Television
+ Those signature three-inch heels are back. Private Practice won't be
returning to ABC until the fall, but fans of Kate Walsh (a.k.a. Dr.
Addison Montgomery) can get a quick fix May 1 when the siren returns to
Grey's Anatomy ''to explore the thought that you can never go home
again,'' teases executive producer Shonda Rhimes. In the episode, Addison
flies to Seattle Grace at the behest of the chief (James Pickens
Jr.) — and she's ready to set a few people straight. Explains Rhimes,
''There are some things only Addison can do surgically, but there are
also things that she can say to people that nobody else in that world
will.'' (In other words, prepare yourselves for a tongue-lashing,
Meredith and Derek!) Just don't get too comfortable with her homecoming,
since she's only staying for one episode. Says Walsh, ''I'm here to do my
business in Seattle and then I go back to L.A.!'' Well, not immediately:
Production on Practice's second season doesn't start until May, which
gives Walsh enough time to costar as a ''crazy lady'' in the supernatural
thriller Legion opposite Paul Bettany. Practice was this season's most
popular new drama before the writers' strike sent it on hiatus, but the
break may have been a blessing in disguise, says Walsh. ''How do you
promote it when American Idol is on?!'' she asks of the series that
Practice would have faced had it remained on the air. ''I'm cool with
coming back in the fall.'' — Lynette Rice
Movies
+ ''I love martial arts and Asian culture,'' says M. Night Shyamalan. Good thing, because his next film will be The Last Airbender,
based on the Nickelodeon anime series. The writer-director, who's
putting the finishing touches on The Happening for Fox, starts shooting
the live-action epic for Paramount in March 2009. (It's slated for a
July 4, 2010, release.) ''This has an intensely spiritual Buddhist
substory that I really dug,'' he says.
+ Isaiah Washington and Forest Whitaker are teaming up for Weinstein
Co.'s high school basketball flick Patriots, which begins filming this
week. Patriots, which is based on a true story, marks Washington's first
role in a studio movie since he exited Grey's Anatomy last spring. He'll
play Assistant Coach Simmons of Louisiana's John Ehret High, who led the
school's squad to the state championship a year after Hurricane Katrina
displaced students. — Nicole Sperling
Music
+ iTunes doesn't include live individual American Idol performances in
its weekly chart of the most downloaded songs, but if the online music
retailer did, they might be landing near the top. Just consider the
artists they've covered: After David Cook name-checked Chris
Cornell's version of ''Billie Jean,'' sales jumped from 224 to 14,861
weekly downloads, while Jeff Buckley's ''Hallelujah,'' sung by Jason
Castro, shot to the top with sales of 174,553. As for video
performances? After April 9's Idol Gives Back, six clips hit the top 10,
including the Idols' cover of Rihanna's ''Don't Stop the Music,'' which
went all the way to No. 1 and even beat Madonna and Mariah Carey. — Shirley Halperin
Check out our HI blog at hollywoodinsider.ew.com for breaking entertainment news
