Thursday, December 18, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 1091

Vicious TV World: “Entertainment Tonight” Co-Host Nancy O’Dell OUT After 8 Years, With Little Notice, Exit Over Pay or Age (53)?

Roger Friedman
-
0
Vicious TV World: “Entertainment Tonight” Co-Host Nancy O’Dell OUT After 8 Years, With Little Notice, Exit Over Pay or Age (53)?

Nancy O’Dell has left the building.

After 8 1/2 years of hosting “Entertainment Tonight,” she announced at the end of Friday’s show that she was gone, baby, gone.

No notice after so many years, on a Friday in the summer? Was it over money or age? Odell, who’s stunning looking, is 53, which is like 93 in the vicious world of TV. CBS Paramount TV knew what it was doing.

O’Dell’s ouster isn’t over ratings. “ET” remains the top entertainment show in syndication, with a consistent 2.5 rating in July. In May, the show had a 2.9. (Summer always softens the numbers.)

But the syndication landscape is about to change. “Access Hollywood,” with younger anchors, just added Mario Lopez, from “Extra.” “Extra” is turning into “Extra Extra!” now that it’s on Fox stations, and will become more like “A Current Affair.” Then there’s “Inside Edition” with Deborah Norville, also — like “ET”– from CBS Paramount Television. Norville is older than Odell– she’ll be 61 next week– but “Inside Edition” is so identified with her, the company would be crazy to try and get rid of her. The audience would leave.

O’Dell was the top client of manager John Ferriter, who died last week from pancreatitis at age 59. It’s unclear if Ferriter had been negotiating Odell’s new contract or what was going on. Odell dedicated her last show to him today.

O’Dell is very popular, and she’ll land on her feet. She wrote on Instagram: “Been quite the emotional day. On the same day I had to say goodbye to my longtime friend/agent at his memorial, I said goodbye at @entertainmenttonight . But just as I know my friend will still be w/ me in spirit forever, I’ll never lose the family I’ve gained at #ET nor all the fabulous viewers whom I have a forever bond w/ from talking all things entertainment every night. On to my next chapter in life. #grateful and #excited”

Anyway, the exec producer of “ET” is Erin Johnson, who only got named solo to that credit in June. She’s a lot younger than Odell. You can only imagine what went on. I can’t wait to see who gets O’Dell’s job. This should be good.

New Academy Rules for Oscar Campaigns — We Told You Last Month — Limits The Way Studios Can Entertain Guests

Roger Friedman
-
0
New Academy Rules for Oscar Campaigns — We Told You Last Month — Limits The Way Studios Can Entertain Guests

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is going to announce its new rules for campaigning for Oscars. I told you this was happening last month.  I just received the wording as it’s going to go out. The idea is to level the playing field for filmmakers who can’t afford to entertain press and Academy guests. To get around the rule, maybe the publicists can set up old fashioned screens or throw sheets up on the walls of four star restaurants!

Here’s the wording.

Receptions for any screening event prior to nomination, must take place in the same venue as the screening. It is no longer adjacent (0.25 mi) from where the screening takes place and this rule applies to any event intended to promote a film for awards consideration (i.e. – premieres, film festivals).

The main thing is, the new movies. We can’t wait to see the movies!

Mick Jagger, 76, Post Op New Heart Valve Proves Rolling Stones Greatest Rock Band– Punk Band– Ever in NY-NJ Stadium Return

Roger Friedman
-
0
Mick Jagger, 76, Post Op New Heart Valve Proves Rolling Stones Greatest Rock Band– Punk Band– Ever in NY-NJ Stadium Return

Thursday night at what I call Giants Stadium (MetLife, who knows, New Jersey Meadowlands) Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were on fire, my friends.

Their return to our local stadium filled all the seats and then some. There wasn’t an open spot anywhere as the Stones– now in their 57th year– roared into town and literally made history with a show that didn’t seem possible.

Jagger, just 76, despite a heart valve replacement only a couple of months ago, commanded the stage as if it were 1965. Lithe, bouncy, muscular, athletic, he led the storied group– not just the great rock and roll band but also maybe the greatest punk band, blues band — through a two hour show the audience will be talking about the rest of their lives.

Not just Jagger, but Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Charlie Watts, the whole back up band, gave one of the tightest, hottest, tastiest performances of their lives. From “Street Fighting Man” through “Satisfaction” they never let up, they never let us down, they played with a sweet fury. These are ancient mariners now, but you’d never know it.

And no one can touch them. Not Bruce, not Paul, not U2, not anyone. And those guys are at the top of their games, don’t forget. But to see Mick prance, dance, sprint, move like James Brown, Tina Turner, and Michael Jackson, actually move like Jagger, it’s like watching the 8th wonder of the world. How does he do it? Does he have an avatar? Several. It’s almost like he’s determined to defy the odds.

