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So, are you still crazy?

Susan Young — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:42:41 +0000

“Gilmore Girls” has a new producer since the exit of creator Amy Sherman Palladino and her husband Daniel.

And David S. Rosenthal has a rather shaky past.

Six years ago, the former “Spin City” writer fixated on Heidi Klum after the model appeared on the series as a guest. He left his wife and began obsessing about having sex with Klum. He even wrote a profane play “Love” about it all.

When his rabbi dad read the play, he had his son committed to a mental hospital.

So now Rosenthal is the showrunner for a series about the close relationship between mother and daughter.

Great.

When asked during a press session on Monday how his past makes him the right guy to lead “Gilmore Girls,” the air was sucked right out of the room.

“My personal life is not an issue here,” said Rosenthal who looked like he just took a punch to the gut. “It’s not worth getting into. I’m just here to talk about the show.”

Star Lauren Graham quickly shut down any follow up questions on the subject by saying, “It has nothing to do with anything. Next?”

Kill “Gilmore Girls’ ” Luke?

Susan Young — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 08:21:09 +0000

It’s no secret that Lauren Graham isn’t co-star Scott Patterson’s greatest fan.

Earlier in the “Gilmore Girls” press session, Graham also admitted that she doesn’t like working with the dog, named Paul Anka on the show. Not that she doesn’t love dogs, mind you. She just doesn’t like doing dog dialogue with the hound.

“I have made no secret of the fact that I do not enjoy working with the actor Paul Anka, although the person Paul Anka was joyful and a delight and gave me a stack of CDs, I just am not a fan of dog comedy.”

So is Paul Anka returning?

“Yes. See? I have no power here. No one cares if I don’t like working with Paul Anka,” Graham says.

Was that just a thinly veiled reference to dog or Patterson?

All we know is afterwards during the rush to the stage, she was asked if she would try to get rid of Patterson.
“I can’t get the dog killed,” she says jokingly. “How can I do that?”

WB’s censor end-run

Susan Young — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:54:32 +0000

Bowing to pressure from recent Federal Communication Commission fines for indecency, the WB has chosen to delete some scenes from the new series “Bedford Diaries,” about randy college students taking a class in sexuality.
But in a truly subversive move, the network will show the uncensored version where the FCC has yet to tread: on the Internet. The WB issued a statement on Thursday:

“The WB takes its responsibility as a broadcast network very seriously and we have always been mindful of the FCC’s indecency rules. While we believe that the previous uncut version of “The Bedford Diaries” is in keeping with those rules, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to make some additional minor changes to the premiere episode of the series which is set to debut next Wednesday, March 28th.
“We also decided to make the original version available on the Internet at TheWB.com which allows those interested in seeing the producer’s creative vision to do so while at the same time recognizing the special rules that apply to the broadcast medium.”

Let the streaming steamy video begin.

Goodbye ‘Heaven,’ hello `Everwood’

Susan Young — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 20:48:22 +0000

There’s no hope for the WB series “7th Heaven,” which will be axed this year.

Garth Ancier, chairman of the network, says it all boiled down to dollars and cents.

“This year the show will lose $16 million for the WB and that’s with a license fee reduction from last year,” Ancier says. “At least to us, that’s a big number…As much as we all love the show, you do have to run a business.”

On the other hand, “Everwood” will be back stronger than ever after “Beauty and the Geek” wraps up. The series will have 13 episodes airing without a single repeat.

Reba’s goodies

Susan Young — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:27:17 +0000

Country legend Reba McEntire , star of the WB sitcom “Reba,” says she doesn’t really care if they put a pair of $1,250 jeans in her Golden Globes goodie bag.

“That’s nice, but my favorite goodie bag item was from a country music awards program: a $5,000 gift certificate for Tupperware. I was so excited. I called back to make sure I wasn’t reading that wrong,” Reba says. “When I found out it was right, I called everyone in my family and we went shopping!”

On the WB drawing board

Susan Young — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:48:09 +0000

New series? We’ve got your new WB series.

Or at least a few proposed series.

Former Jessica Simpson life partner Nick Lachey is set to star in a half-hour comedy created by Danny Jacobson (“Mad About You”).

Matthew Bomer, who was in “Flightplan” with Jodie Foster, has just been cast as the lead in “Cult,” a sci-fi show.

“Cult” is written by Rockne S. O’Bannon, who created “Farscape.”

DeGeneres going to the dogs

Susan Young — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:41:10 +0000

Comic Ellen DeGeneres teams with her brother Vance DeGeneres (Mr. Bill on “Saturday Night Live”) for a new WB sitcom, “My Dog Sparky,” depicting family life from two different perspectives: both the people and the pets.

Ellen will be voicing the lead character, Sparky the Dog.

“Joining forces with my brother has long been a dream of ours. Of course, that dream used to involve world domination. But a show on the WB works, too,” DeGeneres says. “I’m really looking forward to working with Vance on a project that doesn’t involve a late Mother’s Day gift for our mom.”

`Survival of the Richest’

Susan Young — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 16:35:37 +0000

Yep. That’s the title of the WB’s next reality series.

Seven really rich, spoiled kids team up with seven economically challenged kids for a chance to win $200,000 _ or a dinner out for some of these rotten little scoundrels.

Also on the reality agenda is “Fountain of Youth,” now being cast by “Beauty and the Geek” creator Ashton Kutcher. The series is sort of an “Amazing Race,” teaming a young person with a “senior citizen.”

By WB standards, that means anyone over 40.