Rosie Judges Amy
Rosie O’Donnell is going for the dramatic. And no, she’s not boxing Joan Rivers on pay-per-view. Instead, Rosie has taken a guest role as a judge on CBS’s Judging Amy, which stars Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly in roles based on Brenneman and her real-life mother. Rosie plays the judge presiding over the trial of the killer of Amy’s stalker. Rosie wrote in an e-mail that she took the gig because ‘I met Amy and her mom at the Women in Film honors thingy and she asked if I would do a guest spot … . I love the show, and her, and Tyne.’ In fact, Rosie says she’s such a big fan of Daly’s that she wanted to name her new baby daughter Tyne—but partner Kelli Carpenter vetoed it. The episode airs Feb. 25.
The Talented Mr. Malkovich
Multitalented John Malkovich is currently hard at work producing the screen version of late lesbian novelist Patricia Highsmith’s 1986 mystery, Found in the Street. The film, set in Greenwich Village, centers on a married man, a neighborhood busybody, and a seemingly innocent aspiring model, who experience a chance encounter that leads to suspicion, deception, spurned lesbian lovers, and murder. Actor-slash-director Terry Kinney, who played Dennis Shepard in HBO’s The Laramie Project, is set to direct the film for United Artists. This is Malkovich’s second Highsmith project; he plays Tom Ripley in the upcoming Ripley’s Game, which will be released in April.
Drag Nets Bernhard
Butch babe Sandra Bernhard, whose friendship with Madonna made her the subject of many a gossip column, is getting the opportunity for a little small-screen payback. The comedienne has scored a guest-starring role as a sassy, Louella Parsons-like gossip columnist named Alberta Danner on the much-anticipated remake of Dragnet, from Law & Order’s powerhouse producer, Dick Wolf. The new take on the old show—starring Ed ‘Al Bundy’ O’Neill as Sgt. Joe Friday—is set to air on ABC on Sundays following Alias.
Popping His Cherry
Keep your eyes open for more work from up-and-coming out director Adam Shankman. A well-known Hollywood choreographer (he worked on Boogie Nights, Scream 2, and She’s All That), Shankman has made the transition to running the whole show, garnering good reviews for his directing of The Wedding Singer and A Walk to Remember. Now people are talking about the March release of his Queen Latifah/Steve Martin comedy, Bringing Down the House. Next, Shankman is in pre-production on Sugarplum Cherry, a modern retelling of the Christmas classic The Nutcracker. All those dancers and fairies—could there be a more perfect project for a gay director?