U.S. Federal Trade Commission member Jon Leibowitz is expected to be appointed the next chairman of the agency, Bloomberg News reports, citing an administration official. Before joining the FTC, he served as a lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of…
Charles Barkley pleaded guilty to charges of driving drunk and will serve jail time, the Associated Press reports. Barkley, who works as a TV analyst for TNT, will begin a five-day jail term on March 21, the news agency reports….
Snoop Dogg is confident viewers “will definitely be entertained” with his new MTV variety show, “Dogg After Dark,” the Los Angeles Times reports. It’s a format that hasn’t always worked for other stars, including Rosie O’Donnell with her “Rosie Live”…
Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami is taking a page from the Disney Channel’s playbook, the New York Times says. Next month it will debut “Penguins of Madagascar,” an animated series with some characters from the “Madagascar” movies, which was brought to…
The next cycle of the CW’s “America’s Next Top Model” will return with a height restriction of 5 feet 7 inches, meaning that aspiring models can’t be taller than that measure, the Los Angeles Times reports. “There have been top…
A Los Angeles judge granted Peter Falk’s daughter a meeting with her father, who, the daughter stated, has Alzheimer’s disease, although the judge barred anyone from publicly discussing the meetig afterward, the Associated Press reports. Catherine Falk has filed to…
The CW has ordered a pilot of a “Melrose Place” update, with Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim directing, the Hollywood Reporter says. Separately, Fox drama pilot “Masterwork” will be directed by filmmaker Jeffrey Nachmanoff, the trade paper says. —Aimee Picchi
Starz has renewed “Crash,” its first original drama series, for a second season, the Hollywood Reporter says. The show will drop about half its story lines in the next season under the direction of a new creative team led by…
Fox Reality Channel has ordered a third season of the “The Academy,” the Hollywood Reporter says. The show will switch to tracking firefighter recruits from police cadets, the trade paper says. —Aimee Picchi
Carl Icahn disclosed in a filing he has increased his stake in Lionsgate to more than 14% and might become a more active shareholder, the Hollywood Reporter says. His investment of 16.5 million shares at about $6.80 a piece means…