SALON

Scott Lamb

Thursday, Apr 5, 2007 1:30 PM UTC

The Fix

China gets its first gay TV show. The Wal-Mart spy story. Plus: McGraw tops the charts, J.Lo in at No. 10.

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First Word

Dr. Feelgood: According to papers released on Wednesday from the Broward County, Fla., medical examiner’s office, all 11 of the medications found in Anna Nicole Smith’s body during her autopsy came from one doctor, Los Angeles psychiatrist — and friend of the late starlet’s — Khristine Eroshevich. Investigators say more than 600 pills were missing from the most recent batch of prescriptions, even though they were no more than five weeks old. (Associated Press)

Jolie’s next adoptee on the way? The paperwork for Angelina Jolie’s next adopted child is already in the works, according to London’s News of the World, and she has reportedly “fallen in love” with a 1-year-old girl from Oure Cassoni, Chad. A source tells the British tabloid that Jolie and partner Brad Pitt wanted to adopt another child from Africa to “balance the family”: “Angelina and Brad want to make sure Zahara doesn’t feel alienated as the only black face in their family.” Meanwhile, Page Six writes that the Jolie-Pitts had better start being more equitable with the distribution of photos of their ever-growing brood — they’ve reportedly sold all of their baby photos thus far exclusively to People, and other celeb pubs are apparently getting upset. Headlines from this week in other glossies: “Her Twisted Double Life” (Us), “Angelina Walks Out on Brad! … and Dumps the Kids!” (Star). (Sydney Morning Herald, Page Six)

Wal-Mart spy ring? Bruce Gabbard, the technician Wal-Mart fired last month after reportedly discovering that he’d secretly recorded the phone calls of a New York Times reporter, says that the retailer’s Threat Research and Analysis Group, where he worked, in fact operates a broad covert surveillance program. The story, which broke in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, includes allegations of widespread spying; in one incident, says Reuters, Wal-Mart reportedly sent an employee “to infiltrate an anti-Wal-Mart group to learn if it was going to protest at the annual shareholders’ meeting.” The company has defended its practices, with Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sarah Clark saying, “Like most major corporations, it is our corporate responsibility to have systems in place, including software systems, to monitor threats to our network, intellectual property and our people.” (Reuters via AOL Money)

Talker

China launches first gay Internet TV show: Hong Kong-listed broadcaster Phoenix Satellite Television will produce a weekly, 12-episode series, broadcast through its Web site, that will feature gay presenters discussing issues related to the homosexual community in China; it will be the country’s first show devoted to gay issues. Producer Gang Gang says it will promote tolerance in a country whose government classified homosexuality as a mental illness until 2001. Gang also hopes that it will be a forum for gay Chinese to get in touch with each other. The show comes only four months after the Chinese government approved the first mainland gay and lesbian student group at Sun Yat Sen University in southern China. (BBC)

White noise … Filming his next movie, “Leatherheads,” in North Carolina, George Clooney was spotted plunking down $20 for lemonade from a stand a group of kids set up near the set. (Associated Press) … Britney Spears (right) reportedly has another new rehab beau: Life & Style says she’s now dating musician Howie Day, whom she met at the Promises rehab center during her recent stay. (The Scoop) … “30 Rock” fans, rejoice! Despite the Tina Fey show’s paltry ratings, NBC has ordered up a second season. (Associated Press) … “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis has been ordered to start jail time at noon today for contempt of court after a 3-minute-long, profanity-laced tirade during the settlement of a case involving seven underage girls who appeared in a “Girls Gone Wild” video. (News Herald) … The producers of “Spider-Man 3″ have announced the film will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 30. (BBC News) … “A Christmas Story” director Bob Clark and his son were killed in a head-on crash with a drunken driver Wednesday night on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles. (TMZ) … Jennifer Lopez’s first all-Spanish album, “Como Ama Una Mujer,” debuted at No. 10 on this week’s Billboard chart, selling a reported 49,452 copies. (Fox 411)

