Fox Jumps All Over the Moon Landing

Having apparently temporarily exhausted its supply of police chases and “Stupid Behavior Caught on Tape” (the actual title of a special broadcast last week), Fox looks to the stars again seeking ratings help during sweeps with “Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?” Of course, this is the same Fox network that broadcast the 1995 special “Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction?,” which the producer later admitted was a staged hoax. This latest Fox special, scheduled for Thursday at 9 p.m. (right after “The World’s Most Incredible Animal Rescues #3”), vents popular Internet conspiracy theories about the 1969 Apollo landing and whether the government “orchestrated the deception of the century.” Fox has been struggling to stay competitive Thursdays, especially with CBS suddenly a force that night thanks to “Survivor: The Australian Outback.” Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, has been quoted as saying that such theories are “erroneous and misleading” and people who propagate them are “selfishly irresponsible.” Then again, he never had to come up with a way to attract an audience against “Will & Grace,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Charlize, Is That Really You Again?

Perhaps you recognize her shiny blond hair or crystal blue eyes and full red lips. If you don’t, then you haven’t been to the movies in a while. The very busy Charlize Theron will make her next showing at a theater near you on Friday when she stars with Keanu Reeves in Warner Bros.’ romantic drama “Sweet November.” Theron plays a woman dying from an incurable disease who shows workaholic ad salesman Reeves how to enjoy life. The dying young woman who can teach the living a lesson is a common theme in movies, following in the footsteps of “Love Story,” “Shadowlands” and “Autumn in New York,” to name just a few. But it will be the first true leading role for the 26-year-old Theron, who has become one of the hardest-working actresses in town. Theron, who grew up on a farm outside Benoni, South Africa, trained as a ballet dancer. Unable to find much work as a dancer in South Africa, she left for Europe and then the United States, where she got job with the Joffrey Ballet. But a knee injury at age 18 forced her to think of other job options. So she and her mother flew to L.A. with hopes of starting Theron’s acting career. Within a few years she had become a veritable “It” girl for Hollywood, with roles in nine films since 1997. She has been cast in parts varying in era and style, going from Depression-era fantasy in “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” to the 1960s military drama “Men of Honor” to the very contemporary New York setting in “The Yards” to an action thriller, “Reindeer Games” (all released last year). In 1999, she starred in three films, one of which, “The Cider House Rules,” was nominated for an Oscar. Later this year she has two films coming out: “Sweet Home Alabama,” in which she plays an Alabama housewife who runs off to New York City, and “Curse of Jade Scorpion,” a Woody Allen ‘40s-era comedy in which she co-stars with Allen, Helen Hunt and Dan Aykroyd. “Sweet November” reunites her with Reeves, with whom she co-starred (along with Al Pacino) in the 1997 supernatural thriller “The Devil’s Advocate.”

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--Compiled by Times Staff Writers