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Rosie O’Donnell Back to Daytime TV

Roger Friedman
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Rosie O’Donnell is headed back to daytime TV.

My sources say that Rosie will fill the void left by Oprah Winfrey starting in the fall of 2011.

Rosie was overheard telling pals at Joe Allen’s restaurant in New York last night that deal is almost done to restore her to her place as Queen of DaytimeTalk.

O’Donnell will be welcomed back by advertisers with open arms–and wallets! Her original show for Warner TeleRep was a monster hit for five years.

But Rosie gave it up to raise her kids. And it worked. The kids are now in school and doing great, giving Rosie the time to start a new show.

Her other TV efforts have been spotty. She had a mislaunch of a nighttime TV show on NBC. And talk of a political gabfest on MSNBC went sour.

But O’Donnell has spent her time wisely. She started the Maravel Center for the Performing Arts in New York’s theater district for her Rosie’s Broadway Kids. It’s been a huge hit for NYC school kids looking to get into the arts.

But her real love has always been variety shows. She modeled her original show on the “Mike Douglas Show.” Her return to that format will be an overwhelming success.

More details to come.

And for confused readers of Showbiz411: thanks to another site, www.gossipcentral.com, for helping out this morning. We’ve had technical problems like crazy, but by Monday all should be resolved.

Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler: No Romance on the Bounty

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler: No Romance on the Bounty

Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler are not a romantic couple in real life.

They play one in “The Bounty Hunter.” And the tabloids are dizzy over the idea that they might be in real life. But they’re not. It’s an act, designed to puff up audiences for “The Bounty Hunter” ahead of its opening Friday.

This is the second oldest trick in the Hollywood playbook. Promote a romance between the lead actors in a new movie so you can stoke some publicity. Only Lassie has been exempt from this deception over the years. The tabs and gossips are only too happy to cooperate because it also sells newspapers and magazines.

At last night’s premiere of “The Bounty Hunter,” Aniston and Butler were happy to give the people what they wanted. At Tao nightclub, the pair settled into a remote booth under an overhang. A thick wall of gawkers formed in front of them, snapping pictures on their phones. Some took video. The fight to get to the front of this crowd, and in a position to lean over a velvet rope and yell at or touch one of the actors was dizzying.

“It cost me five bucks to get up here,” I said to Jennifer Aniston after I’d elbowed two people and arrived at what looked like a petting zoo.

“Really?” she asked, caught off guard.

Not really, I replied.

Butler, who is enjoying himself the way any newly minted 40 year old matinee idol would, posed for pictures, put his arm around Jen, and had a ball. This is his year, without a doubt.

Which does he like best, I asked? Comedies, thrillers, action movies? “I can’t watch myself in a comedy,” Butler said. “I wince.” He thought about it a minute: “A thriller.”

The only other famous actor in the room, Cathy Moriarty, of “GoodFellas” and “SoapDish” fame, managed to get through the crowd by hooking herself to a heavyset bodyguard.

A publicist saw me talking to Aniston and got very annoyed. “They’re not talking,” he said, as the din of a crowd of four hundred people raged overhead. “They want to have private time.” He added: “I know you’re going to write about their personal lives.”

They wish.

The Great Ron Lundy: Goodbye, Love

Roger Friedman
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The Great Ron Lundy: Goodbye, Love

I was so sorry to see that the great Ron Lundy has passed away. The legendary WABC DJ died from a heart attack on Monday at age 75.

David Hinckley has a nice piece on him today in the New York Daily News.

Lundy was part of WABC’s killer quartet from the 1970s (he actually started there in 1965). Ron bounced onto the air after Harry Harrison at 10AM with a booming, ebullient welcome with these words: “Hello, Love!” He was followed in the order by Dan Ingram and Cousin Brucie. Don’t kid yourselves: through the ten most important years in rock and roll history, from 1970 to 1980, these guys ruled the airwaves and literally created the soundtrack that has become classic pop. When WABC switched to talk in 1982, it was one of the saddest days in that history. But the gang moved to WCBS FM, where they got to recapture their golden days.

