Turn On:
Thursday night premieres: "PoweRGirls" (MTV at 10:30 p.m. EST), the reality TV show about Lizzie Grubman and her P.R. minions, and "The Hollow Men" (Comedy Central at 10:30 p.m. EST), a new sketch comedy show.
Morning Briefing:
The outing of Anderson Cooper? Village Voice gossip Michael Musto has posted a brief editorial on Out magazine's Web site (teasing an article in an upcoming issue of the magazine, which includes an official response from CNN, though Cooper himself apparently declined to comment) trumpeting to the world CNN anchor Anderson Cooper's sort-of-secret sexual orientation and taking to task the "mainstream media" for conspiring to keep it on the QT. "The more the fringe media want him out, the more the mainstream media conspire to keep him in," writes Musto. "They'll even address his brother Carter's tragic suicide in '88 -- Anderson himself has discussed it on the record -- but not Anderson's sexuality, and Anderson carefully goes along with that proviso, preferring to cover rather than be the story. But watch him clean up after his doggies in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood and you realize Anderson's still living a pretty open-secret life -- out but in but himself but guarded but definitely gray, I mean gay." The linked comments section is rife with postings debating the ethics of outing ... (Out.com)
The bunny struggles on: If you don't happen to live in one of the few cities with PBS stations brave enough to air the episode of the kids' show "Postcards From Buster" that featured a couple of lesbian moms on a Vermont farm -- or if you don't generally make time in your day for chidren's television -- but are curious about just what it was that the Department of Education's Margaret Spellings didn't want your kids to see, a nonprofit group called the Family Pride Coalition is offering the controversial episode via streamed video on its Web site. Click here to watch it. (Family Pride Coalition Web site)
Crass, but interesting: On Wednesday, as Michael Jackson's accuser took the stand for the first time and leveled allegations that Jackson and a member of his staff treated him and his brother to an online porn-surfing session during an early visit to Neverland, the online site Intrade, which calls itself "a trading exchange for Politics, Current Events, Financial Indicators, Weather & other Unique Contracts," issued a press release to let the world know that its traders were betting heavily that the trial would result in an acquittal for Jackson. The site's latest Jackson-trial-related transactions (for "Jackson.Lewd.Acts" and "Jackson.Intoxicating") can be found here. (Intrade.com)
Martha's pattern: Good news for all you crocheters and knitters desperate to be like Martha Stewart. Lion Brand yarns will post on its Web site a pattern for a poncho that minics the one Stewart wore home from the clink last week. The company says it has received more requests for that pattern than for any other pattern ... ever. (Lion Brand.com)
Also: A 67-year-old "60 Minutes" staffer is suing CBS for age discrimination, claiming that network execs used the recent Memogate scandal -- with which she claims she was only minimally involved -- to ease her out of her position because they wanted to replace her with someone younger. (Associated Press) ... The fallout over the controversial piece making light of the pope's illness that ran in the free weekly N.Y. Press continues ... and escalates, with the government of the Republic of Poland now lodging an official protest against the piece, writing that such stories "cause [a] harmful atmosphere and hatred." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... Scott Peterson's lawyers have subpoenaed HarperCollins to turn over all documents relating to the publication of books by Peterson's former mistress Amber Frey and estranged sister Anne Bird in hopes of staving off the death penalty and proving the book deals somehow affected Frey's testimony. (Rush and Molloy) ... Marlon Brando's third wife, Tarita Teriipia, claims in her new book that Brando had an "inappropriate" relationship with their daughter, Cheyenne, who committed suicide in 1995, echoing claims made by Cheyenne herself before her death. Teriipia quotes Cheyenne's diary: "He used to like to massage me as if he wanted me to pretend we were making love. He presented it as a game, but I was just a child and had no idea what it meant." (Rush and Molloy) ... Tina Brown is rumored to be getting $2 million to write a book for Doubleday on Princess Diana, set for release in 2007, to mark the 10th anniversary of the princess' death. (Rush and Molloy) ... Word is that at the after-after-party for the New York screening of the Bruce Willis film "Hostage," the nearly 50-year-old actor was seen enjoying a "mutual gropefest" with 18-year-old Lindsay Lohan. (Page Six) ... The bus driver for the Dave Matthews Band who insisted for months that he had nothing to do with the dumping of raw sewage from the band's bus into the Chicago River (and onto the upturned faces of a boatful of unsuspecting tourists) last summer has now pleaded guilty to the crime and has been ordered to pay a $10,000 fine to the Friends of the Chicago River and perform 150 hours of community service. (Chicago Sun-Times) ... Yes, the Game and 50 Cent (whose new album, "The Massacre," just sold 1.14 million copies in four days, the largest total ever racked up in that amount of time) did put a public end to their violent rivalry at a press conference in New York on Wednesday, shaking hands and handing over a $253,000 donation to the Boys Choir of Harlem, but they never looked each other in the eye. (RollingStone.com) ... Jane Fonda is getting hip replacement surgery. (The Scoop)
Money Quotes:
Ozzy Osbourne on how he regrets putting his family on display in a reality TV show: "Since filming started [on MTV's 'The Osbournes'], my wife has had cancer, my two kids became junkies, I went back to booze and smoking pot, and then I died twice in a bike accident. Life's not all about money." (London Daily Mail via The Scoop)
Jennifer Lopez after she drew a blank when asked about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during a promotional tour in Japan: "Really, I'm sorry." (Rush and Molloy)
-- Amy Reiter
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