BC Crawler

Tuesday: NATPE Day 1, Craig Ferguson, and One Man's 'Moment of Truth'
January 29, 2008

By Alex Weprin

[NATPE Day 1:] Day 1 of NATPE was Monday, and the stories keep on flowing.

Reveille, the production outfit formerly fronted by NBC entertainment honcho Ben Silverman, signed a deal with Colombia’s largest broadcaster, giving them the right to look at all scripted and non-scripted series. The broadcaster, Caracol, produces lots of telenovelas, which have hit it big here in the states, particularly with the success of Ugly Betty.

Gladiators, part duex. MGM is selling Gladiators 2000, a 1994 spinoff of the original American Gladiators to local stations. The show features an almost cherub-like Ryan Seacrest, who co-hosted the show.

Lionsgate productions and Starz announced that they would be bringing Crash to the small screen, with a one-hour drama based on the Academy Award winning film. Starz is trying to compete with pay TV heavyweights HBO and Showtime.

Merv Griffin’s Crosswords, the last show the legendary producer worked on before his death, will be coming back for a second season. Program Partners secured renewals in 40 of the top 50 markets.

[A Legal Roundup] Two business stories that have been making waves today. First, Current TV, the network co-founded by former VP Al Gore, filed a $100 million IPO. The SEC filings revealed the fragility of the company, which needs the leadership of Gore and c-founder Joel Hyatt in order to succeed.

Second, Barry Diller, founder of IAC, is close to being pushed out of his post by Liberty Media, founded by John Malone. Liberty owns a majority voting stake in the company, but the company allowed Diller to vote on behalf of their stake. Due to deteriorating stock performance, Malone decided to drop the hammer on Diller. Stay tuned.

[Pity Tiki] Tiki Barber, former Giants running back and current Today Show contributor is not in a happy place. With the Giants set to face off against the Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl, one would think that Barber would be snaring some exclusive interviews. But no. You see, during his last season with the Giants, Barber burned a lot of bridges with his teammates and the fans, including leaking the fact that he wanted to retire after the season, which upset some of his teammates. So now here he is, a former NFL star, possibly the greatest running back in Giants history, and no one from the team will talk to him. Pity Tiki.

[This Scot Knows a Thing or Two About SCOTUS] Sorry, I had to go there, it was one of his questions after all. Yes, Craig Ferguson host of the Late Late Show on CBS, took his U.S. citizenship test Friday, and of course had a camera crew there to document the whole thing. Ferguson passed, with 100%, though he incorrectly noted that the national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key and Puff Daddy, which apparently is not true. And yes, he was asked who the chief justice of the Supreme Court is. He got it right (John G. Roberts Jr. for those who may be curious).

[And I Thought It Couldn’t Get Worse] Hey, you know that Fox game show Moment of Truth? You know, the one where they hook up some slobs to a lie detector and ask them embarrassing questions?

Well, guess who wants in. Drew Peterson, a man suspected of killing his wife, has contacted Fox about appearing on the show. This is ironic because the original Colombian show was cancelled after a woman admitted to hiring a hit man to try and kill her husband. Maybe this will finally get it cancelled.

Posted by BC Crawler on January 29, 2008 | Comments (1)