VIDEOAGE "PAPER CLIPS": A WEEKLY PRESS REVIEW

PROGRAMMING
NBC is partnering with BBC Worldwide Productions to air You're The One That We Want, a midseason reality series in which Broadway wanna-bes compete for two lead roles in a new production of Grease that's making its way to the Great White Way next June. Jim Jacobs, Grease's co-creator, will perform judging duties alongside director-choreographer Kathleen Marshall, who just snagged a Tony for her work on The Pajama Game.
E! Online

For its 37th season, which starts on August 14, Sesame Street will add female muppet Abby Cadabby to its roster of well-known male puppets. The powers-that-be at the series hope that Abby will one day resonate with viewers the way Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Elmo already do.
The New York Times

Daniel Baldwin has been tapped to play a supporting role in a show about one of the U.S.'s most famous families. Some might say the actor, who hails from the famed Baldwin dynasty, may have been preparing for the part all his life. Baldwin will play himself in the HBO hit, The Sopranos, when the Emmy-winning drama returns for a final eight-episode run.
E! Online

Kiele Sanchez, late of the WB's Related, has joined the cast of ABC juggernaut Lost. Producers have revealed little about the character, except to confirm that her name is Nikki. In recent weeks, producers have been adding cast members left and right, including Love Actually's Rodrigo Santoro and ER's Elizabeth Mitchell. No word yet on how they'll play into the island's central mystery.
E! Online

BUSINESS
Thanks to strong DVD sales of The Chronicles of Narnia and continued growth of its domestic theme parks, The Walt Disney Company's third-quarter revenue and profits rose exponentially. Shares of the firm's stock rose 97 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $29.95 and revenue grew 12 percent to $8.62 billion.
The New York Times

National flagship broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) has reportedly been in talks with Hong Kong's Chinese-language broadcaster Television Broadcasts (TVB) to buy a stake. Should a deal be brokered, it would create the first tie-up between mainland China and Hong Kong.
Xinhua Net

TECHNOLOGY
European investigators are in Hollywood to question whether studios have been pressured by rival manufacturers of next-generation DVDs to favor one standard over another. Sony, along with Panasonic and Dell are backing a technology called Blu-ray. Toshiba, Microsoft and Intel support rival standard HD DVD. The European Commission is looking into whether the tech giants are stifling competition through exclusive contacts with studios and computer makers.
The New York Times

CONTROVERSY
Cablevision Systems, the third-largest cable operator in the U.S., has announced plans to restate its earnings because of questions raised about the timing of stock option grants. Company records show that more than 1.9 million options were granted from 1997 to 2002 to James L. Dolan, chief executive of Cablevision, and four other execs. The company is postponing filing its quarterly statements until these issues are resolved.
The New York Times

FILM
The English-French film Bon Bad Cop garnered the biggest first-weekend box-office gross ever for a Quebec film, taking in more than C$1,433,529, according to distributor Alliance Atlantis Vivafilm. The movie, which was simultaneously released in Quebec in both English and French, stars Colm Feore as a Toronto police officer.
The Globe and Mail

Rescue Dawn, a Werner Herzog film, was one of 20 flicks added to the Toronto International Film Festival's roster yesterday, in a move designed to attract more international buyers. Other films include The Dog Problem starring Don Cheadle; the German drama I Am The Other Woman; and Eytan Fox's The Bubble from Israel.
The Globe and Mail

STUDIES
Though many studies have suggested a link between obesity and TV-viewing, new findings from the Dana-Farber Center for Community-Based Research may put those rumors to rest. Researchers asked 500 overweight TV viewers to wear pedometers all day. On average, participants reported watching about four hours of television a day. Those who did so were less likely to reach their 10,000-step-a-day mark. But researchers said they'd expected a greater effect if it had been true that too much TV played a role in the obesity of their subjects.
The New York Times

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