Faces & Names: Palin travelogue lands on TLC

Palin travelogue lands on TLC

Sarah Palin’s travelogue series about Alaska has landed at the TLC network, and filming is set to begin this summer.

Network owner Discovery Communications announced Thursday that it had acquired rights to the eight-part series, produced by “Survivor” producer Mark Burnett. The deal lands “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” on the network that also airs “Jon & Kate Plus 8,” “Cake Boss” and “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.”

The series tells stories of some of Alaska’s unique features as seen through the eyes of its former governor.

Burnett and Palin had been pitching the series to various networks in recent weeks and had been asking for $1.2 million an episode, considered expensive in the world of nonfiction television. Discovery got the series for about $1 million an episode, according to two television executives familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because their networks don’t discuss such details publicly.

No air date has been set for the series.

Ely's bear-whisperer heade to TV

Get used to seeing Dr. Lynn Rogers’ face. The Ely-based bear-whisperer is the voice behind the April 4 season premier of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

“Bear Walker of the Northwoods,” is about the black bears in northern Minnesota, and shows footage of Rogers interacting with the animals, walking among them with a motto of “Trust and treats instead of tranquilizers.” He also narrates the 43-minute program, that at one point shows Rogers imitating the bears’ “cowboy walk” and head and back scratching and tree biting.

The documentary was filmed from spring to fall in 2008, then again in the spring of 2009, and includes footage of Lily, a cub that went on to Internet fame when the birth of her own cub was caught on bear cam.

Rogers will be on a mini media tour promoting this season of the long-running nature program on Animal Plant. He also has a quick bit on the Today Show on Monday morning co-starring a bear, and then again for a longer segment Wednesday on Martha Stewart at 2 p.m. on NBC.

Lightfoot alters 'Fitz' history

Convinced by the evidence presented in an episode of the new Canadian made-for-TV documentary series Dive Detectives, Gordon Lightfoot has changed the lyric of his 1976 hit, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” to remove the implication that human error played a part in the 1975 Lake Superior shipping tragedy in which 29 lives were lost, according to the Toronto Star.

“He’s not re-recording the song, but he has already changed a line for live performances,” a spokesperson for Lightfoot said Thursday. “He was pretty impressed by what he saw in the film, new evidence that unsecured hatch covers didn’t cause the ship to sink.”

The traditional verse goes: “When supper time came the old cook came on deck /Saying ‘Fellows it’s too rough to feed ya’ /At 7 p.m. a main hatchway caved in /He said, ‘Fellas it’s been good to know ya.”

Lightfoot’s lyrics have now been changed to: “When supper time came the old cook came on deck /Saying ‘Fellows it’s too rough to feed ya’ /At 7 p.m. it grew dark, it was then/He said, ‘Fellas it’s been good to know ya’,” Lightfoot’s spokesperson said.

A long-disputed marine casualty report conducted after the tragedy by the U.S. Coast Guard concluded that “improperly serviced” cargo hatches caused the giant ore carrier’s holds to flood, the Star reported.

In the Dive Detectives documentary, Mike and Warren Fletcher, a father-and-son diving team from Port Dover, Ont., present evidence that a 50-foot rogue wave was the real cause of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

'Idol' singer Sanjaya in the fast lane

The Washington State Patrol said former “American Idol” star Sanjaya Malakar was caught speeding 110 mph on Interstate 405 outside of Seattle at Kirkland.

He was stopped about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and given a $411 ticket.

Trooper Dan MacDonald told the Seattle Times there was no one else on the freeway at the time so Malakar does not face a reckless endangerment charge.

Call him Officer Friendly Duluth

The Kiwanis Club of Friendly Duluth named its Duluth police officer and firefighter of the year Wednesday at its weekly luncheon meeting at the Radisson. Lisa Consie (at left in photo) who has been with the Duluth Fire Department for almost five years, was presented with the 2010 Firefighter of the Year Award. Scott Williams (right), a Duluth Police patrol officer for more than three years, was given the 2010 Police Officer of the Year Award. Joining them is club president Kurt Erickson. Congratulations to both.

Glover tries to save jobs

Actor and activist Danny Glover has offered hugs and moral support to Cleveland-area workers at a men’s suit plant that faces a shutdown next month with the loss of 375 jobs.

Workers at the Hugo Boss plant in Brooklyn, Ohio, cheered as the star of the “Lethal Weapon” action movies toured the operation Tuesday.

Glover later held a news conference and appealed to Germany’s Hugo Boss AG to reverse its shutdown decision. Glover led a boycott of Hugo Boss formal wear at the Academy Awards earlier this month.

The company says its shutdown decision stands. The company says the union representing workers rejected concessions at the plant, which it says isn’t globally competitive.

Knight sought after robbery

Los Angeles police want to talk to Suge Knight after a rap singer accused the former Death Row Records chief of robbing him before recanting the story.

Detective Jeff Briscoe said 35-year-old Jerold Ellis, who uses the name Yukmouth, reported he was talking to Knight on Monday night in a Woodland Hills supermarket parking lot about a debt that another rapper allegedly owes Knight.

Yukmouth filed a police report saying 10 other men arrived, knocked him down and took his watch, medallion and other jewelry worth $92,000. He wasn’t badly hurt and declined medical treatment.

