Mischa Barton feels about that superloaded lad with whom she hangs. Brandon Davis and Ms. Meesh perfected a sassy strut into Chelsea's Maritime Hotel. West 16th Street. InWhySee. The salty couple are fanatical soosh fans, but rather than scooting into Matsuri, Ms. O.C. and her fortune-holding boy-toy were heading into the retro-chic lounge Hiro. M-babe flaunted a hiked-up skirt and a sparkly top, while Mr. D. wore his typical leather jacket.
Fox Searchlight has greenlighted a remake of 1984's hit college comedy, Revenge of the Nerds, which follows a fraternity of misfits seeking payback against the football players harassing them, Daily Variety reports.
The studio has reportedly hired scribes Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah to pen the script. The duo appropriately enough wrote for the short-lived but critically-acclaimed NBC series Freaks and Geeks and are the creators of ABC's new drama Life as We Know It.
Charlie's Angels helmer McG, The OC star Adam Brody, and Grounded for Life's Brett Harrison will produce the picture.
McG immediately sparked to the idea of a Nerds redo after Brody and Harrison approached the director on the set of Fox's I>The O.C., on which he's an executive producer.
"[Harrison] said everyone he knew would like to see a new take on the film, and I told him that I knew every single line of the original film and the sequel," McG told Variety. "I could definitely relate to every aspect of those films and was absolutely on the nerd side." Bullies beware.
The original starred Anthony Edwards (news), Robert Carradine and Timothy Busfield as a bunch of socially awkward but lovable freshman at Adams College who find themselves oppressed and taunted by the more popular jocks of the Alpha Beta fraternity. Hoping to avoid more wedgies, the nerds form their own frat and attempt to over the student council, inciting an all-out war.
Revenge of the Nerds, which also featured John Goodman (news), Bernie Casey and James Cromwell (news), became a surprise hit at the box office, grossing over $40 million. It also spawned three sequels, 1987's Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, 1992's Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation, and 1994's Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds In Love.
According to McG, the new version will share a similar storyline with the 1984 film, not to mention a politically incorrect R-rating, but be updated for the Palm Pilot generation. It is also likely to feature new oddballs, though the filmmaker didn't rule out cameos by original castmembers, giving hope that the writers might someday resurrect Ogre, Booger and other memorably-titled characters.
McG's partner Stephanie Savage plans to coproduce along with Searchlight's Julia Dray and Peter Rice. Brody and Harrison may also star in the flick should their schedules permit. If all goes well, expect the new Nerds to graduate to theaters sometime by 2006. --- OC time goin' by too slow? We all feel your pain. And so have the people behind the scenes and big-time fan Buzz. New video interviews from the Finale party each week leading up to the November 4th premiere.
posted by Jen @ 7:18 AM |
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
THURSDAYS ARE MOVING TO THE O.C.
posted by Jen @ 10:58 AM |
Seventeen: Little Black Book: Stars
We want to know what you're watching, listening to, and gossiping about, so we're getting your votes for Seventeen's 2004 Entertainment Awards! Tell us your favorite entertainment picks so far this year, and we'll announce the results in our January issue! Plus, fill out our survey, and you'll be automatically entered to win cool prizes like an iPod mini and copies of the winning CDs, movies, and TV shows! And don't forget to tell your friends about the awards!
Come on, you know you want to vote for The OC and its stars, so...go, what are you waiting for?
posted by Jen @ 9:00 AM |
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
WB's mighty fright Michael Schneider, STAFF
HOLLYWOOD -- Things are getting spooky at the WB, which has ordered a supernatural-themed put pilot from McG ("The O.C.") and scribe Eric Kripke ("Tarzan").
Hourlong project, which will be produced by Warner Bros. TV and McG and Stephanie Savage's Wonderland Sound and Vision, was pitched as a cross between "The X-Files" and "Route 66." According to Kripke, show will revolve around Sam, a recent Stanford graduate whose estranged older brother Dean rolls into town. Dean volunteers to drive Sam from San Francisco back home to Los Angeles, but their road trip soon takes a weird turn.
