Archive for March 13th, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The most popular zip code on television is back.
The CW network is developing a contemporary spinoff of Aaron Spelling’s seminal 1990s teen soap “Beverly Hills, 90210,” sources said.Details on the project — including which if any of the characters on the original series will make the transition to the spinoff — remain sketchy.

The spinoff, which is close to getting a writer, has been put on the fast track by the network. It is expected to decide whether to order a pilot by the end of the month.
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A Coca-Cola product placement in the April 24, 2007 episode of Fox’s American Idol was the most audience-recognized placement of the year on broadcast television and drew the most positive feelings among viewers, according to Nielsen Co.’s Place*Views.

On the cable side, the biggest audience recognition and positive feelings among viewers was generated in a March 31, 2007 episode of TLC’s Trading Spaces with a Home Depot brand integration.

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It’s a well-known fact that some of your favourite artists have been known to act as corporate shills once in awhile, using their music to promote everything from cars to burgers to jewelry.

But it’s a little known fact how these stars are approached to include these products into their songs in the first place. Take Fergie’s hit single “Glamorous” as an example, where she cites both her fast-food addiction and automobile preferences.

“I still go to Taco Bell, drive-through, raw as hell/I like to go cool out with the family, sippin’/reminiscing on days when I had a Mustang.” Poetic product placement bliss!

Lyrics Marketing is a firm based in the U.S. that’s dedicated to the seamless integration of products into today’s hit music. Lyrics Marketing President, Mike Krasney, says that he’s taking the concept of marketing and product placement and bringing it to a whole new level in an industry that seems to be losing large amounts of money daily.

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WWE is applying the marketing equivalent of a body slam to boost the upcoming Wrestlemania 24 event, from a cyberspace assault to branded pizza boxes, an alternative rock/heavy metal concert tour and a lineup of guest celebrities.

The most visible media hype has touted an apparent tag team mismatch between welterweight boxer Floyd Mayweather and a 7-foot behemoth known as Big Show, who handily tossed Mayweather out of a ring during a pre-event event earlier this week.

“It’s the classic David and Goliath,” said Monty Ross, WWE vice president of marketing. “When you look at WWE, it’s that classic mix of sports and entertainment.”

WWE started billing itself as “sports entertainment” and the entertainment element has been a distinct part of its Wrestlemania main event since Liberace appeared during the first one. This time around, singer John Legend weighs in, along with rapper Snoop Dogg, as a guest referee, and reality TV star Kim Kardashian, as a guest WWE Diva.

Regular WWE Diva Ashley will help hype the March 30 pay-per-view extravaganza with an appearance on the April cover of Playboy.

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Mitch Hurwitz taps live-action Australian comedy for his next project; animated adaptation may come to Fox.  Given the way things went between Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz and the network that canceled his beloved comedy, the following news may come as a bit of a shock–but that’s Hollywood for ya.

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WICHITA, Kan. (March 13) - A 35-year-old woman who sat on her boyfriend’s toilet for so long that her body was stuck to the seat by the time he called police had a phobia about leaving the bathroom, the boyfriend said.

“She is an adult; she made her own decision,” said her boyfriend, Kory McFarren. “I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it.”

The case drew nationwide attention after Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple said it appeared the Ness City woman’s skin had grown around the seat in the two years she apparently was in the bathroom.

“We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital,” Whipple said. “The hospital removed it.”

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LOS ANGELES– Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning director of Ratatouille and The Incredibles, will revisit the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in his live-action feature debut.

1906 centers on a college student whose investigation of his father’s murder uncovers a web of deceit that has left the city vulnerable to the sort of fire that breaks out in the aftermath of the great quake.

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A Coca-Cola product placement in the April 24, 2007 episode of Fox’s American Idol was the most audience-recognized placement of the year on broadcast television and drew the most positive feelings among viewers, according to Nielsen Co.’s Place*Views.

On the cable side, the biggest audience recognition and positive feelings among viewers was generated in a March 31, 2007 episode of TLC’s Trading Spaces with a Home Depot brand integration.

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TBS
Next week iTVX launches its exclusive industry interviews section with a Q&A featuring John Lehr and Nancy Hower, co-creators of the TBS series 10 Items or Less.

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Automakers essentially launched the upfront decades ago. And despite any ups and downs they’ve had since, including some apparent valleys now, they don’t appear to be trimming their marketing budgets. One tactic that is increasingly used: Finding ways to integrate their rides into shows–with reality series a mainstay, and scripted ones gaining steam.

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