Turn On:
A&E's "Biography" trots out another satisfying series of related episodes on Friday -- just see if you can guess the theme: "David Koresh: Preacher of Fire" (8 p.m. ET; A&E), followed by "Jim Jones" (9 p.m. ET; A&E) and "Charles Manson: Journey Into Evil" (10 p.m. ET; A&E). Also: thankfully, there are still politicians out there who haven't heard of "Da Ali G. Show" (10:30 p.m. ET; HBO), which returns Sunday night for its second season.
-- Scott Lamb
Afternoon Briefing:
And the nominees are ... The Emmy nominations were announced Thursday morning and HBO raked them in. The miniseries "Angels in America" received 21, "The Sopranos" got 20 nominations in the drama category, and "Sex and the City" got 11 -- the most for a comedy. A surprise this time was a best drama nomination for CBS's "Joan of Arcadia." Gary Shandling will host the awards show September 19. (Reuters)
King disinvites Moore: Larry King's people had been talking to Michael Moore's people about having the controversial director -- along with someone from the White House -- on to talk about "Fahrenheit 9/11" when suddenly the talking stopped. A spokesman for CNN said they don't discuss booking procedures and when asked about political pressure he said of Moore, "His not coming on had nothing to do with the White House. We'd love to have him on someday." (IMDB)
Tucker's turn: The bow-tied boy wonder Tucker Carlson is being given his own show on PBS called "Carlson: Unfiltered," and he went in front of TV writers this week to say, "There are too many talk shows ... the world does not need another one. You need to give people a reason to watch it. That's a commercial sensibility, I think, and I'm not ashamed of that. I want this show to be something people want to watch. And ratings matter to me. I'm not ashamed of that either." (Star-Telegram)
Magazines are hell: Time Inc. chief Norman Pearlstine told the Financial Times that getting a traditional magazine to profitability takes too long and he doesn't think he'll launch another one anytime soon. Instead, Time Inc. is relaunching Life as a weekly newspaper insert. Said Pearlstine, "If someone came along today with the Entertainment Weekly idea, and we knew what we know now, I don't think we would have done it. Now that we have, I'm happy we did, but it was ugly getting there." (I Want Media)
U2 whodunnit: During a photo shoot with Bono and the U2 boys in the South of France this week, a rough cut of their latest album disappeared. The band members gave statements to the local authorities in Nice on Wednesday and an officer there said, "We have numerous theories -- from the fan who wants the rough cut for his collection to the Web specialist who wants to be the first to put it out." (AFP)
-- Karen Croft
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Turn On:
Signaling what may be the next trend in nonfiction political book publishing, Peter Peterson, chairman of the Blackstone Group, appears on "The Charlie Rose Show" (PBS; check local listings) to talk about his book "Running on Empty," which blasts Republicans and Democrats equally for the current state of the union. Also on Tuesday, an eclectic group of stars -- Penn Gillette, Jeff Gordon, Kathy Griffin, Angie Dickinson and Ron Livingston -- gather to drink, bet and lie on "Celebrity Poker Showdown" (9 p.m. ET; Bravo).
-- Scott Lamb
Morning Briefing:
Whoopi, whooped? SlimFast has dropped Whoopi Goldberg as its spokeswoman following the actress/comedian's racy routine about President Bush at the big Kerry-Edwards fundraiser held recently at Radio City Music Hall in New York. "We are disappointed by the manner in which Ms. Goldberg chose to express herself and sincerely regret that her recent remarks offended some of our consumers," Slim-Fast general manager Terry Olson declared. "Ads featuring Ms. Goldberg will no longer be on the air." Goldberg's response? "While I can appreciate what the SlimFast people need to do in order to protect their business, I must also do what I need to do as an artist, as a writer and as an American, not to mention as a comic ... I've done material on every President in the past 20 years, from Reagan to Carter, from Clinton to Bush." Goldberg accused the Republican Party of using her to stir up controversy, adding, "I only wish that the Republican reelection committee would spend as much time working on the economy as they seem to be spending trying to harm my pocketbook." (N.Y. Daily News)
An ad after Whoopi's heart: Agent Provocateur lingerie is releasing a video in which dominatrix Dita Von Teese (Marilyn Manson's fiancée), in thong and pasties, whips a Bush look-alike sporting nothing but jockey shorts and, we assume, a pained expression. Says the lingerie company of the ads: "Bush has lost control [and] gets his just deserts in true Agent Provocateur style." P.M. Tony Blair gets similar treatment in another promotional spot in the series. (Page Six)
Bush impersonation, the line to be in: Photographer Larry Fink is exhibiting his "Forbidden Pictures" series, which depict, yes, a President Bush look-alike getting down and feeling up women (who he says are a metaphor for foreign policy), at a gallery in New York during the Republican National Convention. The photos were originally snapped for the New York Times Magazine, but were cut after 9/11. (Rush and Molloy)
Cheney buzz: The New York Times reports that the following rumor has swept through Washington: "The newest theory ... holds that Mr. Cheney recently dismissed his personal doctor so that he could see a new one, who will conveniently tell him in August that his heart problems make him unfit to run with Mr. Bush. The dismissed physician, Dr. Gary Malakoff, who four years ago declared that Mr. Cheney was 'up to the task of the most sensitive public office' despite a history of heart disease, was dropped from Mr. Cheney's medical team because of an addiction to prescription drugs." Cheney said Wednesday he had no intention of stepping aside and Bush campaign strategist Matthew Dowd said of the rumor, "It's inside-the-Beltway coffee talk, is all it is." (N.Y. Times)
And now a word from Stanley Tucci: The actor took a swipe at President Bush Wednesday at the Film & Music Global Fest on Italy's Ischia island, telling the local press, "I do hope the administration changes in November, and I don't care who is in office as long as it's not this one." (Lloyd Grove's Lowdown)
Moving on to weightier matters: Colin Farrell recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the full-frontal nude scene that was cut from "A Home at the End of the World," reportedly because his impressive endowment was too distracting to audience members: "Let me tell you, it ain't nothing to [bleeping] write home about," Farrell said of his nethers. And of the scene: "It's nothing, man! I walk to a door and you see my [bleep] and I walk out of the shot. It's dark and it's three inches, uh, seconds long." Oh my. (Page Six)
Oh and also? Gary Coleman is rumored to be making a guest appearance in a Showtime movie about former N.Y. Times reporter Jayson Blair. (Page Six)
-- Amy Reiter
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