The Couch Potato Report - May 31st, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report features TV on DVD!

All winter long many of us stay indoors to avoid the cold. A very popular companion while we are inside is the television.

As summer approaches and the weather continues to get nicer, many people turn their televisions off and head outside.

If you are one of those people, then I doubt you could call yourself a "couch potato."

Now, since this is "The Couch Potato Report" I don't have a list of things or activities you can do outside. No, my friend, I just have a series of things you can watch inside.

In fact, I have a series of series you can watch!

One of the greatest things about the DVD boom of recent years has been the amount of TV shows for years and eras gone by that are now available to own.

Some of the most watched programs of all time - such as I LOVE LUCY, THE SIMPSONS and SEINFELD are available. Some of the least popular shows of all time like SPORTS NIGHT, GET A LIFE, THE TICK and THE BEN STILLER SHOW are available.

And some shows that made a comfortable home in between are also now available on DVD.

From its debut in 1985 until it went off the air in 1989 MOONLIGHTING was a Top Ten show.

In my house during that time, it was Number One!

Bruce Willis and Cybil Sheppard starred in the very funny romantic comedy, yet interesting detective drama that was a mid-season replacement.

There were only six episodes in the first season, including the two-part pilot, but 18 were produced for the second.

Now, all 24 episodes from seasons 1 and 2 are available on DVD in a six-disc box set.

At its best MOONLIGHTING had witty wordplay, real chemistry between Willis and Shepherd and some good mysteries to boot.

I was and remain a huge fan of MOONLIGHTING and as I watched this box set I was surprised at how many things I say on a daily basis are direct quotes from the show.

MOONLIGHTING - SEASONS 1 AND 2 is a very welcome addition to my library!!

So is LAW & ORDER: THE THIRD YEAR.

Since LAW & ORDER - with its various incarnations and casts - is on TV at least two or three times every day, I had yet to bother with any of the DVD sets that have been released from the show.

But when I had the opportunity to pick up LAW & ORDER: THE THIRD YEAR, I jumped at the chance.

That is because this is the season that introduced Jerry Orbach as the cynical, wise-cracking Detective Lennie Briscoe.

Everyone who watches LAW & ORDER has their favourite characters and actors, Orbach is mine.

And since Orbach died last December, I really enjoyed seeing his work again!

Also, I think the writing and source material also got stronger during the third year of LAW & ORDER. Plus, they didn't win every case or solve every mystery.

I will always give more respect to shows that feature characters who don't always win then I will to shows that do.

The three-disc, 22 episode box set of LAW & ORDER - THE THIRD YEAR covers the 1992-1993 season and it also includes a five minute interview with Jerry Orbach and a six minute tribute to him from his fellow cast mates. It is a memorable tribute to a great actor.

His work in the 1999-2000 season of LAW & ORDER gave Orbach a third Emmy Award nomination -- his first as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

He lost to James Gandolfini for his work in THE SOPRANOS.

In 1984 the nominees for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series were:

John Forsythe for DYNASTY, Daniel J. Travanti, HILL STREET BLUES, Tom Selleck for MAGNUM, P.I. and William Daniels for ST. ELSEWHERE.

And the winner was Tom Selleck for MAGNUM, P.I.

Selleck's Emmy winning 1984 season of his hit show isn't out on DVD yet, but THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is.

This four disc box set has all 18 episodes from the 1980-81 season plus four bonus episodes - the two "Simon & Simon" crossover shows and two 1984 episodes guest starring Sharon Stone.

MAGNUM, P.I. was a staple of Thursday night TV viewing from 1980 to 1988 because it had the right combination of smart and interesting scripts, beautiful locations and guest stars, and one Mr. Tom Selleck.

He is still regarded today by many as the only man who looks good in a mustache.

I must admit that I never watched MAGNUM, P.I. when it was originally on the air. I always watched THE COSBY SHOW and FAMILY TIES.

But over the years, I have watched the show in reruns and I really enjoyed this complete first season box set.

I also really enjoyed the friendships that Magnum and his friends T.C., Rick and Higgins share.

MAGNUM, P.I. is a great show and MAGNUM, P.I. - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON was fun to watch.

As I am speaking about these DVD box sets of old TV shows that are all now available on DVD I am going under the assumption that you have heard of them.

If you are a fan of any of the shows I mentioned, you know what they are about, and you don't need me to explain them.

For instance, if you enjoyed the show KNIGHT RIDER from 1982 to 1986 when it was on, you don't need me to tell you that the show was about a lone crimefighter who battles the forces of evil with the help of an indestructible and artificially intelligent supercar.

And you certainly don't need me to tell you that David Hasselhoff starred as Michael Knight before he went on to bigger successes as Mitch Buchannon on BAYWATCH.

So I won't tell you any of that.

I will just tell you that KNIGHT RIDER - SEASON ONE is a four-disc box set with all 22 episodes from the 1982-83 season and that KNIGHT RIDER - SEASON TWO is a three-disc set with all 21 second season episodes.

The final thing I will say about the show KNIGHT RIDER is I liked it when it was on, and I like it now!

All of the series I have been speaking about so far are ones that have entered the public consciousness and atone time during their run they were Top Ten shows.

The final series I am going to talk about this week differs from the others as it has never been a top ten show. In fact, during the season that is now available on DVD the show was ranked Number 26.

Like LAW & ORDER, LAS VEGAS is actually still in production and the show can be seen on Monday nights.

LAS VEGAS is a high polished, very fast paced show that revolves around the life and loves of a group of people at a fictional resort and casino in the titular town.

Hollywood legend James Caan from THE GODFATHER and MISERY leads the cast.

The very attractive cast!

LAS VEGAS might not be the best written show on TV, or DVD for that matter, but lead by Nikki Cox - the most beautiful woman on television - it sure is the prettiest, and that includes the men.

LAS VEGAS is a mix of eye candy, humor, and drama and its high pace is infectious.

The three-disc SEASON ONE UNCUT AND UNCENSORED DVD set features all 23 episodes from the 2003-04 season, several with unseen footage.

Enjoy! Unless you like to go outside when the weather warms up. But that is okay too! As long as you have a little couch potato in you, you are welcome here!

LAS VEGAS, KNIGHT RIDER, MAGNUM, P.I., LAW AND ORDER and MOONLIGHTING are all available now at a store near you.

COMING UP IN THREE WEEKS ON THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

The Extended Version of the classic Bill Murray film STRIPES has 18 minutes of extra footage, a one-hour documentary with interviews with the cast and a tribute to the late John Candy.

IN BE COOL hitman-turned-movie producer Chili Palmer gets into music. John Travolta returns as Chili Palmer, but you will wish he didn't. Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn and The Rock also star.

BEYOND THE SEA is Kevin Spacey's biography of 1950s pop singer Bobby Darin and his wife. I say it is Spacey's as he co-wrote and directed it and he stars alongside Kate Bosworth and John Goodman.

In HITCH Will Smith plays a "Date Doctor" who has trouble landing the woman of his dreams. The very beautiful Eva Mendes is that woman.

Finally, the aforementioned Bruce Willis stars in the surprisingly entertaining action film HOSTAGE. He is a man who has to rescue a mob accountant that is being held captive in his fortified house.

I'm Dan Reynish and I will have more on HOSTAGE, HITCH, BEYOND THE SEA, BE COOL and THE EXTENDED VERSION OF STRIPES, and some other releases, in twenty-one days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!

All-star lineup unveiled for Live 8

LONDON (AP) -- London's Hyde Park, Circus Maximus in Rome and the Philadelphia Museum of Art are among the venues for Live 8, a series of concerts being organized by Bob Geldof, the driving force behind the 1985 Band Aid and Live Aid campaigns for African famine relief.

The July 2 concerts, which will be free, also will be held near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and in Paris. Performers will include Madonna, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran and Brian Wilson.

"We don't want people's money. We want them," Geldof told a news conference Tuesday. He said negotiations for the Paris venue were continuing.

Performers will include Elton John, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Madonna, McCartney, R.E.M., Sting and U2 in London; Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Wonder, Jay-Z and P. Diddy in Philadelphia; Crosby, Stills and Nash, Lauryn Hill and Wilson in Berlin; Jamiroquai, Youssou N'Dour, Yannick Noah and Craig David in Paris; and Faith Hill and Duran Duran in Rome.

The concerts are aimed at raising world awareness of poverty in Africa just days before G8 leaders meet in Britain.

Geldof said the G8 meeting provided a "unique opportunity for Britain to do something unparalleled in the world ... to tilt the world a little bit on its axis in favor of the poor."

John said he was "very proud to be involved."

"Now I'm fully aware of what's going on and seeing the injustices going on," John said. The 58-year-old pop star said he hadn't been mature enough to appreciate the last concert 20 years ago and its ramifications.

Geldof said that in the two decades since the Live Aid concerts in London and Philadelphia, Africa had gone into economic decline.

"The result of that is we see people dying on TV screens every night," he said. "This is to finally, as much as we can, put a stop to that."

Live 8 is not going to be "gloomy and doomy," Geldof said, and is "not for charity but for political justice."

The concert in Philadelphia will be held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. John is set to headline an AIDS-relief concert for July 4 on the parkway. The site of the 1985 concert, JFK Stadium, was torn down to make way for an arena.

The June 13, 1985, concert in London took place at Wembley Stadium, which has also been demolished to make way for a new sports stadium. Fans enter a lottery by cell phone text message to obtain a ticket.

A look at the Live 8 concert lineups announced Tuesday by organizers:

LONDON:
Mariah Carey
Coldplay
Dido
Keane
Elton John
Annie Lennox
Paul McCartney
Muse
Razorlight
REM
Scissor Sisters
Snow Patrol
Stereophonics
Sting
Joss Stone
Robbie Williams
U2
Velvet Revolver
Bob Geldof
The Killers
Madonna
The Cure

BERLIN:
a-ha
Bap
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Lauryn Hill
Die Toten Hosen
Peter Maffay
Brian Wilson

PHILADELPHIA:
Will Smith (host)
Bon Jovi
Maroon 5
Dave Matthews Band
Sarah McLachlan
Rob Thomas
Keith Urban
Jay Z
Stevie Wonder
50 Cent
Kaiser Chiefs
P. Diddy

PARIS:
Andrea Bocelli
Craig David
Calo Gero
Jamiroquai
Kyo
Yannick Noah
Youssou N'Dour
Placebo
Axelle Red
Johnny Halliday
Manu Chao
Renaud

ROME:
Irene Grandi
Faith Hill
Jovanotti
Tim McGraw
Nek
Laura Pausini
Duran Duran
Vasco Rossi
Zucchero

LOSING COUNT ON 'THE 4400'

The future returns to haunt the past this week on the highly anticipated second season of "The 4400."

The USA Network series, which in just six episodes last summer became the breakout cable drama of the season, is finally back on Sunday at 9 p.m..

"It's a show that has sci-fi elements, but also relatable, human stories and characters that have problems that the average viewer can get behind," says Ira Steven Behr, the show's executive producer and one of its main writers.

"The 4400" of the title refers to the number of people who mysteriously disappeared over the course of about 50 years only to return to Earth all together on one night transported on a comet that turns into a big ball of light just before it lands.

None has aged a day since they were taken.

After spending months in a government quarantine, the 4400 are released back into the world. Many learn they have acquired superhuman powers and don't understand why. Some are alone, without relatives or friends because they've either died years before or moved on.

Of the 4,400, each episode has focused on the storylines of a handful of the returnees.

Among the important players are:

* Richard and Lily (played by Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Laura Allen), an interracial couple from different decades who met in quarantine and now have Isabelle, a mysterious baby.

* a spooky little girl with ESP named Maia.

* and a super-rich businessman who has appointed himself the spokesman for the 4400 and now started a quasi-religion around them.

Despite its record-shattering ratings, "The 4400" almost didn't come back this year because of angry network politics.

A dispute over rerun rights was eventually settled and Behr was given the green light to start working on new episodes.

"Once the smoke cleared and we were told the show would be back, it was just a matter of figuring out how big a hole they had dug for us," says Behr who was worried that there would not be enough time to write season two.

Most of the ideas for new season, he says, were thought up well before the show was renewed, over "pinball games" and walks on the Warner Bros. lot when he was working on another show.

