Turn On:
On Tuesday night, PBS offers a creepy-sounding "Frontline" documentary: "Karl Rove -- The Architect" (check local listings).
Morning Briefing:
No relief in sight: Despite earnest pleas from Martha Stewart and Mark Burnett, the producer of her new "Apprentice" spinoff, Stewart will not be relieved of the electronic ankle bracelet that she's been sentenced to wear for the next few months. "It is designed to be confining," Manhattan federal Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum wrote in her ruling that says the anklet must stay put during Stewart's period of home confinement. Nor did Cedarbaum see fit to expand the hours Stewart is allowed out of her home to go to work or run errands, or to allow her to travel to film her new TV show. "In my opinion, the sentence I imposed was particularly needed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to promote respect for the law and to provide just punishment," Cedarbaum wrote. "I see no reason to modify the sentence." Burnett objected to the anklet in particular because, he said, it "eliminated any opportunity for Martha to wear skirts." (N.Y. Daily News, N.Y. Post)
Publishing's new path on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Hotshot publisher Judith Regan is moving the bulk of her operation from New York to Los Angeles, where she plans to delve further into movies and TV and be closer to the celebrities around whom she so often builds bestselling books. "There is an amazing creative community in Los Angeles that is untapped on the publishing side," she told Variety. "Hopefully, we will have more day-to-day contact with people in the film and TV business." Regan is already producing several films based on books she's published, including one co-production, "The Dive," with "Titanic" director James Cameron. And her TV projects include A&E's "Growing Up Gotti," which she executive produces; a show based on Robin Lynn Williams' "The Assistants"; and a new stint hosting her own show. She would also "like to create a cultural center," she told the New York Times, (Variety, N.Y. Times)
O my! Oprah Winfrey celebrated the fifth anniversary of O, The Oprah Magazine by handing out $5,000 bonus checks -- tax-free -- to each and every one of the publication's 100 editorial and advertising staff members on Sunday night. "I figured I would give you five things you could really use," she told her troops. (Page Six)
Speaking of Oprah ... Miss North Carolina, 21-year-old brunette Chelsea Cooley, took the Miss USA crown last night after telling the judges -- who included that horndog Raj from last season's "Apprentice" and, if I'm not mistaken, Donald Trump's receptionist, Robin (Trump and NBC co-produced the show) -- that the famous person she is most like is none other than Ms. Winfrey: "She has a passion for life. She loves what she does, and she works so hard to try to achieve everything in her life. I try to emulate myself after that." (N.Y. Post)
Jackson trial update: The mother of the boy who got a whopping settlement from Michael Jackson in the early '90s testified that she allowed her son to sleep in Jackson's bed after the pop star tearily pleaded with her. "He was sobbing, shaking, trembling," she recalled. "He said, 'You don't trust me. We're a family. Why won't you allow him to be in my bedroom?'" When she relented, he bought her expensive presents. She also testified that she allowed Jackson to sleep at her home in her son's bed -- with her son -- on many occasions and that she and her son are no longer on speaking terms. (Associated Press, N.Y. Daily News)
Also: Just a few weeks after the death of his wife of 65 years, Betsy, Walter Cronkite is starting to make some tentative public appearances. On Saturday night, he attended the Museum of Modern Art's tribute to Christopher Guest -- and was warmly greeted by Guest, Harry Shearer and Michael McKean. (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown) ... k.d. lang, still talented, is now reportedly really fat -- and shy, too. (Page Six) ... Courteney Cox and David Arquette named Jennifer Aniston as the godmother of their daughter, Coco, at the 10-month-old's baptism in Alabama over the weekend. (BBC News) ... Billy Joel is out of rehab. (Rush and Molloy) ... The 10-year-old girl Britney Spears graced with an exclusive interview for her school paper turns out to be the daughter of former Star magazine editor Brenda You. (Defamer)
Money Quotes:
Téa Leoni on playing the mother of a character played by her husband, David Duchovny, in Duchovny's new film, "House of D": "As David says, it would have been a hell of a lot weirder if I was his mother playing his wife." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Sentinel Books spokesman Will Weisser on massive speculation that the conservative imprint is hoping that Edward Klein's unflattering book about Sen. Hillary Clinton, "The Truth About Hillary," set for release during her campaign for reelection next year, would do to Clinton what the Swift Boat Veterans book did to John Kerry: "That would be our fondest wish. We're just trying to sell books. It will be up to the voters to read the book and decide for themselves about Senator Clinton." (Page Six)
-- Amy Reiter
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