FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, September 24, 2001

Celebrity telethon rakes in $150 million, Hardball remains top movie, Paul McCartney plans special WTC benefit, more

By Josh Grossberg Sep 24, 2001 11:35 PMTags
COME TOGETHER: Friday night's unprecedented all-star telethon earned more than $150 million, organizers said Monday. The telecast, which aired on nearly three dozen networks, drawing 89 million viewers for at least some portion of the telecast. By comparison, President Bush's Thursday speech to Congress drew 82.1 million.

NOT ALL THAT GLITTERS: Audiences not too interested in Glitter, preferring instead to stick with Hardball. In one of the slowest weekends of the year at the box office, the heartwarming little-league movie remained number one at the box office with an estimated $8.2 million, while Mariah Carey's new vanity flick didn't even make the top 10.

GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.: Bette Midler, Placido Domingo and Lee Greenwood among the artists performing Sunday during A Prayer for America, an interfaith service at Yankee Stadium led by Oprah Winfrey and James Earl Jones.

WINGED: NBC delaying the season premiere of The West Wing to October 10. Creator Aaron Sorkin had asked the network to push back the episode, titled "Manchester, Part 1," in the wake of the terror attacks. Sorkin, meanwhile, is writing a Very Special Episode titled "Isaac and Ishmael" focusing on the terror attacks. It will air October 3.

BACK TO THE BEACH? Producers of Survivor 4 pulling out of the Middle Eastern country of Jordan as a possible site for the series in the wake of the terrorist attacks. A network executive now says producers are considering Tahiti instead.

SURVIVOR ADD: A judge in New Port, Rhode Island sentencing original Survivor winner Richard Hatch to one year's probation for assaulting a former lover. Hatch called the judge's ruling "ludicrous" and said he plans to appeal.

KISS A LITTLE LONGER: To keep from closing, the cast and crew of Broadway's Kiss Me, Kate taking a 25 percent pay cut and deciding to donate an additional 25 percent to Broadway Cares, a nonprofit group that will give tickets to groups aiding in disaster relief.

PASSING: Violinist Isaac Stern, one of the most recorded classical musicians ever, died of heart failure in New York Saturday. The world-famous performer, teacher and humanitarian was credited with saving Carnegie Hall from the wrecking ball and restoring its fame as a concert venue. He was 81.

HELP! Paul McCartney announcing plans for a concert to benefit New York City firefighters, many of whom died in the rescue efforts following the attacks on the World Trade Center. The former Beatle, whose father was a firefighter in Liverpool during World War II, said he was looking for a venue. No further details were released.

BENEFIT ADD: Moby, who lives in New York near ground zero and has kept an online journal about the terrorist attacks, playing a fundraiser September 25 at New York dance club Centro-Fly. The show will benefit the New York City Police Department and Fire Department Widows' and Children's Funds.

LOCKED DOWN: After threatening to stay at the Shrine Auditorium, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reaching an agreement with developers of the new Kodak Theater over security issues for next year's Oscars.

EVERYTHING'S ZEN: Gavin Rossdale, frontman for Bush (the band, not the president), changing the title of the band's new single from "Speed Kills" to "The People That We Love" in the wake of the tragedy. The singer also plans to change the lyrics to the song "Head Full of Ghosts," which contains the verse, "I'm at my best when I'm terrorist inside," calling it "the worst line on the album in this time."

STILL CARE? American songwriters and music publishers reaching a preliminary agreement with Napster to settle the class-action lawsuit currently pending in California federal court. Under the deal, songwriters and music publishers will license their music to Napster's new membership-based service.

ON THE TUBE: Jimmy Smits signing a seven-figure multiyear deal with ABC to executive produce and star in a drama or comedy series starting in fall 2002.

THE FORCE RULES: Star Wars and its first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, voted the greatest two films of all time, according to a poll by readers of Empire magazine. Prison drama The Shawshank Redemption came in third.

WARP SPEED: Paramount greenlighting production on Star Trek: Nemesis, which will be directed by Stuart Baird (U.S. Marshals) with a script from John Logan (Gladiator). The film, starring The Next Generation cast, begins shooting in November and should hit theaters in 2003.

SORORITY ROCKS: MTV pledging to produce a documentary-style series tentatively titled Sorority Life, about the day-to-day life and drama of a sorority on a college campus.

DARK SECRET: Scottish comedian Billy Connolly revealing in an interview with London's Sunday Observer that as a child he suffered years of sexual abuse by his father.

GETTING ANIMATED: The British creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire teaming with a Los Angeles animation firm to produce a cartoon version of the famous game show called The Adventures of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: The Animated Series.