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Signs of the Apocalypse Roundup – December 2009 – Week 1

Who will be the first to sue ‘The Biggest Loser’?
But the NY Times has an interesting story that raises questions about the show and could one day give rise to legal repercussions. According to the paper, medical professionals worry about the extreme weight-loss techniques shown on the series. “I’m waiting for the first person to have a heart attack,” says Dr. Charles Burant, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan.

Italian group decries MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore’
Series scheduled for Dec. 3 debut
A national Italian-American organization based in New Jersey says an MTV reality show that depicts Italian-American beachgoers as the “hottest, tannest, craziest Guidos” is offensive and should be scrapped before it airs. UNICO National said Tuesday that “Jersey Shore” relies on crude stereotypes and highlights cursing, bad behavior and violence in depicting renters at a New Jersey beach house. An MTV promo says the participants “keep their hair high, their muscles juiced and their fists pumping all summer long!”

TV Guide to air Susan Boyle special
Doc will feature performances, interview with Simon Cowell
TV Guide Network has acquired the U.S. rights to “I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story,” a one-hour TV special about the “Britain’s Got Talent” star. It chronicles Boyle’s journey from a small village in rural Scotland to international fame following the viral success of her performance on the Cowell-produced “Talent.”

Will Bravo crash party?
Can net afford to have the couple on ‘Real Housewives’?
With a White House review, a Secret Service investigation and now a congressional hearing exploring how the “party crashers” got in to the state dinner last week, where does that leave Bravo? The cabler, which is planning to air “Real Housewives of D.C.” in 2010, finds itself in the midst of a reality TV flap — a familiar spot for many networks that have thrived on the genre yet have to deal with crisis management after the revelation of a reality player’s criminal past, embarrassing background or misdeed. Still uncertain is whether the couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, who are prospective performers on the show, will face criminal charges.

Nicole Richie gets ABC series
‘Simple Life’ thesp to star in scripted half-hour comedy
The one-time “Simple Life” celeb is headlining a single-camera half-hour sitcom in development at ABC. The script, which is being produced through Sony Pictures TV, would feature Richie as a professional woman with complicated family relation-ships and struggling to figure out what role she’ll take as her life and her family evolve. It’s expected that the show will be loosely based on Richie’s own life.

More Horsemen

Business of the Business

Exhibs, studios war over windows
Post-theatrical plans create friction in biz
A number of exhibitors last month pulled “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” from theaters early to protest Sony’s high-def video-on-demand offering of the movie in December, one month before the DVD release. That was the third recent example of exhibs pushing back when studios shortened the traditional timing of post-bigscreen releases. And as studios continue to experiment with windows, the battle lines are being drawn.

TiVo beats expectations for quarter
Company to supply DVR technology to Virgin Media UK
While reporting quarterly financial results that bested expectations, TiVo said Tuesday it will become a primary supplier of DVR software to Virgin Media UK, giving it access to about 4 million consumers. TiVo CEO Tom Rogers also boasted that its longtime association with Comcast could be close to bearing some more-meaningful fruit now that technological hurdles have been met and the giant cabler is marketing TiVo again in certain parts of the country.

Lachlan Murdoch eyes THR, Billboard
Oz mogul targets first major U.S. acquisition
Lachlan Murdoch is targeting for purchase Nielsen Business Media, publisher of the Hollywood Reporter and Billboard — his most significant U.S. business play since quitting News Corp. four years ago. According to a report in the Financial Times, Murdoch — Rupert’s eldest son — has made a joint offer for the bulk of Nielsen Business Media via his investment shingle Illyria.

Bidding to begin on MGM
Investment bank to open Lion’s books to bidders
Floor price for the assets — the 4,000-title library, the logo, the United Artists operations, rights to the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises and half-ownership in the upcoming “Hobbit” films — is believed to be $1.5 billion. Those in the know say the bidding is likely to go no higher than $2.5 billion. Time Warner is viewed as the frontrunner among the bidders as it has more than $9 billion in cash on hand from the recent spinoff of its cable systems sale of its cable systems and is seen as potentially interested in exploiting the Bond franchise (Warner Bros. is the only studio other than MGM/UA to have released a Bond pic, “Never Say Never Again”). Plus, Time Warner acquired the pre-1985 MGM library through its 1996 buyout of Turner Broadcasting.

