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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 11, 2013
March 11, 2013
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Filling a need:
Energy drinks are old news, friend; the folks of tomorrow will be chewing on energy gum. Or at least, Wrigley hopes so. Next month, the company will begin selling Alert Energy Caffeine Gum.
The packaging boasts that every hexagon-shaped piece of Alert contains about half as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. According to a Wall Street Journal infographic, it will have 40mg of the stuff, compared to 35mg in a 12-ounce Coke.
That might not sound like an earth-shattering amount of pep, but Wrigley is sensitive to the health concerns and criticisms swirling around the booming energy drink industry. They say that's why they created a new brand for the gum rather than associating it with one of their existing, potentially kid-beloved lines.
Wrigley also says it is marketing the gum to adults age 25 or older, and have put a warning label on the packages saying they are "not recommended for children or persons sensitive to caffeine."
Editor's note: How nice. A warning label to discourage kids. Because those work so well.
--Wrigley should focus on fixing the problem in which Juicy Fruit loses its flavor in five seconds. (Maiman)Sucking the life out of the wire services:
TAYLOR SWIFT may sing about broken hearts and girls done wrong, but don't feel too bad for the country cutie --she's filthy rich! Parade magazine just published the annual "What People Earn" issue, which revealed she pulled in a whopping $57-million-bucks last year, making her the third highest-paid woman in Hollywood behind BRITNEY SPEARS and OPRAH WINFREY. ANNE HATHAWAY is sitting pretty with $10-million-bucks from 2012, JUSTIN BIEBER made $55-million, country boy BLAKE SHELTON can buy a lot of camo with his $2-million while MARK HARMON cashed an eye-popping $38-million-dollar paycheck. (Lee)
On, off and way-off Broadway:
Actor JAMES FRANCO, who's in this weekend's big movie, "Oz, the Great and Powerful," is reportedly going to make his Broadway debut in a revival of the JOHN STEINBECK classic, "Of Mice and Men."
The play was last done in 1974 on Broadway, with JAMES EARL JONES and KEVIN CONWAY in the lead roles as two migrant workers during the Great Depression.How about a "Mean Girls" musical?
TINA FEY told E! News she was looking to turn the 2004 movie (which starred LINDSAY LOHAN) into a Broadway show as soon as she can get approval from Paramount Pictures. Her husband, JEFF RICHMOND, has reportedly been working on the score for several months and since she wrote the screenplay for the movie, she's reportedly all ready to take it to the next level.Fashion Emergency:
This story might make you cringe a bit... SARAH JESSICA PARKER says that high heels have "mangled" her feet so much that her feet "created" a bone where one shouldn't have been so her feet would fit in her shoes. (Yee-OUCH!!)
In an interview with Net-A-Porter.com's (say "Por-tay") online magazine, Sarah says 10 years of 18-hour days in five to six inch designer heels finally took their toll. ""I went to a foot doctor and he said, 'Your foot does things it shouldn't be able to do. That bone there... you've created that bone. It doesn't belong there.'"
Sarah said part of her high heel woes came from wearing cheap shoes on the set of "I Don't Know How She Does It." She's been advised to swap her sky-high Manolo Blahniks for more practical (but still stylish) flat shoes. (Bartha)Broadcast, cable and video news:
Today is the day VALERIE HARPER talks about her recent brain cancer diagnosis and having less than three months to live. She will appear on the "Today" show, talking with SAVANNAH GUTHRIE in her Los Angeles home, as well as appearing on "The Doctors" later. On "The Doctors," she'll be bringing her own team of doctors along to discuss her diagnosis, and her former co-stars, ED ASNER and CLORIS LEACHMAN, will also be making an appearance on the show to surprise her.
Tonight's the big night when LARRY HAGMAN --J-R Ewing-- gets his big send-off on "Dallas." There will be tributes from family and friends, and many of the stars from the original show will be on, along with some pretty impressive cameos from Cowboys owner JERRY JONES, Mavericks owner MARK CUBAN and Mayor MIKE RAWLINGS as well.
Some stars from the origianl show could not make it --you will not see PRISCILLA PRESLEY, SUSAN HOWARD or VICTORIA PRINCIPAL on the show, but there are still plenty of stars to be seen --and savored for fans.
So who killed J-R this time? It's another mystery, with J.R.'s son, John Ross, accusing Cliff Barnes of doing the deed. PATRICK DUFFY tells TV Guide "Back in the day, Cliff Barnes would have been the first person hit. But we can't lay a finger on each other anymore because we'd fall down and break a hip." -
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