« June 18 - June 24 July 2 - July 8 »

Bosom Buddy Become Honorary Army Brat

June 30, 2006

Tom Hanks was inducted into the U.S. Army's Ranger Hall of Fame as an honorary member, the first actor to receive such an honor.

Hanks, 49, was unable to attend Thursday's induction ceremony. But sources tell BBCanclled News that it did in fact take place. At the ceremony, Hanks was cited for his role in Saving Private Ryan and his continued commitment to honoring those who served in World War II. He was also honored for being among the writers, producers and directors of the Emmy-winning 2001 miniseries ''Band of Brothers.''

Hanks was cited for serving as the national spokesman for the World War II Memorial Campaign and for being honorary chairman of the D-Day Museum Capital Campaign.

No mention was made about his career making television role as a cross-dresser on “Bosom Buddies,” an activity that would currently get his booted from the real army under their anti-gay “Don’t’ Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Nothing like a PR event to reveal government, or quasi-government hypocrisy and discrimination.

Law & Order Breeds Again

Instead of a new “Law & Order” franchise, Mariska Hargitay, star ''Law & Order: SVU,'' and her husband Peter Hermann welcomed their first child Thursday.

His name is August, although he was born in June. No reason for the interesting naming strategy. But we here at BBCcancelled wish August-born-in-June and his parents well.

Hargitay, 42, won a Golden Globe last year for her work on the “L&O” show.

Trivial tidbit: Hargitay’s mom is blond screen siren Jayne Mansfield, who died in a car crash in 1967. Hargitay's father is former bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.

Heat, Bad Food Knocks Out SNL Alumn

Former ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member Rob Schneider passed out from food poisoning and heat exhaustion while directing a comedy, Big Stan, in Northern California. The actor was taken to the hospital to recover, but is already back at work today.

Schneider, 42, was filming the comedy at a women's prison near Stockton, about 80 miles east of San Francisco in the San Joaquin Valley where temperatures have soared above 100 in recent days.

Firefighters were called to the set for several cases of heat exhaustion since the movie shoot began earlier this month, said firefighter Michael Olizas with the Montezuma Fire District.

Schneider, who recently starred in The Benchwarmers and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, is directing the new movie in which he plays Big Stan, a con man locked up on fraud charges who learns kung fu to defend himself against other inmates.

Luke and Laura Lather Up, Again

June 29, 2006

''General Hospital'' is bringing back the soap's sudsiest couple: Luke and Laura Spencer.

Genie Francis, who originated the role of Laura nearly 30 years ago, will return to the show -- and to the fictional town of Port Charles -- to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding, which was seen by 30 million viewers on Nov. 16, 1981.

Francis, 44, will appear in a series of episodes beginning in the middle of October, the network said.

''I'm very happy to return to my 'General Hospital' family and look forward to portraying a role that means a lot to me as well as the fans who have supported the character throughout the years,'' Francis.

No details were provided about Laura's story line and the upcoming anniversary. Four years ago, the character suffered a mental breakdown after she killed her father, and has been living at a psychiatric hospital in a catatonic state.

Claire Does Not Marry Charlie

“Lost” starlet Emilie de Ravin — Claire Littleton on wild-n-crazy deserted island adventure show we all love to hate, or hate to love? — married actor Josh Janowicz (best known for an appearance on the 2003 crime drama “Cold Case”).

The pair, who live in Los Angeles, wed June 19 in a ''small, intimate ceremony'' in Melbourne, Australia. Which means that she actually was the first high-profile wedding “Down Under” this month. “Claire” beat Nicole Kidman to the altar by a week.

No word on whether poor drug addicted and lovelorn “Charlie” was invited to the wedding.

Bennett Brings Music Back to Prime Time

For his 80th birthday, NBC is giving Tony Bennett the all-star television treatment: A variety show in honor of his 80th birthday.

“Tony Bennett: An American Classic" is the title of a music special the network will air in his honor later this summer.