Briscoe said Ellis identified Knight as a suspect but later recanted. However, the stolen items haven’t been recovered and the investigation continues.

The humble girl from Cloquet

What are Jessica Lange’s best qualities?

To hear Sam Shepard, her partner of nearly 30 years, put it, it’s her modesty, humility and honesty.

“I’ve never known her, ever, to lie about anything,” the actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright said in an interview with Carole Cadwalladr of Britain’s The Guardian published Sunday.

“Jessica has this absolute honesty. I think it’s a direct quality of the Midwest, of that background that she’s from,” he said.

That would be Cloquet, of course — where, Cadwalladr wrote, the two-time Oscar-winning actress and Oscar-

nominated actor, now of Kentucky, “lived while the children were growing up … in Jessica’s hometown in Minnesota, down the road from her mother [and with Jessica’s daughter from her relationship with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Shura]. It’s the equivalent, today, of Brad and Angelina deciding to settle in a suburb of Wisconsin.”

Like Foxboro, perhaps?

Shepard described the relationship as “an incredible match. But, you know, not without fireworks … although at this point, you know, she’s the only woman I could live with. Who could live with me!”

Cadwalladr wrote that she also wanted to ask Shepard about traveling on the road with Bob Dylan, but apparently didn’t get the chance.

One Northlander per interview.

Winfrey settles defamation suit

PHILADELPHIA — Oprah Winfrey has settled a defamation lawsuit filed by a headmistress she had accused of performing poorly at her South African girls school, where some students claimed they were abused, lawyers said Tuesday.

The lawsuit by former headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane claimed Winfrey defamed her in remarks made in the wake of the 2007 sex-abuse scandal at the school. The headmistress said she had trouble finding a job after.

A trial had been set to start next week, and Winfrey and several schoolgirls had been expected to testify.

A joint statement released Tuesday by lawyers for both sides said Winfrey and Mzamane met and resolved their differences.

72-hour limit on wallowing

NEW YORK — Jennifer Love Hewitt had more than a breakup on her hands when she recently split from her “Ghost Whisperer” co-star, Jamie Kennedy. She was about to embark on a tour promoting her new book about relationships.

“It wasn’t ideal timing,” the 31-year-old actress admits, laughing. “Here’s my relationship book and I’m single.”

Still, she has gone ahead with the publicity tour for “The Day I Shot Cupid: My Name is Jennifer Love Hewitt and I’m a Love-Aholic.” And she’s embracing one of its lessons: Allow yourself 72 hours to wallow after a breakup. Then move forward.

“Put your big girl pants on and move on,” Hewitt said. “Seventy-two hours is an appropriate time. After that you start to smell and your friends don’t want to talk to you. ... It doesn’t mean it fixes your feelings or takes away the sadness. You should just start to go, ‘I’m OK.’ ”

The book also includes these tips: Accept that men will always check out other women. Guys hate to spoon. And one shouldn’t be overzealous with a new significant other.

Bank offer goes prime time

Remember the March 12 story, “Bank offers free building for jobs,” about Park State Bank’s offer to hand its historic Morgan Park building over to any company promising to bring at least six jobs?

Well, the producers at NBC Nightly News took notice, as well as reporter John Yang, and spent Monday in Duluth interviewing bank president Dale Lewis on the idea.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” Lewis told Faces & Names. “I thought, ‘I can’t believe it,’ but I was also surprised when everybody else picked up the story locally.”

Obviously, you can’t contain a good idea. The article already has sparked the interest of possible building occupants. No doubt the national piece will do the same. Look for it locally at 5:30 p.m. on KBJR-TV, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

Jackson’s doctor interrupted CPR, documents say

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s doctor halted CPR on the dying pop star and delayed calling paramedics so he could collect drug vials at the scene, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.

The allegation that Dr. Conrad Murray may have tried to hide evidence probably will be a focus as prosecutors move ahead with their involuntary manslaughter case against him.

The account was given to investigators by Alberto Alvarez, Jackson’s logistics director, who was summoned to the star’s side as he was dying on June 25.

The documents also detail an odd encounter with Murray after Jackson was declared dead at a nearby hospital. Murray insisted he needed to return to the mansion to get cream that Jackson had “so the world

wouldn’t find out about it,” according to the statements, which provide no elaboration.

Murray’s lawyer, Ed Chernoff, rejected the notion his client tried to hide drugs.

Aldrin among 'Dancing' stars

LOS ANGELES — Buzz Aldrin has done the moonwalk, but the cha-cha didn’t come quite so easily.

The astronaut practiced the fast-paced Latin dance for three weeks in preparation for his debut on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It’s not so easy when things are rapidly moving,” Aldrin, 80, said on his way to a rehearsal Friday with professional partner Ashly Costa.

The 10th season of the hit ABC dance show premiered Monday. Aldrin will be competing for the trophy against Olympic figure skater Evan Lysacek, “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson, reality stars Kate Gosselin and Jake Pavelka, sportscaster Erin Andrews, singer Nicole Scherzinger, football star Chad Ochocinco and actors Shannen Doherty, Aiden Turner and Niecy Nash.

News Tribune staff and wire reports

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