Tag Archives: Fox
Fred Willard Arrested at Porn Theater
Actor Fred Willard was arrested at a seedy Hollywood adult movie theater called the Tiki Theater for lewd conduct, Fox News reports.
It’s not clear what type of lewd conduct Willard was allegedly engaged in at the time of his arrest, but XXX movies with titles like “Step Dad No. 2″ were reportedly playing at the theater. You probably won’t want to create a mental picture.
Perhaps someone should tell the 72-year-old actor about the Internet, where one can watch limitless amounts of XXX movies and engage in all sorts of legal lewd conduct in the privacy of one’s own home. That may have saved him from this embarrassing arrest.
Hollywood undercover vice officers were conducting a routine inspection of the adult movie house Wednesday night when they arrested Fred Willard, reports Fox News. The arrest happened shortly before 9 p.m.
Willard was taken to a police station where he was booked and released, reports Fox News. Generally, in California, someone arrested for lewd conduct is charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. So Willard could potentially face up to a year in jail if convicted.
However, given the nature of the crime, Willard’s age, and his high-profile status, it seems unlikely that he’ll be locked up. As comparison, actor Pee Wee Herman famously exposed himself in an adult theater over 20 years ago and did not go to jail.
Despite being caught with his pants down, Fred Willard’s criminal defense team may be able to argue that his arrest was a giant misunderstanding. After all, he is rumored to be in pre-production for a movie called “The Yank,” writes Fox News. So his lewd conduct could simply be method acting.
Jennifer Lopez Peaces Out on ‘American Idol’
What happened to American Idol? The once great media darling that trounced all competition and raked huge commercial success for it’s producers is “now” becoming a laughing stock. Just days after rocker Steven Tyler announced he would forgo his post as panel judge for the upcoming 12th season, word just broke that Jennifer ‘from the block” Lopez is also stepping down.
Lopez broke the news to American Idol host Ryan Seacrest on his morning radio show.
“I really was dreading this phone call with you,” she told him. “I honestly feel like the time has come that I have to get back to doing the other things that I do that I’ve put kind of on hold because I love ‘Idol’ so much.”
With Tyler and Lopez out, the only dawg left standing is Randy Jackson. Along with Seacrest, Jackson is by far the bouie that keeps this sinking ship afloat. Can “Idol” go into it’s 12th season with only one host? Or maybe no host at all?
When Tyler broke the news on Thursday, he sited his passion for all things Rock n Roll as the reason behind his departure.
“I strayed from my first love, Aerosmith, and I’m back — but instead of begging on my hands and knees, I got two fists in the air and I’m kicking the door open with my band,” Tyler said in a statement. Aerosmith are on a nationwide tour with Tyler and have an album due out in the fall. In a phone interview Thursday with The Associated Press as the news about Tyler broke, Lopez had said she was saddened to hear that Tyler was leaving and that his departure would play a role in her decision.
“I can’t even imagine anyone else there right now because I’ve just spent two years sitting next to him,” she said. “I love Steven, and we became close during that time. We were a great support for each other, on an adventure that neither one of us knew what it was going to be. So it’s hard to hear that he won’t be doing it.”
Fox Executives were left scrambling to pick up the pieces.
“We are very sad that Steven has chosen to focus more on his music, but we always knew when we hired a rock ‘n’ roll legend, he would go back to his music,” said Mike Darnell, the network’s president of alternative entertainment.
Speculation about new panelists has swirled around Mariah Carey to former “Idol” runner up Adam Lambert. There’s even rumors that Mr. Tiger Blood himself, Charlie Sheen might take a crack at Judging.
“Idol” still rules among the most-watched talent shows, topping ABC’s ” Dancing With The Stars” and NBC’s “The Voice.” But the show is fighting hard to keep it’s young viewers, with “The Voice” nearly equaling its audience among adults 18 to 49.
FOX, which from the start has protected “Idol” by programming it just once a year, has now diluted its uniqueness with a family competitor, Cowell’s “The X Factor,” which debuted last fall. After a disappointing start, the show underwent its own judging shake-up to add Demi Lovato and Britney Spears.
“American Idol” hasn’t been helped by a run of horrible champions who have failed to achieve commercial success ala Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson or Carrie Underwood.
