QUEER CONTROVERSY
The latest episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy set new ratings records for Bravo — but that may not be a good thing for Officer John Verdi, the Port Authority cop at the center of Tuesday's edition. Among the nearly 3 million people who watched the installment were Verdi's PA bosses, who, according to the New York Daily News, were not amused that the cop allowed Queer stars Carson Kressley and Thom Filicia to don his uniform in one amusing segment. Apparently, Verdi never got permission to identify himself as a PA cop and should not have allowed a civilian to wear his uniform. A PA spokesman says the agency is "looking into the matter." Speaking of Queer's Kressley, the fab fashionista has officially arrived. According to Variety, the show's reigning diva has signed with high-powered Hollywood agency ICM for representation in all areas. |
TAKE THAT, LILITH!
Here's some more "TV News" scoop from the current issue of TV Guide magazine: Frasier producers are wooing Oscar winner Emma Thompson to reprise her role as the shrink's first wife, children's singer Nanny Gee — the character she originated on Cheers in 1992. "We've found a very funny story that brings her back," says exec producer Joe Keenan, who adds that if Thompson's schedule allows, the episode could air in time for November sweeps. Isn't that convenient. |
SMART MOVE
CBS has inked a deal with the family of Elizabeth Smart for a TV movie chronicling the Utah teen's nine-month abduction and eventual rescue. Dylan Baker and Lindsay Frost have been cast as the parents and Canadian actress Amber Marshall will play Elizabeth. Production is scheduled to begin next month and the network is eyeing a November air date. |
MEET THE NEW MRS.
Angelina Jolie is poised to star opposite Brad Pitt in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the on-again off-again thriller about a bored married couple who discover that they are enemy assassins hired to kill each other. Jolie replaces Nicole Kidman, who dropped out over a scheduling conflict. |
MEOW!
New Practice recruit Sharon Stone is in talks to play the female villain in Catwoman, the big-screen Batman spinoff starring Halle Berry. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stone would play a cosmetics giant who secretly runs an evil operation. |
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL
Marissa Jaret Winokur, the breakout star of Broadway's Hairspray, will play the title role in the upcoming ABC Family movie Beautiful Girl. She'll star as a plus-sized gal who enters a local beauty pageant hoping to win a free honeymoon. Fran Drescher and Mark Consuelos (aka Mr. Kelly Ripa) co-star. |
SEEING RED
Film producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is teaming with 24 scribe Evan Katz to develop an A-Team-like action series for NBC, Variety reports. The Red Team will revolve around a band of renegade military personnel who use government technology to help out the little guy. |
NO SHOW
Poor ticket sales have forced the cancellation of Ben & Jerry's "One World One Heart Festival," which was scheduled for this weekend at the original 1969 Woodstock concert site. Tracy Chapman and LeAnn Rimes were among the headliners slated to perform. |
FIRE FALLOUT
Six months after a deadly nightclub fire killed 100 people, members of rock band Great White and the owners of The Station were fined nearly $100,000 Wednesday by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The band plans to appeal. |
VMA UPDATE
Beyonce Knowles and Metallica have been added to the performance lineup for next Thursday's 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. They join previously announced acts Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Good Charlotte, Coldplay and Christina Aguilera. |
HEADING WEST
Aaron Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme are heading back to The West Wing — sort of. WW's former producers will provide audio commentary on the show's upcoming first season DVD, due out on Nov. 18, Variety reports. |
REUNITED, AND IT SOUNDS SO GOOD
Time to brush up on your New Wave hairdos! Several original members of the trail-blazing '80s synth-pop group Berlin — among them founding father John Crawford and lead singer Terri Nunn — got together recently at The Roxy in West Hollywood to tape a special for VH1. Since the gang's Reagan-era breakup, Nunn has assembled a new backing band and, earlier this year, released Voyeur, an album of fresh (in every sense of the word!) Berlin material. |
