The Discovery television network on Friday said it has cancelled plans to air a reenactment of the autopsy on Michael Jackson’s body, citing an upcoming court hearing and concern by the late pop star’s estate.The show, ‘Michael Jackson’s Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson’, had been set to air in several countries of western Europe and in the United Kingdom on January 13...“Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson’s estate, the scheduled broadcast of the medical documentary related to Michael Jackson’s official autopsy has been postponed indefinitely,” Discovery Networks International said in a statement.A Discovery spokesman declined comment beyond the statement. Co-executors of the estate responded in their own statement saying they were “pleased” with the decision.The ‘Thriller’ singer died suddenly of a prescription drug overdose on June 25, 2009, age 50, only weeks before beginning a series of comeback concerts. An autopsy by Los Angeles officials showed Jackson died chiefly of an overdose of the powerful anesthetic, propofol, that he used as a sleep aid.Discovery’s show, which was not scheduled to air in the United States, was an unofficial, fictional account of what the autopsy must have been like and its results.But Jackson fans worldwide protested in an online petition launched earlier this month, and the co-executors of his estate sent a letter this week to Discovery Networks calling the programme “insensitive” and “in shockingly bad taste.”A print advertisement for the programme shows a body covered by a sheet, with one hand poking out wearing the singer’s well-known sequined glove.Jackson’s physician at the time of his death, Dr. Conrad Murray, has admitted giving the singer propofol, which is often used in surgery, and Murray has been charged by authorities with involuntary manslaughter in Jackson’s death.Murray has pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary hearing to determine if enough evidence exists to make him stand trial begins in Los Angeles on January 4...Oprah aims for “mindful TV” in OWN network gambleShe is already the most influential woman on television, publishes a magazine, has starred in movies, opened a school in South Africa, and is one of America’s biggest celebrity philanthropists.So why is Oprah Winfrey taking perhaps the biggest gamble in her life and launching a cable TV network this weekend? Because she believes people are hungry for shows that entertain, inspire, and offer what she calls “mindful television.”“What I want to do is build a channel that is a respite for your mind, an oasis of stimulation that you come away from with little pieces of light.“I’m aiming for a moment where somebody could say, ‘I never thought of it that way before.’ I just love that,” Winfrey 56, told Parade magazine in an interview this week.Three years in the making, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) kicked off on January 1 with a weekend of “sneak peeks” into the array of largely female-oriented original series, lifestyle, and advice shows that viewers can expect in the first year.OWN, a venture between Winfrey’s Harpo Inc. and Discovery Communications, will be available in some 80 million homes.The OWN launch has brought with it some uncharacteristic anxiety for Winfrey, who will end her popular U.S. daytime chat programme, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ - which airs in some 140 countries - in May after 25 years.She told her magazine ‘O’ that she has “never felt such fear in all my life” than she has in launching OWN in a crowded TV market packed with hundreds of cable channels.Winfrey will appear in only 70 hours of programmes in 2011, but the OWN schedule has the unmistakable flavour of uplifting tales, self-improvement, and struggles in the face of adversity that has come to be known as ‘Oprahfication’. The lineup includes a four-part special bringing together health, wealth, and relationship experts Dr. Phil McGraw, Suze Orman, and Dr. Mehmet Oz. There are two reality shows about the fractious relationships between movie stars Tatum O’Neal and her father, Ryan O’Neal; and country singers, Wynonna Judd and her mother Naomi Judd.There will be frank sex and relationship therapy from Dr. Laura Berman and another reality series called ‘Kidnapped by the Kids’ in which children force their parents to ditch work for family time.Two shows were Oprah’s ideas. ‘Oprah Presents Master Class’ features eight famous people including rapper, Jay-Z; poet, Maya Angelou; actor, Sidney Poitier; and TV entrepreneur, Simon Cowell, talking about their lives’ lessons, triumphs, and setbacks.‘Finding Sarah’, featuring disgraced British royal, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was inspired by a confessional TV interview between the two women earlier this year.‘I AM intelligent’, says Paula AbdulPaula Abdul, former ‘American Idol’ judge, said that being perceived as stupid was one of the most annoying misperceptions people have about her.Abdul, 48, who returns to television next week with her own dance reality competition show, also insisted that she was naturally goofy and that her sometimes volatile public behaviour was not the result of drugs or alcohol.“I AM intelligent, I AM,” Abdul told Julie Chen in an interview to be broadcast on ‘CBS Sunday Morning’.“But people don’t give you enough credit for having a brain,” Chen replied, according to a transcript released on Thursday.“Having a brain, that’s a concept, yes, with Paula Abdul. I have a brain,” Abdul said.Abdul was an ‘American Idol’ judge for eight years before quitting the TV singing contest in 2009 in a contract dispute. Her often odd behavior on the show sparked rumours about drug taking.But the dancer and singer told Chen; “I’ve never had a drinking problem. Even though I’ve been in this business for quite some time, I’ve never physically been drunk in my life. I’ve never been drunk in my life. I don’t use recreational drugs. But, I am goofy.“It’s Paula. It is Paula. And even the people on ‘Idol’ know that none of that existed, ever,” she said.Abdul’s ‘Live to Dance’ TV show starts on CBS on January 4.
Read more…
