Britney Spears Keeps On Dancing
Britney Spears Keeps On Dancing
It looks as if Britney Spears may be getting back to a healthier routine, as the Gimme More singer was spotted out for the second day in a row at the Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood.
According to an onlooker, “Brit was accompanied by one of her new bodyguards and a blonde friend/assistant who is a new face on the Britney scene, but promptly left them in the dust as she trotted inside.”
In other interesting news concerning the troubled pop tart, officials are debating the implementation of a 20-yard “personal safety bubble”, to be created around celebrities deemed “paparazzi targets” when moving around the city.
According to a Times Online report, “The initiative was proposed last week by Dennis Zine, an influential politician, in the wake of the latest Britney psychiatric emergency, when her ambulance was surrounded by police cars and helicopters to shield her from a crowd of 60 photographers.”
Dourdan could return to CSI next season
Two surprises hit me when I read this article about CSI at The Chicago Sun-Times: one, Gary Dourdan might return to the show next season, and two, next season could be the last for the series.
As you’ve already heard, Dourdan was arrested the other morning for possession of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and prescription drugs. Seems that the cast and crew have been worried about Dourdan for quite some time and now want to help him even more. I guess sometimes someone has to hit rock bottom before someone intervenes.
But the even more interesting news is that Dourdan might return to the show next season, at least here and there. He was let go from the show a few weeks ago and wasn’t expected to ever be on the show again. But now he might be asked back to film some episodes for the (rumored) last season of the show. You would think that suspected drug use and a departure from the show would mean that there would be no chance he would come back, so this is a twist on the usual scenario.
On a related note, a quick plea to CBS: if this really is the last season of the show, could you do me a favor and not replace it with yet another CSI spinoff?
How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory are switching slots
Interesting news out of CBS this morning. On the heels of renewing The Big Bang Theory last week, the network has now announced that when Bang returns with new episodes on March 17, it will be leading off the night. How I Met Your Mother, in its third year, is also returning with new shows that night, but will be taking over Bang’s 8:30 slot. On a side note, The New Adventures of Old Christine will be replaced by new episodes of Rules of Engagement on Monday, April 14.
CBS has a solid sitcom block from 8:00 to 10:00 on Mondays, with only Two and a Half Men locked in to the 9:00 slot. Bang has averaged 8.36 million viewers since it premiered last September. By comparison, Mother has pulled in an average of 8.02 million viewers over the same few months. Presumably, by flipping the two shows, CBS will be able to determine whether it’s the show or the time slot that’s dictating slight difference in the Nielsen numbers.
Pediatricians unhappy with Eli Stone
Eli Stone, the new ABC legal drama, is already in trouble. This is interesting news since the first show hasn’t even premiered yet. The trouble is stemming from the American Academy of Pediatrics, who want the first episode of the series canceled because it feeds into the myth that vaccines can cause autism.
In the series premiere, which airs after Lost this Thursday, lawyer-turned-reluctant-prophet Eli Stone argues in court that a flu vaccine made a child autistic. Dr. Renee R. Jenkins, president of the AAP, said that both ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney, are being irresponsible by airing the show because it will be perpetuating the vaccine=autism belief. Dr. Jenkins added that the network would share in the responsibility for the suffering and deaths if parents who watched the program chose to deny their children immunizations. Dr. Jenkins also mentioned that many viewers trust the health information presented on fictional television shows.
Greg Berlanti, co-creator of Stone said that the show’s producers had no connection with advocates involved in the autism debate. Creator Marc Guggenheim added to this statement by saying that the first episode is more about the downside of the corporatization of America rather than a platform to debate the pros and cons of child immunizations.
If I can get on my soapbox for a moment, I feel Dr. Jenkins is so out of line here that the line is a dot to her. The doctor’s statements make us all seem like lemmings who take everything that appears on scripted television as rote. Come on! We may have short attention spans, but we’re a pretty smart group of people here, especially when it comes to the care of our children, and we can tell what’s real and what’s not.
In addition, it seems to me that she believes that the entire adult population of the United States will be watching the first episode of Eli Stone. I know that’s what Berlanti and Guggenheim probably wish, and I know Lost is a popular show, but his claims are a bit lofty. If Stone retains half of the Lost audience for its series premiere then it is doing a good job.