News For Wednesday Oct 8, 2008 News For Wednesday Oct 8, 2008

Entertainment Entertainment

Oliver Platt will star in 'Guys and Dolls' revival - Added 5 weeks ago

Broadway has found its Nathan Detroit for the upcoming revival of "Guys and Dolls" _ Oliver Platt. Platt will portray the unapologetic gambler in the classic Frank Loesser musical that will open March 1 at the...

Second presidential debate watched by 63.2 million - Added 5 weeks ago

The second presidential debate drew more viewers than the first but still proved less of a draw than the Joe Biden-Sarah Palin matchup. A total of 63.2 million viewers watched Tuesday's debate in Nashville, Tenn.,...

Foo Fighters tell McCain to stop using song - Added 5 weeks ago

Yet another band is complaining about John McCain's use of their song to promote his campaign. This time, it's the Foo Fighters. The rockers sent out a missive telling the Republican presidential candidate to stop...

Deal for alleged Cusack stalker falls through - Added 5 weeks ago

A woman accused of stalking actor John Cusack will stand trial after a last-minute plea deal fell through late Wednesday afternoon. Emily Leatherman was moments away from accepting a deal that would have allowed her to...

A Fey-Palin comedy summit? Stay tuned - Added 5 weeks ago

It seems like the inevitable comedic summit of this fall's presidential campaign: the real Sarah Palin coming on "Saturday Night Live" to meet her look-alike impersonator, Tina Fey. "All in good time," said a cagey...

Hilton continues online presidential campaign - Added 5 weeks ago

Watch out world: Paris Hilton is continuing her bid for the White House. The paparazzi darling and reality TV star touted her candidacy in a video on FunnyOrDie.com Wednesday _ her second appearance in a political...

Recording company sues Lil' Kim in NYC - Added 5 weeks ago

A recording company has sued Lil' Kim for $2.5 million, saying the Grammy-winning rapper hasn't delivered all the recordings their contract requires. Brookland Media filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Manhattan's state...

Your movie ad here: Oscars to accept studio spots - Added 5 weeks ago

Hollywood's biggest annual advertisement for itself _ the Academy Awards broadcast _ now can carry commercials for movies themselves. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board voted to allow commercials for...

'Opus' creator to retire from drawing comic strips - Added 5 weeks ago

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is retiring, leaving a hole in Sunday comics pages after nearly 30 years because he wants to save his strip's main character, Opus, from being dragged down in the...

Movie tells tale of a young Billy Graham - Added 5 weeks ago

Robby Benson knows how it sounds. But his reason for making a movie about the life of a young Billy Graham, the director says, is simple: "I wanted to make a movie about goodness." "Billy: The Early Years" focuses on...

Spears rejects plea deal in driver's license case - Added 5 weeks ago

An attorney for Britney Spears has rejected a plea offer that would have placed her on a year's probation and forced her to pay a $150 fine in her misdemeanor driver's license case. Attorney J. Michael Flanagan says...

Tonys announce the Isabelle Stevenson Award - Added 5 weeks ago

The 2009 Tony Awards will include a new honor, the Isabelle Stevenson Award, to be given to a member of the theater community for philanthropic efforts. The award, named after the former president of the American...

RI woman seeks return of portrait in Nazi-era case - Added 5 weeks ago

A lawyer asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to overturn a decision forcing a woman to surrender a portrait to the estate of a late Jewish art dealer who fled the Nazis seven decades ago. A judge in December...

UK lawmakers discuss US election, `West Wing' - Added 5 weeks ago

Does life imitate "The West Wing"? Ron Silver, who played a political strategist on the Emmy-winning drama series, said parallels with the 2008 U.S. presidential race "are kind of spooky in a way." "But they are very...

'NHL 09' first star in hockey franchise - Added 5 weeks ago

In the world of sports video games, not much can really change year to year. The game at its core is the same, but it's what video-game developers add that makes it worth spending the cash. Such is the case with...

So far, debates lack the memorable lines of past - Added 5 weeks ago

Late in their debate, Sarah Palin looked over at Joe Biden and channeled the memory of Ronald Reagan's famed putdown of Jimmy Carter in 1980. "There you go again," she said. Well, governor, we knew Ronald Reagan....

`Dexter' brings Smits back as a TV crimebuster - Added 5 weeks ago

Jimmy Smits, a proven TV star in "L.A. Law" and "NYPD Blue," is looking like the go-to guy when a drama's juicy guest role demands leading-man heft. In the final season of "The West Wing," he was a Latino politician...

