Morning Briefing:
Son's mysterious death explained? The official autopsy results haven't been released yet by police, but sources at the hospital in the Bahamas where Anna Nicole Smith recently gave birth to a daughter say her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died of a "massive heart attack." According to reports in the Nassau Guardian, Daniel simply collapsed and died while visiting his mother in the maternity ward. (Perez Hilton, Nassau Guardian)
Three is a trend, right? It's odd enough that ABC borrowed from an alien show for the promotional posters for its controversial miniseries "The Path to 9/11" -- as a Fix reader points out, almost the exact same idea was picked up by Ted Koppel. The promotional image for Koppel's 9/11 show on Discovery, "The Price of Security" -- seen, among other places, on the back of the current issue of Time -- takes exactly the same eyes-peering-through-the-flag motif, and looks to us like the nightmarish offspring of the first two.
DoAP coming soon to a theater near you: Gabriel Range's "Death of a President," the what-if movie about the assassination of President Bush, was picked up for U.S. distribution by Newmarket Films at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday. As Variety points out, Newmarket's biggest distribution deal to date was with "The Passion of the Christ." (Variety)
Also:
As this photo proves, not even George W. Bush is immune to the strange power of Matt Lauer's abs. (Splash News) ... Eva Longoria says that "Desperate Housewives" will be her last TV show -- once it ends, she's going to abandon the small screen for film: "I love doing both, but I would never do another TV show after 'Desperate Housewives.'" (Associated Press) ... Part 1 of ABC's "Path to 9/11" got only 13 million viewers, compared with 20.7 million for the Sunday night NFL matchup. A spokesman for Bill Clinton said the former president "made the choice that most Americans made" and watched the game. (BBC News) ... At a show in Yellow Springs, Ohio, over the weekend, Dave Chappelle said he's a big fan of the Midwest and has no plans to move back to a big city anytime soon. "Hi, I'm Dave Chappelle. I used to be cable's hottest star and now I'm just a Yellow Springs guy," he said. "Turns out you don't need $50 million to live around these parts, just a nice smile and a kind way about you." (Post Chronicle) ... MGM pledges a future full of sequels, including another installment of "Terminator" and a version of "The Hobbit." (Dark Horizons)
Money Quote:
Rapper DMX on Jay-Z's love of the flip-flop: "The flip-flops -- he's just not the same. It's Beyoncé. He's a sucker for love. Thugs don't do flip-flops. Yo, no matter how much vacation I'm on -- we been to St. Thomas, Bahamas, all the little islands -- I don't wear no flip-flops. I'm never that comfortable, not even in my own house." (Vibe via Page Six)
Turn On:
It's the season premiere of "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC, 8 p.m. EDT) -- this time featuring the earnest moves of Tucker Carlson and Jerry Springer, among others -- followed by the series debut of Anne Heche in "Men in Trees" (ABC, 10 p.m. EDT). Tuesday also marks the end of another round of "Big Brother: All-Stars" (CBS, 8 p.m. EDT).
On the Talk Shows:
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings): Mario Batali; Julianne Moore, Bart Freundlich
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Ashton Kutcher, TV on the Radio
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT): Billy Bob Thornton, Diane Lane, Lionel Richie
Conan O'Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Zach Braff, Artie Lange, John Mayer
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT): Michael Rapaport, Joely Fisher, Whitley Strieber
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT): Orlando Bloom, Emily Deschanel, Lyfe Jennings
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT): Gary Hart
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT): Toby Keith
-- Scott Lamb
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