BEN THERE, DONE THAT
It's not Bill Clinton, but this'll do: Ben Affleck has been tapped to host the Oct. 2 season premiere of Saturday Night Live, TV Guide Online has learned. This will mark Affleck's third stint hosting the show. Nelly will serve as musical guest. |
NOW THAT'S UNFRIENDLY
Don't mess with David Schwimmer. The former Friends star is suing Hollywood charity promoter Aaron Tonken for slander, Celebrity Justice reports. Tonken recently told the National Enquirer that Schwimmer refused participation in a fund-raiser unless he was gifted with two expensive Rolex watches. In court papers, Schwimmer denies this, calling Tonken "a scheming, pathological liar, bent on castigating celebrities by concocting bogus stories." It should be noted that last month Tonken was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to mail and wire fraud relating to phony charity events. Now that's what I call a giver. |
RISE OF THE MACHINES
The remote-controlled car designed by the winning team on last week's Apprentice is coming to a toy store near you in early '05. Tweaked slightly for a "sleeker" style, the renamed Morph Machines will be produced by Mattel and sell for $30. And what about the losing invention, Crustacean Nation? The prototype will be melted down, turned into a clue and handed to Team Mosaic. |
BAD BOY
Ex-Baywatch star Michael Bergin has been officially charged with felony DUI. Back in July, 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. He spent about 11 hours in police custody before posting $50,000 bail. This marked a new low for Bergin, who previously made headlines by publishing The Other Man, a trashy tell-all bestseller about his supposed adulterous affair with the late Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. He also guest-starred on Average Joe: Hawaii, but we won't even go there. |
DREAM RATINGS
Pontiac's $7 million advertising blitz on Monday's Oprah Winfrey Show paid off. The episode ranked as Oprah's highest-rated season premiere since 1996. Next up: Oprah fulfills my dream and gives her audience a lifetime supply of chill pills. |
SLIP 'N' SLIDE
Jane Pauley may want to consider staging an Oprah-size stunt in the near future. In its second week on the air, her freshman talk show dipped 11 percent in the ratings. |
SPEAKING OUT
Former Terminator badass Linda Hamilton announced on Tuesday that she is bipolar and has battled depression for most of her life. She was diagnosed 10 years ago, shortly after she stormed into her local pharmacy demanding SPF 2 million sunblock. |
BOMB SCARE
Authorities in Charlottesville, Va., are trying to find out who sent a suspicious package — initially thought to be a bomb — to the home of best-selling author John Grisham. The envelope was dropped off in Grisham's mailbox on Saturday, but not by the U.S. Postal Service. After examining the mailing, police determined it was not a real bomb, just the movie version of The Chamber. |
GRAVE MATTER
HBO's Six Feet Under finished off its underwhelming fourth season with below-average ratings. Sunday's climax attracted 3.7 million viewers, down sharply from the 5.8 million who caught last year's third season finale. Theories abound on what sparked the Nielsen dip, but only one makes any sense: Episode 44, titled "That's My Dog." |
SHARK ATTACK
Italian-American groups are complaining that DreamWorks' forthcoming animated flick Shark Tale fosters ethnic stereotypes. In the film, Robert De Niro voices a vengeful great white named Don Lino. "The movie introduces young minds to the idea that people with Italian names are gangsters," Columbus Citizens president Lawrence Auriana says. However, a DreamWorks rep insists Tale "pokes fun at a number of film genres.... There is nothing mean-spirited in the film." Well, that's disappointing. |
AMERICAN IDOLS
R&B stud Usher scored a leading four nominations for the 2004 American Music Awards, including Best Male Artist and Best Album for Confessions. Rapper-producer Kanye West was close behind with three nods and Outkast nabbed two. The Jimmy Kimmel-hosted kudoscast airs Nov. 14 on ABC. |
SHORT CUTS
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will visit the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday, Sept. 20.... Fox is producing a live-action Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.... Entertainment Tonight correspondent Maria Menounos is joining One Tree Hill for eight episodes. She'll play a love interest for Keith (Craig Sheffer).... America's Next Top Model's Tyra Banks has inked a deal with Warner Bros. to host her own daytime talk show, the New York Post reports. |
