weekly television news

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The Scoop on The Simple Life 2 Source
: USA Today Monday, January 26, 2004

The first season of Fox's The Simple Life was a ratings hit. The show featured hotel heiress Paris Hilton and her best friend Nicole Richie (daughter of pop star Lionel) as they leave their lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles for an Arkansas farm to see if they can survive, or if the town can survive them. Now, USA Today got the scoop on Season Two at last night's Golden Globes.

Hotel heir Rick Hilton, whose name adorns the Beverly Hilton (site of the Globes), also hired a guard for the night — to protect his little girl, Paris. Whenever someone got too chatty with Paris, papa gave a sign for his bodyguard to step in. This reporter lasted long enough to learn the premise of Fox's follow-up to The Simple Life: "They tell me we're going to travel around the country in a Winnebago with some new family," Paris said. Shooting won't begin until the weather warms up so Hilton and pal Nicole Richie can once again wear, well, practically nothing.

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QUEEN Classic Made Into PEPSI Commercial, Band Rejects 'Sellout' Accusations
- Jan. 26, 2004

The QUEEN classic "We Will Rock You" has been made into — of all things — a Pepsi commercial with the three priciest divas in pop and the world's number one Latin heartthrob, according to Reuters.

The Gladiator-themed commercial was filmed in Rome with Enrique Iglesias in the role of the evil emperor and Britney Spears, Beyonce and Pink singing the track while dressed as gladiators.

"I will die happy," QUEEN guitarist Brian May said of the project.

"I think in the end, it will be a good piece of art. There is more money and more talent per second in an ad than in anything else," he told Reuters.

"It was incredible to work with the three of them, and hear the song come to life in a new way. Freddie would definitely have enjoyed it," he said of Freddie Mercury, QUEEN's late frontman.

Spears, signing autographs for hordes of fans craning over the crash barriers, was also thrilled with her co-stars.

"It's amazing to work with artists like Pink and Beyonce. It's really, really cool. You want to pinch yourself," she told Reuters. "This was a thrill beyond belief."

[FH]

Regis' Final Answer: $10 Million

by Sarah Hall
Jan 27, 2004, 1:30 AM PT





Two years after Regis Philbin's greed-meets-trivia fueled Who Wants to Be a Millionaire departed from ABC's primetime airwaves, the network has decided to temporarily revive the show in a super-sized reincarnation--with a $10 million dollar purse at stake.



The show was once the network's hottest ticket, powering ABC to number one in the ratings, before audiences grew sick of Millionaire's primetime saturation and dropped it like a hot potato.

The final edition of primetime Millionaire aired in April 2002. ABC declined to renew the show last season, though a daytime edition hosted by Meredith Vieira launched in September 2002.

But now the original is back in a revamped format and with it comes the return of its toothy-grinned, tangerine-skinned host with the most.

The rejuvenated edition, called Super Millionaire, will air five times in six days next month, beginning February 22, as part of a sweeps-month stunt.

Potential contestants will still compete in a "fastest finger" trivia round to determine who takes the stage--but after that, the stakes go up.

The show's easiest question will carry a $1,000 bounty and the 15th and final question's value will also increase tenfold

In another change, contestants will have three additional lifelines to use for help on top of the old stand-bys of polling the audience, phoning a friend and culling wrong answers from the multiple choice selection.

ABC entertainment chairman Lloyd Braun said the network feels America is ready for a return to Millionaire.

"For months, we have been carefully monitoring the environment to determine if the time is right for a new, totally amped-up version of Millionaire, broadcast in its original event-like form. We think this is the time," Braun said in a statement.

Only 10 contestants ever made it all the way through the trivia to win the million-dollar prize on the original show. Winner Kevin Olmstead, who took home a bonus $2.18 million jackpot, holds the Guinness Record for biggest television game show winner of all time.

[FH]

VH1 to Air Superhero Super Secret Movie Rules
Source: Spider-Man-Rox Tuesday, January 27, 2004

'Spider-Man-Rox' alerted us that VH1 will be taking a look at superhero movies on February 14th...

