'Sex and the City' Gets Sanitized for TBS
NEW YORK - When Carrie asked Mr. Big if he'd like to come up to her apartment in the "Sex and the City" finale, his affirmative reply — which contained two extra unprintable syllables — was delivered with a wide grin. When the rerun appears soon on TBS, the excision will be clean and precise. "Absolutely," Big will say.
If you're a longtime "Sex and the City" fan, the cut may appear ruinous, robbing the show of the spunk that made it special — or not. But if you've never seen it before, you'd never notice.
Those little instances will pop up hundreds of times when the Emmy-winning HBO series begins its run on TBS Tuesday. It's a landmark moment in television, the first time a pay cable series has been sold in syndication to a basic cable station and must be sanitized to meet stricter language and content standards.
TBS is promoting "five nights of great sex," and will air two of the series' best episodes each evening through Saturday, starting at 10 p.m. EDT. The network will begin showing all 94 episodes this summer, in order from the first to the last.
It's been a busy stretch for TBS' editors.
In many cases, HBO did the work for them. All along, producers filmed alternate scenes and recorded alternate dialogue, with an eye toward a future syndication sale and because HBO needed a tamer version of the show for some international markets, said Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO original programming.
For instance, during a scene in which Samantha is seen on a swing with a lover, HBO filmed scenes where the swing is visible but not the entangled bodies.
The cast has even helped out in recent months by recording new dialogue to replace swear words, said Steve Koonin, TBS' chief executive. One new TBS term is "sex buddy," to replace a more colorful, widely used phrase.
Mere editing wouldn't always do. TV Guide, which compared some of the original episodes with the TBS versions, said most of Margaret Cho's dialogue was cut out during her guest appearance as a fashion designer.
TV Guide said it showed the TBS episodes to several fans of the show and someone who hadn't seen it before and "all agreed that there's still enough sizzle to keep them satisfied."
Yet critic David Bianculli of the New York Daily News wrote that something is clearly missing.
"The gist of each story line is there, but some of the edgiest observations and funniest jokes are gone, and Kim Cattrall's catty character, Samantha, has had her claws trimmed way back, if not removed entirely," Bianculli wrote.
The only people who can enjoy "Sex" on TBS "are those who don't subscribe to HBO, don't buy or rent the unedited versions on DVD, and won't know any better when they see the diluted versions," he wrote.
Koonin thinks the criticism is not only unfair, but inaccurate. "The only thing I can say is watch," he said.
None of the stories, nothing of what made the show great, was fiddled with, he said.
"It's really easy for people to write about what's taken out of the show," he said. "People are going to like what's in the show, and that's the heart and soul of `Sex and the City.' As the show got older, it was less about nudity than it was the trials and tribulations of women who were getting older."
The shock value in the series was that women were talking so bluntly about sex, not necessarily the words they were saying, Strauss said.
It's hard to know what the people of "Sex and the City" think about the new versions. The show's executive producer, Michael Patrick King, wasn't giving interviews, HBO said.
The stars weren't available, although they've been helping TBS with some promotion.
"I've sort of studiously avoided engaging in that debate," Strauss said. "From the mass of people I've spoken to, people seem pleased by the results. Let the viewers decide."
For HBO, selling "Sex" to TBS is obviously a financial windfall. But the network also hopes it acts as a calling card, letting people who don't have HBO know about the quality of its series, she said.
There's also a potentially large untapped market. Most television viewers have seen, or at least had access to, "Friends" or "Seinfeld," but HBO subscribers are still in the minority. TBS estimates more than 60 million viewers haven't had access to "Sex and the City."
Koonin said he's been surprised that TBS research shows that there's more eagerness to see the reruns among people who are fans of the show, instead of newcomers. He's not sure whether that will change when it gets on the air.
TBS is using the series as the centerpiece for its branding campaign. The two general-interest Turner networks are trying to distinguish themselves stylistically — TBS as the home for comedy, and TNT as a destination for drama.
TBS is both preceding and following its nightly "Sex and the City" reruns with one of its few original series, "Outback Jack," about a "Crocodile Dundee"-style character.
Most of the network fare, though, is reruns of classic comedies. At a time the sitcom format is at a low ebb on the broadcast networks, that might be a shrewd strategy, assuming viewers don't get bored seeing the same old episodes.
Then again, who gets tired of "Sex"?
Schwarzenegger Mocks Image in Film Cameo
LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's five-minute cameo as an egocentric, polygamist prince in Disney's "Around the World in 80 Days" has fellow actors applauding his willingness to mock his Hollywood image.
"I think Schwarzenegger don't care in this movie, he make fun of himself," said Jackie Chan, the film's star and executive producer, on the red carpet before the film's premiere Sunday.
Schwarzenegger, who faced allegations during his gubernatorial campaign of having groped women, donned a wig and robes in his role as the indulgent Prince Hapi, who boasts a wife for each day of the week.
