Real-Life Broadway Danny Rose Dies

Talent agent Ruth Webb was quite a character, from the live racoons she nursed to the Hollywood legends she revitalized after everyone else had given up on them (hello, Mickey Rooney). But my favorite story from her very entertaining obit is this nugget: Tonya Harding (of Nancy Kerrigan/skating scandal fame) turned down a part in a Woody Allen movie "because she abhorred his morals." Wow, you know Woody was at a low point when Tonya Harding could take the high ground on him.

"Peter Pan" Sequel Movie Rights Sold

The only official sequel to "Peter Pan" -- "Peter Pan In Scarlet" -- has been sold to the BBC et al to be made into a movie. But shouldn't they make a decent movie out of the original classic first? I love the novel and don't think any of the films have come within a mile of capturing its brilliance. (I know, the play came first. But I think the novel is better, richer, and funnier.) The best stage adaptation I saw combined humans and puppets via Mabou Mines in a heartbreaking, wonderful show called "Peter & Wendy."

Overnight TV Ratings -- CW Almost Disappears Entirely

The CW barely registed Sunday night when it filled its schedule with one new "Reba," a repeat of "Reba" and two repeats of "America's Next Top Model." That's no way to build a network OR protect your most valuable franchise. Meanwhile, "Survivor" won the night but was down some 20% from the last finale. For a complete ratings breakdown, go to MediaWeek's Marc Berman. (Note: "r" means repeat.)

7 p.m.
1. 60 Minutes (CBS) -- 13.92 million viewers
2. Football Overrun (FOX) -- 16.49 million/The OT (FOX) -- 8.94 million
3. A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC) -- 7.99/Santa Clause 2 (ABC) -- 13.61 million
4. Football Night In America (NBC) -- 6.82 million
5. Reba r (CW) -- 2.52 million/Reba (CW) -- 3.44 million

8 p.m.
1. Survivor: Cook Island (CBS) -- 16.43 million
2. Santa Clause 2 (ABC) -- 13.61 million
3. Football Pregame (NBC) -- 12.24 mil/Sunday Night Football (NBC) -- 13.07 million
4. The Simpsons (FOX) -- 8.96 million/American Dad (FOX) -- 7.48 million
5. America's Next Top Model r (CW) -- 1.14 million

9 p.m.
1. Survivor: Cook Island (CBS) -- 16.43 million
2. Santa Clause 2 (ABC) -- 13.61 million
3. Sunday Night Football (NBC) -- 13.07 million
4. Family Guy (FOX) -- 8.81 million/Family Guy r (FOX) -- 7.81 million
5. America's Next Top Model r (CW) -- 0.88 or 880,000 viewers

10 p.m.
1. Survivor: Cook Island Reunion (CBS) -- 13.52 million
2. Sunday Night Football (NBC) -- 13.07 million
3. Desperate Housewives (ABC) r -- 7.73 million

"The Queen" Filmmakers Invited To Buckingham

It's unclear whether they're the only ones invited or part of a luncheon celebrating British cinema. In any case, the talent behind "The Queen" has been invited to Buckingham Palace for some sandwiches and a spot of tea. I can't imagine the Queen attending and talking about the film, but Variety reports that the Queen has seen the film and enjoyed it.

A Movie First: An Entire Country Gets Final Cut

The creators and stars behind "The Painted Veil" are fighting back from obscurity. A classic Oscar-style movie (literary pedigree, stars, period setting), "The Painted Veil" has been lost in the end-of-the-year shuffle. But the talent is taking their story to the LA Times and Variety to hope they can scare up some sympathy and some more marketing muscle from Warner Bros. They say WB has dropped the ball because its Oscar plate is already full with ""The Departed," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Happy Feet" and "Blood Diamond." WB says editing tussles delayed the film's release and their ability to market it. And buried in the story is surely a Hollywood first: in order to get permission to film in China, the filmmakers gave China final cut! That's right, an entire country was given final cut when most top film directors have to fight for that right. Anything China wanted out came out. There was back and forth and compromise, but this is still bizarre. The US military always plays hardball when providing access for Hollywood and demands script cuts and the such. But final cut? I don't think they or any other country has ever been given this before. Crazy.

Simon Cowell Richer Than God

Simon Cowell -- the force behind "American Idol," the UK's "X Factor" and a slew of hopeful reality shows like "America's Got Talent" -- has just signed a three year $40 million contract with ITV. Add that to the massive amounts he makes for "Idol" and Cowell is worth well over $100 million. All for being insulting and telling people what they're doing wrong? My brother Chris does that for free.