VH1 has started a new series called, Super Secret Movie Rules in which they dedicate various episodes to a different genre of movies & on Saturday February 14th @ 11/10c AM they will be doing an episode dedicated to Superheros. Check this link for more details.

What makes a good superhero movie? What are the rules? Loads of scientific gibberish? A gooey birth scene? Clean tights? An über violent villain? All of the above? Sit tight, true believers, for VH1's newest series, Super Secret Movie Rules, will answer all your questions about America's favorite stars of the spandex screen, Superheroes. From Superman to Hulk, you'll witness a superhuman breakdown of ten of the most iconic superhero movies ever to leap, fly, and zap their way from comic panels to movie screens.

Who could forget Superman's romantic first date with Lois Lane, Batman's heroic rescue of Vicki Vale from the clutches of the Joker, or Wolverine's backyard cat fight with his nemesis, Sabretooth? But beyond the memories, these scenes raise some questions. Why is Superman looking at Lois Lane's panties? How is Batman a superhero if he doesn't even have any powers? And why does Wolverine look like someone hanging out in an Irish pub? Who knows! But our insatiable celebrity fans, venerable masters, and irreverent comedians will analyze, re-enact, and philosophize on the greatest costumed characters and moments ever to hit a movie theatre.KAPOW!

Look for Rza of the Wu Tang Clan, indie director Kevin Smith, comic god Stan Lee, and many, many more of your favorite faces and personalities from the film, television, and music industries.

FEATURED MOVIES:
Superman
Batman
Darkman
The Crow
Blade
The Matrix
Unbreakable
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Hulk

FEATURED INTERVIEWS:
Tim Burton
Richard Donner
Stan Lee
Danny Elfman
Bryan Singer
Kevin Smith
Kathy Griffin
Rza of Wu Tang Clan

[FH]

Kelly Osbourne is Doing It
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday, January 27, 2004

According to The Hollywood Reporter, singer and reality series star Kelly Osbourne is making her first foray into scripted series with ABC's drama pilot Doing It.

Based on British author Melvin Burgess' controversial young-adult novel, Doing It centers on the sexual antics of three 16-year-old Seattle boys: Dino (Sean Farris), Jonathan (Chris Lowell) and Ben (Jon Foster).

Osbourne, star of MTV's reality comedy The Osbournes, will play a love interest for Jonathan.

Also cast in the pilot are Marguerite Moreau (Easy), who will play a young English-lit teacher, and Missy Peregrym (the WB Network's Black Sash), who will play Dino's girlfriend.

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Pay-Per-View Paris?

by Sarah Hall
Jan 28, 2004, 11:10 PM PT



Probably not coming to a pay-per-view channel near you: Paris Hilton's sex tape.

Rick Salomon, Hilton's partner in the now infamous green-lit mattress romp, has offered to settle his $10 million slander suit against the Hilton family--but the terms of the settlement are unlikely to tempt the high-rolling hotel clan.


Salomon reportedly contacted Paris Hilton's father, Rick, through a third party, and proposed to drop the suit if Daddy Hilton, in turn, lets him distribute the sex tape on a pay-per-view basis.

Right--because that's just what every proud papa wants for his daughter.

In a document filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on January 15, Hilton lawyer Heather McCloskey called both Salomon's offer and slander suit "beneath contempt," and accused Salomon of trying to profit from the notoriety he has gained as a result of the scandal. (The document is available online at the Smoking Gun Website.)

Salomon filed suit against the Hiltons and their publicist Siri Garber in November 2003, alleging that he had been slandered by the family's accusations that he had somehow taken advantage of an innocent Paris.

He also emphatically denied any connection with the leaking of the tape to Internet porn distributor Marvad Corp. The company had planned to hawk the tape online at its SexBrat.com site, but changed its mind after learning it had obtained the video illegally from a man who allegedly did not have permission to sell it.

Meanwhile, Paris Hilton's celebutante high life was not long fettered by the X-rated footage seen round the world.

