AMAZING FINISH
Kelly and Jon's worst nightmare came true on last night's mega-suspenseful Amazing Race 4 finale: They got beat by two gay guys. In what had to be the most exciting sexual orientation showdown since Richard Hatch trumped his hetero rivals on the first season of Survivor, hottie gay marrieds Reichen and Chip prevailed over bickering straight couple Kelly and Jon. The pair walked away with a cool $1 million and bragging rights to being Amazing Race's first gay champions. Best friends David and Jeff, meanwhile, came in a distant (and rather sad) third. If you have questions for Reichen and Chip or Kelly and Jon, e-mail them to me via the link at the bottom of this column, and I will be sure to forward them on to my colleague Ethan Alter, who will be speaking to the quartet this weekend. And if you have questions for David and Jeff, please e-mail them to me via the link at the bottom of this column and I will be sure to forward them to my trash icon. There was just no excuse for that lame finish. |
GET OUT!
Here's some "TV News" scoop from next week's issue of TV Guide magazine: It's not the Seinfeld reunion we were hoping for, but it'll do. Jerry Seinfeld is set to guest-star on Curb Your Enthusiasm, the HBO series starring Seinfeld cocreator Larry David. Jerry will play himself in the fourth-season finale (to air in 2004), which features Larry making his Broadway debut. "[Seinfeld] stopped by the set to visit," says an HBO spokeswoman, "and they decided to put him in the audience." Wise move indeed. |
CLAY'S WAY
It's official! American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken's debut album will hit stores Oct. 14 — nearly a month before the Nov. 11 drop date of AI winner Ruben Studdard's CD. "It just don't make no sense for Clay to have his album chillin' when he could just do his thing," Studdard told The Associated Press, explaining that promotional duties have cut into his own time in the recording studio. "I just want to be able to do the best possible project I possibly can. I don't want to just come out with an American Idol souvenir album, you know what I'm saying?" |
NEW PATIENT
Bob Newhart's career is about to take a serious turn. The comedy legend has nabbed a recurring role on ER, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He'll play an architect suffering from macular degeneration who develops an attachment to Dr. Susan Lewis (Sherry Stringfield). His three-episode arc begins Oct. 30. |
TRIAL AND ERRORS
William H. Macy and Tom Selleck have signed on to headline a four-hour CBS miniseries based on Scott Turow's best-selling legal thriller Reversible Errors. Production is slated to begin in October in Canada. |
CRYSTAL CLEAR
Funnyman Billy Crystal plans to write two children's bedtime storybooks about grandparents and their grandkids. The first book, I Already Know I Love You, will be published by HarperCollins in April 2004. The Monsters, Inc. star says the birth of his first grandchild, Ella, inspired him to become a children's author. Aww... |
BACK IN THE HOUSE
The WB has officially ordered 13 episodes of Aaron Spelling's newest family drama, Summerland, which is set to debut in summer 2004. Created by and starring Lori Loughlin (Full House), the show follows a single lady lawyer who inherits three kids to raise from her late sister. |
NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY...
The Parents Television Council — a TV watchdog group which frowns on sex and violence — is lambasting CSI for its racy plotlines about cannibalism, sex clubs and snuff films. PTC's new list of TV's 10 worst shows also includes CBS's Big Brother 3 and NBC's Friends and Will & Grace. So what shows do they like? CBS's recently axed Touched by an Angel tops that list. |
ANIMATED PERSONALITY
Charlie's Angels and Ally McBeal diva Lucy Liu has joined the cast of Game Over, a CGI-animated midseason comedy on UPN. She'll do the voice of Raquel Smashenburn, a secret agent and mother of two. The show's other celebrity voices currently include SNL's Rachel Dratch and Seinfeld's Patrick Warburton. |
PONY IT UP, SUNDANCE
The two ex-honchos of Robert Redford's production company, Crystal Film Works, are suing the 66-year-old actor. Former employees Jeff Kleeman and Eric Greenfeld say Redford is very late in making installment payments on an agreed-upon $750,000 legal settlement. Their lawsuit asks a judge to make Redford honor his debt, plus pay them interest, legal fees and unspecified relief. |
RINGS REDUX
New Line Cinema will release special expanded editions of the first two Lord of the Rings films in theaters worldwide two weeks before the Dec. 17 opening of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The studio wants to refresh moviegoers' memories before the final installment arrives. |
SHORT CUTS
NBC is thisclose to ordering a second helping of The Restaurant, although the network may ditch Rocco DiSpirito and instead focus on a new eatery... With S.W.A.T. making a killing at the box office, Sony may bring the classic cop franchise back to the small screen next fall... USA Network has renewed The Dead Zone for a third season. |