DJ AM's friends announce Hollywood benefit concert - Added 5 weeks ago

Friends of DJ AM are throwing a party to welcome the celebrity disc jockey home after he survived a fiery plane crash last month in South Carolina. Mark Ronson, Cut Chemist, Steve Aoki and other AM pals will perform at...

Superman's dad dies _ again - Added 5 weeks ago

Superman's dad has died again. DC Comics has killed off Clark Kent's Earth father with a heart attack. In Action Comics #870, out Wednesday, Superman can't hear his mom's cries for help in time to save Jonathan Kent. ...

Story of teen who went missing in Aruba to be film - Added 5 weeks ago

A cable channel is working on a television movie about a teenager from Alabama who went missing in Aruba in 2005 when she was on a graduation trip. "The Natalee Holloway Story" is going to be based on a book by her...

My Morning Jacket singer released from hospital - Added 5 weeks ago

My Morning Jacket singer-guitarist Jim James has been released from the hospital after being injured in a fall during a concert at the University of Iowa. A Cedar Rapids newspaper reported that James slipped and fell...

Travis Barker: `I'm just thankful to be alive!' - Added 5 weeks ago

Former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, who always has been afraid of flying, says he's glad to be alive after suffering severe burns in a fiery plane crash last month. "I hate planes," Barker said in an interview with...

Linkin Park cancels China tour over back injury - Added 5 weeks ago

Linkin Park is canceling its China tour because lead singer Chester Bennington has suffered a back injury. The band didn't say Tuesday how Bennington suffered the injury. A statement posted on Linkin Park's official...

Campaign Comedy: Tuesday's late-night TV wrap-up - Added 5 weeks ago

Political debates inform voters _ and provide material for late-night TV show hosts. "Tonight's presidential debate took place in Nashville, Tenn. Which is perfect, because the economy right now is like a bad country...

Nick Nolte escapes his burning home in Malibu - Added 5 weeks ago

Actor Nick Nolte jumped out a window and used a hose to fight a fire that broke out in his Malibu home Tuesday, authorities said. The 67-year-old actor scraped his arm and inhaled some smoke but was not hospitalized,...

Exhibit on cigarette advertising opens in NYC - Added 5 weeks ago

A phalanx of white-coated doctors endorses Camel cigarettes in an exhibit that opened this week at the New York Public Library. Movie stars and baseball greats are there, too, in tobacco ads dating from the 1920s to...

Linkin Park cancels China tour over back injury - Added 5 weeks ago

Linkin Park is canceling its China tour because lead singer Chester Bennington has suffered a back injury. The band didn't say Tuesday how Bennington suffered the injury. A statement posted on Linkin Park's official...

Chef DiSpirito keeps 'Dancing with the Stars' - Added 5 weeks ago

Rocco DiSpirito will serve seconds on "Dancing with the Stars." The celebrity chef came in last place on the ABC dancing competition, but he wasn't dismissed because injured contestant Misty May-Treanor dropped out of...

Lawyer: CBS' 'fraud' hurt Rather's income - Added 5 weeks ago

Dan Rather could have made millions of dollars more per year if CBS had not defrauded him before firing him, his lawyer said Tuesday. Martin Gold discussed the finances after a hearing on Rather's ongoing $70 million...

Court denies appeal in Spears' driving case - Added 5 weeks ago

Britney Spears may have to stand trial for driving without a valid license after all. A three-judge panel in Los Angeles on Tuesday denied a motion by Spears' attorney seeking a delay in the trial and a possible...

Leigh's `Happy-Go-Lucky' could extend Oscar touch - Added 5 weeks ago

Director Mike Leigh has a knack for putting relatively unknown British actresses into Academy Awards contention, as he did with "Secrets & Lies" and "Vera Drake." His latest find is Sally Hawkins, who co-starred in...

List of top 20 shows in prime-time Nielsen ratings - Added 5 weeks ago

Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Sept. 29-Oct. 5. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses...

Strong ratings for CBS; `Mentalist' looks like hit - Added 5 weeks ago

CBS is looking good so far this TV season, easily winning last week in the prime-time ratings and perhaps minting a new hit in "The Mentalist." About a man who solves crimes using acute powers of observation, the show...

After divorce, Bill Murray looks for renewal - Added 5 weeks ago

The deadpan and depressed characters Bill Murray has specialized in portraying as an actor in recent years have always stood in contrast to the life-of-the-party guy he is in real life _ whether on a golf course or...

