Turn On:
Two new series premiere tonight, and neither of them is getting very good reviews, so you might want to check them out before they're gone: "Seinfeld" alum Jason Alexander stars in "Listen Up" (8 p.m. ET, CBS), a sitcom loosely based on the life of Washington Post columnist and ESPN talk show host Tony Kornheiser. And "Second Time Around" (9:30 p.m. ET, UPN) stars Nicole Parker and Boris Kodjoe as a couple that has gotten married again years after they divorced.
Morning Briefing:
Why Emmy dissed Tony S.: For those of you who were wondering just what it was that James Gandolfini so wanted to tell us during those final moments of the Emmy Awards -- and why he wasn't given the chance -- Emmy (and Emmy-winning) director Louis J. Horvitz explains what went down. It seems that, though we could hear Gandolfini, he couldn't hear himself, and so apparently thought his mike was already off. "We stayed on him" with the camera, Horvitz explained. "But by that time, Garry [Shandling] was scheduled to say goodnight, so the audio opened on Garry's mike. I was on Gandolfini's shot hearing Garry's voice, so I thought it was a good idea to cut to Garry." As for Gandolfini's intended message, "The Sopranos" producers later said that the actor was planning to send a shout out to a military unit in Iraq that had named one of their vehicles "stugatz" in honor of the show. Touching. (The Hollywood Reporter)
It's been confirmed: Yes, Britney Spears did get married to her former backup dancer Kevin Federline this weekend. She surprised all 25 people in attendence at the home of either her wedding planner or the groomsmen's tailor (or both) depending on which tabloid you choose to believe; they all reportedly thought they were going to an engagement party. After a five-minute ceremony, the bride (who dyed her hair brown for the occasion) and groom danced to Journey's "Lights" as the guests chowed down on chicken fingers, crab cakes, ribs and Waldorf salad. But the very best part had to have been the after-party at an L.A. club, Dublin's, for which guests were given velour sweat suits emblazoned with phrases like "Hot Mama," "Pimp" and "Pimp Daddy" -- pink for the women, white for the men. So tasteful. (USA Today, N.Y. Daily News)
Too bad he already used the name "Survivor": Mark Burnett, of "Survivor" and "Apprentice" fame, wants to help his good buddy Martha Stewart revive her TV show when she gets out of prison. "I'm very interested in reinventing her show," Burnett said, insisting that the show would not have anything to do with Stewart's time in the slammer and would instead take as its task reinstating her reliable old image. "It has to be about Martha helping people -- cooking, lifestyles, that kind of thing." (N.Y. Daily News)
Out, with a friend: Macaulay Culkin has reportedly been arrested for drug possession and was held for two hours by police in Oklahoma City after cops found 17.3 grams of marijuana and other drugs obtained without a prescription in a car in which the 24-year-old actor was a passenger. Cops pulled the car over for speeding along an interstate highway and found the drugs -- in plastic bags -- after searching the car, which was driven by a man from New York. Culkin was released after posting $4,000 bail. (Sky News)
Money Quotes:
An interesting suggestion made by "The West Wing's" John Spencer backstage at the Emmy Awards, amid talk that this could be his show's final season: "If I were NBC, I would hold another election, bring in a whole new cast and go another eight years." (USA Today)
Madonna on her five-day trip to Israel (in which swarming paparazzi kept her from visiting the Western Wall): "I realize now that it is no more dangerous to be here than it is to be in New York." (Associated Press/Ha'aretz)
-- Amy Reiter
Bookmark the Fix here. To send a hot tip to the Fix, click here.
Shares