Very Ginger Beer

Apparently, that's Cockney rhyming slang for "queer" and BBC car show host Jeremy Clarkson has been chided for using it on air...to describe a car. He also agreed with an audience member who thought a certain car was "a bit gay." That's right. You can't insult gay people and you can't insult cars, either. A previous joke about Germany was deemed okay because it was considered amusing rather than offensive. I don't know; being so sensitive about every perceived slight seems a bit gay to me.

Evil Bunny Strikes Again

"Postcards From Buster" is back on the air. The evil bunny Buster -- who has been spreading his malicious gospel of tolerance and diversity and respect for other people and cultures -- was at the center of a maelstrom when a child with two mommys was briefly seen on camera without the appropriate denunciation. Now a new season has begun and Buster hasn't stopped proselytizing: he's visiting an Army post, taking kids across the border to Mexico to meet their pen pals (and future illegal immigrants, no doubt!), and even revisiting kids they met in the first season because their homes were destroyed by Katrina. Where's the HUAC when you need it? By the way, darned if I can find the article now, but according to gov't statistics reported (I think in USA Today) some 75% of children are raised in non-traditional families. A "traditional" family is when the biological mom and dad live together and raise the kids. I have three brothers and sisters with kids -- all of them are divorced, one is a single mom (with a great job and living in one of the ritziest zip codes in the country), one is remarried with her two kids joining her new husband and one is remarried with a blended family of his two kids and her kid all sharing a home. Mind you, all the kids also spend time with their other biological as well. So what's traditional anymore?

Actually, The #1 Movie Is "Eragon"

Not in the US, where "The Pursuit Of Happyness" triumphed. But worldwide, the #1 movie of the weekend is "Eragon." It grossed $53.8 million around the world (including its US total). Maybe it will do better overseas, where visuals are sometimes more important than dialogue and acting. Certainly, unless a drop is disastrous, $150 million worldwide seems likely, which makes this $100 million movie so-so rather than the flop the US reviews indicated it might be. Clearly, they've launched it well; now it just depends on word of mouth. "Casino Royale" meanwhile is at $418 million worldwide, just about $13 million shy of the record held by "Die Another Day." Boy, was I wrong about this movie. It's the first time Bond has introduced a new hero and not dropped in grosses. Since it follows the top-grossing Bond film of all time, that's really saying something.

Barry Gibb Is Actually A Country Singer?

So says the singer from the now defunct Bee Gees. He's moved to Nashville, bought a home owned by Johnny Cash and is recording an album. (In that falsetto? That's hard to imagine, unless he's gonna be doing a lot of yodeling. Maybe he's a Jimmie Rodgers fan. To be fair, he did give Dolly Parton her last #1 hit via a duet w Kenny Rogers.) "I am a country artist, always have been a country artist, and this is my chance to get some self-expression out because the group is no longer the group," he said. Okay. Any inspiration from beyond the grave? "You feel like someone is watching," he said. "You feel like there is a presence in the house of both Johnny and June. I still haven't seen a tall man wearing black clothes yet, but I am very much into it and hope that I do."

I Feel Sorry For Showtime

How many good shows do they have to produce before people start actually watching their network? Surely they've hit some creative tipping point where people will decide Showtime is worth the $10 a month they happily pay for HBO. "Weeds," "The L Word," "Brotherhood," "Sleeper Cell" and "Dexter." That's a lineup -- creatively speaking -- that anyone would be happy to have.

I Know, I Know. But It's Good

Is it just me or is Drake Bell (the teen star of Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh") really talented? His new single deserves the tag of Beatlesque pop, which I never use unless something is actually very good. Check out "I Know" yourself. I've interviewed Drake twice and apparently music-wise he's just getting started.

OJ Editor A Bigot?

The latest scuttlebutt is that Judith Regan was fired by Rupert Murdoch after making allegedly somewhat anti-Semitic remarks to colleagues. This was the final straw, of course, not the entire reason.

The conversation with Mr. Jackson on Friday afternoon was described by sources as heated and confrontational, even for the famously forceful Ms. Regan. Ms. Regan’s alleged comments, which came in the midst of a tense conversation in which she berated Mr. Jackson, were directed at him and Ms. Friedman, who are Jewish, as well as toward other Jews, one of the sources said.

That source would not say specifically what Ms. Regan is alleged to have said, but characterized the comments as offensive and inappropriate, but not a hateful tirade.

