TV
Don't knock your kid's favorite sitcom on Disney Channel or Nickelodeon:
Chances are those saccharine punchlines you hear from the mouths of
babes come courtesy of the same scribes who once made you laugh at
adult-oriented hits like Friends and Mad About You. The dearth of
comedies on broadcast TV has prompted scores of out-of-work writers to
flock to the kiddie cable networks, where multicamera shows like
Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place and Nick's iCarly are thriving, thanks in no small part to their seasoned writing staffs. ''It's the new
frontier,'' says Andy Gordon, a former member of the Back to You writers' room who now executive-produces True Jackson, VP, a Nickelodeon comedy debuting in November that stars Akeelah and the Bee's Keke Palmer as a 15-year-old fashion mogul. ''The broadcast networks are nervous all the
time, and it poisons the process. I'm never nervous here because we got
picked up for 20 episodes. I'm not living in fear that I'll be canceled
after three weeks.'' Of course, his new gig is not completely
stress-free. Since his hiring budget is limited, Gordon has had to turn
away network-trained dialogue and story writers seeking employment — even
though some of them were willing to take a pay cut. And he may see a lot
more applications hitting his in-box by Halloween. ''I'm in the same
building on the Paramount lot with [NBC and CBS freshman comedies] Kath
& Kim and Worst Week,'' says Gordon. ''They're nice people...but if they
don't perform in [their first] three weeks, we'll be the only ones left
in the building.''
— Lynette Rice
Music
Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti likes to joke that his new side
project, Little Joy — named after a popular L.A. bar — is ''basically a front just to bum beers.'' But with an album due this November, even he
realizes it's time to get serious. ''Right now, my focus is on this,'' he
says. ''Little Joy is my band, and I have all my heart and love in it.''
But what does that mean for his regular gig? Moretti says the Strokes
are planning to gather in February and start working on new music. As
for the rumor that veteran producer and Sony BMG label exec Rick Rubin will have a hand in their next album? The name was thrown around, says
Moretti. ''He made some pretty seminal records. But before there's a
sketch done, we're not going to choose the color.''
— Shirley Halperin
Movies
Robert Downey Jr. may soon goose the genre that launched his
comeback. The Iron Man star is in negotiations to voice a character in
Master Mind, a send-up of the superhero genre being made by Ben
Stiller's production company, Red Hour Films. Tina Fey is also expected
to join the cast of the movie, about a villain who loses his will to
live after accidentally killing his archrival. Neither actor is a
newcomer to animation: Downey lent his voice to an episode of Family Guy and the film A Scanner Darkly, while Fey voiced a burrito in the film
version of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Master Mind is based on a script from Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, and will be directed by DreamWorks
Animation veterans Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson. One request, guys:
no references to Stiller's failed 1999 superhero spoof Mystery Men. The
world does not need more Mr. Furious.
— Nicole Sperling
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