Exclusive! Michael Lohan is getting out of prison

Michael Lohan,
father of superstar actress
Lindsay Lohan,
is set to walk out of prison
at 9 a.m.
on Tuesday, March 13th--
and into the reality TV show
he’d left behind
more than two years ago.

The controversial Lohan, who’s scheduled to be released after two years in the Collins Correctional Center near Buffalo, N.Y., will be feted at a "welcome home" party at his mother's home in Long Island. But the former stockbroker, producer and actor is definitely not the same man who was hauled away amid restraining orders and probation violations. Once known as the "Hollywood Dad from Hell," he's now an ordained minister, ready to spread the word and “make amends for his past mistakes."

“Michael Lohan is a changed man,” says the show's producer Brett Hudson, who along with Lohan’s mother has been the only one to keep in regular contact with Lohan in stir. “I've spoken to him often and I know it. The last time around, Michael would never admit he’d done anything wrong. Now, he not only admits his past mistakes, but he wants to right the wrongs he’s done. And most of all, he wants to get his family back on track."

It was two years ago that Hudson and the team at Frozen Pictures were filming a reality TV series pilot around Lohan called “Hollywood Dad.” At the time, Lohan was best known for his hunger for the spotlight, his altercations (with in-laws and a sanitation worker), passing out at Scores nightclub and his intensifying battles with his estranged wife (and Lindsay’s manager), Dina. After surviving a fiery DUI car crash on Long Island, he was sentenced to prison.

While checked into the Gray Bar Hotel, Lohan was ordained as a minister. “He’s serious about it,” says Hudson. “He’s actually going straight into the ministry when he gets out-- the Teen Challenge ministry to help runaways and kids on drugs— trying to straighten out their lives.

“But he’s still Michael in more than one way. He’s still very creative. You can see where Lindsay got her drive and her talent. He has a few reality shows he wants to pitch-- including one in which he and Lindsay are put on a desert island with Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and their dads. We’ll be going along when he does that. We’ll be with him when he tries to ‘save’ some of his old Hollywood pals.

“And he’s got other ideas, like going out on Sunset Boulevard and giving a prostitute a hundred dollar bill-- not for sex, but for her time so he can talk to her and try to save her. He wants to make things right with the world. And especially with his family."

In January, Lohan wrote his daughter a letter, asking forgiveness and a reconcilitation. Life & Style magazine reported last month that Lindsay is in favor of it.

"It’s a fascinating look at the price of fame— and what it does to a family,” says Burt Kearns, Hudson’s producing partner. “Two years ago, Michael was Bonaduce, Sizemore, the Diceman and Bobby Brown rolled into one. But his heart was always in the right place. God knows what he'll be like now that he's got religion. This was a great project in 2004 and it’s even better now. Because Michael’s better now.”

Couric's new producer owes his job to Lewis Bailey

Rick Kaplan is the new captain of Katie Couric’s sinking evening news ship at CBS. His latest high-profile gig comes after a long career that could have seen an early end if not for legendary news cameraman Lewis Bailey of Bailey Mountain, Georgia.

“I saved Kaplan's ass early in his career,” says Lewis, who runs the incomparable Sharpshooter Worldwide, provider of professional video crews. It was 1977, in the early days of the Carter presidency:

“There was a large contingent of news folks in Plains, Georgia. The railroad depot had been headquarters for Jimmy Carter’s campaign, and Carter has just been elected, so the place was crazy. Billy Carter and Tom T. Hall were hanging out drinking at the Best Western in Americus-- the “Old Dogs and Children and Watermelon Wine” Tom T. Hall.

“We—CBS-- were The Big Dog on the porch. CBS had all the stuff in place and had been kicking shit out of the other news agencies because of the technology in place. We had a microwave antenna installed on the water tower in Plains, Georgia that went to MCI coax all the way to CBS headquarters in New York. In those days being live from Plains, Georgia was a big deal and the cost was great. The other networks were not live, but in those days CBS really was a working news organization and we had all the toys.

