commented: "As far as I know, Sharon has a deal to make this picture. She is currently away training for the movie. She's excited about it and ready to start filming." »
Studios Claim That They Can't Afford Bigger Payments
5 January 2001
Studio executives claimed in interviews with the Hollywood trade papers on Thursday that if they were agree to all the demands of the Writers Guild of America for a new contract and boosted payments to actors commensurately, it would cost them more than $2.2 billion in additional costs over the next three years -- exceeding expected total profits. The executives included Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks, Robert Iger of Disney and Barry Meyer of Warner Bros. Their projection was disputed by WGA spokespersons who issued a statement putting the number at about $725 million. »
Holy Sequel, Batman!
5 January 2001
Warner Bros. is developing two separate Batman movies, the online edition of Entertainment Weekly reported Thursday. One of the films, titled Batman: Year One, would describe the first year of the Caped Crusader's existence. Another, Batman Beyond, would be set in the future when a "young Turk" takes over the Batman mantle from Bruce Wayne EW quoted a source close to the projects as saying that neither one has an inside track on getting greenlit first. Both films, it noted, will await the outcome of possible industry strikes this summer, making it unlikely that either will be released over the next two years. »
TV Con Queso
4 January 2001
Kids entertainment-and-pizza restaurant Chuck E. Cheese has produced a commercial partly in Spanish that is scheduled to begin a run on Nickelodeon Channel on Sunday. The spot will air during an episode of The Brothers Garcia, a show that also contains sprinklings of Spanish in the dialogue. In an interview with today's (Thursday) New York Times, Jon Rice vice president for marketing at Chuck E. Cheese, commented: "We felt from our research that the children living in Spanish-speaking homes were in fact actually very bilingual and relate very well to these programs. ... This is something that was new and not really available on any other network."
CORRECTION: The producer of the Survivor series is Mark Burnett. In Wednesday's edition we incorrectly identified him as Rob Burnett (who produces Late Night with David Letterman and Ed). »
Bojangles Biopic To Air Feb. 4
4 January 2001
Pay-TV channel Showtime has set Feb. 4 as the premiere date for Bojangles, its biopic of legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The movie stars Gregory Hines in the title role and co-stars Peter Riegert of The Sopranos and Savion Glover of Broadway's Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk and the recent Spike Lee movie Bamboozled. The film is based on the biography of Robinson, who died in 1949, by Jim Haskins and N.R. Mitgang, and is directed by Joseph Sargent. »
Mulligan Named Head Of Fox TV
4 January 2001
Former Seagram CFO Brian Mulligan who is credited with orchestrating the Seagram-Vivendi merger, has been named chairman of Fox Television, replacing Chase Carey, who will be devoting full-time attention to Sky Global Networks, News Corp's satellite TV division. »
Editors Quit Crime Site
4 January 2001
APBNews.com, which reportedly went through $38 million in investors' cash before filing for bankruptcy in June and then selling its assets to SafetyTips.com for $575, 000, has lost two key editors. Executive Editor Hoag Levins and Managing Editor Ed Levine have quit, claiming that they and other members of the skeleton crew who have continued to operate the site have not been paid. Last year the company, which focused on investigative crime reports, made an unsuccessful stab at expanding into television news. »
You Be The Sleuth
4 January 2001
In a new wrinkle on interactive TV programming, producers of Dateline NBC are inviting viewers to participate Friday night in the investigation of a 1989 murder. By entering Dateline's Web site (www.dateline.msnbc.com) viewers will be able to vote on which clues they would like to see investigated. Producers of the show, gathered in the control booth, will then be able to switch to the tape containing the information that viewers want to see. NBC News said Wednesday that there are as many as 100 different variations of the show that could be broadcast. In fact, two of those variations will actually be broadcast, one taking into account the votes of viewers in the East and Midwest, the other, votes in the West. »
Millionaire Wins Final Week Of 2000
4 January 2001
Despite airing repeats throughout the week, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, featuring celebrity contestants, claimed four of the top-ten spots on the weekly Nielsens last week, including No. 1, and helped give ABC an overall win. The network was also helped by a third-place finish for Monday Night Football featuring the Cowboys and Titans. ABC wound up with a 7.3 rating and a 13 share. CBS finished second with a 6.5/12 even though it failed to place a single show in the top ten. NBC was third with a 6.0/11, followed by Fox with a 5.1/9.
The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ABC, 12.1/20; 2. Millionaire, ABC, 11.8/20; 3. Monday Night Football, ABC, 11.0/22; 4. Friends, NBC, 10.5/18; 5. NFL Wildcard Post Games, Fox, 10.2/19; 6. Law and Order NBC, 9.9/17; 7. Millionaire, ABC, 9.4/15; 8. E.R., NBC, 9.2/16; 9. Will & Grace, NBC, 9.0/14; 10. The West Wing, NBC, 8.7/14. »
U.K. TV Star Seeks To Rev Up Film Career
4 January 2001
British TV star Clive Owen may finally find stardom on the screen as well when he appears in the upcoming thriller The Bourne Identity with Matt Damon, the U.K. entertainment site Ananova observed today (Thursday). Friends of the actor told Ananova that Owen had been reluctant to parlay his TV success into a movie career after his series Chancer became a hit in the 1980s. One friend remarked: "Clive wasn't best at promoting himself years ago and quite loathed the idea of being considered a heartthrob. But he's grown up a lot. He got married, had two children and sees things differently." »
Screenwriter About Mafia Is Murdered
4 January 2001
Screenwriter Susan Berman, the daughter of a business partner of slain Las Vegas gangster Bugsy Siegel, was found murdered with a single gunshot wound to her head in West Los Angeles on Christmas Eve Daily Variety reported today (Thursday). Berman, who incorporated her intimate knowledge of the Mafia into her writings, reportedly was working on developing a TV series for Showtime called Sin City. »
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