Quick Takes - Sept. 3, 2011

Hollywood MD benefit

Comedians who think Jerry Lewis was unceremoniously dumped from his post as chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. and the face of its annual telethon will hold a Labor Day fundraising event of their own at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood.

Dave Chappelle and Norm Crosby are among those who will perform beginning at 7 p.m. Monday. Admission is free, but donations are requested. The show also will be streamed live at LaughFactory.com, where viewers also will be asked to contribute on the website.

Proceeds will be presented to scientists working toward a cure for muscular dystrophy as the Jerry Lewis Award. Club owner Jamie Masada said the event will be held annually until a cure is found.

The MDA announced last month that it was parting ways with Lewis after 45 years but offered no explanation for the split. The MDA’s annual telethon will be held Sunday.

—Staff and wire reports

T.I.’s freedom is short-lived

T.I., who Wednesday walked out of a federal prison in Arkansas and joyously tweeted, “The storm is over & da sun back out,” woke up back in a prison Friday morning.

The 30-year-old rapper’s early release from an 11-month prison term lasted just a day, with federal agents taking T.I. back into custody Thursday after prison officials questioned how he traveled from an Arkansas prison to an Atlanta halfway house.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, was locked up behind the high walls of the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta on Friday, according information posted in the Bureau of Prison’s online inmate locater.

Federal prison officials apparently objected to his using a tour bus to travel from Arkansas to Georgia, said T.I.’s attorney, Steve Sadow said.

—CNN

Molly Shannon on ‘The Talk’

Molly Shannon will appear as a guest host on CBS’ “The Talk” this month, sources close to the production said Friday.

The “Saturday Night Live” alum will join hosts Sara Gilbert, Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne and new addition Sheryl Underwood, who will join the show at the start of the season Tuesday.

Shannon’s addition comes on the heels of news that Kris Jenner, the matriarch of the Kardashian clan, would also be a guest host.

The added bodies are needed, given that Leah Remini confirmed she would not be returning. “It is official: I am sorry to say that I have NOT been asked back on the show,’ she said via Twitter.

And Holly Robinson Peete’s fate remains in limbo, though she’s not expected to be returning.

—Yvonne Villarreal

‘Newsies’ will have love story

When Harvey Fierstein was asked to make the film “Newsies” work on stage, he realized that something was missing from the original.

“In a musical, there’s an old rule: You must follow the love story,” the four-time Tony Award-winning actor and writer said. “It gives the audience somewhere to go and someplace to rest their hearts.”

The trouble with the film “Newsies” was that it lacked that spark of passion.

So Fierstein rolled up his sleeves and put one in. It’s among many changes made to the 1992 film musical that tells the story of child newspaper sellers in turn-of-the-century New York who go on strike.

The film, starring Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret, did poorly at the box office but has become something of a cult hit of late. It’s the top most requested stage adaptations from Disney films.

The Disney-backed stage musical will make its debut this month at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, N.J. Performances begin Sept. 15, with an official opening set for Sept. 25.

—Associated Press

HawthoRNe’ canceled

“HawthoRNe,” the TNT drama starring Jada Pinkett Smith as the chief nursing officer of a Richmond, Va., hospital, was canceled Friday after three seasons.

Despite the appeal of Smith, who is married to Will Smith, and the addition of singer Marc Anthony to the cast as a romantic interest for Smith’s character, the series never drew a large audience.

—Greg Braxton

Justin Long joins ‘New Girl’ cast

There’s a new guy on Fox’s “New Girl”: Justin Long, mostly known as the Mac guy in TV commercials, will appear in the series.

Long, whose other acting credits include “Jeepers Creepers” and “Going the Distance,” will play a love interest for Zooey Deschanel’s character, Jess, for at least three episodes. He’ll play Paul, a music teacher who tries to court the recently single gal.

“New Girl,” which premieres Sept. 20, centers on Jess as she attempts to move on after a serious relationship by moving in with three random guys who guide her back into the dating scene.

—Yvonne Villarreal