“Rick was producing the live shots from the CBS mobile production truck. It sat under the water tower. The water tower and fence are still there as of last week, when I was down there for the tornado recovery. Rick had ‘good nighted’ the crew for the production truck. They all went back to Americus to the Best Western motel.

"Rick and Murray-- Martin Murray or Murray Martin-- I forget, but he was the technical management guy, hadn’t left for the motel when Carter’s handlers came out and said he had something to announce. I don’t remember what the exact announcement was. But Kaplan was in charge of the operation and Murray was screaming at him that Kaplan should have not good nighted the crew and that it was Kaplan's ass on the line!

“Murray was the technical manager, but he didn’t even know how to turn the power on in the truck. So these two guys were shit up a creek without me. I was the only one who knew how to make the truck hot-- I was the only technician around and I knew how to make the truck work.

"I fired up the terrestrial microwave and set all the levels and TD'ed the live hit. We made the live hit! Rick was the hero.”

(Lewis also recalls working with Rome Hartman, the man Kaplan replaced at the CBS Evening News, when Hartman was stationed at CBS News' Atlanta bureau office "at Century Center next to I-85 Clairmont Road exit" in the 1980s. That's not Hartman pictured with Lewis at left.)

Farewell, Antonella, The Million Dollar Babe

Good timing for American Idol last night, sending Antonella Barba packing just as the show kicks into its Bono-inspired save-the-world mode with the "Idol Gives Back" charity event for kids in Africa and (probably because the British producers assume that the majority of the Idol audience are selfish Yanks who don't care about Africa) here in the States.

But don't cry for Antonella. She might be heading home to Jersey without a recording contract, but if she plays her cards right, she's easily walking away as a Million Dollar Babe. Already on the table are a $250,000 offer to host Girls Gone Wild DVDs, a $500,000 to be spokesgal for the SugarDVD online adult video store, and Hugh Hefner's suggestion that she'd be an obvious subject for a Playboy spread.

Then there are probable offers from the tabloids, Maxim, Kohler bathroom fixtures, Charmin, Swifter, Catholic University, The North Carolina University Tar Heels, the VFW, MacAweenie & Cheese, and Entertainment Tonight or one of the network newsmagazines that'll pay her under the table for an exclusive interview.

Which way will she go? Because Antonella wasn't allowed to be interviewed while an Idol contestant, everyone was able to project their own version of the 20 year-old through the sultry photos and smartass demeanor on Idol. Our bet's on Playboy, for starters.

UPDATE: Antonella appeared on Fox's Morning Show this morning and was pretty nonchalant about the photo scandal, saying, "Personal private property got into the hands of the wrong people." She didn't reveal her future plans and the hosts didn't ask any heavy questions, but Antonella did say she's open to singing-- and acting-- jobs. She also offered a warning to girls everywhere: "Cover your tracks!"

(And just for old times' sake, click here to see the NSFW photos that almost made Antonella bigger than Idol.)

'Idol' finally addresses its Antonella issue

"I feel for you, cause you've taken a lot of stick in the media. I think you've handled yourself well throughout, and I don't think anyone should be put in that situation. But I'm not going to patronize you here..."

As the situation mushrooms from a naughty half-naked photo scandal to charges of discrimination, racism, favoritism, unpatriotism and porn-peddling immorality behind the scenes of America's top television show, the Antonella Barba scandal finally got a mention on American Idol last night. Simon Cowell stepped gingerly around the controversy while doing his best to subliminally order viewers to vote the poor thing out before things get even farther out of hand. His comments to Antonella after she managed to mangle a Corinne Bailey Rae easy-listening Starbucks staple constituted a gracious kiss-off to the worst remaining female singer.

Antonella, true to form, didn't get it.

Said Simon: "You've gone as far as you can go, Antonella. I mean, the reality is, and I think you know this yourself, which is, you are surrounded by some pretty amazing girl singers. And I don't know how much more you can do, to be honest with you, because I don't think your voice is going to get any better.

"I feel for you, cause you've taken a lot of stick in the media. I think you've handled yourself well throughout, and I don't think anyone should be put in that situation. But I'm not going to patronize you here. It wasn't your worst, we've heard you sound worse, but I just have a problem here, which is I just wish you could sing better."