"I think it's a little ironic, but I think it has Arnold's sense of humor," said "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" co-star Robert Patrick, who attended the screening, Macy Gray, Rob Schneider and Kathy Bates, who appear in the film, also attended.
"I think he was a very good sport, to throw away his ego and accept to wear this stupid wig and funny bathrobe" said "Around the World" star Cecile De France, whose character ends up in a hot tub with the governor in one scene.
Schwarzenegger, who filmed the part before the campaign, was invited to the premiere, but his office earlier said he would not have a role publicizing the film, which opens nationally Wednesday.
"I think maybe he's got slightly more important stuff about running the state of California," said Steve Coogan, who plays the wacky scientist Phileas Fogg.
'Harry Potter' Keeps Box Office Top Spot
LOS ANGELES - The boy wizard held off an interstellar fugitive, robotic wives and a talking cat to maintain his sway at movie theaters. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was the top movie for a second weekend, taking in $35.1 million to lift its 10-day total to $158.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Shrek 2" held up well in its fourth weekend, slipping from second to third place with $24 million but pushing its domestic haul to $354 million. That made it the top-grossing animated movie ever, passing the $339.7 million gross of "Finding Nemo."
The sci-fi saga "The Chronicles of Riddick," with Vin Diesel returning as the escaped killer turned anti-hero from 2000's "Pitch Black," debuted at No. 2 with $24.6 million.
Nicole Kidman's "The Stepford Wives," a black comedy remake of the 1970s thriller about a town where men replace their mates with Barbie doll robots, opened in fourth place with $22.2 million.
"Garfield: The Movie," featuring Bill Murray as mouthpiece for the comic strip fat cat, premiered at No. 5 with $21.7 million.
Revenues for the third "Harry Potter" fell a steep 63 percent from the movie's $93.7 million opening weekend gross. In contrast, "Shrek 2" grosses fell just 33 percent in its second weekend.
In 2002, revenues for "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" fell 52 percent in its second weekend, though that movie opened in November. "Prisoner of Azkaban" was the first "Harry Potter" movie to open in summer, when competition is stronger.
As more classes let out for summer, distributor Warner Bros. is counting on steady weekday business from youngsters to help sustain "Harry Potter," said Dan Fellman, the studio's head of distribution.
"We're in good shape, even though we took a pretty good drop this weekend," Fellman said.
The movie's 10-day total still is almost $10 million ahead of "Chamber of Secrets," which took in $148.4 million in that length of time.
Hollywood's big season continued, with revenues running 14 to 15 percent ahead of last summer, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. The top 12 movies grossed $155.5 million, up 34 percent from the same weekend in 2003.
The new movies offered choices for all audiences, with "Chronicles of Riddick" playing to male action fans, "Stepford Wives" popular with women and "Garfield" grabbing the family crowd.
"This is what summer's all about. There's a variety of movies with pretty much every genre represented, and the audience found the movie they wanted," Dergarabedian said.
In limited release, the Sundance Film Festival favorite "Napoleon Dynamite" opened strongly with $117,148 in six theaters. The comedy features a cast of unknowns in a tale of high school geeks finding their place in the world. It expands gradually to more theaters through late July.
Next weekend brings Steven Spielberg's comedy "The Terminal," starring Tom Hanks as an Eastern European stuck at Kennedy airport after a coup in his homeland invalidates his passport; a new rendition of Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" with Jackie Chan; and Ben Stiller's sports farce "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story." The highly anticipated "Spider-Man 2" opens June 30.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," $35.1 million.
2. "The Chronicles of Riddick," $24.6 million.
3. "Shrek 2," $24 million.
4. "The Stepford Wives," $22.2 million.
5. "Garfield: The Movie," $21.7 million.
6. "The Day After Tomorrow," $14.55 million.
7. "Raising Helen," $3.8 million.
8. "Troy," $3.5 million.
9. "Saved!" $2.55 million.
10. "Mean Girls," $1.5 million.
Film Tunes Are Ready for Their TV Close-Up
NEW YORK (Billboard) - The American Film Institute's upcoming TV special focuses on movie songs.
John Travolta hosts "AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies," airing June 22 on CBS.
The designated tunes were culled from a list of 400 nominees distributed last year to 1,500 members of the film community. It included such obvious choices as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "As Time Goes By," "The Way We Were," and "Stayin' Alive" -- the last of which is from Travolta's great star turn in "Saturday Night Fever."
Three Academy Award winners sung by Jennifer Warnes also made the grade: "It Goes Like It Goes" from "Norma Rae"; "Up Where We Belong," her duet with Joe Cocker from "An Officer and a Gentleman"; and "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," which she sang with Bill Medley, from "Dirty Dancing."
Warnes -- along with Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Barbra Streisand, among others -- will be interviewed about the songs, which were voted on for their effect within the context of the film, cultural impact and legacy.
Regarding the importance of music, Warnes quotes her mentor Leonard Cohen.
