Michael Douglas bounces back

After receiving a provisional clean bill of health from his doctors, the Oscar-winning actor did an interview with TODAY's Matt Lauer, proclaiming victory over stage-four throat cancer, with the help of rigorous chemo and radiation. But "it's not total euphoria," he said. Here's excerpts from the interview, which airs on Dateline NBC  on Jan. 23. 

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The Cape swoops in

It could be the midseason’s biggest infectious, guilty pleasure or the midseason’s most extravagant bomb. Either way, NBC is betting big on The Cape to shake us from winter doldrums. The superhero fantasy drama stars David Lyons as Vince Faraday, a cop framed and believed dead. Keith David is Max Malini, his mentor, who retrains him and arms him for battle in a crime-ridden “Palm City.” It debuts tonight on the Peacock, with an encore on Monday night.

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NBC

January 7, so soon? Where did the time go? The year’s just started and we’re already behind.

What's up? In the short term, there’s the Consumer Electronics Show, in full swing through Sunday in Las Vegas. And what goes on there won’t stay there; the word’s out that the tablet is the CES object of the moment (like we couldn’t have guessed that):

This slow movie weekend, Oscar winner Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman (he of FX’s Sons of Anarchy) star in Season of the Witch, a supernatural actioner directed by Dominic Sena. It opens Friday. Not much buzz on this Crusader-era epic, but hey, it’s only January.



Next Tuesday, Southland continues its just-started third season,  on TNT. The L.A. ensemble police series created by Ann Biderman (Public Enemies) won a well-deserved new life after being offed by NBC. Here’s a preview of Tuesday’s new episode:

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Image credit: Fireworks: via mirror.co.uk

David Gerber. Casey Johnson. Tony Clarke. Donal Donnelly. Art Clokey. Ed Thigpen. Erich Segal. Robert (Squirrel) Lester. Louis Auchincloss. J.D. Salinger. Aaron Ruben. Sir John Dankworth. Alexander McQueen. Doug Feiger. Lionel Jeffries. Steffi Sidney. Tom (T-Bone) Wolk. 

Barry Hannah. Big Tiny Little. Lolly Vegas. Corey Haim. Jerry Adler. Jean Ferrat. Junior Collins. Peter Graves. Alex Chilton. Brownie Ledbetter. Marva Wright. Jim Marshall. Herb Ellis. June Havoc. Elliot Willensky. David Mills. Ronnie James Dio. Dennis Hopper. Gary Coleman. Ali-Ollie Woodson. Rue McClanahan. Marvin Isley. Malcolm McLaren. Harold Dow.

Mikhail Roshchin. Robert Goodnough. David M. Bailey. Eddie Platt. Roy Ward Baker. Colette Renard. Solomon Burke. Barbara Billingsley. Tom Winslow. Leo Cullum. Gregory Isaacs. Hotep Idris Galeta. Michelle Nicastro. Shirley Verrett. Amos Lavi. Gloria Stuart. Leslie Nielsen. Blake Edwards. Billy Taylor.

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Photo: Blue sky and clouds: via IrishViews.com

Mama, they took my Kodachrome away

After 75 years as a gold-standard tool of photography, Kodachrome rides into the sunset today, when the only remaining Kodak-certified processing facility on the planet, Dwayne's Photo Service, 415 S. 32nd Street, Parsons, Kansas 67357, ends its processing of the legendary color film. For old-school photographers and photojournalists, it's the end of more than one era. Read the appreciation at Short Sharp Shock. 

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Photo: thechiefway.com

‘We are the antigenocide paparazzi’

As Sudan prepares for nationhood, the world holds its breath fearing the potential for genocide. But George Clooney’s making a pre-emptive strike. His idea, the Satellite Sentinel Project — a joint venture of the United Nations, Harvard and Hollywood — will hire satellites to monitor movements of troops of northern and southern Sudan. The images will be available online. The reason? “If you know your actions are going to be covered,” he said, “you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum." More at Time.com

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Photo: Tim Freecia/Enough Project

NYC: Billy Taylor is dead at 89

The jazz pianist and educator Billy Taylor died on Wednesday in Manhattan, of heart failure. As much an advocate and an ambassador as a musician, Taylor was the eloquent embodiment of the class act. The New York Times weighs in with words, but watch the video. See and hear what we've lost. 

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Teena Marie, godmother of hip-hop

For music writer Paul Devlin, writing in The Root, "Teena's career was inextricably intertwined with hip-hop. She was a hip lady who embraced the music that embraced her." More in Music.

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Photo: From the Congo Square album

Merry Christmas

Two classics, just in time for the holidays. Again. 

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Merry Christmas. Prep the wedding music

The merger of NBC Universal and Comcast is all but a lock, according to stories in various news sources. Comcast got a big thumbs-up from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who conditionally supported this civil union pending Comcast's acceptance of some limitations on its reach as a cable provider. Full FCC approval's expected next year. The Justice Department is still vetting this thing for possible antitrust issues. See the stories in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal for more.


Also: Could NBC-Comcast be a Hulu killer?

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Images: Comcast, NBC Universal

Jeff Bridges rides again

More and more, it seems, it’s Jeff Bridges’ world and we just live in it. With a best-actor Oscar under his belt for his stunning role in Crazy Heart, his whiskey-and-honey voice gracing ads for Duracell and Hyundai, and last weekend’s hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, the Dude is in full effect. Bridges is back on the big screen as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, the Coen Brothers’ tweak of the John Wayne classic. Oscar winner Matt Damon and Josh Brolin star in supporting roles. Some early reviews for this horse opera, which opened Wednesday, have been strong. There’s so much firepower here, and so much goodwill for Bridges generally that, who knows? Maybe there’s another golden dude with the Dude’s name on it.

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Tomatometer: Rotten Tomatoes

'Spider-Man' soldiers on. And on

The show must go on. Broadway’s basic law remains in force for “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the troubled $65 million Julie Taymor-Bono-Edge production now in previews. Four people have been injured in the staging of the musical, including a stuntman hospitalized Monday after a 20-foot fall (see the video). The show’s also been plagued by numerous delays, sour reviews, and script and music changes. But sales of tickets for 2011 performances have been brisk. Good thing: It’s estimated the show will have to sell out every night for the next five years to break even. Somewhere, an accountant’s spider-sense is tingling.

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Flynn lives, in 3D

You’ve been waiting patiently ... 28 years, to be exact. Now, finally, Disney revisits the world of Tron, the 1982 film that was a hit with sci-fi fans and proto-geeks. Tron Legacy — starring Jeff Bridges (in his original role), Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde — opens today in Imax 3D.

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Larry King hangs 'em up

The Cal Ripken of TV interview shows ended his 25-year run at CNN on Thursday night, after thousands of interviews, tens of thousands of questions and, in 1994, a kiss from Marlon Brando. Michael E. Ross offers an appreciation at Short Sharp Shock.

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Photo: CNN

Blake Edwards, master of joy and pain

The director of seven Pink Panther movies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, 10, Victor/Victoria and S.O.B., died on Wednesday in Santa Monica at the age of 88, leaving a body of work that blended slapstick, farce and reality by turns painful, hilarious and painfully hilarious. Aljean Harmetz of The New York Times remembers the man and his work.

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Photo: Art and Living