Getting hooked on Showtime's appealing 'Call Girl'

There's something really telegenic about split lives - and I mean messy split lives, not the neat bifurcations of famous superheroes who are ordinary by day and brave by night. Especially at Showtime, TV writers are more eager than ever to milk the comic fallout and moral haziness of characters who do something rather unusual on the down low. Mild-mannered Miami police expert Dexter is in fact a vigilante killer, for example, while Nancy on "Weeds" is a kooky suburban mom secretly doing business as a pot dealer.And, beginning tonight at 10:30 on Showtime's appealingly light "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," Hannah passes as a legal secretary, but she actually makes her living as a high-class London hooker named Belle. She has an "agent" - a polite version of a pimp - and she sees her wealthy Johns (and, in one episode, a Jane) in deluxe hotels and at her own apartment. But her best buddy, an ex-boyfriend named Ben, as well as her parents, have no idea she's earning over 100,000 pounds a year turning tricks. She's in the closet to them, right beside the sexy lingerie and that black-leather teddy.
"Secret Diary of a Call Girl" is based on an infamous blog - and a resulting book - by the pseudonymous London escort Belle de Jour (named after the Catherine Deneuve movie). The eight-episode first season has already aired in Britain, where, of course, it was controversial for having fun with a profession generally considered sexist and exploitive. And it will doubtless trigger ire here, since Hannah and "Call Girl" creator Lucy Prebble aren't interested in issues of victimization. This is the unapologetic story of one woman, not the story of an industry. In one of her comments to us, spoken through the fourth wall to the camera, Hannah strongly assures us that she does not fit the stereotype, that she's neither an addict nor an abuse survivor. About her career motives, she simply says, "I love sex," and "I love money."

2 charged with giving Amy Winehouse drugs

LONDON - Police have charged a man and a woman in London with supplying drugs to soul diva Amy Winehouse.The charges stem from a video that appeared to show the singer smoking crack cocaine.
London police say John Blagrove and Cara Burton have been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
The suspects were released on bail Thursday until their next court appearance on July 1.
Police began an investigation after photos from the footage were published in The Sun newspaper in January. Detectives say Winehouse will not be charged in the case.
The singer has seen her rise to fame overshadowed by media attention to her turbulent private life. She is best known for her breakthrough hit "Rehab."

Oprah named most powerful celebrity again

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is the world's most powerful celebrity for the second straight year and for the fifth time ever, according to the 2008 Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List released on Wednesday. The annual list also included two couples among its top 10. Actress Angelina Jolie came in at No. 3 and her partner Brad Pitt nabbed No. 10, while music mogul newlyweds, Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z were fourth and seventh.
Golfer Tiger Woods remained No. 2 and soccer player David Beckham was No. 5, while actor Johnny Depp took sixth. Music group The Police nabbed No. 8 after reuniting for a successful world tour and British author J.K. Rowling was No. 9 after the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.
"It's not surprising that Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods remain at the top this year -- they're certainly some of the biggest earners," said Matthew Miller of Forbes magazine.

Knockout 'McCain Girl' bombs with Obama fans

The folks that brought you "I've Got a Crush on Obama" may want to hit "edit" on their newest viral video, "McCain Girl."
When Ben Relles and the team at BarelyPolitical.co debuted the short Tuesday night at the Webby Awards, known as the Internet Oscars, it was met by only scattered applause.
The clip showed buxom blond Kate Secor bursting out of her "McCain" T-shirt as she morphs into a roidal musclebound superhero, not unlike The Hulk. McCain Girl battles her nemesis Obama Girl [Amber Lee Ettinger] and other Dems in her path, before she spies Sen. Barac Obama making a campaign speech - and leaps from a building to crush him. Laughing up to that point, the heavily liberal audience were themselves knocked into stunned silence at the sight of Obama lying on the ground, closed-eyed.
Host Seth Myers kept the balloons up in the air the rest of the night. "I don't want to harp on the geeks-and-nerds stereotype," said the "Saturday Night Live" wit, "but this has got to be the only place on Earth where you don't have to be a terrorist to meet 72 virgins."
Myers also observed how the Internet had changed the world to the tattooed-in-couture crowd under the zodiac dome of Cipriani Wall S.: "Without it, Tila Tequila would have five or six friends, max. Without it, you'd have to get dressed and go into town to see pictures of kittens. Without the Internet, if you wanted to see Paris Hiltons privates, you'd have to buy her a drink."

