Reports that a fourth edition of The Simple Life, again starring friends-turned-feuders Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, is dead in the water are exaggerated to a degree that is, like, so not hot. Although Fox says it has no room on its schedule for the celebutante-based spectacle, producers are confident that the "ladies" will find a new home. "[This] is still a dynamic and valuable franchise, [and] we hope to announce a new network partner in the coming days," says a statement from Twentieth Century Fox Television. Adds Simple Life exec-producer Jonathan Murray, "We have a hit series starring two of the most-written-about women in the world. We're very excited about the creative plans for the next group of episodes." And just what are those plans?
read more
Question: As a lover of Broadway musicals, I'm excited that The Producers and Rent are on their way to being movies. But I haven't heard a peep about plans to bring Wicked to the screen. It seems to be a natural – great plot, music and stars. Have you heard any buzz?
Answer: There don't appear to be any plans in the works to adapt Wicked as a movie, which may be because everyone's waiting to see how well Rent and The Producers do at the box office. Gregory Maguire's original novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1999), was optioned in 2000 for a four-hour ABC TV-movie, but that project is officially dead.
read more
Whoa! The last thing this world needs is two Sloanes. But if anyone is up to the task of matching Ron Rifkin's creepy, untrustworthy character, it's Joel Grey. He was an amazingly evil demon trying to kill poor little Dawnie on Buffy, mischievously good as the Wizard in the Broadway musical Wicked and his painted emcee from the movie Cabaret still gives me the heebie-jeebies, though that last one is probably unintentional. But this new twist — having fake Sloane responsible for Vaughn's wild-goose chase and most likely the hit on Syd that led to Irina's death — should make for some interesting future episodes. Too bad this wasn't one of them. Sorry JJ et al. I love the series, but watching Vaughn kick butt while Sydney's stuck home just talking to people is about as exciting as watching paint dry. And I had to turn away during that funky sequence in the hospital basement. The red room made my eyes all squinty.
The only thing t
read more