Hmm, so the comments fell somewhere between a Mel Gibson and a Kramer?

Why Did "The Nine" Flop?

This unilluminating story from the LA Times won't tell you. Indeed, why is this story running now -- or at all. It doesn't tell us a darn thing other than the fact that the show has flopped. They also spread the canard that just because a network hasn't officially said a show is "cancelled" that it's wrong to say a show is dead. Uh-uh. When a network yanks a show from the air, when no new episodes or even scripts have been ordered, when no one knows when remaining episodes will air, when people suggest the show was such a commercial flop that ABC might not even be able to air them, when everyone involved with the show has moved on and is looking for new jobs, it is not "erroneous" to say the show is dead. "The Nine" is dead." Why? Because an excellent pilot led to a long tease -- we didn't want to be toyed with while wondering what had happened during that bank robbery. (What the heck did Scott Wolf do anyway?) Even if a show has tons of mysteries, we want to feel we're moving forward, not constantly looking into the past. Besides, since every single character knew what had happened, keeping that info from the viewers for more than a show or two was just annoying.

Uk Music Charts -- Who Will Get The Christmas Single?

This week's UK music charts are out and Take That is #1 again with the single "Patience" and the album "Beautiful World." But all anyone can talk about is the Christmas single. Every year performers jockey to have bragging rights over snaring the Number One single on Christmas. Will Take That stay on top? Will new "X Factor" winner Leona Lewis move to Number one with her first single, a cover of Kelly Clarkson's "Moment Like This?" (Even if it's an attempt to say Lewis is the biggest talent to win "Idol"/"X Factor" since Kelly, that's a lame song choice.) The beloved Cliff Richards jumps in at #2 with "21st Century Christmas." And the Pogies are back in the Top 10 with their perennial favorite "Fairytale of New York." You can hear many of the songs vying for top honors via this BBC story.Place your bets!

What's The Biggest Cash Crop In The US?

Not corn. Not soybean. Not hay. It's pot. Harold and Kumar would be proud. And seriously, when a law is so completely ignored and there's a movement by many states to make something legal -- at least for the very ill -- then surely it's time to rethink policy. Saying if you legalize pot that you're on the way to legalizing cocaine or LSD is like saying if you raise the speed limit to 65 mph you're destined to raise it to 90 mph.

Weekend Box Office -- The Final Happy Numbers

To the surprise of no one who reads Popsuring, Will Smith's "The Pursuit Of Happyness" was the number one movie at the box office this weekend. Box Office Prophetws got it wrong (hey, we all make mistakes) but claiming today that "Will Smith has become sort of a quiet superstar," is just plain idiotic. He's been a HUGE movie star since "Independence Day" and has ten films that have opened at #1 to prove it. "Charlotte's Web" of course was a big flop, while "Eragon" did better than expected but will sink like a stone next week, I think. In limited release, "Dreamgirls" is benefitting from $25 tickets and massive demand to score a sensational $120,000 per screen, says Variety. It opens on a modest 800 screens on Christmas Day, which is a perfect launch while it waits for the Golden Globe awards and Oscar nominations to expand wider. The Top 10, per BOP:

1. The Pursuit of Happyness -- $27 million
2. Eragon -- $23.5 million
3. Charlotte's Web -- $12 million
4. Happy Feet -- $8.5 million ($149.4 million total)
5. The Holiday -- $8.2 million ($25.3 million total)
6. Apocalypto -- $7.7 million ($27.9 million total)
7. Blood Diamond -- $6.3 million ($18.4 million total)
8. Casino Royale -- $5.7 million ($137.6 million total)
9. The Nativity Story -- $4.7 million ($23.1 million total)
10. Unaccopanied Minors -- $3.7 million ($10.2 million total)

We Are...Matthew

Here's my NYDaily News sit down with the two Matthews: Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, promoting their new football drama "We Are Marshall." Fox was quite modest and low-key (though they were making a movie about football, Fox apparently never rbought up his college days as a wide receiver for Columbia), while McConaughey seems like a guy who knows how to have fun. More power to him.

Michael Jackson: The Laziest Man In The World?

James Brown has long dubbed himself "the hardest working man in show biz." Surely now Michael Jackson is gunning for the title of "least hardest working man in show biz." Michael is traipsing around the world, bumming off people like Middle East princes, British businessmen and Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley for places to stay. He's in debt up to his ears and avoiding endless charges of child molestation. Clearly, he's desperate for money. And yet, tomorrow Jackson was supposed to be in Tokyo and have dinner with fans who spent up to $3500 for the honor. Jackson didn't have to speak to anyone and he certainly didn't have to perform (his music was going to be playing in the background, of course). All he had to do to make some money was SIT THERE. And Michael Jackson just cancelled.

