Schwarzenegger: 'I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria'

For Arnold Schwarzenegger, promoting his new autobiography, “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story,” means finally opening up about his affair with his family’s housekeeper.

The tryst resulted in the birth of Schwarzenegger’s now teenage son and, eventually, the end of his 25-year marriage to Maria Shriver.

In an interview with “60 Minutes,” to air on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT, journalist Lesley Stahl asks the former governor of California, “So you lied to [Shriver]?”

“You could say that,” Schwarzenegger responds.

“I think it was the stupidest thing I’ve done in the whole relationship,” he said. “It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids.”

In an excerpt from “Total Recall,” published by ABC, the actor shares the moment that Shriver learned of his infidelity.Shriver apparently made an appointment for the pair with a therapist after Schwarzenegger’s term as governor ended in 2011.

“The minute we sat down, the therapist turned to me and said, 'Maria wanted to come here today and to ask about a child - whether you fathered a child with your housekeeper Mildred,’” the passage reads. “I told the therapist, ‘It's true.’”

Schwarzenegger’s autobiography will be available on October 1.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com, September 28th, 2012

‘Elementary’ premieres: What’s the verdict?

“Elementary,” a modern-day, U.S.-set "Sherlock Holmes," premiered Thursday on CBS, garnering mostly positive reviews and plenty of eyes.

The crime drama, which stars Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Joan Watson, respectively, drew about 13 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers. And that's in spite of early criticism and comparisons to BBC's “Sherlock."

"'Elementary' doesn’t go in for cleverly re-worked versions of Conan Doyle stories (yet, at least), but that doesn’t make the BBC/PBS series automatically superior to the CBS show," Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker wrote.

Meanwhile, Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times, writes: "It's not as clever as 'Sherlock,' or as deep as 'House' and it certainly doesn't have the action scenes of the new round of films, but it's not difficult to imagine it becoming a successful thread in 'The Adventures of the Endlessly Replicating Detective.'"

"Elementary" producer Robert Doherty commented on the similarities between the series in July, telling Collider.com, “Many hands have handled Sherlock over the years and Watson and the premise and the show. … I’ve seen many, many different takes and interpretations on the character and the franchise.  They’re all great.  I don’t think any of them hurt any of the others.  … Sherlock, the character, has big shoulders and I think he can carry all of us."

What did you think of the "Elementary" premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.comSeptember 28th, 2012

The man who brought MTV to Africa

Alex Okosi left Nigeria as a young boy in the late 1980s to seek a better future in the United States.

By the early 2000s, the music executive was carving a successful career with broadcasting giant MTV, holding strategic positions within the influential medial company both in the United States and Europe.

Yet, Okosi never forgot where he came from. His dream had always been to promote his continent's diverse music scene and vibrant youth culture.

In the mid-2000s, at a time when not many were convinced about his continent's economic potential, Okosi helped persuade his bosses to launch a dedicated MTV channel for Africa.

Today, as the senior vice president and managing director of MTV Networks Africa, Okosi runs MTV Base, the company's first localized television service targeted exclusively at sub-Saharan Africa.

"We've ... been quite lucky in being able to create a brand that we have taken from our international stable and bring into the continent to be able to create content and experiences that people enjoy, localizing them to make sure that they cater to the attitudes and tastes of African audiences," says Okosi, now based in South Africa.

Born in the West African country of Nigeria, Okosi moved to the United States at the age of 12. He excelled throughout school, graduated with high honors in 1994 and won a scholarship to St. Michael's college in Vermont.

He credits his mentor Midge Monte for shaping his character and showing him the value of working hard to achieve your goals.

"Midge was such an important an influential part of my life as she served as my guardian the last two years of my high school career and has since remained a huge part of my life," says Okosi. "Midge also instilled in me the importance of hard work and commitment as one strives to be successful."

Okosi's determination and academic excellence helped him land a job with MTV straight after university. His talents soon started to shine -- Okosi worked both in MTV's New York and West Coast offices before moving to London to be part of the company's international strategy team.

He first planted the seed of bringing MTV to Africa during a business lunch with the head of the broadcasting giant. Okosi was convinced about the power and value of the African market, but putting together a viable business plan was far from easy -- a lack of data on the size of the advertising market, coupled with infrastructure challenges, hampered Okosi's ambitions.

Yet, despite all the challenges, Okosi was determined to succeed.

