ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

TV/ OPRAH FAREWELL SHOWS TAPED IN CHICAGO: More than 20,000 people packed Chicago's United Center last night to watch the celebrity-packed live taping of Oprah Winfrey's 2nd and 3rd final shows. Among the guests appearing were: Tom Hanks, Gayle King, Tom Cruise, Patti Labelle, Josh Groban, Madonna, Dakota Fanning, Beyonce, pictured, Diane Sawyer, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Rascal Flatts, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Michael Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou, Jerry Seinfeld, Simon Cowell, Rosie O'Donnell, Maria Shriver, Kristin Chenoweth, Usher and Aretha Franklin, pictured, and Oprah's longtime beau, Stedman Graham. The star studded shows will air next Monday and Tuesday, with the finale of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" scheduled for next Wednesday. That show has been kept tightly under wraps and will air live.

TV/ CBS UNVEILS FALL SCHEDULE: CBS ordered 6 new series for the 2011-12 season dramas: "Unforgettable," "A Gifted Man," "Person of Interest" and "The 2-2," and comedies "2 Broke Girls" and "How to Be a Gentleman". "2 Broke Girls" gets the post "How I Met Your Mother" slot on Mondays, while Chuck Lorre’s "Two And a Half Men," with Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen, stays put, with "Mike & Molly" following. "Unforgettable," a detective drama starring Poppy Montgomery, will follow "NCIS: Los Angeles" son Tuesdays while "The Good Wife" will relocate to Sundays. Comedy "How To Be a Gentleman" will air Thursdays after "Big Bang Theory". The New J.J. Abrams drama "Person of Interest" will air following "Gentleman," where it will face "Grey’s Anatomy" on ABC and comedies on NBC. "CSI" wil move to Wednesdays. And "A Gifted Man," starring Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Ehle, will lead off Fridays at while "CSI:NY" and "Blue Bloods" will stay in their current time slots. "The 2-2," a police drama that counts Robert DeNiro as one of its executive producers. will bow in midseason. "Undercover Boss" will also be benched until midseason. CBS said it will likely order 2 more comedies also for later in the season. Full details can be found on the CBS website.

TV/ TNT & TBS UNVEIL "CLOSER" SPINOFF AND NEW PROJECTS: TNT unveiled plans today for a new series called "Major Crimes," starring Mary McDonnell, that is set to debuting after the series finale of "The Closer" in 2012. McDonnell has been featured on "The Closer" as Capt. Raydor who has often been on a collision course with Kyra Sedgwick's Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. The pair are pictured. The series set in the Los Angeles Police Department  "promises to become television’s next great crime drama," it said in a statement ahead of its upfront presentation. Meanwhile, TBS said Conan O’Brien will take his show on the road for the 1st time with a week-long visit to New York in late 2011, followed by a trip to Chicago in 2012. The 2 Turner networks also announced a slate of new projects from the likes of Mitch Albom, Thom Beers, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Brad Paisley, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Richard North Patterson, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Joel Silver, Arthur Smith, Scott Turow, Bertram van Munster and John Wells. Full details can be found on the Turner Networks website.

TV & FILM/ EDWARD HARDWICKE DIES AT 78: Edward Hardwicke, who played the faithful Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes in the famed Granada Television series of the 1980s and ’90s, died Monday in London. He was 78. Hardwicke, pictured left with Brett at right, replaced David Burke and appeared as Watson in 11 hourlong episodes in Granada’s "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" from 1986-88; in 2 hour versions of "The Sign of Four" (1987) and "The Hound of The Baskervilles" (1988); and then in seasons broadcast as "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" (1991) and "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1994). He also handled the role on the West End stage with Brett in 1989’s "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes". The son of actors Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard, the London native appeared in his 1st movie at age 10, "A Guy Named Joe" (1943), which starred Spencer Tracy. Other film credits include "The Day of the Jackal" (1973), "Shadowlands" (1993), "Richard III" (1995), "The Scarlet Letter" (1995), "Elizabeth" (1998) and "Love Actually" (2003). He also was a regular on the London stage. Hardwicke is survived by his family.

FILM/ BILL HUNTER GRAVELY ILL: Australian acting legend Bill Hunter is reportedly gravely ill in a Melbourne hospice, with family and friends now at his side. According to Aussie media reports, the 71 year old's health had deteriorated since he was admitted to the Kew hospice 2 days ago. Walker is suffering from inoperable cancer. Hunter has appeared in more than 60 films, including a role in "The Shiralee" in 1957. He starred in iconic Australian films including "Gallipoli," "Muriel's Wedding," pictured, "Strictly Ballroom" and "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" in a career that has spanned decades and also included roles on stage. In 1978 he won an AFI award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his part as Len Maguire in the movie "Newsfront," which won 8 AFIs that year, including Best Film. Walker is also the voice of the dreaded dentist in "Finding Nemo," and he also appeared in Baz Luhrmann's recent epic "Australia".

