Time is up for '24'
USA TODAY's Gary Levin reports that the clock has apparently run out on 24. Fox's real-time thriller is expected to end its run after eight seasons in May because of escalating costs and declining ratings, say production sources not at liberty to speak publicly before the announcement. The show averages 11.7 million viewers. But producers are mulling a feature film to extend the life of the groundbreaking series starring Kiefer Sutherland as an antiterrorism agent. Fox declined comment.
Fawcett omission from Oscar segment no accident
LOS ANGELES The executive director of the film academy said Tuesday that Farrah Fawcett wasn't included in the Academy Awards' In Memoriam segment because the actress was better known as a TV star.
It was a difficult decision for the committee that assembles the segment to omit Fawcett, said Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis, who added that he's not surprised some fans and family members are upset.
Fawcett's family issued a statement through a publicist Tuesday saying they were "deeply saddened" and "bereft with this exclusion of such an international icon who inspired so many for so many reasons."
Davis said the academy committee debated about including Fawcett and Gene Barry, a longtime TV actor who died in December at age 90, in the memorial segment but ultimately omitted both.
Davis and his colleagues thought that while the two actors appeared in movies, they were better known for their "remarkable television work" and would be more appropriately honored by the television academy at the Emmy Awards.
The group "was kind of figuring that probably the Farrah Fawcett and Gene Barry omissions would be the ones we'd get the most comments on," he said. He acknowledged that he "did get one letter about Miss Fawcett."
The academy director said "an unusual number of extremely distinguished screenwriters" died this year, and the academy tried to honor many of them in the short memorial segment.
"In every category, you're going to miss some wonderful people," said Davis, who has helped assemble Oscar's In Memoriam montage since it began in 1993.
When asked why Michael Jackson was included when actors were left out, Davis explained that Jackson had appeared in a popular theatrical film recently. Fawcett and Jackson both died on June 25.
"Think of all the blogging we would have gotten if we had left him out!" he said.
Still, he said he understands that the Fawcett and Barry omissions sting.
"There's nothing you can say to people, particularly to family members, within a day or two of the show that helps at all," Davis said. "They tend to be surprised and hurt, and we understand that and we're sorry for it."
'Avatar' DVD release tied to Earth Day
Blue is the new green so get ready to return to Pandora on Earth Day in April.
James Cameron has scheduled the DVD and Blu-ray release of his mega-hit Avatar for April 22 in a deliberate attempt to parallel his science-fiction fantasy, and its simple-minded ecological messages, with the real-life environmental movement.
Call him naive and most critics and audiences have done so but Cameron is obviously hard-wired into the eco-zeitgeist because Avatar is running away with box-office records.
There is no reason to believe that the home entertainment releases will not do incredibly well, too, even though the April DVD and Blu-ray products will be bare-bones vanilla versions with few if any bonus materials. Cameron has hinted that the fully loaded editions will arrive in November, although that may be optimistic, depending on whether there is an attempt to show Avatar in 3D (that technology for current home entertainment systems is still crude). But Cameron is known from past DVD releases, such as for The Abyss and Titanic, to be extraordinarily generous and comprehensive when he does deliver the goods in bonus materials.
The scheduled Avatar release is one of many involving Oscar-nominated pictures. There are 22 feature films with at least two noms. Five have already been released to home entertainment. Another seven are scheduled for March, including both Up in the Air and Precious next week. Another three, including Avatar, will debut in April. One more is confirmed for May while five are waiting for their release dates. Of the 10 best picture contenders, five are already on DVD and Blu-ray which has been helpful in their Oscar campaigns while the other five are scheduled.
If you want to catch up on your Oscar nominees, here are time-lines, along with the number of nominations, for the 10 best picture candidates (dates are subject to change, depending on the whims of distributors):
Avatar (9 Oscar nominations): April 22.
The Hurt Locker (9): Already released Jan. 12 with a strong Blu-ray version.
Inglourious Basterds (8): Already released Dec. 15 with excellent DVD and Blu-ray editions.
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (6): March 9.
Up in the Air (6): March 9.
