HOLLYWOOD -
Top Story
Jennifer Aniston has changed her name to Jennifer Pitt, Ananova.com reports. Supposedly, Brad Pitt's wife of 18 months ordered 250 note cards with her new name, Jennifer Pitt, printed on them. Los Angeles artist Claudia Lab, who took the order, told Heat magazine that Aniston was "really firm" about the name change.
In General
Production company MDP Worldwide has acquired Havoc, a screenplay by Oscar winner Stephen Gaghan (Traffic). Havoc tells the story of a wealthy gang of teens who think they're living the tough life until they meet up with a drug-dealing Latino gang. MDP has yet to hire a director. Fox has temporarily removed their new game show The Chamber from its Friday night spot. Ironically, this comes after Fox rushed to get it on the air before its ABC competition, The Chair, Variety reports. Fox will probably air the remaining Chamber episodes that have already been filmed this spring. Speaking of air time, NBC will be shifting a few minutes here and there for a couple of their hit shows, Variety reports. Repeating a move from last year's sweeps, Scrubs will add about eight minutes of storyline on Feb. 5, and on Feb. 7 Will & Grace will run about four minutes longer than usual. Meg Ryan, 40, would "love to have a daughter...[or] another boy, too," The Associated Press reports. In the Feb. issue of Reader's Digest the actress says she's "a much more intact woman now" than when she had her first (and only) son Jack with ex-husband Dennis Quaid. Looks like desert is "Hasty Pudding" for Sarah Jessica Parker and Bruce Willis, the AP reports. The actors were named woman and man of the year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals. Parker and Willis will receive their awards--for making a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment--on campus Feb. 7 and 14, respectively. That's after they dress in drag and have their careers roasted according to Harvard tradition. NBC is confident Conan O'Brien of Late Night will renew his contract with their network when the current agreement ends in Sept., the AP says. Fox had reportedly invited O'Brien to host a late show on their network, but O'Brien has yet to enter final negotiations with either station. John Malkovich was either highly annoyed or just distracted when he stiffed a Lincoln, Neb. cocktail server last weekend. The AP reports the highly respected actor was with a friend at a local bar for no more than 15 minutes when a crowd of fans lined up to meet him. Although he pacified the fans, he passed on the tip. According to a new study by the Parents Television Council, cable TV's South Park has more than double the amount of profanity, sexual reference and violence than network TV, the AP reports. MTV's Undergrads and Celebrity Deathmatch were next on the list as most offensive. 1970s band The Allman Brothers, famous for hits like "Ramblin' Man" and "Midnight Rider," sued Universal last May for recordings they believe were never Universal's in the first place. Recently, Universal filed to move the case from state to federal court, and the band's attorney claims they're "stalling."