With the help of less controversial footage, the hotel heiress is slowly, but surely distancing herself from her sex scandal.

Hilton enjoyed successful ratings for the Fox reality hit The Simple Life, in which she endured a month on an Arkansas farm alongside wealthy sidekick, Nicole Richie.

Fox has already released the DVD of the show for viewers who didn't get their fill of spoiled inanities such as: "What's Wal-Mart?" and "What's a Laundromat?"

Hilton is continuing her thesp quest with a February 2 guest appearance on NBC's Las Vegas.

[FH]

Republicans Blast Bono

U2 singer target in FCC's crackdown


More than a year after Bono said, "This is really, really fucking brilliant" on live TV, Republicans have launched a fresh attack on the U2 singer and a broad attempt to scrub obscenity from the airwaves.
In October, the Federal Communications Commission's enforcement bureau ruled that Bono's acceptance speech at the 2003 Golden Globes -- U2 won for "The Hands That Built America," from Gangs of New York -- was not indecent or obscene because it "did not describe sexual or excretory organs or activities." On January 13th, FCC chairman Michael Powell demanded that the decision be reversed. "I personally believe that this growing coarseness in use of such profanity . . . is abhorrent and irresponsible," Powell said at a National Press Club luncheon on January 14th. "And it's irresponsible of our programmers to continue to try to push the envelope." Powell, who will need votes from at least two of his fellow commissioners to reverse the decision, also called on Congress to raise obscenity fines on broadcasters to at least ten times the present maximum of $27,500 per violation.

Within hours of Powell's speech, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said that he would seek to dramatically increase penalties for broadcasters. Eleven other Republicans and Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-S.C.) have sponsored a resolution that asks the FCC to revoke the license of television stations that repeatedly air indecent material. A bill sponsored by Rep. Doug Ose (R-Calif.) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) even aims to completely ban, from all radio and network television broadcasts, the following words: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and asshole.

"These seven words don't have any possible use over the public airwaves that can be anything but profane," Ose says. "There's just no use for them."

Bono told a reporter, "If you use [expletives] in your everyday speech, sometimes they will come out. I don't mean to offend anyone." Several other musicians told Rolling Stone that Powell's campaign is misguided. Eamon, whose breakup ballad "F**k It" is the best-selling single on the Billboard charts, says, "It's a guaranteed waste of time." Singer-songwriter Steve Earle, whose recent Tell Us the Truth Tour aimed to raise awareness about the dangers of media consolidation, says, "I don't think anyone, with the exception of the Christian right, gives a fuck about whether someone says a dirty word on the radio or TV anymore. There are much bigger fish that the FCC should be frying, if the FCC is indeed about the stewardship of the airwaves."

Critics say that Republicans are ignoring the value of free speech. Under Ose's rules, for example, CBS' Emmy Award-winning documentary, 9/11, which included many obscenities, would either have been banned from television or significantly bleeped. Live broadcasts would also lose their immediacy: "One of the exciting things about live TV is that you're always looking for that unguarded moment," says Scott Grogan, a spokesman for Fox, which is being investigated for a December 10th broadcast of the Billboard Music Awards that included Nicole Richie swearing. "When you get that live moment -- it's what makes TV so vital."

DAMIEN CAVE
(January 28, 2004)

[FH]

"The Sharon Osbourne Show," the syndicated daytime talk show hosted by the wife/manager of Ozzy Osbourne, has been reportedly been canceled. Produced by Time Warner's Telepictures, the program has posted increasingly lower ratings since it debuted last September. According to Nielsen Media Research, the show started off last year with an average 1.5 rating (or about 4 million U.S. viewers for syndicated programs) but now the show has dropped out of the top 25 syndicated shows posting a 1.5 rating or higher.

Osbourne reps have confirmed the cancellation but had no comment on reports that Sharon had asked to be let out of her contract following Ozzy's severe ATV accident in December. A Telepictures spokesperson denied that the talk show was officially canceled, although several sources involved with the show confirmed the it is ceasing production. It has not been announced when the last episode will air.

-- Carla Hay, N.Y.