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Eddie Murphy Gets Oscar Gig, Anderson Cooper Gets Winehouses

Roger Friedman
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0

Eddie Murphy is the official host of the 2012 Oscars. The Academy named him today much to the delight of producer Brett Ratner. Ratner and Murphy will have had a big movie opening in November, “Tower Heist.” Surely a hit, the film will be wave they can ride right into the February proceedings. Why announce this so early? It helps promote “Tower Heist.” And it eclipses what the Golden Globes will do with Ricky Gervais. I’m excited because with tributes to Oprah Winfrey and James Earl Jones, the Oscars will finally feel like a ceremony for everyone. It’s about time. Here’s hoping, though, that Billy Crystal will be involved, too, more than last time. The Oscars are already shaping up like a great night and we don’t even know which movies will be nominated. (Well, we have an idea.)…

…Anderson Cooper kicks off his syndicated talk show next week. His first guests will be Amy Winehouse’s family. That should be something. Will the Winehouses become the new generation Jacksons? The cash-in is right around the corner…

Erika Slezak Agrees to Star in Online Version of “One Life to Live”

Roger Friedman
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1
Erika Slezak Agrees to Star in Online Version of “One Life to Live”

Erika Slezak, the star of “One Life to Live,” has agreed to go with the show to its new online incarnation. Prospect Park Productions, run by Jeff Kwatinetz and Dick Cook, just announced that they’ve reach deals with Slezak, Ted King, Kassie dePaiva, and Michael Easton to continue with the show. “One Life” leaves ABC on January 20, 2012. Prospect Park will bring it on line soon after, and maybe on cable TV. They’re also negotiating with “All My Children” actors and star Susan Lucci. This announcement should help a lot to calm everyone down about the future of the shows. Slezak is a multiple Emmy winner and has been with “One Life” since 1971 as Victoria Lord, the principal character. Will the Prospect Park model work? Who knows? But it’s worth trying. Prospect Park still has about thirty more actors to lock down from both shows including Robin Strasser and Robert S. Woods from “One Life” and Michael E. Knight from “All My Children.”

James Franco: Cancelled Broadway Play Not His Fault

Roger Friedman
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0
James Franco: Cancelled Broadway Play Not His Fault

I read with some amusement in the last few days that Oscar nominated actor James Franco “backed out” of doing “Sweet Bird of Youth” on Broadway this fall. This isn’t exactly true. This column broke the news exclusively that Franco was set for “Sweet Bird” with Nicole Kidman back on November 30, 2010. I thought I’d try and add some reality to this latest chapter. http://www.showbiz411.com/2010/11/30/nicole-kidman-may-get-james-franco-as-broadway-co-star

Franco told the producers of “Sweet Bird” that he could only do the show this fall if it coincided with his famous school schedule at Yale. This was before he agreed to shoot “Oz, the Great and Powerful,” currently in production in Detroit. As his work schedule kept changing, insiders say, Franco asked that the play be moved to January rehearsals with a pre-Tony spring opening.

But then came “Oz” and other projects that interfered, as well as school. I told you on January 3, 2011 that Franco planned to direct both William Faulkner‘s “As I Lay Dying” and Cormac McCarthy‘s “Blood Meridian.”

But the latter, as well as “Sweet Bird” and another movie–that didn’t happen–are all from Tony winning producer Scott Rudin. It may have been a case of too many eggs in one basket–I’m told it was getting confusing because Rudin wanted Franco to do some of the projects, and Franco wanted to do others. In the end, communications snafu’d in all directions.

So “Sweet Bird” may or may not get done. In the meantime, Rudin will bring Philip Seymour Hoffman to Broadway in “Death of a Salesman” this spring, and they will rack up some more Tony Awards. His “Book of Mormon” is sold out every night until 2019 or something. Franco has lots of projects, and no doubt will work with Rudin in the future.

PS Rudin also took a gamble this past season and won big with an original play, which is a rarity–“The Motherf—– with the Hat” on Broadway. The play caused a sensation, made money, got great reviews, and lots of Tony nominations. It also was a tremendous step for actor Bobby Cannavale. “Mother-f” is already starting to get regional productions. Not bad. 

Pathetic MDA Telethon: No Tote Board, No Jerry, And Lots of D Listers

Roger Friedman
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6

The MDA telethon: if you fast forward the six hour show to its last few minutes, there’s a very brief and pathetic montage of Jerry Lewis clips. There’s no voice because the producers decided to set it to an instrumental version of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” Sad. It makes it seem, like the aborted tribute at the front of the show, like Lewis died. What was worse: just as the end credits roll, the show’s announcer tries to say “We missed you, Jerry” and is cut off by the director. The six hour telethon, cut down from overnight and 21 and a half hours, was a bland parade of D listers and taped segments. All the personality that Jerry Lewis gave MDA over 45 years was just chucked out the window.