Here’s a clip from' YouTube:

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Ron, thanks for everything.

Tom Cruise, New York Politician: Mission Impossible

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise and his Scientology buddies must be upset this morning. They’ve lost their political supporter in New York City.

Disgraced state senator Hiram Monserrate lost a special election yesterday to Queens Assemblyman Jose Peralta.

Monserrate was kicked out of the State Senate after being convicted on misdemeanor charges for slashing his girlfriend’s face with a glass.

As a city councilman in 2007, Monserrate drew criticism for creating an L. Ron Hubbard Day in honor of the science-fiction writer who invented Scientology. Despite the New York City Fire Department’s objections, the corpulent loser supported Tom Cruise’s “detox” plan for firemen who’d been in the World Trade Center disaster. He appeared with Cruise at a 2007 fundraiser.

Monserrate went so far as to say he’d actually tried the Scientology “purification” and that it worked for him.

In December 2008 Monserrate was charged with slashing with his girlfriend’s face with a glass. The following October he was convicted of a misdemeanor for recklessness.He tried to keep his seat in the state senate, but the mission proved impossible.

Kirstie Alley Gets it Wrong on the ‘Today Show’ About Scientology Connection

Roger Friedman
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Kirstie Alley Gets it Wrong on the ‘Today Show’ About Scientology Connection

Kirstie Alley got some stuff wrong this morning when spoke to Meredith Vieira on NBC’s beloved “Today Show” in response to our report on her Organic Liaison diet company.

Again: Facts are facts, Kirstie. Two of your board members are Scientologists. One of them runs a Scientology-centric company. The address of your company in Clearwater, Fla., is the same as the the World Institute of Scientology, not your accountant.

And then there’s the accountant. On “Today,” Alley called Saul Lipson a “Scientology Jew,” and looked for a laugh. It verged on being anti-Semitic. She said her address in Clearwater was the same as Lipson’s. This is wrong, Lipson’s address is not in Clearwater, but Coral Springs, Fla.

Furthermore: Alley’s “Scientology Jew,” Mr. Lipson, is firmly a Scientologist. According to the website TruthAboutScientology.com, Lipson rose to the ranks of Operating Thetan 5 on June 1, 2004. It’s a 50-hour course and is described as “dangerous” by critics. OT is the highest level of Scientology, and defined in church dogma as: “The OT would be able to ‘control or operate thought, life, matter, energy, space and time,’ whether he has a body or not.”

Lipson, presumably, has a body, since he also has voicemail. He did not return a call to his office. Here is a link to Lipson’s personal Scientology site.

Here is Saul Lipson’s favorite quote, taken from the website: “Life is a game. A game consists of freedom, barriers and purposes.” — L. Ron Hubbard

One last thing: NBC Universal is a 25% owner of A&E, the network which is now showing Alley’s latest series about being fat and promoting Organic Liaison. Vieira ended her 12-minute segment with these words: “Kirstie Alley, we love ya.”

Peter Graves and Jim Arness: Brothers on TV

Roger Friedman
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Peter Graves and Jim Arness: Brothers on TV

Peter Graves died Sunday at age 83. He was the gray-haired, suave, deep-voiced star of the “Mission: Impossible” TV series on CBS from 1967 to 1973. Graves was also the younger brother of James Arness, who was Marshall Dillon “Gunsmoke” on CBS from 1955 to 1975. They were probably the only siblings ever to star in simultaneous long-running hits on any network. Arness, 87, is still alive.

Graves has loads of credits besides “MI,” but his long-running role as Jim Phelps left an indelible impression. He took over as the show’s lead after married actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain bolted the series over a contract dispute. Graves stayed until the end and even starred in a reunion series in 1988. Nevertheless, he was never asked to do even a cameo in any of the three big-screen adaptations of the series with Tom Cruise.

My favorite Peter Graves performance: as the stone-faced but hilarious Captain Oveur in “Airplane!” and its sequel. His co-star was Lloyd Bridges, the late father of newly minted Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges. Whatever you do, don’t call either of them Shirley.

