It really never will, declares HBO. Also today: lots of casting news, including a Real World cast member who continues to make good. New teen programming sounds teeny. And a romantic weeper finds its cast.
Former Nightline anchor Ted Koppel turns 70 today. John Grisham is turning 55. Mary Steenburgen is 57. Nick Nolte is turning 69. Vince Neil of Motley Crüe turns 49. Seth Green is 36. Mary McCormack, the star of In Plain Sight, is turning 41. Comedian Robert Klein is 68. Times Magazine editor Gerry Marzorati is 57. And recently-jailed actor Gary Coleman turns 42 today.
John Mayer leaving his building ... Sean Penn getting out of an SUV with model Jessica White ... Sarah Jessica Parker leaving the gym ... Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen holding hands in Nolita ... Mena Suvari walking until an umbrella ... Calvin Klein and Ross Bleckner eating at Bar Pitti ... Miranda Kerr getting out of an SUV with her puppy ... ... Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts pushing a stroller in the East Village ... Daniel Craig signing autographs outside his Broadway show ... Mischa Barton leaving Gemma on the Bowery ... Charlize Theron walking with Stuart Townsend ... Justin Timberlake leaving the Jay-Z concert, and signing autographs for fans at the US Open over the weekend ... Nigel Barker walking with his wife and daughter in the West Village ... Alessandra Ambrosio getting out of an SUV ... Matt Dillion at Da Silvano ... photographer Bruce Weber walking on Bleecker Street ... Kelly Rutherford carrying her son near Bryant Park ... Jessica Stam walking in the West Village ... and Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr leaving the Gramercy Park Hotel.
New York City's unofficial first lady, Diana Taylor, is celebrating her 54th birthday today. Hope Mike got you something nice! Others celebrating: Tom Brokaw is turning 69. Former Daily News gossip columnist Lloyd Grove is 54. Henry Blodget is 43. Chef Marc Murphy is turning 40. Axl Rose is turning 47. Journalist/author Michael Pollan is 54. Natalie Cole is 59. Rich Astley is turning 43. And Zsa Zsa Gabor is 92. Weekend birthdays after the jump.
Who knew L. Ron Hubbard was such a superhero? In this recently unearthed clip from Orientation: A Scientology Information Film, two robotically-pitched Scientology mouthpieces claim that LRH singlehandedly unmasked "the government's" system of "mind control" using nothing but his creative genius (saving millions of Earth Human lives along the way). That is, when he wasn't busy being "fully professional" in 29 other fields. The video also includes cultish quippets from "Actress" Anne Archer and "Actress" Kirstie Alley, the latter of whom calmly explains that "without scientology, I would be dead." But it's not just popular-in-the-`80s actresses giving Hubbard praise; hear from opera singers! Fashion designers! Exercise physiologists! And the most flamboyantly gay chef we've ever seen, or heard, in our collective lives.
On the unseasonably warm Saturday night just past, the Meatpacking District was engorged with the usual screeching banshees and washed up frat boys. But, since it was the Tribeca Film Festival and since the film the Nobel Son had premiered earlier in the day, the film's stars Mary Steenburgen, Ted Danson and Alan Rickman were awkwardly chatting in the corner of Tenjune. Outside the venue, the small red carpet and backdrop adorned with various sponsors (tonight: Maxim, Altoids, and CKIN2U) that are endemic to these kinds of things had been strung up and the Grand Guignol had begun. A very paternal looking Bill Pullman answered questions from Fox's Shira Lazar. PR personnel commanded the many big and tall bouncers to guard the Velvet Ropes like the Masada; meanwhile, schlubby co-producers and their trophy wives entered the basement club. We sent Joshua David Stein and the Ansel Adams of peoplescape Nikola Tamindzic to report.
