Promotional spots for NBC’s 1960s-era drama “The Playboy Club” describe Hugh Hefner’s glitzy hangout as a “place where men hold the key, but women run the show.”
That just as easily could be the slogan for the upcoming broadcast-television season.
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Of the 26 new network series arriving this fall, at least 14 are directly pegged to female stars and/or lean heavily toward female-centric themes. The trend is reflected in dramas such as “Ringer,” a moody mystery starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, and “Prime Suspect,” a remake of the iconic crime series featuring Maria Bello.
And it’s especially evident on the comedy front, where Zooey Deschanel (“New Girl”) and Whitney Cummings (“Whitney”) lead a pack of estrogen-rich sitcoms.
According to audience research, this influx of femininity would seem to make perfect sense. Women, after all, watch much more television than men — by almost 16 hours per month, according to Nielsen. But the surge in female-driven shows is also fueled by increasing numbers of women working behind the camera.
“More women are writing for TV, and women tend to write strong women (characters),” Cummings told reporters attending the recent TV critics summer press tour in Beverly Hills.
Rapper may face charges for inciting flash mob that jammed emergency lines
LOS ANGELES – A rapper who incited a telephone flash mob that overwhelmed the emergency phone system at one of busiest stations of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department could face criminal charges, the agency said Saturday.
The Game tweeted the phone number of the Compton station Friday and told his 580,000 followers to call the number if they wanted an internship, department spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
The southeast LA County station’s phones started ringing Friday evening, and the lines were jammed for more than two hours. During that time people with legitimate issues that included a missing person, spousal abuse and two robberies were also trying to call in, Whitmore said.
The California-based rapper later posted that his account had been hacked but also tweeted that it was an accident.
“Yall can track a tweet down but cant solve murders!” the tweet said. “Dat was an accident but maybe now yall can actually do yall job !!!!”
A call and email to The Game’s publicist, Greg Miller at Big Hassle Media, was not immediately returned.
Investigators will document what happened and turn over the information to the district attorney’s office by Monday, Whitmore said. The rapper could face obstruction of justice or other charges related to delaying a peace officer from doing their job, he said.
Baldwins trying to patch things up
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. – Daniel Baldwin’s wife said the couple are attempting to reconcile and are dropping divorce filings.
Joanne Baldwin told The Oregonian on Friday that “we have a lot of work to do in our marriage.” The actor filed for divorce last month and was granted a restraining order against his 41-year-old wife.
Joanne Baldwin said she is living separately from her husband but they have joint custody of their two daughters, ages 1 and 3.
She was jailed July 13 after her husband reported she became violent when she drank and threatened to kill him.
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