Fire Sensors Interrupt NBCs Nightly News

First Released: November 30, 2011 11:34 AM EST Credit: Getty Images Caption John Williams talks onstage in the NBC Universal NBC News Q&A area of the 2010 Winter TCA Tour day 2 in the Langham Hotel on The month of january 10, 2010 in Pasadena, Calif.NY, N.Y. -- NBC News anchor and former volunteer firemen John Williams does not be prepared to hear sensors throughout his regular job. He did Tuesday evening, when an audible fire alarm from the floor beneath the Nightly News studio in NY frequently interrupted the newscast. Speaker Erika Masonhall stated Wednesday it would be a drill, but that specialists couldnt immediately switch off studio sound system. Nightly News moved right into a new studio last month. Sensors discontinued two times as Williams read a tale about American Air carriers. He exhibited a bemused smile the 2nd some time and stated, We ought to help remind our audiences that there is no danger to us. Following the problem was fixed, Williams redid the broadcast for non-Eastern timezones. Copyright 2011 through the Connected Press. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Investment in Broadway's 'Book of Mormon' Pays Off

NY (AP) Nine Tony Awards, critical praise and some filthy humor has made "The Book of Mormon" a solid Broadway investment.Producers of the hit show said Tuesday that it has recouped its $11.4 million capitalization after just nine months.The musical is the brainchild of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park," and Robert Lopez, who co-wrote "Avenue Q."It was crowned best musical for its offensive yet good-natured look at two missionaries who arrive in Uganda and get way more than they bargained for, including gun-toting warlords and a running gag about maggots in a man's scrotum.The show is one of the hardest tickets to score and, thanks to premium pricing, took in more than $1.6 million at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre last week.Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

International Emmy Awards: Lady Gaga Steals Show, Nigel Lythgoe Bashes Simon Cowell

NY -- Lady Gaga stole the show at the 39th annual International Emmy Awards.our editor recommendsLady Gaga Presents Nigel Lythgoe With International Emmy Award'American Idol's' Nigel Lythgoe Slams Twitter Followers Over 'X Factor'Nigel Lythgoe Developing New Reality Projects With Kim Kardashian, Alice Cooper, More (Exclusive)Nigel Lythgoe, CW in Talks for Family Singing Competition SeriesNigel Lythgoe's 'CMT's Next Superstar' Renewed for Second SeasonLady Gaga's Thanksgiving Special Includes Tony Bennett, Turkey Carving (Video)Lady Gaga's Former Creative Director Laurieann Gibson Speaks Out on Split (Exclusive)Lady Gaga's Former Manhattan Apartment Available for RentRelated Topics•Lady Gaga•American Idol The pop star made a surprise appearance to bestow the Founders Award on Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer of American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. "He always spoke poetically about the pursuit of widening the boundaries of love and acceptance in TV," she said. PHOTOS: 'American Idol Live' Tour in Pictures Lythgoe received the award for his outstanding contributions to dance and performing arts on television. Gaga introduced a video tribute to Lythgoe that heavily featured American Idol judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and host Ryan Seacrest alternately honoring and ribbing the American Idol exec producer. When the video ended and the lights came back up, Gaga quipped: "I think the four of them are really jealous. It takes a fool to judge but a true genius to find talent." Lythgoe called Gaga "the most creatively talented woman working in show business right now." He also singled out the original Idol judges. "Three judges that will never ever be forgotten: Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and ah ...," he said, purposely blanking on former judgeSimon Cowell's name. PHOTOS: An 'American Idol' to 'X Factor' Timeline "Simon Cowell unfortunately can't be here tonight due to injuries from self-inflected love bites," said Lythgoe to laughter from the audience gathered at the NY Hilton on Monday night. "I now call Simon Lord Voldemort, because he must not be named, because every time I name him, the press says we are enemies, and (we) are fighting each other," he added of the X Factor judge. "That's not truthful. Simon has no enemies whatsoever in the world, but a lot of friends who hate him." Lythgoe cited the illustrious company he is now in as a Founders Award winner, including Al Gore, Sir David Frost, Steven Spielberg and Cowell. "That is a Vice President, a Knight of the Realm, a wandering Knight of the Realm ... and God." Lythgoe also singled out Fox reality chief Mike Darnell -- who was in attendance and whom Lythgoe urged to stand. PHOTOS: 'American Idol' and TV's Other Most Expensive Primetime Shows for Advertisers "People joke about Mike's height," said Lythgoe of the diminutive Darnell. "He is, after all, one of the few people I know who's got a full-length photograph of himself in his passport. He may be small in stature, but trust me, this man is enormous in talent. His support on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance has been both productive and invaluable to me." Lythgoe concluded his acceptance speech with a heartfelt thank-you to Simon Fuller, Idol creator and Dance co-creator. "I tonight for some reason have been given the title of creator of American Idol," he said. "That is absolutely not true. The creator of American Idol is a gentleman who came up to me 11 years ago and said I have got this idea for a [talent] show and people telephone in and vote for people. I naturally said that is a terrible idea -- it will never work." Some years later, Fuller pitched the same idea for a dance competition show, prompting the same response from Lythgoe. "Thank God he changed my mind on both occasions," he said. "Simon, thank you, thank you, thank you. Without you, I would not be here." PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes: THR's 'X Factor' Cover Shoot Subhash Chandra, chairman of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and founder of the Essel Group, accepted the Directorate Award. Chandra, who left immediately after his speech to fly back to Mumbai in time for his nephew's wedding, revolutionized India's television industry when in 1992 he launched the country's first satellite Hindi channel, ZEE TV. Today, ZEE Network is the largest producer of Hindi programming in the world with 25 channels and over 600 million viewers in 167 countries. In his acceptance speech immediately following Lythgoe's, Chandra noted that an Indian singing competition series "was launched much before American Idol and is exactly the same as American Idol." He added that when he brought this to the attention of Idol producer Fremantle, "they offered me five six, formats to run free on (Hindi) television rather than have a conflict about it." When the audience started to volubly murmur, Chandra asserted, "No it's true." Other big winners of the night included the British series Accused, which picked up Emmys for drama series and actor Christopher Eccelston. The Swedish movie series Millennium -- the original Girl With the Dragon Tattoo films starring Noomi Rapace -- earned the Emmy for TV movie and miniseries. Rapace and Michael Nyqvist were nominated for acting awards but did not win. Accepting the award for the films, Millennium producer Soren Staermose said, in somewhat broken English: "We will jump off the roof with this beautiful (statue) and hit every man who still hates women." A complete list of winners can be found on the next page. Related Topics Emmy Awards Lady Gaga Nigel Lythgoe Simon Cowell American Idol Simon Fuller So You Think You Can Dance 1 2 next last

