Music
+ Two years after embracing her inner Daisy Duke, Jessica Simpson still wants to scratch that country itch. The singer and sometime actress — who
released A Public Affair to disappointing sales last year — is assembling
a team of Nashville-based producers and songwriters for her fifth studio
album. ''It's the best thing for her,'' says a label source close to the
singer. ''A country record is what she absolutely needs to be doing now.''
She's certainly playing the part: After presenting at Nov. 5's ACE
Awards in New York City, Simpson headed south to attend the CMA Awards
and is expected to ''start writing and recording right away.'' A separate
Nashville insider says that Simpson will spend up to six months in a
Music City studio beginning in January. As for the notion that Nashville
shuns outsiders — particularly pop stars trying to go country? ''Jessica is
committed to doing this,'' says the label source. ''She's gone back to her
Southern roots and embedded herself in the Nashville community.'' To
further her country cred, Dukes costar Willie Nelson recently invited
Simpson to appear in a video for his new song ''You Don't Think I'm Funny
Anymore,'' in which she races lawn mowers — and wins — against Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, and Dan Rather.
+ Meanwhile, the third effort by Jessica's younger sister Ashlee
Simpson — which was slated for release this month — has been postponed until 2008. According to a source, Simpson and producer Timbaland wanted more
time to perfect the production, which includes collaborations with the
Neptunes' Chad Hugo (Alicia Keys) and Butch Walker (Pink). — Shirley Halperin
Movies
+ As the realities of the strike hit hard (think: no paycheck), some
writers are already grumbling about their union's hard-line negotiating
tactics. ''I feel like it was a fait accompli that the strike was going
to happen,'' says writer-director Joe Carnahan (Narc). ''It's dispiriting. You hire a federal mediator, why not hash it out?'' This kind of public
dissent has been rare, but Carnahan insists he's not the only Guild
member fretting over the policies that restrict striking
writer-directors from tinkering with their own scripts on the set. ''Some
friends of mine think the strike agreement is a little neo-fascist,''
says Carnahan. — Christine Spines
Television
+ Big Brother fans, it's time to start celebrating the Writers Guild
strike. A reliable source says CBS is quietly preparing for a ninth
season of the reality show that could begin airing in late January or
early February if the work stoppage persists past the holidays. It's
easy for CBS to fire up production on the series because it owns the
house (which is located on the network's Studio City, Calif., lot) and
casts for the show year-round. We hear that executive producer Allison
Grodner is already hiring production staff and Julie ''Chenbot'' Chen
will, of course, return to host. As in seasons past, the network would
probably air the show three times a week, although there's the
possibility of adding more nights. If the midseason BB does go forward,
it is unlikely to affect the show's regular summer run. — Lynette Rice