Detective Munch’s Dog Sniffs Out Spitzer, For Real

Roger Friedman
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Detective Munch’s Dog Sniffs Out Spitzer, For Real

“Law & Order” overlord Dick Wolf ‘had better pay Richard Belzer overtime.

Belzer, who plays Detective John Munch on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” may have been doing some police work at lunch on Friday at Michael’s.

Belzer arrived to join friends including literary agent David Vigliano, mid-way through their neighboring diners’ meal. The occupant of the adjoining table: former New York governor, the quite disgraced Elliot Spitzer. Spitzer was lunching with noted flack Lisa Linden, who’s been seen in Michael’s previously dining with Spitzer’s beleaguered wife, Silda. Linden is bi-partisan, too: she donated $2,300 to Rudy Giuliani’s 2007 presidential bid. Go figure.

But I digress.

Belzer brought a date, his dog, a cute, sort of white poodlish mix named Bebe. The dog goes everywhere with Belzer. He carried it into the restaurant and placed it on a square white linen napkin that had been laid out on the carpet between his chair and Spitzer’s. Of course, Bebe knows that working for Dick Wolf is a full time job. The dog immediatetly started investigating Spitzer, sniffing his pants leg and circling his chair. This happened not once but several times, as Belzer would scoop up Bebe, then place him down again and the dog returned to Spitzer.

Eventually Spitzer and Linden left. Someone joked to Belzer, “Your character works in sex crimes. The dog must have suspected something.”

Indeed.

Also in Michael’s on Friday: Gibson Guitar hero Henry Juszkiewicz with composer Shelley Palmer (whom I hadn’t seen since college days!), Kerzner Resorts music chief Jerry Inzerillo with gospel and R&B great Bebe Winans. Yes, another Bebe! This one, however, will overseeing a 75th anniversary national tour of Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.”

AND MORE STARS IN RESTAURANTS

Chris Noth, in town to shoot his “The Good Wife” series, and Christopher MacDonald, guest starring in the as yet unseen big fall HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” were at Elaine’s last night with Noth’s pal, Steve Walter of the soon to be revived Cutting Room. Elaine’s has music on Sundays, a hot jazz trio. The Chrises sang along and snapped fingers to “King of the Road.” What did they talk about? I heard the whole thing, but was sworn to secrecy. I did hear George Clooney’s name mentioned, and a few other famous names, plus some stuff that can’t be repeated in a family style gossip column!…Father Pete Colapietro did take the mic for a swell rendition in German of “Mack the Knife”…

Kirstie Alley Diet Scheme: Scientology Front?

Roger Friedman
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Kirstie Alley Diet Scheme: Scientology Front?

The blogs are alive with speculation that Kirstie Alley’s new diet scheme, called Organic Liaison, is a front for Scientology.

It sure seems that way.

Let’s not forget that Alley is a devoted member of the sect. She fronted a PR pamphlet for them in 2007 called “Keep Scientology Working.”

Organic Liaison’s advisory board includes a prominent Scientologist named Michelle Seward. Seward is also the CEO of Protege Financial, a Scientology-based company. The two other execs at Protege — Mark Francovich and Scott Foulk – are longtime, high-ranking, practicing Scientologists. Not only that: The corporate office for Organic Liaison is in Clearwater, Fla. — headquarters, not coincidentally, of Scientology. Organic Liaison is in the same building in Clearwater as the World Institute of Scientology.

Another member of the advisory board, Thomas Lovejoy, has a long association with Scientology through its so-called “Artists for Human Rights.” That group includes noted sect members Kelly Preston and Anne Archer. Archer’s son, Tom Davis, is chief celebrity wrangler for Scientology. Preston, of course, is married to Scientology cheerleader John Travolta. Coincidentally, a Tom Lovejoy was one of the earliest teachers of Scientology, way back in 1954. (Click here [PDF download])

Also: Organic Liaison’s accountant is Saul Lipson, a highly placed Scientologist.