As she did last week, Antonella responded to the criticism by challenging it. She said, in part:

"I know I'm surrounded by really talented people and I think that I'm just, I have a different style than them and I'm not trying to compare myself to anyone else and I with the judges wouldn't compare me to anyone else because I try to be myself... We're all different, we're all unique."

Two gals and two guys will be eliminated tonight at 8. Our money is on Antonella hanging in. And if she does, don't be surprised if "someone" leaks more-explicit photos that they've been holding back, so Idol producers have no choice but to ask her to leave the competition.

Don't know what all the fuss is about? See the NSFW Antonella Barba photos... and the really NSFW fakes... here.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

We figured Katie Couric’s disingenuous comments about not caring about ratings at the CBS Evening News were an encrypted challenge or at least a cry for help. We also were certain there’d be fallout and today there is, with word that her executive producer will be replaced by a network good ole boy who’ll help CBS follow the blowing winds and punch the show back into the old-fashioned mode that everyone will be comfortable with.

We told you a month before Couric’s debut that executive producer Rome Hartman wasn’t up for the job. He was a CBS lifer, promoted from within, a step removed from America, and coming up with lame "innovations" like outsider commentaries and touchy-feely segments at a time Les Moonves was supposedly dropping a neutron bomb in the corrupt old CBS News operation:

TV news execs may gut a division and dump a show, but when it comes to getting the replacement on the air, they fall back on the comfort factor and rely on the same producers who worked on and created the shows of the past. New executive producer Rome Hartman, we’re sure, is a very nice fellow. But he’s been with CBS News since 1983! He’s a CBS lifer. He’s indoctrinated in the CBS way of life (see the Prologue to Tabloid Baby) and hasn’t experienced the world or newsgathering outside the privileged rarified CBS fishbowl. Hint: New blood. New ideas…

Rick Kaplan is no saviour. He's status quo. He was EP of Peter Jennings’ news show back in the 90s before he made messes at CNN and MSNBC: a big, tall, loud dickswinger who’ll make some rude noises in the hushed halls of CBS, someone who won’t be awed or bullied by Couric and who’ll make the show look a lot more like the ones on ABC and NBC that are kicking CBS’s ass-- and isn't it funny that it's old Charlie Gibson's tired old show on ABC that everyone's chasing). Maybe he’ll even send Katie to Iraq.

It doesn't matter. It’s all temporary, just another stop on Katie’s journey to afternoon talk.

Going... going... GONE?

'Girls Gone Wild' wants Idol's Antonella

American Idol bad girl Antonella Barba has something to fall back on if she's ever voted off the show.

Sleazy Joe Francis and his Girls Gone Wild company are offering her a job as celebrity host in their video series. And they're putting $250,000 on the table.

The Girls Gone Wild DVDs feature college girls, strippers and other inebriated types peeling off their clothes and engaging in mild girl-on-girl action for the cameras--not unlike the photos of Antonella that hit the Internet and made her a star.

Francis and his crowd paint Antonella as part of a grand American tradition of "girls behaving badly" that includes Miss USA's former Miss Nevada, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Condoleeza Rice.

"There's a little Girls Gone Wild in every woman and this should be embraced as a positive, not a negative," Francis says in a press release today. "Why are people being ridiculed and punished for being sexual? It's ridiculous. Antonella Barba is an unbelievably sexy girl who obviously knows how to have a good time."

Hey, it's a quarter million dollars. Hugh Hefner didn't put up any money when he suggested last week that Antonella might appear in Playboy. And when Rosie O'Donnell waded into the controversy yesterday, she didn't offer Antonella a Disney cruise.

Antonella is set to sing on Idol tonight. Last night's show featured the male contestants revealing something we didn't know about them. We wonder what she's still got to hide.

Catch up on the Antonella scandal photos-- and they're NSFW-- here.

Famous last words

"I've never really
obsessed over
ratings.
I want to turn out
a quality newscast."