Lucas, Spielberg OK 'Indy 4' script

The script approval for a fourth "Indiana Jones" film has cleared two major hurdles -- but still has one more to go.

Variety.com reports George Lucas and Steven Spielberg have given the green light to writer Jeff Nathanson's draft of "Indy 4," but star Harrison Ford, who has to give the thumbs up in order for the film to move forward, has yet to read the script.

Nathanson ("The Terminal," "Catch Me If You Can") took over the writing duties from Frank Darabont, ("The Shawshank Redemption," "Collateral") who had originally been brought in to script a concept the trio liked, but sources said Lucas was unhappy with the draft.

Scheduling the filming for "Indiana Jones 4" may hit a snag due to Spielberg's busy schedule -- he is heading to Europe to begin production on an untitled drama about the aftermath of the terrorist incidents at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and will follow it with a movie about Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Cival War, starring Liam Neeson.

Oasis, Aaliyah on 90s Box

Rhino set packs 130 ditties . . . and a few coffee beans

Rhino Records will release the seven-disc box set Whatever: The '90s Pop Culture Box on July 26th. The 130-song collection follows in the tradition of the label's Have a Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box (1998) and Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box, Totally (2002).

Whatever captures last decade's diverse sounds, from MC Hammer's hip-hop novelty song "Can't Touch This," to lighter-flicking ballads like the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge" and Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train," to Moby's sample-drenched and commercial ready "Natural Blues."

The set also moves easily from international superstars to the relatively obscure with Oasis, Busta Rhymes, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Aaliyah and En Vogue appearing alongside the likes of Luscious Jackson, Dinosaur Jr., Babes in Toyland and the Flaming Lips.

And, of course, Sir Mix-a-Lot's cultural touchtone, the booty-shaking party staple "Baby Got Back," made the cut. "I was dating this girl -- she's the girl that's actually doing the 'Oh my god' part -- and she had a huge ass," the rapper told Rolling Stone of the song's inspiration. "Little tiny waist, just a Coke bottle body. And I always liked it . . . I wanted J. Lo before J. Lo was popular."

The box set's packaging will feature a clear plastic bag of coffee beans secured by a thermal sleeve as well as an eighty-four-page book with track-by-track commentary, photos and essays

'Wonderwall' tops best British song poll

LONDON (AP) — Britpop group Oasis' 1995 hit Wonderwall topped a radio station's poll of the best British songs of all time on Monday.

Listeners to Britain's Virgin Radio voted the anthem by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher's band their all time favorite British hit.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody came in second place and Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven placed third. Queen and the Beatles had the most entries of eight each in the poll of the best 100 songs, as voted by 8,300 listeners to the radio station.

Here are the Best British Songs, as voted by Virgin Radio listeners:

1. Oasis —Wonderwall

2. Queen —Bohemian Rhapsody

3. Led Zeppelin —Stairway to Heaven

4. The Beatles —Let It Be

5. John Lennon —Imagine

6. The Police —Every Breath You Take

7. The Jam —Going Underground

8. Verve —Bittersweet Symphony

9. Robbie Williams —Angels

10. The Stranglers —Golden Brown

Surfacing in time for summer

Summer brings breezier fare to the multiplex, from special-effects blockbusters to silly comedies and wholesome offerings aimed at families. And why shouldn't your DVD player get the same respite from the heavier fare of fall and winter?

USA TODAY has selected five movies with summer themes that get new treatment on DVD this season:

1. 'Jaws'

Why it says summer: This 1975 summer blockbuster was the first movie to gross more than $100 million. The hunt for the great white shark that terrorizes the resort town of Amity enlists a sailor, Quint (Robert Shaw), a police chief (Roy Scheider) and a scientist (Richard Dreyfuss). Plenty of beach scenes and jump-out-of-your-seat chills.

What's new: A 30th anniversary DVD arrives June 14 (Universal, $23, rated PG) with a new two-hour documentary, The Making of Jaws, and From the Set, a feature that has a previously unavailable interview with director Steven Spielberg. Also: a 60-page photo booklet.

2. 'Stripes'

Why it says summer: Released in the summer of 1981, this comedy about two down-on-their-luck friends who join the Army to get in shape secured ex-Saturday Night Live-r Bill Murray's status as a leading man.

What's new: It has been on DVD since 1998; an extended cut out June 7 (Sony, $20, rated R) has 18 minutes of new footage. A one-hour documentary includes interviews with the cast and a tribute to the late John Candy.

3. 'Father of the Bride'

Why it says summer: Got wedding issues? This remake of the 1950 Spencer Tracy-Elizabeth Taylor best-picture nominee should take your mind off of them for 105 minutes or so. Steve Martin is Dad, Diane Keaton is Mom and Kimberly Williams the bride. Martin Short is a fussy, funny wedding planner.

What's new: A 15th-anniversary edition out June 7 (Disney, $20, rated PG) includes Martin and Short interviewing each other.

4. 'The Sandlot'

Why it says summer: The 1993 Sandlot is a beloved tale of a new kid in town who makes friends on a pickup baseball team.

What's new: A direct-to-DVD sequel to the original film (Fox, in stores, $20, rated PG; with The Sandlot in a $25 double-pack), this is an updated take on the tale about baseball and a scary neighborhood dog that thwarts the kids. A special feature includes interviews with both casts and writer/director David M. Evans.

5. 'Summer Magic'

Why it says summer: Longing for the homey summertime films of days gone by? This oft-forgotten 1963 live-action Disney film will transport you back.

What's new: Just out on DVD (Disney, $20, rated G), the movie stars Hayley Mills — two years after appearing in the summer hit The Parent Trap— as a teenager whose family moves from Boston to the country. Burl Ives provides musical accompani- ment.

NEW CD RELEASES FOR MAY 31, 2005

Alio Die & Jack or Jive MEI-JYU (Projekt)

Autumn's Grey Solace Riverine (Projekt)

Better Than Ezra Before the Robots (Artemis)

Björk Army of Me (One Little Indian)

blink-182 Boxset (three CDs; interviews, audio biography and collectors' memorabilia) (Chrome Dreams)

Blowfly Fahrenheit 69 (Alternative Tentacles)

Peppino D'Agostino and Stef Burns Bayshore Road (Favored Nations)

Death in Vegas Satan's Circus (two CDs; new album and live greatest hits) (The LAB)

Electronicat Voodoo Man (Disko)

Four Tet Everything Ecstatic (Domino)

Connie Francis Sings the Standards - Live! (Artemis)

Glass Joe Glacious (Felonious)

Guru Version 7.0: The Street Scriptures (7 Grand)

GWAR Live from Mt. Fuji (enhanced CD w/bonus tracks and video) (DRT Entertainment)

High & Mighty 12th Man (guests Sean Price of Heltah Skeltah and Princess Superstar) (Eastern Conference)

Hot Karl The Great Escape (guests MC Serch, Will.I.Am and 9th Wonder) (Headless Heroes)

The Hurt Process A Heartbeat Behind (Victory)

Kottonmouth Kings Kottonmouth Kings (guests Cypress Hill and Tech N9ne) (Suburban Noize)

Layzie Bone It's Not a Game (w/Snoop Dogg, Twista and more) (Cleopatra)

The Levellers Truth and Lies (Eagle Rock)

Lost Boyz Forever (updated versions of previously unreleased material; w/production by Erick Sermon) (Contango)

Malente Rip It Up (remix album) (Unique)

Maximo Park A Certain Trigger (Warp)

Meshuggah Catch 33 (Nuclear Blast)

Oasis Don't Believe the Truth (Epic)

Vidna Obmana Noise/Drone Anthology 1984-1989 (Projekt)

Oppera (w/singer Martika of "Toy Soldiers" fame) Oppera (Dunda Chief)

Sean Price (of Heltah Skeltah) Monkey Barz (w/members of Boot Camp Click) (Duck Down)

Shadow Gallery Room Five (InsideOut)

Sherwood Sing, but Keep Going (SideCho)

Smog A River Ain't Too Much to Love (Drag City)

Supagroup Rules (Foodchain)

Templars Out Remmer (Victory)

Thrones A Day Late, a Dollar Short (Southern Lord)

Tosca J.A.C. (!K7)

Twisted Tower Dire Crest of the Martyrs (Cleopatra)

XDoaneX West Coast Filmcore (Victory)

VA Clubber's Guide to Deep House (Cleopatra)

OST Rock School (documentary of students playing hits w/Alice Cooper, Dave Mustaine, Billy Idol, Stewart Copeland and more) (Calvin)

DVD Made in Sheffield (documentary on early new wave scene; w/Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, ABC and more) (Plexifilm)

DVD Moog (documentary on inventor of modern synthesizer; w/performances by Stereolab, Rick Wakeman, Money Mark, Bernie Worrell and more) (Plexifilm)

DVD Chic Live at Montreux 2004 (Eagle Rock)

DVD George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic Live at Montreux 2004 (Eagle Rock)

DVD Imperial Crowns Preachin' the Blues: Live! (Music Video Distributors)

DVD Ana Popovic Ana! (Music Video Distributors)

DVD Puddle of Mudd Live at the Key Club - Striking That Familiar Chord (from November 2004; w/bonus acoustic set) (Eagle Rock)

DVD Sadaharu New and Alternative Careers in Dance (two live 2004 concerts; w/music video and interviews) (Music Video Distributors)

RING AROUND THE SEQUEL

With no signs that the horror craze is abating, DreamWorks is moving forward on its third installment of "The Ring."

No writer has been hired, but producer Walter Parkes has confirmed that "Ring 3" is being developed and that the new film will be made on a smaller scale than the first two.

Those films, both of which starred Naomi Watts, were in the $60 million range.

The new "Ring" will be "by its very nature a small, intimate movie," Parkes said at a press junket for DreamWorks' summer tentpole "The Island."

The first "Ring," released in 2002, grossed $129 million domestically. "Ring 2," which unspooled earlier this year, took in $75 million.

Watts will likely not star this time around. Instead, pic will be told from the point of view of another character who also has the misfortune of sliding the infamous videotape into the VCR.

Or, who knows -- maybe this time DreamWorks will update to a DVD.

Patrick Stewart Rushed To Hospital with Chest Pains

Former Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Patrick Stewart was rushed to the hospital yesterday after suffering chronic chest pains while shooting a new science fiction TV show. The 64-year-old halted filming of British miniseries Eleventh Hour and asked a crew member to take him to the Manchester Royal Infirmary, after suffering a heart scare. But doctors gave him an Electrocardiogram and concluded his heart was healthy, so he returned to the set three hours later. A spokeswoman for production company Granada TV says, "Patrick is absolutely fine and is back on set working." An insider adds, "Patrick has been working very hard in recent weeks, because the filming schedule is really tight. The director suggested he go for a check-up just in case."

Miss Canada Is Crowned 2005 Miss Universe

BANGKOK, Thailand - Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova, was crowned Miss Universe in the 54th annual pageant held in the Thai capital of Bangkok. The brunette from Toronto was chosen over Miss Puerto Rico Cynthia Olavarria.

The two were among five contestants selected to answer questions onstage in the final round of the competition. The others were from Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

Glebova, 23, was asked what she considered the biggest challenge of her life. She said it was remaining optimistic.

"I always try to maintain a positive outlook on life," she said.

Earlier, the 12-judge panel narrowed the field of 81 contestants to 15, then 10 as the Miss Universe hopefuls modeled evening gowns and swimsuits.

During the event broadcast live, hosts introduced the contestants, judges and last year's winner, Australia's Jennifer Hawkins.

Thailand hopes that hosting the pageant will boost the country's tourism sector, which was badly hurt by last December's tsunami.

Contestants, who arrived in Thailand about three weeks ago, have visited tsunami-struck areas along the southern coastline and historic Buddhist temples around Bangkok.

They have also driven the country's famous three-wheeled motorcycle taxis, called tuk-tuks, and ridden atop elephants — Thailand's national symbol.

'Star Wars' Tops Box Office With $70.75M

LOS ANGELES - Payback for the Sith has meant a real payday at the box office.

"Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" beat two strong newcomers to remain the top movie with $70.75 million over the long Memorial Day weekend, though Hollywood again failed to climb out of a prolonged revenue decline.

Debuting in second place was the animated adventure "Madagascar" with $61 million, while Adam Sandler's football remake, "The Longest Yard," opened a close third with $60 million, according to studio estimates Monday.