"I just focused on the fact that there's this great opportunity to do something that I believe would enable us and our youth culture to be projected in the most different way," he says. "The excitement and the passion to do what we've been able to do completely overshadowed everything that was there to consider."

Once Okosi's business plan had convinced his MTV bosses that a foray into Africa could be a success, his vision and dream were put to the test. The brand was well entrenched in the developed world but setting up shop in the continent had its own unique challenges.

At first, he says, the quality of the music videos was the biggest setback.

"We had to up the game, we had to create a benchmark for what the quality was," he explains.

As a result, the company started training producers, artists and directors in its key African markets how to shoot better music videos. It brought experienced international directors to work together with their African peers and also helped create free music videos for a number of artists.

"That also kind of helped create what we have today which is an incredibly exciting African music market where we're now having African music videos being played in London and the U.S. and across the continent, which is quite exciting."

Over the years, MTV Base has also teamed up with local terrestrial stations in various parts of the continent to gain access to a bigger audience that can't afford to pay for content -- today the company says that more than 90 million people have access to its programs.

In 2008, the company also launched the MTV Africa Awards, a high-profile event that's helping talented African artists to raise their international profile.

"[It's a] great story for Africa because it enables the world to see that we have a young vibrant, incredible youth culture that also is able to create great entertainment, great music," says Okosi.

MTV Base has also rolled out a series of initiatives aiming to inspire and galvanize the continent's youth population. During Nigeria's last elections, the channel launched its "Choose or Lose campaign" to prompt the country's young population to participate in the democratic process in order to make sure their voice is heard.

Okosi says the future of Africa lies with the millions of young people across the continent who are willing to work hard in order to succeed.

"One thing that I do admire about our young Africans is their spirit," he says. "They're a bunch of young people that have the same aspirations as their international counterparts and they manage to succeed even despite some of the challenges that we face on the continent," he says.

From Nkepile Mabuse, CNN September 28, 2012

540-pound contestant wows 'X Factor' judges

As Freddie Combs took the stage on Thursday’s episode of “The X Factor,” judges L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell appeared to lock eyes with each other.

The 540-pound, wheelchair-bound minister from Greeneville, Tennessee, who said he almost died in 2009 when he weighed in at 920 pounds, dedicated his rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to his wife of almost 16 years.

“My comments for you will not be out of sympathy because of anything that you’ve dealt with, it’s going to be purely based on your voice, which I think is heavenly,” Reid told the contestant.

After similar praise from judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, Cowell said, “When I heard you sing, I had a vision in my mind of you standing singing that song healthy happy and maybe you need some inspiration to help you to the next stage. It's within you to sort this out and I don’t think you deserve to be stuck in that chair.”

Cowell then challenged Combs to stay healthy, saying, “I’ll back you if you back yourself.”

After earning four yeses, and learning that he would be moving on in the singing competition, Combs told his wife, “I have a lot of work cut out for me when I get home. I’m going to stand and sing that song. And L.A. Reid is going to stand with me. How about that one.”

marquee.blogs.cnn.com, September 28th, 2012

'Here Comes Honey Boo Boo' hits ratings high

TLC is probably pretty pleased right now.

Following the network’s decision to order additional episodes (and “HOLLAday” specials) of “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” Wednesday’s mid-season finale earned the series’ highest ratings yet.

A record 2.8 million people tuned in to watch Alana, the former "Toddlers & Tiaras" star, and her family on the reality show’s one-hour episode, according toTV by the Numbers.

“Honey Boo Boo,” which was the source of controversy even before it premiered, has averaged 2.4 million viewers since its August 8 premiere.

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com, September 28th, 2012

'Homeland': Where will your favorite characters be in season 2?

Even before they had a chance to view it, everyone involved with Showtime's megahit, "Homeland," "knew that it was something extraordinary and special," said actor Mandy Patinkin. The veteran star spoke to CNN at the premiere party for season two, ahead of the show's premiere on Sunday.

In "Homeland," CIA intelligence officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) believes that Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a POW returning from Iraq, became a traitor while in captivity and is planning to fulfill a terror plot on U.S. soil. At the end of season one, Brody decides to run for Congress.