--Katie Couric
of the
CBS
Evening News

Protesters cry racism in Idol's Antonella scandal

Just when American Idol's Antonella Barba scandal quiets down a bit, a Ghost of Topless Photos past pops up to accuse the show of All-American hypocrisy.

Frenchie Davis was a plus-sized African-American singer who got the boot in the 2003 season because she'd once been paid to pose topless for a website. She's suggested, and this morning protesters are declaring, that Antonella is being allowed to stay on the show because she's a white girl!

LA civil rights activist Najee Ali of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. is supposed to be leading a "Anti-American Idol Rally" outside the Kodak Theatre (site of the show's finale) right now.

"It's obvious that it's a racial bias... when you have a situation where a black contestant is punished and a similar situation happens to a white contestant and there is no punishment and they're allowed to continue on the show," he says. "They can't have a rule for white contestants and have a different rule for black contestants."

Frenchie adds: "I couldn't help but notice the manner in which she was dealt with was the complete opposite of how I was dealt with... I'm certainly not interested in pissing people off, but this is an unfairness that can't be ignored."

Now, as far as the official story goes, Antonella never posed professionally and was blindsided by the posting of her amateur shots and college girl-on-girl explorations.

She gained valuable sympathy from producers and the public when everyone agreed that she was not, as alleged, the woman in sex act photos (that is until someone comes up with the OJ-Bruno Magli shots showing Antonella wearing acrylic-- NSFW-- nails).

And it didn't hurt that Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest all confirmed support for Antonella while they were lounging with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.

The only blip in the Antonella story this week has been the leaking of a few more shots (NSFW) of her stripping session on the National World War II Memorial, and some more squeaks about her siding with Hitler by desecrating the shrine. No kidding.

We'll keep you up to date on the rally...

Frenchie, by the way, is now on Broadway in Rent.

See the latest NSFW shots here.

Tony Ortega is the new editor of The Village Voice

The editor of the Village Voice got fired on Friday and the owners didn’t waste much time plucking the most fearless, muckrakingest maverick newspaper editor in America to replace him. Tabloid Baby's pal Tony Ortega at the Voice-affiliated New Times Broward-Palm Beach got the call to head north and takes over a week after they banned the last guy from the building.

We first followed Tony’s work years ago when he was a reporter for the New Times LA and most recently have linked to and pointed out a number of Tony’s stories from the humid fertile tabloid territory of South Florida-- including the first expose of the man between the arrest of supposed JonBenet killer John Mark Karr, and the one about the multimillionaire who married his daughter.

That leaves hard-boiled, literary Bob Norman, the best investigative reporter in South Florida and a few other places, holding down the fort.

Tony will have his work cut out for him at The Voice, which has a literary and reporting tradition most people don’t even remember (is Mark Jacobsen still around?). It was a long, long time ago that Tabloid Baby's author moved to New York City expecting a job at the Voice, but wound up in TV news (showing that the Voice launched writers in more than one way), and even then it was riding on memories of the past. He's already getting a skeptical reception, being an LA native with no New York experience and the fifth Voice editor in year, so he may as well have fun with it. Once he gets settled, we’ll have to introduce him to Dunleavy.

And check out Bob Norman’s great newssite, The Daily Pulp and his killer book, Florida Pulp Nonfiction.

Read Bob Norman on Tony Ortega here.

"I'm the Osbourne with HIV!"

Jack Osbourne is not HIV-positive. The son of Ozzy and Sharon and reality TV star in his own right has been the target of speculation the past few weeks, ever since his sister Kelly broke down onstage at an AIDS benefit and blubbered that a "member of my family" is HIV positive-- "and I'm very proud of him."

It turns out that recovering drug abuser Jack was not the Osbourne Kelly had outed. The family member is not even a member of the TV family-- and not even an official "Osbourne," but, as we'd suggested, her cousin. Terry Longden is a 43-year-oldhairdresser and star of the UK reality show, The Salon. He'd attended the benefit with Kelly, and was standing offstage when she made the announcement in London. And he says he knew in advance that she'd make the disclosure.