The show was so badly produced that the end credits started to run 46 minutes before the show was supposed to end. The hosts looked like they’d been embalmed. The women were bad enough, but what the heck was “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe doing? He did manage to get taped messages from Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler. But no Jennifer Lopez. Maybe she’s a Jerry Lewis fan. And for the first time, no tote board. Did they make money? Who knows? The drama, the pathos, the investment in any of this — all gone.

Instead we got a frightening rock band of soap actors, Maureen McGovern, and audience that looked like they’d been worked on by taxidermists. One bright spot: Richie Sambora was great singing “Livin’ on a Prayer.” He looked good, too.

The Labor Day telethon was always cheesy but in the end, it had heart. This was a soulless exercise. And from the looks of the mail we got, MDA has set itself back tremendously. However Lewis feels about how he was treated tonight, I’m sure he is torn: he loved those kids.

Jerry Lewis: MDA Hosts Just Lie, and Tell Audience He Retired

Roger Friedman
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125
Jerry Lewis: MDA Hosts Just Lie, and Tell Audience He Retired

UPDATE: The hosts of the MDA Telethon just lied to the audience and told them that Jerry Lewis had retired. Do they think the viewers live under a rock? Everyone knows that Lewis was ousted. I’m told that “American Idol” producer Nigel Lythgoe is basically running the show. “It’s all Idol people backstage,” says a source. Lythgoe told the audience in opening remarks that Lewis told him he was retiring. This was echoed by the other hosts. Lewis must be seething, and with good reason. They made it sound like he’d died. Unbelievable.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/09/05/pathetic-mda-telethon-a-parade-of-d-listers-and-taped-segments

http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/09/03/jerry-lewiss-name-still-being-used-by-mda

 

 

Doris Day Tells Paul McCartney: Que Sera Sera

Roger Friedman
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4
Doris Day Tells Paul McCartney: Que Sera Sera

Doris Day is pretty reclusive and doesn’t give interviews. But she’s given one to Paul McCartney, who went to see her in Carmel, California. The occasion is her “new” album which comes out next week, called “My Heart.” The interview appears in the UK newspaper The Telegraph. Paul and Doris, who’s 87 now, talk about animals rights, her late son Terry Melcher, her signature song “Que Sera Sera,” and Alfred Hitchcock.When McCartney mentions Melcher, he comments that Day’s son “didn’t push himself too much.” He adds: “I didn’t either, come to think of it.” Paul, surely you jest! Anyway, it’s great to hear from and see Doris Day again. Doris, about ten different important awards shows and events want to honor you, if only you’ll say yes–from the Grammys to the Oscars to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/8733533/Doris-Day-and-Paul-McCartney-in-conversation.html

Paul McCartney, Roger Waters Confab in Hamptons

Roger Friedman
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0
Paul McCartney, Roger Waters Confab in Hamptons

It’s not like Nick and Toni’s, the premiere eatery in East Hampton, doesn’t host a lot of celebrities. But on Friday night it was rockin’–literally. First came Ron Delsener, world famous concert promoter, and his wife Ellin, who runs Event Associates. They were waiting for someone, but it was unclear who.

Then who arrives? None other than Paul McCartney with fiancee Nancy Shevell. McCartney, introduced to the Hamptons by late wife Linda’s family, the Eastmans, has a compound of his own in Amagansett. Paul and Nancy stopped for a while to chat with the Delseners, greeted others in the restaurant’s front room, and then took a table in the cozy back area.

Soon after, the Delseners welcomed Pink Floyd composer Roger Waters and his longtime girlfriend Laurie Durning. Within an hour, McCartney and Shevell–having finished a short veggie meal–were back. And then the ex Beatle and the ex Floyd were in heavy confab. Was it sort of mindblowing to see the two men behind the two most famous rock albums of all time–“Sgt. Pepper” and “Dark Side of the Moon”–just chatting away? You betcha. I ordered an extra coffee just so I could stay at my perch!

Meanwhile the Hamptons season wraps up with these fond viewings:

Actress Catherine Zeta Jones was seen purchasing a black wool sweater and former CBS News anchor Katie Couric purchasing a brown cardigan at Christopher Fischer Cashmere in East Hampton, while Gossip King Perez Hilton was seen browsing through Christopher’s Southampton Shop…Only on the East End will people shop for cashmere in 90 degree weather…

…Angelica Huston was seen dining at the Beachhouse restaurant. She should have tried their sister eaterie, the Boat house in Three Mile Harbor. Best sunsets in the Hamptons…

…Charity still rules: The Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center hosted its annual summer benefit party with Mrs. Howard Stern, aka Beth-Ostrosky Stern, Avis Richards and Marcy Warren this past eekend at Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander and Liz Brown’s East End estate, with VIP guests including Howard Stern, Christopher and Joni Fischer, Chuck and Ellen Scarborough and Jean Shafiroff…

