Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 10, 2017

Don't have a date for Valentine's Day yet?

Maybe you should check out hotprisonpals.com.
The web site gives people a chance to exchange love letters with convicted felons while they serve their sentences (or, as they put it: "We bring you pen pals looking for love --that just happen to be incarcerated").
So far the site only features male prisoners --but women cons have also been invited to participate. JASON RUPP --who built the site-- says it's good for the prisoners because they have "abandonment issues." Rupp says, "The letters they get through the site are crucial to their well being. They need to know someone on the outside cares."
Prisoners pay $19 to join the site, which allows them to post pictures and a short introduction. Any prisoner can join, regardless of their crime or sentence --and they're not required to list their criminal history on the site. So, be careful ladies, that hot guy just might be a murderer.

On, off and way-off-Broadway:

GLENN CLOSE is back on Broadway in a revival of ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER's musical, "Sunset Boulevard." The show officially opened last night, and the reviews are in:
--Wall Street Journal: "The show is back on Broadway for the first time in two decades, but this Glenn Close-starring production might leave audiences underwhelmed."
--New York Daily News: "The musical is a mixed bag with choppy tonal shifts. Director Lonny Price can't fix that."
--Entertainment Weekly: "Her masterful portrayal also delivers the one thing poor nutty Norma most craves: An adoring, utterly captivated audience, and applause that echoes long after the curtain falls." (Marino)

Reality Round-Up:

The rumor mill has ramped up with talk that "American Idol" may be coming back to TV --but on NBC instead of FOX.
Varietysays Fremantle Media, the company which produces "Idol," has been in talks with NBC about "a revival" and they are reportedly "seriously considering the idea."
The new show would have just one cycle per year, however, since there'd have to be room made in the crammed NBC schedule.

Stars and their movies:

BBC Films is reportedly working on a documentary about the late R&B legend, TEDDY PENDERGRASS, who became the first black male singer to record five consecutive multi-platinum albums.
As you know, Teddy became famous in the 70s as the lead singer for HAROLD MELVIN and the BLUE NOTES, with hits including "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "If You Don't Know Me By Now."
His career was interrupted in 1981 when he was paralyzed in a car accident. He died in 2010 following respiratory failure.

Making the rounds in Tinseltown:

LEE DANIELS is in talks to direct OPRAH WINFREY in a remake of the 1983 Oscar winner "Terms of Endearment."
TheWrap reports Paramount Pictures has already picked up the rights to the project, and Oprah will star in the role which originally got SHIRLEY MacLAINE an Oscar for Best Actress. The earlier film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture.
No word yet on who'll take on the JACK NICHOLSON role as a retired astronaut who becomes MacLaine's love interest.