Bomb Scares in Boston; Golden Globe Results; "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" Gets Greenlighted

January 2007 News

Golden Globes results: Although the foreign press had spread out its nominations pretty evenly, when all was said and done the Brits and ABC ended up taking most of the awards. Helen Mirren, who'd been doubly nominated in the Best Performance by An Actress (miniseries or TV movie) category, won for the title role in Elizabeth I. The HBO miniseries picked up two other Globes, one for best miniseries and another for supporting actor Jeremy Irons.

Other winners included Hugh Laurie for House, Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer, America Ferrera for Ugly Betty, Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock, and Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt (for the BBC movie Gideon's Daughter). The foreign press deemed Gray's Anatomy the best drama and Ugly Betty the best comedy or musical.

Smiths show gets a go: ABC has greenlighted production to start on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the small-screen followup to the hit action movie. Doug Liman and Simon Kinberg will reprise their roles, respectively, as director and writer, and share executive producing duties with Dave Bartis. The movie's two biggest names, however, won't be involved. Jordana Brewster has signed on to play the part originated by Angelina Jolie (right); no word yet on who will fill Brad Pitt's shoes.

More development deals: It was a very busy month for the networks. January 8 alone saw the approval of seven pilots:
CBS: Skip Tracer, Viva Laughlin
ABC: Cashmere Mafia, Women's Murder Club
NBC: Lipstick Jungle, untitled David Shore/Peter Blake comedy/drama hour
The CW: Wild at Heart

Other pickups catching my eye: Fort Pit (NBC), a police drama from Denis Leary's production company; Hey Paula! (Bravo) which will follow American Idol judge Paula Abdul; Life on Mars (ABC), with a time-traveling detective; and Thank God You're Here (NBC), an improv comedy competition — think Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but with celebs.

Getting the hook: After three-plus seasons, The OC is saying adieu. Fox, which had only ordered 16 episodes for the 2006-2007 season, set the season finale for February 22. Another trend-setting show, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, will end its four-year run this summer. Coincidentally, NBC Universal was offering Queer Eye reruns to stations looking to fill the timeslot vacated by Megan Mullally, whose syndicated talk show was cancelled. At least she received three weeks of warning, more than can be said for CBS's Armed and Famous; the cops-in-training reality show was yanked January 26.

Turner Broadcasting lands in hot water: An Adult Swim marketing campaign got a lot of publicity — the expensive kind. On January 31, the Boston area was subjected to a series of bomb scares after suspicious devices were found throughout in several locations. Initially silent on the matter, Turner Broadcasting eventually admitted responsibility, saying that the devices were harmless "magnetic lights," meant to promote the Cartoon Network's Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

The devices had been in place in Boston and nine other cities for two weeks, but did not receive widespread attention until a subway worker found one of the devices and reported it to the authorities. Although the show has since gotten a lot of media coverage, such press came with a hefty price tag. Turner Broadcasting recently agreed to pay $2 million to the cities and agencies affected by the bomb scares.

In memoriam: Animator Iwao Takamoto, who was best known for creating Scooby-Doo and his friends, died January 8 at 81. His death came three weeks after that of Joseph Barbera, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera. Actress Yvonne DeCarlo died on January 8, at age 84. A veteran of stage and screen, she was most famous for playing Lily Munster on The Munsters. Soap opera star Darlene Conley The Bold and the Beautiful), died January 14 at age 72. And on January 27, actor Tige Andrews (The Mod Squad) died at age 86, and Bob Carroll Jr., writer and co-creator of I Love Lucy, died at age 87.

-- A. Wu