Making A Killing In Comics

The NYDaily News has a profile of the Dabel Brothers, a tam that has broken through in the comic book world with their adaptation of a vampire hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. Me, I'm still waiting for Hamilton's work to get a spashy big screen or TV launch.

New "Idol" Winner Leona Lewis

In the UK, "X Factor" is the reigning version of "Pop Idol." It's nto the completely massive hit that "American Idol" has become, but it has supplanted the original "Pop Idol." No wonder Simon Cowell was sued for creating it -- it and "American Idol" seem to share every new innovation, right down to having pop stars duet with the finalists on the big last show. The newest "X Factor" winner is Leona Lewis, a pretty young woman with a fantastic voice. You can check out her duet with Take That at the finals or any number of other performances on YouTube. Mind you, my first thought when reading this story was, "Who's the gay-ish kid she beat out?" It's Ray Quinn, an 18 year old Liverpudlian. Sort of a UK Michael Buble, he trotted out every warhorse in the book, from "Smile" (which isn't bad) to "Oh Mandy" and "Never Walk Alone." He sounds flat much of the time, but in the studio he might be able to get by and clearly it was Ray's cuddlyish image that won him fans. (He even tears up on "Never Walk Alone," which is a funeral/memorial favorite in the UK.) Great fun and I think Leona Lewis will be the first UK winner to crossover to the US.

From Intern To Feature Film Director

My profile of young director Gideon Raff for the NY Daily News.

Opera Diva Says He Was Sick

Telenovelas have nothing on the antics of the opera world. Roberto Alagna is the tenor who stormed off stage during "Aida" when audiences booed him. Then he staged protests in front of La Scala when mangement locked him out, saying quite reasonably that he'd quit. Now Alagna says he wasn't angry; he left the stage because he had low blood sugar. Mamma mia! What a baby.

Hannibal Lecter's Creator Must Be Mad

Mad that everyone has turned on him, that is. Once, Thomas Harris was wildly overpraised as one of the great thriller writers of all time. "Red Dragon" and "The Silence of the Lambs" were touted as modern masterpieces of horror. And "Silence" was turned into a blockbuster, Oscar-winning film that seemed to cement Harris among the gods. Then he kept writing. Now, several more movie adaptations have been flops and his books "Hannibal" and now "Hannibal Rising" have been pilloried as pathetic, laughaby bad works. This week, "Hannibal Rising" debuts at only #6 on the NYTimes bestseller list. Harris surely worked just as hard on these books as the others and he must be wondering, "What the hell happened?"

On the nonfiction list, Barack Obama is back on tiop with his "Audacity Of Hope." Every Presidential candidate seems to trot out a book these days and with "Hope" at #1, maybe Obama is the frontrunner after all. And while the movie version of "Charlotte's Web" is a flop, at least it's sending the EB White classic back onto the charts.

Son Of A "Jersey Boy"

Here's a sad little story. The son of one of the original Four Seasons haunts the Broadway house where "Jersey Boys" is playing to packed crowds. Unemployed, he tries to scalp tickets, sometimes argues with staff and complains bitterly (and apparently without justification) that his mom is being squeezed out of royalties from the show. By the way, the writer tosses in the idea that the Four Seasons have sold more than 200 million records. That hardly seems possible. Billboard says the Four Seasons have charted 22 albums and Frankie Valli seven solo CDs. The Four Seasons have 48 singles and Vallie 14. Of all of these, only the single "Grease" went platinum and only a handful of albums and singles went gold. With 89 charting albums and singles, a generous estimate would be 30 million copies sold in the US. Double it for the world and that's still only 60 million copies sold. Hey, that's a ton but where do they get 200 million copies from?