Meanwhile Carrie, who suffers from bipolar disorder, realizes why Brody would turn on his country just as she's about to undergo electroconvulsive therapy that will erase her short-term memory. Season one received nine Emmy nominations, and picked up four of them at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards, including outstanding drama series.

f you've been wanting to get into "Homeland" or catch up before the new season premiere, there's still time. Season one was recently released on DVD/Blu-ray. In addition, Showtime will air a marathon of all 12 episodes of the first season on Saturday, September 29, beginning at noon ET/PT. Season two premieres Sunday, September 30, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

To kick things off for Sunday's return, Showtime and Time Warner Cable hosted a screening and reception at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. Among the attendees, who were greeted by an enormous Brody 2012 fictional campaign poster, were the entire "Homeland" cast, including outstanding actress and actor in a drama series Emmy winners Danes and Lewis.

Also in attendance were Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and designer Valentino. Cocktails were followed by a screening of the first episode of season two and an after-party on the USS Intrepid flight deck complete with fireworks, tiny cupcakes in the "Homeland" logo and empanadas and pulled pork sliders served up directly under the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

Patinkin shared with CNN how he prepared for the role of Saul Berenson, CIA Middle East Division chief and mentor to Carrie. He traveled to Langley, Virginia, and met with a man who had been a CIA chief.

"I was asking a lot of emotional questions," the actor said, "because I was interested in his emotional reaction to certain situations, fears -- human nature questions."

At one point, Patinkin continued, the former CIA chief mentioned that he had two daughters, "and the daughters came over and then we were there for hours talking as a family, and that's when the nickel dropped for me. Before we shot a single frame, I realized it was a show about family. It was a show about Saul's relationship with his 'daughter' Carrie, the Brody family, the family of the CIA and the family of the world at large. And so that moment when those daughters came to that table -- I was home free."

Actor David Harewood plays David Estes, Carrie's boss at the CIA. He recalled meeting a CIA agent in preparation for his role as director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center.

"I happened to meet with a CIA operative who was a very scary lady," he said, "a very beautiful lady, but a very scary lady. I had dinner with her and she kind of looked straight through me. I felt like she was looking into my soul."

Harewood said he believes there has been such a massive positive response to "Homeland" from audiences because it is "one of the few shows which really seeks to not only entertain but also tell the truth. It really hit a raw nerve with people. People really want to know what goes on behind the doors of the CIA in terms of terrorists and terrorism, and 'Homeland' kind of seems to answer some of those questions."

Actress Amy Hargreaves plays Carrie's sister and caretaker Maggie.

"As season two opens," said Hargreaves, "it's six months later, so Carrie's had time to kind of go through some treatments and that's where we jump off. She's in good hands and we're kind of helping her regroup."

"What's nice about the way Showtime treats 'Homeland,'" Hargreaves continued, "is they give us time before we shoot every scene. We sit down, we talk about it, we figure out what feels right, what doesn't feel right. Working with Mandy is especially excellent ... we spent a lot of time on-set making sure that things were appropriate and accurate before we shot. It's been such a thrill to go to work and to get to work with Claire and Mandy. They blow me away."

Actress Morena Baccarin said "season two tops season one, if that is possible."

Of her character, Brody's wife Jessica, Baccarin said that she loves that "she's a no-frills kind of woman. She held her family together. She must have a sense of humor and strength somewhere deep inside that we don't get to see very often. The strength you get to see, absolutely, but she's vulnerable and going through a lot all the time, so you don't get to see her laughing very much. But this is a woman who held it together for eight years alone, so I think she's not a victim and she's not afraid; and when she is afraid she holds it together for her kids."

As for actor Diego Klattenhoff, who plays Mike -- Brody's Marine buddy and the man who became Jessica's love interest after she believed him dead -- he said that in season two, "I'm always there as his friend, kind of like a safety net. I'm always going to be there for the family. I think that inevitably I get pulled into certain situations."

Actress Morgan Saylor, who plays 16-year-old Dana Brody, said, "I love getting to be a hooligan and getting to be rebellious and openly so disdainful of my mother. That's really fun."

As for the upcoming season, of which eight out of 12 episodes have been filmed so far, Saylor said there are "definitely some changes this year between Dana and her father. She kind of sees his faults a little more."

We also spoke with musician Sean Callery, who wrote the "Homeland" theme song and writes the background score. He received his 12th Emmy nomination this year for "Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music" for "Homeland." Callery was thrilled to be able to implement Carrie's love of jazz into the storyline in creative yet subtle ways.

"She's a spontaneous, improvisational character," said Callery, "impulsive. Not many shows have jazz, so it was nice to have something new."