The Stadium was filled, on the floor, in the sections above. Jagger dances out on a long runway to looks like it might be a riff on the group’s tongue logo. He’s an effervescent cheerleader, blues singer, and mirth maker. Sympathy for the devil? We’ve got plenty.

Every night the set list changes. So we got “Street Fighting Man” at the beginning, “Jumping Jack Flash” at the end. We also got a treat, a rare “She’s a Rainbow,” chosen on line by the audience. (Mick said, explaining the song’s new popularity: “Well, it’s been in a lot of commercials,” then asked if anyone in the band remembered how it started. “It’s from 1967,” he said. Luckily, Chuck Leveall was ready with the keyboards.)

You can only have 17 or 18 songs. The Stones catalog of hits people want to hear is four times that number. You’d think, too, these guys can’t want to play these songs again. But they do, and tonight the special treats were Keith kicking ass on a bravura “Jumping Jack Flash,” then leading “Brown Sugar” well beyond its boundaries. The unexpected centerpiece of the night was “Midnight Rambler” in which everyone got a place to shine, and to mine the depths. Ramble they did.

Richards is still a modern medical miracle. He’s almost like a science fiction project gone right. And when he plays those chords, or digs deep into his steely blues, there’s nothing else like it. No one is enjoying themselves more on stage than Woods– his grin is infectious. Watts plays it sober. He’s 78, and remains unruffled as he pounds those drums into ecstasy. The rest of the group  — Chuck Leavell, Darryl Jones, Bernard Fowler, Sasha Allen, Tim Ries, Matt Clifford, Karl Denson– are killers in their own right.

This is midpoint in the Stones short tour. They have one more show here on Monday, then a few more around the country. This is not to be missed, although I worry about Jagger self-immolating or sprouting wings and flying away at the end. The whole thing isn’t possible, and yet here it is. Don’t miss it.

 

Lana Del Rey’s Long Awaited, Long Postponed Album “Norman F**cking Rockwell!” Drops August 30th

Roger Friedman
-
0
Lana Del Rey’s Long Awaited, Long Postponed Album “Norman F**cking Rockwell!” Drops August 30th

Long awaited, and long postponed by her label: Lana del Rey’s “Norman F**cking Rockwell!” is dropping on August 30th. It’s about f**cking time!

Originally meant for earlier in the year, “NFR!” was held back so as not to interfere with some other releases on Interscope Records. But now, if only to qualify for the Grammy Awards (deadline September 30th), here it comes.

Most of the album was written with and produced by Jack Antonoff, who just got Taylor Swift a smash hit with “The Archer” and has a pretty great track record.

The guy on the cover of the album with Lana is Duke Norfleet, aka Duke Nicholson, grandson of Jack, son of Jennifer Nicholson and her ex Mark Norfleet, who really really resembles Jack.

There’s a tour, too. And ticket bundling, to make sure “NFR” debuts at number 1. Everyone who buys a ticket will get an album — even if they don’t want one!

‘Norman F**king Rockwell!’ Track List:

1. Norman f**king Rockwell

2. Mariners apartment complex

3. Venice bitch

4. F**k it I love you

5 Doin’ time

6 Love song

7 Cinnamon Girl

8 How to disappear

9 California

10 The Next Best American Record

11 The greatest

12 Bartender

13 Happiness is a butterfly

14 hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have – but I have it

 


MORE NEWS

Foreign Affair: Canadian Superior Justice Dated Defendant’s Wife’s Best Friend While Overseeing Trial, Refused to Recuse

John Goodman Headlines New HBO Comedy with Danny McBride, “Righteous Gemstones,” Sort of “Succession” with Lots of Laughs

Leah Sydney
-
0
John Goodman Headlines New HBO Comedy with Danny McBride, “Righteous Gemstones,” Sort of “Succession” with Lots of Laughs

HBO has another mega hit on their hands with “Righteous Gemstones,” a series about a twisted, crooked, evangelical family and their massive mega church, with arena size audiences and influence. John Goodman plays the ruthless patriarch of the sin-laden Gemstone family. Danny McBride, who created and writes the show, Adam Devine and Edi Patterson play the squabbling power hungry siblings. Call it “Succession” with laughs.

Before the recent premiere on the Paramount lot — where the lobby was transformed into the Gemstone Salvation Center, with pews, a wall filled with a chart chronicling this screwed up fictional family’s history, and candles with their beaming pictures on them — McBride was working the room, obviously at home with the crowd as he’s done two previous series for the cable giant, “Eastbound and Down” and “Vice Principals.” I asked him, Why this? He quipped, “Well I created and wrote the part for me, so I figured I should be in it. HBO has been employing me for long time, they get me, my sense of humor.”

