Sunday, October 13, 2024
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TV: “Grey’s Anatomy” Possible Last Season with Just 38% of Episodes with Ellen Pompeo

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You do know that “Grey’s Anatomy” is coming to an end.

ABC hasn’t said so yet, the 20 year old medical soap has been moved to 10pm on Thursdays because it’s trounced weekly by “Law & Order SVU.”

There’s almost none of the original cast left. Now Ellen Pompeo — who’s gotten too expensive for the show — will appear in just 7 of this year’s 18 episodes. That’s 38.8%.

Pompeo — who plays the titular Grey — could be turn up in more, especially if the show gets early word that they need a series finale.

Pompeo’s salary was so big that each year popular other characters have had to be killed off or written endings so the show could go on. Then she said she wanted to work less — why not, she’s rich! — and she was going to do some cable series.

For a whole season during the pandemic, Meredith Grey just lay in a hospital bed and dreamed about the actors who’d been let go over the years.

ABC has beaten this rug and still dust flies from it. All the existing characters have been married to each other and have had terminal illnesses. There have been a lot of explosions and unlikely emergencies. But the sand is running out of this hourglass.

Get ready for a big “Greys” finale possibly in 2025.

Katy Perry’s Got ‘It’! New Single, “Woman’s World,” Sounds Like a Hit (Watch Preview)

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When Katy Perry said she was returning to music from “American Idol,” I said she better have the goods.

From the preview of “Woman’s World” dropping Thursday, it seems like she has a hit record.

Katy needed something on the order of her “Roar,” and I think she found it. Welcome back!

Paramount’s Oscars Surprise: Trailer for “Gladiator II” Comes on Heels of Studio Sale Announced Yesterday

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This has been a busy two days for Paramount Pictures.

The company was sold yesterday to David Ellison’s Skydance company and partners for $28 billion. The deal will close next year.

That should be around the time director Ridley Scott releases his “Gladiator II.” From the looks of the just released trailer, Ellison will be at all the awards shows and definitely the Oscars.

Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, and Pedro Pascal star in the sequel to the film that gave Scott a Best Picture. But he doesn’t have a Best Director prize after decades of filmmaking. (He lost in 1992 to Steven Soderbergh for “Traffic.”) Will this be it? Looks pretty good.

“Gladiator II” will be released on November 22nd.

Oscar Winner Halle Berry and 6 Time Nominee Glenn Close Forced to Be in A TV Series with Kim Kardashian

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How far have we fallen in our culture?

This far:

Oscar winner Halle Berry, and six time Oscar nominee Glenn Close — who’s also a Tony and Emmy winner — are forced to co-star in a series with Kim Kardashian.

There should be legislation against this.

The show is called “All’s Fair” but all is certainly not fair if the only way Ryan Murphy could get a series on Hulu was to have it star this self-aggrandizing novelty celebrity. Kardashian is also executive producer with Murphy.

Close and Berry playing second fiddle to the ex wife of Kanye West (and others) is simply horrifying — for them, not for us. We can choose not to watch this drama about an all-female Los Angeles law firm on Hulu. But the real actresses have to wonder where their own careers are at.

Kardashian has appeared in other series for creator Ryan Murphy. She also starred in a famous sex tape. A few years ago she declared she would become a lawyer without going to law school. For years she and her horrid family have starred in a reality show about their tabloid headline family.

Kardashian is 43 years old, and famous not for thespian skills but notoriety. There’s a long list of accomplished actresses the same ago who would make “All’s Fair” a classy show. The Screen Actors Guild should intervene.

Judge: Alec Baldwin Producer’s Role Can’t Be Used in Prosecution — A Big Win for Actor

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The ridiculous Alec Baldwin manslaughter case in Santa Fe took a major turn in the actor’s favor today.

The pre-trial began today, with Baldwin accused of manslaugher in the October 2022 accidental death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that Baldwin’s position as a producer on the film, “Rust,” was irrelevant.

The judge said: “I’m having real difficulty with the state’s position that they want to show that as a producer he didn’t follow guidelines and therefore as an actor Mr. Baldwin did all of these things wrong that resulted in the death of Ms. Hutchins because as a producer he allowed these things to happen.”