One things for sure, the show may not have the same appeal but the Judges are using the panel as a catapult to shill their own brands and make out like bandits.
Charlie Sheen leaving Hollywood
Charlie Sheen has had a long Hollywood career filled with many ups and downs, but it seems his new FX show “Anger Management” really will be the last time we see the once highest-paid actor in television do his thing in front of the cameras.
“Thirty years in, I mean come on. There’s this whole ton of stuff to do that involves my children and the rest of my life that’s not about like worshipping fiction,” Sheen told Fox411’s Pop Tarts column at the FX Summer Comedies party in Hollywood this week, after confirming that after this series he was parting ways with the acting profession.
But in his latest project, the controversial screen star plays a successful, non-traditional therapist specializing in anger management – and the concept of helping others was what drew Sheen to the role.
“He doesn’t judge anybody. He’s just a guy trying to get by,” he continued. “He’s all about atonement, giving something back… He’s cool and he’s smart.”
And it seems Mr. Sheen has learned a valuable lesson since his very public firing from hit CBS sitcom “Two-And-A-Half Men” last year.
“When you get traded, come back and kick ass,” he enthused.
“Anger Management” premieres Thursday June 28 at 9pm on FX.
‘Idol’ Second Place is the 1st Loser
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coming in second on “American Idol” may still be a path to superstardom, but it no longer offers guaranteed paychecks worthy of the next pop idol or rock star.
Wednesday night’s runner-up, 16-year-old Jessica Sanchez, doesn’t have a definite shot at producing an album and could be paid as little as $30,000 in advances for recording singles, according to the “Idol” contract she and other Season 11 contestants signed earlier this year.
The agreement appears to be the first time in the show’s history that producers are not offering the runner-up an album deal that in previous years came with a guaranteed advance of at least $175,000, an Associated Press review of the FOX show’s contracts reveals.
The analysis covers eight of the show’s 11 seasons during which contracts filed for contestants under the age of 18 were available. The contracts were reviewed by judges in accordance with a California law that requires at least 15 percent of a minor entertainer’s earnings be set aside for his or her benefit once he or she reaches adulthood.
The reduced royalty advance covers the period immediately following the show. In addition to recording new music, the series’ winners and finalists are obligated to perform in a concert tour and lend their likeness to a Walt Disney World Resort attraction in Florida.
If Sanchez is given an album deal following the show, she will receive the same $175,000 bonus that Lauren Alaina was paid after placing second in the show’s 10th season. But 19 Recordings Inc., which has the option to handle the albums and recordings of “Idol” contestants for several years after they appear on the show, has replaced a guaranteed album deal for the runner-up with a staggered “Development Period” that requires less music and pays out less in advances.
Sanchez could be paid as little as $30,000 if she is asked to perform four single songs, or $60,000 if she records an EP of between four and 10 songs.
Representatives for 19 Recordings Inc. and “American Idol” producer FremantleMedia declined comment. They also have not disclosed which recording deal would be offered to Sanchez.
“It makes sense. You can’t continue to offer the same sorts of rewards and incentives when the program was averaging 25 to 30 million (viewers), and (now) the finale is barely breaking 20 million,” said Northwestern University assistant professor Max Dawson, who teaches a course on reality television. Wednesday’s finale was the lowest-rated final show for “Idol” in its history.
Britney Spears Steps Out For ‘X Factor’
It’s easy to see why Simon Cowell was eager to add Britney Spears to his panel of “The X Factor” judges.
The “Toxic” singer, 30, officially announced her participation in the show during the FOX Upfront event in New York on Monday. Spears slipped into a body-hugging, white minidress and Giuseppe Zanotti shoes to join Cowell, 52, L.A. Reid, 55, and new judge Demi Lovato, 19, on stage.
“I am so excited about this whole experience. It’s going to be so much fun and so different from anything I’ve ever done,” Spears told the crowd. “I’m ready to find the true star.”
Spears — engaged to Jason Trawick, 40, since December — changed into another sexy number backstage, opting for a purple Alexander Wang minidress. “I couldn’t be more excited to join The ‘X Factor’ judging panel. I’m a huge fan of the show and now I get to be a part of the action,” she told Us Weekly in a statement Monday. “Simon and L.A. better watch out!”
Also on display: Spears’ 3-carat Neil Lane engagement ring, worth an estimated $90,000!
