FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, December 2, 2003
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE: Geena Davis and hubby Reza Jarrahy are expecting twins, her publicist confirmed today. The couple had their first child, Alizeh Keshvar, about 18 months ago. "Ms. Davis is in wonderful health and both husband and wife and Baby Alizeh are looking forward to the new additions," said the rep.
AMERICA'S LEAST WANTED: NBC canceling John Walsh's syndicated talk show, The John Walsh Show, stating that Walsh's other commitments such as hosting Fox's America's Most Wanted have left the host too busy to continue with the program.
TRADING UP: Ty Pennington, the easy-on-the-eyes carpenter from TLC's Trading Spaces has accepted a gig on a new home improvement show from ABC. The show--Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a spinoff of the network's plastic surgery show Extreme Makeover, and gives Pennington, a team of designers, 100 workmen and neighbors a week to remake an entire house.
AGE OF CONSENT: Attorneys for R. Kelly requesting that kiddie-porn charges against him be dropped because a girl he allegedly had sex with on video was 17 years old when the act took place, and not legally underage. The attorneys are also questioning the law that makes it legal for one to have sex with a 17-year-old but not to videotape the encounter.HAIL TO THE KING: More than 100,000 fans turning up on Monday in Wellington, New Zealand, to cheer on director Peter Jackson and stars Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen at the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
LOOSE LIPS: Former Beatle George Harrison's oncologist has been reprimanded and fined $5,000 by New York's Health Department for talking to the press about his patient even though comments were positive. Harrison died in 2001 after a battle with lung cancer and a brain tumor.
SPIN JOB: Irv Gotti announcing that Murder Inc. has changed its name to the softer and gentler sounding The Inc.
NOT SO NEUTRAL: Marilyn Manson facing a criminal probe in Switzerland after a religious group filed a complaint about his controversial stage show there in February 2001.
ALL IDOL, ALL THE TIME: Fox airing a behind-the-scenes American Idol special that follows the second season finalists on their recent concert tour. American Idol: Life on the Road airs January 1.
FLASHBACK: CBS considering a behind-the-scenes M*A*S*H movie titled M*A*S*Hback, reports Variety. New actors would be cast in the classic roles.
BUH-BYE: Comedy Central dropping Gary Busey's show I'm With Busey after one season.
YOU'RE INVITED: Ron Howard's The Missing one of the first five films chosen to compete in next year's Berlin Film Festival.
INDEPENDENT DAY: The Sundance Film Festival announcing a partial roster of competing films for 2004; stars appearing in selected films include Billy Bob Thorton, Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly.
WE THE PEOPLE: The 30th Annual People's Choice Awards announcing its top vote-getters, including Jennifer Aniston, Beyonce Knowles, Eminem, The O.C., The Bachelor CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Survivor: Pearl Islands. Winners will be announced January 11 on CBS.
FILTHY RICH: Rapper 50 Cent scoring six nominations including Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for Get Rich or Die Tryin' at the 2003 Billboard Awards, which will be presented Dec. 10 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. R&B stars Beyonce and R. Kelly also nabbed five nods a piece.
CURTAIN TIME: Tony Award-winning musical Nine will end its limited engagement run on December 14 after 285 performances.
A DREAM WORTH REMEMBERING: Bono being honored for his humanitarian efforts at the "Salute to Greatness" awards dinner hosted by by the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. January 17 in Atlanta.
FORGET THE MOONWALK: Jermaine Jackson sprinting down a corridor to escape from pursuing camera crews and journalists following a press briefing at the United Nations on Monday after being bombarded with questions about his brother Michael Jackson's child molestation case. The elder Jackson was there for an AIDS Day event.
MORE JACKSON: Jermaine Jackson teaming up with Ashanti and Laila Ali to stage a concert and boxing event in Nigeria to raise money and awareness to fight AIDS.
MORE TROUBLE AT THE MOUSE HOUSE: Stanley Gold, another member of Disney's board of directors, following Roy Disney's lead, resigning from his seat, and calling on chairman Michael Eisner to do the same after criticizing his management.
SCALING DOWN: Director Edward Zwick, best known for helming such epics as Glory and The Last Samurai, acquiring the rights to the life story of reclusive Chicago artist Henry Darger, who worked as a janitor for six decades before a trove of fantasy-themed artwork was discovered shortly following his death.
SCREENER UPDATE: Harvey Weinstein, Jack Valenti and James Schamus among those industry heavyweights who've been subpoenaed to appear Wednesday in federal court in the ongoing lawsuit filed by a group of independent film producers against the MPAA over its ban on Oscar screeners.
FUNKY DIVAS REUNITE: The girls from En Vogue reuniting along with newly added singer Rhona Bennett and will release Soulflower, a new album on February 24. The first single from the set, "Losin' My Mind," hit radio stations on November 17.
REMEMBERED: Earl Bellamy, who directed scores of popular TV shows including Rawhide, The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, in a prolific career that began with the birth of commercial television and continued well into the 1980s, died Sunday of a heart attack in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was 86.




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