Quick Takes: Interest high in Steve Jobs bio

An authorized biography of Steve Jobs was high on bestseller lists within hours of Apple’s announcement of his death. And publisher Simon & Schuster said Thursday that the release date has been moved up from Nov. 21 to Oct. 24.

As of Thursday morning, Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” was No.1 on Amazon.com and No.3 on Barnes & Noble.com. Fittingly, the book also topped Apple’s own list: the iTunes books bestseller list.

Isaacson’s book includes extensive interviews with the Apple co-founder, who rarely discussed his private life. Isaacson has written bestselling biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin.

—Associated Press

NBC cancels ‘Free Agents’

Three weeks into the new television season, NBC canceled its second series Thursday, axing the workplace romantic comedy “Free Agents” that had premiered Sept. 14.

The Wednesday night series, starring Hank Azaria and Kathryn Hahn, struggled to find an audience since its launch against competitors “The X Factor” and “Survivor.” NBC did not immediately announce a replacement but said the show won’t air again.

Azaria, who launched a Twitter campaign this week to get viewers to tune in, tweeted on Thursday: “Thanks for watching everyone. I’ll watch things you do, just let me know where you’ll be doing them and I’ll just show up.”

Earlier this week, NBC pulled the plug on “The Playboy Club.” They are the first casualties of the fall campaign.

—Yvonne Villarreal

Mosley’s Easy Rawlins is back

Easy Rawlins is back on the case.

Walter Mosley has a three-book deal with Doubleday, including two more novels featuring the Los Angeles detective played by Denzel Washington in the film version of “Devil in a Blue Dress.”

The character seemed to have met his end at the conclusion of “Blonde Faith” in 2007, but Doubleday said the next Easy Rawlins book will arrive in 2013. It didn’t say whether the new books will be set before or after “Blonde Faith.”

NBC also is reported to be developing a drama series based on the Rawlins detective.

—Associated Press

Teens will be honored on Nick

Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, David Beckham and Jessica Biel will help honor teenagers trying to help solve social problems in a Nickelodeon special.

The Teen Nick HALO Awards will air Nov. 6 with Nick Cannon as host. HALO stands for “helping and leading others.”

Those being honored are Emily-Anne Rigal, 17, of Williamsburg, Va., who started the anti-bullying website and YouTube channel We

StopHate; James O’Dwyer, 19, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., who started a disaster relief effort for people in his city and surroundings hit hard by tornadoes in April; Shanoah Washington, 18, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who started Sista2Sista, a mentoring program to motivate young girls; and Kyle Weiss, 18, of Danville, Calif., who helped launch FundAField, an organization that raises money to build soccer fields in developing countries in Africa.

—Associated Press

Coldplay show will stream live

Coldplay will live-stream a concert from Madrid just as the band is releasing its fifth album.

The concert will be streamed live on YouTube from the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas on Oct. 26. The concert, part of the ongoing online series “American Express Unstaged,” takes place two days after Coldplay releases “Mylo Xyloto.”

The concert will be directed by Anton Corbijn, the photographer, music-video maker and filmmaker of “Control” and “The American.”

—Associated Press

Franzen essays are on the way

Jonathan Franzen’s next book will be a collection of essays, including two previously unpublished works.

“Farther Away: Essays” will be released in May by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. The publisher said Thursday that two pieces, “On Autobiographical Fiction” and “Comma-Then,” have never been published.

Franzen is best known for the novels “The Corrections” and “Freedom,” both chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club.

—Associated Press

Finally

‘Tis the season: Teen singing sensation Justin Bieber will release a Christmas CD on Nov. 1, “Under the Mistletoe,” which includes appearances by Usher, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes and Boys II Men.

Hanging on: “Two Broke Girls,” the new CBS comedy that stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs as waitresses, has been picked up for the full season.