Lovato, who recently dyed her hair blond, turned heads in a colorful design by Falguni & Shane Peacock. “I am totally stoked to be here,” she exclaimed. “I’m excited to represent my generation.”
Spears and Lovato have replaced former judges Paula Abdul, 49, and Nicole Scherzinger, 33, who were fired from “The X Factor” in January. Ex-host Steve Jones’ replacement has yet to be announced.
‘Harry Potter’ Director David Yates To Helm Big Screen Reboot Of ‘Doctor Who’
You might only be barely aware of his existence, but mathematically speaking, David Yates is the most successful film director in history. Sure, James Cameron might have made more successful films, but Yates has consistency on his side; his last four films have grossed a grand total of $1.032 billion. Of course, those four films are the final four in the gigantic “Harry Potter” franchise, but still, that’s not a bad way to start your career (and to be fair, Yates has a string of tiny-grossing Britflicks in his past that bring the total average down).
Now that J.K. Rowling’s franchise is done, there’s been much speculation as to what the director could end up doing next; he turned down the Stephen King adaptation “The Stand,” was linked to an adaptation of fairy tale comic book “Fables,” and is developing the gangster flick “Cicero,” with Tom Hardy set to star as legendary gangster Al Capone. But it looks like he’s also planning to continue a certain theme in his career, with the shock news this afternoon that Yates is going to take on another massive British science-fiction fantasy franchise.
Variety reports that Yates is starting work on a big-screen version of long-running TV favorite “Doctor Who,” which of course, revolves around a benevolent alien time-traveler who journeys, and mostly saves, the universe, in a ship disguised as a blue British police box, and named the TARDIS.
Amazingly, the show’s been running since 1963, with eleven actors to date portraying the Doctor in the official canon (the character can regenerate, changing appearance and even personality when he dies). Other than a much-derided 1995 TV movie made in conjunction with Fox, the show was absent from screens for fifteen years or so, but was revived in 2005, with Christopher Eccleston taking the part, and “Queer as Folk” writer Russell T. Davies shepherding the show, and it’s been a consistently massive hit in the U.K. ever since, as well as earning an ever-growing audience on BBC America.
Eccleston gave way for David Tennant, who in turn gave way to current incarnation Matt Smith, with “The Adventures of Tintin” writer Steven Moffat serving as showrunner, but Yates says that he’ll be ploughing his own furrow, and breaking from the show’s continuity. He tells the trade that “Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch.”
The director also seems to get the appeal of the character, saying that “The notion of the time-traveling Time Lord is such a strong one, because you can express story and drama in any dimension or time” — which is, after all, the reason that the show’s been running for so long. We wouldn’t expect this to be the director’s next film, however; Yates says they’re currently looking for writers, and intends to spend two or three years to get the script right, saying “It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.”
This isn’t the first time the Doctor’s tried to head to the big screen; two films, “Doctor Who and the Daleks” and “Doctor Who: Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD” were made, starring Peter Cushing, in the 1960s, while the BBC have been trying to adapt the project for some time now; we know for a fact that two years ago, Davies was in L.A. trying to write a big-screen version, which apparently didn’t go anywhere. Still, exciting news — as far as we’re concerned, Yates is as good a choice for the project as anyone, and clearly has the cache to get the film made. Look for “Doctor Who” in theaters likely around 2014 or 2015.
Fox Revives hit show from the 90s
Fox has revealed plans to bring back a show that was a hit for the network in the 1990s, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Show Tracker blog. The sketch comedy show “In Living Color” is being revived by the network as two half-hour specials, according to the story.
The new specials will air in the spring of 2012, and will be hosted and executive produced by Keenen Ivory Wayans, who is the original show’s creator, the piece notes.
Wayans will bring together a new cast for the program, whose original shows helped establish the careers of Jennifer Lopez, Jim Carrey and Damon Wayans, the story points out. “In Living Color” originally ran from 1990 to 1994.
X Factor’s Simon Cowell & LA Reid sit down with MTV
On Tuesday night, it was time to face the music. And for five “X Factor” contestants, the music said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Throughout the epic live “X Factor” debut, the judges axed five hopefuls they had been personally grooming, turning a top 17 into a top 12. MTV News was granted exclusive press access backstage to speak with the first batch of eliminated finalists just minutes after they were dropped from the show- but the real questions were saved for mentors LA Reid and Simon Cowell.