Akiva Goldsman Inks Overall Deal With HBO, Sets Up Western Drama About Doc Holliday With Ron Howard Attached To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman has signed a two-year exclusive overall deal with HBO. The first project under the pact is an untitled Western drama about Doc Holliday, the famed gambler and gunslinger of the Old West. Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (Accepted) will write the script and will executive produce with Goldsman and his producing partner Kerry Foster. Ron Howard is attached to direct the potential pilot. His father, Rance Howard, will serve as co-producer along with his wife Judy Howard. The project is inspired by Mary Doria Russells critically praised novel Doc, which was published in May. Doc Holliday is often portrayed as an ailing sidekick (he died from tuberculosis at age 36), best known for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Val Kilmer portrayed him in the movie Tombstone). But the HBO project aims to put Holliday front and center as the series protagonist, an educated Southern gentleman and dentist by trade, thrust into the cruel and violent world of the Old West in order to salvage his ailing health. The series will feature the never-before-explored love triangle between Holliday, his prostitute wife, Kate Elder and best friend, Wyatt Earp — all set against the lawlessness and desperation of a rapidly changing society. Goldsman describes the project as “all in the family” when it comes to auspices. His partner at Weed Road Foster came upon the source material. Goldsman mentioned the idea to frequent collaborator Ron Howard while the two were discussing their latest project, The Dark Tower. Howard is set to direct and Goldsman is writing the adaptation of the Stephen King’s book series, which is looking for a home as a feature trilogy and an accompanying limited TV series after being put in turnaround by NBCUniversal. Goldsman, who quipped that he is following the rule “work with Ron whenever possible” after his first collaboration with the director, A Beautiful Mind, earned him a writing Oscar, also penned the Howard-directed The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons and Cinderella Man. Howard expressed interest in the Western TV project, and it turned out that his father, veteran actor Rance Howard, has a fascination with Doc Holliday. So Rance Howard and his wife came on board as co-producers and Ron Howard became attached as director of the potential pilot. (Howard, whose company with Brian Grazer Imagine is very active in TV, has not directed a TV pilot yet.) Meanwhile, Foster’s husband, Adam Cooper, and his writing partner, Bill Collage, came on board to write the Western. Originally, the project was eyed as a mini-series and was pitched as such to HBO. The pay cable network suggested turning it into a series instead. Goldsman is not a TV novice. He made a stealth entry into series with Fox’s sci-fi drama Fringe. Several years ago, writer-producer Goldsman was looking to branch out into directing. His friend J.J. Abrams offered him to write and direct an episode from the first season of Fringe, which Abrams co-created and is executive producing. Goldsman did it and then stuck around as an “eccentric uncle”, as he put it. He continues to serve as a consulting producer on the critically praised but low-rated drama, occasionally writing, co-writing or directing episodes. “Nobody watches us but I’m tremendously proud of the show and the work were done,” Goldman said of Fringe. “We managed to follow that new trend of serialized storytelling. And HBO is the best in the business for that.” Goldsman had been looking to expand into TV in a bigger way. “I think that the line between film and television is getting blurrier and blurrier, and I think thats pretty exciting creatively,” he said. Because of HBO’s approach to storytelling, it was the place he wanted to do it. Especially because of his long history with fantasy and sci-fi and the way HBO treats genre series with 2 shows he likes, True Blood and especially Game Of Thrones (“I worship at the alter of that show,” Goldsman said.) “What I love about HBO is that storytelling seems to be king and that genre seems to be almost irrelevant,” he said. Also appealing to Goldsman in signing an overall deal with HBO was the opportunity to be a writing, non-writing producer and director. He does plan to create his first series under the pact, most likely in his favorite mold of character-driven drama within a genre framework. As for Dark Tower, “we’re still pushing the boulder uphill,” Goldsman said but is optimistic that the ambitious project will find a home “very soon.” The writing duo of Cooper and Collage, repped by WME, have worked on over two dozen scripts for major studios, including NY Minute, Wrong Turn, Ransom and Tower Heist. They most recently wrote Exodus for the Chernin Co., Marco Polo for Frances Lawrence and Moby Dick for Timor Bekmambetov at Universal. Goldsman and Howard are with CAA, which also co-repped Russell’s book with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

