Networks have announced what shows they are renewing and dropping. NBC has cancelled the Broadway-centered show Smash after two seasons, and also dropped The New Normal, the Ryan Murphy-produced show about a gay couple, according to TheWrap.com. Meanwhile, ABC has renewed Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Suburgatory, Grey’s Anatomy, Castle and Nashville, but cancelled Body of Proof, Red Widow and the comedy Happy Endings. However, the USA Network, however, has expressed interest in Happy Endings and likely will begin serious negotiations about picking it up. Digital Spy reported that CBS cut CSI:NY, Golden Boy, Vegas and Rules of Engagement.
The hit PBS series Downton Abbey will return for season four on Jan. 5, 2014, USA Today reported. Season four will run for eight weeks, from Jan. 5 to Feb. 23. Shirley MacLaine, who plays Martha Levinson, will return, as will several new actors including Tom Cullen, Nigel Harman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Gary Carr. Returning actors include Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Dame Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery.
A French painting owned by Madonna has sold at a New York City auction for more than $7 million, according to SouthFloridaGayNews.com. Sotheby’s auction house hasn’t said who bought Fernand Leger’s “Three Women at the Red Table” for $7.2 million. Proceeds of the sale will benefit the Ray of Light Foundation, which supports girls’ education in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries.
Heart, Albert King, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Rush and Donna Summer are the performer inductees, and Lou Adler and Quincy Jones are the non-performer inductees in the exclusive HBO special 2013 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, debuting May 18, according to a press release. The 28th annual induction ceremony took place on April 18 at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre, marking the first time since 1993 that the ceremony was held on the West Coast. Among those taking part in inductions are Oprah Winfrey (for Jones); Spike Lee and Harry Belafonte (for Public Enemy); and Kelly Rowland (for Summer). Jennifer Hudson performed Summer’s “Last Dance.”
Among the series NBC has picked up for next season is Sean Saves the World, starring former Will & Grace co-star Sean Hayes, according to Deadline.com. Hayes is a divorced gay dad who juggles a lot when his 14-year-old moves in full-time. NBC has also picked up the action-thriller Crisis, with Dermot Mulroney and Gillian Anderson (which will film in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune); About a Boy, based on the Nick Hornby book; and the J.J. Abrams show Believe, about a girl with powers such as telekinesis and the ability to control nature.
Randy Jackson announced that he won’t be coming back for 13th season of American Idol, TheWrap.com reported. In a statement, he said, “Yo! Yo! Yo! To put all of the speculation to the rest, after twelve years of judging on American Idol I have decided to leave after this season. I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry.”
Gay television network Here TV (www.heretv.com) has announced that its programming is now available as a YouTube paid channel, the newly launched subscription-based platform, according to a press release. Here TV will initially debut on YouTube in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Russia and Brazil. To subscribe, users must sign into a YouTube account on a computer and have a Google Wallet account.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow apparently won’t be attending Anna Wintour’s prestigious Met Ball anymore, according to the New York Post. “I’m never going again,” USA Today quoted Paltrow as saying. “It was so un-fun. It was boiling. It was too crowded. I did not enjoy it at all.” Paltrow, who wore a floor-length Valentino gown (in contrast to the ball’s punk theme) has been on the cover of fashion publication Vogue (of which Wintour is editor) seven times.
Neil Patrick Harris will host the Tonys, slated for June 9 on CBS, for the fourth time in five years, according to the L.A. Times. He previously hosted in 2009, 2010 and 2012. This year, the show moves from the Beacon Theater in Manhattan to Radio City Music Hall. Highlights of Harris’ shows as host include 2011’s opening number saluting Broadway’s across-the-board popularity by saying “It’s Not Just for Gays Anymore.”
Featured in the latest issue of Shape magazine, Britney Spears confirmed a two-year residency in Las Vegas, according to the L.A. Times. “I’m doing 90 minutes of yoga twice a week in addition to a lot of cardio— hour-long sessions three times a week with my trainer,” Spears, 31, told the magazine. In addition, she is dieting, noting how tough it is because her weaknesses are “spaghetti, brownies and chocolate-chip cookies.” Spears will set up shop at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino for two years’ worth of shows on alternating weekends; casting will reportedly begin in the fall.
Johnny Depp is in talks to star in Disney’s film adaptation of the Broadway musical Into the Woods, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film would mark Depp’s first singing role since starring in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon of Fleet Street, and would reunite Depp with Rob Marshall, who directed Disney’s fourth Pirates of the Caribbean outing. Depp would play the Wolf, while Meryl Streep will play the vain and charismatic Witch.
Expectant Today Show weekend correspondent Jenna Wolfe and her partner, reporter Stephanie Gosk, have moved into a friend’s spare bedroom, according to US Magazine. The couple has another, bigger place all lined up, but they can’t officially set up house until later this month. “This baby hasn’t even reared her beautiful little face yet, and she’s already making demands about where we live,” Wolfe wrote on her blog May 8.