"I told her to say whatever she wanted because it might help someone in a similar situation, but I didn't expect her to cry. I felt quite guilty. She gave me a big hug when she came off," Longden tells Inside Out Australia.

He says he found out he was ill after being tested six years ago, a case of "unfortunate" timing, as Ozzy's wife Sharon had just been diagnosed with colon cancer.

"I (eventually) spoke to Sharon and she was fantastic. She totally understood and gave her support. Five minutes later Ozzy rang and he was great, which was a relief. Then Aimee (the Osbournes' eldest daughter) called. She was a bit worried, but very supportive. Then I had dinner with Jack and Kelly the other day to tell them face to face. They were amazing. I couldn't have a better family."

So what took him so long to step forward after Kelly's remarks turned into a mystery?

Exclusive! A woman takes over NBC Nightly News

While Brian Williams is away in Baghdad, trying to drum up ratings with stunt reporting, NBC News is about to announce the replacement for his Nightly News executive producer, who got the axe last week amid a ratings slide:

MEMO from Steve Capus
President, NBC News
Subject: Nighty News Executive Producer

NBC News, today, begins a new era with an outstanding announcement. Alex Wallace has been named executive producer of the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. As you know, Alex has been my primary deputy in the front office, serving as a vice president responsible for news coverage, Nightly News, Specials and much more. Alex will continue to serve as a vice president while handling the executive producer's responsibilities. I'm thrilled for Alex, Nightly News, NBC Universal, and frankly, for women in our industry. This is a proud day across the board.

Enclosed is the press release we are about to send out, but I wanted to be sure you saw it first.

Alexandra Wallace has been named executive producer of "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," it was announced today by NBC News President Steve Capus. Her appointment makes Wallace the first woman to lead a weeknight network evening newscast in a decade, and she becomes one of a small group of women to serve in the top post of a Big Three daily newscast. Wallace, whose appointment is effective immediately, will also continue to serve as NBC News Vice President. NBC News veteran producer Bob Epstein will continue to serve as senior broadcast producer for "Nightly News."

In making the announcement Capus said, "Alex has been an invaluable contributor to 'Nightly' and to the division as a whole since the day she arrived at NBC News. Giving her direct day-to-day responsibility ofour flagship broadcast makes sense in every way, and I know she will be a key part of our continued success."

Wallace replaces John Reiss, who has served as "Nightly News" executive producer since June 2005. Capus continued, "I want to thank John for his tremendous work at keeping 'Nightly' incredibly strong throughout his tenure - not only winning the ratings race every quarter since his arrival, but also for being instrumental in leading the program to win every major journalism award last year - an unprecedented achievement."

Wallace was first named Vice President of NBC News in January 2006. In that capacity she has had oversight for a number of areas in the News Division, including NBC Special Reports, newsgathering and executive oversight of "NBC Nightly News."

Brian Williams, anchor and managing editor said, "Alex is a pro, and a there is no one better qualified to lead this broadcast. She is the right person in the right job at the right time, and we're lucky to have her."

"I am honored to have been asked to take on this new role," said Wallace. "'Nightly News' has the best team of journalists in the business and I cannot wait to get started."

Prior to being named Vice President, NBC News, Wallace served as executive producer "Weekend Today" and senior producer of "Today" beginning in March 2005. Under her direction, "Weekend Today" provided extensive coverage of major news events including Hurricane Katrina and the death of Pope John Paul II. During her time as executive producer, "Weekend Today" ratings remained dominant and "Saturday Today" was number one across the board.

Wallace came to NBC News from CBS News where she was a senior broadcast producer for CBS' "The Early Show" starting in May 2000. Before that, she was a senior producer for both "The Early Show" and "CBS This Morning." From 1996 to 1998, Wallace was producer for the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather." From 1990 to 1996, Wallace served as an associate producer for "CBS This Morning," "48 Hours" and the CBS foreign desk. She began her network career at the CBS News London bureau.

She has been honored with six News and Documentary Emmy awards.

Wallace graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Columbia University and lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Antonella photo: More than meets the eye...

