Eminem gets smoked by granny
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Eminem's sampling of "Pigs Go Home" has landed him in a lawsuit filed by the 70-year-old widow of the composer who wrote it, a report said Tuesday.
In a federal court lawsuit, Harlene Stein alleges the rap star used a piece of one of her husband Ronald's compositions on "Guilty Conscience," a cut from the rapper's acclaimed 1999 debut "The Slim Shady LP."
The Stein instrumental composition at the lawsuit's center is titled "Pigs Go Home" and is part of his score for Getting Straight, a 1970 film starring Elliott Gould and Candice Bergen.
Ronald Stein, who died in 1988, is not credited as the piece's composer, TheSmokingGun.com reported Tuesday.
While her lawsuit does not specify monetary damages, Stein could potentially see quite a windfall, since Eminem's first album sold nearly five million copies.
Sheen, Richards to play parents
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards are set to play the role of parents, for real, Zap2it.com reported Tuesday.
The couple, married in June 2002, are expecting their first child early next spring, their publicist said. Sheen already has an 18-year-old daughter, Cassandra, from his first marriage.
Sheen and Richards met on the set of "Good Advice" and are co-starring in "Scary Movie 3," which opens Oct. 24.
Sheen, 38, also appears in the new CBS series "Two and a Half Men."
When Richards, 32, guest-starred on Sheen's former sitcom "Spin City," the two began dating.
It is the first child for Richards, a Chicago-area native and former model.
Streep, Law sign up for 'Snicket' flick
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Meryl Streep and Jude Law will team up with Jim Carrey for "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events."
The film is an adaptation of the Daniel Handler children's book series.
Streep will play Aunt Josephine to Law's narrator, Lemony Snicket, Daily Variety reported. Liam Aiken and Emily Browning will play two of the three orphans around whom the series revolves, Klaus and Violet Baudelaire. Production is set to begin in November and the film is due for release at the end of 2004.
Aunt Josephine is one of a series of relatives who take in the orphans and one of the few who doesn't plot mayhem against the tykes.
'Dead (again) Like Me' for Showtime
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Cable broadcaster Showtime is breathing new life into "Dead Like Me," scheduling another season of the show, Zap2it.com reported Tuesday.
The dark, comic series about a teenager (Ellen Muth) who dies and then becomes a reaper in the afterlife has won a second season on the cable network. It will likely be on the air in the summer of next year.
"I think it's really struck a chord," Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, told The Hollywood Reporter. "It's an interesting mix of humor and pathos."
"Dead Like Me" has substantially improved Showtime's ratings in the 10 p.m. Friday spot, typically scoring about 60 percent higher than previous inhabitants of the time slot.
The series also draws ratings about 45 percent higher than the network average for all of primetime.
"Dead Like Me" also stars Mandy Patinkin, Jasmine Guy, and Laura Harris.
