The TV Zone

This story is all over the trades this morning....

"The political relationship between President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the focus of a movie for HBO penned by "Frost/Nixon" writer Peter Morgan, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

If "The Special Relationship" gets the go-ahead, Dennis Quaid will play President Clinton and Julianne Moore will portray Hillary Clinton, with "Frost/Nixon" star Michael Sheen as Blair.

This would be Sheen's third screen portrayal of former British PM Blair. He played him in two Stephen Frears movies written by Morgan: 2003's "The Deal" and 2006's "The Queen."

If the project is green-lighted, Morgan will make his directorial debut with the film."

And if you are like me, you're wondering...why Dennis Quaid (!)....instead of THIS Guy:

(Pix: AP)

Ted Haggard? You remember: deposed head of the National Association of Evangelicals, and head-founder of a church in Colorado called New Life Church. He was pushed out of the church (and even the state of Colorado, as part of an agreement with the church) after admissions of a sexual relationship with a male prostitute.

He will be on "Oprah" tomorrow, and HBO Thursday - at 8, in that Alexandra Pelosi doc that's received quite a bit o' buzz in recent days.

First the news on that one: HBO today said it'll add a "card," or elaboration, at the end of the the Thursday program to acknowledge the most recent scandal to envelop "Pastor Ted" - he reportedly had a "non-physical" (he says) relationship with a man who was a member of the church, and who was paid money over the last couple of years; implication is that it was "hush money" but the man claims that was not the case.

I've reviewed the doc for Thursday's paper - it's good, as in "fascinating" but incomplete as far as it goes. Still, the portrait that emerges is a tragic one ...

Now, O. Here's stuff from the press release, in the jump...

Continue reading "Oprah, HBO have Haggard " »

There's been some confusion (Okay, maybe I've been the only one confused) about tonight's HBO telecast of the big inaugural celebration concert at the Lincoln Memorial; some people seemed to think it was going to air tonight only...but do not believe them.

It all starts this afternoon, at 2:30. Here's the deal: HBO will air it exclusively at that time, and then everyone else gets dibs on the rebroadcast starting at 7. If you've got nothing better to do at 2:30 - and I don't think the playoffs start till around three or 3:30 - then this is definitely the show to watch. Plus, it'll be on HBO.com too...

Check out this list of performers and "readers..."

... Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder. Among those reading historical passages will be Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington. The Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson will give the invocation. Rob Mathes will be the music director and arranger for the backing band, which will support all of the artists.

B by Thomas Concordia, WireImage.com.

Meet HBO's New Mr. Big

Giving the go-ahead to a financially well-endowed project that could either become hard on the career of fast-rising Tom Jane or a real rocket in his, ummm, pocket, HBO has picked up the series "Hung."

"Hung": Not, repeat, not about the career of William Hung. Besides, I think Dr. Evil has rights to that one.

HBO leaked this huge story to the Hollywood Reporter.

For the obvious reason.

This new HBO series will be about a guy who has a large...ahhh...hmmmm.

How to put this?

A big... Will someone help me on this one, please?

HBO reportedly rejected the titles "Shaft," "Tool," "Power Drill," "Captain Winkie," "Noodle," "Willie," "The Unit," and "Jack in the Box" because they were insufficiently descriptive or already in use by other shows or fast-food chains.

But really. How is this going to work? Tom Jane will star, and his solid career is either going to get a boost, or retract, dramatically.

He'll probably get a lot of dates though. (Isn't he, like, already dating or married to Patricia Arquette? I wonder what she has to say about this?)

Here's the long and short of it: HBO has picked up the series about a high school basketball who's been having trouble getting a raise at work. Because his finances are flagging, he decides on a plan! Use his mmm...large....ahhh....to....ummmm.

Think: "Weeds"-Meets-Long-Dong-Silver.

Seriously, people. How am I gonna write about this show for the Newsday.

In print, I'll have to refer to it as "H***." Much, much worse, readers will have to endure sophomoric blog posts filled with flaccid double-entendres.

Will air next season. Suddenly "Sex and the City" seems like "Anne of Green Gables."

If I'm HBO, I'm worried. Much hyped "True Blood" pretty much tanked Sunday night - too early for me to think of any lame metaphors about vampires and blood and the dismal ratings state of this newcomer (so the headline will have to do). It was seen by only 1.4 million subs on Sunday, and while - I know, I know, this isn't TV, it's HBO, and they don't pay attention to ratings, etc. - it's still a pretty bad number. What happened? I have no idea, although this review in Newsday did indicate in no uncertain terms that it's probably a good idea to skip this one. As Denise Martin in the LA Times notes, "Big Love" bowed to a 4.56 million in March 2006, "Rome" to 3.8 million in August 2005 and "Deadwood" to 5.79 million in March 2004. "Entourage" also had a soft opening this past season - only 1.6 million. What's going on with HBO, which once not so very long ago could do no wrong? It's the oldest story in TV - inertia. Once you start to slide south, you continue to slide, and it takes something short of a programming miracle to reverse that. HBO needs a hit fast - before people start saying that Showtime is the New HBO. (Or are they already?)

(Photo: Gary Friedman, LAT)