Entertainment Briefs March 15, 2010

'South Park' begins 14th season by taking on Tiger

NEW YORK - Golf clubs in hands or not, the kids of "South Park" are ready to take on Tiger Woods.

No subject is sacred for creators of the Comedy Central cartoon. So for the opening of its 14th season on Wednesday, the troubled golfer encounters Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman in their animated Colorado town.

Matt Stone, who makes the series with partner Trey Parker, says it's such a juicy topic they could have made a Tiger-centric season.

He says sex addiction, the intersection of powerful men and willing women, strange stories and bad public relations all give them fodder. Stone wasn't revealing many details, in part because the two were still writing.

The show is airing its 200th episode next month.

Authorities: Haim's name on illegal prescription

LOS ANGELES - The name of the late actor Corey Haim was found on a fraudulent prescription for a powerful painkiller that authorities said Friday was obtained through a major drug ring.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown's office said records of the prescription in the name of the former teen heartthrob were found during an investigation of the ring that illegally obtained prescription pads and used the stolen identities of doctors to fill them out.

"Corey Haim's death is yet another tragedy linked to the growing problem of prescription drug abuse," Brown said in a written statement. "This problem is increasingly linked to criminal organizations, like the illegal and massive prescription drug ring under investigation."

Los Angeles County coroner's officials, however, said they have not yet determined what killed the 38-year-old Haim on Wednesday.

State law enforcement authorities said they were investigating the drug ring and how the name of Haim, who battled addiction for years, appeared on the prescription.

Javier Salaiz, an investigator with the state attorney general's office, said authorities have not yet confirmed that Haim actually filled the prescription or if someone was using his name to acquire the prescription.

However, a person familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is ongoing said Haim may have been doctor shopping.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said four prescription drug bottles bearing the actor's name were found in the apartment where he collapsed, but all those drugs had been provided by a doctor who had been treating the actor.

The coroner's office has declined to state what medications were discovered, but said no illegal drugs were found.

Winter said no determination had been made about Haim's cause of death, and toxicology tests would not be available for at least a month.

He said he had not been contacted by the attorney general's office.

"It surprises me that Jerry Brown would come out and give a cause of death," he said.

Brown said later in an interview that he didn't know what killed Haim.

The illegal prescription was for the powerful painkiller OxyContin, he said.

"This is a growing and dangerous problem," Brown said.

Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for Brown, said the prescription was found through the state's computer database that tracks prescriptions that are filled.

Investigators believe the ring either sells the pads on the street to addicts or to people who then fill out the forms and obtain the drugs for illegal distribution.

Doctors whose names are on the form usually aren't aware that their identity is being used illegally.

So far, authorities have uncovered up to 5,000 fraudulent prescriptions linked to the fraud ring in Southern California.

Haim's agent, Mark Heaslip, said his client's medications were prescribed by an addiction specialist who was working with the actor. He said he thinks, based on what Haim's mother has told him, the actor may have had an adverse reaction to the medication because he was ill.

"I don't think Corey overdosed, not at all," Heaslip said.

Authorities have said Haim was suffering from flulike symptoms in the days before his death.

Seattle-based Heaslip has served as Haim's agent for 18 months but first met the actor, best known for his roles in the 1980s flicks "The Lost Boys" and "Lucas," in November. He said Haim was poised for a comeback and showed no signs of addiction.

"He's never given me a sign of that," Heaslip said.

Plans are being completed for a public memorial for Haim in Los Angeles. The actor is expected to be buried at a private funeral in his native Canada, Heaslip said.

Brown's office has made prescription drug abuse a priority. It worked with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office to bring drug conspiracy charges against two doctors and the lawyer-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith.

Brown also has launched a probe of doctors whose names have come up during the investigation into the death of Michael Jackson.

The Stooges gain entry into Rock Hall - finally

DETROIT - Iggy Pop was starting to feel like the Susan Lucci of rock 'n' roll.

Just as the veteran soap actress believed she might never win a Daytime Emmy, the godfather of punk was certain his groundbreaking band The Stooges wouldn't ever earn a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Well, as it turns out, Lucci got her gold statue on the 19th try. And Iggy and the boys finally are getting their shot to search and destroy at Monday's induction ceremony, on their eighth attempt.

"At least I won't be nominated anymore," Pop said, laughing.

He believed The Stooges never would get into the Rock Hall "right up until the day before somebody called me."

"I kept telling the guys over and over: 'We're not gonna get in, guys.' Yeah. I was absolutely sure of that," Pop said in an interview.

It's hard to say exactly what turned the tide in voter sentiment, but Pop points to three possibilities: the band's long streak of Rock Hall futility, the January 2009 death of founding member Ron Asheton and ... Madonna.

The Stooges honored their fellow Michigan native by performing rocking versions of two of her hits - "Burning Up" and "Ray of Light" - on the night of the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Pop says the gig helped provide some much-needed exposure for a band that wasn't really heard from for 30 years - the result of numerous band breakups and lineup changes that current members blame on drugs and fights over money.

"I thought, 'Well, some of the people there will see that we don't have horns. We're not gonna breathe fire on the tables or anything,"' he said. "I knew the thing would be televised, and 15 to 20 percent of the viewers wouldn't be able to differentiate. If they see you on TV, they'll think you've been inducted anyway."

Whatever the reason, the guys will be on stage at New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel, but this time they'll be performing their own tunes.

They selected "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Search and Destroy," two songs Stooges guitarist James Williamson says are "the most representative" of the band's work.

The latter was on the 1973 album "Raw Power," which rates No. 125 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The magazine called it a "proto-punk-rock classic" that featured a certain "hellbent ferocity."

Fans love and critics appreciate "Search and Destroy" for its searing guitar riff and signature Iggy Pop lyrics. It kicks off with the singer's guttural snarl: "I'm a street-walkin' cheetah with a heart full of napalm."

The song also served as the soundtrack for a Nike ad that memorably featured athletes bleeding and vomiting during competition. The song more recently popped up in an episode of ABC's "Lost" - it was blasted through a record player while a distraught Sawyer (Josh Holloway) drowned his sorrows following the death of his girlfriend.

Pop, whose solo effort "Lust For Life" also has enjoyed a second life in movies and commercials, sees the usage as an alternate means of exposing people to the music.

"(The Stooges) didn't get the radio airplay," he said. "We were shut out of the goodies of the industry."

When he hears "Search and Destroy" and other songs from the "Raw Power" era, Pop says the music doesn't sound dated to him.

"Every usage again and again I notice that, and I also notice that the stuff always sounds kind of rippin'," he said of the album, which is being re-released next month.

After that comes a host of European dates for the band, which currently consists of Williamson (guitar), Ron Asheton's brother, Scott "Rock Action" Asheton (drums), and former Minutemen member Mike Watt (bass).

Back on lead vocals is the inimitable Pop, who Williamson says simply is "one of the best there ever was."

"The thing that Iggy did that was all his own was to confront the audience - not just act out on stage like a Mick Jagger does or something like that - but Iggy got in your face," the guitarist said. "He got out in the audience and was right there with you. And nobody else had ever done that before. He was fearless about that."

Williamson remembers one show in which Pop egged on the wrong guy - a biker - and got punched in the face.

"I think that was a turning point for the band," Williamson said. "That was pretty much the beginning of the end."

Pop went on to a successful solo career, the Ashetons joined other bands and Williamson spent the past 30 years in the business world.