The special will include a who’s who of musical legend who will sing at the event: Elton John, Stevie Wonder, and k.d. lang — all of whom perform on Bennett's upcoming album, ''Tony Bennett: Duets/An American Classic.”

At least one solo is guaranteed on the TV special, as Bennett plans to take the stage alone to sing his signature tune, ''I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Heterosexual Cowboys Ride High

June 28, 2006

Move over gay cowboys, the straight guys can still rule the roost.

Robert Duvall and his movie ''Broken Trail'' proved an historic hit for AMC on Sunday. The old-fashioned Western—even more old-fashioned than last year's Oscar-winning flick Brokeback Mountain, thanks to straight cow-pokes—raked in 9.8 million viewers making it the most-watched program in the network's history.

It was more popular than any other program on broadcast or cable Sunday night. In fact, only five other programs all week on the broadcast networks brought in more people.

Duvall played a cowboy trying to move 500 horses from Oregon to Wyoming with his nephew when they come across five Chinese girls who had been sold into slavery. ''Broken Trail'' was the first original movie that the film-focused AMC has produced in more than two decades.

''Everything doesn't need to be edgy and pushing the envelope,'' said Ed Carroll, AMC president, on Tuesday. ''The AMC audience appreciates strong scripts and good acting shot in a cinematic way.''

Soprano Won’t Be Singing Behind Bars

The actor who plays temperamental chef Artie Bucco on ''The Sopranos'' avoided jail time for driving while “impaired.” Instead, John Ventimiglia, 42, who portrays Tony Soprano's high school buddy on the HBO show, will visit 30 schools to caution against drinking and driving.

No word on whether students will be allowed to ask for autographs.

Ventimiglia will also lose his license for 90 days and pay a $500 fine, among other conditions.

He was arraigned May 1 on drunken driving, drug possession and other charges after officers spotted him weaving in and out of traffic. The plea to driving while impaired settled all the charges against him.Ventimiglia's blood-alcohol content was 0.12 -- the legal limit is 0.08 -- and he was carrying a zip-lock bag with cocaine residue, according to the complaint.

Frasier’s Eddie Not So Feisty Anymore

The scrappy dog known as Eddie on TV's ''Frasier'' has died.
The 16-year-old Jack Russell terrier, whose real name was Moose, passed away of old age Thursday at the Los Angeles home of trainer Mathilde Halberg.

The canine character Eddie drove Kelsey Grammer's lead character crazy for 10 years on the show.
It wasn't all acting on Moose's part, though. He was naturally ''extremely mischievous,'' Halberg said.

His contribution to the show's and Grammer's success was publicly noted by the actor when he accepted a 1994 Emmy for best actor in a comedy.

''Most important, Moose, this is for you,'' Grammer added.

Cowboy Visits Cemetery, Comes Home Married

June 27, 2006

''Wyatt Earp'' star Hugh O'Brian, 81, married for the first time in what the he dubbed a ''a wedding to die for.'' The weekend ceremony was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

''This is my first, and most definitely, my last trip down the aisle,'' O'Brian said after marrying his girlfriend of 18 years, teacher Virginia Barber, 54.

300 guests—including look-alikes of John Wayne and Pope John Paul—witnessed the ceremony at the cemetery's Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection. The Rev. Robert Schuller, pastor of the supersized Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, officiated and the couple was serenaded by close friend Debbie Reynolds.

O'Brian may be best known to baby boomers as television's tough Old West marshal on ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,'' which aired from 1955 to 1961.

Besides cleaning up the Tombstone Territory on TV, O'Brian appeared on dozens of shows over the years, including ''The Love Boat,'' ''Murder, She Wrote,'' ''Fantasy Island,'' ''L.A. Law,'' ''Charlie's Angels,'' ''Police Story,'' ''Perry Mason'' and ''General Electric Theater.''

Fall Season Starts Now on YouTube

NBC is going to kick-start their fall season by teaming up with the wildly popular video-sharing website. They announced a deal to share videos that will promote the network’s fall lineup.