Another member of the advisory board, Soram Khalsa, MD, is also considered something of a “quack to the stars.” Khalsa is a Beverly Hills doctor who has a clinic for alternative medicine. According to his bio on Khalsa’s website:’ “In his private medical practice, he integrates phytotherapeutics, homeopathy, acupuncture and environmental medicine with traditional internal medicine.” Here’s a good piece on Khalsa by freelance journalist Alex Pareene.

Oprah Winfrey recently let Alley shill her diet plan on her show. It’s not the first time Winfrey has devoted a massive amount of time to Alley or Scientologists like Cruise and Travolta. It’s certainly a bewilderment.

Even more bewildering: that anyone would sign up to pay money for Alley’s latest weight-loss program. She was a spokesperson for Jenny Craig, lost weight and gained it all back. She is now morbidly obese.

Rielle Hunter Still Has Hollywood Tales To Tell

Roger Friedman
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Rielle Hunter Still Has Hollywood Tales To Tell

Rielle Hunter fesses up to a lot in her new GQ interview. If Elizabeth Edwards doesn’t die from the cancer, this should kill her.

But there’s a lot Hunter doesn’t tell my old pal Lisa DePaolo, about her life in Hollywood just prior to meeting John Edwards in 2006.

Hunter, I was told a couple of months ago, has a lot of frenemies in the TV business, especially on one still-active network show. If the writers and producers of said show start doing their own fessing up, Hunter may have a lot of explaining to do.

Rielle was married to Kip Hunter, son of the Boulder, Colo., D.A. who handled the Jon Benet Ramsey case. They divorced in 2000. Rielle headed to Hollywood, where she made fast friends.

She wrote and produced a 20-minute comedy called ‘Billy Bob and Them,’ which she also acted in and self-distributed.

George Mooradian, now an Emmy-nominated cinematographer, worked on ‘Billy Bob and Them.’ When he met Rielle, he said, she was just getting or had gotten a divorce.

Mooradian conceded he was paid about $50, if that, to shoot the low-budget film in Hunter’s ‘very nice’ Brentwood home that he supposed she’d gotten in the divorce.

The film, he said, didn’t have much of a plot. ‘It was very New Age-y. It had something to do with altars and temples and crystals.’ The shoot lasted two days.

Mooradian told me: ‘She definitely had some connection to the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, and there was an offer to meet the Dalai Lama.’ It was after that that Hunter started pitching ideas around Hollywood for various shows. She started a writing project with a producer who introduced her to the set of one particular TV drama. From what I was told, the plot thickened pretty quickly.

In 2006, Hunter — back in New York after her private Hollywood dramas proved too taxing — and producing partner Mimi Hockman needed help to make their John Edwards campaign videos. They brought in Colin Weil, an experienced ad man whose company created AIDS Walk in Los Angeles in 1984 and has a long list of impressive credits. He was introduced to Hockman through a mutual Hollywood friend, Weil told me last year, declining to give a name.

It was Weil’s expertise that actually got the Edwards films made. Weil told me that the filming of the segments occurred from October 2006 to the end of that year. ‘In January [2007] the campaign decided to shelve them. I thought it was a wimpy move. The whole idea was to show Edwards not as a Ken doll — which he looks like — but in a more relaxed setting.’

More to come…

Kate Winslet Was ‘Bored’ With Mendes, Says Source

Roger Friedman
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Kate Winslet Was ‘Bored’ With Mendes, Says Source

Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes each have Academy Awards, but it wasn’t enough to keep their marriage intact.

They’re ending their marriage, according to their representatives.

I am told, believe it or not, that the split actually came last summer. “Kate was bored with Sam,” says a source who knows the inside scoop. “They drifted apart.”

It didn’t help that Mendes directed Winslet in “Revolutionary Road,” a good movie that failed. Simultaneously, Winslet was starring in “The Reader,” for which she won the Academy Award. The 2008 awards season was grueling because Winslet wanted that best actress prize for Mendes’ movie. It didn’t happen.

The word is that Winslet and her kids are in Mexico on holiday while this storm blows over. When she returns to New York, she’ll be filming a miniseries for HBO based on “Mildred Pierce.” Mendes will have no end of projects in theater and film. And that, as they say, is showbiz.

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