Despite the two big debuts and a strong hold for "Revenge of the Sith" in its second weekend, theatrical receipts overall were down for the 14th straight weekend compared with last year.

The top 12 movies grossed $225.5 million, an impressive four-day haul but still 5.5 percent behind last year's record Memorial Day weekend, when "Shrek 2" and "The Day After Tomorrow" alone combined for $181 million in grosses between them.

"On the one hand, yeah, 14 weeks, that's a terrible slump," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "But I'm optimistic, because this weekend proves you can still get a heck of a lot of people in theaters with the right movies.

"It takes a lot more to excite people today, and the crop of movies this year other than `Star Wars' and the movies that opened this weekend haven't inspired audiences to make that step and go to the theaters."

The final installment of George Lucas' "Star Wars" saga grossed $271.2 million domestically in its first 12 days, putting it on pace to soar beyond the $310 million total for its predecessor, "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones."

"Revenge of the Sith" may be on track to approach the $431 million domestic haul of "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox, which released the "Star Wars" films.

As with "Titanic," the modern box-office champ that brought young girls back to the theater to see it again and again, "Revenge of the Sith" is drawing strong repeat business among young males.

"We've got a lot of kids who already have this picture four and five times," Snyder said.

Worldwide through Sunday, "Revenge of the Sith" had taken in $504.4 million since its almost simultaneous debut in most countries beginning May 18.

"Madagascar," featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer as pampered zoo animals cut loose in the wild, plugged a hole among parents eager for a movie to take the kids to see.

"There was a pent-up desire for family pictures," said Jim Tharp, head of distribution for DreamWorks, which released "Madagascar."

"The Longest Yard," an update of the 1974 tale of prison inmates taking on their sadistic guards in a football grudge match, was a key choice for young males, who make up the bulk of Sandler's audience.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," $70.75 million.
2. "Madagascar," $61 million.
3. "The Longest Yard," $60 million.
4. "Monster-in-Law," $11.1 million.
5. "Kicking & Screaming," $6.6 million.
6. "Crash," $6 million.
7. "The Interpreter," $2.6 million.
8. "Unleashed," $2.3 million.
9. "Kingdom of Heaven," $2.2 million.
10. "House of Wax," $1.6 million.

MIDAS TOUCHED

The real-life exploits of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be drawing headlines, but for an equally fascinating Hollywood drama, consider what went on behind the cameras during the long and costly struggle to bring "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" to the screen.

The movie was delayed and rewritten numerous times. Its stars' entanglements were splashed all over the tabloids. It went so far over budget that the studio demanded producers "stop the monetary hemorrhaging."

Yet for all that, 20th Century Fox thinks "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" will be a hit when it opens June 10 - another notch in the belt of director Doug Liman, who is notorious for presiding over disastrous productions that somehow emerge triumphant.

"The truth is, Doug is a madman," says Akiva Goldsman, the Oscar-winning writer of "A Beautiful Mind"), who also produced "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

"[But] I think he has the ability, which is not insignificant, to have a movie coalesce around him. Actors want to work with him and studios want the product that exists with his name on it."

During a break from last-minute work on the film, Liman winces when he hears that Goldsman has called him a madman.

"I'm an unusual person," Liman acknowledges. But in every case, he says, "The movie I end up with is the movie I aspired to make."

Blue-eyed and rumpled, Liman is something of a filmmaking phenomenon. He remains affable — and successful — even as he drives colleagues to distraction and his films run significantly over schedule and over budget.

Some say he suffers from indecision and lack of focus so profound that his films were finished more in spite of him than because of him.

"I stepped into territory I've never been in before in 30 years," says Frank Marshall, who produced Liman's previous film, "The Bourne Identity."

"I've always had a respect for the line between a producer and a director. And I had to step over that line into something that I feel is the director's responsibility."

But even Marshall concedes that Liman has great ideas and that his films all share a fresh, distinctive visual style.

That started with the 1996 indie hit "Swingers," which introduced Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn to the world. Liman then made "Go," a small but well-received 1999 picture about the aftermath of a drug deal.

Reports of trouble surfaced on the next film, "The Bourne Identity," which nonetheless spawned a mighty franchise.

Several individuals who worked on "The Bourne Identity" — which went about $10 million over its $55 million budget — say it went off track in part because Liman constantly changed his mind about what he would do on any given day.

"He never knew what he wanted to do," says Marshall. "He would reshoot some scenes four or five times because he had a new idea. It was 'Let me see the footage and I'll decide whether I like it or not.' "

On "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," history seemed to repeat itself. The film — an action comedy about two hired assassins who are married to each other — went over schedule in part, Liman says, because Pitt had to leave in the middle to meet his commitment to appear in "Ocean's Twelve." He was gone for three months.

It took nearly two years to get the film made. The picture started shooting in January 2004 and didn't wrap until this past April.

According to a source involved in the production, the budget — originally set at just over $100 million — swelled to $126 million.

Pitt, who would not comment for this article, was said to have become exasperated with the drawn-out production. According to one story making the rounds, when Liman, at one point, urged Pitt to deliver more emotion in his performance, the actor pointed out that Liman was shooting the back of his head.

Top Ten Music Moments on NBC’s Scrubs

In the wake of series finales from some of NBC’s most successful comedies of the last 15 years—Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier—the network that once dominated the sitcom landscape has been reduced to relying on a painfully unfunny Friends spinoff and the increasingly tiresome Will & Grace as its main draws. Fortunately, one beacon of creative comedic hope remains amidst the wasteland of predictable punchlines and soulless laugh tracks: Scrubs. The show’s visual gags, daydream sequences, and curious affinity for former Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, among other things, have made it NBC’s top comedy for four years running, even if its ratings don’t reflect that.

Scrubs builds on the blueprint laid down by series like ABC’s Sports Night in the late 1990s; it delivers the laughs for about 20 of the episode’s 22 minutes before setting the jokes aside to deliver a dramatic, thought-provoking conclusion over its final couple of minutes. Sometimes these conclusions fall flat, but more often than not, they succeed with just the right doses of endearing genuineness and believable melodrama. In other words, it tickles the X chromosomes in all the right places.

As expected, music plays a large role in these dramatic final moments. Like any series, Scrubs has established a certain style of song that shows up frequently in each episode’s final moments—acoustic guitar chords, swelling choruses and lovestruck lyrics are not uncommon. Zach Braff, who plays likeable doctor John “J.D.” Dorian in the series, copped this sound for his Grammy-winning Garden State soundtrack, though admittedly he may have had a hand in the original inclusion of artists like The Shins and Cary Brothers in Scrubs.

As often as Scrubs sticks to its musical formula though, it never hesitates to deviate from expectations when the situation calls for it. It’s a trait that extends to every aspect of the series, and makes it one of the most unique comedies on television today. The following ten moments are a few that combined music with the show’s plot and characters most memorably. Melodrama optional.

10. Rhett Miller - "Come Around" (2.18: My T.C.W.)
The final sequence in this episode showcases a common Scrubs tactic: wrapping up each separate storyline in a wordless montage. In this case, after J.D. reprimands Elliot, Turk, Carla, and Dr. Cox for complaining incessantly about their relationship problems while he’s unhappily single, each respective couple reconciles as Old 97s frontman Miller plays in the background. The beauty of this montage, which ends with J.D. lamenting, “Nothing sucks more than feeling all alone, no matter how many people are around”? You still feel a little sympathy, despite the fact that he’d turned down advances from the episode’s title character, “Tasty Coma Wife” (Amy Smart), a mere two minutes earlier. Our resilient hero J.D. eventually bounces back, hooking up with her two episodes later at her husband’s funeral.

09. The Coral - "Dreaming of You" (2.10: My Monster)
More than any other song on this list, The Coral’s irresistibly catchy single represents a significant change of pace from the Scrubs musical norm. Similarly, the plot turn that the song scores epitomizes the unpredictable nature of the show’s storylines. J.D. and Elliot, this series’ version of, say, Ross and Rachel, had been broken up for nearly a year, following a tryst that lasted all of one episode. But now, suddenly, with few hints and no foreshadowing, the bouncy bass riff and synth line in “Dreaming of You” sets off their romp around J.D.’s apartment. The lyric “I still need you, but I don’t want you now” never seemed less clichéd.

08. Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" (3.02: My Journey)
A callback to the episode’s introduction, in which J.D. professed his love for the 80s arena-rock group by lending his falsetto to “Don’t Stop Believin”’s opening lines, the track interjects itself into the narrative in the final minutes. Scrubs has made this a habit over its four seasons; in many cases, the lyrics of the chosen song describes the situation as effectively as a dialogue could. While Journey doesn’t nail this plot spot-on, they do well enough. “Just a small town girl / Livin’ in a lonely world / She took the midnight train going anywhere” plays while a lovelorn Elliot rides a train to see potential boyfriend Sean (Scott Foley); the next shot cuts to show an equally lonely Sean while the next couplet (“Just a small town boy…”) starts up. The self-aware music selection is great—the episode’s exaggeratedly theatrical ending as the song’s chorus swells is even better.

07. Nil Lara – “Fighting For My Love” (1.14: My Drug Buddy)
The first brief Elliott/J.D. tryst I alluded to earlier took off in the final minute of this episode, to the tune of “Fighting For My Love.” After teasing at chemistry between the two characters during the show’s inaugural three or four weeks, the show had relegated them to the friend zone, seemingly indefinitely, before the sudden hookup went down in this episode. It was a welcome change from the awkward exchanges, heavy-handed foreshadowing, and the sense of inevitability that usually surrounds TV romances. Even though this one also seemed inevitable, it still caught you off-guard. “Fighting For My Love,” a typically Scrubs upbeat acoustic number provides the perfect soundtrack to the moment.

06. The Polyphonic Spree - "Section 9 (Light of Day / Reach for the Sun)" (3.19: My Choosiest Choice of All)
Not knowing beforehand that The Polyphonic Spree would appear in this episode, I didn’t pay much attention when one patient constantly expressed the desire to play with his band before they toured Europe. However, when Dr. Cox attempted to impress a fellow doctor—surprising the patient by bringing his bandmates into his hospital room to play an impromptu set—the band slowly streamed in, one by one, all decked out in identical white robes, and it clicked for me. The final minutes of the episode feature a montage that combines performance shots of the band with the final advances of the plot, effectively weaving “Light of Day / Reach for the Sun” in and out of the diegesis. I normally don’t like The Polyphonic Spree, but they work perfectly here.

05. Finger Eleven - "One Thing" (3.20: My Fault)
As overplayed as it was on radio airwaves, this Finger Eleven ballad still sounds good to me, and the final three and a half minutes of “My Fault” let it play in almost its entirety. In one of the most brilliantly written sequence of Scrubs’ four seasons, conflicts resolve in both touching and dramatic ways, from Carla and Turk reconciling their wedding issues to Elliot deciding at the last minute to ditch her plan to move in with Sean in favour of J.D. It culminates in this final exchange, right before the episode finishes:

J.D. (narrating): I think that the problem with most people who want what they can’t have is that when they actually get the thing they covet, they don’t want it anymore. But not this guy.
Elliot: “Well Dr. Dorian, you have me. You finally have me.”
(“One Thing” cuts out abruptly)
J.D. (narrating): Oh my God, I don’t want her!

Hey, it’s a comedy that, in the end, places comedy first rather than pandering to audiences who revel in the romantic conventions of so-called sitcoms. What a novel concept.

04. Colin Hay - "Beautiful World" (1.24: My Last Day)
I’m wary of my praise for Scrubs’ unconventional methods coming off a little too excessive, but bear with me as I toe that line between admiration and obsession again. In “My Last Day,” the first season’s finale, the writers didn’t just drop one bomb—they dropped every bomb. Initially, Colin Hay’s lyrics—particularly the constant “My my my, it’s a beautiful world” refrain—complement what appears to be an aw-shucks happy ending to the season. However, that’s before the track cuts out for a minute and an antagonized Jordan takes Dr. Cox’s earlier advice to “stir it up” by informing every main character of secrets and conflicts that had been stewing for most of the season. As soon as she concludes, Hay’s voice re-enters over acoustic chords, singing, “Still this emptiness persists / Perhaps this is as good as it gets.” Once again, it’s the off-screen vocalist that’s dictating the plot, as each on-screen character, one by one, wordlessly departs the scene. The final chords of “Beautiful World” reverberate with a combination of playful self-reflexivity and nostalgia for five minutes earlier, when things were far less complicated.