Get More: Music News
Report: McCourts reach divorce deal
LOS ANGELES (AP)
A settlement has been reached between Frank and Jamie McCourt in a costly and nasty feud over control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, paving the way for a showdown in bankruptcy court between the embattled team owner and Major League Baseball.
The deal was struck between the former couple, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. The person requested anonymity because the settlement has not been made public. The Los Angeles Times, which first reported the settlement, said Jamie McCourt would receive about $130 million.
The divorce case has been placed on hold until a bankruptcy court in Delaware determines the fate of the team. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday and a judge will consider dueling motions over four days starting Oct. 31.
Jamie McCourt spokesman Matthew Hiltzik declined to comment in an email to The Associated Press. Frank McCourt spokesman Steve Sugerman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The divorce agreement removes Jamie McCourt, who had asked the divorce court to order the Dodgers sold, as an obstacle in Frank McCourt’s bid to keep ownership by selling team television rights, according to the Times.
”I think this may be a strategically sensible decision for her,” said Scott Altman, a law professor at the University of Southern California. ”If he (Frank McCourt) gets $130 million out of bankruptcy, it’s hers. It reduces her risk because she doesn’t have to share proceeds from the bankruptcy case.”
The settlement now allows Frank McCourt to focus on his battle with Major League Baseball, which is seeking permission from a bankruptcy judge to file a reorganization plan that calls for McCourt to sell the Dodgers.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney declined comment about the settlement.
Attorneys for Frank McCourt have argued a media rights sale is the best path out of bankruptcy for one of baseball’s most storied franchises.
The McCourts previously reached a divorce settlement on June 17, but the deal was contingent on approval of a proposed television contract between the Dodgers and FOX. That deal would have given Jamie McCourt $100 million and she would retain the former couple’s six luxurious homes.
But baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected the 17-year TV contract with FOX, reported to be worth up to $3 billion, noting in part that almost half of an immediate $385 million payment would have been diverted from the Dodgers.
On June 27, Frank McCourt took the Dodgers into bankruptcy.
Jamie McCourt subsequently lined up behind Major League Baseball and FOX in asking the bankruptcy court to reject Frank McCourt’s bid to auction Dodgers television rights.
If Frank McCourt were to prevail in bankruptcy court, it’s unclear whether the judge would allow him to tap into the TV money to pay the settlement. It’s also unknown whether the proceeds from the sale of the team would even exceed $130 million.
Some observers said one of the reasons behind the settlement may be the legal bills that have amassed over the past two years. The former couple has racked up more than $20 million in fees, according to court documents.
”This ends it,” said Los Angeles family attorney Robert Nachshin. ”They stop paying divorce lawyers and she gets $130 million.”
MLB had assumed control of the club’s day-to-day operations in mid-April before the team filed for bankruptcy. Former Texas Rangers President Tom Schieffer was appointed to monitor the team on behalf of Selig, who said he took the action because he was concerned about the team’s finances and how the Dodgers are being run.
Why last season of Glee wasn’t as fun
“Glee” co-creator Ryan Murphy took some time after a screening of the Fox series’ third-season premiere to explain to reporters why the new season will be an improvement over the second season, reports Deadline.com.
Season two, the story notes, was marked by complaints from the show’s fans, along with controversy over comments by Murphy about some of his stars.
With “Glee” becoming a hit so quickly, Murphy hinted the job became more than running a television show during the second season. “I’d run television shows before, but I’d never run a business before. It was a weird thing,” he said of the second season. But now, he added, “I have my passion back for it.”
The producers are focusing on “making this the best year we’ve ever done. And in fact, we think that’s exactly what we’re going to have. Part of the reason for that is we’ve figured out the best way to shoot the show, and a way to do it more economically for Fox.”
As far as the feelings of the show’s actors, Murphy said, “The actors I feel are really renewed and excited and are thrilled to be there.”
Asked about several of the show’s stars who play graduating seniors and have been reported to be leaving after the third season, Murphy suggested there could be other ways to keep them on air.
“They could become teachers. They could become college students. There are very organic ways you could keep them on the show, and keep them big, and keep the audience invested in them. … But the show is always going to be about that choir room,” he said, according to the article.
