Ted Turner must be aghast.
CNN, the cable network he founded, is poised to turn its prime-time schedule over to two scandalized public figures, disgraced-Gov. Eliot Spitzer — also known as “Client 9” in his call-girl downfall — and former British tabloid editor Piers Morgan, in its desperate bid to restore lost ratings, the New York Post reports.
Morgan — a former editor of Britain’s Daily Mirror reportedly being groomed to replace Larry King — was caught up in a scandal in 2000 after he bought shares in a company before his paper touted them as good buys.
He allegedly quit in 2004 after printing fake photos of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by British soldiers.
A source said, “CNN is so desperate, they’re totally abandoning Turner’s original vision of impartial reporting. With talent like Spitzer on board, the people hosting the news will be more controversial than any guests they could book.”
The Post’s Michael Shain reports Spitzer has “all but a done deal” to get a co-host spot at 8 p.m., previously occupied by Campbell Brown, whose ratings had plunged. Spitzer will become half of a talking-head duo on a show fashioned after “Crossfire,” which CNN canceled in 2005. CNN is searching for a conservative partner for Spitzer, who’ll go head-to-head with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly in the time slot, before announcing the new show.
Charlie Sheen needs to learn to stop leaving his keys in the ignition.
The “Two and a Half Men” star’s Mercedes Benz was stolen and plunged over the side of a cliff — for the second time this year.
Los Angeles Police Department officials say that a security guard spotted the luxury car about 100 feet over the side of a cliff on Mulholland Drive just before 3 a.m. Tuesday, TMZ.com reports.
Fire crews responded and determined the vehicle had been abandoned, police told KTLA News.
Officials ran the plates and found the car was registered to Charlie Sheen.
When police contacted the actor, he said he didn’t know the car had been missing. The last time he saw his vehicle was at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon.
It turns out Sheen had left his keys in the car, just like he did four months ago when the same scenario played out.
On February 5, Sheen’s Mercedes was found upside-down at the bottom of a ditch in the same area.
That time, Sheen had reported the car stolen from his home.
The actor had reportedly parked the car inside an open garage at his Sherman Oaks home with the keys still inside the ignition. He told authorities he felt safe leaving the car that way because he lives in a gated community.
As they did four months ago, the police consider Sheen’s car stolen and recovered.
Betty White is cementing her rep as a cougar.
Asked if she would have been ready if Sandra Bullock had kissed her instead of Scarlett Johansson at last week’s MTV Movie Awards, White told People: “No, no … but if Ryan Reynolds had kissed me, I’d have been very ready.”
But Reynolds wasn’t there. Johansson was filling in for her husband in presenting Bullock with MTV’s Generation Award.
Speaking to People this week at a New York screening of her new sitcom “Hot in Cleveland,” White said she thought Bullock’s “I’m not going anywhere” speech on the MTV broadcast was perfect.
“She’s doing wonderfully,” White said. “I thought it was so brilliant of her to say, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,’ and address the subject, because she is fine.”
Howie Mandel contends there’s a Tiny Tim-sized void in entertainment today, and he aims to fill it as a judge on “America’s Got Talent.” Joining the NBC show this season is allowing the 54-year-old comedian to exercise his taste, which he cheerfully acknowledges embraces the good, the bad and the weird.
“As much as I love seeing somebody undiscovered and unique, there’s something to be said for the insanity and the train wreck.
I’m mesmerized by something I don’t understand because it looks like it’s bad,” he said. “I’m just as taken by that as I am brilliance.” “America’s Got Talent,” in its fifth season, is hosted by Nick Cannon and includes Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan on the judging panel with Mandel. The show airs 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the early going, Mandel’s been charmed by the likes of an impersonator who’s billed as “the man of 100 voices” — all of which, he said, “sound exactly the same.” Like Ted Mack‘s “The Original Amateur Hour,” a show Mandel recalls attending as a child, he appreciates that “America’s Got Talent” throws “a wide net, whether dancer, singer, magician.” Unconventional acts deserve a place in show business, too, he contends.
“There’s a void right now for entertaining insanity,” Mandel said, citing such examples as comedian Professor Irwin Corey and Tiny Tim, the high-voiced ukulele player who was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson‘s “Tonight Show” in the 1960s and ’70s.
The chance to discover such performers, as well as the more traditionally talented, make his new gig “a dream come true for me.” He’s got a lot to contribute to aspiring performers, Mandel said.
“After 30 years of marketing myself, and figuring out how to get people to the club or to the screen or the theater, I think I have some input. If you can surprise me — and you can — I’m a good audience,” he said.
Mandel has had an impressively varied career, from standup comedian to dramatic actor (“St. Elsewhere”) to game-show host on “Deal or No Deal.” He’d like to tackle film or scripted TV roles, but turns a bit shy when asked to name names.
It’s all more than he envisioned when he left behind suburban Toronto to “try to make a living putting a rubber glove on my head,” he said, referring to an early career bit of absurdity in which he turned such gloves into rooster coxcombs.
Anyone who’s willing to throw caution to the wind to pursue their show business dream and makes a living at it deserves respect, Mandel said.
“It’s a beautiful thing. And that’s why I celebrate it and don’t make fun of somebody like Tiny Tim,” he said.
— The Associated Press also contributed to this report
lsmith@denverpost.com
