Fall Out Boy Takes Flight For Release Day Shows

Fall Out Boy is reviving a tried-and-true promotional gimmick for Feb. 6, the day its new Island album, "Infinity on High," hits stores. The group will play shows in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in the course of 24 hours, all of which will be documented by MTV.

The first stop will be the network's New York studio for a performance on "TRL," which the band will also host. In late afternoon, Fall Out Boy will play Chicago's House of Blues, and will wrap the day with a set atop a rooftop in downtown Los Angeles.

Fans can gain entry to the shows via radio stations in each market and FallOutBoy.MTV.com. A separate contest at MTVFlight206.com will reward two people the chance to fly with the band throughout the day.

In addition, Fall Out Boy will perform on the first episode of the new show "MTV Live," premiering commercial free on Feb. 6.

As reported last week, the band scored the highest bow for a band since radio-only titles joined the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1998 by debuting at No. 2 with the single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race."

Chevy Chase is Fletch

After Chevy walked away from Saturday Night Live fame, he hit the big screen for several hits and misses, but everyone remembers Fletch. Universal is presenting a special edition DVD coming later this year.

The DVD itself will contain upgraded sound and picture with anamorphic widescreen adn Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, but so far no extras have been announced.

On May 1st the Jane Doe Edition arrives, just make sure it isn't in disguise.

High body count clouds sequel to "The Departed"

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It's hard to imagine a sequel to a movie like Oscar-nominated crime drama "The Departed," which ends in such a spasm of violence that hardly any of the lead characters are left alive.

But almost anything is possible in Hollywood when enough money is at stake. So it should come as no surprise that a follow-up to Martin Scorsese's cops-and-gangsters thriller, the biggest box-office hit of his career, is already in the works.

A person close to the situation said on Wednesday that the screenwriter behind "The Departed," William Monahan, was outlining a film script that would bring back a surviving character played by Mark Wahlberg and introduce a new role envisioned for Robert De Niro.

Neither Monahan's spokesman nor Warner Bros. Pictures, which distributed "The Departed," had any comment on sequel plans. One studio spokeswoman called talk of a possible follow-up "premature."

Representatives for Wahlberg and Scorsese could not immediately be reached. And De Niro's publicist said he was not aware of any talks involving his client, who is good friends with Scorsese.

It was Wahlberg who told MTV on the red carpet of the Golden Globe Awards earlier this month about the possibility of enlisting De Niro to star in a "Departed" follow-up.

Wahlberg earned an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor for his role in the film as a hot-headed, foul-mouthed police detective. Scorsese was nominated as best director for his work on the film.

The movie itself, adapted from the 2002 Hong Kong film "Infernal Affairs," about an undercover cop who infiltrates a crime gang to root out a police department mole, was nominated as best picture and is considered a front-runner to win Hollywood's top honor on February 25.

According to sources cited by The Hollywood Reporter, Scorsese would need to approve any plans for a new film before it could move forward.

Scorsese has never directed a sequel to any of his films, though his 1986 pool hall drama "The Color of Money" was a follow-up to 1961's "The Hustler" directed by Robert Rossen.

The original "Infernal Affairs" was followed by a "prequel," involving events leading up to the first movie, and a third film that combined elements of the first two. According to The Reporter, the idea of a prequel for "The Departed" has not been ruled out.

"The Departed" has so far grossed $125.8 million in U.S. ticket sales alone, making it by far the biggest box-office success among the five films nominated for an Academy Award as best picture.

Man arrested in Boston marketing ploy

BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Peter Berdovsky, 29, of Arlington, was arrested on one felony charge of placing a hoax device and one charge of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said later Wednesday. He had been hired to place the devices, she said.

Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.

Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, later said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.

Authorities are investigating whether Turner and any other companies should be criminally charged, Coakley said. It wasn't immediately clear Wednesday who might have hired Berdovsky.

"We're not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city," Coakley said at a news conference.

Those conducting the campaign should have known the devices could cause panic because they were placed in sensitive areas, she said. Turner did not notify officials of the publicity campaign until around 5 p.m., nearly four hours after the first calls came in about the devices, she and others said.

At least 14 of the devices were found, Coakley said.

"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement.

It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston; New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Atlanta; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco; and Philadelphia.

"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said. As soon as the company realized the problem, it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in all 10 cities.

The marketing firm that put them up, Interference Inc., has been ordered to remove them immediately, said Phil Kent, Turner chairman.

"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger," Kent said. "We appreciate the gravity of this situation and, like any responsible company would, are putting all necessary resources toward understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible."

Interference Inc. had no immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.

There were no reports from police Wednesday of residents in the other nine cities spotting similar devices.

Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.

"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a post-9/11 world," Knocke said.

Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.

The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.

Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.

The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.

Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy Chrispin said.

Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.

"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."

Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.

"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.

The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err — who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.

ROBOCOP REVIEWS SELF

January 30, 2007 -- Here's how Peter Weller (succinctly) sums up several pieces of an eclectic résumé:

* "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" (1984): "I don't understand it to this day."

* "RoboCop" (1987): "Brilliant movie."

* "RoboCop 2" (1990): "Top-heavy, without the morality. Happy to do [both films] and happy to leave them. Left them to do 'Naked Lunch' - fantastic."

* "Shoot the Moon" (1982): "A nonsympathetic look at American divorce, one of the best of the genre. Proud to be in it. And it may just be the best thing Diane Keaton ever did."

* "24" (2006): "The patriot who saw it another way. Did it as a favor for a friend [Manny Coto, one of the head writers], very grateful to have done it. It was great to be in that sort of cutting-edge television. . . . I didn't follow it before the show. They had to get me up to date - they sent me all the DVDs."

Bublé plans to give up Grammys for hockey game

Canadian crooner Michael Bublé is nominated for a Grammy Award for best traditional pop vocal album, but plans to stay home and watch the Vancouver Canucks play on the night of the awards ceremony.

The Vancouver artist, competing for the award with fellow Canadian Sarah McLachlan, said he's boycotting the Feb. 11 event in Los Angeles because his category will not be presented live on TV.

"Our category is selling way too many records to be given away at a dinner before, so I'm just not going to show up," Bublé said, lashing out at organizers for not giving his category the respect he says it deserves.

Most of the Grammys are awarded at an afternoon ceremony before the televised gala.

Bublé is nominated for Caught in the Act. He's competing against McLachlan's Wintersong, Bette Midler's Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook, Smokey Robinson's Timeless Love and Tony Bennett's Duets.

That's another thing that peeves the singer, who won four Junos in 2006.

Last year, in his first Grammy nomination, he lost out in the traditional pop album category to Bennett, one of his idols and a sentimental favourite for the American music industry.

"Why should I go to the Grammys?" he said. "'Cause I'll lose. No, I'll lose. They might as well have already scratched Tony Bennett's name into the damn thing. I'm not going."

It's a chore just to get recognized, he said.

Bublé said he feels "like a dirtbag" sometimes when he walks an awards show red carpet and fans don't recognize him, "just because I'm not in the tabloids."

All in all, he'd rather not miss the hockey game.

"I'm going to stay home and watch the (Vancouver) Canucks," said Bublé, who lives in Vancouver with his girlfriend, Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt.

Best-selling author Sidney Sheldon dies

LOS ANGELES - Sidney Sheldon, who won awards in three careers, Broadway theater, movies and television, then at age 50 turned to writing best-selling novels about stalwart women who triumph in a hostile world of ruthless men, has died. He was 89.

Sheldon died Tuesday afternoon of complications from pneumonia at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, said Warren Cowan, his publicist. His wife, Alexandra, and his daughter, author Mary Sheldon, were by his side.

"I've lost a longtime and dear friend," Cowan said. "In all my years in this business, I've never heard an unkind word said about him."

Sheldon's books, with titles such as "Rage of Angels," "The Other Side of Midnight," "Master of the Game" and "If Tomorrow Comes," provided his greatest fame. They were cleverly plotted, with a high degree of suspense and sensuality and a device to keep the reader turning pages.

"I try to write my books so the reader can't put them down," he explained in a 1982 interview. "I try to construct them so when the reader gets to the end of a chapter, he or she has to read just one more chapter. It's the technique of the old Saturday afternoon serial: leave the guy hanging on the edge of the cliff at the end of the chapter."

Analyzing why so many women bought his books, he commented: "I like to write about women who are talented and capable, but most important, retain their femininity. Women have tremendous power- their femininity, because men can't do without it."

Sheldon was obviously not aiming at highbrow critics, whose reviews of his books were generally disparaging. He remained undeterred, promoting the novels and himself with genial fervor. A big, cheerful man, he bragged about his work habits.

Unlike other novelists who toiled over typewriters or computers, he dictated 50 pages a day to a secretary or a tape machine. He corrected the pages the following day, continuing the routine until he had 1,200 to 1,500 pages.

"Then I do a complete rewrite- 12 to 15 times," he said. "I spend a whole year rewriting."

Several of his novels became television miniseries, often with the author as producer.

Henley says new Eagles album in the works: report

LOS ANGELES, Jan 30 (Reuters Life!) - Fans of Southern California's classic rock group the Eagles may soon be getting that peaceful, easy feeling all over again.

Don Henley, one of the group's founding members, said during a private weekend concert appearance he and his old bandmates were nearing completion of their first album of all-new music in nearly 30 years, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Tuesday.

"It's coming out in 60 to 90 days, if we don't kill each other first," Henley was quoted as telling his audience on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Neither Henley's publicist nor his manager had any immediate comment on the report.

The group's last collection of all-new studio material was 1979's "The Long Run," which produced the Grammy-winning No. 1 hit single "Heartache Tonight."

The Eagles' 1976 greatest-hits collection, including such favorites as "Peaceful Easy Feeling," "Take It Easy" and "One of These Nights," became the biggest-selling U.S. album of all time, with sales of 29 million copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The Eagles officially disbanded in 1982 and its members all went on to release solo recordings. In 1994, the group reunited for their first full-scale comeback tour with Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Timothy Schmit and Don Felder.

The band appeared together again, with past members Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Teri Polo set for third 'Fockers' film

LOS ANGELES - Teri Polo is set to reprise her role as Ben Stiller's wife in "Meet the Little Focker," the third installment of the movie franchise. "I think he cast me in the role because I play a great straight man," she said. "Actually, I think I'm funnier off-camera."

Polo worked with Robert DeNiro in the 2004 sequel, "Meet the Fockers," and in 2000 in the original "Meet the Parents."

"I literally glued myself to his side because I didn't know if I ever was going to get this opportunity again," she said of their collaboration. "I asked him what was more difficult — comedy or drama — and it surprised me when he said it's basically the same thing. It's all in the way you deliver the line."

Polo, a 37-year-old divorced mother of a young son, can next be seen playing a cynical divorce attorney who finds love with her legal opposition in "Love is a Four Letter Word," airing Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

Love and marriage are recurring themes for Polo's projects this year. She plays one of three sisters running a wedding-planning business on the upcoming Fox series "The Wedding Bells," written by David E. Kelley.

'Grey's Anatomy' Cast Unsure of Washington's Future

Isaiah Washington's Grey's Anatomy cast mates are keeping their distance as the disgraced actor battles his demons in rehab.

The star was a no-show at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, where his cast mates claimed a Best TV Ensemble, after checking into a treatment centre to address issues that reared up after he twice referred to gay co-star TR Knight as a "f****t." And while co-star Chandra Wilson offered her support to him during her Best Actress acceptance speech, other cast mates weren't quite so warm towards Washington.

Katherine Heigl, who suggested the actor shouldn't be allowed to speak publicly after mentioning the 'f' word at a Golden Globe Awards backstage press conference earlier this month, was still chilly towards him. Of his SAG Awards absence, she said, "As far as we know, he's seeking treatment right now to help with some of his issues.

