Entertainment Rundown - January, 2009

This is why we're called The Rundown; here's a list of entertainment bits from TV. movies, and other pop-culture bases which were too curt to make full posts. As always, intentional misuse of The Rundown can result in serious, even fatal, injury:

• Will Smith, once the Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire and son of parents who just didn't understand, may one day run for President, according to wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith. Speaking to German magazine, Bunte, the actress said her hubby once mentioned the idea to her quite seriously and that he has discussed going into politics at some point many times. "Will and I want to leave traces on this planet – and with that I mean more important traces than just films."
• ABC has officially canceled Ugly Betty... again. Over the summer, ABC ran the show with "pop-ups" which identified characters, explained storylines, and generally provided running commentary and information for new viewers, and recently moved it to a 9p Wednesday night slot, following the network's popular sit-com line-up, yet ratings remained in the crapper. Which is where Ugly Betty is now headed.
• Orlando Bloom told MTV News that he will not be appearing in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, nor (though he did not say this specifically) any sequels which might follow. Keira Knightley has yet to sign-on, either. Though he said he had "great fun" making the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and believed the new one will be fun to watch, he was ready to do different things.
• Supernatural and Chuck producer wunderkind (and directorial hack), McG, has been tapped by the CW to bring an updated of La Femme Nikita to the network. La Femme Nikita was based on a 1990 French film, Nikita, and ran briefly on the USA Network in 1997. Bridget Fonda starred in an American remake of the film called Point of No Return. In the new adaptation, Nikita has "gone rogue" and a new assassin is trained to take her place.
• Radar is said to have received three topless pictures of Jersey Shore reality star, "J Woww."
• Former Eagles guitarist, Joe Walsh, had his attorney send Congressional hopeful, Joe Walsh, a threatening letter, explaining how Copyright and Trademark laws work. The budding, young, Republican used the performer's music in a commercial, but changed the lyrics.
• Though widely-reported as such, Avatar is not the highest-grossing movie of all-time. That record belongs to Gone With the Wind (still); Star Wars remains at #2.
  
• Following a bidding war, Fox has garnered the rights to Robert Rodriguez' upcoming Machete, based on the faux trailer from Grindhouse. The Weinstein Company had first-look rights, but passed on the deal. A spokesperson for the company said he "didn't know why," but an insider said "it's not very good at all."
  
• Sci-fi superhero serial, Heroes, may be on the verge of cancellation, but is the most pirated TV show for the last two years running. Heroes has a larger viewership in pirated circulation than it does on TV!

Please remain seated until The Rundown comes to a full and complete stop.

© C Harris Lynn, 2010