Mary Hart celebrates 25 years of chronicling the celeb world

Mary Hart celebrates 25 years of chronicling the celeb world

Mary Hart didn't set out to become the face of entertainment news.

She came to Los Angeles to get into show business. But her first big break, co-hosting a talk show with Regis Philbin, was yanked by the network after just a few months. A new entertainment show asked to interview Hart about what it was like to be a TV-show casualty.

The next day, they offered her a job.

That show was "Entertainment Tonight," and this year marks Hart's 25th season as its anchor.

"It was one of those fortuitous and serendipitous things," Hart says, lingering over an omelet at one of her favorite breakfast spots. "It was definitely not something I foresaw doing for even three years, much less five, 10, 20, 25."

As for how long the tenure could stretch, Hart's most recent contract with the show is set to expire this year, but she and "Entertainment Tonight" steered clear of any questions about its renewal.

Kohl's, Food Network Partner on Products

Kohl's, Food Network Partner on Products

Kohl's Corp. announced Wednesday its department stores will sell Food Network-branded cookware, dinnerware and kitchen gadgets in all its stores and online starting in the fall of 2007.

Kohl's said the partnership with the popular cable television channel, owned by The E.W. Scripps Co.'s Scripps Networks Inc., marks the first national home merchandise launch for Scripps, which also owns HGTV, DIY Network, GAC and Fine Living.

Food Network's celebrity chefs will be involved in marketing the products, which also include kitchen electronics, table linens, cutlery and pantryware, the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based retailer said.

The Food Network, now in its fifth year with a reach of 90 million homes, is exciting and entertaining for consumers, said Kohl's president Kevin Mansell.

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`Celebrity Jeopardy!' Lineup Announced

`Celebrity Jeopardy!' Lineup Announced

NEW YORK — Martin Short, Susan Lucci, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and CNN host Nancy Grace are among the boldfaced names slated to compete on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" this fall.

The two-week competition, with winnings going to charity, will be taped at Radio City Music Hall on Oct. 5, 7 and 8, and will be broadcast beginning Nov. 8, it was announced Tuesday.

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Author Hunter S. Thompson kills himself

Author Hunter S. Thompson kills himself DENVER (Reuters) - Hunter S. Thompson, who pioneered "gonzo" journalism and became a counterculture celebrity with works such as "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," has fatally shot himself at his Colorado home on Sunday night, police say. He was 67. Thompson was found dead at his home outside the ski resort of Aspen, police said. "We do have confirmation that Hunter Thompson was found dead this evening of an apparent self-inflicted wound," said Tricia Louthis, spokeswoman for the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office. Thompson’s son, Juan, released a family statement to the Aspen Daily News saying "Hunter prized his privacy and we ask that his friends and admirers respect that privacy as well as that of his family." Thompson made his drug and alcohol-fuelled antics and clashes with authority the central theme of his work, challenging the conventions of traditional journalism and creating a larger-than-life outlaw persona for himself along the way.

Former Celebrity Photographer & Photoinduced.com Founder Adds ...

Former Celebrity Photographer & Photoinduced.com Founder Adds ... PhotoInduced.com, considered a central resource for photo hobbyists and advanced amateurs alike, announced that it has added a new monthly column geared to serve today's busy women. The column is written by Laura Oles, photo industry journalist and author of Digital Photography for Busy Women: How to Manage, Protect and Preserve Your Favorite Photos (Compass Trade Press, ISBN 09774727-2-8). San Marcos, TX (PRWEB) September 27, 2006 -- PhotoInduced.com, considered a central resource for photo hobbyists and advanced amateurs alike, announced that it has added a new monthly column geared to serve today's busy women. The column is written by Laura Oles, photo industry journalist and author of Digital Photography for Busy Women: How to Manage, Protect and Preserve Your Favorite Photos (Compass Trade Press, ISBN 09774727-2-8).

Newsmakers

Newsmakers First Oprah says she won't run for office, now George Clooney is putting the kibosh on a political career. "Believe me, you don't want me in politics," the outspoken star recently told reporters, rubbishing reports he was considering a run in politics. So who will save our celebrity-obsessed country from itself? Good news, dear readers: Johnny Knoxville turned 35 earlier this year. Gibson criticizes Iraq war, jokes about apocalypse Mel Gibson opened his mouth at a Texas film festival Friday, and something vaguely controversial came out! "The precursors to a civilization that's going under are the same, time and time again," Gibson said after screening his forthcoming Mayan epic "Apocalypto," which is due for a December release. "What's human sacrifice if not sending guys off to Iraq for no reason?" Jeanette Walls' the Scoop reports in discussing the film, Gibson also made references to using fear to manipulate people ("so happy that doesn't happen now," he quipped), and talked about other parallels between his film and today's culture.

Celebrity Grapevine

Celebrity Grapevine

AFTER SHOOTING off his mouth and antagonizing everyone from patriotic mayors to the bereaved families of soldiers who died in battle, Jacko Eisenberg, the most recent winner of Kochav Nolad (A Star is Born), may spend the rest of his career apologizing for boasting about dodging the draft, not voting in national elections earlier this year and making disparaging comments about the country. After apologizing in a Channel Two interview soon after making the remarks, Eisenberg announced last week that he had cancelled his concert schedule so that he could some take time out to think. (He didn't mention, of course, the mayors who had threatened to do what they could to prevent him from performing in their towns.)

In his apologies, the 25-year-old Eisenberg has repeatedly broken down - in a manner, some skeptics have suggested, that looks like a well-rehearsed ploy to re-gain public sympathy.

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