Entertainment Briefs for March 27, 2010
Sanjaya cited for speeding in Wash.; Palin's series to appear on TLC; Hustons honored at film festival;
Sanjaya cited for speeding in Wash.
SEATTLE - The Washington State Patrol says former "American Idol" star Sanjaya Malakar was caught speeding 110 mph on Interstate 405 outside of Seattle at Kirkland.
He was stopped about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and given a $411 ticket.
Trooper Dan MacDonald told The Seattle Times there was no one else on the freeway at the time so Malakar does not face a reckless endangerment charge.
The 20-year-old singer from Federal Way gained fame four years ago on the "American Idol" talent show.
Palin's series to appear on TLC
NEW YORK - Sarah Palin's travelogue series about Alaska has landed at the TLC network, and filming is set to begin this summer.
Network owner Discovery Communications announced Thursday that it had acquired rights to the eight-part series, produced by "Survivor" producer Mark Burnett. The deal lands "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on the network that also airs "Jon & Kate Plus 8," ''Cake Boss" and "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant."
The series tells stories of some of Alaska's unique features as seen through the eyes of its former governor.
Burnett and Palin had been pitching the series to various networks in recent weeks and had been asking for $1.2 million an episode, considered expensive in the world of nonfiction television. Discovery got the series for about $1 million an episode, according to two television executives familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because their networks don't discuss such details publicly.
No air date has been set for the series.
Hustons honored at film festival
LOS ANGELES - Anjelica Huston and Danny Huston will celebrate their family's film legacy at the TCM Classic Film Festival next month.
The two actors will present "Hollywood Dynasty: The Hustons" on April 24. The tribute will include screenings of three films and question-and-answer sessions. The festival, which is open to the public, will be held April 22-25 in Los Angeles.
Among the featured films is a recently restored version of 1948's "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," which John Huston wrote and directed.
"So many films get forgotten about and deteriorate, so it makes my family and myself very happy to see the kind of restoration Turner (Classic Movies) puts into these movies," Anjelica Huston, 58, said Wednesday in an interview. "It's very exciting, like a renaissance."
Huston said this is the first time that she and her brother Danny will have films in the same festival, and that having their work shown alongside their father's "makes us feel sort of dynastically active, so it's a lovely thing."
Huston said she's particularly pleased that her father's work is being preserved and can reach new audiences.
"My father's films are still very much a part of the American conscience," she said. "It's so encouraging to see these films reissued."