Television news/rumors

[lawyerlee]

This is a little old, but it's news to me! ;)

Key West location under consideration for next Real World. (http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/the_real_world/2005_Jun_10_key_west)
reality blurred

The 16th season of The Real World has yet to debut, but reality blurred has learned that the 17th season of the show may be set in Key West, Fla. That would be the series’ second visit to Florida, and would likely air 10 years after the first Florida-set season; The Real World Miami aired in 1996.

In Key West, the exact location has not yet been determined. I spoke with the tenant at one location, whose space is one of two places up for consideration. A decision will be coming in the next few days, the tenant told me, and it wasn’t clear if one of those two options was a non-Key West location.

One of the possible locations is the building that houses the Pineapple Gallery, located at 1130 Duval Street, a few blocks from the beach. Key West resident Greg Needham learned about this, he tells reality blurred exclusively, when a nearby bar and restaurant, La Te Da, “was approached in a ‘good neighbor’ sort of way, just alerting him to the construction, etc that was going to be disrupting his neighborhood soon.”

The person who answered the phone when I called the gallery Thursday morning said he hadn’t heard about anything, and referred me to the owner, who is vacationing for a month. Earlier, Needham says he “called … the Gallery and asked him about his moving and the possible MTV show taping and his response was ‘I’m sorry, I am under contract and not allowed to talk about that at this time.’”

If the space is selected, Needham hears that the gallery portion would apparently be used for crew, while the upstairs would be used for the televised debauchery; a pool of some kind would be installed on the roof. Here’s what the building looks like (click for a larger view):

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b395/lawyerlee2/Celebrities%201/RWKeyWest.jpg

[lawyerlee]

ROME - Coming to HBO Fall 2005

ROME is the saga of two ordinary Roman soldiers who unwittingly become entwined in the historical events of Ancient Rome. A serialized drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives, it chronicles a turbulent era that saw the death of a republic and the birth of an empire. The series begins in 52 BC, as Gaius Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return to Rome.


I'm pretty excited about this show. The preview I saw this weekend looked great, and the premise sounds really interesting. :)

[lawyerlee]

This sounds like it could be a really cool, moving drama.

Iraq, from the 'NYPD Blue' man (http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/12/leisure.iraq.war.reut/index.html) CNN

Famed TV producer Steven Bochco goes to war for 'Over There'
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Leading TV producer Steven Bochco insists that his new drama about one of America's most bitterly partisan subjects -- the war in Iraq -- is no more political than his landmark cop shows "Hill Street Blues" and "NYPD Blue."

In fact, Bochco said, he agreed to make the upcoming series "Over There" -- a first-of-its-kind contemporary war drama about U.S. troops in combat and their families back home -- only after convincing himself that the show could be done "in a completely apolitical way".

Audiences may read into the program messages shaped by their own opinions, but Bochco, 61, denies that his own political views about the war show through.

"I don't think you have to deal at all with the politics of it," Bochco told Reuters in an interview. "Ultimately, a young man being shot at in a firefight has absolutely no interest in politics."

The new series, filmed near Los Angeles and around the high-desert town of Lancaster, California, makes its debut on July 27 on FX, the News Corporation-owned cable network.

War dramas are not new to American television, but "Over There" is the first built around a U.S. military conflict still in progress.

"Combat" and "Rat Patrol," both set during World War Two, were made in the 1960s. The Korean War satire "M *A *S *H" started during the Vietnam War, and "China Beach," about life on a Vietnam-era military base, was broadcast more than 10 years after that war came to an end.

"Over There" focuses on a U.S. Army sergeant, nicknamed Sergeant Scream by his troops and played by Erik Palladino ("ER" and "Homicide: Life on the Street"), and a small band of soldiers he leads on their first tour of duty in Iraq.

The opening episode deals mostly with their initial taste of combat, a bloody battle with insurgents outside a sand-swept mosque. But subsequent episodes are divided about 60-40 between Iraq and the home front, Bochco said.

'We're writing about the grunts'

"Our simple premise was that for every young man or woman in harm's way in Iraq, there are husbands, wives, children ... back home worried sick for their welfare and safety," Bochco said. "And in the inevitable backwash of those separations and anxieties, you're going to locate strong, human drama."

[lawyerlee]

Paris, Nicole Reuniting for Simple Life 4? (http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1082244,00.html)

http://img.timeinc.net/people/i/2005/news/050725/philton.jpg

It could be a reunion – if not a reconciliation – for Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The estranged best friends may team up for a fourth installment of their FOX reality show The Simple Life, whether they like it or not, PEOPLE has learned.

The network has picked up the option on the pair's existing contracts for a fourth season of The Simple Life, according to sources close to the deal.

Planning is still in the early stages, but among the ideas being discussed internally in production would be to follow both Hilton and Richie as they prepare for their respective upcoming weddings and their subsequent lives as married women. (Hilton, 24, is engaged to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, and Richie, 23, to deejay Adam Goldstein, who goes by the name DJ AM.)

Another possibility would be to shoot their reconciliation, should such a thing actually happen. But the main parties involved are nowhere near a final decision and have not discussed a start date.

When asked about plans for the show's next season, Hilton's rep told PEOPLE: "No decisions have been made regarding The Simple Life 4."

As for the frayed friendship of the two Simple-tons, Hilton said in a statement last April: "It's no big secret that Nicole and I are no longer friends. Nicole knows what she did, and that's all I'm ever going to say about it."

A source close to Hilton told PEOPLE at the time that Richie was jealous of the media attention her blonder costar received and resented being left out of things such as Hilton's February hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live."

Meanwhile Richie's friends told PEOPLE that tensions arose because she had grown out of her wild ways, quitting drinking and spending more time with fiancé Goldstein. "She just wants to be with Adam and get married," said one.

Either way, Hilton wasted no time lining up a new sidekick: equally blonde pal Kimberly Stewart, daughter of singer Rod Stewart. And Hilton wasn't shy about hinting that it may be a preview of things to come. "Kim is hysterical and crazy fun, and I love that about her," she said, admitting that she was lobbying to make Stewart her new costar.

Throughout the ordeal, FOX had no comment.