And he can tell everybody that this is his sitcom
ELTON JOHN IS developing a comedy series for ABC, reports TV Guide Online. John reportedly has sold the network on a sitcom pilot revolving around an aging rock star, which he describes as an “upmarket ‘Spinal Tap.’ ”
“It’s not about me, but about everybody we’ve encountered over the past 30 years,” he says. “We’ve met every star and seen every misbehavior. And it’s about the people around the star, who have to put up with them.”
John, 57, has been staying busy. He wrote 60 songs last year, a career peak.
On Tuesday, he releases “Peachtree Road,” a Southern-tinged disc of a dozen emotional tunes. “Dream Ticket,” a $40, four-DVD set with TV footage and 70 songs from various venues, is due the same day in Best Buy stores.
He also told a German celebrity magazine that he wants to wed his longtime companion, David Furnish.
“We haven’t set a date and it surely won’t be a big public ceremony but I would like to place my life in his hands with a wedding vow,” John said in Gala magazine.
Next up: ‘Chico and the Women’
In other small-screen news, Freddie Prinze Jr. also has signed a deal with Warner Bros. and ABC to create and star in his own sitcom.
Although Prinze, 28, has popped up in guest spots on “Boston Legal” and “Friends,” he’s most noted for his turns in both “Scooby-Doo” movies and the slasher film “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
In the sitcom, Prinze will play a Puerto Rican raised in a household of women – a story line based on his own life. He was raised by his mother in New Mexico after his father, “Chico and the Man” star Freddie Prinze, committed suicide in 1977.
Looking back on the sad state of Grace
If you’re one of the girls who rejected Topher Grace in high school, he has two words for you: Boo hoo.
“I think about it, and I really hope it’s happening,” says the star of Fox’s “That ‘70s Show,” adding: “I could even name names.”
“I was very small in high school, and nobody wanted to date me,” said Grace, 26. “I had a growth spurt right before college. Unfortunately, I’ll never know if I would have done better in college as I grew into myself or if I became popular because I got a TV show.”
The details got lost in translation
“Bend It Like Beckham” star Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is laughing off reports that he’s romancing Scarlett Johansson, his co-star in an untitled Woody Allen movie being shot in London.
Photographs of the couple kissing were taken during a movie scene, he says, adding: “All the rumors are ridiculous. I have a girlfriend who I live with.
“We played lovers in a film but that was it, honestly,” he says of Johansson. “We didn’t even do any off-set practice or anything.”
At least they’re staying civil, right?
The Rev. Al Sharpton and his wife, Kathy Jordan Sharpton, have announced their separation after 23 years of marriage, but “will remain on the best of terms.”
The couple said in a statement that they “will continue to work together in their civil rights work and in their other business ventures, including those in the entertainment industry.”
The birthday bunch
Director Mike Nichols is 73. Country singer Guy Clark is 63. Actress Sally Field is 58. Singer Glenn Frey (Eagles) is 56. Actress Lori Singer (“Fame,” “Footloose”) is 47. Actor Lance Kerwin is 44. Actor Peter DeLuise (“seaQuest DSV,” “21 Jump Street”) is 38. Actress Kelly Rutherford (“Melrose Place”) is 36. Actor Ethan Hawke is 34. Actress Thandie Newton (“Beloved”) is 32. Model-actress Rebecca Romijn is 32. Actress Nicole Dubuc (“Major Dad”) is 26.