L.A. Times - Entertainment News

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• Craig Ferguson, late night's cheeky monkey
• Fantasia missing performances in 'The Color Purple'
• Mining hard times for humor is the American way
• Diagnosing the showbiz syndrome
• Danica Patrick crashes in tough day at Daytona
• David Arquette: Only part caveman
• Swiss official says Roman Polanski extradition proceedings on indefinite hold
• Martin Sheen comes full circle with 'The Subject Was Roses'
• New on DVD: 'Law Abiding Citizen' is out for revenge
• NBC scores Olympic-sized ratings with Opening Ceremony

Craig Ferguson, late night's cheeky monkey Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST His 'Late Late Show' has no sidekick, no band and little resources -- and he thrives on that. The most interesting person on late-night television is a 47-year-old Scottish reformed alcoholic high-school dropout, drummer, actor, comic and novelist named Craig Ferguson, who since 2005 has been hosting "The Late Late Show," which follows David Letterman's "Late Show" on CBS. He is not the only talk show host whose work I like, or even the only one I'm tempted to call a genius -- the other would be Letterman, whose Worldwide Pants produces Ferguson's program -- but he's doing something that, though constructed within the recognizable parameters of a late-night American comedy talk show, is all his own thing: personal and free, mindless of rules and yet in control of the medium. It is direct and intimate in a way that hearkens back to earlier, less frilly days of television, and it is also hilarious.

Fantasia missing performances in 'The Color Purple' Posted: 13 Feb 2010 05:36 PM PST She will not perform in this weekend's performances due to an inflammation of her vocal cords.

Mining hard times for humor is the American way Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST Layoffs, bailouts. It's not the Great Depression, but people take comfort in laughter. Hey, did you hear the joke about the Great Recession of 2008-10? You'll be laughing all the way to the poorhouse, or the federal penitentiary in Bernie Madoff's case. ( Bah-DUM-bum? )

Diagnosing the showbiz syndrome Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST Obsessed with success, they find themselves in frenzies when the industry's harsh reality clashes with their desires. Now, their condition has a name: Hollywood NOS. Obsessed with success, now, their condition has a name: Hollywood NOS.

Danica Patrick crashes in tough day at Daytona Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST The NASCAR rookie has a difficult time in the Nationwide Series race even before getting caught up in a 12-car collision. Her Nationwide Series debut ended when she got taken out in a 12-car wreck, an unavoidable ending to a day that never really went as planned.

David Arquette: Only part caveman Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST Starring as a slow-witted husband in 'The Female of the Species,' he sees his real-life family role as a balancer. With his role in "The Female of the Species" at the Geffen Playhouse -- only his second onstage after a whirl in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- David Arquette turns a new page in his career. And not a second too soon, at least as far as the youngest sibling of the famous Arquette acting family is concerned. In Joanna Murray-Smith's farce, Arquette plays the slow-witted, apron-wearing husband of a woman who really wants a bad-boy caveman. The play, which runs through March 14, also stars Annette Bening as a famous narcissistic feminist author. The son of the late therapist Mardi and actor Lewis, Arquette has been married for 10 years to Courteney Cox and is the father of 5-year-old Coco.

Swiss official says Roman Polanski extradition proceedings on indefinite hold Posted: 13 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST Justice Ministry deputy director Rudolf Wyss says courts in California must first make a final ruling on whether the director can be sentenced in absentia. For a man who didn't set foot out of his house Friday, Roman Polanski had an eventful day.

Martin Sheen comes full circle with 'The Subject Was Roses' Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST The actor first appeared in the play on Broadway in 1964. 'It gave me such confidence,' he says. Now, he's appearing in it again, only in the dad role. A man many Americans still think of longingly as President Josiah Bartlet is waiting for a light to change at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Hughes Avenue in Culver City. He is on foot and in conversation with a companion, on his way to Saturday evening mass, but when he sees the people in a car parked at the light waving through the windshield at him, he turns and waves back, offering them a glimpse of his open face and very good set of teeth before hurrying into the crosswalk.

New on DVD: 'Law Abiding Citizen' is out for revenge Posted: 14 Feb 2010 12:00 AM PST Also reviewed: 'Black Dynamite,' 'Coco Before Chanel,' 'Good Hair' Also reviewed: "Black Dynamite," "Coco Before Chanel" and "Good Hair."

NBC scores Olympic-sized ratings with Opening Ceremony Posted: 13 Feb 2010 03:25 PM PST NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympics' Opening Ceremony on Friday scored big ratings with an average of 32.6 million people watching the festivities.

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