Trade Round-Up: Willa Ford Tackles Anna Nicole

Seth — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:46:19 EDT

· Producers pass on our suggestions of indie darlings like Chloe Sevigny or Selma Blair, and go instead with multi-hyphenate hoochie Willa Ford to play Anna Nicole Smith in a movie about her life. (Now with happy ending!) [Variety]
· CBS is teaming with Jermaine, Tito and LaToya Jackson for Pop Dynasty, an American Idol-style search for the next superstar singing family no one will care about or watch! Michael would have joined, but he's knee-deep in giant robot blueprints at the moment. [Variety]
· What will surely go down as the Summer America Went Bingo Crazy officially kicks off May 18, when ABC premieres its much-anticipated National Bingo Night. [Variety]
· The premiere of The Sopranos' final season draws 7.66 million viewers, down by nearly 2 million from its last premiere in March, throwing Bobby even deeper into his guilt-spiral over whether it was even worth it to wait this long to pop his whacking cherry. [Variety]
· On the heels of news that that Lee Majors may return to primetime TV now comes a report that Tom Selleck is "in discussions" to take over for the Las Vegas's recently departed James Caan, edgily cast as Josh Duhamel's new daddy love interest. [THR]

Defamer Corrections: Bingo Night In America

Mark — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 21:03:10 EDT

Earlier today, in briefly discussing the brainstorming session that produced the concept for sure-to-be runaway hit The Great American Singing Bee (i.e., "Horowitz 'came to me and said, "Two words: Singing bee," ' Gurin said. 'I said, "Bingo," and we began developing it.'") [Ed.note—Yeah, we're still not sure we get it.], we jokingly mentioned that a gameshow-crazed NBC was also developing a complementary, bingo-themed project. A helpful tipster quickly reminded us that rival ABC's best alternative programming minds were already way ahead of us (and NBC) on this one. Behold the upcoming National Bingo Night, or as it will soon be popularly known as per our previous flight of supposed fancy, People Shouting At A Fucking Huge Cage Full of Numbered Ping-Pong Balls

Alphabet isn't wasting any time getting "Bingo" on the air, scheduling it to air Fridays at 9 p.m., starting May 18. Ed Sanders ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition") will host.

"The feel of the show is like a slot machine on your television," ABC senior VP of alternative John Saade told Daily Variety. "It's colorful and fast-moving. It doesn't look like Grandma's bingo."
Skein will be set on what's being called a "bingoplex," an ultrasleek set that features what Saade called a "terrifyingly large" mechanism for dispensing the bingo balls.

The show will feature all the interactive, play-at-home bells and whistles any elderly shut-in could possibly dream of, but its true centerpiece will be the "terrifyingly large" Bingoplex itself, a merciless contraption which will periodically dispense boulder-sized balls that roll through the studio, crushing the tables (and the brittle bones) of any octogenarian contestants too frail to scramble out of their path of destruction while clutching their partially completed game cards. We're pretty sure ABC has a blockbuster on its hands, especially after the dramatic premiere episode, in which no fewer than ten seniors perish just a single letter away from the $100,000 prize.

ABC hastens call on 'Bingo Night' [Var]

Gawker: defamer, bingo

Trade Round-Up: Willa Ford Tackles Anna Nicole

Defamer Corrections: Bingo Night In America