Walton Goggins, 48, the talented actor and McBride’s co-star in another HBO series, “Vice Principals,” will be in the series playing a 67 old man. He did explain the scenario. “When Danny writes a role for you, you do it. He called me and said, ‘Hey man I want you to be in this thing that I’m doing? I said ok.’ I want you play a 67 old man. I said ok. Do I have my memory I asked? He answered, you’re a silver fox. I then asked if I was at the peak of my power? He said, nah you’re in the deepest valley of your power. I said, I’m in!”

McBride said at the recent TCA that he’s not “aiming at people’s faith, I’m being honest. I grew up in a religious household. It was, as a whole, how massive these operations are, they’re just ripe for satire. The Gemstones have gotten exactly what they wanted in life, we wanted to show how corrosive and damaged you can still be getting everything you want.”

HBO indeed has what they want, another funny, clever and of course controversial hit. “The Righteous Gemstones” premieres on August 18th.

Broadway Legend Hal Prince Dead at 91, Winner of 21 Tony Awards, the Most Ever, Produced “Cabaret,” “West Side Story,” Most Sondheim Shows

Roger Friedman
-
0
Broadway Legend Hal Prince Dead at 91, Winner of 21 Tony Awards, the Most Ever, Produced “Cabaret,” “West Side Story,” Most Sondheim Shows

Hal Prince, quite literally the prince of Broadway and maybe the King, has died at age 91.

Really, this incredible legendary figure seemed like he was going to live forever.

Prince produced so many hit shows and classic shows, directed many as well, it also seemed like he was a team of people. He last appeared on Broadway in 2015 in a revue of his hits called “Prince of Broadway.” He won 21 Tony Awards, the most of any individual.

His productions as producer and/or director ran from “West Side Story,” “Cabaret” and “Fiddler on the Roof” through “Phantom of the Opera”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and most of Stephen Sondheim’s shows including “Sweeney Todd.”

A statement from his publicist: Harold Prince died this morning at 91 years of age after a brief illness, in Reykjavik, Iceland. He is missed and loved by his family – Judy, his wife of 56 years; his daughter, Daisy; his son, Charles; and his grandchildren, Phoebe, Lucy, and Felix. As per his wishes, there will be no funeral but there will be a celebration of his life this fall with the people he loved most, the members of the theatrical community that he was a part of for seven decades.

The Kid Really Does Stay in the Picture: Producer Robert Evans Leaves Paramount After 45 Years, Friends Say He’s Got a Lot of Projects

Roger Friedman
-
0
The Kid Really Does Stay in the Picture: Producer Robert Evans Leaves Paramount After 45 Years, Friends Say He’s Got a Lot of Projects

Robert Evans has left the building.

After 45 years– the longest deal in Hollywood history– the famed producer of “The Godfather” has come to the end of his deal with Paramount Pictures. His fabled office– which he hadn’t seen in years, anyway– is all gone.

But Evans, eternally young at 89, is not retiring. He’s not interested. A close friend says, “He’s almost relieved. There were so many things he wanted to do and his hands were tied by the deal. Now he’s very upbeat about getting something done outside.”

Evans is well known for his memoir, “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” and the documentary that was based upon it. Last year, a theatrical version played in London’s West End. Now it’s being retooled for a Broadway run. So make no mistake: this kid always stays in the picture.

The Paramount deal went through many generations. But a friend says that “when Brad Grey died, things changed.” Indeed, after Grey’s death, there was uncertainty at the studio. New president Jim Gianopolous is said to be a fan. But Viacom’s Sherry Redstone, daughter of ancient Sumner Redstone, is said to have been the one to end the longest relationship in Hollywood history.

As head of production at Paramount in the late 60s and early 70, Evans had 17 hits now considered classics including “The Godfather,” “Harold and Maude,” and “The Odd Couple.”

Continuing as a producer on his own, Evans’ credits include “Chinatown,” “Urban Cowboy,” and “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” his last film in 2003.

So why not retire? “Retire?!” his friend (not Evans, really just a good source) exclaimed. “Why? He doesn’t want to.”

If there’s a great Hollywood ending here, I want to see one more terrific film produced by Robert Evans. We all deserve it.

 

Sunday Cable: Showtime’s Kevin Bacon Series “City on A Hill” Rises, While Roger Ailes- Russell Crowe “Loudest Voice” Misses Cut Again

Roger Friedman
-
0
Sunday Cable: Showtime’s Kevin Bacon Series “City on A Hill” Rises, While Roger Ailes- Russell Crowe “Loudest Voice” Misses Cut Again

The loudest voice in the room is bellowing just for former Fox News employees and media junkies.

