Turn On:
Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST, Fox premieres "Point Pleasant," its new supernatural drama series about a young girl who is washed ashore in a sleepy New Jersey beach town and causes "all hell ... to break loose" with its inhabitants.
Morning Briefing:
F-bombs away: Sure, the security forces were out in droves at the Jenna and Barbara Bush-hosted inaugural concert for youth, "America's Future Rocks Today," at the D.C. Armory on Tuesday, but that didn't stop Fuel frontman Brett Scallions from dropping the F-bomb on hundreds of Hilary Duff fans and their parents. "Welcome to the greatest ----ing country in the world," Scallions hollered to the crowd, adding "excuse my language." So even though Kid Rock was barred from the concert -- which included appearances by Ruben Studdard, JoJo, 3 Doors Down, Ryan Cabrera, Jason Sehorn, Stephen Baldwin and President Bush himself -- he was clearly there in spirit ... (Associated Press)
Broadway firestorm? Brace yourselves: The finest musical in the world may be headed to Broadway. Mark Burnett and Donald Trump say they're hoping to bring "The Apprentice: The Musical" to Broadway sometime soon. "It's a love story," Burnett, who is currently working on the book for the show and shaping the proposal, told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's very inspirational." Trump added that he and Burnett have already had a "lot of interest" from theater types and predictably predicted that "'The Apprentice' on Broadway would be a smash." (Hollywood Reporter via N.Y. Daily News and Associated Press)
Stewart, the new Rather? CBS chairman Les Moonves says the network plans to make sweeping changes in the way it covers news after Dan Rather departs in March, acknowledging that the changes are directly related to the network's recent Memogate scandal. Had that not happened, "the look would have been different," he said. "The feel would have been different. Obviously, when something like this happens, it makes you examine a little further and perhaps go even further. In fact, as opposed to an evolution, maybe we're dealing with a revolution." He says the network may try multiple anchors, rather than one "voice of God, single anchor" -- and may make a play for a younger audience by hiring someone like, say, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart. "That's one of the possibilities we're looking into," said Moonves. "Jon Stewart is part of our company, and we speak regularly about all sorts of different things," (N.Y. Times)
Sexual adventures, always in vogue? In his forthcoming biography about Anna Wintour, "Front Row: The Cool Life and Hot Times of Vogue's Editor in Chief," author Jerry Oppenheimer claims that in the late '70s, the Vogue honcha had a brief affair with Bob Marley after scoring a backstage pass to meet him after a concert. According to Oppenheimer, Wintour also had flings with her boss Si Newhouse and "Monty Python" star Eric Idle. (Page Six)
Also: Martin Bashir, the documentarian and ABC News man who captured on camera Jackson and his young accuser discussing their penchant for sleeping in the same bed, is fighting a request by prosecutors in the Michael Jackson child molestation case that he testify in the trial. (Associated Press) ... Esquire has apologized to William F. Buckley Jr. -- and agreed to pay him $65,000 and to destroy all the copies of 2003's "Esquire's Big Book of Great Writing" currently in its possession -- after including in the book a tremendously unflattering 1969 essay about Buckley by Gore Vidal over which Buckley successfully sued the magazine for libel at the time of its original publication. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... Mets catcher Mike Piazza, who once held a press conference to refute rumors that he was gay, is reportedly engaged to marry -- in Florida, weekend after next -- ex-Playboy Playmate and "Baywatch" babe Alicia Rickter. (Rush and Molloy, N.Y. Post) ... Now that Lindsay Lohan's dad, Michael, is freshly out of rehab, Lindsay Lohan's mom, Dina, has filed for a divorce to end their notoriously troubled marriage. (Rush and Molloy, Page Six) ... "Everybody Loves Raymond" will air its final half-hour episode on May 16 at 9 p.m. EST, wrapping up a nine-season run on CBS. (N.Y. Daily News, Associated Press) ... "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson has bought the rights to Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" and plans to begin work on a film adaptation after he completes "King Kong." (Variety via BBC News)
Money Quote:
Brad Pitt's press rep, insisting that the snuggly photo of Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the current Star -- said to depict the two stars off-camera on the set of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" -- is actually a rehearsal shot: "It's been retouched -- and pretty badly, because it looks like her hand is coming out of his stomach." (Rush and Molloy)
-- Amy Reiter
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