Conan feels liberated after year of tumult

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 12, 2011 6:17pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Conan O'Brien said on Wednesday that his tumultuous past year has given him a new lease on life, freeing him to be sillier and more spontaneous on his new late-night TV talk show than he was in the past.

"There (are) a bunch of things that I wouldn't have conceived of doing a year ago because I hadn't been through this process," he said.

A year after quitting "The Tonight Show" in a bitter showdown with late-night king Jay Leno, O'Brien told journalist that he has no plans to sit down and talk with Leno because there is nothing to learned from last year's debacle.

"We all know what happened. Life is short, and I'm really happy here. I don't think about it too much, and I'm sure he (Leno) is busy," he said.

In January 2010, O'Brien was effectively forced out as host of NBC's late-night flagship "The Tonight Show" after he refused to move the show back to accommodate Leno following the failure of Leno's own, new primetime show. Leno was later reinstated as host of "The Tonight Show".

Leno was cast as the villain while O'Brien's ardent fan base supported him. His plight came to symbolize big corporate entertainment (NBC) chasing dollars over creativity (O'Brien).

The symbolism and media attention, O'Brien said, often made him feel ill-at-ease. "My only goal is for people to look at me as an entertainer. Standing for something more is something I am suspicious of, and uncomfortable with," he said on Wednesday.

After the "Tonight Show" debacle, O'Brien embarked on a nationwide comedy tour and finally returned to TV in November on cable channel TBS with a new talk show "Conan." His career turnabout, according to TBS, has turned around again.

TBS said on Wednesday the three month-old "Conan" had the biggest 18-49 year-old audience of all the U.S. late night chat programs when taking into account playback on digital video recorders during a seven-day period.

O'Brien, 47, and fellow TBS host George Lopez also have the youngest viewers, with each attracting an audience with an average age of 33. The average age of Leno's audience for NBC's "The Tonight Show" and "The Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS is 56, TBS said, using data from Nielsen Media.

O'Brien said the last 12 months had been "a crazy journey of discovery" and that the support of TBS had encouraged him to experiment more with wacky ideas, and live "in the moment".

"I don't want to over think things. If someone has an idea and I haven't seen that before, we will try it and see what happens. I am much more willing to throw things out of the window, if I see an opportunity or a moment that I like. I will skip over jokes, or cut things just before we go on air," he said.

O'Brien spent 17 years at NBC and just seven months as host of "The Tonight Show" before quitting.

"There is nothing like walking away from 'The Tonight Show' to make you really appreciate getting to be on the air, and getting to do a show," he said philosophically.

"My goal is not to do this forever, but just to do this really well."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Edward Furlong scraps trip after latest arrest

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John Travolta and Kelly Preston show off new baby

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:02pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actors John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, whose eldest son died tragically at age 16, proudly show off their new baby son on the cover of People on newsstands this week.

"He's given the house a renewed spirit and purpose," Travolta told the magazine.

At age 48, "Casino Jack" star Preston gave birth to the baby, named Benjamin, this past November.

The couple's first son, Jett, died of a seizure in January 2009 while the family was on vacation in the Bahamas.

Travolta, 56, starred in 1978 musical comedy film "Grease" and played in a number of largely forgotten movies in the 1980s before making his comeback as gangster Vincent Vega in the 1994 "Pulp Fiction." He recently appeared in "Hairspray," "Old Dogs" and the action flick "From Paris with Love."

An image on People's website shows Travolta, Preston and baby Benjamin dressed in white for their cover photo, which the magazine said will hit newsstands on Friday.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Seth Rogen, Jay Chou dish on new "Green Hornet"

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:59pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian Seth Rogen, whose movies include "Knocked Up" and "Superbad," stars in new 3D, action comedy "The Green Hornet," based on characters that appeared in a 1930s radio serial, a 1960s TV show and a comic book series.

Rogen, who co-wrote the movie that debuts in theaters on Friday, stars as Britt Reid, a slacker son of a media magnate who dies mysteriously. Britt befriends his dad's employee, Kato, and the duo reinvent themselves as crime fighters with Britt becoming The Green Hornet and Kato his sidekick. At the same time, they both have eyes for their new secretary, Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz).

