January 12, 2005 |
TUCK NIPPED? NOPE!
Good news, Nip/Tuck fans: You're gonna find out who the Carver is. After months of uncertainty, FX has signed Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy for another two seasons. The pact — announced Tuesday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour — will take Murphy through the show's third and fourth seasons. Meanwhile, Nip/Tuck's 15-episode third season is slated to debut in late summer or early fall — giving Christian Troy plenty of time to recover from his slashing. |
BON VOYAGE
Carnival Cruise Lines is hiring The Apprentice's Bill Rancic, Stacie J., Jennifer C. and Raj to take part in an eight-day cruise themed after NBC's boardroom-based reality show. The cruise will sail from New York to the Caribbean on Sept. 26 and feature competitions, lectures on business and career topics and a masquerade ball. In addition to cash prizes, one person will win the grand prize — the chance to throw Omarosa overboard. Sign me up! |
BLACK WEDNESDAY
Feisty fashionista Mr. Blackwell's 45th annual Worst Dressed List is out — and nasty as ever. Desperate Housewives' Nicollette Sheridan — whom he dubs "the Tacky Temptress of Wisteria Lane" — wins No. 1 sartorial offender. Blackwell also takes potshots at some easy targets (Paula Abdul, Britney), dismisses Lindsay Lohan as "over-hyped and under-dressed," and suggests Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's wardrobes are proof that "bad taste is positively genetic." Best of all, the quipster calls Lemony Snicket star Meryl Streep's "dowdy" outfits A Series of Unfortunate Events. Tee hee! |
BUSTED
R&B artist D'Angelo was arrested Sunday in Richmond, Va., and charged with drunken driving and drug possession during a traffic stop. Police allegedly turned up cocaine and marijuana, although the substances had yet to be analyzed. The 30-year-old singer is due in court next Tuesday. |
A STAR IS BORN
Freebie queen Star Jones — I'm sorry, Star Jones Reynolds — can no longer brag about being a lawyer. The View lightning rod listed her profession as TV personality instead of attorney for the first time last year while filling out customs forms — effectively severing ties with her law career. "I guess I've crossed over to the dark side," she told the Associated Press. "It felt truthful. I'm sure it's strange for my father, who wants to know where all the money went for law school." You mean Continental didn't pay for that, too? Cheapskates. |
SPEAKING OUT
Dan Rather is speaking out for the first time since the release of that scathing report on Memogate earlier this week. In an e-mail to his colleagues at CBS News, the embattled anchor — who was portrayed as "pushed to the limit" in the report — said, "I have been here through good times, and not so good times. I have seen us overcome adversity before. I am convinced we can do so again. That must be our focus and priority. And we can fulfill that objective by getting back to business and doing our jobs better than ever." To read Les Moonves' thoughts about Memogate, and the latest news on Rather's Evening News successor, check out Steve Battaglio's exclusive interview in today's "The Biz." |
DOES HE HAVE A CLONE?
Hey, J.J. Abrams has finally found some work! The guy behind Alias, Lost, Mission: Impossible 3 and dozens of other projects is attached to direct The Good Sailor, a Universal Pictures drama revolving around the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis, according to The Hollywood Reporter. ABC, meanwhile, has greenlit another Abrams drama pilot, Pros and Cons. This one centers around five ex-cons who end up working with the government. |
MORE RATINGS NEWS
Bad news, Carnivale fans. The second-season premiere of HBO's quirky (and underrated) freak show averaged just 1.8 million viewers Sunday, well below its first-season average. The news was even worse for George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh's latest reality hybrid Unscripted, which debuted with just 814,000 viewers at 10 pm. |
SHAMELESS PLUG
If you haven't already checked it out, today's fresh "Ask Ausiello" is chock-full-o-scoop — and it's not all related to Keri Russell. Seriously! Among the tidbits dispensed: news on which Titanic star is joining the cast of Charmed; the lowdown on what the heck happened to Fox's My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss (hint: he was quietly fired) and spoilage on which Bluth Liza Minnelli will be hooking up with on Arrested Development. And if that weren't enough to get you to click over, there's also news on Medium, Lost, Summerland and, yes, Keri Russell. (But it's not all about her. Seriously!) |
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Does he think Ma Bell is only supposed to be used for phone sex? Fox News scandal-magnet Bill O'Reilly is taking to task George Clooney and the other organizers of NBC's tsunami-aid telethon, suggesting that not all of the funds pledged will actually go to those in need. In response, the former ER doc took the high road, going so far as to urge O'Reilly to act as a presenter rather than a hurdle — an offer O'Reilly has accepted. You can catch all the fireworks this Saturday. |
ABE-MINDED
Liam Neeson is in talks to play Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's long-in-the-works biopic, Variety reports. The film, based on the forthcoming book The Uniter: The Genius of Abraham Lincoln, is slated to begin production next January. |
THE COMEBACK CONTINUES
Buoyed by original episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost, as well as the return of Alias and Tuesday's Orange Bowl blowout, ABC scored a dominant Nielsen victory last week. The network, which was mired in fourth place this time last year, averaged nearly 16 million viewers, well ahead of second-place CBS (12 million viewers). ABC also saw season-high ratings from Friday-night comedies 8 Simple Rules and Hope & Faith. |
I SEE LOTS OF PEOPLE
It's official: NBC's Medium is a bona fide hit. Monday's second episode won its time slot with 16.3 million viewers. Even more impressive, the Patricia Arquette drama retained all of its first-week audience. Fox's 24, meanwhile, had another good day, averaging a potent 12.6 million viewers for its second round of back-to-back episodes. And 2.3 million D-list gawkers turned out for the fourth-season premiere of The Surreal Life Sunday, making it VH1's highest-rated program in four years. |
WHO'S BAD?
First Anna Nicole Smith and now this. E! Entertainment Television is planning a daily half-hour recap of Michael Jackson's child-molestation trial, with an actor (or actress?) playing the accused. "With no cameras in the courtroom, this series will be an excellent way to... bring the [proceedings] to life," said E! boss Ted Harbert. On a related note, we hear La Toya was recently spotted dusting off her acting reel. |
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