HATCHED: An updated version of the 1970s sitcom "The Partridge Family" is being planned as a new VH1 reality series about a musical family, says the Hollywood Reporter. No production date or location has been set, but the cable network is aiming to premiere it with a big splash on its 2004 schedule. Oscar winner Shirley Jones and her real-life stepson, David Cassidy, starred in the original, which ran on ABC from 1970-74. And in related news, the New York Post reports that Jessica Simpson, 23, may star in the proposed movie version of the '60s TV fave "I Dream of Jeannie." No word on her master.
QUOTED: "The used me as a way to symbolize all this stuff ... that's wrong. I don't know why they filmed it, or why they say these things." -- Pvt. Jessica Lynch, 20, accusing the Pentagon of using her for propaganda, to Diane Sawyer, in an interview to air on Veterans Day
PLANNED: Illusionist David Blaine has told Larry King that his next stunt, jumping hundreds of feet from a helicopter into a river will take place on his 31st birthday, April 4, 2004. The announcement comes just weeks after Blaine ended his enforced 44-day stay in a plastic box in London. He has not said where the helicopter plunge will take place, but added only a few had survived the jump, which is called the "dive of death."
SCHEDULED: Faced with a four-hour hole in its key November sweeps schedule after yanking "The Reagans," CBS says it will plug reruns into the timeslots. On Sunday, Nov. 16, CBS will repeat a two-part episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" from 9-11 p.m. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, reruns of "CSI: Miami" and "Without a Trace" will air. "The Reagans" has been sold to Showtime, while CBS continues to face criticism over its decision, which it claims was not a bow to pressure from conservative groups.
EARNED: "The Matrix Revolutions" debuted to worldwide ticket sales of $43.1 million in its first day in theaters, said a spokeswoman for the Warner Bros. (which, like PEOPLE, is part of Time Warner). Of the total, $24.3 million came from U.S. and Canadian box offices and $18.8 million from international sales. "Revolutions," the third and final episode in the saga, debuted around the world on Wednesday in the widest release ever for a major motion picture, reports the Associated Press.
DEMANDED: California's attorney general said Thursday he has warned Arnold Schwarzenegger, 56, that the groping allegations against him are "not going to go away" and urged the governor-elect to cooperate with an investigation. Bill Lockyer said he had no plans to open his own investigation because that is the jurisdiction of local district attorneys. In response, in part, Schwarzenegger's camp says the new politico has hired his own private investigator to look into the allegations but that he may not share the results with Lockyer.
