'Brokeback' wins top PGA Award
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Ang Lee's gay cowboy movie, "Brokeback Mountain," furthered its Oscar chances by taking the top award from the Producers Guild of America.
Producers Diana Ossana and James Schamus took top honors during the 17th annual awards at the Universal Hilton Sunday night, beating out "Capote," "Crash," Good night, and Good Luck" and "Walk the Line," the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" and producers Claire Jennings and Nick Park won the award for top animated film.
"The Ellen Degeneres Show" was named best TV special or variety series while HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" and producers Freddy Demann, George Faber and Charles Pattinson won in the TV long form category.
HBO's "Entourage" and producers Doug Ellin, Stephen Levinson, Julian Farino, Mark Greenberg and Wayne Carmona took the TV comedy award. ABC's "Lost" and its producers -- J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jean Higgins and Carlton Cuse -- won top TV drama and CBS' "60 Minutes" and its producer Jeff Fage was named best in non-fiction TV.
Producer Roger Corman received the PGA lifetime achievement award during the ceremony hosted by Queen Latifah.
The Producers Guild of America represents about 2,700 TV and film producers.
Chicken pox closes down 'My Name is Earl'
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Production on NBC's popular new comedy "My Name is Earl" has been suspended because its star, Jason Lee, has the chicken pox.
The hiatus is expected to last at least three weeks, an NBC spokesman told People magazine.
Most of the ensemble cast said they had the highly contagious disease when they were kids, People said. But "Earl" creator and executive producer Greg Garcia said there would be no writing around the leading man.
"He'll be in all the episodes," Garcia told People. "We're just shutting down until (Lee) is feeling better and is presentable to put on TV again."
CBS rolls out new Saturday morning look
NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- CBS plans to target Saturday mornings toward older children by replacing Nick Jr. shows with programs from DIC Entertainment.
The new "CBS' Secret Saturday Morning Slumber Party" will feature shows such as "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego," "Sabrina: The Animated Series," "Madeline" and "Strawberry Shortcake," MediaWeek.com reported Monday.
Gone will be the lineup aimed at preschoolers and very young children such as "LazyTown," "Go, Diego, Go!," "Dora the Explorer," "The Backyarigans," "Little Bill" and "Blue's Clues."
A CBS spokeswoman said the move will comply with the Federal Communications Commission requirement for programming melding educational value with entertainment value.
Several of the shows included in the DIC library either have been seen or are currently seen on public television.
Country music's Janette Carter dead at 82
KINGSPORT, Tenn., Jan. 23 (UPI) -- The last surviving offspring of country music legends the Carter Family, Janette Carter, has died in Kingsport, Tenn., at 82.
The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship honoree died Sunday at Holston Valley Medical Center of Parkinson's disease and several other chronic illnesses, the Nashville Tennessean reported Monday.
Her parents -- A.P. and Sara Carter along with Maybelle Carter -- were "The First Family of Country Music," the newspaper noted. Her first cousin was the late June Carter Cash.
Their songs such as "Keep On The Sunny Side," "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and "Wildwood Flower" are mainstays of country and bluegrass music.
Carter worked throughout her life to sustain and promote acoustic music in the Appalachian region.
Carter recorded with her parents in the 1950s and participated in "Unbroken Circle: The Musical Heritage of the Carter Family" album, produced by John Carter Cash, son of first cousin June Carter Cash and country star Johnny Cash.
Carter accepted a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for the Carter Family in 2005.
More than 50,000 flock each year to the Carters' Hiltons, Va., homestead, which is now a museum and 880-seat amphitheater.