It's turned out to be one of the most controversial photos of American Idol contestant Antonella Barba to be leaked to the Internet... controversial because many observers are saying the "standing next to a pink vibrator under Angelina Jolie's boobs" photo isn't controversial at all-- especially not compared to shots of our girl posing topless, in a national war memorial fountain or on a toilet bowl.

But our analysis reveals there's more to the photo above than you might notice at first glance. What exactly is Antonella holding? And would you want your American Idol endorsing this product?


Ha!

See the latest Antonella photos here. NSFW.

Anna Nicole death photo: The real thing?

From Marilyn to JFK to Elvis to Diana, the celebrity post mortem photo has become a part of the historic record as well as tabloid tradition. So it was a surprise when the National Enquirer ran pictures of Anna Nicole Smith in her body bag-- then ran the disclaimer that they were "photo re-creations based on eyewitness accounts." They're usually better than that.

This morning, our pals at the New York Post's Page Six quote "a source close to the magazine" saying they're the real thing: actual photos of the Playboy icon's corpse in a Florida mortuary. They say someone with access to the refrigerated drawers scored a big payday after pulling out Smith's pre-embalmed body and unzipping the body bag for quick snaps of her bluish face. "We didn't want to get anyone fired," the Enquirer operative said.


Would they hide a scoop like this? Stay tuned.


Marilyn & Elvis... together at last...

Antonella & a dildo (and we don't mean Seacrest)

We knew we wouldn't make it through the week. Just when it seemed Antonella Barba, the pretty but talent-deficient 20-year-old Catholic University student from New Jersey, had ridden out the sex photo scandal that threatened her chances on American Idol-- here we go again!

Once again, it's a Sapphic college photo. Once again, it's just this side of porn. Once again, it's enough to be embarrassing to Antonella, her family and the Idol producers and their quest for a role model singing star.

Maybe next week, she'll sing "Good Vibrations."


Thanks to Ninjadude for the photo and for pointing out Angelina Jolie on the wall. But what's the significance of the objects the girls are holding?

See the updated Antonella collection here. NSFW.

We knew they looked familiar...

Yes, Antonella Barba made it through to the next round of American Idol, and so did Sanjaya Malakar, probably because he seemed to be auditioning for an invite to the Neverland Ranch-- but we knew they'd make it. Two of this season's best singers also got a step closer to the title. But maybe it's because Melinda Doolittle and Stephanie Edwards are miles above most of the competition that we had the nagging suspicion we'd seen them before. And last night, we figured out where.

(The collection of controversial,NSFW Antonella photos... which has received no comment on Idol... can be seen here.)

Exclusive! Schlesinger on Marilyn, JFK & Stone

He was a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who helped shape history working in the Kennedy White House. But to Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., his greatest accomplishment was dancing with Marilyn Monroe.

Schlesinger died last night at 89. But he revealed that secret—and blasted Oliver Stone— when we spoke to him at his home in Manhattan during the production of All The Presidents’ Movies, Frozen Pictures’ acclaimed documentary series for Bravo that's now set for release in a deluxe DVD set in April.

The three-hour extravaganza, narrated by Martin Sheen, reveals the untold story of the White House theatre, where Presidents, their family friends and guests watch movies in private. And in these exclusive outtakes from our interview, Schlesinger spoke of his days with John F. Kennedy. And he reminisced about the famous JFK birthday party at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe serenaded the President in a gown she had to be sewn into.

“It was very tight,” Schlesinger recalled. And he recalled a party afterwards:

“Bob Benjamin gave a party after Marilyn Monroe sang ‘Happy Birthday To You’ at the Madison Square Garden. And Marilyn arrived. Her date that night was Arthur Miller’s father. You know that she had broken with Arthur Miller, but she was fond of the old man. And he came, and she was lovely. Rather spacey. I danced with her a couple of times. One of the great memories of my life. She was charming.”

