Move over, Will and Grace, here comes Melissa
SO YOU’RE STILL TRYING to figure out what’s going on with the new fall TV season? Just to complicate things further, here are a few more small-screen developments in the works: • Rock singer Melissa Etheridge will star in an ABC sitcom as a gay music teacher who lives with her best friend, a straight man, and is raising another friend’s child – sort of a reverse “Will & Grace” with a kid.
It’s being written by Linda Wallem, who was executive producer for Fox’s “That ‘70s Show” and co-creator of the short-lived “That ‘80s Show.”
• Matt LeBlanc has found a new “friend” in John Travolta‘s wife. Kelly Preston has signed on to do a two-episode story arc on “Joey” this November as the best friend of Joey’s sister, played by “Sopranos” Emmy winner Drea de Matteo.
• Bebe Neuwirth, a Broadway musical star best known for her Emmy-winning role as Lilith the psychiatrist on “Cheers” and “Frasier,” will play a tough Manhattan prosecutor in “Law & Order: Trial by Jury,” coming to NBC next year. She joins Jerry Orbach, who is moving over from the original “Law & Order” series.
Sometimes the fates aren’t kind, kid
Beyonce tore a leg muscle Tuesday while rehearsing dance moves with Destiny’s Child and her injury could delay some of the R&B group’s comeback plans.
“We’re all keeping our fingers crossed that, because she’s young and healthy, it heals fast,” a Columbia Records spokeswoman said.
“There are a lot of things in place that we may have to shift – not the album, which is finished, but side (appearances). We’ll know more after a week.”
“Destiny Fulfilled,” the new album from the trio which also includes Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, is set for release Nov. 16.
It’s more than anyone could stomach
Joe Jackson, father of singers Michael and Janet Jackson, is recovering from surgery for bleeding ulcers.
It was unclear what caused the ulcers, but it didn’t appear to be a chronic or long-term problem, a family spokesman said, adding: “He is up and about, walking around, being his usual jovial personality.”
Michael Jackson has pleaded not guilty to child molestation and conspiracy charges. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 31.
Guess he walked right over the edge
Joaquin Phoenix reportedly had a bit of a breakdown on the set of his latest flick, “Walk the Line,” in which he plays American music legend Johnny Cash.
Sources told the New York Daily News that Phoenix began banging his head against a wall while filming in Memphis and was taken away by ambulance.
Repeated references to the death of Cash’s younger brother may have had an effect on Phoenix, whose older brother, River Phoenix, died of a drug overdose in 1993.
It’s all rhythm and blues, baby
Stevie Wonder, Travis Tritt, Michael McDonald, James Ingram and Patti Austin were among an eclectic lineup of musicians paying tribute to the late Ray Charles at a benefit concert Wednesday for the Morehouse College Center for the Arts in Atlanta.
Host Bill Cosby recalled how during a jazz festival at the Hollywood Bowl, Charles, who was blind, appeared on stage with a band of all white musicians.
“I said to Ray, ‘Your band is all white.’ He said, ‘That’s funny. They don’t sound white.’ “
The birthday bunch
Actor James Whitmore is 83. Pianist Roger Williams is 80. Actor Tom Bosley is 77. Actress-singer Julie Andrews is 69. Actor Stephen Collins (“Seventh Heaven”) is 57. Actor Randy Quaid is 54. Singer Youssou N’Dour is 45. Actor Esai Morales (“NYPD Blue”) is 42. Actor Christopher Titus (“Titus”) is 40. Model/actress Cindy Margolis is 39. Singer-guitarist Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) is 36.