We don't know when he'll be back, or for how long." After publicly apologizing for his remarks, Washington checked into a residential treatment facility last week in a bid to keep his job on the medical drama, according to news reports in America.

New Releases, Jan. 30: Norah Jones, Katharine McPhee, Madonna

Norah Jones "Not Too Late"

The jazzy songbird returns with her third studio set. It follows 2004's quadruple-platinum-selling "Feels Like Home," a work that nabbed Jones a Grammy in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category (her eighth Grammy overall).

The singer, the daughter of sitar great Ravi Shankar, wrote or co-wrote all of the album's 13 tracks. The disc was produced by Jones' bassist and songwriting partner, Lee Alexander.

According to her publicist, Jones is the best-selling female artist of the 21st century, with more than 15 million in sales over the course of the decade, and 30 million worldwide.

* * *
Katharine McPhee "Katharine McPhee"

The runner-up to Taylor Hicks in last year's "American Idol" competition drops her self-titled debut album. The CD's first single, "Over It," hit radio earlier this month.

The Southern California native worked with a number of collaborators on this disc, including producer Nate 'Danja' Hills, a man nominated for two Grammys this year for his efforts on Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds."

* * *
Madonna "The Confessions Tour--Live from London"

This two-disc CD/DVD combo was filmed at London's Wembley Arena during the Material Girl's highly successful Confessions Tour.

The set focuses largely on material from Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor" CD, but also includes a few old hits, including "Like a Virgin" and "Lucky Star."

* * *
Celtic Woman "A New Journey"

The money-making machine that is the Celtic Woman returns with a follow-up to its 2006 holiday offering, "A Christmas Celebration," a work that debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard World Music chart back in November.

The female Irish vocal ensemble--featuring Chloe Agnew, Lisa Kelly, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha, Orla Fallon, Mairead Nesbitt and recent addition Hayley Westenra--will launch a lengthy North American trek in support of the album in mid-February, starting off in Tampa, FL.

* * *
Art Garfunkel "Some Enchanted Evening"

Following in the footsteps of such pop stars as Bryan Ferry and Rod Stewart, Garfunkel mines the Great American Songbook on this new album. The disc includes such all-time classic songs as "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Let's Fall in Love," "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" and the title track.

* * *
More new releases:
Lily Allen, "Alright, Still" (Capitol)
Tommy Castro, "Painkiller" (Blind Pig)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Some Loud Thunder" (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
Harry Connick Jr., "Chanson du Vieux Carre" (Marsalis)
Harry Connick Jr., "Oh, My Nola" (Sony)
Bill Kirchen, "Hammer of the Honkey-Tonk Gods" (Proper)
Dave Koz, "At the Movies" (Capitol)
Paolo Nutini, "These Streets" (Atlantic)
Pain of Salvation, "Scarsick" (Inside Out)
Rockabye Baby!, "Lullaby Renditions of U2" (Baby Rock)
Xavier Rudd, "Food in the Belly" (Anti)
Jill Scott, "Collaborations" (Hidden Beach)
Skinny Puppy, "Mythmaker" (Synthetic Symphony)
Tin Hat, "Sad Machinery of Spring" (Hannibal)
X Clan, "Return From Mecca" (Suburban Noize)
Various Artists, "Endless Highway--The Music Of The Band" (Savoy)

Colbert wins bet against mayor

TORONTO (CP) - After losing a friendly hockey bet with satirical late-night pundit Stephen Colbert, the mayor of Oshawa, Ont. sheepishly conceded defeat on the show Monday night via telephone.

The punishment? John Gray's birthday on March 20 will be declared "Stephen Colbert Day" in his city, just east of Toronto.

"Mr. Mayor, let me ask you something: How are you planning to spend your 'Stephen Colbert Day,' " the host asked Gray, as a graphic of a moose wearing a "mayor" sash appeared in lieu of a headshot.

"Oh that's right, it's your birthday. How old are you going to be? Old enough to know better than to take on Stephen Colbert?"

The mayor genially responded: "Hopefully in future, yes."

In recent months, Colbert - who portrays a know-it-all right-winger on his show - has been rooting for the Ontario Hockey League's Saginaw Spirit after finding out the Michigan team had named its mascot Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle, as a tribute to him.

On Friday night, The Spirit beat the Oshawa Generals 5-4. Gray was among the 5,527 fans who attended the sold-out game.

Before his brief interview with Gray, Colbert reminded his viewers about the terms of the wager.

"If Oshawa wins, I will wear an Oshawa jersey on my show. But when the Spirit kicks Oshawa's moose haunches, I don't want to declare Stephen Colbert day on my birthday, I want to declare it on your birthday," said Colbert to cheers and applause.

Gray issued his challenge on a local radio station after Colbert urged Spirit fans to toss General Motors earnings reports onto the ice during Friday's game - an apparent jab at the auto-maker's plant that employs hundreds of Oshawa residents.

"Mayor Gray was there to watch his dreams crash to the ice like a sub-par GM financial report," Colbert said.

The financial reports were apparent retaliation for the Generals feting an earlier win against the Spirit by holding a teddy bear toss for charity.

A running joke on "The Colbert Report" is the host's inexplicable fear and hatred of bears. He called Oshawa's stunt an "obvious attempt to taunt me."

The New-York-based Colbert report is aired on Comedy Central in the United States and on CTV and The Comedy Network in Canada.

On Monday's show, Gray accepted his teams' loss graciously and promised to uphold his end of the bargain.

"I've already got a coffee shop downtown threatening to name a coffee after you and whatever the blend is, he promises that the spoon will lean to the right," Gray chuckled.

Colbert played the good-natured winner, too, saying he'd don a General's jersey on his show anyway.

With that, he stood up, untucked his dress shirt, pulled down his suit pants and flashed the Oshawa jersey, wrapped around his bottom like underpants.

Walk of Fame asking for noms

TORONTO (CP) - Who deserves to be on Canada's Walk of Fame?

Canadians are being asked again this year to cast their ballots on who they think should be inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. This year's stars will be announced in a ceremony on June 9 to be televised by CTV at a later date. Peter Soumalias, president of Canada's Walk of Fame, says the contest truly determines who makes it onto the Walk of Fame.

"We received thousands and thousands of excellent suggestions last year," he said in a news release. "And I'm pleased to say that every one of our 2006 nominees were suggested by contest entrants."

Visit the www.Canadaswalkoffame.com website to cast your votes and read the criteria on who can be nominated. Everyone who makes a nomination is automatically entered to win a trip for two to Toronto to take part in all the Walk of Fame festivities courtesy of WestJet.

Canada's Walk of Fame was established nine years ago. To date, 101 Canadians have been honoured.

The Couch Potato Report - January 30th, 2007

This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a very engaging documentary, a very entertaining British Royle family and the Oscar nominations.

CHINA RISES is a four part CBC series from the same people who made HOCKEY: A PEOPLE'S HISTORY and it is a very interesting look at a country that
consists of one-fifth of the world's population, uses a third of the world's steel and almost half of it's cement.

I must admit that even though I have many friends who are Chinese, I didn't know that much about China before I started to watch this two-DVD Box Set.

And now I want to know more.

CHINA RISES does feature stories about The Great Wall, the forbidden city and Chinese food, and they all have their own merits, but the series primarily tells the stories of the people.

The people who have succeeded in the new China, those who are working hard to succeed, and the people who have been left behind.

The eyes of the world will be focused on China next year when the Beijing Olympics Begin on August 8th, or 8-8-08 as this documentary shows us, and if you want to take a unique look inside the country now, I suggest you check out CHINA RISES.

It is a superb series that gives you a look at the incredible transformation that the country is undergoing - for better and for worse.

Now, for more on CHINA RISES you can go online to www.cbc.ca/chinarises.

Next up this week is a surprisingly entertaining BBC series.

If you always thought that SEINFELD was a show about nothing, wait until you meet THE ROYLE FAMILY.

The Royles are a British family who appear to do nothing other than eat, drink tea, smoke, watch TV and talk...man do they talk.

Jim Royle is the family patriarch and his long-suffering wife is Barbara. Denise and Anthony are their kids and Dave is Denise's fiance.

With the exception of a few neighbours and a grandparent, the five Royles are the only people you meet in this six-episode series.

Now, when I sat down to watch this show I had never seen or even heard of it.

And as I sit here with you this morning, I must tell you that I loved it!

Sure, THE ROYLE FAMILY are just a group of people who sit around the house and eat, drink tea, smoke, watch TV and talk, but unlike most North American series we see these days about families, there is no anger or negativity.

Sure, The Royles make smart-alec comments about each other, and they poke fun and tease, but they have genuine love and enjoy each others company.

But I enjoyed being in the company of THE ROYLE FAMILY.

Now, the other two films I have to tell you about this week are the horror films SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING.

I am not going to take up much of your time with these releases, other than to say if you have seen any of the other films in these series, and you enjoyed them, then you will probably enjoyed these two movies.

If you haven't, then you won't.

I am no longer a huge fan of the horror genre, I think I lost interest in it when I lost my twenties, but I will admit that SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING are worth your time.

If you enjoy watching films like this.

To the surprise of no one SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING were ignored when the nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards were announced on last Tuesday morning.

Also to no one's surprise, the nominations confirmed what all prognosticators already knew: the only open race is for "Best Picture."

Even prior to the Golden Globes, and their nominations, the following five of the big six races were already determined, due to buzz, the fact that the people themselves were showing contrition regarding winning an Oscar, and their performances themselves.

It is true that these people can lose their Oscars between now and Tuesday, February 20th when the Oscar Ballots are due, but as of today, those guaranteed to win on Oscar night are:

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS

And

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED.

So now, out of the five nominees, who wins Best Picture?

Well, BABEL was a surprise Golden Globe winner, so it has to make the final two; THE DEPARTED has no buzz at all in this category, but it will (finally) give Marty his Award, and Mark Wahlberg's nominations shows the academy notices a great performance - yes "Marky Mark" is now an Academy Award nominee - but no one thinks it was the Best Picture last year; the Academy loves Clint Eastwood, but LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA doesn't have the momentum of his previous Oscar winners MILLION DOLLAR BABY or UNFORGIVEN; LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE was the surprise winner of the top feature film award presented by the Producers Guild of America last weekend, confirming that voters are aware of this wonderful little film, so that gives it momentum; and THE QUEEN is also wonderful, and the nomination for Best Director for Stephen Frears is proof again that voters are aware of the movie, but it is getting all of it's buzz for Helen Mirren, not for the film itself.

So now, who wins Best Picture?

At this point, it looks like it is a race between BABEL and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, with the latter poised to be the only surprise on Oscar night, February 25th.

That is a surprise I would enjoy.

I will make my final predictions on the day of the Oscars, and if you have yet to see LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, it is available now on DVD, along with the informative CBC documentary CHINA RISES, the somehow engaging BBC series THE ROYLE FAMILY, and the horror films SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING.

Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report

TALES OF RAT FINK is a Canadian film about the life and times of famed hot rod & custom car designer Ed "Big Daddy" Roth; JESUS CAMP is a documentary on kids who attend a religious summer camp and it received an Oscar nomination this week in the Best Documentary feature catagory; CATCH A FIRE is a drama about terrorism in Apartheid-era South Africa; and the foreign film THREE TIMES features three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, 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 time on The Couch!

The Police reunite for Grammys

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Police will reunite to open the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 11, The Recording Academy said on Tuesday, fueling speculation that the hit 1980s band is planning a reunion tour.

