November 26, 2002 |
SYD LIVES!
Fate may be smiling on those Hansens yet again. NBC is having second thoughts about cancelling its feel-good Friday drama Providence, which is slated to end Dec. 20. Based on the show's promising Nielsens, Peacock entertainment president Jeff Zucker told the cast last week that he's thinking of ordering another 13 episodes next season. "I told them I would take another look in January," the exec tells the New York Daily News. "I did not cement the door shut." Speaking of reprieves, NBC — encouraged by high ratings for its Hunter: Return to Justice reunion pic — has reportedly ordered eight new episodes of the 1980s cop series. |
CAR TROUBLE
Sounds like somebody needs to enroll in traffic school! Despite his attorney's attempt to get six-year-old traffic charges dismissed, Bobby Brown will stand trial on Jan 21. The scandal-ridden singer was stopped by a cop in 1996 for DUI and speeding (among other charges), and a bench warrant was issued when he failed to appear for his court date. This came back to haunt him two weeks ago, when Whitney Houston's hubby was pulled over and arrested in Atlanta for marijuana possession, speeding and other driving-related faux pas. |
MIDSEASON MUST BE APPROACHING
Reality is sinking in for the WB on Thursday night. The Frog Network is benching sitcoms Family Affair and Do Over beginning Jan. 9 and replacing them with a second broadcast of its upcoming reality show High School Reunion, which will first air Sundays at 9 pm/ET starting Jan. 5. Also Thursdays, Surreal Life — the WB's Real World with F-list celebs — will premiere with a one-hour episode Jan. 9. The following week, it will air in its regular 9:30 pm/ET timeslot following Jamie Kennedy Experiment. Finally, to make room for High School Reunion on Sunday, Angel shifts to Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET in January. |
MODEL MARRIAGE ENDS
Hey boys, there's a newly single supermodel in town. Heidi Klum, 29 — who recently donned wings for the Victoria's Secret "Angel" campaign — is getting divorced, Access Hollywood reports. Klum and her husband, 45-year-old celebrity hairdresser Ric Pipino, say they've made a "mutual and amicable" decision to end their five-year marriage. Nah, he's just mad 'cause everyone thinks she's the pretty one. |
IF YOU DO THE CRIME...
WWE wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has plead no contest to a charge of misdemeanor spousal battery. This past June, the 36-year-old grappler — who stands at 6-foot-2 and weighs 252 lbs. — allegedly struck wife Debra Williams in the head, back and legs at their San Antonio, Tex., home. Now, he'll pay a $1,000 fine and do one year of probation — this entails 80 hours of community service and a family-violence counseling course. Meanwhile, Austin says he and his ex-beauty queen wife are working on a reconciliation. |
GRUMPY OLD TWO-TIMER
Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson will star in an untitled Columbia Pictures comedy written and directed by Father of the Bride scribe Nancy Meyers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film centers on an aging man (Nicholson) who falls for his beautiful young girlfriend's mother (Keaton). Yeah, like that would ever happen. |
YOU SAY TOMATO, I SAY SEQUEL
Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are headed back to a theater near you. Artisan Entertainment is developing a follow-up to this fall's family-friendly Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie to be released in 2005. The sequel will be titled The Bob and Larry Movie. |
URBAN RENEWAL
The mechanical bulls are running to Broadway! Urban Cowboy, the 1980 film starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, is coming to the Great White Way this February in the form of a musical, Variety reports. Newcomers Matt Cavanaugh and Jenn Colella will play the lead roles of Bud and Sissy. |
FAREWELL
Comedian and character actor Jackie Gayle, who appeared in such films as Tin Men and Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, died Saturday at a Miami Beach hospital of complications following open heart surgery. He was 76. Meanwhile, Parley Baer, best known for playing the mayor of Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show as well as providing the voice for the Keebler cookie elf in TV ads, died Friday after suffering a stroke two weeks ago. He was 88. |
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Sick of Dick Clark? Look for American Idol's sunny Ryan Seacrest to host American Party, an alternative New Year's Eve countdown airing Dec. 31 on Fox. The special will ring in 2003 with celebrity musical acts and live coverage of the festivities on the Las Vegas Strip. |
FABIO REGRETS
Uh-oh, Fabio! The male model — who's also a PETA member — is embarrassed by fur-collared coats which appeared in a recent fashion showcase for his upcoming Sam's Club clothing line. A slightly exaggerated rumor had the coats — which haven't even arrived in stores yet — being yanked from Sam's shelves at Fabio's demand. "There's no flap," his manager, Eric Ashenberg, told Reuters. "Based on Fabio's feelings, the collection will have no fur." Everybody simmer down now. |
SHORT CUTS
Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to reteam with What's Eating Gilbert Grape director Lasse Hallstrom in the A-bomb thriller Bombshell... Ethan Hawke will appear in a January episode of Alias playing an undercover CIA agent. |
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