All In to produce 'Dead Before Dying'

BERLIN -- Germany's All In Production is looking to turn the works of South African crime novelist Deon Meyer into a TV movie trilogy. The Munich-based shingle has tapped German-South African filmmaker Oliver Schmitz, who helmed the 2010 Cannes screener "Life Above All," to direct the first installment, "Dead Before Dying," from an English-language script by British writers Matt Harvey and Dominic Morgan. The 1996 book introduced Cape Town police captain Mat Joubert, a depressed and overweight chain-smoker still grieving the loss of his wife, who was killed in the line of duty. A wave of homicides involving a 100-year-old German handgun, coupled with a tough new commanding officer who imposes a strict diet and mental health regimen on his detectives, soon gives the investigator a new lease on life, however. The character of Joubert also appears in Meyer's novels "Dead at Daybreak" and "Trackers." All In is in talks with TV partners and international co-producers for the project, which will include a high-profile international cast. Meyer's works have been attracting plenty of interest from moviemakers. London-based South African filmmaking team Malcolm Kohll and Robert Fig optioned the author's "Thirteen Hours," about a detective's race to find the murderer of an American student in Cape Town, while France's TF1 International has acquired rights to "Blood Safari," about a freelance bodyguard up against ruthless wildlife poachers. Contact Ed Meza at staff@variety.com

