John Corbett cast in Showtime pilot
This sounds like a promising new project: John Corbett as Toni Collette’s leading man in the Showtime comedy pilot United States of Tara. The show comes from the pen of Diablo Cody, fresh off her Oscar win as the screenwriter of Juno, and the pilot’s director is Craig Gillespie who received plaudits for the indie hit Lars and the Real Girl. Oh, and did I mention that Steven Spielberg is one of the producers? Considering this collection of talent and Showtime’s recent programming successes, United States of Tara sounds like another ace for the cable net.
United States of Tara, was first announced last July, so it’s taken a while to put all the pieces together. The premise is all about a woman with a multiple personality disorder, played by Toni, whose alternates make for comic mischief. John has signed up as Max Gregor, Tara’s husband, a contractor whose life is in turmoil because of her condition. He’s obsessed with trying to help her and reads as much as he can about her ailment. It’s a serious subject matter, but the idea is to find the dark comic elements. Diablo did that with teenage pregnancy in Juno, so it’ll be curious to see what she does with this situation.
It’ll be great to see Corbett back on TV. Since his days as Chris in the Morning on Northern Exposure, he’s been a welcomed presence on every show he’s graced. He was one of Carrie’s best beaus on HBO’s Sex & the City, an addicted gambler living in Vegas on USA’s Lucky, among other series and TV movies. With Showtime, he did a pilot called Manchild in 2006.
CBS greenlights NY-LON, Mythological X and Can Openers
Showbiz has gone green, and that’s not just ecologically! Green is flashing all over Hollywood. CBS has given the greenlight to three more pilots, including a doctor drama, a psychic romance, and a British-based tale of international love.
NY-LON (no, not nylon the fabric!), refers to the New York-London connection via air. The story, which writers Patti Carr and Lara Runnels (who both worked on ’Til Death) are translating from the U.K. version, is about a British businessman who meets a New York City record store clerk while she’s in London, and then their subsequent attempts to maintain a transatlantic romance. The series ran seven episodes in England, which is not atypical. Of course, for American TV, many more episodes than that will be necessary to constitute a hit.
Mythological X will be written by Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars), so hopefully, she’ll bring that type of wit to this story of a woman who learns, by consulting a psychic, that she’s already met and discarded the love her her life! The character then needs to revisit all her ex-beaus to find Mr. Right. Jonathan Levin (Charmed) will executive produce.
Can Openers will be headed by Jim Serpico (Rescue Me), and sounds like it was probably inspired by Grey’s Anatomy’s success. It’s about the professional and personal travails of a young woman who begins a seven-year residency as a neurosurgeon. Could there be a McDreamy in the mix?
Paris and Nicky Hilton Double Date
Paris and Nicky Hilton Double Date
They’re not the most similar sisters, but Paris and Nicky Hilton definitely have their finer moments. And yesterday they were spotted out together with their respective beaus.
The “Stars are Blind” singer was arm-in-arm with her Good Charlotte rocker boyfriend as they joined Nicky and longtime boyfriend David Katzenberg for a shopping outing at Planet Blue, as well as other shops in Malibu, California.
Perhaps they were finding some new duds for Paris and Benji to take with them on the Good Charlotte tour that they’re leaving for next week.
The “Simple Life” hottie told press, “We’re actually leaving in a couple days for South Africa, so I’ll be with him.” As for life on a tour bus, she commented, “I’m just happy to be together, so no matter where we are, we’ll have a great time.”
January Jones Biography
Best known for her role as Alyson Hannigan’s sister in “American Wedding†(2003), the third installment in the “American Pie†comedy film series, pouty-lipped head-turner January Jones became almost as famous for her choice of notable beaus, as for her choice in movie roles.
The 5’ 7†beauty was born, fittingly, on Jan. 5, 1978 in Sioux Falls, SD. However, her parents came up with the name after reading a Jacqueline Susann book called Once is Not Enough, featuring a character named January Wayne. While attending Roosevelt High School, Jones spent her pre-modeling, pre-Hollywood time toiling away at a local Dairy Queen.
At age 18, she moved to New York City and made her first mark as a stunning model for hip suburban clothier Abercrombie & Fitch. After making the requisite move to Los Angeles, Jones made her acting debut with a small role in the independent film “All the Rage†(1999), starring Jeff Daniels and Anna Paquin. Jones followed this with a guest appearance in the Fox TV pilot, “Get Real†(1999). Two years later, she had her biggest break to date when she landed a role in her first major motion picture, the teen-oriented thriller “Glass House†(2001), starring Leelee Sobieski.
Like all young and beautiful starlets on the cusp of fame, Jones quickly became a fixture on the young Hollywood scene. Her blonde beauty attracted a variety of male admirers, including a relatively unknown pre-Demi stud named Ashton Kutcher. The couple, who reportedly met in 1998 at an Abercrombie & Fitch shoot, dated for three years – until Kutcher became enchanted with the older actress Demi Moore. Jones moved on to funnyman extraordinaire Jim Carey and “American Wedding†co-star Sean William Scott before meeting and falling for pop-classical singer and favorite “Oprah†guest, Josh Groban in 2003.
Jones continued to hone her acting chops, landing roles in a variety of high-profile projects: as a bank robber in the Bruce Willis-Billy Bob Thorton crime comedy “Bandits†(2001); as a memorable lesbian sexpot with temperament issues in the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson hit comedy, “Anger Management†(2003); and as an British tourist in the hit romantic comedy, “Love Actually” (2003). At the same time, Jones was featured as #82 in Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100 of 2002″ supplement. Next up was the star-making role of Cadence Flaherty, the beautiful sister and maid of honor to the not-so-blushing bride, Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) as well as the love interest of the obnoxious hound, Stiffler (Sean William Scott) in “American Wedding†(2003). While the film tanked, Jones had received her first major coverage for a role that she had won from literally thousands of on-the-brink ingenues.
Looking for further challenges, Jones learned to 50’s swing dance for her role in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights†(2004), the critically maligned sequel to the 1987 dance classic. She journeyed back to the small screen, appearing in the recurring role of Marissa Wells on the Showtime comedy series, “Huff” in 2004. The actress continued to expand her range as a dramatic actress by portraying Barry Pepper’s repressed wife in Oscar-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones’ directorial debut, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada†(2005). The prestigious film – a first for Jones – won Best Screenplay and Best Actor awards at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
- Born:
on 01/05/1978 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Significant Others
- Companion: Ashton Kutcher. dated from 1998-2001; no longer together
- Companion: Josh Groban. dating as of Fall 2003
Milestones
- 2001 Made her feature debut in the suspense drama “The Glass House”
- 2002 Had a part in Steven Soderbergh’s comedy “Full Frontal”
- 2003 Played Gina in the hilarious Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler comedy “Anger Management”
- 2003 Played the sister to the not-so-blushing bride in “American Wedding”
- 2004 Appeared in “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” co-starring Diego Luna
- 2005 Played the bored wife of a border patrolman (Barry Pepper) in Tommy Lee Jones’ “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”