'Gossip Girl' spin-off in the works

The producers of "Gossip Girl" are reportedly planning a spin-off series set at a girls boarding school. They hope to expand the popular CW show, by either giving co-star Taylor Momsen, who plays Jenny Humphrey, her own series, or by introducing a new character in the fall that would later be spun off.
No matter who is used, the show would be based on the trials of the Jenny Humphrey character. In the "Gossip" books, Jenny gets herself into quite a bit of trouble including the public embarrassment of appearing scantily clad in a teen magazine. This comes as no surprise given her wannabe queen-bee behavior in season one of the show. As a result, Jenny is forced to either repeat her freshman year or find a new school. She enters boarding school and tries once again to invent herself as a popular girl. This story is told in the six "Gossip" spin-off novels called "It Girl."
The question is whether the CW will green-light the show or not. With three teen dramas ready to go for fall, "Gossip," "One Tree Hill," and a "90210" revival, another might not be desirable, and even though "Gossip" generates tons of cultural buzz, its ratings are modest.
If the CW rejects the spin-off, it could be shopped around to different networks with a similar audience base like ABC Family and MTV. This of course would cause the show to take on a different character.
Since scripted series spin-offs are increasingly common, with NBC's "The Office" and Fox's "Family Guy" even doing it this season, perhaps there’s hope for little Jenny Humphrey's story to stay with the CW. Regardless, wherever she lands, it's doubtful that gossipy lips will stay sealed for long.

Grey’s Anatomy’ star Heigl skipping Emmy quest

Katherine Heigl won’t be chewing her manicure at this year’s Emmy ceremony: She says she didn’t seek a nomination because “Grey’s Anatomy” failed to deliver the goods for an award-worthy performance.Heigl, who was honored as best supporting actress in a drama last year for the ABC series, declined to put her name in consideration for a bid, a spokeswoman for the actress said Wednesday.
“I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization” decided against competing, Heigl said in a written statement provided by her publicist, Melissa Kates, who was contacted by the AP.
“In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials,” added Heigl. She plays Dr. Izzie Stevens on “Grey’s Anatomy,” which slipped in the ratings this past season but remained a top 10 show.
An after-hours message left with a publicist for “Grey’s Anatomy” creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes was not immediately returned Wednesday night.
Heigl, who shot to box-office success last summer with the comedy “Knocked Up,” has established herself as one of Hollywood’s rare voices of candor.
In a Vanity Fair magazine interview published in January, she called the hit film “a little sexist” and said that it painted women as “shrews, as humorless and uptight,” while the male characters were lovable and goofy.
Heigl also was outspoken when “Grey’s” castmates Isaiah Washington and T.R. Knight clashed last year over Washington’s alleged use of a homophobic slur.
“I’m going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period,” Heigl said at one point of Washington, who ended up being booted from the medical drama.

Hogan's wife asks judge to hold him in contempt

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Hulk Hogan's estranged wife is asking a Florida judge to cite the wrestler for allegedly not paying his share of a $4.2 million Las Vegas condo. Linda Bollea is asking that Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, be held in contempt of court and jailed until he pays. A court order requires them to share the purchase of the condo at The Palms hotel and spa.
Linda Bollea is asking that Hogan be jailed in Pinellas County. That's where the couple's son is serving an eight-month sentence after pleading no contest to causing a crash that seriously injured his friend.
An assistant for Hulk Hogan's lawyer says the attorney was out of the office and not immediately