CNN lays off 50, cites tech changes

CNN introduced the elimination with a minimum of 50 staff positions Friday as the organization follows through around the outcomes of a 3-year review that found technical advances reduced the requirement for several posts for example photography enthusiasts and editors. Lay offs include CNN's Atlanta headquarters, Gotham, Washington, La and Miami a minimum of twelve cuts range from news org's D.C. operation. The Turner news cabler continues to be "examining the way we utilize and deploy photojournalists," senior Vice president Jack Womack authored within an email to staff from the review. "Consumer and professional-sumer technology is simpler and much more accessible," he authored. "Small cameras are actually high broadcast quality. Much more of fraxel treatments is at the disposal of more and more people. After finishing this analysis, CNN determined that some photojournalists is going to be departing the organization." An identical paragraph described that greater-tech editing software permitted more remote editing, and therefore known as for less editors. Worldwide, CNN has already established two zero-sum reorgs since August, neither which led to headcount deficits. But this latest round differs for the reason that laid-off staffers haven't been asked to try to get recently produced jobs inside the division. In October, the business's Atlanta office removed after which immediately hired for roughly exactly the same quantity of positions -- a little more, actually -- and needed staffers in flux either to accept severance or re-apply for roles with larger job explanations. An identical restructuring -- also without any resulting reduction in headcount -- happened at CNN sister internet HLN in August, as that network ramped as much as the launch of web initiative HLNtv. HLN topper Scot Safon basically told staff then never fear: "(W)e are restructuring the dayside editorial team to best satisfy the audience's multiplatform demands," he stated within an email. "Individuals impacted by this reorganization happen to be informed and new possibilities in this particular team is going to be published shortly." A CNN speaker stated Friday that although she did not wish to minimize the problem of losing employment, the internet planned to staff support soon. "We anticipate the amount of positions within the overall organization within the next six several weeks will stay roughly flat using what we'd a year ago,Inch she stated. "We can't start to thank these people enough for his or her plan to CNN," Womack stated. "They leave with this respect and our sincere good luck.Inch Technology is leading to newsrooms countrywide to contract, or at best to require more workproduct in the people employed. Bridget Grogan, who runs the U of Florida's ABC News on Campus (which adds confirming towards the Alphabet's local news agencies), told Variety last September that new TV reporters were likely to be multidisciplinary. "We are getting calls from newsroom company directors who would like students who is able to write, publish towards the web, and blog," she stated, so her students are educated to shoot, edit and upload footage, too. "Our students understand how to be considered a one-guy band." Thus, career photography enthusiasts and video editors have found that there are less interest in specialty area and much more jobs for jack-of-all-trades generalists. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

CBS Tuesday dramas sweep timeslots

CBS delivered a convincing primetime ratings victory on Tuesday, as vets ''NCIS'' and ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' joined rookie ''Unforgettable'' in winning their timeslots in key demo categories. Elsewhere, Fox's ''New Girl'' again came in lower than its early-season averages, while NBC's ''The Biggest Loser'' grew a bit more this week.According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, ''NCIS'' (4.1 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, 20.3 million viewers overall) was easily the night's No. 1 program in adults 18-49 as well as adults 25-54 (5.7/14) and total viewers, where it topped 20 million in same-night viewing for the first time this season. It was followed by ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' (3.4/8 in 18-49, 15.9 million viewers overall), which led the 9 o'clock hour in key demos and was in line with last week. And at 10, ''Unforgettable'' (2.4/7 in 18-49, 11.6 million viewers overall) thrived as the only crime drama in the hour (ABC's ''Body of Proof'' was pre-empted), edging up and ruling its timeslot. At Fox, ''Glee'' (3.1/8 in 18-49, 6.9 million viewers overall) was up a tick week to week, placing second to ''NCIS'' in 18-49 while remaining in control of the younger 12-34 crowd (3.1/10). It was followed by ''New Girl'' (3.5/9 in 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall), which was in line with last week and was the night's No. 2 show in 18-49 despite again coming in below the lofty levels it had generated with its three early-fall airings before taking a baseball-related hiatus. And at 9:30 p.m., second-year comedy ''Raising Hope'' (2.1/5 in 18-49, 4.6 million viewers overall) hit a season low and fell to fourth place in 18-49.ABC's ''Last Man Standing'' (2.6/7 in 18-49, 9.2 million viewers overall) was on par with last week, placing third in 18-49 for the 8 o'clock hour. But 8:30 p.m. half-hour ''Man Up'' continues to struggle to hold onto that audience, dropping to a 1.7/5 in 18-49 and 6.2 million viewers overall. The net then rebounded at 9 p.m. with the ''Dancing With the Stars'' results show (2.7/7 in 18-49, 14.9 million viewers overall), which was in line with last week, and 10 p.m. country music special ''In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts'' (1.7/5 in 18-49, 8.6 million viewers overall) came in a bit lower than usual slot occupant ''Body of Proof.''NBC's ''The Biggest Loser'' (2.4/6 in 18-49, 6.8 million viewers overall), which has been having a sub-par season, grew for a third straight week to match its delivery on the comparable night of a year ago. It was followed by ''Parenthood'' (2.0/6 in 18-49, 5.2 million viewers overall), which dropped week to week but was in line with its showing of last November.At CW, ''90210'' (0.8/2 in 18-49, 1.6 million viewers overall) had its best performance since last September in several categories, rising to a 1.0/3 in adults 18-34. It was followed by rookie ''Ringer'' (0.7/2 in 18-49, 1.7 million viewers overall), which was down slightly week to week.Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 3.3/9; Fox, 2.9/8; NBC, 2.3/6; ABC, 2.2/6; Univision, 1.5/4; CW, 0.8/2.In total viewers: CBS, 15.8 million; ABC, 10.4 million; Fox, 6.3 million; NBC, 6.3 million; Univision, 3.5 million; CW, 1.6 million. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com

