Entertaining Posts

Thursday, June 9, 2011

"CSI" star Laurence Fishburne leaves show

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jun 8, 2011 9:29pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Laurence Fishburne is leaving his starring role on TV forensic investigation drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" after a little more than two seasons, Hollywood publications reported on Wednesday.

Fishburne, 49, who plays former pathologist Dr. Raymond Langston on the worldwide hit, has opted not to renew his contract when the show returns in September for its 12th season, said Deadline Hollywood and The Hollywood Reporter.

The Emmy- and Tony award-winning actor joined the cast in the middle of the 2008-09 season as a replacement for original headliner William Peterson.

Once the biggest show on television, "CSI" ranked No. 10 last season with 13 million viewers in the United States, down from 17.6 million for the first episode since Petersen's departure. Its producers gave Fishburne's character a wardrobe make-over in 2009, dropping his glasses and suits look for more casual clothing that they hoped would appeal more to viewers.

CBS, which broadcasts the show in the United States, has yet to announce who will take Fishburne's place.

Deadline Hollywood said Fishburne is expected to resume his movie career full time. The "Matrix" actor returns to theaters in October with the thriller "Contagion."

The "CSI" franchise, rounded out by spinoffs "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York," is one of the best-selling American television exports, licensed in more than 200 countries. In 2010, "CSI" won the international television drama series award in Monte Carlo for the third time.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Dean Goodman)

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Vieira makes farewell appearance on "Today" show

By Chris Michaud

NEW YORK | Wed Jun 8, 2011 2:11pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Meredith Vieira marked her final appearance as a popular co-host of NBC's top-rated "Today" show on Wednesday with an emotional farewell, telling her fans: "I will never leave you."

Vieira, who took the anchor job five years ago alongside Matt Lauer, was lauded with a two-hour broadcast dominated by tributes and remembrances from co-workers and celebrities and clips that ran from light-hearted to emotion-charged.

A clearly emotional Vieira, flanked by the show's Al Roker, Lauer and Ann Curry who will become the new co-host, said: "It's such a family, and it's really hard to leave a family, but I'm not going to say good-bye at all."

She reiterated that her own family was the main factor for leaving. "I know it's right, but it's hard," she said.

She displayed a charm her husband Richard Cohen gave her when she started the job that was inscribed with his and their children's names and read: "We are with you."

"I'm taking this off after the show, and I'm going to pawn it," she joked.

Turning serious, she said: "I'm going to put it in a safe place, and all of you I'm putting in my heart so I'll never ever leave you."

Lauer paid tribute to Vieira's humor and said she made him laugh "every single day."

"I have marveled over the fact that with someone who's got talent as large as yours, how small your ego is," he said. "You've taught us all how to be great teammates."

The show featured taped tributes from celebrities including Martha Stewart, Jay Leno and Jack Black, who sang an excerpt from "Candle in the Wind."

Legendary songwriter Carole King appeared in the studio to serenade Vieira with a favorite song, "You've Got a Friend."

Vieira, one of the original hosts of ABC's "The View," will continue to host the game show "Millionaire."

Her departure is one of several recent high-profile changes in network television posts. Katie Couric, who hosted the "Today" show prior to Vieira, left CBS last month to be replaced by Scott Pelley on its nightly news broadcast.

(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)

"Super 8" opening one day early in Twitter promo

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jun 8, 2011 2:11pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amid rumblings about its low-key marketing campaign, "Super 8" will come out in movie theaters one day ahead of schedule on Thursday as part of a promotional campaign targeted at Twitter users.

Paramount Pictures and Twitter said on Wednesday the sci-fi mystery will open in about 300 theaters across the United States and Canada. It expands to a total of more than 3,000 theaters on Friday.

A hashtag, Super8Secret, has been given top billing on Twitter's list of most widely followed topics, and users can click on the link to buy movie tickets online, and get free popcorn.

The hope is that they will create an online buzz by sharing their passion for the movie with other Twitter users. The promotion marks the first time Twitter has hosted a sneak preview. It teamed up with Paramount in March to premiere the "Super 8" trailer.

Early reviews have been favorable, but "Super 8" could do with a promotional boost. The $50 million movie arrives in theaters shrouded in such secrecy that it may prove a hard sell in a summer bursting with familiar superheroes and sequels.

The plot centers on a group of kids in a small Ohio town who spend the summer of 1979 making a home movie using the titular 8mm film format that was popular back then. They witness a train crash, which triggers a series of inexplicable events and disappearances.

J.J. Abrams wrote and directed the film, while his mentor Steven Spielberg helped him shape the story and served as a producer. But with no big stars and a trailer that does not show the sci-fi alien creature around whom the film revolves, the buzz for the picture has hardly been deafening, despite some good early reviews.

Yet keeping that mystery element intact is exactly what Abrams wanted, much to the dismay of Paramount executives.

"My feeling is that if you show them (the moviegoers) everything, they won't want to go see it, so there's a battle internally," Abrams told Reuters in a recent interview.

Industry website Deadline Hollywood reported this week that audience awareness of the film is lagging in key categories behind such upcoming movies as "Green Lantern" and "Cars 2."

Paramount, as studios often do, is playing down opening-weekend expectations. The Hollywood Reporter said on Monday that the studio hopes it will earn $25 million to $30 million during its first three days of release across the United States and Canada.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Michael Jackson concert insurers decline to pay out

LOS ANGELES | Tue Jun 7, 2011 2:55pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The insurers of Michael Jackson's ill-fated "This Is It" London comeback concerts have asked a judge to nullify a $17.5 million policy taken out by promoters, saying they were never told that the singer was taking powerful drugs.

Underwriters at Lloyds of London filed a lawsuit against AEG Live and Jackson's company in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, asking a judge to solve the insurance dispute almost two years after the "Thriller" singer's death.

Jackson, 50, died in Los Angeles on June 25 after rehearsing for the upcoming series of 50 concerts in London. Authorities said he died of a massive dose of the anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of other sedatives and painkillers.

Jackson's personal doctor is scheduled to stand trial in September on charges of giving the singer a fatal dose of propofol as a sleep aid.

The insurance policy was taken out to cover the cancellation or postponement of the London concerts in the case of the death, accident or illness of Jackson.

The lawsuit claimed that AEG, who hired Jackson's physician Dr. Conrad Murray, failed to disclose the singer's medical history to the insurers "including, but not limited to, his apparent prescription drug use and/or drug addiction."

The lawsuit further states that AEG or Jackson or his company knew but did not disclose that Jackson was taking propofol -- an anesthetic that is usually restricted to hospital use ahead of surgery.

It adds that attempts to resolve the dispute with AEG Live outside the courts have failed. "Underwriters therefore request that the policy be declared null and void."

AEG Live, which is privately held, did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Christine Kearney)

Sienna Miller settles phone-hacking claim

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