TV
+ The minds behind the subversive 1999-2000 cult TV favorite Strangers
With Candy are reuniting this fall on...Nickelodeon?! Amy Sedaris will
play a screwy principal who gets moony-eyed over a competitive
gymnast-turned-PE teacher (Christopher Meloni) in Gym Teacher: The
Movie, airing Sept. 12. Strangers co-creator Paul Dinello not only
directed the comedy but specifically requested that his longtime
collaborator ''pack up her wig'' and join the movie, which features Meloni
as a redemption-seeking athlete who's up for Gym Teacher of the Year. ''I
just point her in a direction, wind her up, and magic happens,'' says
Dinello. ''He knows my bag of tricks,'' adds Sedaris, who actually did
bring along her own ''squirrel-colored'' wig to play principal Abby
Hoffman. And that's not all: Nickelodeon has already enlisted Dinello to
write a movie that will star Sedaris and Chris Kattan (who has a cameo
in Gym Teacher) as cringe-inducing parents. Production is set to begin
this fall.
+ HBO remains hell-bent on finding a way to showcase the
talents of Kanye West. Long before the writers' strike, the network
began discussing whether to team the rapper with executive producer
Larry Charles (Curb Your Enthusiasm) for a yet-to-be-named,
single-camera series that would follow the busy life of the
Grammy-winning artist and his relationship with family and friends. One
key insider says HBO is now looking for a writer — and some creative
inspiration — before moving forward with the project: ''We need to figure
out how to capture Kanye in the right way.'' Anything that allows him to
gas on about his many talents should do the trick. — Lynette Rice
Music
+ While Scott Weiland treks cross-country on the Stone Temple Pilotsreunion tour, his other former band, Velvet Revolver, is hard at work
finding a new singer. EW has learned that Royston Langdon — frontman for brother act Spacehog (who had a 1995 hit with ''In
the Meantime'') and estranged husband of Liv Tyler — is in the running for
the gig after several successful jam sessions in Los Angeles. ''They all
got along great,'' says an insider. ''It was really a refreshing change
for the band.'' Velvet Revolver's management couldn't confirm that an
offer had been made, and would only say that they're still auditioning
prospective singers. But an RCA source insists that ''he's definitely in
the mix.'' — Shirley Halperin
Movies
+ Quentin Tarantino's überviolent WWII project Inglorious Bastards has
finally found its star. Reps for Brad Pitt confirm that the prolific father is in negotiations to play protagonist Lieut. Aldo
Raine. (A source says rumors that Tarantino is also courting Leonardo
DiCaprio for the role of villainous Col. Hans Landa are false.) The film
has also found a home: After three weeks of very public negotiations — and
after seemingly everyone with a Hollywood zip code got a copy of the
script — sources say the movie will land at Universal Pictures. Dealmaking
has been handed off to the studio's lawyers, and while nothing is set in
stone, it appears that the studio will partner with Tarantino and
producer/domestic distributor Harvey Weinstein to cofinance the film and
handle international distribution. — Nicole Sperling
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