On their journey, the brothers will encounter unusual ghosts and local creatures straight out of American folk lore and urban legends.
"They're all specifically American, be it a windigo, a Native American creature, or Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads," Kripke said. "It's a show about the bloody, beating heart of America."
Project is the first out of Wonderland since former Fox exec Peter Johnson joined the shingle as president of TV ( Daily Variety, Sept. 10) under McG and Savage.
Kripke said he had been kicking around a supernatural-themed show for some time, and originally pitched one to Johnson back when he was still at Fox. When Johnson moved to Wonderland, the exec immediately gave Kripke a call. Wonderland is set up at WBTV, where Kripke also has a deal.
Kripke exec produced the short-lived "Tarzan" for the Frog. Although that show didn't last long, Kripke said there were no hard feelings -- and that he remained proud of that show's execution. --- Big Changes on The O.C. by Shawna Malcom
When Fox's The O.C. wrapped its first season last May, Julie and Caleb tied the knot, and Ryan packed up his wife-beater tees and moved back to Chino with his knocked-up lover, Teresa, prompting his distraught adopted bro, Seth, to set sail for Tahiti in the Summer Breeze. Here, series creator Josh Schwartz previews what's in store for the teen soap's second season, which kicks off in November.
TV Guide Online: How will you resolve those cliffhangers? We know Ryan can't really stay in Chino with Teresa.... Josh Schwartz: Teresa's gonna be in the show when we come back. Ryan's still trying to do the responsible thing [where she's concerned], but it hasn't been easy. It's been a long summer between them. He's trying to make the best of it, but it's kind of grim. Seth has not returned. His parents know where he is, but he's decided he ain't coming back. Sandy and Kirsten have not had a good summer living in this empty house without the kids. It's put a lot of strain on their marriage. And Marissa comes back in a really dark place. She spent most of the summer hating her mom, living as a prisoner in [Julie] and Caleb's house and drinking. And there's someone named DJ that she may have kept herself occupied with all summer.
TVGO: What about Seth's dream girl, Summer? Schwartz: Summer's not too happy with Seth. She's spent the summer in therapy. And she's met a new guy. We've cast newcomer Michael Cassidy, and we'll first see him in Episode 2. He's pretty perfect. He's dependable, trustworthy and selfless — everything Seth, in Summer's eyes, is not.
TVGO: Marissa and Ryan, Seth and Summer.... The young core couples are broken up. Schwartz: Yes, the Breakfast Club has been scattered to the four corners of the earth. It's a new era in Orange County. How we left last year is not at all how we're coming back this year. And everybody's gonna have to get used to that.
TVGO: Seth has to come back eventually. When he does, what will he be up to? Schwartz: He gets a new job at a place called the Bait Shop, which is like an all-ages club off the pier. So we have lots of good, live music coming on the show, like the Walkmen perform in Episode 3 and Modest Mouse in Episode 7. And there's a very pretty bad girl who works there named Alex, played by Skin's Olivia Wilde.
TVGO: Is Caleb going to jail? Schwartz: Caleb's in a paranoid state. The DA kind of rattled his cage right before the wedding and since then, all has been silent. So he's started going a little batty waiting for the other shoe to drop. He's worried about losing his money and going to jail. And Julie, of course, is worried about Cardiobar and making sure Caitlyn gets to her pony lessons on time.
TVGO: Any truth to rumors that Luke might return this season? Schwartz: He may be coming back. I'd love to get him back at some point this season.
TVGO: Most importantly, how many fistfights will there be in the first episode? Schwartz: Zero. I think we had our fair share last year. We might have a couple punches this year, but certainly no melées are planned. It's a whole new show!
