producer

Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man and Evil Dead films, as well as producer of popular syndicated series such as Xena and Hercules, recently secured the film rights to author Terry Goodkind's eleven-volume Sword of Truth series. Development of the first part of the lengthy mini-series, based on the first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, will begin as Raimi wraps up production on Spider-Man 3. The final volume of Goodkind's fantasy series is slated for release in 2008, and more information on the TV adaptation will be available early next year. I've read very little fantasy in my lifetime, but are any of you fans of Goodkind? What do you think of this collaboration?

Well, as I mentioned before, and what should be no surprise to anyone who watches the show, Prison Break will not be shot in Chicago during the second season. Instead, the crew is heading to Dallas, Texas to start shooting the second season starting in mid-June. Apparently they had also looked at Austin, but Dallas seemed to suit their needs better. Unlike Chicago, the people of Dallas know the show won't be sticking around beyond the second season, as story development will call for relocating to different cities. Garry Brown, a producer for Prison Break, has a home in the Dallas area.

Thanks to Radical Bender, who hepped me to this on my other post.

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan has an interesting article on the hit FOX series House, including interviews with actor Robert Sean Leonard (who plays Dr. Wilson, both friend and foil to the incorrigible Dr. House) and Katie Jacobs, the show's executive producer. Despite his character growing on fans, Leonard claims he wants to keep his role small so he has free time to spend with his wife. Ah, that's sweet. We also get some insight into Hugh Laurie, who plays the titular role. Apparently Laurie is very self-critical when it comes to his American accent. Personally, I think he does it flawlessly, which is more than I can say for Michael Caine.

Oh yeah, and a reminder to House fans that the first part of a two-part episode airs this evening.

Those of you who are a bit older than me might remember that in the late 70s and early 80s General Hospital began to get a bit, well, "weirder." Suddenly their were weird plots involving criminal master minds, aliens, and other wacky sci-fi stuff. I only know this because my mother watched General Hospital pretty religiously when I was growing up.

Well, Gloria Monty, the woman who was responsible for sending General Hospital in all those weird directions, as well as overseeing the show during the height of those steamy "Luke and Laura" years, passed away Thursday at the age of 84. Monty was called in as a producer in the late 70s when the show was experiencing a sag in ratings due to more women working outside the home. Her solution was to target younger audiences, thus the show got stranger. The producer character in the movie Tootsie was also based on Monty.

This gives new meaning to that old advice that you should never talk politics at the office. It also gives fuel to the fire that the mass media is full of liberal, left-wingers. The executive producer for Good Morning America Weekend is serving a one-month suspension for writing nasty things about President Bush in a company e-mail. The e-mail was written back on September 30, 2004 by producer John Green to a colleague about a Bush-Kerry debate. It said, "Are you watching this? Bush makes me sick. If he uses the 'mixed messages' line one more time I think I'm going to puke."

The e-mail turned up two weeks ago on Matt Drudge's website. Green has since apologized. He's been the executive producer of GMA Weekend since it launched in 2004.