'Celebrity Apprentice' begins with a 1st firing
NEW YORK (AP) — Writer-comedian Carol Leifer (LEEF'-ur) is the first person to go as NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" starts a new season. Leifer called her fellow female teammates "dumb" on Sunday's premiere. She was deemed the weak link in their initial project: to make more money from a startup diner than their rival team of seven men.
Survey: Readers don't want to pay for news online
NEW YORK (AP) — Getting people to pay for news online at this point would be "like trying to force butterflies back into their cocoons," a new consumer survey suggests. That was one of several bleak headlines in the Project for Excellence in Journalism's annual assessment of the state of the news industry, released Sunday.
`Alice' extends her No. 1 stay with $62 million
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alice is still ruling the movie palace. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" easily remained the No. 1 weekend draw with $62 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Disney fantasy has climbed to a $208.6 million total domestically, becoming the first $200 million hit released this year.
'Mission: Impossible' star Peter Graves dies in LA
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Peter Graves, whose calm and intelligent demeanor was a good fit to the intrigue of "Mission Impossible" as well as the satire of the "Airplane" films, has died. Graves passed away Sunday just a few days before his 84th birthday outside his home in Los Angeles, publicist Sandy Brokaw said. Graves was returning from brunch with his wife of nearly 60 years and his family when he had what Graves' doctor believed was a heart attack, Brokaw said.
ABC, Lifetime among winners of GLAAD Media Awards
NEW YORK (AP) — Joy Behar, Cynthia Nixon and the ABC drama series "Brothers & Sisters" are among this year's recipients of media awards from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Presented Saturday in New York, winners of the 21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards also include the NBC sitcom "Parks and Recreation," MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," the Lifetime network film "Prayers for Bobby" and a report on CNN's "American Morning" program called "Why Will Won't Pledge Allegiance."
History channel offering series to schools
NEW YORK (AP) — The History channel says it will give a free DVD copy of its sprawling 12-hour series on American history to any school in the country that wants one. The network is launching a broad educational outreach to accompany "America The Story of Us," which premieres April 25. Before the series starts, it will mail posters, a teacher's guide and family viewing guide to 35,000 high schools and middle schools.
Innovation on display at Games Conference
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Motion controls and social gaming were the hot topics at this week's Game Developers Conference, the annual convention of game designers, programmers and executives. Sony shook up the conference with a splashy introduction of the PlayStation Move, a new wand-shaped PlayStation 3 motion controller system that will rival Nintendo's popular Wii.
Authorities: Haim's name on illegal prescription
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The name of the late actor Corey Haim was found on a fraudulent prescription for a powerful painkiller that authorities said Friday was obtained through a major drug ring. California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office said records of the prescription in the name of the former teen heartthrob were found during an investigation of the ring that illegally obtained prescription pads and used the stolen identities of doctors to fill them out.
Disney to shut Zemeckis-run motion-capture studio
LOS ANGELES (AP) — To further cut costs at its movie studio, The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it will shut a San Francisco-area facility used to capture the performance of Jim Carrey for his digitally animated character, Scrooge, in "A Christmas Carol." The closure of the facility in Marin County, north of San Francisco, will be completed by January and result in the loss of 450 jobs.
No contest plea in case over star's stolen Rolex
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Prosecutors say a man has pleaded no contest to receiving a Rolex watch stolen from Orlando Bloom's house during a spate of celebrity burglaries. Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison says Jonathan Ajar entered the no contest plea Friday and will be sentenced on April 15.