Even though Baldwin’s lawyers have been trying to get the whole case dismissed before the trial began, the judge’s new decision has helped them tremendously. If Baldwin’s role as a producer didn’t contribute to Hutchins’ death, being an actor certainly didn’t.

The same court has already sent Hannah Guitierrez-Reed, the person who handed Baldwin the loaded prop gun, to jail for 18 months.

But the Santa Fe District Attorney’s office has bent over backwards to prosecute Baldwin also, even though their evidence is thin. There was no intent on the actor’s part to shoot Hutchins, obviously.

I spoke to Baldwin on Saturday night when I ran into him and wife Hilaria at dinner at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton. They were in a good but serious mood, and told me they were on their way out to Santa Fe on Sunday. Baldwin is in court and will be for the whole 10 days — unless the case is dismissed earlier. Hilaria told me she was taking her two eldest children out there for a couple of days but had to return for the five others.

The big winner here will be defense lawyer Alex Spiro, who’s already been featured in The New Yorker as a star who protects celebrities from going to jail.

Exclusive: Global Citizen Chief Got 36% Raise in 2022, Revenue Fell By 26%, Most Money Not to Third World

I’ve been writing about Global Citizen for years. No one seems to get it.

The sketchy group just announced their next big concert in Central Park for September 28th. Global Citizen is all about publicity and hobnobbing with stars. It has almost nothing to do with poverty or hunger.

We’ll get back to that in a minute.

The group’s latest tax filing, for 2022, shows that the top executives are having a grand old time in the service of charity.

Even though total revenue fell 26% from 2021 to 2022, salaries just shot right up.

Chief Star wrangler Hugh Evans has now worked his way up to a startling $560,000, not including expenses. His base salary for 2022 rose 36%.

Number 2 at Global Citizen, Elizabeth Henshaw, is now getting just $500,000. Her base salary rose from $396,000 to $432,463. The increase is 16%.

The execs at Global Citizen are more than keeping up with inflation, while the people they advocate for are starving to death.

What does it cost to produce their rock concerts? Done & Dusted Productions were paid $3.5 million in 2022. Universal Music Nigeria got $2.1 million. The total paid to contractors for the Fall 2022 Central Park show was around $10 million.

Global Citizen lists $22 million for production expenses, and $2.5 million for “Artist Expenses.” The latter number is for paying the expenses of the rock stars who seem like they’re giving their time.

You say: Yes, but they don’t give money away?

I say: Most of it is to European countries and organizations. Very little goes to Asia or Sub Sahara Africa. Nothing goes to Ukraine. They say total amounts of money donated (generally, not specifically) were $2.5 million To Europe (including Greenland and Iceland), $427,000 to North America, and about $1.3 million to third world countries.

Surprised?

Nothing in 2022 went to Gaza and this was before October 7, 2023. Global Citizen stays away from those conflicts for fear of losing sponsors on either side.

But what will happen on September 28th, the first Global Citizen concert broadcast around the world since Hamas attacked Israel? Will viewers be treated diatribes about genocide and apartheid? The potential is there for a total calamity. And what about Ukraine? Why does Global Citizen ignore them?

Global Citizen is one of the best scams in history, yet it just keeps going on and on. If only the rest of us could figure out how to do it!

Justin Bieber Posts Birthday Wishes to Jaden Smith from India, Makes Only One Spelling Mistake

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Justin Bieber really likes his buddy, Jaden Smith, son of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith. He posted a birthday message to Jaden from India, where Bieber is getting $10 million bucks to perform at at $118 million wedding this week. Justin’s message is heartfelt, and it only contains one spelling error. Justin, it’s “pursuing,” with a u, no e. Actually, “tho” is really spelled “though,” so half a point off there. The soon to be a dad says, “When Jaden believes in you there’s a tangible feeling as tho, if he thinks I’m special who cares what anyone else thinks.!” (Half a point off for wrong punctuation, too.) Still, a lovely thought.

Netflix Box Office: Eddie Murphy’s Expensive New “Beverly Hills Cop” Trounced by Nicole Kidman-Zac Efron Romcom

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Can you call it a box office result?

Netflix doesn’t report a lot of numbers, but they do tell us which movies are seen by more people.

Over the July 4th holiday, they had a winner. It was not the big ticket movie we expected.