Schlesinger was not so fond of Oliver Stone, and his movie about the JFK assassination:

"I did see JFK. And I thought it was a travesty on history. I went to Europe shortly after it, and I discovered people really believe Kennedy had been murdered by a complicated plot in which the FBI and CIA were involved, and even perhaps Lyndon Johnson. It was a skillful piece of filmmaking, and Oliver Stone is a slam-bang director, but it’s a very misleading film in my view."

He had a more favorable review for Roger Donaldson's 13 Days, which covered the Cuban Missile Crisis:

"I thought 13 Days was a pretty good movie. And generally historically accurate. I think the conflict in the film between the Kennedys, who were determined to get the missiles out peacefully, and the joint chiefs of staff was perhaps simplified, but it was based on the basic conflict in the policy.

"I thought the man who played JFK, Bruce Greenwood, was very good. The great historical inaccuracy was of course the exaggeration of the role of Kenny O’Donnell played by Kevin Costner. I mean, Kenny O’Donnell was a fine fellow, but he had very little to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis. But basically, unlike the Oliver Stone film, JFK, it seemed to me to be a dramatically effective, historically persuasive film."

What did he think about kids getting their history lessons from the movies?

"Well, it’s bound to happen. I mean, beginning with Shakespeare, playwrights have drawn upon history for characters and conflicts and so on. And Hollywood, a level far below that of Shakespeare, is perfectly entitled to draw upon historical themes. You mentioned Oliver Stone. Oliver Stone’s 'Nixon' seemed to me quite a good movie. And it was historically accurate, whereas in JFK, it seemed to me a case of paranoia run wild. But you know, these things happen. And if people believe that Hollywood movies are the best way of teaching history, they are wrong. On the other hand, if people enjoy them as drama, it’s perfectly okay."

Schlesinger speaks in the documentary about JFK & Jackie's movie tastes. And he set straight the legend about JFK and James Bond:

“Jackie Kennedy was mostly interested in art house films. Foreign films she liked. And then she had very good taste in movies. But she enjoyed French movies particularly because she was bilingual in French. Jackie Kennedy was more interested in films than her husband. And she particularly liked international movies. And often he was bored by often these things. And he had other things on his mind. So often he would leave in the middle of a movie and go off and do some work."

JFK was said to be a James Bond fan.

“He’s reputed to be a great fan of the novels. But I always thought that was a publicity gimmick, rather like FDR’s alleged fondness for 'Home On The Range.’ Steve Early put out one of those press queries what was the president’s favorite song? Steve Early said ‘Home on the Range.’ Whenever FDR went out anywhere they played 'Home on the Range’ literally. He got sick of it. Kennedy enjoyed one or two of the Ian Fleming novels about James Bond. Enjoyed some of the movies about 007. Um, I think it was exaggerated. It was kind of a publicity hook. He really read, spent most of his time reading history and biography rather than 007."

Stay tuned here for updates on the release of the All The Presidents' Movies DVD.

Schlesinger photos © Frozen Pictures

American Idol: Did Antonella blow it?

No apology. No outrage. No explanation. There was no mention at all of the Antonella Barba's sexy photo scandal on American Idol last night. Antonella wore a sexy print mini dress, massacred a Celine Dion song that she dedicated to her brother, wiggled her butt and even made a nasty, misguided comment to Simon Cowell after he criticized her mewlings.

Antonella did not, as expected, address the toilet/topless/lesbian photos that have spread through the Internet and spilled over into the mainstream. Nor did she apologize for photos showing her posing provocatively at a national war memorial-- though there is a rising anger about that.

Instead, she snapped at Cowell, accusing him of kicking Jennifer Hudson out of the competition. Simon reminded her that it was the voters who did that. In another world, Antonella might well be singing her goodbye tonight, because based on her performance, she'd stand a good chance of being eliminated. But based on her popularity, don't count on it (unless Idol does its magic with the phone calls).

Funniest was the taped introduction to her song, which included many snapshots of Antonella and her brother. We expected to see some of those topless numbers pop up.

(Have you forgotten or not seen the photos that caused Antonella Barba to become a sensation, and to have Hugh Hefner say there's a good possibility she could show up in his Playboy magazine?

(See them here. And remember: They're NSFW-- not safe for work!)