Perpetually sun tanned Hollywood mainstay George Hamilton celebrated his birthday with restaurateur Mark Packer at T-Bar at Savanna’s, while at the next table, Fernando Masci, owner of il Mulino and il Gabiani in Miami, toasted to the night with his Italian family…

 

 

 

Eddie Murphy As Oscar Host? He Walked Out of the 2007 Show

Roger Friedman
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2
Eddie Murphy As Oscar Host? He Walked Out of the 2007 Show

Lots of rumors today that Eddie Murphy is being considered to host the 2012 Academy Awards. It makes sense. He’s very funny and a movie star even though most of his recent movies have been embarrassing bombs. His next one, “Tower Heist,” looks like it will be a hit. And the director of it, Brett Ratner, is the guest producer for this year’s Oscars.

But the Academy may have a long memory. When Eddie, who was up for Best Supporting Actor in “Dreamgirls,” lost to Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) in 2007, the comedian immediately got up and left the Kodak Theater.

Yes, it’s hard to lose an Oscar and look happy for the winner. But that’s good sportsmanship, isn’t it? I was sitting in the back row of the first section of the Kodak when all of a sudden Murphy, with a huge entourage including then girlfriend Tracey Edmonds, marched out. I’m pretty sure it was a first in Oscar history. So called “losers” will often hit the lobby bar and roam around, but they never actually exit the proceedings. Murphy was mad that he didn’t win, and wasn’t going to stick around if no one appreciated him.

Of course, Ratner will know how to work with Murphy to keep him in line, and they could produce a funny, funny show. Pairing him with Billy Crystal would be the best idea, as Crystal has the experience and temperament. And if Murphy leaves halfway through the show, at least Crystal will still be on hand.

Jerry Lewis’s Name Still Being Used by MDA

Roger Friedman
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19
Jerry Lewis’s Name Still Being Used by MDA

It’s pretty clear that Jerry Lewis will not be on tonight’s Muscular Dystrophy telethon. MDA kicked Jerry to the curb this summer after 49 years of his fundraising for them.I’m told that on Tuesday Lewis will break his silence and tell all to various major outlets about what went down between him and MDA chief Jerry Weinberg. Sources say that Weinberg and Lewis have a long simmering feud that finally exploded in public this year.

But wait! Comes the mail, and MDA is still sending out come-ons using Lewis’s name and likeness. Holy moley. Their solicitation envelope has a picture of Jerry–captioned as National Chairman–and MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Abbey Umali.

Inside, there’s a note signed “Love, Jerry Lewis” about “his” kids. And the return mailing envelope has a big red stamp on it that reads “Rush! Jerry’s counting on me!” The envelope is addressed to Jerry Lewis–National Chairman, Muscular Dystrophy Association. Clearly MDA wants to have their Lewis and be miserly to him, too. But from readers responses so far I think they’re going to have problems tonight. We’ll see.

 

Susan Lucci Tells Like It Is About ABC Daytime

Roger Friedman
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1
Susan Lucci Tells Like It Is About ABC Daytime

Susan Lucci doesn’t get a lot of respect because people don’t know her. But Susan is fun and tough. She’s soldiered through 41 years of “All My Children” with ABC Daytime. She’s finally speaking out against them now that the show has finished taping. On Saturday morning in Page Six, Lucci released the chapter she’s added to her memoir, “All My Life.” being republished ten days before the show goes off the air.

Lucci socks it to Brian Frons, the miserable exec who destroyed ABC’s line up of soap operas to be replaced by junk talk and reality programming. Lucci finally blames Frons for moving the show to Los Angeles, getting rid of creator Agnes Nixon, and conspiring to kill AMC and OLTL. She told him: “I think our being in this position is the result of some very bad decisions by you.”

Lucci writes, “An iconic show was losing out to greed … If Brian Frons could show his bosses that he could save the network 40 percent … he could keep his job even if the rest of us lost ours.” She continues, “I watched Brian Frons’ decisions destroy the production of our show and the lives of people on both sides of the country.”

Lucci also writes in her addendum, according to Page Six, that Frons appeared “self-congratulatory” delivering the bad news to the cast, and he “has what, for me, is that fatal combination of ignorance and arrogance,” adding, “I cannot fathom any network executive choosing to alienate millions of loyal viewers in these economic times.”

Bravo Susan Lucci!

It wasn’t easy for Susan, and she had to wait until she was done with ABC to speak out. Robin Strasser got the boot from “One Life to Live” from ABC and Frons for speaking her mind this spring. Her 30 year run on the show ended abruptly last week, months before that show goes off the air. Soap actors are scared to speak in public because they can be written out of their shows almost instantly. Their contracts guarantee them nothing.

This is why we haven’t heard from multiple Emmy winner Erika Slezak, who’s starred in “One Life” since 1971. But it would be great to get her voice in this discussion. “One Life” has seen a huge ratings increase this summer, and is now doing better than ever.

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