FILM/ MICHELLE WILLIAMS EYES "OZ" ROLE: Michelle Williams has been offered the role of Glinda, the good witch, in "Oz: The Great and Powerful," Disney’s prequel take on "The Wizard of Oz" tale that stars James Franco and Mila Kunis and is being directed by Sam Raimi. Kunis is cast as Theadora, a witch who falls for Franco. Rachel Weisz is in talks to play sister Evanora, the evil witch who wants to rule the land and tries to seduce Theadora to the dark side. If Williams signs on, she would play a powerful witch who teams up with Franco to defeat  Evanora, and maybe Theadora. "Oz" centers on Franco as a snake oil salesman who finds himself dealing with real magic when his balloon carries him into a fabled land and he runs into genuine witches. Williams recently wrapped  production on Sarah Polley’s "Take this Waltz," also starring Seth Rogen. That film is looking for a distributor.

FILM/ EDGERTON NABS "GATSBY" ROLE: Australian actor Joel Edgerton has nabbed the role of Tom Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann’s all-star adaptation of "The Great Gatsby", being made in 3D by Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow. Buchanan is one of the key characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s story of love and discontentment among the rich in lavish 1920s Long Island, New York. Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to play the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby, while Tobey Maguire is playing Nick Carraway, who in the novel is the narrator. Carey Mulligan is playing Gatsby’s love, Daisy Buchanan, who is married to Tom Buchanan, a wealthy man having an affair with a mistress, played is Isla Fisher, in the city. "Gatsby" is expected to begin filming in August.

MUSIC/ CHRIS BROWN LEADS BET NOMS: Chris Brown is the top contender for this year's BET Awards with 6 nominations. Brown is up for best male R&B artist, viewer’s choice and video of the year for “Look at Me Now.” He’s nominated twice in the best collaboration category for his No. 1 R&B hits “Deuces,” featuring Tyga and Kevin McCall, and “Look at Me Now,” with Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. Brown is also nominated for best actor for his role in the heist thriller “Takers.” Lil Wayne follows Brown with 5 nominations. 3 of Lil Wayne’s nominations come from his guest appearance on Brown’s “Look at me Now”; Lil Wayne is also up for best male hip-hop artist and viewer’s choice for “6 Foot 7 Foot.” Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna are up for 4 awards each. Other nominees for video of the year include Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair,” West’s “Runaway,” B.o.B’s “Airplanes,” Keri Hilson’s “Pretty Girl Rock” and Marsha Ambrosius’ “Far Away.” Willow is also up for best new artist and the YoungStars award. Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Trey Songz, Cee Lo Green and B.o.B also received multiple nominations. The BET Awards will be on June 26 in Los Angeles and air live on the network.

BOOKS/ NAUGHTY BEDTIME BOOK A BESTSELLER BEFORE PUBLICATION: "Go the F... to Sleep," a profane children's book written squarely for long-suffering mums and dads, has turned into an international bestseller, well before its release. A leaked PDF-version of the book has gone viral and has found its way into most email inboxes in Australia. And, despite not being published until June 14, the 32 page book has already climbed to the #1 spot on Amazon in many territories, with Fox Studios already optioning the film rights for the story. The book was written by US author Adam Mansbach. It started out as a Facebook joke, but has grown from there. Mansbach's book received a 4.5 star-rating on book-review website goodreads.com, where it has been described as "total genius". The nightly exhaustion is "a frustrating part about something we love very much," Mansbach said in an interview. "A lot of these frustrations are not permissible to talk about. We're not completely honest because we don't want to be bad parents". According to media reports, despite the publisher's efforts to stop the leaked version from circulating, it seems the fact it went viral was instrumental in the book becoming a bestseller before publication.

BOOKS/ ROTH WINS INTERNATIONAL BOOKER: US writer Philip Roth has been announced as the winner of the 4th Man Booker International Prize. The award and £60,000 prize money is presented to a writer for their "achievement in fiction on the world stage", organizers said. Roth, 78, said: "This is a great honour and I'm delighted to receive it".  His body of work includes the 1997 novel "American Pastoral," for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. At 26, he wrote his 1st book "Goodbye, Columbus". Roth's controversial 1969 novel "Portnoy's Complaint" brought him worldwide attention for its graphic depiction of sexuality. Time magazine included the work in a list of the best novels of the 20th century. The award will be presented at a formal dinner in London on June 28 , however a spokeswoman said Roth, age 78, would be unable to attend.

THEATRE/ THREE ONE-ACTS BOOKED FOR BROADWAY: John Turturro will make his Broadway directing debut next fall with an evening of 3 one-act comedies by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, collectively titled "Relatively Speaking". The production also marks the 1st move into Broadway for Coen, whose 2 programs of one-acts, "Almost an Evening" and "Offices," were hits Off Broadway for the Atlantic Theater Company. Titles of the one-acts are "Talking Cure" by Ethan Coen, "George Is Dead" by Elaine May and "Honeymoon Motel" by Woody Allen. "Relatively Speaking" is  slated to begin previews in September for an October opening at a Broadway theater to be announced. Turturro, pictured, has a long association with the Coen Brothers, having appeared in "Miller’s Crossing," "Barton Fink," "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?".