June 22, 2000

'Friends' re-up for another season of top ratings, top money

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

CELEBRITY TRANSLATION: Happily, the wonderful young people who star in "Friends" have inked a pact to reappear in the highly successful TV program come next fall, with each of them receiving emolument to the tune of $750,000 per episode. And here's what NBC entertainment president Garth Ancier says about the deal, which follows several weeks of tense negotiations.

"We're more than pleased, and we anticipate upcoming strong seasons from a 'must see' cast and producing team that's still at the top of their game in creating appointment television."

LEARN BY DOING: As a service to our readers, we herewith provide a version of the above statement minus its cliches, redundancies, corporate slogans and general throat-clearing.

"We are pleased."

ARF, ARF! Wouldn't you know it - just because Elizabeth Hurley decided to go on a Caribbean photo shoot without her famous boyfriend, rental-car customer Hugh Grant, some are suggesting that she has in fact forsaken Hugh in favor of a billionaire named Ted Forstmann. Fortunately, Hugh is above such malicious hypothesizing.

"Teddy is a very old friend of ours," Hugh tells a reporter, "and anyone who thinks there is anything between him and Elizabeth would be barking up the wrong tree." Whatever you say, Hugh.

CASTING CALL: If you've been thinking that David Hasselhoff had taken a permanent powder from his world-famous syndicated TV show, "Baywatch," you're very wrong.

"I still own a piece of the show," David explains to a People magazine columnist. "I don't want people to think Mitch is gone."  

(Note: "Mitch" is apparently the name of the "Baywatch" character David plays when the crew allows him on the set.)

"I'd like to appear once in a while."

Since he owns a piece of the show, that shouldn't be any problem, should it?

Indeed, a "source close to the show" tells People: "The door is always open. Our story lines will be different next season. It's just a matter of whether it will work out." Or whether he'll continue to own a piece of the show, maybe.

'BAY WATCH; CONTINUED: And then there's Jason Brooks, an actor - he happens to be a good deal younger than David - who is currently strutting around the "Baywatch" beach like the vigilant, good-looking lifeguard he was in fact hired to portray.

A person writes in to Walter Scott at Parade magazine wanting to know how Jason's career reached this zenith. Walter explains that Jason started out working in "the food industry."

"I wanted to pursue something more creative that got my juices flowing every morning," Jason himself advises Walter.

"And don't write off Hasselhoff," Walter goes on. "We expect "Baywatch's" star and co-creator to continue playing key roles both on and off camera." Especially since he owns a piece of the show.

CASTING CALL, CONTINUED: A London paper trumpets the "news" that Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are going to appear live in director Sam Mendes' upcoming production of the Tennessee Williams play, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" - "news" that derives particular interest from the fact that Sam not only directed Nicole a while back in "The Blue Room," to much acclaim, but now has an Oscar on his mantle for helming "'American Beauty."

But on this side of the Atlantic, journalistic integrity prevails as USA Today fields reaction from Tom and Nicole's "rep," Pat Kingsley, who says: "They haven't any real plans to do theater right now." Which means they may be hatching some unreal, or even surreal, plans (we hope).

WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE: Luciana Morad, the beautiful Brazilian who became impregnated by Mick Jagger and is now trying to sue the pants off of him for child support, just can't understand why some people - you, for instance - assume that there's some kind of bad blood between her and the Mickster.

"Everyone seems to think we're not friends," observes Luciana, "but that's not true. We just have different ideas what our child needs."
Specifically, Luciana's idea reportedly is that the child needs $35,000 a month to keep body and soul together, while the child's famous dad's idea is that the boy need less; far less, maybe nothing.

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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