For more scoop on The O.C. and all your other returning favorites, pick up the new issue of TV Guide magazine (on sale Thursday). --- WEDGIE ALERT: The O.C.'s Adam Brody, who single-handedly saved the geek species, is co-producing and may star in a remake of Revenge of the Nerds, Variety reports. Brody cooked up the idea with Grounded for Life star Bret Harrison and the two of them pitched it to O.C. exec producer McG. --- LOS ANGELES (
posted by Jen @ 9:44 AM |
Sunday, September 12, 2004
This great guy Blake sent me an awesome pic of Chris Carmack modeling for a current A&F catalog on their website. You can't say this doesn't look delish.
posted by Jen @ 1:57 PM |
The OCers on Television
Eric Balfour Hawaii - "Psych Out"WCAU, Wed Sep 15 08:00pm EDT Boy Meets World - "Pop Quiz"DISN, Wed Sep 15 11:30pm EDT NYPD Blue - "Two Clarks in a Bar"TNT, Mon Sep 20 03:00pm EDT Hawaii - "Lost and Found"WCAU, Wed Sep 22 08:00pm EDT
Peter Johnson, a former senior VP of drama development at FOX, has been named the president of McG and Stephanie Savage's production company Wonderland Sound and Vision. He'll oversee the company's two current series - "The O.C." and the WB's "Mountain" - as well as new and upcoming projects such as "Athens," also at FOX. (tvtome.com)
posted by Jen @ 7:23 AM |
Phantom Planet basks in glow of 'The O.C.' By Walter Tunis (kentucky.com) CONTRIBUTING MUSIC WRITER
It was a good thing the power pop career of Phantom Planet didn't break a decade earlier. As the band behind the sunny 2002 pop tune California -- an orchestral, piano-driven confection adopted as the theme song to Fox TV's soap The O.C. -- the Los Angeles band suddenly found itself in the living rooms of unsuspecting households around the country. Even today, fans of the show likely have a bigger connection to the song than to the band behind it. "If this were the early '90s, anything like this which was considered 'selling out' would have meant death to a band's credibility," said Phantom Planet singer-frontman-guitarist Alexander Greenwald. "That kind of thinking doesn't exist so much now. Radio is so messed up, and MTV doesn't even play videos anymore. So a band has to find whatever way it can to make sure people hear their music.
"For us, California was a song we wrote about six years ago that we liked. But not many people heard it before it reached this really broad audience. It's a song that got its chance."
Though California was not the band's first TV tie-in tune (its 1998 pop-rocker So I Fall Again was on the soundtrack to Sabrina the Teenage Witch), it catapulted a career already on the rise through incessant touring. Phantom's recent self-titled album, in fact, was cut quickly after 18 months of nearly non-stop roadwork.
But the stylistic difference between Phantom Planet and its more pop-based predecessors is huge. The newer record toughens the band's sound as well as Greenwald's singing to the point where comparisons to the post-punk pop of the Strokes and the murkier musings of the Cure come into play.
"I love rock 'n' roll music," Greenwald said. "I especially loved bands, like the Beatles, that changed with every single record they made. That's been our plan from the get-go. We want our records to be like experiments. We want to have fun with the music. People can hear when you're not having fun. They discover you're bored and you're boring."
The only bump in designing the album's crankier sound was a personnel shift. Drummer Jason Schwartzman, star of the 1998 film Rushmore, left the band during recording sessions to work full-time on an acting career. Longtime Phantom pal Jeff Conrad was then recruited to finish the album.
"All of us were a little worried," Greenwald said about changing drummers before the record's completion. "Adding a new element to a chemical equation like a band could throw the whole thing off and totally change the music. But we've known Jeff for years and he knows what we've been about for an even longer time. We played him what we had already recorded and asked 'Do you like this?' and 'Are you up for the job?' He responded yes to both questions, so the change was pretty easy."
Mostly, though, the album's more immediate stride reflects a passion for music Greenwald has grown up with: "Music has just always been part of my life. My mom is a guitar teacher and an abstract painter -- an all-around artist and a wonderful woman. I would listen to records with her and take guitar lessons from her.
"Music has been an appendage almost. It speaks my language."