"Homeland" is not a particularly heavily scored show. Callery said that if the audience notices the music too much, "then I'm getting in the way." But when it does contain music, Callery explained, "it's extremely transparent and very much in your face." For example, the pilot episode contains a scene that Callery wrote the music for, where a live jazz band is playing at a bar while news footage of Brody's return plays on TV screens. Carrie studies the musicians' finger movements on their instruments and concludes that Brody is tapping his fingers in some kind of code.

Callery, who won three Emmys for his work on Fox's "24," noted that "Homeland" die-hards will notice that the theme song has been varied ever so slightly for season two.

"It does evolve," he said. "It changes; it gets a little darker at times. I'm dying to speak of it but it hasn't aired yet."

Alex Gansa, series co-creator and executive producer, recalled finding out that "Homeland" was President Obama's favorite show.

"We didn't feel that we had to do anything different," Gansa said, "but it gives us extra impetus every day in the story room to try to make this thing good the second season, to try to live up to the promise of the first season."

Gansa said that the cast and crew remain stunned by the positive audience response to the program because "these wars that we're fighting overseas are so removed from the general citizenry and their consciousness that we were curious whether anybody would even be interested in watching, but one thing that we felt was missing from television was this idea of the returning soldier and so we really wanted to dramatize how difficult that return can be sometimes. And obviously there are some serious extenuating circumstances in Brody's case but if you watch the first series of episodes you could interpret Brody's behavior as either somebody who's hiding his terrorist motivations or somebody who's just having trouble re-integrating back into his life."

By Katie McLaughlin, CNN September 29, 2012

Dolly Parton drops out of new Nashville theme park

Country music legend Dolly Parton has decided to withdraw her partnership in a new Nashville theme park.

"Gaylord makes decisions that they feel are good for their company and their stockholders and I have to make decisions based on what is best for me and the Dollywood Company," Parton said in a statement issued Friday.

The once 50/50 joint venture between Gaylord Entertainment Co. and Dollywood was to develop a 114-acre site for a family entertainment zone across from the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

The $50 million project was expected to be a water and snow park, with the park's slated opening date for summer of 2014.

In a statement, Gaylord's CEO and Chairman Colin Reed stated, "we are deeply disappointed in today's news that Dollywood will no longer partner with us to build a family attraction. We have enormous admiration for Dolly Parton and her company, and respect their decision ... We will endeavor to find another quality partner so that this important tourism project can become a reality."

Earlier this year, Parton told CNN's Brooke Baldwin that "we are going to be bringing more family entertainment into Nashville."

The Dollywood Company originally planned to serve as the project's operating partner and was going to employ 450 employees.

By Joe Sutton, CNN September 29, 2012

'Sons' actor 'a threat,' his probation report said

The "Sons of Anarchy" actor suspected of killinghis landlord before falling to his death on Wednesday had drug issues, mental health problems and was a threat, his probation report said last spring.

The May 17 report says that Johnny Lewis, 28, "suffers from some form of chemical dependency, mental health issue and a lack of permanent housing. Given this, (Lewis) will continue to be a threat to any community he may reside."

Police are seeking to understand what may have sparked the rampage that led to the death of Katherine Davis, 81.

She died from "blunt head trauma and strangulation," according to preliminary findings from the autopsy conducted Thursday, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said.

Lewis was arrested twice in February on burglary and battery charges in Santa Monica, according to records obtained by CNN.

But Lewis' lawyer, Jonathan Mandel, said Friday that he had not considered his client a threat to anyone. "The behavior with me was fine," he said. "What was known in May about Johnny was that he had two fairly minor offenses -- which were, fortunately, not serious. And he did have a diagnosis, eventually, of chemically induced psychosis."

Mandel, who first represented Lewis in April, said he never would have predicted Lewis' involvement in a killing and had not suspected he was taking drugs.

"From April until August or September, he was probably using no drugs at all," he said. "He was incarcerated for a couple of months and then he went to a treatment facility."

Though Lewis did appear, at times, to be delusional, "I never got the sense, when I was representing him, that he was an addict. I did think that he had severe mental problems."

Police suspect drugs may have been involved, but "we don't have any hard evidence that says he was on anything right now," LAPD Commander Andrew Smith said Thursday.

Toxicology findings from the autopsy are not expected to be completed for at least a month.

No one saw what happened inside the house where Davis, the homeowner, was found beaten to death, Smith said. Two men -- the owner of the house next door and a painter -- say Lewis attacked them before he fell to his death.