03. John Cale - "Hallelujah" (1.04: My Old Lady)
Using “Hallelujah” to score a crucial moment is nothing new to the television world. Virtually every show from The West Wing to The O.C. has used it at some point, and Scrubs was no exception, whipping it out in only its fourth episode. However, they do get some credit for using John Cale’s rendition rather than the Jeff Buckley version that’s suffered from a bit of overexposure. Technicalities aside, what we have here is a genuine goosebump-eliciting moment. The premise: J.D. introduces the episode by pointing out that—excepting the maternity ward and emergency room—one out of every three hospital patients dies before leaving. In a subsequent three-way split-screen, J.D., Elliot, and Turk introduce themselves to their new patients, setting up the payoff of seeing which will have their patient die on them by show’s end. The twist: Some days, the odds are worse. The sparse piano notes of “Hallelujah” play morosely in the background as each doctor has to apologize to their patient’s respective families. I’ve never watched a single episode of E.R., but I imagine this must capture what its best moments were like.

02. Josh Radin "Winter" / "Closer" (3.14: My Screwup / 4.19: My Best Laid Plans)
Another Zach Braff favourite, Josh Radin has contributed his whispered vocals and acoustic guitar plucking to two of the most memorable episodes of the series. “Winter” and “Closer” sound so similar—even down to their titles—that I had to include them as one entry here. The former track plays a critical role in “My Screwup,” an episode unanimously considered one of the show’s best. In a twist worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan film, the show’s writers mislead viewers for the episode’s entire second half, providing a jarring impact while maintaining its humour most of the way. “My Best Laid Plans,” meanwhile, offers a similarly downbeat ending, as J.D. breaks up with his girlfriend and Turk and Carla’s marriage appears on the verge of collapse. In both instances, Radin’s inconspicuous delivery and deceptively simple melodies make for poignant moments without being obtrusive. His approach isn’t spectacular, but it’s definitely memorable.

01. Jill Tracy and Cast - "Waiting for my Real Life to Begin" (2.13: My Philosophy)
Perhaps the definitive love-it-or-hate-it sequence over the duration of Scrubs’ four seasons, the final few minutes of “My Philosophy” represent the time when I felt most strongly that I was watching a show unlike any other I’d ever seen. Following up on an early conversation with J.D. in which she expresses hope that death is like a “big Broadway musical” in which “you go out with a real flourish,” one patient’s death inspires one of J.D.’s recurrent imagination sequences. In this one, death really is like a big Broadway musical, and its cast is… well, the cast of Scrubs. Six of the show’s main players, along with the late patient (played by Jill Tracy), take a turn at singing a few lines from Colin Hay’s “Waiting for my Real Life to Begin.” There even achieve a few moments of legitimately impressive harmony. It’s slightly surreal and surprisingly endearing—two traits that play a large factor in many of Scrubs’ best moments, musical or otherwise.

'Green Acres' star Eddie Albert dies at 99

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eddie Albert was a versatile actor who moved smoothly from the Broadway stage to movies, but he found stardom as the constantly befuddled city slicker-turned-farmer in television's Green Acres.

Albert died of pneumonia Thursday at his home in the Pacific Palisades area, in the presence of caregivers including his son Edward, who was holding his hand at the time.

"He died so beautifully and so gracefully that literally this morning I don't feel grief, I don't feel loss," Edward Albert told The Associated Press.

On Green Acres, Albert played Oliver Douglas, a New York lawyer who settles in a rural town with his glamorous wife, played by Eva Gabor, and finds himself perplexed by the antics of a host of eccentrics, including a pig named Arnold Ziffel.

He was nominated for Academy Awards as supporting actor in Roman Holiday (1953) and The Heartbreak Kid (1972).

Besides the 1965-1971 run in Green Acres, he costarred on TV with Robert Wagner in Switch from 1975 to 1978 and was a semi-regular on Falcon Crest in 1988.

He was a tireless conservationist, crusading for endangered species, healthful food, cleanup of Santa Monica Bay pollution and other causes.

Albert's mother was not married when he was born, in 1906. After marrying, she changed his birth certificate to read 1908, the younger Albert said.

Rarely the star of films, Albert often portrayed the wisecracking sidekick, fast-talking salesman or sympathetic father. His stardom came in television, especially with Green Acres, in which, ironically, he played straight man. The show joined The Beverly Hillbillies,Petticoat Junction and other high-rated CBS comedies of the 1960s and '70s.

"Some people think that because of the bucolic background Green Acres is corny," Albert told an interviewer in 1970. "But we get away with some of the most incredible lines on television."

His break in show business came during the '30s in the Broadway hit Brother Rat, a comedy about life at Virginia Military Institute. Warner Bros. signed him to a contract and cast him in the 1938 film.

According to Hollywood gossip, he was caught in a dalliance with the wife of Jack L. Warner and the studio boss removed him from a film and allowed him to languish under contract.

The actor left Hollywood and appeared as a clown and trapeze artist in a one-ring Mexican circus. He escaped his studio contract by joining the Navy in World War II and served in combat in the South Pacific. He received a Bronze Star for his heroic rescue of wounded Marines at Tarawa, his son said.

Albert managed to rehabilitate his film career after the war, beginning with Smash-up with Susan Hayward in 1947.

Among his other films: Carrie,Oklahoma!The Teahouse of the August Moon,The Sun Also Rises,The Roots of Heaven,The Longest Day,Miracle of the White Stallions,The Longest Yard and Escape to Witch Mountain.

Edward Albert Heimberger was born in Rock Island, Ill., grew up in Minneapolis and worked his way through two years at the University of Minnesota.

Amateur theater led to singing engagements in nightclubs and on radio. During that time he dropped his last name "because most people mispronounced it as 'Hamburger.'"

Moving to New York, Albert acted on radio and appeared in summer stock before he broke into Broadway and the movies.

Green Acres made Albert a rich man and allowed him to pursue his causes. He established Plaza de la Raza, a foundation in East Los Angeles that teaches arts to poor Hispanics.

He helped Dr. Albert Schweitzer combat famine in Africa. He traveled the world for UNICEF. Concerned about seeing fewer pelicans on beaches where he was jogging, he went with ecologists and his son on a trip to Anacapa Island.

"We discovered that in every nest all the eggs were crushed, and nobody knew why," the younger Albert said. "They took samples and tested them, and found DDT in all the eggs. ... An entire generation of species was being wiped out."

Albert began speaking about the harmful effects of the pesticide at universities around the country, and in 1972 the federal government banned DDT.

He continued acting into his 80s, often appearing in television movies.

"Acting was a tenth of his life. The majority of his life was committed to helping other people," said his son, also an actor. "This guy was, from the absolute depth of his soul, one of the true heroes of our world."

Edward Albert, 54, who became a prominent actor in Butterflies Are Free,40 Carats and other films, said he put his career on hold for the past eight years to aid his father, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

On Friday, he remembered a moment several years ago in which the two sat in a garden together.

"I said to him 'You're my hero.' I saw him struggling to put together the words, and he looked at me and said: 'You're your hero's hero.' I'll take that to my ... grave."

Albert was married to the dancer-actress Margo for 40 years until her death in 1985. In addition to his son, Albert is survived by a daughter, Maria Albert Zucht, and two granddaughters.

A private funeral was planned.

Sony BMG tests technology to limit CD burning

NEW YORK (Billboard) - As part of its mounting U.S. rollout of content-enhanced and copy-protected CDs, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is testing technology solutions that bar consumers from making additional copies of burned CD-R discs.

Since March the company has released at least 10 commercial titles -- more than 1 million discs in total -- featuring technology from U.K. anti-piracy specialist First4Internet that allows consumers to make limited copies of protected discs, but blocks users from making copies of the copies.

The concept is known as "sterile burning." And in the eyes of Sony BMG executives, the initiative is central to the industry's efforts to curb casual CD burning.

"The casual piracy, the school yard piracy, is a huge issue for us," says Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business for Sony BMG. "Two-thirds of all piracy comes from ripping and burning CDs, which is why making the CD a secure format is of the utmost importance."

Names of specific titles carrying the technology were not disclosed. The effort is not specific to First4Internet. Other Sony BMG partners are expected to begin commercial trials of sterile burning within the next month.

To date, most copy protection and other digital rights management-based solutions that allow for burning have not included secure burning.

Early copy-protected discs as well as all Digital Rights Management (DRM)-protected files sold through online retailers like iTunes, Napster and others offer burning of tracks into unprotected WAV files. Those burned CDs can then be ripped back onto a personal computer minus a DRM wrapper and converted into MP3 files.

Under the new solution, tracks ripped and burned from a copy-protected disc are copied to a blank CD in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format. The DRM embedded on the discs bars the burned CD from being copied.

"The secure burning solution is the sensible way forward," First4Internet CEO Mathew Gilliat-Smith says. "Most consumers accept that making a copy for personal use is really what they want it for. The industry is keen to make sure that is not abused by making copies for other people that would otherwise go buy a CD."

As with other copy-protected discs, albums featuring XCP (extended copy protection) will allow for three copies to be made.

However, Sony BMG has said it is not locked into the number of copies. The label is looking to offer consumers a fair-use replication of rights enjoyed on existing CDs.

COMPATIBLE FOR ALL?

A key concern with copy-protection efforts remains compatibility.

It is a sticking point at Sony BMG and other labels as they look to increase the number of copy-protected CDs they push into the market.

Among the biggest headaches: Secure burning means that iPod users do not have any means of transferring tracks to their device, because Apple Computer has yet to license its FairPlay DRM for use on copy-protected discs.

As for more basic CD player compatibility issues, Gilliat-Smith says the discs are compliant with Sony Philips CD specifications and should therefore play in all conventional CD players.

The moves with First4Internet are part of a larger copy-protection push by Sony BMG that also includes SunnComm and its MediaMax technology.

To date, SunnComm has been the music giant's primary partner on commercial releases -- including Velvet Revolver's "Contraband" and Anthony Hamilton's solo album. In all, more than 5.5 million content-enhanced and protected discs have been shipped featuring SunnComm technology.

First4Internet's XCP has been used previously on prerelease CDs only. Sony BMG is the first to commercially deploy XCP.

First4Internet's other clients -- which include Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and EMI -- are using XCP for prerelease material.

Sony BMG expects that by year's end a substantial number of its U.S. releases will employ either MediaMax or XCP. All copy-protected solutions will include such extras as photo galleries, enhanced liner notes and links to other features.

Music videos crushed by reality TV

Ever tune into MuchMusic and wonder where the videos are?

Like the song said, video killed the radio star. But 25 years after MTV debuted, it looks like reality has killed -- or at least rendered into a coma -- the video star.

We used to get pimps in a Jay-Z video -- now we get Pimp My Ride. And while nobody is ever going to complain about Jessica Simpson NOT singing, it's not like she's vanished. In fact, as half of the music station's Newlyweds couple, she probably gets more airtime than Madonna ever did during her Material Girl heyday.

Talk to industry analysts and they note a swing in viewers' tastes. Audiences would much rather watch a "behind closed doors-style infotainment" than the latest clip from Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera.

For this, say some, the music channels have no one to blame but themselves.

David Kines, vice-president of MuchMusic, says he's seen his audience become more informed during his more than 20 years with the company.

"They're definitely much more media savvy," Kines explains. "We've torn down the fourth wall. It makes them feel like they (the artists) are everyday people."

Hence such fare as The Osbournes or Newlyweds, which strip away the fairy tale lives of the fabulous and famous. Although he insists MuchMusic is still all about music -- Kines points to the proliferation of genre-specific 24/7 music video channels -- video flow has decreased to make room for more reality-themed series. Where does this leave a music video industry that's been seemingly left behind by the "reality" phenomenon?

Jannie McInnes is an executive producer with Revolver Film Company. Their latest music video was Blue Orchid for The White Stripes, directed by Floria Sigismondi.

"In the last two or three years, shows like Pimp My Ride and Newlyweds have taken precedence over regular video flow," says McInnes. "On the broadcast side, the most conspicuous change is that full-length videos are available for purchase online. This will give record labels an opportunity to profit from downloads of videos."