The five-time Grammy-winning band, led by frontman Sting, with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, split up in 1984 and was last seen playing together in 2003 to commemorate their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The band, known for such hits as "Roxanne," "Message in a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take," has never performed at the annual telecast for the music industry's most prestigious awards that are given by The Recording Academy.

"The Police join a stellar list of past Grammy Awards opening acts, which includes reunions and once-in-a-lifetime performances," said a statement from the academy.

Members of The Police have so far refused to confirm rumors that the band is planning to reunite in 2007 for dates in Britain and the United States, with this year marking the 30th anniversary of the release of "Roxanne."

Last month the band's label A&M Records, which is owned by Universal Music, said in a statement that they would mark the year somehow.

"It is our intention to mark the anniversary by doing something special with the band's catalog of songs. Needless to say, everyone is hopeful the band will support our plans and while early discussions have taken place, nothing has been decided," said the statement.

Other presenters at the Grammy Awards include Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Christina Aguilera, Melissa Etheridge and Stevie Wonder.

Timbaland Prepares To 'Shock' With Superstar Guests

As tipped here last month, producer/artist Timbaland has lined up an array of superstar guests for his new album, "Shock Value." Due March 27 via Mosley Music Group/Blackground/Interscope, the project will be introduced later this week by first single "Give It to Me," featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado.

The album is said to be "sequenced like a movie" and encompasses a wide range of genres. "He ventures into the alternative world and the real pop world," Timbaland right-hand-man Nate "Danja" Hills previously told Billboard.com. "He has so many different sounds from hip-hop, to pop, to rock on this album. And he pulls every single one of them off perfectly.

Beyond Furtado and Timberlake, guests on "Shock Value" include Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, the Hives, Elton John, Fall Out Boy, M.I.A, She Wants Revenge and Kerri Hilson, who is signed to Mosley Music Group.

Timbaland has not released an album under his own name since 2003's "Under Construction II," a collaboration with longtime partner Magoo. He is presently on tour with Timberlake and debuting snippets from "Shock Value" during his mini-set each night.

Avril Sets Date For Clap-Happy New Album

Avril Lavigne has penciled in an April 17 release for her new RCA album, "The Best Damn Thing." As previously reported, the first single is "Girlfriend"; it will arrive March 5 at U.S. radio outlets, and its accompanying video will premiere Feb. 26 on MTV.

With its handclaps and bad-girl vibe, the track is reminiscent of Toni Basil's "Mickey," as Lavigne pushes past rival ladies to demand attention from a new guy: "She's like, so whatever / you could do so much better," she sings of her competition.

Two other tracks previewed by Billboard.com follow in a similar style: "I Can Do Better" is a fast and punky kiss-off with Blink 182-ish guitar riffs, and the title cut finds Lavigne proclaiming she is the "best damn thing your eyes have ever seen."

Elsewhere, "When You're Gone" is a power ballad with a piano and synth introduction, and "Everything Back But You" mines Rancid-style pop/punk for another diss of a cheating boyfriend. "The Best Damn Thing" will also include "Keep Holding On," previously released on the "Eragon" soundtrack.

"I wanted to make sure the songs were fun -- fun for the fans and myself," Lavigne said in a December post on her MySpace page. At present, Lavigne is in the midst of tour rehearsals but details have yet to be announced.

Musical spectrum lauds Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell was 18 years old the first time she met an actual songwriter.

Apparently, it made an impression.

Some 45 years later, the highly revered Alberta-born, Saskatchewan-raised singer-songwriter was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame last night during a gala concert at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

"I thought it was extraordinary that I had met a man who had wrote a song," Mitchell, 63, said after sustained and loud applause while she stood on the stage at the John Bassett Theatre.

"I was working in a coffee house in Saskatoon and I'd sung songs and I'd danced to songs but I'd never met a man who had wrote a song, and about three years, I guess, it took until I wrote my first song and, well, as you know, I wrote a lot of them, a lot of them are quite unorthodox."

Reflecting Mitchell's wide-ranging musical adventures over the last four decades -- she described herself as "a meditative artist in a calculated world" -- artists from folk, funk, jazz and opera paid tribute to her last night .

And the smiling Mitchell was clearly moved by the experience, even gamely joining in on an impromptu crowd singalong led by gala co-host Andrew Craig of Big Yellow Taxi between performances.

"It's very powerful to reminisce and to be in the company of such terrific friends," said Mitchell, who said she had pals in tow that went as far back as the fourth grade. "I'm overwhelmed at their loyalty to me over the years and how much fun we still have together. This is a great honour for all musicians. Anyone who receives this honour should be very, very proud. But we are building a heritage here in this country."

Among those honouring Mitchell was former '70s paramour and fellow singer-songwriter James Taylor.

Taylor, 58, sublimely performed Mitchell's 1969 classic Woodstock, one of five of her tunes that were also inducted into the CSHF, along with 20 other songs by various songwriters.

"I first heard Joni Mitchell's music in Paul McCartney's office at Apple Records in London in 1968," Taylor said from the stage. "We met actually here at the Mariposa festival, I think it was '70, maybe '71, I can't quite remember.

"Things are hazy from those days."

Others paying tribute to Mitchell were big-voiced funk singer Chaka Khan and jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, who joined forces on Mitchell's Help Me.

Hancock was actually asked to present Mitchell, who is also a painter, poet and photographer, with her award.

He told reporters backstage during a pre-gala cocktail reception that they first met in 1978 when she was collaborating with jazz bassist/composer Charles Mingus for her 1979 Mingus album, which would be his last. He died during the recording of it.

"Joni is a renaissance person for the 21st century," Hancock said. "She has exhibited the best qualities that the human spirit has to offer. She's a hero of mine."

Mitchell surprised many when she dropped by the pre-gala reception where she was presented with a Boucher custom-made acoustic guitar and began strumming the instrument in an impromptu moment.

That guitar presentation aside, noted Canadian author Margaret Atwood also spoke briefly before the final performance of the night by Canadian soprano star Measha Brueggergosman.

"Joni Mitchell and I have some things in common --though I'm older and she's blonder," Atwood joked.

But it was Brueggergosman who brought down the house with her thrilling performance of Mitchell's Both Sides Now, backed by an orchestra.

Other CSHF 2007 songwriter inductees included Broadway and film score creator Raymond Egan and Wilf Carter, commonly known as the father of Canadian country music.

Former Blood, Sweat and Tears frontman David Clayton-Thomas kicked off the gala concert with Spinning Wheel -- among the 25 songs inducted -- backed by about a dozen musicians, half of them horn players.

Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Oh Susanna also performed an upbeat version of the inducted tune, You Were On My Mind, written by Sylvia Fricker (Tyson), and Vancouver crooner Michael Buble sang the inducted classic How About You, co-written by Ralph Freed and Burton Lane, changing one line to "and Joni Mitchell's lyrics -- they give me a thrill!"

CBC-TV will broadcast a one-hour special on the gala nationally on March 5 at 8 p.m.

Today, CBC Radio One will feature some of the performances at 11 a.m. and CBC Radio Two will do the same at 8 p.m.

Indiana Jones to Start Production in 2007

The World's Favorite Action Hero is Back! Indiana Jones to Start Production in 2007

In a long-awaited announcement, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg revealed today that the fourth installment of Indiana Jones will begin production in June 2007. Harrison Ford returns in his role as the daring Dr. Jones for the new adventure. The film will be produced by Lucasfilm Ltd., directed by Steven Spielberg and released by Paramount Pictures throughout the world in May 2008.

The screenplay has been written by David Koepp.

Spielberg states "George, Harrison and I are all very excited. We feel that the script was well worth the wait. We hope it delivers everything you'd expect from our history with Indiana Jones."

The film will be produced by Frank Marshall with George Lucas and Kathy Kennedy as executive producers. "Working with Steven, Frank, Kathy and the Indy crew is like working with family," states Lucas. "These films are such great fun to make. I'm looking forward to reuniting with the team and starting this new journey."

The film has plenty of action in store for the rogue archeologist. Harrison Ford comments " I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends. I don't know if the pants still fit but I know the hat will. "

It will be shot on undisclosed locations around the world as well as in the United States.

For more than 25 years, audiences have been enraptured by the exploits of Indiana Jones. The film trilogy -- Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade --garnered 14 Academy Award nominations, won 7 Oscars, and grossed over $1,182,000,000 at the box office. The films are among the most popular films ever made and have become a legendary part of film history.

SAG Awards soaking in the 'Sunshine'

LOS ANGELES - Another week, another awards show, and the Best Picture Oscar situation looks as up in the air as ever...or does it?

"Little Miss Sunshine," took the Screen Actors Guild's ensemble prize Sunday night, the group's equivalent of a best picture award. Top acting honors, however, went to obvious front-runners Forest Whitaker, Helen Mirren, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson.

"Sunshine," the low-budget, road-trip charmer, came out of the Sundance Film Festival and bested bigger studio competition in "The Departed," "The Queen," "Babel" (which took the best-drama statue two weeks ago at the Golden Globes) and "Dreamgirls" (which won the Globe for best musical or comedy).

The SAG win for "Little Miss Sunshine," coupled with its unexpected victory at the Producers Guild Awards, would seem to improve the film's prospects at the Oscars, where it's in the best-picture category with "Babel," "The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima" and "The Queen."

Three out of the past four years, the SAG ensemble winner has won at the Academy Awards — "Crash," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and "Chicago." They don't usually line up, though, and they differed two years ago when SAG honored "Sideways" and the Academy Award went to "Million Dollar Baby."

"I think we feel good. Does anybody not feel good? Raise your hand," said Greg Kinnear, who played the harried dad in "Sunshine," as he turned to co-stars Alan Arkin, Steve Carell and Abigail Breslin.

Asked what an Oscar would mean, Kinnear said, "It would mean a great deal to all of us. Making a movie isn't always a great experience, that's the facts. This really was a remarkable experience."

Whitaker won best actor for his thunderous turn as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," with Mirren taking the best actress statue for her searing portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen."

Mirren seemed visibly stirred by her best-actress win (her second award of the night), beginning her acceptance speech at the Shrine Auditorium with a shaky, "Be still my beating heart, be still.

"When I did my costume fitting for 'The Queen," I walked in and saw all those sensible shoes and those tweed skirts, laid out in a row, and I cried. I thought, `I can't play anyone who chooses to wear those clothes, I just can't do it.' I learned to love the person who chooses to wear those clothes."

Earlier in the evening, Mirren won for best actress in a TV movie or miniseries for her portrayal of another queen in "Elizabeth 1."

She was demure backstage about whether she wants the Oscar, and about the universal acclaim she's received for her performance. She pointed out that the last time she won a SAG award was for playing a housekeeper in "Gosford Park," which won the ensemble prize in 2002.

"So I do downstairs as well as upstairs," she quipped.

Whitaker, meanwhile, was soft-spoken and humble: "It's been an amazing ride, not a ride I'm used to. I've never had it."

Murphy won the supporting-actor award for his work as a tormented, drug-addicted soul singer in "Dreamgirls." His co-star, Hudson, received the supporting-actress award as the splashy musical's rejected diva, who steals scenes with her show-stopping numbers.

"I just want to thank you for noticing little ol' me, and for accepting me," said Hudson, a former "American Idol" contestant who looks more destined than ever for Oscar greatness.

Although this was an unusual dramatic role for Murphy, he couldn't help but joke onstage, accepting the award in a fake British accent.

"I've been acting for some 25 years now and this is a tremendous honor to me. No, I'm sorry," he said, cracking up. "It's just when the British people come up and get the awards, it's so smooth with their stuff. And I feel goofy up here 'cause I don't be winning stuff."

Backstage, Murphy said he and his "Dreamgirls" castmates were as surprised as everyone else that the film received a leading eight Oscar nominations but not one for best picture.

