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VBr"
_x Jacqueline Bisset, who made men melt in
1977's The Deep, plays a grandmother in Hall
mark Channel's An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving next
Saturday. Her beauty has matured,
and she remains stunning at 64;
the 19th-century costumes
only help. The movie is a
tale about a rich woman
and her poor daughter
and granddaughter. "It's
a reminder that maybe ,
we don't need every
thing we think we
need," says Bisset, a &M
Brit who calls Thanks
giving the best JUBt.
American holid.,. • i
and keep in
your heart."
inHk
Are the disco days
of Swingtown done?
Q Seven episodes of AMC's Breaking
Bad were not enough. What's
going on with the show?
Randy Hoisley, Ogden, Utah
It returns in early 2009. Last season
was short because of the writers’
strike, but it was enough to earn -
star Bryan Cranston an Emmy. M
Cranston (formerly on Mai- A
colm in the Middle) once told
us he had no plan to return
to weekly TV: “Who am I
to deserve another good I
series?” he said.
4
USA WEEKEND • Nov. 14-16,2008
By LORRIE LYNCH To ask a question, e-mail whosnews@usaweekend.com or click on “Contact Columnists” at our website. Include name, city, state.
QCan you tell me if
CBS 'Swingtown will
return? The story line was
just getting hot when the
show abruptly ended.
Teresa Burlew
Woodbridge, N.J.
Was it ever! As of press
time, CBS had made no
decision on a second sea
son for the sexy series. But
Bravo had plans to air the
first 13 episodes this fall.
Watch your local listings.
1
I
(
1 CRANSTON
News I
*
n[ fi[ a
QFor a long time, my
husband and I watched
Inside the NFL on HBO. Why
did it move to Showtime?
Vanora Smith, Sweet Home, Ore.
HBO after 31 years de
cided the market was saturated
with such shows. Showtime
picked it up, retaining HBO
holdover Cris Collinsworth as
an analyst. The 49-year-old
sportscaster tells us he was up
set when HBO pulled the plug
on the show: “It was personal
because HBO offered me my
first job in broadcasting.”
©Listen to The Traditional Country
Soul of Patty Loveless: Sleep
less Nights, new this fait and you know
that you're hearing a woman raised
on true country. Loveless tells me
that as a girl, she listened
to legends like George
Jones and Patsy Cline
and got to see the
greats at the Grand Ole
Opry. "It was that kind i
of influence that I jk
wanted to bring to
this record." Loveless, ■JT
51, says even her band\
wasn't used to hearing
her sing songs like those. 1
but 'hopefully, young
pte with dreams of getting into Tk
country music might be in- ,
spired to revisit some of !
tHc pdst**
For daily behind-the-scenes tidbits, check out Lome’s Who’S News Blog at
©blogs.usaweekend.com
THIS WEEK'S
BIRTHDAYS
11.16.08
Lisa Bonet 41
Marg
Helgenberger 50
11.17.08
Danny DeVito 64
Martin Scorsese 66
11.18.08
ChloeSevigny 34
Owen Wilson 40
11.19.08
Jodie Foster 46
Meg Ryan 47
Larry King 75
11.20.08
Sean Young 49
Bo Derek 52
11.21.08
Ken Griffey Jr. 39
Goldie Hawn 63
11.22.08
Scarlett Johansson 24
Jamie Lee Curtis 50
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ill
Comedian Mike Birbiglia
has turned his sleep disorder
into fun and profit His new off
. Broadway show. Sleepwalk
With Me, stems from
Birbiglia s real sleep ex
fmjm perience. For years, he
: ’.Bfc avoided medical treat
Y ment and told stories
trWb onsta 9 e about waking
■ up in strange places. But
ll
ir miuiiiiiiuiiiiii j
Birbiglia, 30,
now spends
his nights ij’. :
off Broadway.
Check out
show info
and more at
birbigs.com. il'jj
ratings system? It's frustrating to see favorite
shows canceled when ratings aren't accurate.
Does Nielsen reflect DVR or Internet viewing?
Beth Tilove, Rochester HUls, Mich.
DVR viewing is tracked for up to seven days
after recording, but Internet viewing is
lot. And network big shots are as
rustrated as you are. Alan Wurtzel,
NBC’s research guru, tells us that
today’s Nielsen system is “a ves
/ tige of the 1970 s that has outlived
0 its function. But it’s the only
currency that exists.” Wurtzel
wants you to know that NBC is
/ working to address ratings con
cerns. For the summer Olym
f pics, the network tried to meas
* ure more than just TV viewership,
such as video on demand, Internet
and mobile usage. “Pfeople are con-
n<
. fi
% '
/ \
' * v
SJ
9
-•' i
■V~
m (
■ suming content across many plat-
I forms,” Wurtzel says. “Now we have to
develop a new way to track them.” ca
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Jon Tollestrup
while working on a one-act
play (which eventually became
the new show), he had a dose
call. In his sleep, he jumped
out of a closed second-story
window and ended up get
ting 30 stitches in his leg. "I
thought it was a subcon
scious manifestation of what
was going on in my life at the
time," he says dryly. What's
going on now is success.
QWill TV networks ever
develop an accurate
visit us at usaweekend.com
CRANSTON; REUTEKS/MIKE BLAKE. COLLWSWOHTH JIM FISCUS. SHOWTIME. BISSET FRANK MKELOTTA. GETTY IMAGES. BIRBIGUA TOM KOSA. SWINGTOWN. CBS/MONTY BHINTON/IANDOV, LOVELESS: RUSS HARRINGTON (HAIR/MAKEUP. MELISSA SCHLEICHER)