Turn On:
Two buzzy new series kick off on Thursday night: "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show" (8:30 p.m. ET, WB), in which the comedian and his cast will showcase their improv skills, and "Life As We Know It" (9 p.m. ET, ABC), about three sex-crazed teenage boys featuring (among others) Kelly Osbourne.
Morning Briefing:
Rush's rebuttal: How has Rush Limbaugh responded to the 4th District Court of Appeals in Florida ruling handed down yesterday that the seizing of his medical records by the state's attorney's office in Palm Beach County was legal? With a long radio-show ramble directing his listeners to a PDF file where they could read one judge's dissenting view on the case. Pledging to continue "to fight this as far as we can," Limbaugh also intoned, "The issue here goes beyond me, actually. It goes to the privacy of everyone's medical records. If this became a precedent, then no one's medical records would be private." And if you've been doctor-shopping to get non-prescription drugs, that goes double for you. (RushLimbaugh.com)
Stern's stern warning: Howard Stern says it isn't just the money ($500 million over five years) that's enticing him to ditch regular radio for the Sirius Satellite Radio, starting in 2006. Artistic freedom is a huge factor. "I was dying because the same material we put on 10 years ago, we could never put on today," he said. "They edit the crap out of it. Even the stuff we've put on two years ago we can't do today." And then there's revenge to consider. "I just want to bury Clear Channel," he said on his radio show. "I want to make every one of their radio stations worth 3 cents. You sonofabitches, I will bury you." (N.Y. Daily News)
Brando rumors scuppered, started: Marlon Brando's friends and family are reportedly objecting to rumors that the late actor was reclusive and destitute at the end of his life, saying he liked to go out and that his estate is valued at somewhere around $22 million. But at a gathering of people close to Brando a few days after his death in July, Ed Begley Jr. shared a story that either raises questions about Brando's grip on reality or proves he had one heckova deadpan sense of humor: Begley recalled how Brando at one point summoned him to his estate on an urgent matter -- a plan to acquire thousands of electric eels. "'We're going to run the house on the eels,'" he said Brando told him. And when Begley pooh-poohed the plan, Brando muttered, "'Everything's no with you.'" Says Begley, "I don't know if he was kidding. To the day he died he never let on." (N.Y. Times)
Also: Britney Spears has split from the manager who guided her career from the time she was 15 in what is being called an "amicable" parting of ways (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... Sean Hannity has been accused of blowing off a speaking gig at Washington University in St. Louis because the student organizers couldn't find a private plane fancy enough to fly him out on, but he says it's because he's afraid to fly on private jets without vetting them for safety first (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... MoveOn.org is calling for the firing of Fox News' chief political correspondent, Carl Cameron, following the publication of Cameron's recent faux report ridiculing Sen. John Kerry (Rush and Molloy) ... Marilyn Manson is planning to get married to burlesque queen Dita von Teese next month at a German castle (Page Six) ... And Mel Gibson has been granted a three-year restraining order against a homeless man who he says has sent him letters and shown up uninvited at his home and his church insisting that the actor join him in prayer (Associated Press)
Money Quotes:
Michael Moore on Republican outrage over his offering free undies to college students who pledge to vote for the first time in the upcoming election: "It's ironic that Republicans have no problem with allowing assault weapons out on our streets, yet they don't want to put clean underwear in the hands of our slacker youth." (Associated Press)
Dr. Phil on John Kerry: "He really blooms where hes planted. (N.Y. Post)
-- Amy Reiter
Bookmark The Fix here. To send a hot tip to The Fix, click here.
Shares