"We got eight nominations, that was a great thing. We were happy about that," he said. "I was so happy to be nominated, I wasn't feeling disappointment about anything. I was caught off guard that we didn't get nominated for best picture but I've just been happy, nonstop happy."

On the television side of the awards, "Grey's Anatomy" won best dramatic series on the heels of its Golden Globe victory and in the midst of its off-screen troubles involving homophobic slurs uttered by actor Isaiah Washington, who has since entered counseling.

"Grey's" co-star Chandra Wilson, in accepting the award for best actress in a drama, addressed the matter with humor: "It's about those 10 cast members sitting over there, and the other one in rehab."

America Ferrera, two weeks after her surprise Golden Globe win, took the prize for best actress in a comedy series for her starring role as a sweetly awkward fashion magazine worker in "Ugly Betty."

Discussing the unprecedented success for the show, which has a largely Hispanic cast, Ferrera said: "What's great is that Latinos are a huge part of the audience. It's wonderful for them to begin to see representation of themselves on screen, which is something I pined for when I was younger."

Oscar favorites honored at SAG Awards

LOS ANGELES - Helen Mirren of "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" won Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday as best lead players, their latest prizes on the road to the Academy Awards.

The road-trip romp "Little Miss Sunshine" won the prize for best film ensemble, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture award.

Solidifying their positions as Oscar favorites, Mirren won for playing British monarch Elizabeth II and Whitaker for starring as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson won supporting-acting honors as soulful singers in "Dreamgirls," reinforcing their status as Oscar front-runners as well.

The best-picture Oscar race, though, remains wide open, with "The Queen" and "Little Miss Sunshine" up against three sprawling dramas, "The Departed," "Babel" and "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Mirren said she initially was dismayed at the prospect of donning Elizabeth II's conservative wardrobe, including sensible shoes and tweed skirts.

"I thought, I can't play anyone who chooses to wear those clothes. I just can't do it," said Mirren, who also won the guild honor for best actress in a miniseries as the current monarch's namesake in "Elizabeth I."

"But I learned to love the person who chooses to wear those clothes, because I learned to love a person without vanity, but with a great sense of discipline that I understand. With a great sense of duty that I understand. And with a great deal of courage, and that I understand."

It seemed the soft-spoken Whitaker was struck speechless, rambling through some awkward words of gratitude.

"I want to thank you for allowing me to have a moment like this," Whitaker said.

"Little Miss Sunshine" co-star Greg Kinnear thanked the German automaker that designed the rickety minibus the film's horribly dysfunctional family drives to their little girl's beauty pageant.

"I'd like to thank the engineers at Volkswagen for making a beautiful vehicle back in 1969 that is so comfortable, so safe," Kinnear said.

Murphy, who built his career as a fast-talking comic player, began with a thank-you speech more appropriate for a serious thespian — but his sober demeanor proved a gag.

"What a tremendous honor to be recognized by one's peers. I've been acting for some 25 years now and this is a tremendous honor," said Murphy, talking in a British accent.

"No, I'm sorry," said Murphy, cracking up in laughter. "I feel goofy up here, 'cause I don't be winning stuff."

As a powerhouse vocalist in "Dreamgirls," Hudson continued her breakneck rise to movie stardom after becoming famous as an "American Idol" contender two years ago. Hudson thanked her co-stars, who included Murphy, Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles.

"Because of you, I was able to work and learn from the best. Yes, you are the best," said Hudson, who added thanks to the actors guild. "Just thank you for noticing little old me and accepting me."

"Dreamgirls," which had been considered a potential best-picture favorite at the Academy Awards, was among the guild nominees for best ensemble cast, yet was shut out of the nominations for the top Oscar.

Backstage, Murphy said he and his "Dreamgirls" castmates were as surprised as everyone else that the film received a leading eight Oscar nominations — but not one for best picture.

"We got eight nominations, that was a great thing. We were happy about that," he said. "I was so happy to be nominated, I wasn't feeling disappointment about anything. I was caught off guard that we didn't get nominated for best picture but I've just been happy, nonstop happy."

The ensemble win for "Little Miss Sunshine" could give the low-budget film a best-picture boost at the Oscars. But academy voters tend to favor heavy drama such as fellow nominees "Babel" and "The Departed."

The guild category has never been a reliable forecast for how the top Oscar might play out. In the 11 years since the guild added the ensemble honor, only five winners have gone on to receive the best-picture Oscar, including 2005's "Crash."

The guild's individual acting winners often line up with the Oscars, however. Three of the four guild winners for 2005 — Philip Seymour Hoffman of "Capote," Reese Witherspoon of "Walk the Line" and Rachel Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" — all went on to receive Oscars, while all four guild acting winners for 2004 won at the Oscars.

Whitaker, Mirren, Murphy and Hudson have dominated Hollywood's acting honors this awards season, all four also taking home Golden Globes.

Mirren was diplomatic backstage when asked if she wants the Oscar.

"I'm not going there right now," Mirren said. "But it's been the most incredible year for me, ever. That's been amazing at this end of my life."

Mirren's "Elizabeth I" co-star Jeremy Irons won the guild's prize for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries.

Other TV winners were America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" and Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" as performers in comedy series, and Chandra Wilson of "Grey's Anatomy" and Hugh Laurie of "House" as performers in dramatic shows. TV ensemble prizes went to "Grey's Anatomy" for drama and "The Office" for comedy.

"This is quite the honor having these people present this to us," Steve Carell, star of "The Office," said of the award's presenters, the cast of the sitcom classic "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," including Moore, Edward Asner and Cloris Leachman.

13th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® Recipients

Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Helen Mirren / ELIZABETH I – Elizabeth I - HBO

Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Jeremy Irons / ELIZABETH I – Earl of Leicester - HBO

Female Actor in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera / UGLY BETTY – Betty Suarez - ABC

Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / 30 ROCK – Jack Donaghy - NBC

Ensemble in a Comedy Series
THE OFFICE - NBC Leslie David Baker - Stanley Hudson Brian Baumgartner - Kevin Malone Steve Carell - Michael Scott David Denman - Roy Anderson Jenna Fischer - Pam Beesly Kate Flannery - Meredith Palmer Melora Hardin - Jan Levinson Mindy Kaling - Kelly Kapoor Angela Kinsey - Angela Martin John Krasinski - Jim Halpert Paul Lieberstein - Toby Flenderson B.J. Novak - Ryan Howard Oscar Nunez - Oscar Martinez Phyllis Smith - Phyllis Lapin Rainn Wilson - Dwight Schrute

Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Eddie Murphy / DREAMGIRLS – James “Thunder” Early Paramount Pictures

Life Achievement Award
Julie Andrews

Female Actor in a Drama Series
Chandra Wilson / GREY’S ANATOMY – Dr. Miranda Bailey - ABC

Male Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Laurie / HOUSE – Dr. Gregory House - FOX

Ensemble in a Drama Series
GREY’S ANATOMY - ABC Justin Chambers - Alex Karev Eric Dane - Mark Sloan Patrick Dempsey - Derek Shepherd Katherine Heigl - Isobel “Izzie” Stevens T.R. Knight - George O’Malley Sandra Oh - Cristina Yang James Pickens, Jr. - Richard Webber Ellen Pompeo - Meredith Grey Sara Ramirez - Callie Torres Kate Walsh - Addison Montgomery Shepherd Isaiah Washington - Preston Burke Chandra Wilson - Miranda Bailey

Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Hudson / DREAMGIRLS – Effie White - Paramount Pictures

Male Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker / THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND – Idi Amin - Fox Searchlight Pictures

Female Actor in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren / THE QUEEN – The Queen - Miramax Films

Cast of a Motion Picture
Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin - LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Hey Now: It’s Garry Shandling’s Obsession

It was almost nine years ago that Larry Sanders, the fictional talk-show host who was a too-close-for-comfort amalgam of Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Jay Leno and Jack Paar, signed off the air. In the final episode of his show (and of the biting HBO series that bore the same name), he perched Carsonesque on a stool in front of a blue curtain and started his farewell monologue.

“To you at home, thank you so much,” he began, choking up. Regaining his composure, he returned his gaze to the audience and continued, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do without you.”

Larry wasn’t just losing his talk show; he was losing a nightly ego boost, and the security of a shimmering curtain that kept the real world at bay. But what of Garry Shandling, the comedian who not only played Larry but created him and “The Larry Sanders Show”? After a six-year run, what would either of them do without it?

“The Larry Sanders Show” had always straddled a fine line between reality and fiction, with Mr. Shandling encouraging the actors and writers to draw on their own experiences to send up the most unappealing aspects of Hollywood culture.

Thus an endless stream of celebrities were recruited to play cartoonish versions of themselves, whether it was Ellen DeGeneres having a fling with Larry while Hollywood buzzed about her sexuality, or Alec Baldwin sleeping with Larry’s wife while the couple were separated, only to be booked later as one of Larry’s guests.

But while the actor and his main character shared more than a few awkward insecurities, Mr. Shandling had never pursued that nightly fix of entertaining millions. As a regular substitute host on “The Tonight Show” in the 1980s, he could have tried to succeed Mr. Carson and was later offered Mr. Letterman’s old job. He declined.

Nonetheless that final “Larry Sanders” monologue proved prescient: Mr. Shandling, now 57, has never entirely moved on. Unlike Jerry Seinfeld, whose television series ended that same spring, Mr. Shandling has not done a stand-up tour. And unlike Bill Cosby, whose “Cosby Show” signed off NBC in 1992 only to be succeeded by “Cosby” on CBS, he has not pursued another series.

Meanwhile, as “Larry Sanders” fades from memory, shows like “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Entourage” on HBO, and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” and “30 Rock” on NBC, have tried to replicate the show-business realism that Mr. Shandling did first and, arguably, best.

Save for two gigs as host of the Emmy Awards and scattered movie roles, Mr. Shandling has kept a low profile. “It’s very similar to — what is it? — the seven stages of grieving,” he said recently, during the first extended interview he had granted in several years. “First there’s the shock,” he said, at ease in a soft leather chair in his living room. “Now I’m going to head for something funny here. Then there’s denial, acceptance and,” he paused, “masturbation.”

As it turns out, the wrenching process of producing as many as 18 episodes a season was so grueling for Mr. Shandling — who was not only the star but also the head writer and so-called show runner — that he never really gave the show a proper goodbye. Meanwhile, in the midst of ending the show, he filed a spectacular lawsuit against his manager, Brad Grey, whom he accused of cheating him.

Hence there was no real wrap party for the cast, and even years later Mr. Shandling was still too exhausted to contribute much to a DVD of episodes from the first season. “It was unfortunate the show couldn’t end with a higher spirit,” he said.

These days Mr. Shandling seems more settled. He spends much of his time boxing (four times a week) or in periodic pickup basketball games at his home.

He is financially secure, at least partly as a result of his settlement with Mr. Grey, valued by Mr. Shandling’s lawyer at more than $10 million. His bushy brown hair, so memorable from his early “Tonight” appearances, remains full but is now close-cropped; his face is tan and taut. And he has sought peace in a place Larry never would: the study of Zen Buddhism. He meditates on long, solitary trips to Hawaii or around his sprawling home, with its sloping backyard overlooking a canyon.

“My sense is that this has been a time for Garry of introspection, and, it sounds funny to say about a comedian or comic actor, of real spiritual growth,” said Peter Tolan, a writer and producer who was his longtime collaborator on the show. “He’s in a better place than when we were doing the show.”

Still, Mr. Shandling has lately been tugged by a powerful, almost obsessive desire to go back and revisit the breadth of his “Larry Sanders’’ experience, for the purpose, he said, of finding out both who he was then and how he might give the show, and his role in it, a fitting ending. His vehicle: a DVD set, drawn from all six seasons of “Larry Sanders,” to be released by Sony Pictures on April 17.

