Hollywood Digest

ACADEMY LAUNCHES OSCAR CAMPAIGNING PROBE

According to a report in Daily Variety, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is taking a hard look at Oscar campaign practices.

Academy President Frank Pierson said he has set up a committee to investigate the matter, with the eventual aim of making campaigns for Oscar gold less intense.

"We all share the belief that it threatens the integrity of the Oscar," Pierson said. "The implication is that the Oscar can be bought by an intense campaign."

Pierson said he plans to meet next week with Miramax honcho Harvey Weinstein, who has previously said he wants to work with the Academy on revising the rules for Oscar campaigns.

ACTORS UNION CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY

The Screen Actors Guild is trumpeting the first anniversary of Global Rule One, which ensures SAG contract terms for members in any country where they work.

The guild said that since the rule was implemented on May 1, 2002, more than 100 foreign theatrical productions that previously might not have fallen under signatory agreements have been shot under SAG terms and conditions. Guild officials said the productions resulted in more earnings for the actors and greater contributions by producers to SAG pension and health funds.

'SHOGUN' RETURNS TO PRIME TIME

The Hallmark Channel has announced plans to air the Emmy-wining 1980 miniseries "Shogun" in July.

The miniseries -- starring Richard Chamberlain as an English navigator caught up in deadly politics in feudal Japan in the 1600s -- was nominated for 14 Emmys. It won for Outstanding Limited Series, as well as costume design and graphic design and title sequences.

Hallmark will air the miniseries over six consecutive nights -- July 13-18 -- then replay the episodes back-to-back on Sunday, July 20.

HONORS FOR MARY TYLER MOORE

The National Association of Broadcasters will honor Mary Tyler Moore with its Samaritan Award in Washington, D.C., next month.

Moore, the Emmy-winning star of "The Dick Van Dyke show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," will pick up the award on June 9 at the NAB Education Foundation's annual Service to America Summit.

She is being honored for her work on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, where she has served as International Chairman since 1984. Moore, who has had juvenile diabetes for 35 years, has helped raise more than $600 million for diabetes research.

"Mary Tyler Moore has entertained and delighted audiences for more than 40 years, but her hard work and highly effective efforts on behalf of diabetes research is far and away her biggest contribution to our society," said NAB President and Chief Executive Officer Edward O. Fritts. "We're pleased to recognize one of America's most popular actresses for her tireless efforts on behalf of diabetes victims everywhere."

The Service to America Summit has honored boxing legend Muhammad Ali, former President Jimmy Carter, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former First Lady Nancy Reagan.

REMAKING A GLEASON CLASSIC

William H. Macy and Steven Schachter, the star and director of "Door to Door," will remake Jackie Gleason's "Gigot" (1962), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gleason -- who also co-wrote the 1962 screenplay -- received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as a mute janitor who befriends the daughter of a prostitute. Macy will play the character in the remake.

Macy and Schachter scored last year with "Door to Door," a TNT movie based on the true story of Bill Porter -- who overcame cerebral palsy to become a super-salesman. The movie won a Peabody Award and a Writers Guild of America nomination, and Macy won a Screen Actors Guild Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance as Porter.

BOGDANOVICH WILL DIRECT A 'SOPRANOS' EPISODE

Hollywood columnist Amery Archerd reported Thursday that Peter Bogdanovich will direct an episode on the fifth season of "The Sopranos."

Bogdanovich -- the director of such film classics as "The Last Picture Show" and "Paper Moon" -- has had a recurring role on "The Sopranos" as psychiatrist Elliot Kupferberg, but has not directed any episodes of HBO's crime family drama.

He told Archerd his upcoming ABC TV movie "The Story of Natalie Wood" will be "a tribute" to the late star of "West Side Story" and "Gypsy." Bogdanovich said the movie will portray her 1981 drowning death at 43 as an accident.