A rejuvenated Maxwell returns after 7-year break - Added 5 weeks ago

It's hardly unusual for a singer to drop off the musical map. Declining album sales, drug habits, legal woes and other dramas have landed a multitude of chart-toppers on the "Whatever Happened To ..." list. Yet it is...

David Duchovny checks out of sex addiction rehab - Added 5 weeks ago

An attorney for David Duchovny says the actor has checked out of a rehabilitation facility for treatment of sex addiction. Duchovny, who plays a sex-obsessed character on Showtime's "Californication," voluntarily...

Hollywood's undead: They're just like us! - Added 5 weeks ago

The dead used to be a world away, far beyond the realm of mortal existence. If they walked the Earth at all, they inhabited the night. But the coffins and long black capes are gone. The destructive haunting is over....

Artist prints `Zero Dollar' in dig at Wall Street - Added 5 weeks ago

With the financial meltdown leaving many Americans wondering what a dollar is worth, one New York City artist has an answer _ zero. Painter and printmaker Laura Gilbert is passing out signed and numbered prints of the...

A-list women celebrate their own in Hollywood - Added 5 weeks ago

In the year of "Sex and the City," perhaps it's no surprise that an event honoring women drew some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, Diane Keaton and Halle Berry joined...

Esquire names Halle Berry 'sexiest woman alive' - Added 5 weeks ago

Alongside a photo spread that shows her in little more than a T-shirt, Halle Berry talks about being the sexiest woman alive, a title Esquire magazine gives her in its November issue. "I don't know exactly what it...

Misty May-Treanor out of 'Dancing with the Stars' - Added 5 weeks ago

Misty May-Treanor is too hurt to keep dancing. The 31-year-old "Dancing with the Stars" contestant and Olympic gold medalist volleyball player appeared at the conclusion of Monday's show on crutches and with a cast on...

Campaign Comedy: Monday's late-night TV wrap-up - Added 5 weeks ago

You'd hardly know the Democrats have even chosen a presidential candidate, judging from late-night comedy monologues. It was Republican John McCain and _ oh, by the way _ his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin,...

China state TV to air 50-part Bruce Lee biography - Added 5 weeks ago

Bruce Lee is getting a belated hero's welcome in China, with the country's state broadcaster set to air a 50-part prime-time series on the late kung fu star. Lee became a chest-thumping source of nationalistic pride to...

Matthew Broderick returns to Broadway next spring - Added 6 weeks ago

Matthew Broderick will return to Broadway next spring in a revival of "The Philanthropist," a comedy by English playwright Christopher Hampton. The Roundabout Theatre Company production, directed by David Grindley,...

D'oh! Ex-`Simpsons' writer wins $5,000 prize - Added 6 weeks ago

Larry Doyle, a former TV writer-producer for "The Simpsons," was named the winner Monday of this year's Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was cited for the novel "I Love You, Beth Cooper." "Clearly Larry Doyle was...

'Idol' singer Paris Bennett gives birth to girl - Added 6 weeks ago

Former "American Idol" contestant Paris Bennett has given birth to a daughter named Egypt. Bennett was in labor for five hours before her 5-pound, 15-ounce baby was born Monday. The first-time mother is reportedly...

R. Kelly seeks $3.4 million from tour promoter - Added 6 weeks ago

R. Kelly has won a $3.4 million award against his former tour promoter and is asking a Los Angeles judge to help him collect. R. Kelly Touring, which represents the singer, filed court documents on Monday seeking a...

Misty May-Treanor out of 'Dancing with the Stars' - Added 6 weeks ago

Misty May-Treanor is too hurt to keep dancing. The 31-year-old "Dancing with the Stars" contestant and Olympic gold medalist volleyball player appeared at the conclusion of Monday's show on crutches and with a cast on...

D'oh! Ex-`Simpsons' writer wins $5,000 prize - Added 6 weeks ago

Larry Doyle, a former TV writer-producer for "The Simpsons," was named the winner Monday of this year's Thurber Prize for American Humor. He was cited for the novel "I Love You, Beth Cooper." "Clearly Larry Doyle was...

ABC names new `This Week' producer - Added 6 weeks ago

Veteran Washington hand Ian Cameron was appointed Monday as the producer in charge of ABC's Sunday political talk show "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Cameron has been the Washington senior producer for ABC's...