Saturday, October 31, 2009

Hugh Jackman Prepares to Pass Sexiest Man Alive Crown


As the one-year reign of Hugh Jackman as PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive winds down, it's time to pass the crown to a new deserving hunk. So who does the Australian screen star, Oscar host and current Broadway leading man want to see take the title next?

"Me! I want to be the first to have it back to back, buddy," Jackman, 41, told PEOPLE's reporter on Friday in New York, while attending the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert (set to air on HBO Nov. 29). "That would be fantastic!"

Though he would like to reclaim the title, the Steady Rain star (who costars in the Broadway drama with Daniel Craig, certainly another SMA possibility) says it's been quite an exciting year as the Sexiest Man Alive, but also one that's been a little demanding.

"I thought there were thousands of other guys that deserved it, but it's been a great year. But now the pressures off," he said good-naturedly. "I can be a slob again."

James Franco on 'General Hospital': Can he help save daytime?

by Lynette Rice

Given all this disturbing talk about pay cuts on The Young and the Restless and the rabid (though apparently, unsubstantiated) speculation about the future of One Life to Live, it’s always nice to hear some good news about the ailing genre: James Franco is finally in the house – or in the medical ward, rather. ABC has confirmed that Oct. 30 was Franco’s first day on General Hospital, a gig we’d like to think he agreed to because he wants to see daytime soaps survive just like the rest of us (though it might have simply occurred because he shares the same manager as GH’s Steve Burton). The Golden Globe-winning actor will play a mystery guy who comes to Port Charles and gets up in the grill of Jason Morgan (Burton). His role will play out over a two-month period that starts airing Nov. 20, but Franco’s only contracted to shoot three days on the sudser’s Los Angeles set. No matter: any kind of star-studded appearance from a star like Franco should do wonders for the soap world. Or can it?

Make no mistake, something has to be done to keep daytime dramas relevant. Viewer averages for soaps on the three broadcast networks have dropped 23 percent versus 10 years ago, and it’s even more dire in the all-important women 18-49 demo, which is down 41 percent during that same period. Going entirely on location with hand-held cameras isn’t the answer – just asking Guiding Light - nor is cutting expensive though immensely popular stars like Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn from Days of Our Lives (though an NBC insider insists that by lowering salaries and by cutting the show’s rich license fee to something south of $1 million per week, it managed to save the sudser). So is it the right idea to lure film stars like Franco? “I suspect if you talk to the network people overseeing these shows, they would say they innovate until the cows come home,” says one veteran TV executive with deep roots in daytime. “Come on… ne Live to Live did a Grey Gardens musical number! The trouble is, these shows no longer have the reach or cultural influence where a stunt or even the return of a character can be heard above the din of regular life. Frankly, the last frontier may be changing the form of five hours a week. That’s going to have to be addressed.”

What? Airing daytime dramas only two or three days a week versus five? That’s not necessarily a bad idea since research seems to show that, except for those stuck-in-bed types, most soap viewers only average about two episodes per week. At the same time, it would seem sacrilege to ask the soap industry to cut back on production when its already operates as the most well-oiled machine in Hollywood (you’ll never see primetime soaps like Desperate Housewives or Brothers and Sisters cranking out episodes for south of $1 million a week). Unfortunately, it may have to come to that since many industry observers are already predicting the demise of yet another soap in the next five years – though we can apparently rule out OLTL. Despite rampant internet rumors about the serial’s demise, a spokeswoman for ABC said the soap is simply moving into the old New York production quarters of All My Children, which is heading west to Los Angeles in December (the new digs will help ABC save money because it’ll allow AMC to accommodate more standing sets). Nevertheless, Madison Avenue recognizes that something’s got to change in daytime, especially when game shows and yakkers like The View do a better job of attracting new viewers. And sadly, analysts don’t seem convinced that appearances by film stars – even those as appealing as Franco – will make a difference.

“Committing to five hour a week is a lot,” says Chris Boothe, president and chief operating officer of Starcom, a media buying firm. “There just hasn’t been a lot of innovation in daytime. Bringing in new characters here and there, or various bands or musical acts to appear in the cliché bar or hospital party, is not going to get someone to say, ‘I’m gonna watch this for five hours.’”

Richard and Mayumi Heene, facing charges in the balloon boy hoax, now want the sheriff charged for violation of privacy.

Juliet Definitely Dead on 'Lost' (Nooooooo!)


Just as poison shook Shakespeare's Juliet off this mortal coil, so too does a nuclear explosion send Dr. Juliet Burke of 'Lost' into the great blue yonder, confirms Entertainment Weekly (via Vulture blog).

The final episode of season 5 featured Juliet declaring her love for Sawyer and making a bomb go "boom," which had fans wondering if the heroic fertility doctor survived the explosion. But apparently not even the writers of 'Lost,' who are certainly capable of making people come back to life when they feel like it, could shield Juliet from such a big bang. So, don't look for the doc in the sixth (and final) season, because she's definitely gone, baby, gone .. though in the great tradition of 'Lost' beyond-the-grave appearances, she may still pop up in an episode or two.

Supposedly, actress Elizabeth Mitchell -- who'll still have a job in the new series 'V' -- cried and drank for a couple of days after being told that Juliet was being killed off. Of course she did. The show shoots in Hawaii -- who would want to lose a gig like that?