She expects online videos to only grow in popularity -- possibly at the expense of quality.

"Video budgets have become radically reduced in the last years, making it very challenging," she says.

Not helping? Formulaic videos. Gone are the days where what you saw on MuchMusic is fodder for banter around the watercooler. For that, McInnes blames the music industry itself. "If a track is formulaic, a by-the-book video will result."

The advent of technology is another reason why the status quo no longer applies. Video production is now available to do-it-yourselfers who can shoot and edit digitally on their home computers and post the clips on the Internet. A good thing? Maybe. As McInnes says, "It could be perceived to be a con that technology is used to sustain youth and beauty stereotypes."

Yet she still believes in the power a buzzworthy video can have on a band's chances at success.

"An artist can use music videos as platform to show how they reject conventions of the market or their music genre by doing something rebellious and exciting. The best videos to me are ones that open new possibilities of how you listen to a song."

Some of the music videos that managed to make a lasting impression on the industry and pop culture:

Thriller, Michael Jackson, 1983: A pre-scandal Jackson, left, forever changed the music video world with one of the first mini-movie videos.

Take on Me, A-Ha, 1985: At the time, nobody was blending animation and live-action in music videos. This one gave people a glimpse of what the future might hold. Unforgettable from a forgettable band.

Sabotage, Beastie Boys, 1994: Shooting in the form of a '70s cop show introduction, the Beasties kept us entertained while continuing to re-invent themselves with a touch of rock.

Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen, 1975: As if Wayne's World didn't do enough for the song, it was the video that made it come alive, and stay in people's memory banks for three decades.

Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana), 1992: Grunge kicked into high gear after the release of the trio's raw video, featuring Kurt Cobain, above, shot in a high school gym.

Everybody Hurts (R.E.M.), 1993: Probably the only video we have ever seen that consistently makes some people cry when they watch it.

Hurt (Johnny Cash), 2003: Cash summed up his life in one dark and resonating video that demanded respect.

Buddy Holly (Weezer), 1994. Anyone who helps the Fonz re-live his glory days while giving back Ron Howard his full head of hair is tops in our books.

Strong TV Season Ends on 'Idol' Finale

NEW YORK - With nearly 30 million people watching the "American Idol" finale on Fox, broadcast television networks ended a season that gave everybody something to brag about — except NBC.

CBS can again claim the status of the nation's most popular network. Perhaps more significant financially, its viewership increased among young people.

For the first time since beginning a prime-time schedule in 1987, Fox was the No. 1 network among the 18-to-49-year-old viewers that broadcasters crave.

ABC launched a comeback that probably exceeded the dreams of even its most optimistic executives, seeing its viewership increase by 12 percent overall and 17 percent among the 18-to-49 demographic, according to Nielsen Media Research figures released Thursday.

And NBC? Well, there's always next year — a winter Olympics year. NBC ended the season in an unprecedented fourth place among overall and young viewers.

The broadcast networks in general had virtually the same number of prime-time viewers this season than they had in 2003-04, which is significant because viewership had dropped steadily, every year, since the 1993-94 season.

Fans embraced new programming this year, a particularly encouraging sign for network executives. The 25 most-watched prime-time shows this season included six new series: "Desperate Housewives," "Lost" and "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC; "House" on Fox; "Medium" on NBC and "CSI: NY" on CBS.

"The networks were where the hot programming was this year," said David Poltrack, chief researcher at CBS.

With no new episodes of "The Sopranos" or "Sex and the City" this season, cable networks lost some of their cutting edge, he said.

But Jack Wakshlag, chief researcher at the Turner Networks, said cable networks continue to increase their share of the prime-time audience.

"There literally are more people spending more time watching television than a year ago," he said. "But they're not watching more broadcast television."

It's more than a battle over numbers for these executives. Ad agencies are expected to place orders for more than $18 billion in advertising for the fall season over the next few weeks, and dozens of networks are scratching for every dime.

Industry analyst Jack Myers said the broadcast networks will benefit from a high "buzz factor" this year, keeping money that might have otherwise shifted to cable.

"I think that cable will grow organically," Myers said. "But I don't think there's a lot of money going out of broadcast and into cable. I don't see that as much as the cable industry would like to."

For the second straight year, the most popular program on television was the Tuesday edition of "American Idol" (27.3 million viewers), followed by CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (26.6 million). After the Wednesday "Idol" edition, "Desperate Housewives" was next.

CBS averaged 12.9 million viewers in prime-time this year. ABC and Fox were in a flat-footed tie for second with 10 million viewers, followed by NBC at 9.8 million. The WB and UPN both averaged 3.3 million viewers.

NBC was down 11 percent among viewers and 16 percent among the young demographic. That latter drop, in particular, threatens its longstanding position as the network that earns the most advertising revenue during this "upfront" buying season.

NBC can take some comfort over the remarkable tightness of the network competition. Only six-tenths of one rating point separated first from fourth among 18-to-49-year-old viewers, and it's even closer considering Fox's numbers were inflated this year by the Super Bowl.

Any network that can repeat ABC's feat of minting new hits next year stands the chance of making a big move.

Guitarist Domenic Troiano dies

TORONTO - Veteran Canadian guitar player Domenic Troiano has died after a decade-long battle with cancer.

Troiano, who played in groups ranging from the Guess Who to Bush to the James Gang, was 59. He passed away late Wednesday.

"His absolute skill as a musician, certainly in the '60s, it was unsurpassed," long-time friend Larry LeBlanc, Billboard's Canada bureau chief, told the Canadian Press. "Everybody wanted to be Troiano."

Starting his career in the 1960s, Troiano carved out a reputation in musical circles as a musician's musician. He played in a long list of bands, including an early stint as a backup player for Ronnie Hawkins. He spent 1974-75 with the Guess Who and played for countless non-Canadian performers, including blues legend Etta James, Joe Cocker and Diana Ross.

"He could play anything. And he was so good at it," said Toronto broadcaster John Donabie, who interviewed Troiano in the 1960s when he was a member of the pioneering Canadian group the Mandala. Along with other members of that group, Troiano founded Bush, which released one album in 1970.

"Domenic Troiano lived for making music," said LeBlanc. His hits included Bush's I Can Hear You Calling.

Known to his friends as "Donnie," Troiano was born in Modugno, Italy, and became a naturalized Canadian in 1955. He spent the rest of his life in Toronto, except for a brief period in the 1970s when he called Los Angeles home.

In the 1980s, the prolific guitarist turned to composing for television programs like Night Heat, Hot Shots and Diamonds. He served as a producer for Moe Koffman and others, and in 1996 his skills as an axeman were recognized when he was made a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Troiano's recent credits include doing the soundtrack for the video game Fahrenheit in 1995.

"Every guitar player in Canada knows of Domenic Troiano," said LeBlanc. "And most of the guitar players in Canada will sit back and pause a bit today."

Troiano is survived by his mother, brother and sister. He was married briefly to singer Shawne Jackson, but the relationship ended in divorce about 10 years ago.

A funeral is planned for Monday in Toronto.

Barenaked Page Goes Solo

Barenaked Ladies co-frontman Steven Page will release his first solo album under the name Vanity Project on June 21st. The Toronto-based Page wrote eleven of the twelve tracks with British musician Stephen Duffy (a.k.a. Tin Tin), best known for the Eighties club hit "Kiss Me."

Page discovered Duffy -- who was Duran Duran's original drummer and who currently serves as Robbie Williams' music director -- by picking up a Tin Tin record as a teenager. "I got a sense just from the album sleeve that there was something more to it," Page says. "It was classic, romantic, slightly maudlin singer-songwriter stuff about unrequited love. It was a perfect fifteen-year-old-boy record."

So perfect that Page was moved to write Duffy a fan letter, and the two began a correspondence that spawned a two-decade friendship. Page even sent over early Barenaked Ladies demos, and Duffy provided feedback and encouragement. The two met for the first time in 1989 when the scholarly Page attended a summer program at Cambridge University, and Duffy invited him to hang around for a few days while his then-new band, the Lilac Time, recorded.

"Someone from the NME came to interview him, and he introduced me as a 'poet from Canada,'" recalls Page with a laugh. "That was pretty cool -- as opposed to, 'This is a kid who's a fan of mine.'"

On the diverse, self-titled Vanity Project album, Page strays from Barenaked Ladies' trademark bouncy pop. The opener, "Hit and Run," is a hard-edged, electric-guitar-driven track; the jangly, harmony-laden "Wilted Rose" evokes early R.E.M.; while the atmospheric single "That's All That's All" is a ballad built around acoustic guitars and a drum machine.

Page hopes that the new project will draw new listeners. "I think there are a lot of people who would like Barenaked Ladies music, but don't realize that they would," he says. "Maybe our radio hits or the image of the band have marred their view of what we really are about. The biggest success I could hope for with this record is that it might bring in some of those people."

The Barenaked Ladies faithful will be happy to know that Page and his mates are busy writing material for their next album, to be produced by Jim Scott, the engineer on 2000's Maroon.

Page is planning a solo acoustic tour in support of The Vanity Project late this summer.

Live Aid Organizer Confirms Another 'Big' Concert Is Coming

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that former Boomtown Rats leader Bob Geldof is secretly planning a massive sequel to the 1985 Live Aid concerts that raised millions to combat famine in Africa.

Geldof had repeatedly denied the rumors until Thursday. While attending the Ivor Novello Awards for songwriters in London, Geldof finally tipped his hand and said "there's something brewing ... it's big," according to The Associated Press. He cautioned that the event to fight poverty in Africa was unique, and "there's never going to be a Live Aid II."

The U.S. spokesperson for the concert, Elizabeth Freund, said Geldof will preside at a press conference announcing all the details on Tuesday in London, with a possible second conference in New York. Rumors have had everyone from Madonna and U2 to Paul McCartney, Oasis, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Eminem, Sting and a reunited Pink Floyd performing in both London and Washington, D.C., though Freund would not confirm or deny the speculation.

So far, only Sting has confirmed his participation. Also speaking at the Novello ceremony, the singer said, "Bob called me up and said I was doing it. He doesn't ask you, he tells you."

Freund would not reveal the date of the show, but a spokesperson for England's Prince's Trust said last week that the charity had canceled it's annual Party in the Park concert in London's Hyde Park on July 3 so that the Geldof concert could take place.

The concert, referred to as "Live 8" in the English press, is believed to have been timed to coincide with the gathering of the world's richest countries in Scotland for the G8 summit (July 6-8), at which they are to discuss alleviating Third World debt.

Geldof said planning the event has been exhausting, adding, "it's as petrifying as the buildup to Live Aid, if not more so. We'll have all the biggest names we can find. But it's not just about big names, it's about making a point. ... What started 20 years ago is coming to a political point in a few weeks."

The original Live Aid took place in Wembley Stadium in London and in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985, and raised $245 million for famine relief in Africa. It was watched by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide and featured sets from Elvis Costello; B.B. King; Black Sabbath; Run-DMC; Sting; Crosby, Stills and Nash; Judas Priest; U2; Queen; David Bowie; the Who; Santana; Elton John; Madonna; Paul McCartney; Bob Dylan; Neil Young; and a reunited Led Zeppelin with Phil Collins on drums.

Raitt Returning In Fall With New Album

Bonnie Raitt eschews the 12-bar blues of her past on the new album "Souls Alike," due Sept. 13 via Capitol. For the first time, the artist also takes the production reigns in tandem with Tchad Blake (Pearl Jam, Crowded House).

Tracks include first single "I Will Not Be Broken," "The Bed I Made," "I Don't Want Anything To Change," "Deep Water" and "Crooked Crown," penned by what the label describes as unnamed, "lesser-known writers."

"Some of the songs are clearly terrain that people have come to know and appreciate from me, but the rest are about finding some new direction and something new to say," Raitt says.

"Souls Alike" is the follow-up to 2002's "Silver Lining," which has sold more than 539,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Raitt will tour in support of the album this fall.

In related news, Eagle Rock Entertainment will on Tuesday (May 31) release the DVD "Live at Montreux 1977," featuring Raitt's early hit cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway." Four songs from her 1991 return to the famed Swiss festival are included as bonus tracks.

Crow Whipping Up Something 'Good'

Sheryl Crow's as-yet-untitled new album will arrive Sept. 27 via Interscope, and will be preceded a month before by the single "Good Is Good." According to the artist's official Web site, the new album will include 10 tracks and will be accompanied by a tour that is in the planning stages.

