Morning Report - News from July 17, 2001

TELEVISION

‘West Wing’ Production Takes Off as Scheduled

Four supporting actors on “The West Wing” showed up for work as scheduled Monday as the series began production on its third season, after their attorney indicated the group might hold out for new contracts. Allison Janney, Richard Schiff, John Spencer and Bradley Whitford are said to be seeking $90,000 per episode, which would roughly triple their current salaries. Studio sources say Warner Bros., which produces the popular series for NBC, has offered a raise that would double their salaries but stressed it would only continue to negotiate if the actors honored their contracts and came to work. Separately, Stockard Channing--who plays the first lady on the show--will have a more expansive role next season, with Variety reporting that she has committed to appear in at least half the episodes. Channing was nominated for an Emmy last week as best supporting actress.

POP/ROCK

Stopping to Smell the Roses, and Life’s Lessons

Eddie Van Halen, who has been battling cancer for the past 18 months, says there’s a flip side to his travail. “The way I look at it ... I’ve run too many red lights and gotten away with it for a long time, but it kinda caught up with me,” the 44-year-old guitarist and avid golfer is quoted as saying in the August issue of Maximum Golf magazine. “I believe that God doesn’t lay this on you unless you’re supposed to learn something. Sometimes when things are in front of your face, you don’t see them.” His wife, Valerie Bertinelli, and their son, Wolfgang, are all that really matter, he adds: “Even making music--which is pretty much my life--takes a back seat to my family and my health.”

Sade Subdues Butterflies Onstage in Seattle

After an eight-year hiatus, the notoriously concert-shy Sade made her return this past weekend to the U.S. touring scene with shows in Portland, Ore., and Seattle. An Associated Press reviewer said the reclusive, Nigerian-born singer delivered “a classic Sade show Sunday night in Seattle, repeatedly bringing a near-capacity crowd to its feet with her soaring vocals and subdued stage show.” Sade, known for such hits as “Smooth Operator” and “Sweetest Taboo,” has been a force in album sales for two decades despite rarely performing live or pursuing publicity. She has shows Friday at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine and at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday and Monday.

LEGAL BRIEFS

Rapper Charged With Assault for Second Time

Hip-hop artist Beanie Sigel has been charged with kicking and punching a driver, the second assault charge filed against him this year. The 27-year-old, whose real name is Dwight Grant, was arrested in Philadelphia Friday on Sigel Street--the road that serves as his namesake--and charged with aggravated and simple assault. Police said Sigel and his friends were standing around when Frank Ferrer drove down the street and was unable to get past the group. He was jumped when he got out of his truck, Ferrer told the police, and Sigel, who has a Top 20 album with “Reason,” kicked him while he was down. Ferrer, 31, was treated for a fractured rib, an eye injury and a concussion. Sigel’s representatives could not be reached for comment. In February, Sigel was accused of pouring a drink on a young woman and threatening her with a gun, but the charges were dropped when the victim failed to appear in court.

Connie Stevens Wins Round in Legal Battle

California State Supreme Court justices have reversed a $4.3-million judgment awarded Connie Stevens’ former manager, who claimed the singer owed him royalties from sales of her cosmetics line on Home Shopping Network. Norton Styne was awarded royalties in 1998, claiming Stevens breached an oral contract promising to pay him 10% of the profits from the Forever Spring beauty products that he helped develop. Stevens appealed, saying Styne was an unlicensed agent at the time, violating the state’s Talent Agencies Act. A Superior Court judge ordered a new trial, saying the jury should have decided whether the alleged agreement was void because of the licensing issue. Styne’s attorney, Deborah Drooz, said she’ll take the case to the state labor commission.

QUICK TAKES

Justin Sebik, the Bayonne, N.J., bartender evicted from CBS’ “Big Brother 2” last week for holding a knife to another contestant’s throat, previously was arrested several times on assault charges, the New York Times reported--a fact that was missed by CBS’ background checks.... Not a promising start for Brian Williams’ newscast last week when it moved an hour earlier on the MSNBC schedule, to 5 p.m. It drew an average 197,000 viewers, down from an average 237,000 in the second quarter, when it aired at 6. By contrast, rival “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News was up 28% to 1.1 million viewers and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Greta van Susteren shows were up 30% to 587,000.... Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle,” nominated for nine Emmy Awards last week, was disqualified in the category of multi-camera sound mixing when organizers realized the program is a single-camera show. That reduces tallies for the series and the network to eight and 39 nominations, respectively.... At 81, sci-fi author Ray Bradbury is a one-man film factory, with five movies--”The Martian Chronicles,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “The Sound of Thunder,” “The Illustrated Man” and “Frost of Fire”--set to go before the cameras this year. Three are remakes.... Singer Joan Baez has canceled a performance at a Philadelphia music festival because of her sister’s life-threatening cancer. Baez had been scheduled to appear July 21 at the Singer-Songwriter Weekend, sponsored by WXPN-FM.