July 20, 2004 |
NEW DAY
Reiko Aylesworth, who was pink-slipped from Fox's 24 in May, has signed on to a recurring role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The actress will play a lab-based detective in the series' fifth season this fall. Reportedly, the move is unrelated to CBS's highly publicized firings of CSI cast members George Eads and Jorja Fox. I'm just glad to see a One Life to Live alum making it in prime time. You go girl. |
SWITCHEROO
Word is Hope & Faith has recast the role of Faith Ford's TV daughter. Fans of the sitcom (anyone?) should look for actress Megan Fox to replace Nicole Paggi in the role of 16-year-old Sydney. When contacted by TV Guide Online, ABC wouldn't confirm the recast or give a reason for it. Hmmm... One thing's for sure: When Kelly Ripa (aka Aunt Faith) runs into Syd in the kitchen, she'll take absolutely no note of the fact that her niece has been replaced by a body snatcher. |
MOORE BACKLASH
Add Linda Ronstadt's name to the list of Bush-bashin' stars who've been punished for publicly dissin' Dubya. During her Saturday-night concert at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, the 58-year-old singer encouraged her audience to see Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, calling the documentarian a "great American patriot" and "someone who is spreading the truth." She was booed by some angry patrons, whose riotous reaction prompted Aladdin's head honcho, Bill Timmins, to fire Ronstadt on the spot. She was even escorted from the hotel without being allowed back into her luxury suite to gather her belongings! Ouch. "It was a very ugly scene," Timmins told The Associated Press. "She praised [Moore] and, all of a sudden, all bedlam broke loose. [Ronstadt] spoiled a wonderful evening for our guests, and we had to do something about it." In other Moore news.... |
MOORE'S GONE WACO
Fahrenheit 9/11 is finally coming to a town near Bush. According to the Waco Tribune-Herald's website, the outspoken filmmaker has given the greenlight for Friends of Peace to screen his documentary as a fund-raiser for the Crawford Peace House, located a few miles from George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. The movie will also open this Friday at a theater in Waco, Texas, which is 20 miles west of the president's estate. |
WARM UP
American Idol has announced its preliminary audition dates to find the next William Hung. The eight-city tryout tour kicks off in Cleveland, Ohio, on Aug. 4, followed by Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18; Orlando, Fla., Aug. 26; New Orleans, La., Aug. 31; Las Vegas, Nev., Sept. 12; Anchorage, Alaska, Sept. 28; and San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 5. An audition will also be held in St. Louis, Mo., date pending. Look for lines to be twice as long than in the previous three competitions; AI has raised the age limits for contestants to 28. |
BIG B-BALL BUY
Grammy-winning rapper Nelly has spent major cheese on his latest purchase. No, he hasn't bought himself a boy's name. Even better! He's acquired a partial ownership stake in NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. "Of the many dreams that I have fulfilled in life," Nelly declared in a statement, "being an NBA owner is certainly one of the biggest achievements." |
FIGHT THE POWER
Leslie Moonves isn't going down like that. The CBS chairman has vowed to contest any fines levied against 20 CBS-owned TV stations that aired Janet Jackson's bared breast during this year's Super Bowl half-time performance. Moonves promised he'd "take it up to the courts" to fight the proposed charges totaling $550,000 against the affiliates. |
MORE EXPOSURE
Emmy winner Rob Morrow has been cast in the CBS pilot Numbers. The drama features an MIT mathematician who is recruited by an FBI agent, played by the Northern Exposure alum. Morrow assumes the role from The Recruit's Gabriel Macht. |
AMAZING DISCOVERY
Discovery Health Network has purchased the cable rights to all 141 episodes of Chicago Hope, which ran on CBS from 1994-2000. Former cast member Hector Elizondo will kick off an eight-hour marathon of the soapy medical drama on Aug. 1. The series will then run on the channel three times a day — noon/ET, 7 pm/ET and 2 am/ET beginning Aug. 2. Hope previously ran in syndication on Lifetime. |
MOTOR MENACE
Ex-Baywatch star Michael Bergin was arrested Friday night and charged with felony DUI, TheSmokingGun.com reports. Cops picked up the 35-year-old after he allegedly plowed his SUV into a female roller skater, then refused to take a sobriety test. Bergin made headlines last spring by publishing The Other Man, a trashy tell-all best-seller about his supposed affair with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. Coincidentally, his July 16 arrest fell on the fifth anniversary of the plane crash that killed Bessette Kennedy and husband JFK Jr. This weekend, Bergin spent about 11 hours in police custody before posting $50,000 bail. The skater, meanwhile, went to L.A.'s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she's expected to undergo knee surgery. |
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