Other performers might be content to put out such packages with a few sweeteners, maybe some outtakes and running commentary from the star. But Mr. Shandling has never been like other performers. More than a year ago he set out, hand-held camera crew in tow, to interview virtually everyone connected to the show. There are the series regulars, including Jeffrey Tambor, who played Hank Kingsley (“hey now!”), Larry’s eager-to-please yet quick-to-lash-out sidekick, and Rip Torn, who played Artie, Larry’s fiercely protective executive producer. Mr. Shandling’s camera also found many of the A-list guest stars whom he had goaded into cameos on the original show, including Mr. Seinfeld, Mr. Baldwin, Sharon Stone, David Duchovny, Carol Burnett, Jon Stewart and Tom Petty.

Thus the DVD’s title, “Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show,” and its length: four discs, despite containing just 23 episodes.

Mr. Shandling concedes that these recorded conversations — which are presented largely unedited, with awkward silences and plenty of mistakes — are at least partly self-congratulatory. Taken as a whole the treatment is also expansive, exhaustive and at times exhausting, with Mr. Shandling’s new material (including a documentary) adding up to nearly eight hours.

But the results are, in many instances, riveting. There are some good casting stories: Ms. Burnett, for example, tells how Mr. Shandling persuaded her to be a guest and to play against her clean-cut image. (On the talk-show-within-a-show, she warns Larry that the loincloth costume he’s wearing isn’t covering what it needs to cover.) And Bruno Kirby, whom Larry memorably “bumped” from the last episode, made an appearance as well — his last, it turned out, before he died last summer.

But to those who watch them carefully — and Mr. Shandling hasn’t a clue whether anyone will — the interviews are also striking for his efforts to make amends. He apologizes to some of the best-known people in Hollywood for having failed to thank them for their service on “Larry Sanders,” and for largely allowing them to drift from his life in the years since.

It is as if the drama club president has returned to high school, a decade after graduating, to find out what his classmates and teachers really thought of him, while also telling them he was sorry if he occasionally passed them in the corridor without saying hello. Mr. Shandling has a slightly darker analogy.

“What’s that old adage, you don’t hear nice things until the funeral?” he said. “I wanted to objectively see the realities of that time. What was I like? What were my relationships like, with the actors and writers? What did they feel?”

Thus the viewer gets to listen in as Mr. Shandling apologizes for not reciprocating when Mr. Baldwin promised to send a gift after his cameo appearance, and later for losing Mr. Baldwin’s cellphone number. This scene of self-reckoning takes place in a boxing gym.

“I thought you really extended yourself,” Mr. Shandling says, as his hands are being wrapped outside the ring. “I did not appropriately extend myself back. I’d like to. ...”

“Make it up to me by coming in here and smacking me in the face a few times?” Mr. Baldwin says, leaning against the ropes.

Mr. Shandling responds, “I’m going to allow you to hit me so hard that I don’t have to. ... ”

“Work again for the next five years?” Mr. Baldwin interjects.

No, Mr. Shandling says, “ ...finish these DVDs.” Mr. Baldwin eventually gets fairly pummeled by the better-trained Mr. Shandling, while the two somehow conduct a meaningful conversation about comedy.

It is hard of course for anyone to be genuine with a camera trained on him, but an exchange that raw would never find its way onto Jay Leno’s “Tonight,” or even Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio.”

The most voyeuristic moment on the DVD, however, probably comes when Mr. Shandling sits down in a production office to talk to Linda Doucett. On the show she played Hank’s secretary, Darlene, but in real life she was Mr. Shandling’s fiancée, at least for a time. After the engagement ended, she was fired, and in 1996 she sued Mr. Shandling, along with Mr. Grey’s company, for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. Mr. Shandling and Ms. Doucett eventually reached a settlement, but last March she told The New York Times that he had warned her that Mr. Grey once considered putting Anthony Pellicano, the private investigator now under federal investigation, on her case.

In the interview Ms. Doucett is teary as she and Mr. Shandling openly discuss their relationship. “It’s really perfect for ‘Larry Sanders,’ ” he said, “and perfect for the DVD and, I suppose, perfect for my life that I’m able to have captured the nature of this personal relationship on tape.” (He said he would have nothing to say about the Pellicano matter, “until it’s finished.”)

Perhaps appropriately, the four discs end with Mr. Shandling in idle conversation with a Vietnamese monk, who is seeking to explain the meaning of a particular Buddhist statue.

“So always extend compassion,” Mr. Shandling is heard saying to the monk, Hanh Nguyen, who interrupts him to add, “Love and compassion to all sentient beings.”

“Even for the enemy,” Mr. Shandling adds, sounding like a post-enlightenment Larry.

The monk responds: “Sure. The true enemy is ignorance.”

GARRY SHANDLING’S humor always had the neurotic shadings of someone raised a summer weekend’s drive from the borscht belt, but he actually grew up in Tucson. His family had moved there from Chicago because the dry climate better suited his older brother, Barry, who suffered from cystic fibrosis.

Barry died when Garry was 10. “I was devastated,” Mr. Shandling recalled. “I remember starting to cry in the schoolyard. I didn’t quite know how to deal with it. I think there was some damage in that.”

His comedic awakening came in his early teens, when he watched “Hot Dog,” a children’s show that, in this particular episode, featured an appearance by Woody Allen. “Here he is, this kid in Arizona, he’s not in New York,” Mr. Shandling recalled, “and while being Jewish, he’s not at all Jewish in the traditional sense, of a noisy Jewish household. And suddenly he sees Woody Allen, and he relates.”

He went on to study electrical engineering at the University of Arizona, but in his junior year he wrote a monologue in the style of George Carlin. As it turned out, he was able to get it to Mr. Carlin, who read it and encouraged him to pursue a career in comedy. After he sold scripts for “Sanford and Son” and “Welcome Back, Kotter,” his big break came during a “Tonight” appearance in March 1981, in which Carson told viewers: “His name is Garry Shandling. You’ll hear a lot about him.”

In his first sitcom, “It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” Mr. Shandling frequently broke character to address the camera and even walk into the audience. That experience led directly to “Larry Sanders,” in which he marshaled everything he had seen backstage in Hollywood to produce, in cinéma vérité style, a scripted half-hour comedy intended to show how people really treat one another when the spotlights are off.

For several years now the creative well that fed those efforts seems to have run dry, and instead of mounting something original, he has been content to retrace old steps. Watching him during this period has been somewhat frustrating to some old friends, who believe he is young enough and creative enough to find fresh ways to entertain people.

Mr. Seinfeld, for example, is among those who have been encouraging Mr. Shandling to go back on the road as a stand-up comedian, with an eye toward bringing his act to television. In a recent phone interview Mr. Seinfeld said he understood his friend’s reluctance.

“When you go through this TV thing like he and I did, you make so much, you do so much, you’re kind of overfull at the end,” he said. “You don’t want to write anything. You don’t want to read anybody at an audition.”

“Someone starts pitching you an idea,” he added, “and your head just explodes.”

And yet, Jeffrey Tambor said, the same relentlessness Mr. Shandling displayed on “Larry Sanders” was reassuringly evident in his preparation of the DVD. When Mr. Tambor arrived at Mr. Shandling’s home for a joint interview with Mr. Torn, he was filmed from the time he left his car, so no moment would be lost.

“He’s thrown himself into this like I’ve never seen,” Mr. Tambor said. “Happy go lucky, he ain’t. Heels clicking, he ain’t. But I think he had enormous pride in that show, and I think that continues.”

Told of Mr. Shandling’s various attempts to make amends, Mr. Tambor said: “He certainly doesn’t owe me an apology. He changed my life.”

Nonetheless, by finally putting his “Sanders” experience to bed between the covers of his DVD, Mr. Shandling is hoping that he may finally be able to consider what the next new thing might be. “It certainly didn’t start that way,” he said, “but there is no question that this became a reflective journey that I’m still absorbing.”

One idea he is mulling is working up to a stand-up special, as Mr. Seinfeld and others have urged. Another project would draw from his study of Buddhism and shed further light on “what life is about, what the human condition is about,” maybe a series or documentary. He has yet to divine quite what.

“Usually things become clearer as I get closer to the moment of execution,” he said. And then, because old habits die hard, he added, “That’s not to be confused with Saddam Hussein’s execution.”

SAG Awards offer tune-up for top awards as front-runners cruise toward Oscars

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Helen Mirren won the Screen Actors Guild Award on Sunday for the title role in the TV miniseries "Elizabeth I," a possible warmup for her potential film award later in the evening as Elizabeth II in "The Queen."

"I'm so proud. I love this award more than any other award," said Mirren, who was chosen as best actress in a TV movie or miniseries. "I think especially being a Brit, American film acting has always inspired us and influenced us and pressed us, or me, anyway. I've always looked to American film actors to teach me how to do it, basically."

Her "Elizabeth I" co-star Jeremy Irons won the guild's prize for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries.

Mirren's TV win as the 16th and 17th century British monarch follows triumphs for the same role at the Emmys and Golden Globes. Her film turn as the leader's modern-day namesake in "The Queen" has brought her a string of Hollywood honors that is expected to culminate with the best-actress prize at the Feb. 25 Oscars.

On the movie side, this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards appeared to be a dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards.

Nominees in the four film-acting categories for the guild awards were virtually identical to contenders announced at the Oscar nominations last week, including front-runners Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson.

With 19 of the 20 SAG nominees also earning Oscar slots, the guild awards were poised to give winners a chance to practice their academy thank-yous for Hollywood's top prizes Feb. 25.

Along with front-runner Mirren, the lead-actor honour was favoured to Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Mirren and Whitaker have dominated earlier film honors throughout the awards season.

Murphy and Hudson were solid bets to take home supporting prizes as soulful singers in the musical "Dreamgirls."

The category for overall ensemble cast, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture award, included three of the best-picture Oscar contenders: the sprawling global drama "Babel," the mob epic "The Departed" and the edgy road-trip comedy "Little Miss Sunshine."

"Dreamgirls," which had been considered a potential best-picture favorite at the Academy Awards, also was among the guild cast nominees, yet was shut out of the nominations for the top Oscar. The other cast nominee was the Robert Kennedy tale "Bobby."

Besides the five film prizes, the guild also honors television achievement in eight categories.

The ensemble-cast winner may get a boost for best picture at the Oscars, though the guild category has never been a reliable forecast for how the Oscars might play out. In the 11 years since the guild added the ensemble honor, only five winners have gone on to receive the best-picture Oscar, including 2005's "Crash."

Past guild ensemble winners include "Sideways," "Gosford Park," "Apollo 13" and "The Birdcage," none of which won the best-picture Oscar.

The guild's individual-acting winners fare much better on Oscar night because many of the voters for that category are also members of the academy's actors branch, which chooses the acting Oscars.

Three of the four guild winners for 2005 - Philip Seymour Hoffman of "Capote," Reese Witherspoon of "Walk the Line" and Rachel Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" - all went on to receive Oscars, while all four guild acting winners for 2004 won at the Oscars.

The 13th annual SAG awards also recognized Julie Andrews for lifetime achievement.

Film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people randomly chosen from the guild's 120,000 members. The guild's full membership was eligible to vote for winners.

Spoof 'Epic Movie' tops box office

LOS ANGELES - The comedy spoof "Epic Movie" debuted atop the box office as Oscar contenders got a bump in the first weekend since the Academy Award nominations were announced, according to studio and industry estimates Sunday.

"Epic Movie," which lampoons dozens of films, a few MTV shows and Paris Hilton, raked in $19.2 million. It was a cost-effective release for 20th Century Fox, which enjoyed a similar turnstile bonanza a year ago with the spoof "Date Movie."