Weekend Box Office Estimates -- Will Smith Happy

Okay, Box Office Prophets finally has the weekend box office predictions based on the Friday numbers. They say "Charlotte's Web" is going to have a very strong family presence and have good legs. Having seen the film, which satisfies no one, I doubt that strongly. It opened weakly and will not do well, even though there's no pure little tyke movie left to come out this year. (Night at the Museum and Pursuit of Happyness and holdover Happy Feet are the closest ones, but they're not really for five year olds.) BOP also doesn't take into account the poisonous word of mouth that Eragon is going to have. Finally, they wrote "Will Smith's feel-good movie The Pursuit of Happyness shocks virtually everyone with a very impressive $9.2 million Friday, taking the top spot at the box office." It was no surprise if you read Popsurfing. The weekend Top 10 estimates from BOP based on Friday numbers:

1. The Pursuit Of Happyness -- $28.5 million
2. Eragon -- $23.5 million
3. Charlotte's Web -- $12.9 million
4. Happy Feet -- $8.5 million
5. The Holiday -- $8.3 million
6. Apocalypto --$7.6 million
7. Blood Diamond -- $6.6 million
8. Casino Royale -- $5.3 million
9. The Nativity Story -- $4.9 million
10. Unaccompanied Minors -- $3.8 million

Friday Box Office Numbers

Box Office Prophets and the movie industry websites Hollywood Reporter and Variety haven't given their weekend projections based on the Friday numbers yet. But The Numbers does have those amounts and I was right: The Pursuit of Happyness won Friday night with $9 million, Eragon was a close second with $8.6 million and Charlotte's Web was an out-and-out disaster with $3.4 million. (The near empty screening I attended at 10:10 p.m. apparently wasn't because the earlier screenings were filled with families. The trailer gave me a bad feeling - too obvious and heavy-handed. And let's face it: some books just aren't meant to be made into movies and the delicate voice of EB White's classic is one of them. Leave it alone.) Neither "Apocalypto" nor "The Holiday" is gonna shock anyone with long legs. And while Eragon was a close second, I assume word of mouth is going to be poisonous (my friend biboy called to say he'd seen it with his son and said the movie was AWFUL -- he couldn't emphasize it enough), while the word of mouth on "Happyness" should be good. And "Dreamgirls" is tearing it up on three screens. I'll post the weekend estimates when they arrive.

Billboard's Top 10 Albums Of The Year

Billboard polls all its staffers and does an annual top 10 list, along with listing a bunch of their Top 10 lists and the lists of various artists. It's always fun to scroll through all the lists and if you find someone with similar tastes, any of their picks you don't know can be a good bet.Here's the final list for this year.

1. Bob Dylan -- Modern Times (65 points)
2. Bruce Springsteen -- We Shall Overcome: Seeger Sessions (58 points)
3. Gnarls Barkley -- St. Elsewhere (53 pts.)
4. Arctic Monkeys -- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (50 pts)
5. TV On The Radio -- Return To Cookie Mountain (47 points)
6. Tom Waits -- Orphans boxed set (39 pts -- is that better, gyrobo?)
7. The Hold Steady -- Boys and Girls in America (38 pts)
8. tie: Red Hot Chili Peppers -- Stadium Arcadium and Dixie Chicks -- Taking The Long Way (33 pts each)
9. tie: Tool -- 10,000 Days and The Beatles -- Love (27 pts)
10. Corinne Bailey Rae -- Corinne Bailey Rae (23 pts.)

"Day Break" and William Shatner's Game Show Cancelled

ABC has pulled the plug on William Shatner's game show "Show Me The Money" -- just days after ordering six more episodes, the teases. The muddled science-fiction show "Day Break" is also gone. (I almsot wrote SciFi show, but nowadays that would imply it was airing on the SciFi channel, so I changed it.) And NBC has cancelled a cop show they haven't even started airing yet called "Raines." Starring Jeff Goldblum, it's about a cop who imagines conversations with murder victims and "pairs" himself with them to solve the crime. These aren't supernatural visitations, apparently, just his mind's way of sifting through the evidence. In any case, it's gone, even though they've filmed seven episodes and plan to air them on Fridays. Those must have been some pretty hapless episodes (the pilot was filmed by Frank Darabont).

OJ Book Publisher Fired By FOX

Shaming Rupert Murdoch is truly an accomplishment and that's what Judith Regan has done with her sleazy OJ book. She was dumped last night at 7 p.m. from HarperCollins. It's unlcear whether all ties to FOX have been severed, but since this was so unceremonious, that's probably the case. Truly a bottom feeder, Regan produced the TV show "Growing Up Gotti," and a stream of tawdry titles like an upcoming Mickey Mantle bio disguised as a novel. She did a book with porn star Jenna Jameson; Jameson's image suffered from the connection. And where did Regan get her start? It couldn't be more telling: The National Enquirer. But the bottom line is that Regan makes money. She did massive bestsellers by Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and many others when no one else would go near them. She'll be back.