Other neighbors told police they heard a woman's screams and glass breaking, Smith said.

The home is in the Los Feliz neighborhood near Griffith Park, on the eastern edge of the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

An officer responding to a neighbor's 911 call found Lewis dead in the driveway, Smith said Thursday.

The house "appeared to have been ransacked," he said. Davis' body was found on the second floor of the three-level house, with her dead cat nearby, police said.

Davis, who had lived in the home for decades, "typically rented to people in the movie industry -- writers and actors -- and they would come up here because it's a wonderful, quiet neighborhood," Smith said.

Lewis had lived in the home, located on a winding, narrow residential street on the eastern edge of Hollywood, for about two weeks, Smith said.

He played Kip "Half Sack" Epps in 26 episodes during the first two seasons of "Sons of Anarchy" on the FX Network, according to the Internet Movie Database. His character was killed in the finale of season two.

"Sons" creator Kurt Sutter, in a Twitter posting Thursday, called Lewis' death "a tragic end for an extremely talented guy, who unfortunately had lost his way."

"I wish I could say that I was shocked by the events last night, but I was not," Sutter's tweet said. "I am deeply sorry that an innocent life had to be thrown into his destructive path. Yes, it's day of mourning, but it's also a day of awareness and gratitude. Sadly, some of us carry the message by dying."

Sutter told TV writer Alan Sepinwall in an interview published in December 2009 that "Johnny wasn't happy on the show."

"Creatively, he really wanted out of his contract," Sutter told Sepinwell. "We had ongoing conversations, and we decided we'd find some noble way for him to go."

Lewis played Dennis "Chili" Childress in nine episodes of "The O.C." in 2005 and 2006, according to IMDb.com.

His last work was in an independent movie, "186 Dollars to Get Out," scheduled for release this month, the IMDb.com listings said.

Lewis, whose full name is Jonathan Kendrick Lewis, was born and raised in Los Angeles. He held dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, according to his IMDb biography.

By the CNN Wire Staff September 29, 2012

Another lawsuit against John Travolta dismissed

John Travolta has won again in his fight against several lawsuits related to allegations of sexual assault.

Two lawsuits by two male massage therapists who claimed sexual battery were dismissed in May. And now a judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Travolta and his attorney, Marty Singer.

The lawsuit filed by writer Robert Randolph, who was quoted in an article and wrote a book about Travolta's alleged sexual behavior, claims that Singer harmed him when he wrote a letter in response to the book and article, according to court documents.

Judge Malcolm Mackey of Los Angeles Superior Court dismissed the case Thursday because he found, in part, that the letter has free speech protection.

A lawyer representing Travolta and Singer applauded the decision.

"Robert Randolph's ridiculous lawsuit against John Travolta and his attorney Marty Singer never should have been filed," said Lynda Goldman. "Notwithstanding inane tabloid fodder, two individuals who sued Mr. Travolta voluntarily dismissed their cases, and Randolph's case was dismissed by the court. Anyone else who thinks about suing Mr. Travolta should expect a similar result."

Attorneys for Randolph could not be reached for comment.

From KJ Matthews, CNN September 28, 2012

'Mrs. Bieber' Avalanna Routh dies at age 6

Avalanna Routh, a brave 6-year-old whose adoration of pop star Justin Bieber earned her the nickname "Mrs. Bieber," has lost her fight against cancer.

"Our darling Avalanna went to Heaven this morning. Oh Avalanna, the brightest star - you took our hearts with you, our greatest Love," was posted to her Twitter account early Wednesday.

Routh had a rare, aggressive form of brain cancer called AT/RT, which was explained during the "Stand Up To Cancer" benefit in September:

As Routh sought treatment at a Boston facility last year, the nurses there decided to throw the Bieber fan a pretend wedding. She tied the knot with a cutout of the 18-year-old singer, and she soon had the chance to meet her "husband" in person.

Bieber flew Routh and her parents to New York in February for a pre-Valentine's Day date that included board games and cupcakes. At the time, Bieber told his followers on Twitter that he was hanging out with "a special little girl, #MrsBieber."

Learning of Routh's passing on Wednesday, Bieber tweeted, "just got the worst news ever. one of the greatest spirits i have ever known is gone. please pray for her family and for her. RIP Avalanna. i love you."

         http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com, September 27th, 2012