Judgment

The beginning of the end: The final, abbreviated season of “The Sopranos” starts on Sunday, and of course, as Salon TV critic Heather Havrilesky writes today, “expectations are running impossibly high.” The new season doesn’t start off with a bang, but “the first two episodes mark a return to ‘The Sopranos’ we fell in love with, every scene rich with humor and sadness, every moment heavy with echoes of the past and omens of things to come. Creator David Chase … signals in these episodes that we’d better hold on tight, because we’re in for a breathtaking, bittersweet ride.” But New York Daily News syndicated critic David Bianculli says that “even the most fervent and forgiving fans of the HBO series (and I count myself among them) have to start looking at the clock and stop excusing every scene as merely a foundation for the Big Ending. After last year’s season of simmering, this mixture has to boil — fast.” And as Maureen Ryan writes for the Chicago Tribune, “though Sunday’s episode will test your tolerance for Tony’s shrill sister Janice (Aida Turturro) … it’s actually a sense of mortality and fragility, not to mention dark humor that infuses these episodes.”

; )

“Ala. Woman on Horseback Charged With DUI” (Associated Press)

Buzz Index

“Don’t ever call me that again!”

— “Heroes” actress Hayden Panettiere after a fan outside a Los Angeles club yelled out to her, “Give ‘em hell, Lindsay!” (TMZ)

Numbers

Billboard album charts:
1. “Let It Go,” Tim McGraw (325,000 copies)
2. “NOW! That’s What I Call Music,” compilation (230,000 copies)
3. “Buck the World,” Young Buck (140,000 copies)
4. “Music Is My Savior,” Mims (78,000 copies)
5. “Konvicted,” Akon (67,000 copies)
(Billboard)

Turn On

This Thursday, there’s a super-size 42-minute episode of “The Office” (NBC, 8 p.m. EDT), Will Arnett guest-stars on “30 Rock” (NBC, 8:42 p.m. EDT), Whoopi Goldberg takes a look at pop culture in the premiere of “The World According to Whoopi” (Bravo, 10 p.m. EDT), and you can catch Elton John’s 60th-birthday performance at Madison Square Garden on “Happy Birthday Elton John” (MyNetwork TV, 8 p.m. EDT).

Talk

SHOW GUESTS
Regis and Kelly (ABC, 9 a.m. EDT) Mary Lynn Rajskub, Danielle Evans, Ashley Parker Angel (repeat)
The View (ABC, 11 a.m. EDT) Tim McGraw, guest co-host Joely Fisher (repeat)
Ellen (Syndicated, check local listings) Richard Gere, Amy Poehler
Oprah (Syndicated, check local listings) The faces of autism
Charlie Rose (PBS, check local listings) Gen. James L. Jones (ret.), former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe
Larry King (CNN, 9 p.m. EDT) Guest host Dr. Phil McGraw, Maureen McCormick
Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, 11 p.m. EDT) Gov. Bill Richardson (repeat)
Stephen Colbert (Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. EDT) Jabari Asim (repeat)
David Letterman (CBS, 11:30 p.m. EDT) John Travolta, shark-attack survivor Eric Nerhus, the cast of “Spring Awakening” (repeat)
Jay Leno (NBC, 11:35 p.m. EDT) Craig T. Nelson, Molly Shannon, Sick Puppies
Jimmy Kimmel (ABC, 12:05 a.m. EDT) Quentin Tarantino, Tim McGraw
Conan O’Brien (NBC, 12:35 a.m. EDT) David Gregory, Kaiser Chiefs
Craig Ferguson (CBS, 12:35 a.m. EDT) Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Ice Cube, Omarion

 

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Fix contributors: Dipayan Gupta, Heather Havrilesky, Scott Lamb, Kerry Lauerman, David Marchese, Laura Miller, Andrew O’Hehir, Amy Reiter, Stephanie Zacharek

Fix logo by Rhonda Rubinstein

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Scott Lamb is a senior editor at BuzzFeed.com.

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