Crow exclusively revealed to Billboard in December that she was hoping to release two separate albums in 2005, one that she described as an "artist" record, and the other pegged as a "pop" record. But based on the Sept. 26 release date, it appears unlikely that Crow would release a second set before year's end.

The artist admitted her relationship with championship cyclist Lance Armstrong has made an obvious impact on her new material.

"I am writing a lot more love songs because I'm really happy in my life, and I'm in a really positive relationship, but there's also so much stuff to write about in the world," she said. "It's a really interesting time to be an artist."

While working on her own music, Crow has also recorded tracks for three upcoming tribute albums. Her rendition of "For Free" will appear on a Joni Mitchell tribute, while a cover of "I Need Your Love So Bad" is pegged for a B.B. King collection and "To Love Somebody" is being earmarked for a Bee Gees' covers set.

THE FORCE IS STRONG!

Analysts estimating that Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith will surpass the $200 million mark on Thursday.

Mariah Makes Move on Elvis

The single life looks good on Mariah Carey.

This week, Carey scored her 16th number one single on Billboard's Hot 100 with "We Belong Together"--putting her in rarefied company.

Only the Beatles, with 20, and Elvis Presley, with 18, have had more Billboard number ones.

Carey, who has surpassed the likes of Michael Jackson (13 number ones) and the Supremes (12), as well as rival pop divas Whitney Houston and Madonna (11 apiece), is "the most successful female artist of all time," her label, Island Def Jam, touted in a press release Thursday.

Island Def Jam has reason to crow--the label has effectively resurrected the career of Carey, who fell on hard times after signing what the New York Daily News called "the biggest recording contract of all time" with Virgin in 2001 and then sustaining an "emotional and physical breakdown" as her Glitter movie and album tanked.

After the relatively lackluster sales of 2002's Charmbracelet, Carey, 35, has bounced back with The Emancipation of Mimi. The album debuted at number one in April, bouncing long-running chart champ 50 Cent. It has already been certified double platinum and spawned two hit singles, the lead track, "It's Like That," and the current hit, "We Belong Together."

"It is with a combination of pride and awe that I congratulate Mariah on accomplishing what no other female in modern pop history has been able to do--no one is more deserving than Mariah Carey of sharing the pantheon with the greatest of the greats," gushed Island Def Jam boss Antonio "L.A." Reid.

The singer played the modesty card upon learning the news. "I didn't know what to expect when I put this record out except I knew that it was a good record and I was happy with it," she told the Associated Press.

Carey is next scheduled to perform at the MTV Movie Awards June 4 in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be taped for broadcast June 9.

Tarantino, Rodriguez "Grind" It

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are in the house. Make that Grind House.

The directing buddies, who have previously collaborated on the recent thriller Sin City, along with the 1995 film anthology Four Rooms and 1996's bloody vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn, are ready to tag team on a new horror film.

Each filmmaker write and direct a 60-minute frightfest that will be coupled together and released under the title Grind House next spring by Harvey and Bob Weinstein's new company.

The Weinsteins announced the project as part of their upcoming slate of post-Miramax films. The brothers will begin distribution films via their new venture, tentatively called the Weinstein Company, beginning in September, when they officially exit Walt Disney.

"We have said all along that we would hit the ground running and we are confident that this slate will represent and deliver the kinds of movies that audiences will love," the Weinsteins said in a statement.

As part of the Grind theatrical presentation, Tarantino and Rodriguez will create interstitial material, including trailers, and will incorporate bits from other filmmakers that will pay tribute to the grindhouse flicks of old.

Tarantino and Rodriguez have had strong relationships with the Weinsteins for more than a decade.

Tarantino's first two features, 1992's Reservoir Dogs and 1994's Pulp Fiction, helped put Miramax on the map as a major Tinseltown player, while Rodriguez's hit Spy Kids series became a big moneymaker for the studio's genre arm, Dimension Films.

Miramax also released Four Rooms and Dimension, From Dusk Till Dawn.

Tarantino and Rodriguez forged their friendship on the indie film circuit in the early 1990s, when Reservoir Dogs and Rodriguez' El Mariachi solidified their status as wunderkind directors. Tarantino played a supporting role in Rodriguez's 1995 El Mariach remake/sequel Desperado and costarred with George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn, which he wrote and Rodriguez directed as an homage to B-movie horror flicks. Rodriguez also contributed a song to Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 2.

No word yet on the Grind House plots, but expect buckets of blood and cheap thrills.

The announcement also ends speculation on what Tarantino's next project would be after directing the season finale of CSI, which aired last week to monster ratings.

He recently shot down speculation that he wanted to helm a new Friday the 13th installment. He also has been tweaking his script to his long-in-the-works World War II epic, Inglorious Bastards. (Longtime Tarantino collaborator Michael Madsen told British movie site EmpireOnline that he was going to costar along with fellow Reservoir alum Tim Roth and Adam Sandler and Eddie Murphy.)

As for Rodriguez, he announced at Cannes earlier this month that he is developing Sin City 2. His next film, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D, is due out June 10.

Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood Engaged

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Garth Brooks stole the show Wednesday night when he got down on one knee in front of 7,000 fans and proposed to fellow country music star Trisha Yearwood. She said yes — and the crowd went wild.

The occasion was the "Legends in Bronze" event at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace, where 10 larger-than-life bronze statues honoring country stars were unveiled, including one of Brooks.

After his big moment, Brooks popped the question.

The marriage will be the second for Brooks, who has three children, and the third for Yearwood, said Brooks' spokeswoman Nancy Seltzer.

Brooks, 43, is credited with widening the genre's appeal in the 1990s by merging traditional country with honky tonk, pop, folk and rock. His "Ropin' the Wind" album was the first such country recording to debut at the top of the pop music charts. His latest album, "Scarecrow," went triple platinum.

Yearwood, 40, was named the Country Music Awards female vocalist of the year in 1997 and 1998. Her latest album is "Jasper County."

Other musicians honored with bronze statues were Buck Owens, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Bob Wills, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, George Jones and George Strait.

Yet Another Unnecessary Re-release!

Universal has also announced The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition on 8/30 (SRP $22.98) which will include 2 versions of the film - the director's cut that appeared on the original DVD release and the theatrical cut (released for the first time on DVD). Other extras will include an introduction by Dan Aykroyd, a behind-the-scenes documentary, concert footage and more (much of this will likely be recycled from the previous DVD). This DVD will be available in both full frame and anamorphic widescreen versions.

Filmmaker Ismail Merchant Dead

Ismail Merchant, the producer whose venerable partnership with director James Ivory led to such Oscar-winning costume dramas as A Room with a View, Howard's End and The Remains of the Day, died in a London hospital Wednesday. He was 68.

A spokesman in his London office said Merchant passed away surrounded by family and close friends.

The filmmaker had reportedly been suffering from stomach problems over the past year, including undergoing an operation recently for abdominal ulcers.

The Merchant-Ivory machine, which also included German-born screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, produced a string of highly polished international hits, often derived from acclaimed literary sources and featuring all-star ensembles.

Merchant-Ivory's films frequently plumbed the depths of upper-crust English society at the turn of the century, with the best examples being two adaptations of E.M. Forster novels--1986's A Room with a View, which launched the career of a young Daniel Day-Lewis, and 1992's Howard's End, starring Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave and Emma Thompson.

The Remains of the Day (1993), adapted from a book by Kazuo Ishiguro, reunited Hopkins and Thompson, and delved into the life of a repressed butler who devotion to his employer prior to World War II is challenged by a fellow housekeeper, with whom he falls in love.

The three dramas racked up a total of 25 Academy Award nominations, including three Best Picture nods, and winning a total of six Oscars, including two for Jhabvala for Best Screenplay. Merchant personally received four Oscar nominations during his career, but never won.

His producer credits included 1983's charming Heat and Dust, based on Jhabvala's own novel, and 1984's The Bostonians, adapted from the novel by Henry James and starring Christopher Reeve and Jessica Tandy.

Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) in December 1936, Merchant came to New York University in 1958, and earned a business degree. While there, he developed an affinity for cinema and produced his first film, 1960's The Creation of Woman, a 14-minute short that an official U.S. entry at the Cannes Film Festival that year and eventually earned Merchant his first Oscar nomination.

A year later he met Ivory at a screening of the latter's documentary The Sword and the Flute, and the two struck up a friendship. They soon decided to go into business together making English-language costume dramas for the Indian market.

Their first film outing was The Householder, a comedy-drama about young Indian newlyweds based on a novel by Jhabvala.

In 1974, Merchant got behind the camera for with the Indian short Mahatma and the Mad Boy. It wasn't until 1993 that he finally made his feature-helming debut with In Custody, but for the most part, he stuck to the business side.

Even after their heyday in the late '80s through early '90s, Merchant-Ivory continued to churn out well crafted period stories, most notably 1995's Jefferson in Paris, starring Nick Nolte and Gwyneth Paltrow, 1996's Surviving Picasso and 2001's The Golden Bowl.

More recently, they teamed up for 2003's Le Divorce, a comedy of manners featuring Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts.

Before his death, Merchant was working on several projects, including The Goddess, a Bollywood-style musical with Tina Turner, and The White Countess, a costume drama about an American diplomat in 1930s Shanghai starring Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. The latter is due out in November.

Aside from his producing duties, Merchant was also a chef and author of several cookbooks, among them, Ismail Merchants Indian Cuisine.

Merchant's family is expected to announce funeral arrangements in the coming days.

Carrie Underwood Wins 'Idol' Contest

LOS ANGELES - Carrie Underwood, the country sweetheart who beguiled national television audiences with her strong voice and bright smile, is this year's "American Idol," defeating Southern rocker Bo Bice in the show's finale Wednesday night.

The Oklahoma native received more viewer votes than runner-up Bice, of Alabama, after Tuesday's final round, snaring the title and a record contract.

A tearful Underwood choked out a brief "thank you," then spoke with a song. She reprised "Inside Your Heaven," which both she and Bice performed in Tuesday's final round. The judges thought Bice outsang her; the voting audience obviously disagreed.

A 22-year-old college senior, Underwood became the talk of her hometown of Checotah — and the choice of fourth-season "Idol" voters — as she delivered almost uniformly consistent performances each week.

"She has more of the star quality," said Cindy Monteleone of Chicago, who was among hundreds of people who dropped by the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood to watch former "American Idol" contestants arrive for the show's taping.

Underwood couldn't compete with rock 'n' roller Bice on his style of music ("I'm not sure I'm loving the rocked-out Carrie," judge Randy Jackson said after one attempt) but shone in her favorite genre, country.

Friends and family describe Underwood as a polite, quiet, small-town girl who is dedicated to music.

Bice, 29, of Helena, Ala., would have been the oldest "Idol" winner. He brought an unexpected rock edge to the show's usually mainstream pop style, shining on songs such as the 1970s hit "Vehicle."

"He's just so sincere and he projects that," fan Donna Leoni, who was pulling for Bice, said outside the theater.

The live two-hour finale was padded by clips from throughout the season, interviews with the judges and the finalists, and concert and product plugs (the finalists received gift cars, which were featured in a big-screen video close-up).

There were also, finally, songs. A series of duets featuring the top 12 finishers and guest artists included Anthony Fedorov and Anwar Robinson performing with Kenny G; Scott Savol and Nico Smith with George Benson; and Vonzell Solomon with Billy Preston.

During the season, although onstage performances were unaffected, an offstage drama played out involving judge Paula Abdul and former contestant Corey Clark.

Clark claimed he and Abdul had an affair while he was competing in 2003 and that she coached him on how to do better on the show. Abdul has called the allegations "lies" and an attempt at character assassination.

In a bit of hard-edged comedy Wednesday, "Idol" fired back at ABC News' recent "Primetime Live" detailing Clark's claims. TV newsman Steve Edwards presented a satirical report, "Bad Judgment," which purported to reveal Cowell's "secret relationship" (the punch line: it was Cowell's love affair with himself).

"We won't let the truth get in the way of our ratings," the faux report said in an obvious dig at ABC, although the network and the Abdul controversy weren't specifically mentioned.