Former Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines has spoken out about about her political beliefs, saying that she is “pro-gay everything,” and that she considers herself to be progressive, Pink News reported. The singer, who is currently releasing her first solo album, told USA Today she was more liberal than people had assumed in the past and that she was a longtime supporter of the gay community. Maines added that some are surprised to know that she is conservative regarding gun control: “I wish there were no guns; I’m all for gun restrictions. But I’m also of the mindset, if nothing changes, I’m getting a gun.”
Controversial comic Lisa Lampanelli revealed she has lost 106 pounds in the past year following gastric-sleeve surgery, according to the Huffington Post. “I feel like I’ve reached the weight I’m supposed to be. I’m officially a skinny bitch!” the former Celebrity Apprentice contestant told InTouch Weekly. With this surgery, a patient’s stomach is changed to be shaped like a tube, restricting the amount of calories the body absorbs.
Cinemark Holdings, Inc. has announced special in-theater performances of the 1963 Twentieth Century Fox film Cleopatra in more than 120 Cinemark theaters across the country as part of Cinemark’s Classic Series, according to a press release. Performances will be Wed., May 22, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., with an additional Sunday matinee on May 26 at 2 p.m. Twentieth Century Fox has meticulously restored the 243-minute original theatrical version of Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, to commemorate the film’s 50th anniversary. In addition, the movie will make its Blu-ray debut in a two-disc 50th-anniversary edition May 28.
After a 24-hour contract dispute with Bravo, the Real Housewives of New York City cast has agreed to return for a sixth season, US Weekly reported. Original cast member Ramona Singer was the first to reach an agreement with the show’s production company. Bravo reportedly had threatened to cancel the show after cast members banded together, demanding substantial raises.
The New Jersey woman infamously known as “Tanning Mom” has signed on for a role in a gay porn film, according to the Daily Mail. Patricia Krentcil, 44, had already offered up her services to Vivid Entertainment, who passed on having anything to do with her. However, bosses over at Lucas Entertainment knew a deal when they saw one and cast the controversial star in its latest episode of Kings of New York, a gay porn series. Krentcil will cameo in the movie, and be paid $1,000 for a couple of hours of work.
Carmit Bacher, a singer with the now-defunct group Pussycat Dolls, has claimed that lead singer Nicole Scherzinger’s decision to hide her bulimia caused tensions that contributed to her former band splitting up, the Daily Mail noted. Bacher also blamed the split on Scherzinger’s ambitions for a solo career; Scherzinger was a judge for a season on the U.S. version of the show X Factor and is a judge/mentor on the British version of the show.
The third season of the FX show American Horror Story—called American Horror Story: Coven—has added actresses Patti LuPone and Angela Bassett, according to TheWrap.com. Producer Ryan Murphy (who also helms Glee) tweeted, “Two legends are joining the cast of American Horror Story: Coven — Oscar nominee Angela Bassett and Tony winner Patti LuPone!” LuPone and Bassett will join Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters and Frances Conroy as well as new actors Kathy Bates and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).
Barbara announced her retirement on The View May 13 after more than 50 years on television, according to the New York Daily News. Walters, 83, added that she wouldn’t be leaving until the summer of 2014 and vowed to stay on as a producer on The View, a show she co-created. Walters, who began her career at NBC in 1961, was the first woman to co-host a news program when she became news anchor at the “Today” show in 1974.
Actress Angelina Jolie announced in a New York Times op-ed article that she underwent a preventive double mastectomy after learning she carries the BRCA1 gene, which sharply increases her risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer, according to CNN.com. “My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman,” Jolie wrote. Jolie’s mother, actress/producer Marcheline Bertrand, died of breast cancer in 2007 at age 56.
Cee Lo Green is in advanced negotiations to return to the fifth season of the reality-competition show The Voice alongside Christina Aguilera, TheWrap.com reported. Aguilera will be paid $12.5 million for her return, said the executive with knowledge of the deal, although she may make more, as the judges/coaches—believe it or not—are actually paid by the hour.
Out X-Men star Alan Cumming has been shortlisted for his solo performance in Macbeth at this year’s Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS), the BBC reported. Cumming plays all the significant roles in the Shakespeare tragedy, which is currently running on Broadway. However, he was not among the list of Tony nominees recently unveiled.
In an upcoming PBS special, Matthew Morrison—who plays Mr. Scheuster on TV’s Glee and is an accomplished singer—is the subject of Where It All Began: Live from the Bushnell, which shows him live in concert at the Connecticut venue, according to a press release. Where It All Began is first release from 222 Records, the newly formed label from Adam Levine, Maroon 5 frontman and vocal coach on The Voice. Morrison’s special will premiere June 1.
Beyonce canceled a planned May 14 concert in Antwerp, Belgium, due to dehydration and exhaustion, according to US Weekly. The “Love on Top” singer’s rep told the Associated Press that Beyonce has been advised by doctors to rest. The concert cancellation comes just one day after the New York Post’s Page Six claimed that Beyonce was pregnant with her second child.
Actress Zoe Saldana admits to same-sex leanings in the June issue of Allure magazine, according to US Weekly. Saldana—who poses topless in one shot and fully nude in another—said she may not want to continue dating men at all. “[I might] end up with a woman raising my children,” she says of her sexuality. “That’s how androgynous I am.” Saldana had dated actor Bradley Cooper.