First published in print: Friday, September 25, 2009
ABC can exhale as two of its new Wednesday night comedies -- "Modern Family" and "Cougar Town" -- got off to solid starts in both viewers and key demographics.
"Modern Family," the acclaimed sitcom that follows three families in mock documentary fashion, drew 12.7 million viewers and won its 9 p.m. time period with adults 18 to 49, according to preliminary ratings information from Nielsen. "Cougar Town," which stars Courteney Cox as a divorced women on the make, attracted 11.6 million viewers and also won with adults younger than 50. Both shows were no doubt helped by their "Dancing with the Stars" lead-in of 14.9 million viewers. Next week, they won't have that benefit as ABC will be premiering "Hank," a much-reworked Kelsey Grammer sitcom at 8 p.m. and the Patricia Heaton family comedy "The Middle" at 8:30 p.m
It was another strong night from CBS, which won in viewers and tied ABC in adults 18 to 49. The return of "CSI: New York" did particularly well, averaging almost 15 million viewers. ABC's female-skewing light drama "Eastwick" averaged 9.3 million viewers and finished second behind "CSI: New York" in adults 18 to 49.
At NBC, the medical drama "Mercy" didn't fare as well. The show averaged 8.2 million viewers and was fourth in adults 18 to 49. Although that is nothing to crow about, it did do better in its time period than what the network had averaged last season. The Jay Leno see-saw went down even with Leno and Vince Vaughn talking a little dirty and exercising with Jack LaLanne.
-- Los Angeles Times
Beck homecoming draws heat in Washington state
Glenn Beck's visit to his hometown of Mount Vernon in Washington state Saturday seemed simple enough on the surface, with a ceremonial key to the city awaiting him and the mayor naming the day in the Fox News personality's honor.
But this being Glenn Beck, nothing is that easy.
Groups have demonstrated on the streets and in city council meetings over the conservative commentator's visit. Petitions have been collected calling on the cancellation of the visit. A small business owner put up a sign that says: "Glenn Beck & Hatred not welcome here." And Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike has offered the key to his city to Jon Stewart in sort of a mayoral rebuttal.
Welcome home, Glenn.
-- Associated Press
Jessica Biel joins celeb climb to Kilimanjaro
When Jessica Biel, Lupe Fiasco and Isabel Lucas get together in Africa, they'll have nowhere to go but up.
The entertainers have signed on to climb the continent's highest peak -- Mount Kilimanjaro, at more than 19,000 feet -- to raise awareness about the need for clean water worldwide.
The Summit on the Summit expedition, set for January, is the brainchild of singer and producer Kenna. His father suffered from waterborne diseases as a child in Ethiopia.
Justin Timberlake -- who's been romantically linked with Biel -- may also be joining the climbers: He told GQ magazine earlier this year that he was preparing for a major mountain climb.
Kenna said more celebrity climbers will be announced in the coming months, and he urges fans to follow the climb online. A donation as small as a dollar can provide 1,000 liters of clean water to those who need it, he said.
-- Associated Press
Swayze once doubted 'too clean' 'Dancing'
"Dirty Dancing" made Patrick Swayze a superstar, but when he first read the script, he found it a little clean.
The actor, who died Sept. 14 of cancer, writes in his memoir, "It seemed fluffy -- nothing more than a summer-camp movie." The memoir "The Time of My Life" comes out next week.
Swayze's reaction was completely different about another future smash, "Ghost." He immediately wanted to be in it and persuaded producer Jeff Zucker to cast him despite Zucker's skepticism that Swayze could play a sensitive leading man.
Swayze also remembered working with a then-little known Tom Cruise in Francis Coppola's adaptation of the young adult classic "The Outsiders." Cruise, Swayze said, was so "self-conscious about his teeth" that he resisted magazine photo shoots.
-- Associated Press
The Jackson new music onslaught begins
So this is "It."
Sony Music has announced that on Oct. 12 it will release a Michael Jackson single called "This Is It" -- the first previously unreleased recording to be put on sale since the singer's death.
The song's debut will be followed by a blitz of posthumous releases from the man remembered as the King of Pop, including a traveling exhibition of Jackson memorabilia and a two-disc album also titled "This Is It" (which hits retail internationally Oct. 26 and North America on Oct. 27), featuring music that "inspired" the Sony Pictures movie "Michael Jackson's This Is It."
The feature arrives in theaters for a two-week run Oct. 28, consisting of rehearsal footage shot during the preparations for Jackson's planned comeback: a 50-date concert engagement -- also titled "This Is It" -- at London's O2 Arena.
Additionally, former Jackson confidantes continue to emerge, providing new insights. NBC announced that the news program "Dateline" will air a special called "The Michael Jackson Tapes: A 'Dateline' Exclusive" on Sept. 25.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a member of Jackson's inner circle from 1999 to 2001, recorded some 30 hours of interviews with the superstar -- recordings that have Jackson speaking on the record about his fear of aging ("I don't want to grow old"), keeping mannequins around for company (because he was "too shy to be around real people") and his life experiences.
"Anyone else would probably be dead now, or a junkie, with what I've been through, Shmuley," Jackson is quoted as having said on one of the tapes.
-- Associated Press |