"American Idol" thrives on controversy, with disgruntled fans complaining over the years about overloaded phone lines, technical glitches and untalented contestants with amazing survival skills.

Viewership didn't suffer from Clark's claims: "American Idol" is the No. 1 series for the season in viewers (as opposed to households), averaging 27.3 million viewers a week. The finale, on the last day of the TV season, could guarantee Fox a first-ever ratings win among viewers age 18 to 49.

Viewers Find Few Answers on 'Lost' Finale

NEW YORK - The "Lost" castaways managed to open the mysterious hatch. But after they blasted it open with dynamite, what did they find? Not so fast! Viewers will have to wait through a long, hot summer for that answer.

During the thrilling first season of "Lost," fans of this information-stingy ABC serial may sometimes have felt a little lost themselves. No wonder they were hoping to find a few more clues as the two-hour season finale aired Wednesday night.

Sorry. The episode — fascinating and frustrating, as usual — mostly compounded the mystery.

It also left the audience with one particularly agonizing cliffhanger.

That came in the face of what seemed like a long-awaited rescue. The raft that took off from the island last week carrying four of the refugees encountered a rickety shipping boat in the dead of night.

Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Michael (Harold Perrineau) and his young son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) were ecstatic — until a rough-looking sailor on board the other vessel ordered harshly, "Give us the boy."

A fight broke out, then the bad guys snatched Walt, plowing away through the inky water as they set our heroes' raft ablaze.

You'll be waiting until fall to learn Walt's fate, too.

In its first season, the breakout hit "Lost" has tantalizingly tracked the adventures of some four dozen survivors of a jetliner crash on a tropical island who-knows-where (turns out the plane's last transmission before splitting apart in midair pegged its location as hundreds of miles from where it came down).

On a recent episode, a freak accident claimed the life of one of the main refugees.

But there were plenty more, as portrayed by a large cast of featured regulars including Matthew Fox (as the sexy doctor, Jack), Evangeline Lilly (a dishy jailbird), Terry O'Quinn (the mystical outdoorsman, Locke), Dominic Monaghan (a rock-star junkie), Jorge Garcia (the fat guy, Hurley, who says "dude" a lot) and several others.

As they have struggled to determine where they were and how to get away, these characters have also forged some semblance of a civilized community, however fractious at times.

Meanwhile, details of their past have been filled in with flashbacks leading up to that doomed Oceanic Flight 815. Wednesday's episode had numerous scenes from the Sydney airport as characters unknowingly crisscrossed each others' paths on their way to their assigned seats on the plane.

Yes, the finale delivered a promised glimpse of the polar bear-like creature that, since the premiere, has stalked the castaways, but until now was never really seen (at least by viewers). But on the finale it was almost an embedded joke, appearing in one drawing of a comic book Hurley was seen reading on the plane.

The main thrust of the episode was the trek through the jungle to reach the strange hatch installed into the ground.

Discovered in a recent episode, it has held out a promise of safety — or at least some answers.

"What do you think is inside the hatch?" Hurley said.

"I think hope's inside," Locke replied.

Then a bit later, he told Jack, "The path ends at the hatch. All of it happens so we can open the hatch."

"No," argued the more practical-minded Jack. "We're opening the hatch so that we can survive."

"Survival is all relative, Jack," Locke replied.

If you wanted clear answers, you could have watched the conclusion of "American Idol" on Fox, against which "Lost" boldly went head-to-head.

For mesmerizing drama, however stingy its disclosures, you couldn't beat "Lost" Wednesday night.

'M:I 3' cast gets an overhaul

Former "Boston Public" star Michelle Monaghan has been added to the cast of "Mission: Impossible 3," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Monaghan will play the love interest of Tom Cruise's character, secret agent Ethan Hunt.

Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ("Bend It Like Beckham," "Elvis") is in negotiations for a role in the film.

Numerous delays in the J.J. Abrams-directed movie forced Scarlett Johanssen, Carrie-Ann Moss and Kenneth Branagh to drop out of the project.

Ving Rhames, who appeared in all three installments of the action franchise, will be back as Hunt's sidekick Luther Stickel.

Recent reports linked teen star Lindsay Lohan and current Cruise girlfriend Katie Holmes to the film, but their involvement has not been confirmed.

"Mission: Impossible 3" will begin shooting in Caserta, Italy on July 18.

Michelle Monaghan appears in the upcoming Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie film, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," which opens June 10.

'American Idol' Contestants Face Off

NEW YORK - Long-locked Alabama rocker Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood, the country fan from Oklahoma, squared off with soaring ballads and gospel choirs in the "American Idol" finals Tuesday.

Millions of voters will decide whether Bice's audacious claim of one of Underwood's songs will trump Simon Cowell's last-minute endorsement of her.

The winner of the nation's most popular talent contest will be announced on Fox Wednesday.

Bice, from Helena, Ala., wanted to bring some rock 'n' roll street cred to the competition. He looked every bit the hippie with his flowing white shirt, red sunglasses and shoulder-length hair on his opening song, an original called "The Long Long Road."

It almost backfired. Cowell called it a "very dreary song" and said Bice, 29, looked like his chemistry teacher.

"You're going to have to do a hell of a lot better than that to walk away with this title," he said.

He rebounded with a more rousing Chicago number and later sang "Inside Your Heaven," a song Underwood had performed only minutes earlier. It was a gutsy choice, giving voters a chance to compare him directly with his competitor on the same song.

Judge Randy Jackson declared Bice "forever in my dog pound" and Cowell thought he outsang Underwood.

Underwood, a 22-year-old college senior from Checotah, Okla., has made plain her love of country music and sang Martina McBride's "Independence Day" among her final three songs.

Easy-to-please judge Paula Abdul liked — we think — her version of "Inside Your Heaven."

"You sang the song beautifully," she said. "You hit a couple of not-so-great notes, but who cares?"

Her final song, "Angels Brought Me Here," was made for belting out and Underwood let fly. Her voice cracked with emotion during the final few notes.

"I think you've done enough to win this competition," Cowell said.

A victory means a guaranteed recording contract. But as Clay Aiken found out, losing doesn't have to mean obscurity.

One sure winner will be Fox. The finale — on the last day of the television season — is likely to guarantee the network its first-ever ratings championship among 18-to-49-year-old viewers.

The Couch Potato Report - May 25th, 2005

This week The Couch Potato Report features the film that was supposed to win Martin Scorsese an Oscar.

Some of the greatest directors of all time have never won an Academy Award for BEST DIRECTOR.

The list includes Charlie Chaplin, Howard Hawks, D. W. Griffith, Brian De Palma, Cecil B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Terrence Malick, Robert Altman, Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick, Tim Burton, Tim Burton, Blake Edwards, Arthur Penn, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, David Lynch, Peter Weir, Akira Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, Sam Peckinpah, and Martin Scorsese.

The last name on the list had been nominated in 1980 for RAGING BULL and again in 1991 for GOODFELLAS and Martin Scorsese should have won both times.

Earlier this year many thought that Scorsese's fifth nomination for his work on the film THE AVIATOR would finally bring him Oscar gold.

At the end of the night THE AVIATOR went away with five Oscars, but Scorsese went home empty handed and is now 0-for-5 in the directing category.

Even though I regard Scorsese as one of the greatest directors of my generation, I am not that upset that he lost the Oscar this year. Clint Eastwood's MILLION DOLLAR BABY is just a better film than THE AVIATOR.

And there is no shame in losing to something - or someone - who's work is better.

Since Eastwood's MILLION DOLLAR BABY doesn't debut on video and DVD until July 12th, and THE AVIATOR is in store now, let me focus on Scorsese's work.

THE AVIATOR is the story of Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire aviation pioneer, industrialist and Hollywood film mogul.

In his day and age Hughes was famous for romancing some of the world's most beautiful women, including Ava Gardner and Katharine Hepburn.

In this day and age Hughes is just as well known because by the time of his death in 1976 he had become a mentally ill recluse.

His mental illness is touched upon in THE AVIATOR, but the film primarily recounts the years of Hughes life from the late 1920s through the 1940s. This was a time when Hughes was directing and producing Hollywood movies and test flying innovative aircrafts he designed and created.

Leonardo DiCaprio does a great job playing Hughes and his superb supporting cast includes Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale and Cate Blanchett, who won an Oscar for her work in the picture as Katharine Hepburn.

The film has a great cast, but that cast is the second best thing in THE AVIATOR.

It is Scorsese's work that allows us to actually feel as if we are back in Hollywood's legendary heyday, and in the experimental test planes as Hughes attempts to tame the skies.

Now even with all that praise, and everything the film has going for it, ultimately THE AVIATOR is only a good film. It is very good, but it isn't great.

I know this film is from a different Scorsese that made RAGING BULL, TAXI DRIVER and GOODFELLAS, but it is just missing that little extra bit of flair that he used to bring to his films. I suppose that we can't expect a masterpiece every time from him, but I thought there would be more than just a few flashed of Scorsese's brilliance.

Don't misunderstand me, THE AVIATOR comes highly recommended, especially to those who are curious about Howard Hughes or the era in which he lived and worked.

But if you are looking for the movie to be something special simply because of Scorsese's involvement, you will probably also arrive at the resolution that I did: THE AVIATOR is good, but not great.

However, Scorsese's good is often much better than some other director's best

THE AVIATOR might now have won Scorsese an Oscar for best director, but it is available now on video and DVD.

COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT

The first seasons from three popular 1980s TV series are now available on DVD, and so is season one of a popular show that is still on the air right now .

Bruce Willis and Cybil Sheppard starred in MOONLIGHTING. This series is debuting on DVD with a six-disc box set that includes Seasons 1 and 2.

Tom Selleck is MAGNUM, P.I. and THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of his show has all 18 episodes from the 1980-81 season plus four bonus episodes - the two "Simon & Simon" crossover shows and two 1984 episodes guest starring Sharon Stone.

And KNIGHT RIDER - SEASON ONE is a four-disc box set with all 22 episodes from the 1982-83 season.

Those shows are all from the 1980s, but LAS VEGAS is the show that is currently on TV. If you are a fan, for whatever the reason, the three-disc SEASON ONE UNCUT AND UNCENSORED DVD set features all 23 episodes from the 2003-04 season, several with unseen footage.

I'm Dan Reynish and I will have more on LAS VEGAS, KNIGHT RIDER, MAGNUM, P.I., MOONLIGHTING, and some other releases in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next week on The Couch!

Hawaii houses the secrets of 'Lost'

MOKULEIA, Hawaii (AP) — As a band of jittery plane crash survivors huddle on an island hillside listening to a distress call that has looped through the airwaves for 16 years, one of them asks, "Where ARE we?"

The answer: The Hawaiian island of Oahu.

The actors on the hit ABC show Lost, which wraps up its debut season Wednesday, are of course free to enjoy Oahu. Their characters are miserably unaware of the civilization just off frame. But the fans know better — particularly the ones who live on Oahu and proudly blurt out the true locations of flashback scenes set around the globe.

Sydney Airport? That's really the Honolulu Convention Center.

Korean strongman's daughter Sun met her soon-to-be husband Jin at the beautiful Byodo-in Temple in Kaneohe.

And, if you're looking for the spot somewhere in the Mideast where former Republican Guard member Sayid mooned over the imprisoned Nadia, look inside one of the World War II bunkers at the popular tourist spot of Diamond Head, within view of famous Waikiki Beach.

Watching the show each week, fan David Morgan often tells himself, "Hey, I know where that is!" That's because many of the settings are at his lovely, family owned Kualoa Ranch up against the sharp peaks of Koolau Range on the lush windward side of the island.

The 4,000-acre working cattle ranch has a long history of hosting film crews, dating back to the 1965 film In Harm's Way and including the more recent Godzilla,Jurassic Park, and 50 First Dates.

The ranch provides tours of filming highlights — as well as horse and all-terrain vehicle rides — and is a must-see stop for die-hard fans jonesing for the Lost experience while the show goes into repeats after Wednesday's finale.

Jin reunited with his father at his native Korean fishing village set along the shore of a tranquil, 800-year-old Hawaiian fish pond at the edge of the ranch. Ill-fated lottery winner Hurley set up a golf course to entertain the beleaguered castaways on a flat spot currently littered with cowpies. And Brit rocker Charlie and his brother, in a flashback, talked about kicking drugs at Morgan's house in the Nuuanu section of Honolulu.