Taiwanese singer Chou is a superstar across Asia, and he makes his English-language acting debut in "Green Hornet." He and Rogen sat down with Reuters to discuss teaming up for the movie, Chou's command of English and Rogen's singing voice.

Q: How did you two meet?

Rogen: "We met over Skype, like most people do these days. In looking for a Kato, we got a hold of Jay and set up a time to read one of the scenes over Skype. He was in Taiwan and I was in Los Angeles. We read the scene where we're arguing with each other in my guest house."

Q: Jay, you had an English tutor on the set because you didn't know the language. How was that?

Chou: "My English dialogue teacher was very scary."

Rogen: Yeah, she was the real bad guy on set.

Chou: She was like my mom. 'Hey Jay..."

Rogen: "...are you studying?" (both laugh)

Q: Did you know any English when you began shooting?

Chou: "Just 'What the hell?' and some bad words."

Rogen: "It was amazing how much he learned. But he understood it for the most part. We went through each scene and made sure he understood what was happening."

Chou: "Seth is very smart. Because he wrote the script, he could change anything. My English is not so good and sometimes (my lines) were difficult to say. Seth would say, 'Okay, let's change it.'"

Q: You two are together throughout most of the film. What were some of the biggest challenges you endured?

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Judge orders Michael Jackson doctor to stand trial

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES | Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:12pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A judge on Tuesday ordered Michael Jackson's doctor to stand trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's drug overdose death and suspended the doctor's California medical license.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor found that enough evidence exists to bring Dr. Conrad Murray to trial for the "Thriller" singer's death in June 2009, due principally to an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol.

"I order the defendant be held to answer" for the crime, Pastor said after six days of testimony in a preliminary hearing as Jackson's sister, LaToya, and his brother, Randy, looked on.

Involuntary manslaughter is defined as an unintentional killing without malice and is a lesser charge than murder. Still, Murray faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

During the hearing, prosecutors brought to the witness stand a Jackson employee who testified that Murray ordered him to hide drug evidence the day the singer died, June 25. Phone records showed Murray called his girlfriend shortly after giving Jackson propofol, instead of caring for the singer.

Coroners ruled Jackson died from propofol and the effect of sedatives including lorazepam, but the anesthetic was the key drug. Propofol is most often used in hospitals, but Jackson took it as a sleep aid. Murray has admitted giving the singer propofol.

Defense attorneys have suggested Jackson may have injected himself with the fatal dose, but a pair of medical experts testified on Tuesday that even if that were the case, Murray was still be responsible because he supplied the propofol.

"It's like a heroin addict -- you're going to walk away from him with a syringe full of heroin next to him? It's the same thing with propofol," said Dr. Richard Ruffalo, an anesthesiologist at California's Hoag Clinic.

MURRAY, A HELP?

Defense attorneys also claimed Murray was trying to get Jackson off drugs to help him.

"Why, all of the sudden on the day that Dr. Conrad Murray is trying to wean off Michael Jackson trying anything else but propofol, would he suddenly be given a dosage that goes above that. That defies common sense," defense attorney Joseph Low said in his summation on Tuesday.

Low even suggested Jackson's drug use had riddled his body and, by age 50, it may have been his time to die.

Deputy District Attorney David Walgren seized on that last point, saying: "the standard of care was breached, unfortunately and tragically, over and over again because of Dr. Murray's actions. That is why Michael Jackson is no longer here. Not because it was Michael Jackson's time to go."

Judge Pastor's ruling largely had been expected because the burden of proof is low in a preliminary hearing. Murray is due in court on January 25, at which time a trial date could be set.

Outside the courthouse, Randy Jackson appeared pleased at the outcome. "I think the prosecutors, everyone, did a great job," he told reporters as he was entering his car.

Michael Jackson is a member of the Jackson family of singers and is among the best-selling recording artists of all time. He died of the drug overdose only days ahead of a series of planned comeback concerts in London. Murray had been hired to care for the singer as he rehearsed for those shows.

(Writing by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Philip Barbara)

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