District 9 (4): Already released Dec. 22 with an excellent Blu-ray that includes the original Canadian-made short that inspired the feature.
An Education (3): March 30.
The Blind Side (2): March 23.
A Serious Man (2): Already released Feb. 9 with a decent DVD and Blu-ray.
As for films that did not make it as a best-picture candidate but which factor into the Oscar race in other categories, here is information on their home entertainment releases:
Nine (4): Not yet scheduled.
Star Trek (4): Already released Nov. 17 in terrific, fan-friendly DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Crazy Heart (3): Not yet scheduled.
The Princess and the Frog (3): March 16.
The Young Victoria (3): April 20.
Sherlock Holmes (2): March 30.
Invictus (2): Not yet scheduled.
The Messenger (2): May 18.
The Last Station (2): Not yet scheduled.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2): March 23.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2): April 27.
The White Ribbon (2): Not yet scheduled.
Yauch restarting work on album
Cancer-struck Beastie Boys rapper Adam Yauch is planning to restart work on the band's latest album now he's recovering from the illness - but the record's release is still dependent on his health.
Hot Sauce Committee, Part 1 was indefinitely postponed after Yauch was diagnosed with a salivary gland tumour last year.
He underwent surgery to remove the growth and kickstarted a health drive with a trip to Tibet.
Yauch recently announced he's feeling much better in his ongoing battle against cancer, and now hopes to restart work on the new record which could be released in September as long as he remains healthy.
He tells EW.com, "I feel better. It was touch and go there for a while, but I am finally getting my energy back. It was really disappointing to have to hold the record and postpone the tour, but doctor's orders. We may or may not (release the album) depending on how my health is come September. We want to but we have to play it by ear. We were talking about working on it a bit. We finished the record over a year ago, so we want to take a look at it and re-evaluate and make sure it is what we want to put out there and that we are still happy with it. I don't think we will change it up too much."
Producer admits to attempted Letterman shakedown
NEW YORK A television producer has pleaded guilty to trying to shake down David Letterman over the comic's sexual affairs.
Robert "Joe" Halderman entered his guilty plea to attempted grand larceny Tuesday in a Manhattan court. He is being sentenced to six months in jail and 1,000 hours of community service.
He was charged last fall with demanding $2 million to keep quiet about Letterman's love life. The case spurred the late-night TV icon to tell viewers he'd had affairs with women on his staff.
Halderman's lawyers initially said he was just offering to sell Letterman a thinly veiled screenplay about the comedian's life.
Halderman is a producer for CBS' "48 Hours Mystery."
Andy Richter calls 'Tonight' exit frustrating
NEW YORK Andy Richter, Conan O'Brien's sidekick at "The Tonight Show," is acknowledging some ill will toward NBC and Jay Leno in the wake of the network's late-night upheaval.
"Why wouldn't I?" said Richter, who was filling in Tuesday for Regis Philbin on "Live! with Regis and Kelly."
Richter told Kelly Ripa he was frustrated that Leno was allowed to reclaim "The Tonight Show" host chair just nine months after O'Brien had inherited that plum assignment.
"NBC, definitely, everybody said they were going to do something and they didn't," said Richter, implying the network broke long-standing commitments it made to O'Brien.
O'Brien left NBC and "Tonight" in January amid complaints by NBC of low ratings. NBC had proposed reinstating Leno in the 11:35 p.m. EST slot and bumping O'Brien back a half-hour.
O'Brien's future is unclear. So is Richter's, though he said, for now, he's still an NBC employee, "so we'll see if those checks keep coming."
He called a rumored live concert tour for O'Brien and Co. "a distinct possibility."
It all ended much quicker than he could have imagined, said Richter, who figured his "Tonight" job was "as good as it gets in show business."
He said he figured "I'm a tenured professor of show business now," but quickly learned otherwise. "I guess I'm really good at getting kicked off the air, because it's what I've been doing for the last 10 years."
Ripa had a suggestion for his next career move.
"You and Conan should do another show on another network called 'We Were on The Tonight Show,'" she joked. "Wouldn't that be exciting!"