NBC to Rush Martha Stewart Movie to Air

By Stephen M. Silverman

Wednesday July 24, 2002 01:00 PM EDT

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It's all systems go for NBC's dramatized Martha Stewart biography, which will include her current stock trade scandal, reports the Associated Press. NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker on Tuesday told TV reporters, according to the news service, that the ImClone scandal "is bound to stir the pot" – which is TV talk for moving the project ahead as swiftly as possible. (The domestic diva, 60, is being investigated for possible insider trading regarding the sale of her shares in the pharmaceutical company a day before the FDA denied approval of a cancer treatment drug.) The TV film, which is to be based on the unauthorized biography, "Martha Inc." by New York Post business writer Christopher Byron, has yet to be cast or have an air date set, notes the AP. But that didn't stop Wednesday's edition of New York's Daily News from offering suggestions as to who could play Stewart. Among the names: Kathie Lee Gifford, Candice Bergen, Cybill Shepherd and Robin Williams (remember "Mrs. Doubtfire"?). The Stewart camp reportedly had no comment.