Million Dollar Baby
Movies on TV: Feb. 15-21
Don't miss Owen Wilson and Hilary Swank in two of this week's must-see flicks ...The Pixar renaissance continues tonight with back-to-back airings of 'Cars.' Among the famous voices you'll hear: Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt and Paul Newman in the last feature-film of his career.
Also airing this week are two Best Picture-winners. First, the Clint Eastwood-directed 'Million Dollar Baby,' starring Oscar-winner Hilary Swank.
Then don't miss the toe-tapping musical 'Chicago,' which won an additional five Oscars, including one for Catherine Zeta-Jones.
See more of our flick picks of the week after the jump.
Movies on TV: Nov. 23 - 29
'Clueless'Sun., Nov. 23, 4PM on TBS
A Beverly Hills teen (Alicia Silverstone) plays matchmaker for teachers, transforms a bad dresser (Brittany Murphy) and examines her own existence.
See all upcoming airings
'Million Dollar Baby'
Mon., Nov. 24, 8PM on AMC
A deep bond develops between a cantankerous trainer (Clint Eastwood) and the female boxer (Hilary Swank) he reluctantly takes under his wing.
See all upcoming airings
Starz first series will be Crash
Starz, the cable network, is getting into original production and their first project will be based on the 2005 Best Picture Oscar-winning film Crash. Glen Mazzara, whose credits include Life, The Shield, Stand-Off and Nash Bridges, has been named executive producer/showrunner for the drama series. Lionsgate TV will co-produce with Starz, and they've greenlighted 13 episodes. The controversial film, which dealt with the intersecting lives of a myriad of people living in Los Angeles in just 48 hours, centers on the character of Detective Graham Waters. Waters, a police detective, is struggling with his career, his drug addict mother and a criminal brother. The role was played by Don Cheadle (Picket Fences), who was also one of the film's producers. He is expected to reprise the part in the Starz production and may even direct a few episodes. In addition, director/co-writer/producer Paul Haggis and others from the film are also on board for Starz.
Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe file for divorce
Back in January, the lovely and talented Anna Johns reported that Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank and husband Chad Lowe had agreed to separate, but were willing to get through the tough time and come out a stronger couple. Apparently this didn't happen exactly as planned.
According to a spokeswoman for Swank, she and Lowe have decided to initiate divorce proceedings after eight years of wedded bliss. A lawyer for the couple said Swank and Lowe have made a joint decision to divorce and that they still remain friends and have the utmost respect for each other.
Ms. Swank, who has won Oscars for performances in the movies Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby was a regular on Beverly Hills, 90210 back in the late 1990's. Mr. Lowe, brother of actor Rob Lowe, played the AIDS-infected Jesse McKenna on ABC's Life Goes On back in the mid 1980's and has had appeared in many other TV series since, including ER, Without a Trace and Law & Order: SVU.
In TV land, pilots never die
If you're going to pitch a
pilot to television network execs in L.A., one key word is 'patience'. Another is 'persistence'. Here
is an interesting article about a handful of pilots that are finally getting picked up by the networks, after their
creators have re-worked and re-tooled them for years. One example is Numb3rs, which didn't make the cut the
first time around. The creators went back to the drawing board, pitched it the next year, and now it's a successful
series. Another example is Monk, which was originally created for ABC but never got off the ground. A network
exec moved from ABC to USA, where Monk found a following.One of the most extreme cases comes this year. For eight years, writer Paul Haggis (Crash & Million Dollar Baby) has been trying to get the series, The Truth About Joey Ice Cream on the air. It's a show about four Irish brothers who keep finding themselves tangled up in the mob. Sound familiar? It should. We reported on it last month, when NBC finally picked it up as The Black Donnellys. I actually kind-of prefer the original title because it's quirky. Did the show really change that much or is it just because Haggis is hot right now? Probably the latter. It's the same for Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the very-hot-right-now Grey's Anatomy. She developed a journalism-themed series one year before Grey's and now has been asked to re-develop it.
Million Dollar Baby, Crash writer signs with NBC
NBC is banking on gritty writer Paul Haggis for one of its new fall dramas, called The Black Donnellys.
Haggis wrote the screenplays for Million Dollar Baby and Crash, and has also won two Emmys for his
writing on Thirtysomething. The new series, created by Haggis and Bobby Moresco, is about four Irish brothers
in New York's Hell's Kitchen and their lives in organized crime. It's one of those "they keep pullin' me back
in" kind of things. The series will actually be shot in New York. With The Sopranos concluding next year, NBC must be hoping that we'll still want our violent mobster fix.
What's on tonight: new Smallville, live Will and Grace, Crumbs premiere
NBC has another live episode of Will and Grace at 8pm. It's followed by
new eps of Four Kings, My Name Is Earl, The Office, and ER.- ABC has a 90 minute Dancing With The Stars at 8, followed by the debut of Fred Savage's new sitcom Crumbs, and then a new Primetime.
- CBS, for some reason, has all repeats tonight: CSI: Miami, CSI, and Without A Trace.
- FOX has a new That 70s Show at 8, followed by a repeat That 70s Show and a new The O.C.
- The WB has a new Smallville, followed by a new Beauty and the Geek.
- UPN has all repeats too: Everybody Hates Chris at 8, and then Love, Inc, Eve, and Cuts.
- AMC has Timothy Dalton as 007 in The Living Daylights. It's on at 8.
- Also at 8: a repeat Emeril Live has the chef cooking old-fashioned fruit desserts. On the Food Network.
- I've never seen the game show MXC, but there's a new ep on Spike at 9 (followed by a repeat).
- HBO has The Grudge at 9, while HBO2 has Million Dollar Baby.
- At 10, A&E has a new episode of Dallas SWAT, while HGTV has a new House Hunters.
- MTV has a new episode of True Life titled "I'm on Steroids."
- Also at 10: some westerns on American Life: Sugarfoot, Kung Fu, and then Maverick.
- Some 10pm movies: WE has Janeane Garofalo in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, while TCM has Castle in the Sky.
- At 11, some goodies for cartoon fans on Cartoon Network: repeats of Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Futurama.
- Some people love him, some don't, but you can catch two repeat eps of The Andy Milonakis Show on MTV2 at 11.
- On the Sundance Channel at 11, Brian Grazer interviews Sumner Redstone on Iconoclasts.
- At midnight, ESPN2 has the State Farm U.S. Championships figure skating.
Hilary Swank, Chad Lowe separate
Another Hollywood split-up. This time it's Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe. The two have been married for eight years, but
it's not final. While they're splitting up, they aren't getting divorced. The official statement says, "Hilary and
Chad have decided to separate, but they are hopeful they'll be able to get through this tough time." The two
reportedly split sometime last year.While we all know Hilary from her Oscar wins for Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby, Chad has been an actor in tv land for a long time. Who can forget him as Jesse on Life Goes On? And, more recently, his turn as John Denver in the made-for-tv movie in 2000. Let's hope these kids work things out.
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