It’s bad enough that American Idol kept Sanjaya Malakar’s hopes alive long enough to guarantee him a spot on the tour of the top 10. But now, the fact that Sanjaya and Idol winner Jordiin Sparks were underage when the tour started is giving the AI execs some headaches. Seems they didn’t file the right paperwork to comply with child labor laws. Oops.
The Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice may not be getting as many viewers as Grey’s did when it debuted, but it’s doing well enough to get picked up for the rest of the season. Tim Daly from Wings co-stars. I’ve always liked him - he deserves another hit series. Hopefully this will be the one and he won’t have to keep trying.
Remember the 80s movie Short Circuit? Well, one of it’s stars - Fisher Stevens - has been signed by ABC to appear on Lost. Stevens will star as the character Minkowski, who the castaways talked to over the satellite phone. No more details of his character have been released - of course. They’ll reveal it all in flashbacks.
American Idol co-creator and judge has made an announcement that should make all of the US heave a sigh of relief. He will not be having children. No word on whether or not his partner Terri Seymour is happy with this decision, but I can only imagine any hypothetical children of his would be. “I’m sorry, but you are the most pathetic excuse of a child I’ve ever seen.”
Hulk Hogan, former pro wrestler and star of the VHI series Hogan Knows Best, was just dealt a huge surprise. His wife left their home in Florida for a trip to California. While she was there, she filed for divorce - without telling Hogan to begin with. Hogan was informed by a reporter in his home town of Clearwater, Florida. Ouch.
Quarterlife the web-based series created by Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick - who also created thirtysomething and My So-Called Life - will no longer be strictly a web series. NBC has announced plans to bring it to network television early next year. That makes Quarterlife the first series to make it to network TV after originating on the web.
Chris Noth, the famous Mr. Big of Sex and the City is about to become a father. His representative announced this week that Noth and his girlfriend, Tara Wilson, are expecting their first baby. Noth has always been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to his personal life, and we won’t find much different - no other details have been released.
The Writers Guild of America and the studios and networks have agreed to head back to the negotiation table. They will resume talks on the Monday after Thanksgiving, November 26th. Originally, the studios wanted writers to go back to work before they would resume negotiating, but maybe they’ve seen how serious the writers are. It probably has helped the writers’ cause that many actors have joined the writers on the picket lines.
If your family loves Shrek as much as mine does, you’ll love this news. Not only is a Shrek 4 being planned for 2010, but we will be able to see our favorite green ogre in a Christmas special on ABC later this month. Shrek the Halls will air on ABC on November 28th, and all of the original cast members will be voicing their characters. Fun!
The People’s Choice Awards are determined to be the awards show of the younger set. Not as young as the MTV Movie Awards maybe (there’s no favorite screen kiss category), but more hip and pop culture-oriented than the Oscars or Golden Globes. The awards that are chosen by the fans have added some new categories: Favorite Reunion Tour, Favorite Threequel, and Favorite Indie Movie. Of course, the threequels in the running are Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and The Bourne Ultimatum. Which of the threequels was your favorite?