Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe 'WATCHING ELLIE' According to E! Online, NBC will take the new Julia Louis-Dreyfus comedy "Watching Ellie" off its primetime schedule after running the April 2 episode and fill its Tuesday 8:30 p.m. timeslot with reruns of "Will & Grace" and original episodes of "Three Sisters." Advertisement "Watching Ellie" attracted 17 million viewers in its Feb. 26 premiere, but the audience has been eroding steadily each week since then -- down to just 9.5 million last week. NBC executives told E! the network had planned to wrap the series early all along. (Thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason) MICHAEL FOX Canada's globeandmail.com reports Michael J. Fox is one of four people who worked on a CBC-TV comedy series filmed in Vancouver in the late 1970s who were later diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. According to the report, a documentary scheduled to air on Canadian TV on April 7 raises questions about whether it is just a coincidence that four cast- and crewmembers of "Leo & Me" were subsequently diagnosed with Parkinson's. Some neurologists theorize that exposure to viral infections or environmental toxins can cause Parkinson's years later, according to the report on globeandmail.com. Donald Calne, director of the Neurodegenerative Disorders Centre at the University of British Columbia Hospital, said some studies point in that direction, but he said more research is needed. Advertisement "For most patients environment plays a larger role (than genetics)," he said. Fox appears in the documentary, talking about the effects of Parkinson's on his life. Fox said he is confident researchers will soon score a breakthrough on the disease. RYAN O'NEAL Ryan O'Neal -- who has been receiving treatment for chronic leukemia for the past year -- appeared with his "Love Story" co-star Ali MacGraw at the Academy Awards Sunday night to present their director, Arthur Hiller, with one of the Academy's highest honors, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. People magazine reported last week that O'Neal's brother, Kevin O'Neal, has had some of his bone marrow harvested to make it available in case the 60-year-old actor needs a bone marrow transplant. Ryan O'Neal's daughter, Tatum O'Neal, told People it's not a sure thing that her father will need a transplant, but doctors wanted to extraction the marrow from his brother now because Kevin O'Neal's health is not that great. Tatum O'Neal said her father has responded well to treatment and is in good spirits. Speaking with reporters backstage at the Academy Awards, Hiller said Ryan O'Neal is "doing very well, in remission, and going back to being fine and dandy." Advertisement (The above two items thanks to UPI's Dennis Daily)
