Morning Report - News from Oct. 9, 2002

TELEVISION

ABC Lands Pair of ‘Eloise’ Movies

Nearly 50 years after they were first published, the “Eloise” children’s books about a mischievous 6-year-old girl are being made into films. ABC has ordered two for its “Wonderful World of Disney” series: “Eloise at the Plaza,” for airing this season, and “Eloise at Christmastime,” for next year.

Nine-year-old Sofia Vassilieva will star as the title character, who lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York City; Julie Andrews will portray her nanny. The films will be shot back-to-back in Toronto and New York, beginning next month.

Although she had many offers, “Eloise” creator Kay Thompson never allowed her books to be made into movies. But when she died in 1998, the rights went to her estate, which passed them to the publisher, Simon & Schuster, which obviously wasn’t so reluctant.

KTTV News Exec Adds KCOP to His Duties

Jose Rios, vice president of news at KTTV-TV, will take charge of the news operation at KCOP-TV starting next week. Both stations are owned by News. Corp.

In making the announcement, David Boylan, vice president and general manager for KTTV and KCOP, said, “Jose Rios has been instrumental in creating the strong newsroom we have today at Fox 11. He is the ideal person to oversee our two news operations.”

Rios has been running the newsroom at KTTV for 10 years. He previously worked at KCBS-TV for 13 years, the last two as news director.

Rios said both stations will benefit from the combination of resources but also pledged that “each station will maintain its own individuality in much of its coverage and its on-air presentation.”

Two other L.A. stations, Viacom’s KCBS and KCAL-TV, also are being overseen by a single news director, Nancy Bauer Gonzales.

Letterman’s ‘Home Office’ Burglarized

David Letterman had a little problem at the home office in Manhattan: A thief made off with $4,000 from a desk inside the Ed Sullivan Theater, police said.

On Monday, an employee at Letterman’s “Late Show” found a desk drawer forced open and $4,000 cash missing, police spokesman Sgt. Kevin Hayes said Tuesday.

A surveillance camera reportedly caught the burglar slipping into the office on Sunday afternoon, but police have made no arrests. The thief, wearing a hooded sweat shirt, managed to cover the camera before opening the desk.

The offices are upstairs from the Broadway theater where Letterman tapes his nightly show for CBS.

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PEOPLE

Teri Garr to Reveal She Has Multiple Sclerosis

Actress Teri Garr (“Tootsie,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”) has scheduled a news conference in New York today to announce that she has multiple sclerosis.

A news release about the event from MS Lifelines, a patient service program, said Garr has had symptoms for 19 years, and quoted her as saying, “I didn’t tell people because I didn’t want pity and I was afraid I wouldn’t get work. But others with MS need to know they are not alone. We don’t have to be victims.”

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VIDEO

More Disney Sequels Starting on Home Video

As it has done with other franchises, Disney is making sequels to “101 Dalmatians” and “Inspector Gadget” for the home video market.

The animated “101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure” will feature the voices of Jason Alexander, Barry Bostwick and Martin Short. It will be released on video and DVD Jan. 21. That will be followed March 11 by the live-action “Inspector Gadget 2,” starring French Stewart of “3rd Rock From the Sun” in the lead role.

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MUSIC

Symphony’s Song Titles Get X-Rated Twist

Many classical music organizations are struggling financially these days, but officials at the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra swear they didn’t turn to pornography to get attention.

Somebody did, however. New Zealand police are trying to find out how song titles on a promotional CD for the orchestra were replaced with hard-core pornographic texts before they reached 8,000 people. The substituted words were heard when some Internet-based media players were used to listen to the disc, according to Melbourne’s the Age.

“We really don’t know whether it was malicious or if it was some school holiday prank by some techno whiz-kid,” an orchestra spokeswoman said.

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QUICK TAKES

Cher, currently traveling the country in what she is billing as her farewell tour, will tape a concert in Miami next month for airing on NBC later this season.... Martin Scorcese’s “Gangs of New York,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will open Dec. 21 in Japan, four days ahead of its U.S. premiere.... The WB has picked up its new drama series “Everwood” for the full season.... The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Institute for Art and Cultures has postponed indefinitely an Oct. 29 event that was to have featured architecture critics Paul Goldberger and Witold Rybczynski in conversation.... Larry McCormick, a newsman at KTLA-TV since 1971, will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday.... “Boston Public” co-star Fyvush Finkel turns 80 today.... “The Fast and the Furious 2” has started production in Miami, with Paul Walker returning as star. It’ll be racing to theaters next summer, natch.