At the end of a road cutting past a small airfield and another ranch along Oahu's North Shore is the former site of show's crash site, long since packed away. Rugged, beautiful and far from Hawaii's hordes of hottie surfers, Mokuleia Beach has precisely the end-of-the-world feel that permeates the show. Just you and a couple of locals casting their fishing lines from the edge of the surf.

Lost fan and new Hawaii Pacific University graduate Wes Grotjan said he's particularly noticed the show's use of Honolulu's Downtown and Chinatown sections, which have done turns as everywhere from the streets of New York to towns in Australia's Outback.

"I feel I'm kind of in on the joke that I get to see a lot of these places," said Grotjan outside HPU's downtown campus — a block from where struggling artist Michael foolishly ran out into the road and got hit by a car.

Oahu's North Shore is also home to other spots visited by the ill-fated passengers of Oceanic Flight 815.

Across from the fabled surf break of Waimea Bay — now flat as a pancake without the wintertime swells — is the Waimea Valley Audubon Center. Hunky badboy Sawyer and mystery lady Kate dove and jumped off the falls there, even though No. 3 on the list of posted rules explicitly says to do neither.

But never mind, a lifeguard is stationed just to the left of the falls should anything go wrong.

People are always intrigued by the possibility of jumping from the falls, but it's not clear if the TV scene has attracted more daredevils, said Hazel Shaw, a spokeswoman for the center.

Like the Kualoa Ranch, Waimea Valley has hosted film crews since the days of Magnum P.I. But the site doesn't receive a credit in the episode, so few would know where to look for the falls — except the readers of stories like this one, Shaw said.

PARAMOUNT GETS SMALL

Paramount is planning to announce Monday an ambitious slate of 11 titles for Sony's PlayStation Portable entertainment device, including "Sahara," arriving Aug. 30, the same day as its home video release. Paramount titles also draw heavily from fellow Viacom divisions Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and MTV, making Paramount the first studio to bring TV shows to the PSP's Universal Media Disc format. The first wave of titles, due Aug. 9, consists of "Team America: World Police," "Coach Carter" and "Without a Paddle." The second wave, arriving in stores Aug. 30, includes "The Italian Job" and, "MTV's Viva La Bam: Vol. 1." Other titles coming this the year include "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" and compilation UMDs of "Chappelle's Show," "The Ren & Stimpy Show," "South Park" and "SpongeBob SquarePants" episodes.

HOT COP

Annabella Sciorra signing on to play Detective Carolyn Barek, the female partner of Chris Noth's Detective Mike Logan on NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent this fall, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

TV's 'Sopranos' final season will focus on money

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The much-anticipated final season of "The Sopranos" will strike a theme of money and materialism, which for the characters on the hit mob drama is "all they care about," according to creator David Chase.

Chase insisted at a New York appearance on Tuesday that the sixth season, now in production, will be the last but still left open the tantalizing possibility that fans won't have to say goodbye to the fictional mob family just yet.

"I really enjoy it, so why leave something like that?" he told a forum sponsored by The New Yorker magazine and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. "It's just a question of whether the story works out creatively in six seasons, which I think it will. Then we probably shouldn't do a seventh."

Pressed repeatedly on the question of a seventh season, he said, "No. No more," but then conceded the plot line would not have to change drastically for added shows.

"It is possible," he said.

It has long been rumored that the show may climax with a feature film, something producers have remained silent on.

Naturally tight-lipped about who might get "whacked" in the upcoming season, Chase simply said: "Somebody, I guess."

"We do have that machine that sprays blood on the wall," he explained.

The show's creator, writer and executive producer said he has known for two or three years how the violent yet funny series will end. The Emmy-award show made its debut in 1999.

"I started thinking about what are these people really about, what are they really after," he said. "It's going to be about money and about materialism, buying stuff, consumerism.

"That's all they care about," he said. "All that stuff helps them not to think about larger issues. I notice that myself. When I go shopping, I feel better. It's like a high."

The final season of "The Sopranos" is not expected on HBO until spring 2006, nearly two years after the last season ended on the Time Warner Inc.-owned cable channel.

Meanwhile, as the show's actors work to replace its profanity-laced lines for future reruns on network television, Chase said he has little problem with HBO making money reselling the hit series.

But he said: "It's going to be very painful for me to see the show transformed like that. I probably won't even look at it."

In his own future, Chase said he would like to try full-length films and make a comedy or a psychological thriller.

Looking back, he said he was relieved that four broadcast television networks originally turned down the opportunity to make "The Sopranos."

"It would have been a plane crash of differing expectations," he said. "We would have had a terrible time."

Network television, particularly hour-long drama shows, "gives such a false picture of life," he said.

"So much of it is a glorification of authority and an attempt to convince the American people that life isn't tragic, that everything works out and all those cops and all those firemen and all those judges and all those doctors, they really care," he said.

His favorite "Soprano" is its burly, hot-tempered mob boss Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini. "He's so earnest," Chase said. "I guess that's what I like about him. When he's upset, he really gets upset about something."

Handicapping the 2005-06 TV Season

That the major TV networks are desperate to snag the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic is no surprise.

But now even CBS, once the domain of unhip, older-skewing viewers, is making no pretense: It's all about the under-50 set.

Last week marked the networks' annual advertiser and media upfront presentations, four days of celeb-studded, gimmicky sessions, where the nets unveiled their schedules for the tube season ahead. (See UPN President Dawn Ostroff with a big yellow snake around her neck, just like Britney! See CBS honcho Les Moonves, in puppet form, punch a puppet version of NBC honcho Jeff Zucker! See the Desperate Housewives cast arrive glammed out in gowns and furs!)

And it's a quote from CBS's Moonves, explaining why the network pulled the plug on former Friday night hit Joan of Arcadia, featuring a teen who talks to God, in favor of a new drama in which a psychic Jennifer Love Hewitt talks to the dead, that sums up this year's festivities.

"I think talking to ghosts may skew younger than talking to God," explained Moonves, whose top-rated network will likely finish the season just behind Fox in viewers 18-49.

And God, apparently, isn't the only one who gets kicked to the curb in the name of ratings. UPN, CBS' sister station, is pinning its ratings wishes for next season on new Thursday night comedy Everybody Hates Chris, a Wonder Years-type series based on Chris Rock's teen years in Brooklyn.

Rock took the stage at UPN's upfront on Thursday and told the crowd, "Everybody Loves Raymond, Everybody Hates Chris. White man out, black man in. See how it works?"

Jokes aside, UPN is hoping that's exactly how it works, as one of the biggest time-slot battles of next season will take place Thursdays at 8 p.m. Rock's show, which will include narration by the former Saturday Night Live star, goes head-to-head with CBS's Survivor, the WB's Smallville, Fox's The O.C., ABC's Alias and NBC's Joey.

"It's a really, really important night for the movie studios, and a ton of money flows into that night with movie advertisements," says Bill Koenigsberg, president and CEO of Horizon Media/New York. "It didn't surprise me that no one was willing to give up ground, that everyone wanted to stick to their guns there, because it's such a huge night. That's where a lot of the dollars are going to fall."

Speaking of the ratings-beleaguered former Friend, poor Joey, which was the buzz of last season's upfronts, took jabs from almost everyone at this year's presentations, including his own network.

"I think its storytelling was very disappointing," NBC's Zucker told the New York Times last week. "There was and continues to be a lot of residual good will toward that character."

Still, NBC, the erstwhile comedy king that is on track to finish this season's ratings race in fourth place, gave Joey another go, pairing it with the increasingly tired Will & Grace as lead-ins for a fourth season of Donald Trump's The Apprentice.

Shows that weren't as lucky and got the axe included Taye Diggs' Kevin Hill and Star Trek: Enterprise at UPN, CBS' Judging Amy and JAG, the WB's Jack & Bobby (one of last season's most buzzed-about new shows), ABC's Eyes and Blind Justice, and NBC's family drama American Dreams.

Among the programming trends for the 2005-06 season are:

- Lost Knock-Offs

Insiders were predicting that the networks would roll out a plethora of Desperate Housewives clones for next season, but it's actually ABC's other monster hit that inspired copycats, including NBC's Fathom (scientists investigating mysterious creatures who live in the sea), the WB's Supernatural (brothers who travel around investigating unexplained phenomenon), CBS's Threshold (a team of Navy investigators assembled to investigate an alien spacecraft found in the Atlantic Ocean) and ABC's Invasion (aliens trigger natural disasters while plotting to take over the planet).

- CSI Knock-Offs:
If prime-time characters aren't investigating otherworldly type beings next season, they're investigating crimes. The slew of new crime and/or investigation series include Fox's Bones, about a forensic anthropologist/novelist, and The Gate, about detectives in San Francisco's Deviant Crime Unit; CBS' Criminal Minds, about an elite squad of FBI profilers assigned to especially twisted crimes; and ABC's The Night Stalker, a remake of the '70s drama about a newspaper crime reporter who investigates stories with supernatural twists, and The Evidence, which opens by flashing the evidence in a crime, allowing viewers to follow along and try to solve the case with the cops.

"I'm surprised to see this glut of investigative dramas out there," Koenigsberg says. "You've got Navy SEALs shows and Pentagon shows and crime investigative shows and FBI shows. I think the reason for that is the success of off-network shows to cable, like CSI and Law & Order. There's a significant revenue stream there, with those shows coming out and then switching over to cable, which is a new avenue of profit."

- Bold Time-Slot Maneuvering:
The Thursday at 8 p.m. traffic jam is a bit of scheduling where, unfortunately, at least one or two shows are likely to become ratings casualties. Another time slot making TiVo-ing a necessity: Tuesdays at 9 p.m., home of CBS' The Amazing Race, Fox's House, ABC's Commander-in-Chief and NBC's My Name is Earl and The Office.

And the nets have planned some other risky moves that will prove pure genius or pure disaster next season: Fox surprised many with its renewal of critically beloved comedy Arrested Development, and surprised insiders further by moving the show from Sunday to Monday night at 8. The network also moved aging comedy Malcolm in the Middle from Sundays to the tough Friday night schedule. ABC, meanwhile, swapped Lost from 8 to 9 on Wednesdays, moved Alias to Thursdays and shifted David E. Kelley's Sunday night hit Boston Legal from its cushy post-Desperate Housewives position to Tuesdays at 10, while NBC ousted The West Wing from Wednesday night and moved it to Sundays at 8.

- Bruckheimer Rules:
Still. Jerry Bruckheimer produced four of the top 20 shows this season. As of next season, he will have a record 10 shows on the networks, including six on CBS. Among his new series are his first comedy, the WB's Modern Men, about three single pals who hire a life coach to help them get dates; CBS' Close to Home, about a mom/prosecutor; the WB's Just Legal, a drama about a teen prodigy attorney with a crabby mentor (Miami Vice's Don Johnson); and NBC's E-Ring, a military drama set at the Pentagon and costarring Dennis Hopper and Benjamin Bratt.

- Reality TV on Life Support?
Practically since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire helped spark the prime-time reality craze, industry types have been predicting its imminent death. And while the fall schedules for next season still include plenty of unscripted hits--Survivor, The Amazing Race, America's Next Top Model and yet another spin on The Bachelor--Fox, the network known for its reliance on short-term ratings grabbers in the past, has swept such fare out the door. Aside from the Saturday night Cops/America's Most Wanted lineup, Fox has scheduled no reality shows until the next installment of American Idol in January.

Other new series that generated buzz among advertisers at the upfronts: NBC's My Name Is Earl, a sitcom about a petty thief who decides to change his evil ways and make amends with those he's wronged after winning the lottery, and the Martha Stewart-hosted version of The Apprentice; Fox's Headcases, starring Chris O'Donnell as a lawyer who suffers a nervous breakdown, and Prison Break, a drama about an architect who gets himself thrown in jail to help his imprisoned brother escape; ABC's Commander-in-Chief, starring Geena Davis as the first female President, and Emily's Reasons Why Not, a comedy starring Heather Graham as a self-help author who can't follow her own advice; and the WB's Twins, a comedy about two sisters (including Roseanne's Sara Gilbert) thrown together to run their family's lingerie business, and Bedford Diaries, a drama from Oz creator Tom Fontana, about students in a human sexuality course at a liberal arts college in New York.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of high-profile pilots that didn't make the