At this past weekend’s “Star Wars Celebration III”, George Lucas announced that not one, but two Star Wars television series are in the works. The first will be a 3D computer-generated animated cartoon. It will be similar to the “Clone Wars” shorts shown on Cartoon Network earlier this year, but will be 30 minutes in length compared to the 3 minutes the shorts were.
The other show is going to be a live-action hour-long drama series, featuring characters from the films. It’s not yet determined what the time period will be, but it’s assumed it will be used to fill in the gaps between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
Lucasfilm and FOX have announced that on March 10, 2005 at 9 p.m., just prior to the start of that night’s episode of “The O.C.”, FOX will air the full trailer for “Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” featuring “over two minutes of new footage from the movie.”
Just heard about this concert to benefit autism education, therapies & services, and I’m really sorry I don’t have $300 to drop on a pair of tickets, as this looks like it would be a great time.
Check out the website for more info: www.comedylovecall.com
Don King files $2.5 billion defamation lawsuit against ESPN
from the Associated Press
Instead of pontificating, the boxing promoter stood stiffly in the background as his lawyer discussed a defamation suit King filed Wednesday against ESPN. The attorney said King is entitled to damages of more than $2.5 billion.
The lawsuit says a “SportsCentury” segment aired last May accused King of being “a snake oil salesman, a shameless huckster and worse,” claimed the flamboyant promoter underpaid Muhammad Ali by $1.2 million and claimed King - convicted in a 1967 beating death and acquitted in a 1954 killing - “killed not once, but twice.”
Most of the material in the program had been printed or broadcast earlier about King, who has spent much of his career in court, but the wild-haired promoter said he had just had enough.
“I just felt that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back and I can’t take it anymore, and I’m going to fight back,” King said at a news conference. “I seek justice.”
King, wearing a garish American flag tie and two flag lapel pins, then quietly stepped back and let lawyer Willie Gary answer questions.
Gary called the SportsCentury segment “a story designed to orchestrate and create an impression that is not there,” and said the network had refused to retract parts of the program that offended King.
The suit, filed in state court in Broward County, Fla., names ESPN and its parent company, Walt Disney Co., among the defendants. Also named are Disney-owned ABC Cable Networks and Advocate Communications, a Florida-based cable and satellite system.
“We have not seen a copy of the lawsuit, so we are not in a position to comment on it,” said Mike Soltys, ESPN’s vice president of communications. “However, SportsCentury is a Peabody- and Emmy-award winning series of more than 250 biographies that is widely respected for its journalistic quality and integrity.”
The suit also says SportsCentury accused King of threatening to break the legs of heavyweight Larry Holmes and of cheating boxer Meldrick Taylor out of $1 million from a fight and then threatening to have Taylor killed.
“It was slanted to show Don in the worst way. It was one-sided from day one,” Gary said. “Don is a strong man, but he has been hurt by this.”
King has represented fighters from Ali to Mike Tyson, and has been sued by several of them - including a $100 million lawsuit filed against him by Tyson. King paid $7.5 million to former middleweight champion Terry Norris in late 2003 to settle a suit. King sued former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis for libel.
King also has beaten federal charges, including tax evasion and fraud. He served nearly four years in prison for the 1967 beating death of a man who owed him money. In 1954, he killed a man who was robbing a numbers house he operated in Cleveland, but it was ruled self-defense.
Alias opened its’ fourth season last night with a special two hour mega-episode. I watched with Doris, and both of us liked what we saw. I already can’t wait for next Wednesday’s episode. The benefit of having had to wait until January for the season to start is that there’ll be a new episode every week from now until May!
Just a quick reminder to set those TIVOs and VCRs for MTV at 9 PM ET tonight. U2’s November 22 performance under the Brooklyn Bridge is the featured concert on tonight’s episode of “MTV Jammed.” Although it won’t be the full concert, it’ll be a great document of a great night.