“A Family Affair,” starring Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King, easily took the top spot. The light romcom had 1.4 billion sampled views. No one really knows what that means except a lot of people tried it, and liked it.

Kidman handily beat Eddie Murphy’s “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” which only had 646 million samples. This indicates a lot of things including that “Axel F” might not have been a hit in theaters since it reportedly cost a whopping $150 million.

“Axel F” has very middling reviews on Rotten Tomatoes — just 65%. But much worse is its audience rating — 81%. Netflix subscribers had little interest in it, and the ones who saw it didn’t much like it. The story of Axel F may finally be finished.

Still doing well on Netflix after six weeks is Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man.” This is one of the best films of 2024. There could be some awards future there, too. If you’re inside, sitting in front of an air conditioner, “Hit Man” is the best way to “kill” some time!

As for Kidman, she has managed to combine film and TV very deftly. And imagine — in AMC theaters, she gives her “magic” speech before her show film unspools. She’s probably the biggest real deal female actress right now.

Oscar, Grammy Winner Henry Mancini, Dead 30 Years, Takes Numbers 1 and 2 on iTunes Albums

Henry Mancini is back on top.

The legendary hit composer of movie soundtracks, TV themes, and hit records has the numbers 1 and 2 albums on iTunes today.

Mancini died in 1994 at 70. There’s a 100th birthday celebration going on with an album of seven of his compositions reworked with the likes of Lizzo on flute, and Michael Buble singing.

The album is called “The Henry Mancini 100th Sessions” and it’s number on iTunes.

CBS Sunday Morning ran a piece on all this last fall. But they re-ran this morning and now Mancini is riding high.

His most memorable music? Theme from the Pink Panther movies, theme to the “Peter Gunn” Tv series, the song “Moon River,” and dozens more including “Dear Heart” and soundtracks to movies like “Love Story” and “Days of Wine and Roses.” He was a particular favorite of director Blake Edwards, and singer Andy Williams.

The new tribute album includes not just Michael Buble covering “Moon River,” but a reworked version with the movie’s star, Audrey Hepburn, on vocals. Lizzo — playing the flute — appears on “The Pink Panther” theme with James Galway, and “Peter Gunn” features Quincy Jones, John Williams, Arturo Sandoval and Herbie Hancock.

The new versions are revved up but retain all their original integrity. Then you have the Greatest Hits at number 3, as fans want to hear where it all started.

Justin Bieber Comes Out of Retirement to Play Mega Billion Wedding Weekend in India: $10 Mil Paycheck?

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Justin Bieber has been looking morose the last couple of years. He hasn’t performed his own show live in a long time after cancelling his last concert tour.

But guess who’s back? And smiling!

The Biebs has arrived in Mumbia to perform at a wedding staged by the 9th richest man in the world.

Mukesh Ambani is the richest man in Asia with roughly $118 million. He’s spending around $130 million his son’s wedding next weekend. Justin Bieber is already there, possibly picking up a $10 million paycheck for entertaining the guests all week.

Bieber– unaccompanied by heavily pregnant wife, Hailey — has been posting to social media like crazy, which is probably part of the deal. He’s grinning from ear to ear, dressed like a waif while all his hosts appear in ornate costumes. But they’re smiling, too, because they’ve never seen anything like a prepubescent adult all tatted up, dressed like a child.

CNN has some details of what to expect: “According to a leaked wedding invitation posted by ANI, one of India’s largest news agencies, festivities will kick off on July 12 with the “Shubh Vivaah” or “auspicious wedding” ceremony. The following day is the “Shubh Aashirwad” or “divine blessing” ceremony, and festivities conclude on July 14 with the “Mangal Utsav” or reception. The invitation was placed in an ornate red box with a depiction of the Hindu god Vishnu on its front, according to a video published by ANI.”

Where does all this money come from? Oil. Ambani’s wealthy is thanks to his company, Reliance Industries, which has been accused of political corruption, cronyism, fraud, financial manipulation, and exploitation of its customers, Indian citizens, and natural resources, according to reports.

But hey — what did you expect? Most of India is desperately poor, so one man worth $118 billion was bound to happen. And Bieber — he needs the money. He’s going to be a dad soon.

Presumably Bieber will never see the extreme poverty in India, or even the Taj Mahal. He’s there on a mission.