"When you gross the first weekend almost what it costs to make, it is enormously successful. We're pleased," Fox executive Bert Livingston said of the Regency Productions film distributed by Fox.

"It seems these teen audiences have just this insatiable appetite for these spoofs," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "They are economically sensible. It's just a license to make money for the studio."

Audiences also turned out for Universal Pictures' "Smokin' Aces," a violent, dark comedy about hit men converging on Lake Tahoe for the $1 million prize to assassinate magician Buddy "Aces" Israel. It opened in second place with $14.3 million.

"It's a very edgy, R-rated, hip and cool movie. It doesn't surprise me," Dergarabedian said.

In third place was Fox's everlasting "Night at the Museum," which took in another $9.5 million to boost its six-week total to $217 million. The new Jennifer Garner movie from Sony, "Catch and Release," was No. 4, and "Stomp the Yard" from Sony/Screen Gems was fifth.

Four Oscar nominated films followed: Paramount's "Dreamgirls" was No. 6, Sony's "The Pursuit of Happyness" was No. 7, "Pan's Labyrinth" from Picturehouse was No. 8 and Miramax's "The Queen" was No. 9.

Oscar aspirant "The Departed," which added 1,326 screens Friday, jumped from No. 35 last weekend to No. 12 with a $3 million take.

"Babel," another Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner, was 13th with $2.6 million, a 25 percent hike over the previous weekend.

"Obviously we're very enthused about the impact of the seven Academy Award nominations," Paramount Vantage executive Rob Schulze said of the "Babel" showing.

Rounding out the Top 10 was "The Hitcher" from Focus/Rogue.

Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Epic Movie," $19.2 million.
2. "Smokin' Aces," $14.3 million.
3. "Night at the Museum," $9.5 million.
4. "Catch and Release," $8 million.
5. "Stomp the Yard," $7.8 million.
6. "Dreamgirls," $6.6 million.
7. "The Pursuit of Happyness," $5 million.
8. "Pan's Labyrinth," $4.5 million.
9. "The Queen," $4 million.
10. "The Hitcher," $3.6 million.

String of stars to fete Joni Mitchell at songwriters gala

A star-studded gala featuring James Taylor and Chaka Khan will usher folk singer Joni Mitchell into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in Toronto on Sunday night.

An assortment of singers will take the stage to pay tribute to the Alberta-born, Saskatchewan-raised Mitchell, as well as other inductees.

Taylor will sing Woodstock and Khan will do Help Me, while Canadian opera star Measha Brueggergosman will be delivering a version of Both Sides Now. They are three of five Mitchell songs to be inducted into the hall, the others being Big Yellow Taxi and You Turn Me On, I'm A Radio.

Brueggergosman, a classical soprano singer who grew up listening to Mitchell's music, credits Mitchell for teaching her "to value poetry in music."

"She taught me the importance of text, that words above all else are important. She is such an amazing poet in addition to writing unbelievable songs."

Mitchell became a folk singer in the mid-1960s and had her big break when she sold Both Sides Now to American singer Judy Collins in 1968.

During her career Mitchell branched out into experimental jazz, captured five Grammys and was inducted into the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame in 1981.

Homage to Jean-Pierre Ferland

Francophone stars Isabelle Boulay, Laurence Jalbert and Mario Pelchat will each deliver an homage to Quebec icon Jean-Pierre Ferland, with French star Patrick Bruel also scheduled to participate, via a performance from Paris.

Other 2007 inductees include "Canada's Father of Country Music" Wilf Carter, and Broadway and film composer Raymond Egan.

Other tracks being honoured include Spinning Wheel, the David Clayton-Thomas song that has been recorded by more than 400 artists in 20 languages, and You Were on My Mind by Sylvia Fricker (Tyson).

The ceremony will include the presentation of legacy awards to Canadian tenor Henry Burr and Canadian folk music impresario Sam Gesser.

Songs must be more than 25 years old to be considered for the hall of fame.

Also scheduled to take part in the celebration, the fourth induction ceremony for the hall, are Herbie Hancock, George Canyon, Michael Bublé, Emm Gryner and Corb Lund.

Hosted by CBC Radio's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher, the black-tie event will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

CBC Radio will broadcast segments of the tribute gala, beginning with Sounds Like Canada on Radio One at 11 a.m. Monday, and as a two-hour special beginning at 8 p.m. Monday on Radio Two. A CBC-TV show about the gala will follow on March 5.

SAG Awards offer tune-up for Oscar night

LOS ANGELES - This year's Screen Actors Guild Awards appeared to be a dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards.

Nominees in the four film-acting categories for Sunday's 13th annual guild awards were virtually identical to contenders announced at the Oscar nominations last week, including front-runners Helen Mirren, Forest Whitaker, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson.

With 19 of the 20 SAG nominees also earning Oscar slots, the guild awards were poised to give winners a chance to practice their academy thank-yous for Hollywood's top prizes Feb. 25.

The lead-acting honors were favored to go to Mirren as British monarch Elizabeth II in "The Queen" and Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Mirren and Whitaker have dominated earlier film honors throughout the awards season.

Murphy and Hudson were solid bets to take home supporting prizes as soulful singers in the musical "Dreamgirls."

The category for overall ensemble cast, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture award, included three of the best-picture Oscar contenders: the sprawling global drama "Babel," the mob epic "The Departed" and the edgy road-trip comedy "Little Miss Sunshine."

"Dreamgirls," which had been considered a potential best-picture favorite at the Academy Awards, also was among the guild cast nominees, yet was shut out of the nominations for the top Oscar. The other cast nominee was the Robert Kennedy tale "Bobby."

Besides the five film prizes, the guild also honors television achievement in eight categories. Among this year's nominees were Mirren for best actress in a movie or miniseries as the current monarch's namesake and predecessor in "Elizabeth I."

The ensemble-cast winner may get a boost for best picture at the Oscars, though the guild category has never been a reliable forecast for how the Oscars might play out. In the 11 years since the guild added the ensemble honor, only five winners have gone on to receive the best-picture Oscar, including 2005's "Crash."

Past guild ensemble winners include "Sideways," "Gosford Park," "Apollo 13" and "The Birdcage," none of which won the best-picture Oscar.

The guild's individual-acting winners fare much better on Oscar night because many of the voters for that category are also members of the academy's actors branch, which chooses the acting Oscars.

Three of the four guild winners for 2005 — Philip Seymour Hoffman of "Capote," Reese Witherspoon of "Walk the Line" and Rachel Weisz of "The Constant Gardener" — all went on to receive Oscars, while all four guild acting winners for 2004 won at the Oscars.

The 13th annual SAG awards also recognized Julie Andrews for lifetime achievement.

Film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people randomly chosen from the guild's 120,000 members. The guild's full membership was eligible to vote for winners.

Holmes Takes 'Mad Money' Over 'Batman' Sequel

Katie Holmes is reportedly out of "The Dark Knight," but Suri's mom has picked her first post-maternity movie role.

According to Variety, Holmes will appear in "Mad Money," a heist flick from "Thelma & Louise" writer Callie Khouri.

Holmes and Queen Latifah will play employees of the Federal Reserve who hatch a plan to steal piles of soon-to-be-destroyed currency. A third female lead has yet to be cast.

It's also being reported in Variety that Holmes is officially out of the sequel to "Batman Begins." The trade paper says that Holmes "dropped out," while other Internet sources are suggesting that Holmes' character, attorney and love interest Rachel Dawes, is in the "Dark Knight" script, but that the role is being recast.

Prior to her whirlwind romance and marriage to Tom Cruise, Holmes' credits included "Dawson's Creek" and features like "First Daughter" and "Pieces of April."

Modest Mouse Confirms Release Date, Track List

Modest Mouse has set a March 20 release date for its new Epic album, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank." The 14-track set is led by the single "Dashboard," which is No. 10 in its third week on Billboard's Modern Rock chart. A video for the song was recently directed by Motion Theory.

Starting Tuesday (Jan. 30), fans who pre-order the album via iTunes will receive an immediate download of "Dashboard" as well an exclusive behind-the-scenes clip from the video shoot.

Four songs have been added to the 10 Billboard.com previewed in December: opener "March Into the Sea," the twitchy "Fly Trapped in a Jar," the subdued, spacy "Little Motel" and "People As Places As People." The Shins' James Mercer guests on three tracks: "We've Got Everything," "Florida" and "Missed the Boat."

Billboard.com has learned Modest Mouse, which now features former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, will play some West Coast U.S. dates in March and then hit the road for a world tour upon release of the album.

Here is the track list for "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank":

"March Into the Sea"
"Dashboard"
"Fire It Up"
"Florida"
"Parting of the Sensory"
"Missed the Boat"
"We've Got Everything"
"Fly Trapped in a Jar"
"Education"
"Little Motel"
"Steam Engenius
"Spitting Venom"
"People As Places As People"
"Invisible"

Twin Peaks On DVD - Will You Wait?

We've got a bit of an update for you today on CBS/Paramount's plans for David Lynch's Twin Peaks TV series on DVD in 2007.

As most of you should know by now, the long-awaited Twin Peaks: The Second Season is already set to hit DVD on 4/10.

Our sources are telling us that this release is designed for those who may already have Season One (released back in 2001 by Artisan/Republic) and the unaired pilot episode (released on DVD in Japan and available only as an import) on disc.

However, for those of you who are patient and want it all in one shot... we're told to expect CBS/Paramount to announce a Twin Peaks: The Complete Series box set for release later in 2007 that contains both seasons AND the pilot episode, PLUS lots of newly-produced extras.

Watch for details on the box set to be announced in the next few months.

'King of the Hill' returns

NEW YORK (AP) - "I'll have a normal orange juice, please," says Hank Hill. "And make it normal."

He wishes! Hank, plaintive hero of Fox's comedy "King of the Hill," is joining someone at a dang ol' prissy juice bar. Not by his choice. This is not Hank's kind of place. Nor are these his kind of times.

Never were. After a decade on the air, "King of the Hill" (starting its new season 8:30 p.m. EST Sunday) finds Hank pretty much where he was in January 1997: a Texas good ol' boy in a world bent on serving up things that, in his mind, just aren't normal. Hank's a regular guy in a world that's always redefining "regular."

Hank doesn't smile much. He's sad-eyed, with fretful little furrows etched into his brow.

Even so, he loves his job as a propane salesman and also "loves barbecue, pickup trucks, edging the lawn, both kinds of music (country and western), and lamenting how a lack of common sense and a crush of meddling bureaucrats in today's society make life all that much harder for the working man."

At least, that's how I described him 10 years ago, when reviewing the premiere of this animated yet staunchly uncartoonish sitcom.

I could've added that Hank's a churchgoer and a family man (sturdy wife Peggy; slothful 13-year-old son Bobby; coquettish niece Luanne, 18) who, with his high school football days long gone, plays a new team sport - posting himself with buddies Dale, Bill and Boomhauer out by the street, standing side by side, saying little, beers in hand.

Hank was a remarkable invention 10 years ago. The fact that "King of the Hill" carries on to this day, still funny and savvy, is even more notable.

Sunday's episode focuses on Peggy. She is feeling unfeminine (her size-16 feet and all the great shoes that don't fit them are to blame).

"YOU think I'm feminine, doncha, Hank?" she presses.

"Sure y'ar," says Hank, who, unequipped with a silver tongue, elaborates: "You're a wife, and a mother."

But then Peggy makes a new gal-pal, Carolyn, someone with whom she can comfortably share female concerns - and female tips.