''Saturday Night Live'' parody raps are not included.

But part of the content release will include clips from new shows as well as old shows such as ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,'' behind-the-scenes interviews and other features largely exclusive to the Internet. NBC also is sponsoring a contest for fans of ''The Office'' to create their own promotional videos.

The hope is that folks who may tune out television over the summer -- but continue to surf the Internet -- will be primed for television when September rolls around.

Under the deal, YouTube will create a separate channel for NBC video, so that visitors can easily pull up the half-dozen or more items that NBC plans to offer at any given time. It will be similar to channels that other companies, filmmakers and everyday users create.

"Medium"-Size Wedding in Italy

Emmy-winner Patricia Arquette (for “Medium") married her actor paramour, the action star Thomas Jane, in Venice, Italy this weekend.

Arquette and Jane wed Sunday ''surrounded by family and friends,'' said Arquette’s publicist. Wow. Thank heavens for publicists. Otherwise we may have imagined they married “surrounded by enemies and strangers.”

Engaged since 2002, the couple have a daughter, 3-year-old Harlow. Arquette, formerly married to Nicolas Cage, also has a 17-year-old son, Enzo, from her relationship with musician Paul Rossi.

Jane's film roles include 2004's ''The Punisher,” and he was Mickey Mantle in the TV movie ''61.”

Putting the Wife in Housewife

June 26, 2006

Marcia Cross (AKA Bree Van De Kamp on “Desperate Housewives”) tied the knot with stockbroker Tom Mahoney this weekend.

The wealthy couple was married in po-dunk L.A. suburb of San Gabriel, California. (We know it’s a po-dunk suburb because a staff member at BBCancelled News grew up there and knows just how po-dunk it is. But hey, it’s a trend. Get married in a homely way or at home. It worked for Nicole Kidman.)

Two hundred guests attended the wedding at the Church of Our Savior Episcopal Parish. The children of some of Cross’ closest friends served as the seven flower girls.

Before Cross was cast as Bree Van De Kamp on ''Desperate Housewives,'' she had roles on ''Everwood'' and ''Melrose Place.''

Newsweek Shines on Soledad

CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien is the only TV personality to be named one of the ''15 People Who Make America Great'' by Newsweek magazine. Brad Pitt, whose use of celebrity to draw attention to poverty in Africa, may be the best known -- but that only makes O’Brien’s pick more surprising (in a good way).

After all, her CNN colleague with the silver hair (and new book) stole a lot of thunder for his emotional coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Now, Newsweek is calling for kudos to Soledad for showing her “inner rage” while reporting on the aftermath of the devastating hurricane.

A quick click over to Newsweek.com reveals a single clip of Soledad touring New Orleans a week after the hurricane. There is little sign of “inner rage,” actually. But a somber, solemn, and respectful report on counting the dead. Soledad mixed personal “realness” (“The water smells terrible -- like sewage, basically.”) with matter-of-fact coverage.

Picking just 15 people must have been difficult for the editors of Newsweek, but at BBCancelled News we think they did an excellent job.

Tom Green Can’t Get Enough ManiaTV

Less than two weeks after ManiaTV.com started streaming Green's live call-in show from his Hollywood Hills living room, Green is turning the weekly show into a nearly nightly deal.

“Nearly” being the key word in the new(ish) digital television universe. ManiaTV will broadcast four original shows a week, with a fifth night of either a repeat or an original episode (depending on their mood?).

ManiaTV and Green originally agreed to a year of hour-long weekly episodes, but Green asked for more time after the first episode aired June 15. He was live an extra two hours that night. Green has been calling at odd hours ever since, asking to go live soon after each call, ManiaTV spokesman Jason Damata said.

Green broadcast for 8½ hours the first week.

''So he's, like, hijacking our network, which we're cool with,'' Damata said. ''But we said, 'Do us a favor. Can we at least have some structure?'''

ManiaTV expects 5 million viewers for its site for July.