“You’re fired!” tops TV buzzwords
Donald Trump’s boardroom slogan “You’re fired!” from his hit reality show The Apprentice has become TV’s most popular catchphrase. According to the TV buzzword list issued for Monday for the 2003/2004 season by Global Language Monitor, a group that keeps track of word use, “You’re fired!” bumped The Sopranos‘s out-of-date expression “Fahgeddaboutit.” Global Language Monitor head Paul JJ Payack told Reuters the buzzwords “Mess O’ Potamia,” used on the The Daily Show With Jon Stewart to describe events in Iraq, and “girlie men,” used by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to ridicule opponents, were runner-ups. Also on the Top 10: “Wardrobe malfunction,” from Janet Jackson‘s breast-baring Super Bowl halftime show; “infectious disease,” from the popular detective series CSI; “OCD,” for Tony Shalhoub‘s trademark obsessive-compulsive disorder on Monk; and “extreme makeover,” from hordes of reality shows. What’s not so hot? Friends‘ use of the word “so” as an intensive, as in “that’s so yesterday.”
Kutcher’s Dolce restaurant burglarized twice
Ashton Kutcher‘s exclusive Los Angeles restaurant, Dolce, was burglarized not just once but twice over Labor Day weekend. Access Hollywood reports the LAPD says the restaurant was robbed of money and checks from a small safe Sept. 4 and again Sept. 6, taking cash and several bottles of wine the second time around. Dolce is also owned by Kutcher‘s That 70’s Show co-stars Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson. Masterson’s brother Chris, Jamie Kennedy, and 15 other investors are also co-owners in the eatery located in West Hollywood, Calif.
Traffic charges against Givens dismissed
Charges against actress Robin Givens were dismissed after three Miami police officers failed to show up for her traffic court trial for hitting an elderly pedestrian, the AP reports. Givens, the ex-wife of boxer Mike Tyson and star of the 1980s sitcom Head of the Class, struck 89-year-old Maria Antonia Alcover in a pedestrian crosswalk Jan. 28. According to police, Givens stopped at a red light and then turned the corner and hit the woman, sending her into a backward fall. The back wheel of the actress’ Mercedes-Benz SUV ran over Alcover’s right leg. Alcover, who was critically injured and suffered internal injuries, filed a civil suit against Givens in June. Givens was ticketed for failing to use due care with a pedestrian in the crosswalk, but charge was dropped when the officers didn’t come to court.
Sony moves into position to nab MGM
With Time-Warner out of the bidding war, Sony Corp. has reached an agreement in principle to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for nearly $5 billion, Variety reports. Sony agreed to pay $12 a share for the studio, which amounts to $2.94 billion, plus the assumption of $2 billion in debt. According to Variety, Time-Warner had been negotiating with MGM since April but was unwilling to budge above its $11-per-share offer. The deal would give Sony the biggest library in Hollywood with more than 8,000 films, as well as valuable assets to set up TV distribution deals and the opportunity to make sequels based on some of Hollywood’s most storied franchises, including James Bond. The agreement now heads to MGM’s board for approval, which is expected to take place by Sept. 27.
Monica Bellucci has baby girl
Monica Bellucci and her husband, French actor Vincent Cassel, became parents over the weekend to a baby girl named Deva, the AP reports. “The mother and child are doing well,” Bellucci‘s Paris-based agent Laurent Gregoire said Monday. The child, he said, was born Sunday in a Rome hospital. The former Elite model met her husband in the mid-1990s on the set of her first French-language film L’Appartement. They have since shot eight movies together. Bellucci, 34, last appeared in the two Matrix sequels and played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson‘s The Passion of the Christ.
Oprah surprises audience with new cars
Opening her 19th season with a “Wildest Dreams Come True” theme, TV host Oprah Winfrey gave each member of her studio audience a new car. The $7 million giveaway came courtesy of General Motors, which provided 276 free Pontiac G6 sports sedans, a new line of cars, as part of a promotional deal with Winfrey‘s Chicago-based show, Reuters reports. Winfrey said most members of the audience had been specially selected from letters sent in advance by viewers on behalf of themselves, friends or family who were in need of a new car. Winfrey also gave away a four-year college scholarship, $10,000 wardrobe and makeover to a young woman who spent her teen years in foster care and homeless shelters. A family with eight foster children was also presented with a new house full of furniture and electronics, plus a $130,000 check to cover their mortgage and home repairs.
U2, Grandmaster Flash get nominated to Hall of Fame
U2, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Randy Newman and the O’Jays are among the nominees for the 2005 induction class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Reuters reports. Also joining them the ballot are the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, Wanda Jackson, the J. Geils Band, Conway Twitty and Percy Sledge. A Foundation committee nominates qualified artists, who become eligible 25 years after the release of their first recording and are then voted on by an international body of about 700 music experts. Results will be announced in December, with the induction to take place in New York next spring. In other U2 news, the Irish rock band is releasing a new album entitled How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb Nov. 23.
Kit Bowen contributed to this report.