Study: BBC needs to target sales
Report says to avoid mergers, acquisitions
BBC Worldwide must concentrate on selling programs and avoid mergers and acquisitions unless there are exceptional circumstances. These are among the main conclusions of an 18-month study examining the activities of the pubcaster’s commercial arm by in-house regulator the BBC Trust. It wants Worldwide to earn two-thirds of total revenue from outside the U.K. within five years, chiefly from program sales and channel distribution.

Minutae

Planet of the Odd

‘Pulp Fiction’ screenwriter back behind bars, no longer tweeting
Avary likely will serve out the remainder of his year-long sentence for a fatal drunken driving accident in the county jail instead of a lower-security work furlough program, said Sheriff’s spokesman Ross Bonfiglio. Until last week, Avary had been permitted to leave the furlough program daily to work at a production office, where he sent out Twitter messages about strip searches, lock-downs and talks with gang bangers. After published reports about the short messages, Avary was transferred to county jail. The tweets played a role in the decision, Bonfiglio said, but probation officials also had “security issues.” “He really messed up,” Bonfiglio said. “He could have done nine months out of a year sentence, and not even in lock up for killing someone. Now he is going to do the remainder of that time in county jail.”

Polanski likely to leave jail on Monday
Director’s Swiss chalet being prepped for house arrest
Security experts on Saturday started preparing Roman Polanski’s Alpine chalet for the movie director’s house arrest while Swiss authorities consider whether to extradite him to the United States. One of the key court-imposed conditions of Polanski’s house arrest is that he be fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet that would detect if he tries to leave the chalet, which would cost him the $4.5 million bail he is required to post.

Tyler Perry accused of stealing gospel song for ‘Madea’
The estate of Bertha V. James, author of the song “When I Think of the Goodness of Jesus,” has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against Perry and Lionsgate for copyright infringement. According to the complaint, Perry “incorporated the entire chorus from the song in a monologue delivered by the main character ‘Madea’ referencing her deliverance from a jail sentence and leniency for repetitive criminal conduct, in a staged court proceeding presided over by ‘Judge Mabeline.’”

The real, incredibly mundane reason Darth Vader wears a mask
“Darth Vader evolved out of numerous design concepts and discussions with George,” McQuarrie said in an exclusive e-mail interview. “He was described in the script as leaping aboard the starship through a hole in the hull, wearing flowing black robes. The first thing I thought was, ‘Shouldn’t he have some sort of breathing apparatus if he’s entering the vacuum of space?’ I asked George and he said, ‘Fine, give him a breath mask.’”

Wesley Snipes appeals 3 tax convictions in Georgia
Wesley Snipes’ attorneys asked a federal appeals court Friday to review an “unreasonable” three-year prison sentence for the film star, who was convicted a year ago on federal tax charges. Snipes was sentenced in April 2008 in what was considered a key victory for prosecutors who aggressively pursued the maximum penalty to deter others from trying to obstruct the IRS. They say he made at least $13.8 million for the years in question and owed $2.7 million in back taxes that he refused to pay. Snipes apologized at the time, calling himself an idealistic artist who was “unschooled in the science of law and finance.” The actor, who is free on bail while he appeals the convictions, was not at the downtown Atlanta courthouse.

Bits and Pieces

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

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About The Author

Scott From LA

Scott is an art director, writer and comics creator living in Los Angeles. He has been a pop culture maven from a very young age. His very first job was as a manager of a comic book store. He spent several years working in a video store, and yes, we are talking VHS tapes. A student of literature and Writing, he brings his obsessive love of comic book trivia, movie history and science fiction/fantasy writing to bear on the work he does for CoolShite.

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