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‘The Tonight Show’ experiences dark days

The NBC program starring Jay Leno suffers a ratings slide and layoffs amid instability in the TV business — and after network missteps. And the stakes are rising.

As the No. 1 late-night show for most of the past half-century, “The Tonight Show” has been vital to NBC’s fortunes. It was the network’s most profitable entertainment program during its 1990s peak, kicking an estimated $100 million to the bottom line annually.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-st-tonight-show-troubles-20120827,0,7033118.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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Focus’ new Oscar focus: Gus Van Sant’s ‘Promised Land’

Moving Gus Van Sant’s issue drama “Promised Land” into this year’s Oscars season raises some interesting questions for Focus Features.


via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-mn-oscars-gus-van-sant-promised-land-20120824,0,7007465.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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USPS wasted $1.2 million, 682 million stamps on Simpsons run

The U.S. Postal Service didn’t do itself any favors with Homer and the rest of the Simpsons — less than a third of the 1 billion stamps created to commemorate the cartoon family have been sold.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-mo-usps-simpsons-stamps-20120821,0,6040883.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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Jimmy Fallon, Oscar host? Not so fast — talks have stalled

Jimmy Fallon may no longer be in negotiations to host the 2013 Oscars, but Lorne Michaels could still produce the Academy Awards telecast.

Despite last-minute maneuvering by outgoing Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak, “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon is no longer in talks to host next year’s Oscars telecast, according to sources close to the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly. But his boss, “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels, may still be in the running to produce the demographically challenged awards show.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-st-oscar-fallon-20120808,0,1875341.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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MOCA trustees letter says the museum will hire a chief curator

A letter from members of the MOCA board’s executive committee informs fellow trustees of the plan to hire a chief curator to replace Paul Schimmel.

Following sharp criticism from many corners of the art world, the board of trustees at the Museum of Contemporary Art has changed course and decided to fill the chief curator position left open by Paul Schimmel’s forced resignation in June.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-cm-moca-chief-curator-20120808,0,1261370.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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Katie Holmes tap-danced around truth a day before divorce filing

Katie Holmes couldn’t tell a lie, but she definitely tap danced around the truth in an interview conducted the day before she filed for divorce from Tom Cruise.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-mg-katie-holmes-interview-c-magazine,0,5178877.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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Third ‘Hobbit’ movie may be coming from Peter Jackson

Warner Bros. and director Peter Jackson are seeking to turn the planned two-film “Hobbit” franchise into a trilogy, a move that could pay off in bigger box office returns, according to people familiar with the situation.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-ct-hobbit-third-movie-jackson-20120724,0,4615070.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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TCA: Ken Burns takes on ‘The Dust Bowl’

Ken Burns came to the summer TV press tour Sunday afternoon bearing clips from his latest PBS documentary, “The Dust Bowl,”  a four-hour, two-part film that will air in mid-November.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-st-tca-ken-burns-takes-on-the-dust-bowl-20120722,0,3870814.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29

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Gabriel Garcia Marquez suffering from dementia

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2012/07/gabriel-garcia-marquez-unable-to-write-brother-says.html

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Fight between Dish and AMC gets nastier

The fight between satellite broadcaster Dish Network and AMC Networks — parent of cable channels AMC, Sundance and WE — took a nasty turn on Sunday night.

via L.A. Times – Entertainment News http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-ct-dishamcfeud-20120604,0,7718392.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fentertainment+%28Entertainment+News%29