Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 15, 2011

Shocker: No CHARLIE SHEEN News today. You may now resume your normal lives.:

You've probably heard about it by now, but comic GILBERT GOTTFRIED lost his job as the voice of the Aflac duck after two tweets about the catastrophe in Japan. The jokes:
--"Japan is really advanced. They don't go to the beach. The beach comes to them"
--"I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, 'They'll be another one floating by any minute now." (Maiman)

Guilty Pleasures:

No winner in Friday night's drawing for the Mega Millions Lottery. That means tonight's drawing is valued at $172 million ($108.9 million cash value). Mega Millions is played in 42 states and Washington DC. Chances of winning the big prize are 1 in 175.7 million.

What's hot in Hollywood now, from Star magazine:
   --Ruby et Violette desserts: RACHEL RAY loves their over 120 flavors of cookies. $29 bucks for 10 and they ship nationwide. rubyetviolette.com
   --Nintendo 3DS gaming system: hand-held 3D games with no need for glasses
   --Clos-ette: a website by celebrity closet organizer (yes, there is such a job) MELANIE FASCITELLI for de-cluttering and organizing your closets. clos-ette.com
   --Jimmy Choo perfume: yes the shoe company. $70 bucks at Saks Fifth Avenue

Reality Round-Up:

Another day, another cruddy reality show. This time the cameras will be following a group of ladies that rebuild their lives after their better halves are sent to the clink. The NY Post's Page Six gossip column reports the VH1 program is called "Mob Wives" and spies have seen the cast throwing back shots of tequila around Manhattan. (Lee)

More reality programming for the summer. ABC announced yesterday they'll debut "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" on Memorial Day (Mon, May 30). The show will feature eight "super obese" people who will try to lose half their body weight in a year.
   Also in the works: the next edition of "The Bachelorette," which will debut the preceding week.
Next season's bachelorette will be ASHLEY H, who made her debut last night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" She's a 26-year-old dental student from Madawaska, ME.

Most-pirated movies:

The Hollywood Reporter says the most pirated film these days is "Tron," which has become a hot item since it was released last fall. The film won't be out on DVD and Blu-Ray until April. The other films in the top-10:
   10. "The Mechanic"
   9. "How Do You Know"
   8. "127 Hours"
   7. "The King's Speech"
   6. "Drive Angry"
   5. "Season of the Witch"
   4. "The Fighter"
   3. "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"
   2. "The Next Three Days"
   1. "TRON: Legacy"

Trolling for IQ points:

The CEO of Burger King is getting grilled for telling a group of students that British women are ugly and that food in the U-K is "terrible."
   BERNARDO HEES, who got the CEO gig last September, was speaking to a group of students in Chicago late last week when he recalled his days as a young scholar working on and MBA at the University of Warwick in England.
   "The food is terrible and the women are not very attractive," he said, "Here in Chicago, the food is good and you are known for your good-looking women."
   According to the University of Chicago's student paper, the Chicago Maroon, chefs in the U-K have pounced on his remarks.
   "An insult to British gastronomy," said one.
   "It doesn't make Burger King an attractive employer for women," said another.
   Burger King said Hees regretted the gaffe. The chain has 11,500 outlets worldwide.