Showtime’s “Loudest Voice” — with great performances from Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts and Seth MacFarlane — missed the cut for the top 150 cable shows this past Sunday– again. “Loudest Voice” scored .04 in the key demo on 359,000 viewers. That means fewer than 4,000 people were between 18 and 49. Almost everyone who watched was “of a certain age”– like me! They were either former Fox News people, outsiders who hated Roger Ailes, or coma patients.

I watched on Sunday and re-watched (because the Yankee game distracted me). The acting is superior. Seth MacFarlane really captured the nasty, feral, tone of Brian Lewis. The only misstep is the actress playing Dianne Brandi. She’s all wrong. It should be Fran Drescher, with foam coming out of her mouth.

Showtime’s “City on a Hall” preceded it at 9pm. Kevin Bacon is killing it, everyone is, on this very adroit drama. “City” has finally pulled away from “Voice.” They jumped up to .60 and scored 550K viewers. They made the cut on the top 150. I really hope Showtime renews “City on a Hill” and does something to promote it.

Back to “Voice”: what Fox News was doing to OBama in 2009 is exactly what they’re doing to Cunningham, Sharpton, the Squad et al now. It’s very pointed racism. It’s designed to obliterate blacks from the American political system, right from Roger Ailes’s playbook. Crowe is portraying him as crazy, and he’s right. But he’s also still alive in the hallways of 1211 Ave. of the Americas.

Queen, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Sign Up for Global Citizen, the Foundation that Spends Its Money on Salaries and Producing Rock Shows

Roger Friedman
-
0
Queen, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Sign Up for Global Citizen, the Foundation that Spends Its Money on Salaries and Producing Rock Shows

Global Citizen is back for another concert in Central Park this September.

This is the 501 c3 foundation that spends more money on salaries and rock shows than it does on giving food to the hungry. In fact, they give no food to the hungry. Or money.

But they do spend millions on themselves.

This year their big acts are Queen with Adam Lambert, Alicia Keys, and Pharrell.  This year they’ve also got OneRepublic, H.E.R. and Carole King. (I thought Carole was smarter than this.)

For the second year in a row, Global Citizen is not advertising their goodwill ambassador, Chris Martin of Coldplay. Last year he showed up briefly but didn’t perform. This year, again, he isn’t mentioned. Maybe he’s wised up.

Global Citizen is very slow to file their tax returns so right now their last available is from 2015-16. You can read all about them here.

More to come soon.

Superstar Hollywood Publicists Merge Firms, Will Operate as One to Represent Everyone from Denzel Washington to Robert Redford to Elton John, Rolling Stones

Roger Friedman
-
0
Superstar Hollywood Publicists Merge Firms, Will Operate as One to Represent Everyone from Denzel Washington to Robert Redford to Elton John, Rolling Stones

The superstars of Hollywood PR are joining forces. PMK and Rogers & Cowan, separate agencies that are owned by InterPublic, have announced they will operate as one.

This is like the Yankees and the Red Sox becoming one team, or DC and Marvel partnering up. Together they have  a collective client roster that covers more than 30 corporate brands and 500 individual clients including Denzel Washington, Brie Larson, Robert Redford, Felicity Jones, Elton John, Sly Stallone, Steph Curry, Robert Zemeckis, Trisha Yearwood, Michael B. Jordan, The Rolling Stones, Sean Combs, Vince Vaughn, Miles Teller, Ray Romano, Katy Perry and NASCAR driver Jimmy Johnson.

The new combined agency will be run by a lot of my old pals, Cindi Berger (PMK) and Alan Nierob (RC) along with CEO Mark Owens and Shirley Hughes will be President of its Brand Marketing division, Fran Curtis and Brad Cafarelli will be Vice-Chairman of the Entertainment Division and Bill Rosenthal its COO/CFO.

For all of my life in the biz, these two firms were the top tier companies, and friendly rivals. They spun off literally dozens of new, smaller companies. Almost everyone in the best Hollywood PR agencies came from these places. Leslee Dart’s powerhouse 42West came from Leslee spreading her PMK wings years ago, and almost everyone from ID-PR, the other big deal in town, assembled from the mother ships. So makes sense now for these two companies to merge their resources– and their superpowers!

What will they be called? I hear that a new name will be created to describe the entity. But please I hope it’s not one of these names some of the others have taken– they are very confusing! Mendacity PR! Insurgency PR! Persnickety PR!

But just imagine all those PMK actors and singers turning up R&C’s Elton John and Rolling Stones events! The mind boggles. I want selfies with everyone!

 

1...1,0901,0911,092...2,323Page 1,091 of 2,323

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com