Accounting for her square-rimmed eyeglasses, Peggy tells Carolyn they "hide thin brows, frown lines and wrinkles. People do not say it, but they make me look 10 years younger."

In short, opening up to Carolyn is just what she needed.

But there's a problem. Turns out Carolyn is a drag queen who, while shopping for plus-size ladies' shoes, mistook Peggy for a fellow drag queen.

If it sounds sitcommy, it isn't. "King of the Hill" is as understated as Hank's laconic manner. Its stories rely not on gimmicks, but on shrewdly observed details.

Distraught at having been taken for a man, Peggy orders Hank not to answer the phone when Carolyn calls. But he's obliged to object: "Well, Peggy, that's just like telling a lie."

"Fine," she snaps. "Then, I'm not at home."

"Well," persists Hank, "that's ALSO a lie."

It's a revealing exchange. Not for the first time, Hank has argued for following the rules, however much society prefers to rewrite them. The world may be shifting under his feet, but Hank is taking a stand on his tiny piece of turf.

He's not a raging, Archie Bunker-like nostalgist singing "Those Were the Days." Hank doesn't yearn for the past. He stays busy clinging to a tenuous now: when "orange juice," under normal circumstances, can still mean simply orange juice, without "nutrient boosters"; when being a wife and mother can still certify a woman's femininity.

In his 11th season, Hank more than ever is a man on the spot, torn between squabbling, widening extremes. With his muted battle cry "Hold on a minute here," he's a man caught in the middle between the people in charge. He's the man politicians always glorify in campaign speeches, but conveniently forget once they win. The ordinary guy, just trying to get by.

Nonetheless, dang it, Hank is getting by OK.

And so is "King of the Hill."

Co-created by "Beavis & Butt-head" mastermind Mike Judge (who also furnishes Hank's voice) the show premiered with dim prospects. Only two prime-time animated series before it had been hits: "The Simpsons" (then already seven years old) and "The Flintstones" (which premiered way back in 1960).

What were the odds for this newcomer succeeding? Not only was it a cartoon, but its setting and style were even more reined-in than the typical live-action sitcom.

And what of Hank and the other denizens of quiet, if quirky, Arlen? These characters weren't tailored for the viewer to relate to, exactly. Nor were they engineered as joke machines. Instead, they came across as comfortably familiar - acting like real folks just might act.

As Hank is fond of saying, "I'll tell you what." Against the odds, that's what his show continues to do.

Chipmunks Movie Has A Director

Fans of songs so high-pitched that only dogs can properly appreciate them are in for a treat. The long-mooted Alvin and the Chipmunks movie has a director, in the shape of kids movie veteran Tim Hill.

The story, for those three of you not familiar with the series, follows a trio of chipmunks who form their own musical group, managed by their human adoptive father, Dave. The three chipmunks are Alvin, the troublemaker and star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespecled intellectual, and Theodore, the nice but dim baby of the group.

Originally created in the 1950s for novelty records and then a cartoon series, most people today probably remember the 1980s adventures of the three lovable scamps. Oh, and those helium vocals, actually created by speeding up the voice of their creator, Ross Bagdasarian Sr.

The film will be a CG-live action hybrid, like Hill's last effort, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. But don't hold that against him - he was also the head writer on the much better Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie, and directed Muppets From Space, which wasn't bad. The script for this effort comes from Jon Vitti, a longterm Simpsons writing veteran (he's one of the screenwriters on the movie) and King of the Hill. So while it still has the potential to be really annoying and utterly eardrum bursting, let's keep our fingers crossed and our voices high as this one moves forward.

Report: Police Rehearsing For Tour In Vancouver

The Police will rehearse for their upcoming reunion tour at Lions Gate Studios in Vancouver, according to reports today (Jan. 25) by the city's classic rock radio station, CFMI. Details of the summer trek, the band's first in more than two decades, will be announced next month.

In addition, the Police are strongly rumored to be performing as part of the opening segment of the Grammy telecast on Feb. 11 from Los Angeles' Staples Center. At deadline, a Grammy spokesperson had no information on a possible appearance by the group.

Before the Police get busy, Sting has a three-week European tour on tap in support of his lute album, "Songs From the Labryinth." The outing, which finds the artist accompanied by lutenist Edin Karamazov, begins Feb. 18 in Paris and wraps March 12 in Stuttgart, Germany.

On Feb. 20, Deutsche Grammophon will release a CD/DVD companion piece to "Labryinth," dubbed "The Journey And The Labyrinth: The Music Of John Dowland." The project will include a DVD chronicling Sting's fascination with 16th century musician John Dowland and a concert at St. Luke's Church in London.

The audio from that show, which features the Police's "Message in a Bottle" and Robert Johnson's "Hell Hound," is represented on the CD.

Hargitay & Meloni's $VU

Forget coffee and donuts—with the amount of cash Detectives Benson and Stabler are about to rake in, they may want to consider upgrading to lattes and croissants.

After weeks of negotiations and insinuations that the franchise could fare just as well without its star castmembers, NBC has confirmed that Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actors Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni have extended their contracts for two more years.

Which means the fictional perps of sexually based offenses will be hunted down through at least 2009.

While neither NBC nor franchise mastermind Dick Wolf disclosed the financial terms of the renewed deal, the trades are reporting that Hargitay and Meloni will take home annual salaries of more than $6.5 million.

The hefty payday, which amounts to roughly $300,000 to $340,000 per episode each.

If the reports are accurate, the pay bump puts Hargitay on par with The Closer star Kyra Sedgwick, who, after signing a contract for a reported $300,000 per episode last week, had been pegged as one of, if not the, top compensated female stars on TV.

While he refused to talk specifics of the deal, Wolf did comment on the return of his leads.

"I'm thrilled that Chris and Mariska have decided to stay with a show that they've made an indelible stamp upon, as we move into our ninth season," he said in a statement.

The contracts were apparently finalized this week, though they had been in the works for some time and apparently were close enough to a done deal for for the network to announce last week during the Television Critics Association conference that Law & Order: SVU would be returning in the fall.

Hargitay, who's taken home both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her role as Detective Olivia Benson, and Meloni, who this year received an Emmy nomination for his role as Detective Elliot Stabler, have been with the series since its debut in 1999 and are considered more crucial to the show's success than players in other branches of the franchise.

Law & Order: SVU, the highest rated of all the Wolf procedurals, will not only welcome back its two stars this fall but will add another to its roster.

Flags of Our Fathers actor Adam Beach has signed on as a regular castmember, reprising his guest-starring role as Brooklyn-based Detective Chester Lake.

Movie Theaters To Sell Naming Rights

Borrowing a page from sports arenas and stadiums, movie theaters may be next to sell naming rights to advertisers.

Canada's Cineplex Entertainment, the country's largest exhibitor, announced Wednesday that it had sold naming rights to five theaters in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver to Scotiabank.

As part of the deal, movie patrons who use a specially branded Scotiabank debit card to make purchases at the theater will be able to earn free movie tickets and combos at concession stands.

Crowded House confirms reunion for world tour

MELBOURNE, Australia (Billboard) - Crowded House has confirmed media speculation that it will reunite for a 12-month world tour this year.

Although tour dates are yet to be finalized, the Neil Finn-led group will appear at April's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in southern California along with Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine, among others.

A new album, "Time On Earth," will be released to coincide with the performances, according to a statement from their label, EMI Music Australia.

The line-up will include singer/guitarist Finn, bassist Nick Seymour, and touring keyboard player Mark Hart. Auditions have been held in Melbourne for a drummer, to replace Paul Hester, who committed suicide in 2005. These auditions will extend to Auckland and Los Angeles in coming weeks.

"It feels right to us that the band should re-emerge at this time," New Zealand-born Finn said in a statement. "We look forward to reconnecting with the audience that we established and for whom we still hold a deep respect.

"We aim to make the upcoming shows and the new music every bit as vital and spirited as what has come before."

Crowded House released four studio albums between 1985 and 1996, all of which topped the Australian and New Zealand charts. Its self-titled debut album reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 on the back of smash single "Don't Dream It's Over," which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The follow up album "Temple Of Low Men" from 1988 peaked at No. 40 in the United States.

The group built a huge following in the United Kingdom, where the 1993 album "Woodface" -- featuring Finn's older brother, Tim -- reached No. 6, and hits set "Recurring Dream" hit No. 1 in 1996.

A newly released DVD, "Farewell To The World," documenting their 1996 farewell show on the steps of Sydney Opera House before 120,000 fans, topped the Australian Recording Industry Assn.'s DVD chart and is certified 4-times platinum (60,000 units).

Kidman in crash during LA movie shoot

LOS ANGELES - Nicole Kidman was taken to a hospital after the Jaguar she was in crashed early Thursday during downtown shooting of the science fiction thriller "The Invasion," police said.

Kidman, 39, was examined at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and then released a short time later. Paramedics were called to examine Kidman for injuries before she was taken to the hospital, police said.

"Nicole Kidman was in the vehicle at the time of the accident and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. She was released shortly thereafter," Warner Bros. said in a statement.

No other actors were involved in the scene at the time of the accident, the studio said.

The Jaguar was being towed by a camera rig that skidded while taking a corner and caused Kidman's car to hit a pole on West Sixth Street, police said. The actress was wearing a seat belt.

"The stunt driver apparently went off course and hit a light post at about 1 a.m.," police Officer Karen Smith said.

Eight people, including Kidman, stuntmen and cameramen, were taken to hospitals for examination and were released, Smith said. Warner Bros. said two crew members had minor injuries.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., also said production continued after the crash and Kidman was expected back on the set Thursday.

The Oscar-winning actress, who stars as a Washington psychiatrist who unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, was involved in a scene involving an escape from zombielike characters who are on the hood of the car.

The stakes are high in Casino Royale

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is currently preparing the release of the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale for release on DVD, Blu-Ray Disc and for the PSP in March.

“Casino Royale” introduces James Bond before he holds his license to kill. But Bond is no less dangerous, and with two professional assassinations in quick succession, he is elevated to "00" status. "M" (Judi Dench), head of the British Secret Service, sends the newly-promoted 007 on his first mission that takes him to Madagascar, the Bahamas and eventually leads him to Montenegro to face Le Chiffre, a ruthless financier under threat from his terrorist clientele, who is attempting to restore his funds in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale.

"M" places Bond under the watchful eye of the Treasury official Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together. Le Chiffre's cunning and cruelty come to bear on them both in a way Bond could never imagine, and he learns his most important lesson: Trust no one.

The 2-disc DVD set will offer up the film in an anamorphic widescreen transfer with over 90 minutes of extras such as the Documentaries “Becoming Bond” and ”James Bond: For Real.” Also included is a new Featurette called “Bond Girls Are Forever” as well as the Chris Cornell Music Video.

The Blu-Ray Disc version of the film will feature a 1080p transfer of the movie, including the same bonus materials, while the UMD version for PSP will contain only the feature film without any extras.

“Casino Royale” will come to stores on March 13 and carry a $28.96 price tag for the DVD and UMD versions and a $38.96 price tag for the Blu-Ray version.

PITY PARTY

Now it's time for the Oscar for best achievement in (kiss and) makeup. The world's most stupendous and celebritastic event - you know, the one that draws about the same ratings as the losers-and-freaks episode of "American Idol" - is shaping up as a great big pity party for longtime snubbees Martin Scorsese, Helen Mirren and Peter O'Toole. Collectively, they are zero for 14 at previous ceremonies. But after yesterday's nominations emerged, all were hoping to turn guilt into gilt at the Feb. 25 Academy Awards.

Oscar is always playing catch-up by backing not the swiftest ponies, but the ones at the door to the glue factory. Al Pacino got his makeup Oscar for "Scent of a Woman" because they owed him one for "The Godfather Part II" - which he didn't win because Oscar was bestowing belated (and undeserved) honors on Art Carney for "Harry and Tonto."