"He said that music is loved because it functions in your daily life," says Warnes, who sang backup in Cohen's band early in her career, then recorded the acclaimed 1987 album of Cohen's songs, "Famous Blue Raincoat."
She inserts her own philosophy on the topic: "My take is that music gets a teenager out of the house because his parents hate it. It helps a young man court, a young couple have a dinner party. It helps us get married.
"I got a letter from a couple who conceived during 'Right Time of the Night.' It helps us grieve. Bluegrass helps a woman clean the house faster! So music is useful to culture if it's used -- and it has to be used in daily life or let go of."
That explains the enduring legacy of her big-movie duet hits. "They're the music of weddings and high school reunions and anniversaries and junior high recitals," she says. "They were used in American culture, and that's why they made the list."
Warnes notes that as a musician, however, she would have voted differently, "not against my own work, but according to structure, form, timelessness and the way the rendition marries the arrangement. But those considerations are purely artistic -- which the average person doesn't give a damn about."
Singing the chorus from "The Way You Look Tonight," she adds: "I care that that's perfect." But she believes that the average person has more prosaic concerns. "When you have to face a traffic jam, does the music get you to work well?"
Warnes' forthcoming DVD audio/video release for AIX Records will include her exploration of the creative process of music making.
Meanwhile, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has its own event celebrating TV music songwriters, composers and choreographers, with the July 9 benefit "Television Night at the Hollywood Bowl II."
The evening will benefit the Television Academy Foundation, which develops telecommunications educational outreach and archival programs, and will include tributes to legendary composer Earle Hagan (the Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith and "I Spy" show themes), Stu Phillips ("Battlestar Galactica") and W.C. Snuffy Walden ("The West Wing").
Emmy Award-winning composer Bruce Broughton ("Dallas") will conduct his theme from "JAG," with a medley of TV western themes being another highlight.
'Friends' Star Courteney Cox Has Baby Girl
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former "Friends" star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette, became parents early on Sunday, after years of trying, People magazine reported.
Cox, who turns 40 on Tuesday, gave birth to a girl in an unidentified Los Angeles hospital, according to a report on the Web site for People magazine.
The magazine said Cox checked into the hospital on Saturday, a week before the baby's due date and was in labor through the night. The baby has yet to be named, it said.
Cox and Arquette, 32, have discussed their attempts to carry a baby to term, including in vitro fertilizations and Cox's miscarriages.
Cox has just finished the 10th and final season of NBC's popular sitcom, "Friends." The couple are co-producers of a home decorating show, "Mix It Up."
Streep Hailed as 'Life Giving Force' at Tribute
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - By selecting Meryl Streep to receive lifetime achievement award, the American Film Institute turned its 32nd annual fund-raising dinner into a master class in film acting Thursday.
While there were fulsome tributes paid to Streep's virtues as a wife, mother and citizen, the evening, punctuated with film clips illustrating the diverse characters she has played, underscored the range of the actress. She has been nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won two.
"She's had a greater variety of roles than Katharine Hepburn," said Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI board of trustees. "She's used more voices than Peter Sellers or Laurence Olivier, and in 'Angels in America' she crossed the gender divide by playing an 80-year-old rabbi."
Added director Mike Nichols, "For other actors, Meryl is not only a life-giving force for those lucky enough to act with her because it immediately increases one's talent one thousand percent simply to look at her in a scene, but she also defines what is possible for an actor as an artist, as a parent, as a citizen. Meryl creates, has created and will continue to create a series of unique human beings."
For her part, Streep said the outpouring of praise was "really overwhelming." Referring to the woman described by her collaborators, she added, "I really wish I were her -- I really do."
In an attempt to deflect some of the testimonials at the Kodak Theater at Hollywood & Highland, Streep delivered a humorous treatise on the subject of "tribute-itus," which she described, in her down-to-earth manner, as a disease that can lead to a fat head.
Kicking off the long line of celebrity presenters, Jim Carrey, who appears with Streep in the upcoming "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," observed that unlike almost every other actor, Streep's body of work includes no embarrassing footage -- like TV commercial work or walk-on roles -- since her career began with Fred Zinneman's 1977 film, "Julia," and Michael Cimino's 1978 epic, "The Deer Hunter," for which she received her first Oscar nomination.
"There is no bad film on this woman," he exclaimed. "Where are all the flaws?"
Agreed Robert De Niro, "Meryl, from your very first appearances on screen, you were an incandescent presence, an unearthly talent with sensitivity, charm and above all grace."
Arriving after the conclusion of the Lakers game, Jack Nicholson cut through some of the flowery compliments by saying to Streep, "You are perfect. That's why they are making you a sacred cow. I know how much you like that. (But) I have this to say about that -- Moo!"
Others who rose to pay tribute to Streep included Nora Ephron and Carrie Fisher, Tracy Ullman, Shirley MacLaine, James Woods, Kevin Kline, Clint Eastwood, Goldie Hawn, Claire Danes, Diane Keaton and costume designer Ann Roth.