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Written by Zap2it.com
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Wednesday, 31 January 2007 |
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PILOTS: JANSSEN ON THE BEAT AT NBC
Famke Janssen has signed on to an NBC pilot from "House" creator David Shore, in what would be her first starring role in a TV series.
The "X-Men" star will play a police officer in the untitled show. NBC has also cast Rocky Carroll ("Chicago Hope") in its comedy "The IT Crowd," and ABC has ordered a comedy pilot from British writer Victoria Pile ("Smack the Pony").
The Janssen pilot places her character at the center of a group of cops. Shore co-wrote the pilot with fellow "House" scribe Peter Blake, and like that show, the pilot will mix procedural stories with ongoing character development.
"We're thrilled to have her," Shore tells The Hollywood Reporter about Janssen. "She's smart, funny and somewhat attractive."
Janssen played Jean Grey in all three "X-Men" films. Her movie credits also include "GoldenEye," "The Faculty" and "Rounders." She's made guest appearances on several TV series, most notably in a recurring role on the second season of "Nip/Tuck."
Carroll, meanwhile, will play the smug supervisor of three computer techies (Joel McHale, Jessica St. Clair and Richard Ayoade) in "The IT Crowd," an adaptation of a Britcom with the same title. In addition to his time on "Chicago Hope," Carroll has appeared in "The Agency," "Invasion" and "Crimson Tide."
ABC's comedy order, about a group of eccentrics who populate a police station, also has British roots. Pile is a veteran of the sketch show "Smack the Pony" and created the hospital comedy "Green Wing."
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'CSI: NY' CO-STAR INVESTIGATES MOTHERHOOD
It's a baby girl for "CSI: NY" co-star Anna Belknap.
People is reporting that Belknap and husband Eric Siegel added a daughter to our nation's population on Jan. 14. The magazine was unable to provide details on name or baby dimensions.
Belknap plays Detective Lindsay Monroe on the hit CBS drama. Her earlier credits include the short-lived procedurals "Medical Investigation" and "The Handler."
Hubby Siegel is also an actor with credits like "Big Monster on Campus" and a multi-episode stint on "The Guardian."
The child is the couple's first.
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MOVIE STUDIOS DITCH SUPER BOWL
From "The Matrix" to "Hulk," recent years have seen Super Bowl ads have the potential to either launch or crush a big movie. Not this year.
According to Variety, only two movie ads are confirmed for Sunday's Super Bowl, down from the eight trailers that showed during last year's big game. The trade paper says that while a few more movies may sneak in at the last minute, their teasers won't show until the fourth quarter of the game between the Bears and Colts.
During the game, the only movies considered worthy of the $2.6 million price tag are Lionsgate's inner-city swimming movie "Pride" and Disney's motorcycle comedy "Wild Hogs." the two films premiere on March 23 and March 2 respectively.
Pregame spots have been purchased for February releases "Norbit" from Paramount and "Ghost Rider" from Sony.
Trailers during last year's Super Bowl included clips from eventual hits like "Talladega Nights," as well as the underperforming "Mission: Impossible III" and the downright disappointing "Poseidon."
The Variety story reports that the lack of trailers this year is actually a return of sorts to the more innocent time a decade ago when only "Independence Day" advertised during the Super Bowl. That worked out pretty well for the Will Smith vehicle and seven films advertised the next year.
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'I LOVE LUCY' CO-CREATOR DIES
TV writer Bob Carroll Jr., who co-created the classic sitcom "I Love Lucy" and worked on all 180 of its episodes, has died.
Carroll, 87, died Saturday at his Los Angeles home of natural causes. He'd been in ill health for the past few weeks.
After first teaming with Lucille Ball on her radio show "My Favorite Husband," Carroll, writing partner Madelyn Pugh Davis and another writer, Jess Oppenheimer, co-created "I Love Lucy" in 1951. The show ran through 1957, pretty much setting the template for all sitcoms to follow, including the tradition of filming in front of a live audience and selling reruns into syndication.
Carroll, Davis and Oppenheimer worked on all 180 episodes of the series, turning out as many as 35 shows per season (and never fewer than 26 in a year).
"Working with Bob was great because we shared the same sense of humor," Davis tells The Hollywood Reporter. "We never got into an argument about what we were going to do. All the pictures I have of us, I'm always laughing."
Carroll continued to work with Ball on several shows after "I Love Lucy," including "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour," "The Lucy Show," "Here's Lucy" and "Life With Lucy." He and Davis also co-wrote the script for the feature film "Yours, Mine and Ours" (which starred Ball and Henry Fonda) and worked on several other series, including "The Mothers-in-Law" and "Alice."
The Writers Guild of America honored Carroll and Davis with its Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for television writing in 1992. He was nominated for two Emmys, in 1956 for "I Love Lucy" and 1971 for an episode of "Here's Lucy."
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LIU, O'CONNELL PICK UP 'UGLY' STICK
ABC's "Ugly Betty" continues to load up on the guest stars, signing Lucy Liu and Jerry O'Connell for February sweeps appearances.
Liu ("Charlie's Angels," "Kill Bill: Vol. 1") will appear in two episodes of the Golden Globe-winning ABC series, beginning Feb. 15. She'll play Grace Chin, a former college classmate whom Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) once stood up for a date.
That past comes back to haunt him when he asks for Grace's help in resolving a family issue.
Liu recently appeared in "Code Name: The Cleaner" and "Lucky Number Slevin." Her other credits include a regular role on "Ally McBeal" and the feature films "Shanghai Noon," "Chicago" and "Domino."
O'Connell, who stars in NBC's "Crossing Jordan," will also appear in the Feb. 15 episode, playing a man that Alexis Meade (new "Betty" regular Rebecca Romijn) meets at a bar while she's "slumming" with Wilhelmina (Vanessa Williams). He and Romijn have been engaged since fall 2005. | Only registered users can write comments.
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