News

Jun
20 2001

Condom ads declined by networks

By: Noah Davis
12:30pm EDT
A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that despite the public's willingness to accept condom ads, most networks are still not accepting them for broadcast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A strong majority, 71 percent, of the 1,142...
Read
Jun
20 2001

"Knight Rider" revs up for a return

By: Noah Davis
12:30pm EDT
David Hasselhoff is taking American television back to the 1980s. The hunky star of the series Knight Rider, which originally hit the airwaves in 1982, revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he is bringing back the series to television. The new...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Car crash leaves J Mascis injured

By: Noah Davis
12:28pm EDT
A tour van carrying J Mascis and his band The Fog was involved in a crash, leaving Mascis with two broken vertebrae in his back, according to Rolling Stone. Headed to an appearance in Germany on Monday, the van skid off the highway after being cut...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Lieberman to tilt at Hollywood windmills

By: Noah Davis
12:28pm EDT
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., will load his biggest guns against Hollywood on Thursday. Lieberman is expected to make public a letter asking President Bush to endorse legislation that would hold Hollywood liable for marketing violence to children...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Rosie soon to be Miami denizen

By: Noah Davis
12:27pm EDT
A Miami Beach crowd at a charity event were the first to hear Rosie O'Donnell's big news: she's moving to Miami, reports People. "On May 22, 2002, when the contract for my TV show ends, I will be a full-time Miami resident." She made her...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Rhino gets Theron's attention

By: Noah Davis
12:26pm EDT
A rare black rhinoceros being kept in South Africa now has a Hollywood star pleading for her life--South Africa native Charlize Theron. Virginia businessman David Laylin plans to sell the rhino, Baixinha, to a Norwegian big-game hunter for...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Will studios adopt "truth in advertising"?

By: Lew Irwin
10:20am EDT
The revelation that Sony invented a fictitious critic to laud four of its films in ad copy and later used its own employees in supposedly authentic man-in-the-street interviews about two other films is causing the industry to reexamine its...
Read
Jun
20 2001

More rigged game shows?

By: Lew Irwin
10:14am EDT
The author of a controversial book alleging that Survivor producer Mark Burnett manipulated the vote in the original series has told a Canadian newspaper that two other reality series have also been rigged. "One has aired already and one is about...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Li says kids shouldn't see his latest film

By: Lew Irwin
10:13am EDT
In what Wednesday's New York Post described as an "unorthodox plea," Jet Li, the Hong Kong movie star, has told parents: "I ask that you please do not take your children to see Kiss of the Dragon." Li posted the message on his Web site...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Katz wins war with Mouse

By: Lew Irwin
10:12am EDT
The head of a top media investment firm has called box office receipts for Disney's Pearl Harbor "a little bit of a disappointment," noting that the studio "had a lot riding on this." In an interview with Bloomberg News, Vogel commented that Disney...
Read
Jun
20 2001
NBC affiliates in several top markets had such tight commitments to other programs that they were unable to clear time to carry the syndicated version of The Weakest Link, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. As a result, the hit NBC...
Read
Jun
20 2001

Murdoch to trim sky global

By: Lew Irwin
10:08am EDT
Rupert Murdoch is apparently narrowing the focus of his Sky Global holding company as part of his strategy for acquiring Hughes Electronics' DirecTV from its parent company, General Motors, the London Financial Times reported Wednesday. According...
Read
Jun
20 2001

New game show is still fearsome

By: Lew Irwin
10:07am EDT
Fear Factor, the season's most critically excoriated show, slipped a notch in the ratings on Monday but nevertheless won the 8 p.m. hour for NBC. The reality show pulled a 7.4/13, off from its 8.0/13 in its debut a week earlier. The network's...
Read