JOSSIP REPORTS — Testing out a new talk show is an expensive pursuit. A production company has to convince hundreds of local TV networks to carry the show, they've got to book a studio, cast invite audience members, and then sign a host to a contract that might include paying her even if the show gets canceled halfway through the season. And it's a risky bet, because more often than not, the show is going to bomb when viewers fail to show up. Need we mention: Megan Mullally, Jane Pauley, Sharon Osbourne, Tony Danza.
But then there's the upside, which we could describe, or just say: Ellen. When a daytime talk show hits, it hits big. That's what Lifetime is hoping by giving Carson Kressley his own talker. And Oprah, the queen of daytime, knows the formula well. Having already gone through grooming head doc Phil McGraw for his own show, she's now getting medic Dr. Oz one for himself.
This year, Warner Bros. took a bet on Bonnie Hunt, the actress who had nothing better going on. And like the middle aged white ladies and Tiny Dancer before her, it's probably going to end in flames. CONTINUED »
Jay/Kay Rowling, the British author with the great rack who wrote those children's fantasy books everyone loves so much, finally released herself from the curse of New York courtrooms yesterday.
The ex-school marm was embroiled in a civil case with publisher RDR Books for months, trying to halt the printing of Steven Jan Vander Ark's unauthorized Harry Potter Lexicon book, which turned all of her made-up words into a jam-packed dictionary explaining the nonsense. Though there were some tears, some magic, and some spooky litigious proceedings, Rowling and Warner Bros. prevailed. Now no one can use her gay wizards for monetary gain unless she says so.
Which means your Harry/Professor Snape slashfiction remains in the immaterial realm of the Internet unless you want all of Hogwarts' magical attorneys on your ass.
The accolades for Tom Cruise's brief cameo in Tropic Thunder last week were followed by even louder backlash against the once-admired-now-ridiculed star. Mr. Scientology's last big number was Lion for Lambs, the dismal think-piece propped up by Cruise's own company United Artists. The fact that his partner at UA, Paula Wagner, just quit five days ago isn't helping matters. So you would think Cruise would finally, mercifully, vanish into the background noise like so many other mediocre celebrities, at least until his lost his back fat. Mais non, quel dommage:
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Spun inside this story about ancient television shows finding income streams online is this: Warner Brothers totally regrets merging The WB with UPN to create the underperforming The CW, and is bringing back its namesake network. Slowly. It'll be an online destination for now, where Everwood fans will have a place to congregate before, as we wildly suspect, Gossip Girl is uprooted and named as the relaunched WB's anchor show.
To promote the release of the new Thundercats DVD set (ThunderCats Season 2 Volume 1), where you can "hear the roar once more" of "Lion-O, Cheetara, Tygra, Wilykit and WilyKat and of course the menacing Mumm-Ra," Warner Bros. UK division got out the Batman signal, swapped in a new light filter, and threw up the infamous Thundercats logo on the Houses of Parliament and Battersea Power station in Britain. We're not sure what the laws are like over there, but apparently affixing your brand to someone else's property is not illegal if you can just flip a switch and end the publicity nightmare right away. Unless this is just one of those Maxim-Eva Longoria stunts, where you had to use a special Google Maps plug-in to actually see it yourself.
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Upset that its TV network merger with UPN is paying off with dismal ratings for The CW, Warner Bros. now hopes by dumping its library of old hit shows on WB.com, it'll dye some of that red ink black. It could also signal the studio's readiness, should The CW fold, to launch a younger-skewing standalone WB network. Like it already had. You know, B.G.G.: Before Gossip Girl. [Mediaweek]
Good news struggling bands: Warner Brothers is going to give Perez Hilton his own imprint. The guy who declared Fidel Catro dead and supports Heidi Montag's delusions of musical grandeur can help you make it big.
Why are they giving him this deal? Because musicians like Eric Hutchinson have done well after Perez's endorsement. And that's the music business model: Idiots telling other idiots what to buy.
Although Heath Ledger is said to have finished shooting all his scenes for Batman: The Dark Knight, his death presents some marketing challenges for Warner Bros., who have to sell a blockbuster franchise film not only without one of its celebrity leads, but also in a way that doesn't gross out moviegoers, or smell of disrespect. Especially hard when Heath's character, The Joker, is a vile heavy.
The excellent Kim Masters expounds on how we might be listening to a voice artist for some of The Joker's dialogue, since the rough audio captured during filming might not be pristine enough.
But what about the T-shirts? Action figures? CONTINUED »
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