Tyler Perry's 'Good Deeds' Poster: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished [Moviefone Exclusive]

In the upcoming heartwarming drama 'Good Deeds,' Tyler Perry plays Wesley Deeds, a by-the-book businessman who has his world shaken to the core when he helps a young single mother (Thandie Newton) out of a tight jam. The problem? Wesley's engaged to the beautiful and successful Natalie (Gabrielle Union), and the good deed leaves him in a position that forces between his heart and his head. Written, directed and starring the versatile Perry, 'Good Deeds' is out on Feb. 24. Check out an exclusive look at the first poster ahead. [Click for bigger] Starring Perry, Newton, Union and Rebecca Romijn, 'Good Deeds' arrives in theaters on Feb. 24. For more, head over to the 'Good Deeds' Facebook page. Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook RELATED

Relativity's Snow White Movie to Be Called 'Mirror Mirror'

Relativity Media announced on Friday that the title for its upcoming reimagining of the classic Snow White fairy tale will be Mirror Mirror. The film, starring Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane, is slated for a March 16, 2012 release. Directed by Tarsem Singh, the feature centers on an exiled princess who enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright. PHOTOS: Stills From Relativity's Snow White Project Bernie Goldmann (300), Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter) and Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) serve as the film's producers.The script was written by Melisa Wallack (Meet Bill) and Jason Keller (Machine Gun Preacher). Relativity'sMirroris one of two Snow White movies that have been racing toward the screen. Universal Pictures is readyingSnow White and the Huntsman, starringKristen Stewartas the titular heroine,Chris Hemsworthas the hunstman andCharlize Theronas the evil queen.Rupert Sandersis directing. Originally, Universal's movie was set for release in December, 2012. But after the Relativity Snow White movie then claimed June 29 for its bow, Universal jumped ahead of it by shifting its movie to June 1. Relativity then countered by moving its movie even further ahead to March 16. Although Relativity'sMirrorwill hit theaters before Universal'sSnow White, both companies are now maintaining that the two films are different enough that they are not targetting identical audiences. Relativity'sMirroris being billed as the more family friendly of the two, while Universal'sSnow Whitelooks more like an adventure tale with Snow as an armor-clad woman warrior. Related Topics Julia Roberts Snow White Lily Collins

Joel Edgerton Might Be 'The Guy From U.N.C.L.E.' or even the New Gerard Butler

Poor Joel Edgerton did not cash luck together with his fall twosome of 'Warrior' (regrettably not seen!) and 'The Thing' (fortunately not seen!), therefore it would go to reason why he may wish to up his profile with a few sure things soon. And thus here i am! Not just is Edgerton co-starring in 'The Great Gatsby,' but she has his pick of two high-profile approaching projects, based on Vulture: Steven Soderbergh's 'The Guy From U.N.C.L.E.' and also the '300' prequel. Vulture reviews that Warner Bros. offered Edgerton charge role in 'U.N.C.L.E.' even though Bradley Cooper was apparently the very best choice a couple of days ago. This comes hrs after Vulture also reported that Edgerton was the studio's pick to guide '300: Fight of Artemisia.' (Appears like Edgerton has some large fans around the Warner's lot.) Edgerton has not recognized either role, but forthcoming nexus s he will grab one. After missing out on charge in 'The Bourne Legacy' to Jeremy Renner, dude warrants a rest. [via Vulture] [Photo: Getty] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook RELATED