Afternoon Briefing:
Gay marriage in San Francisco: While other states debate the issue, the nation's first same-sex couple was married this morning in the City by the Bay. The couple, together for 51 years, tied the knot before the Campaign for California Families could get their injunction preventing the city from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Mayor Gavin Newsom helped organize the event, saying he wanted his city to take the lead in supporting equal marriage rights for all. The city assessor officiated over the ceremony and used the phrase "spouse for life" in place of "husband" and "wife." (S.F. Gate)
Aniston and Pitt's dangerous house: Jennifer Aniston says the house she shares with husband, Brad Pitt, is "sexy," but with all its metal and stone and hard edges, "not very kid-friendly." She adds, "We've had babies of friends over to test it, and the tough ones survive banging their heads on the stone floors." (IMDB)
Sex at Harvard? Students at a certain ivy-covered school in Cambridge, Mass., are proposing a campus publication called H Bomb that they say will be "a literary arts magazine about sex and sexual issues at Harvard." It will not, they insist, be "porn," though they do intend to show naked male and female students in "photography portions of the magazine." (The Crimson)
Money Quote:
Robin Williams, at the Berlin Film Festival for a screening of the film "The Final Cut," in which he plays yet another creepy character: "I think from here I'd like to do 'Einstein on Ice.'" (Zap2it)
-- Karen Croft
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With all the talk about the end of "Friends" and "Sex and the City," it's easy to forget about all the other shows that are wrapping up this season: "Frasier" (11 seasons), "Ed" (4 seasons) and even "Wanda at Large" (less than one season). And what are heartbroken fans of, say, "Boston Public," rumored -- though not officially confirmed -- to be on its very last legs, to do? Gather together to mourn the loss. Here's a guide to a few fan-site chat rooms where the mourning is in full swing:
"Frasier" (NBC):
Goodnight Seattle: Now that the end is near, fans are anxious. One says, "I fear Frasier will go out with a whimper, not a bang."
Sitcoms Online: "I'll be so sad to see 'Frasier' go. It's my favorite show on television. I haven't missed an episode in three years," moans one message-board poster. "What will I do with my evenings now?"
Frasier World: Fans looking to remember the better days can review this site, where helpful "Frasier" fans have posted favorable reviews of the show.
Other Yahoo "Frasier" fan sites can be found here.
"Ed" (NBC):
You can sign a petition to save "Ed" here and make donations toward an ad in Variety and/or the Hollywood Reporter. But one poster at TV Tome says petitions "have no effect at all. The only thing that really works is when fans write hand-written letters to the networks protesting and pleading with them to try and undo the cancellation." Heartbreaking stuff.
Sitcoms Online: Alas, though there's a thread called "Ed OFFICIALLY cancelled," many of the posters on this site are still in complete denial that the show is ending.
Other Yahoo "Ed" fan sites can be found here.
"Wanda at Large" (Fox):
Sitcoms Online: Brace yourself, Wanda fans. These posters can get a bit harsh: "FOX has officially canceled 'Wanda at Large,'" notes one. "What took them so long, lol?" At least they're laughing in the face of adversity. I'm sure Wanda would want it that way.
TV Tome: Hope springs eternal at this site. "I have a feeling Wanda isn't cancelled," writes one fan. "I have a feeling it will return, but to another network." Actually, that feeling may turn out to be prescient: Comedy Central is talking to Sykes about starting another show there.
More "Wanda" fan sites can be found here.
"Boston Public" (Fox):
TV Tome: The fans here seem resigned to their treasured show's likely fate, though not happy about it. "When FOX moved Boston Public to Fridays it was giving the show a death warrant," writes one. "For the last 3 years all the Friday night shows have failed ... The same will happen to Boston Public. It's disgusting what the network has done!"
The Boston Public Forum: One poster on this site has started a petition to "keep 'Boston Public.'" Others just express their extreme disappointment.
Official Fox Message Board: You might think that fans posting messages on the official Fox site would paint a rosier picture, but you'd be wrong. Of the show's move to Friday night, one says, "No one watches TV on Fridays, this is just like when my father took my old dog 'out to the Farm.' That was on a Friday as well." Dead puppies and bereft fans: Does it get any sadder than that?
More "Boston Public" fan sites can be found here.
Morning Briefing
Over the troubled waters? Art Garfunkel has pleaded guilty to marijuana possession stemming from his arrest last month in Kingston, N.Y., and has paid a $100 fine. (Kingston Daily Freeman)
Courtney skips court: A judge has issued a bench warrant for Courtney Love after she failed to show up at a hearing related to two felony drug possession charges from her arrest last fall. Her lawyer claimed Love was absent "due to security." If the singer/actress doesn't show in court on Feb. 17, the judge said, she'll be arrested. (Xfm News)
Paris, uncut: The full Paris Hilton sex video was released for download on the Web yesterday and it apparently contains considerably better lit scenes than the little 4-minute version that everyone has seen. According to one report, the 37-minute video (yours for the low, low price of $50) proves "Hilton is the hardest working woman in show business." (Page Six)
Congrats are in order: Salman Rushdie and his young girlfriend of four years, Padma Lakshmi, are planning a wedding. "They are in a wonderful place in their relationship and they are engaged," her assistant confirmed, adding, however, that "they are in no rush." It will be his fourth marriage, her first. (Lloyd Grove)
Money Quotes
Sen. Zell Miller on Kid Rock and the Super Bowl halftime show: "The thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing this ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through the hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, yelling about having 'a bottle of Scotch and watching lots of crotch.' That did it for me. This is the same flag we pledge allegiance to, the same flag that is draped over the coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of this country on a rail." (Lloyd Grove)
Rudy Giuliani on whether he's a metrosexual: "I have no idea what it is. I don't think so. I think I'm kind of a traditional." (Rush and Molloy)
-- Amy Reiter, with additional reporting by Christopher Farah
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