On March 16th, during the CBS (my employer's) upfront presentation, it was revealed that the show "Jerico" was to be cancelled. It was one of the few shows (besides "Cops") that I Tivo'd. The reaction, well, you might say fans of the recently canceled CBS drama "Jericho" have gone nuts.With the help of distributor NutsOnline.com, supporters of the show have ordered thousands of pounds of peanuts and other nuts, and have had them shipped to the network's headquarters on 52nd Street in Manhattan and to our facility in Hollywood to protest the cancellation. But I haven't seen any! Fans are pooling their money online to order the nuts, which are mostly peanuts, but have also included walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds. The grassroots campaign had shipped 8,681 pounds of nuts as of Wednesday, according to NutsOnline.com, including 4,042 pounds Tuesday and another 3,133 pounds Wednesday morning.
The idea stemmed from the final episode of the show in which Jake Green, a character played by actor Skeet Ulrich, was asked to surrender. He responded by saying, "Nuts!" The line was an homage to the famous reply from Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, U.S. commander at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, when his German counterpart demanded that he surrender his besieged American troops in the cold Belgian forest.
Will the same happen for Jericho? Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment, released a statement to Jericho fans that seems to hint that there could be a future for Jericho – "Thank you for supporting Jericho with such passion," her statement read. "We truly appreciate the commitment you made to the series and we are humbled by your disappointment. In the coming weeks, we hope to develop a way to provide closure to the compelling drama that was the Jericho story." What our network is planning for that "closure" is not known yet but hopefully it'll answer many of the unanswered questions.
Nuts Online CEO Jeffrey Braverman was stunned when he saw the orders suddenly pouring. "It caught us a little by surprise when we had the first few orders come in," he told WCBS-TV. "I thought, 'What the heck is this?' I thought it might be fraudulent, but I looked around and saw this battle cry of nuts." "We jammed away, put up a Web page and then things went nuts, no pun intended," chuckled Braverman. "And the crazy thing is there are hundreds if not thousands of people clicking on this thing and I've received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and over 1,000 orders from all over the world. It's insane!"To monitor the shipments, NutsOnline created a special Web page designated for the campaign, which includes a log of the shipments being sent to CBS as well as their arrival, and pictures of the NutsOnline workers posing with the massive shipments.
According to news reports, it's not yet known what CBS officials plan to do with the nuts, but Braverman is asking that at the very least that they be distributed to charity and not thrown away.
Hey, I like peanuts...can we get a pound or two in my department Ms. Tassler? P.S. "I admire your work!"
NBC Gets Stone Cold
In its effort to rein in costs, cuts $750 million via it's NBCU 2.0 initiative, to be able to "afford" other things, in addition to the 700 jobs to be lost already announced, NBC News is leaving no Stone unturned. That's right folks, Stone Phillips, who helped launch "Dateline NBC" 15 years ago, was unable to come to terms on a new contract as the news magazine's co-anchor and won't be replaced. His departure, set for the end of June, has been linked to belt-tightening at NBC News, which, like just about every old-school media organization, is trimming its roster and asking the personnel left behind to do more. Firing Stone could save the peacock as much as $5 million a year.Phillips was with the program in the bad days and the glory days when NBC aired it as often as five times per week. "Dateline" executive producer David Corvo, in a statement, called Phillips "a loyal leader and patient mentor," while NBC News boss Steve Capus said Phillips' "legacy here will live on with the program he established and cares so much about." "Dateline" probably doesn't need two anchors. After all, how hard is it to say, "What Chris Hansen discovered online may shock you: That person in the chatroom with your son or daughter may be not be who he says he is"?
In his own statement, Stone refused to be thrown. "It's been a wonderful 15 years," he said. Capus went on to say. "His work on 'Dateline' over the past 15 years has been remarkable, as evidenced by the unprecedented awards Stone and the program have won, including 39 Emmys and four Peabodys." "If we don't change the company, we're doomed, absolutely doomed. The moves we make today will ensure that we'll exist going forward. I don't say that lightly. That is absolutely the truth. So to me, this is not a dark day.
Yeah, but when you ain't go nobody to feed the Peacock, he's gonna get sick and die!
6th Grade Director, Settles Lawsuit Over Creative Control
Hollywood is definitely insane. Check this out. An attorney says an 11-year-old director has settled his lawsuit against a woman he claimed demanded creative control over his short film after she helped financed it. Dominic Scott Kay sued Conroy Kanter alleging she demanded creative control and distribution and promotion rights of his movie "Saving Angelo" after she put about $11,000 into the project. The 15-minute movie stars Kevin Bacon and is based on Kay's real-life effort to nurse an abandoned, badly injured dog back to health.As part of the settlement, Kay's attorney says Kanter will receive a producer credit and the young filmmaker will get full rights to the movie. Kay was the voice of Wilbur the pig in "Charlotte's Web."
I guess they have a "How To Make $$$ in Hollywood" class in 6th grade. Probably taught by the "experts" at the Learning Annex.
Paris Hilton Reveals Her Redneck Roots
Ahh yes. Paris Hilton. Now this is truly news worth reading. Troubled socialite and convicted drunk driver Paris is baffled by rumours romantically linking her to oil heir Brandon Davis, insisting they are more like family than lovers. Hilton admits she was once (once???) Davis' cousin through marriage, but the relationship has always been strictly platonic. She says, "Brandon used to be my cousin. My aunt married his uncle, so we were related for seven years and we've been best friends since we were about two. "We've been friends for 23 years. He's like a brother. I'd never, ever, ever date him in a billion years."Hell Paris, you've done weirder stuff than this. Show us your "redneck" family values!
Celebrity Tattoo Stories...God Help Us All
What is it with tattoo's? I guess it's the newest form of advertising and our wonderful but stupid Hollywood celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon. I just love the fact that many of them have to change them when they jump from man to woman, woman to man, man to man, women to women...you get my drift? And aren't these things going to look like a graffiti'd wall when all is said and done? well, two of our big celebs are in the tattoo news today...
Country singer Keith Urban has altered a tattoo on his arm to pay tribute to his wife Nicole (Mrs. Tom Cruise...I bet she hates that) Kidman. Urban and his ex-girlfriend, supermodel Niki Taylor, had matching tattoos done in 2002, with the words 'Amor Vincit Omnia', which translates as 'Love Conquers All' in Latin. However, when the New Zealand-born star fell for Kidman in 2005, he changed the tattoo to honour the Oscar winner. He says, "It has my wife's initials in it. It was actually from another relationship where we had matching tattoos. We didn't need that anymore, so I had it altered."
Angelina Jolie is displaying her love for her four children with a series of tattoos on her left arm. The 31-year-old actress has etched the geographical co-ordinates for the countries all her kids were born in. Maddox was born in Cambodia in 2002, Zahara Marley in Ethiopia in January 2005, Shiloh Nouvel in Namibia in May 2006 and Pax Thien in Vietnam in 2004. The family tribute is the 13th tattoo Jolie has done. The co-ordinates are on the same place on Jolie's arm as her 'Billy Bob' tattoo, which she had removed after splitting from ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton in 2003. What, no room for Brad's name. Come on girl, quit being such a bitch and put his name on there too!From nuts, to sluts, to people with guts (hell, I wouldn't get a tattoo if your paid for it), that's it for the Hollywood Insanity division today. Hope your day goes much better!