Henry Fonda got his Oscar on his deathbed for "On Golden Pond," and John Wayne got his for "True Grit" because for the first time he looked mortal.

Meanwhile, the immortal performances of Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in "Midnight Cowboy" were overlooked.

Mirren - described by one bookmaker as a 1-to-12 crap bet, the single biggest favorite in the history of the Academy Awards has spent more time waiting to be crowned than Prince Charles. She's a cinch to win for her QE II turn in "The Queen," a surprise hit that picked up six nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Director and Screenplay.

The film is a serious contender for Best Picture, along with "Babel," which received seven nominations and is a favorite of the huge actors' branch of voters, and "The Departed," which earned a disappointing five nominations, including only one acting nomination, for Mark Wahlberg as Best Supporting Actor.

Mirren has been nominated twice before - for "The Madness of King George" and "Gosford Park" - but the industry is slavering to reward her this time.
Scorsese, who has five previous nominations but no wins, "should have won twice - for 'Raging Bull' and 'GoodFellas,'" says a longtime voter. This year, he's the favorite for Best Director for "The Departed," though again he's up against Clint Eastwood for the little-seen Japanese-language WWII movie "Letters from Iwo Jima," which has no chance for Best Picture.

Scorsese isn't well liked in Hollywood; working in New York alienates him from the mass of voters.

"He's not a local," says a West Coast voter. "There's this admiration for him as a terrific director, but we don't ever run into him. Aloof would be the polite term. He's like Woody Allen. Let's face it, he's a strange man. We all respect him, but Hitchcock was nominated five times and didn't win. Do Marty's films stack up against Hitchcock's? I think people would be happy if he won because then he could quit campaigning. And who else would you give it to? Marty's the default winner."

(Also up for Best Director are Stephen Frears for "The Queen," Alejandro Gonz lez Iñ rritu for "Babel"and Paul Greengrass for "United 93.")

Like Mirren, O'Toole is gifted, British and winless. He's up for an eighth, and likely final, nomination for "Venus," which will set a record for Oscar futility if he loses to the favorite, Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland."

His first big role, in "Lawrence of Arabia," got steamrolled by Gregory Peck's equally legendary performance in "To Kill a Mockingbird." O'Toole easily could have won in 1968 for "The Lion in Winter," but the Oscar went to journeyman Cliff Robertson for playing a mentally retarded man in "Charly."

Now O'Toole is tied with his old drinking buddy Richard Burton (both were nominated for "Becket" but lost to Rex Harrison for "My Fair Lady") for the futility record - seven nominations, no wins. Three years ago, O'Toole won the honorary Oscar - which he initially declined, saying he hoped to "win the lovely bugger outright" - but both Fonda and Paul Newman won the career award the year before they won Best Actor.

But like Scorsese, O'Toole doesn't work the scene, while Whitaker has been shaking every hand in the 310 area code. "If you have somebody like O'Toole up against you, it's gotta make you nervous," says a voter. "But I'd have to say Whitaker is going to win because he seems like such a nice guy. O'Toole hasn't let anyone know he wants to win. You gotta look like you want it. O'Toole, I worked with him on two films. He was a thorny, thorny man."

"Babel," "The Queen" and "The Departed" were seen as almost evenly matched in the race to win Best Picture. The underdog nominee is "Little Miss Sunshine," a hilarious kitchen-sink indie.

"Babel" nearly ran the table, getting Best Supporting Actress nominations for both Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barazza, two blazingly obscure performers. But the film's only star, Brad Pitt, didn't get a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Nevertheless, he could still win an Oscar - he's a producer of "The Departed."

Also snubbed was "The Departed"'s cackling anti-conscience, Jack Nicholson. "Nicholson sucked," says an East Coast voter. "Wahlberg was brilliant. Plus, they like to discover new people."

Meanwhile, "Babel" is both depressing and a financial flop; "The Queen," while enjoyable, is basically BBC TV.

Does that lay the ground for the biggest underdog in Oscar history - a movie that didn't get a Best Director nod or a single nomination in any crafts category?
"The only film I've heard people say they love," says a voter who has been talking to many peers, "is 'Little Miss Sunshine.'"

MARTIN SCORSESE - ODDS TO WIN: 4:9
nominated 6 times
Best Director
1981 "Raging Bull"
1989 "The Last Temptation of Christ"
1991 "GoodFellas"
2003 "Gangs of New York"
2005 "The Aviator"
2007 "The Departed"

HELEN MIRREN - ODD TO WIN: 1:12
nominated 3 times
Best Supporting Actress, 1995 "The Madness of King George"
Best Supporting Actress, 2002 "Gosford Park"
Best Actress, 2007 "The Queen"

PETER O'TOOLE -ODD TO WIN: 6:1
nominated 7 times
Best Actor, 1963 "Lawrence of Arabia"
Best Actor, 1965 "Becket"
Best Actor, 1969 "The Lion in Winter"
Best Actor, 1970 "Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
Best Actor, 1973 "The Ruling Class"
Best Actor, 1981 "The Stunt Man"
Best Actor, 1983 "My Favorite Year"
Best Actor, 2007 "Venus"

ALAN ARKIN - ODDS TO WIN: 8:1
nominated
Best Actor, 1966 "The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming"
Best Actor, 1968 "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter"
Best Supporting Actor, 2007 "Little Miss Sunshine"

Van Halen reuniting with Roth for summer tour

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - A deal is almost set for David Lee Roth to return to the Van Halen fold for a summer tour of amphitheaters, sources told Billboard.com

They said a contract could be signed as early as Wednesday for tour promoter Live Nation to produce a 40-date trek, which would mark Roth's first outing with the rock band in more than 20 years.

Spokeswomen for Roth and the band said they were unable to provide any confirmation.

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen's 15-year-old son Wolfgang has stepped in for original bassist Michael Anthony in the new incarnation of the group, which also features Eddie's brother Alex Van Halen on drums.

Van Halen last toured in 2004 with vocalist Sammy Hagar, Roth's replacement, grossing nearly $40 million, according to Billboard Boxscore. Hagar refused to collaborate further with the Van Halen brothers after the tour's completion, although he has consistently played live with Anthony in recent years. The warring factions may wind up meeting in public in March when Van Halen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Oscar nomination snubs and surprises

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Usually the Oscar race seems pretty much firmed up long before anyone’s name is announced as a nominee at 5:38 a.m. PST. Not so this year — there were some wonderful surprises and surprising snubs.

Among them:

— WAKE-UP CALL: “Dreamgirls,” the de facto front-runner throughout awards season, received a leading eight nominations — except for the biggie, best picture. It looked like a shoo-in, especially after winning the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy. Co-stars Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson (who also won at the Golden Globes) were nominated in the supporting-actor categories, as expected. But director Bill Condon was shut out, as were top-billed stars Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles. And of the film’s eight nominations, three are for original song. (The others came in art direction, costume design and sound mixing.)

— FEEL THE VIBRATION: Mark Wahlberg, the artist formerly known as Marky Mark, beat out his more established co-stars in “The Departed” — Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon — to score a nomination for best supporting actor. Among the talented ensemble cast in Martin Scorsese’s mob drama, which also includes Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen, Wahlberg was a consistent scene stealer as a bitter Boston detective. He was even more arresting than in his days as a rapper and underwear model.

— NADA PARA PEDRO: Longtime critical darling and Oscar favorite Pedro Almodovar was left out of the foreign-language category with “Volver,” his supernatural tale of strong women in a small Spanish town. The film’s star, Penelope Cruz, did score a best-actress nomination, though — the first for a Spanish actress. Almodovar was widely expected to be included in the category; his 1999 film “All About My Mother” won the foreign-language prize, and he also earned an Oscar for his original screenplay for 2002’s “Talk to Her.”

— HOW DO YOU SAY “OSCAR” IN MAYAN?: It looked like Mel Gibson was nuts when he said he was making an ultraviolent historical epic in subtitled Mayan with an entirely unknown cast. Now it looks like he was on to something — not only did it open at No. 1 at the box office, it has three Oscar nominations: makeup, sound editing and sound mixing. Say what you will about Mel, the man knows how to make a mean — and technically flawless — action picture.

— THE SEPT. 11 FILMS: Paul Greengrass received a much-deserved directing nomination for “United 93,” his harrowing, detailed docudrama about the hijacked flight that nose-dived into a Pennsylvania field. He took the spot that might have gone to Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris of “Little Miss Sunshine,” the only ones in the best-picture category who didn’t also get a nomination for best director. “United 93” also was recognized for its editing. Oliver Stone’s stirring “World Trade Center,” meanwhile, received no nominations, despite his elaborate recreation of ground zero and strong performances from Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

— THE RETURN OF KELLY LEAK: Jackie Earle Haley, until recently best known for his role as bad-boy slugger Kelly Leak in the 1976 classic “The Bad News Bears,” has completed his comeback with a supporting-actor nomination for “Little Children.” Haley is chilling as a former sexual predator who returns to his hometown and sparks fear in the suburbanites. He also appeared last year as a bloodless bodyguard in “All the King’s Men.”

— SMALL FILMS, BIG PERFORMANCES: A couple of Sundance favorites also found themselves among the Oscar nominees. Ryan Gosling, who did complex work as a drug-addicted junior-high-school teacher in the low-budget “Half Nelson,” received a best-actor nomination. And the independent darling “Little Miss Sunshine,” besides being honored among the best-picture and original-screenplay contenders, also earned supporting-actor nominations for the adorable, 10-year-old Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin as a cantankerous grandfather.

'Heroes' Expands Universe with Roberts

The cast of "Heroes" will grow a little bit more this season with the addition of the ever-busy Eric Roberts.

The one-time "Less Than Perfect" star will join the first-year NBC hit later this season. He'll be playing a character named Thompson, an associate of Jack Coleman's shadowy HRG, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In other casting news, Scott Cohen ("Law & Order: Trial by Jury") is reuniting with "Gilmore Girls" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino on a FOX pilot, and former "24" regular James Badge Dale will star in NBC's drama "Fort Pit."

It's unclear whether Roberts will be a regular or have a recurring part on "Heroes." He's one of several recent additions to the cast; former "Dr. Who" Christopher Eccleston made his first appearance on the show Monday, and Stana Katic ("24," "The Shield") was seen in a preview for a future episode. Jessalyn Gilsig ("Nip/Tuck") will also be featured on the show this season.

Roberts, whose credits range from "Star 80" to "The Cable Guy" to "Less Than Perfect," will next be seen in the Hallmark Channel's miniseries "Pandemic." He also has several film projects at various stages of production.

Also at NBC, Dale will play a fresh-from-the-academy police officer in "Fort Pit," a drama about a precinct filled with rookies and veteran officers riding out the last days of their careers. Dale starred in the third season of "24" and recently co-starred in the Oscar-nominated "The Departed."

Cohen, meanwhile, has taken a role in "The Return of Jezebel James," a comedy about two estranged sisters who reunite when one agrees to carry the other's baby. He'll play the boyfriend of one of the sisters. It's a reunion with Sherman-Palladino for Cohen, who played Lorelai's (Lauren Graham) boyfriend Max Medina early in the show's life.

'Borat' improv script lands Oscar nom

NEW YORK - Wa Wa Wee Wah? Borat Sagdiyev himself might have exclaimed that catch phrase upon hearing that the largely improvised "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" had been nominated Tuesday for a best adapted screenplay Oscar.

The majority of the movie, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat, is fueled by Cohen's interactions with real people — most of whom weren't reading from a script. Needless to say, if they had been supplied dialogue, many of the unwitting actors wouldn't have sued (as they have) over their inclusion