Grok Entertainment Desk | January 22, 1998
A feature film based on the warped Comedy Central hit animated series "South Park" is in the early stages of discussion, the show's co-creator said this week. "We're psyched to do it," said Trey Parker, referring to himself and "South Park" co-creator and producer Matt Stone. However, Parker said there are certain conditions attached to any potential movie project based on "South Park," which is setting ratings records for Comedy Central each time a new episode is rolled out. "We would only do [a movie] if we could make it R-rated," Parker said, "something like we did with 'The Spirit of Christmas' [the profane underground short that led to the creation of "South Park"]. The 'Beavis and Butt-head' movie was just a movie-length version of the TV show. We'd want something different than that.
" Meanwhile, Comedy Central also announced that a fresh "South Park" episode will air each Wednesday night at 10 next month, including a season-ending cliffhanger on Feb. 25 and one about a pay-per-view extravaganza pitting Jesus vs. Satan. Variety 'Law' pic for Noth If all goes according to plan, Chris Noth, who left NBC's "Law & Order" in 1995, is expected to reprise his role of Detective Mike Logan in a series of TV movies. "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf, Universal Television and NBC are developing the series of occasional movies around the character. The films could air next season. In the films, on the drawing board for a while now, Logan will have been reassigned to Staten Island after punching a City Councilman. An NBC spokesman confirmed the movies are in development, but said they haven't yet gotten the go-ahead from NBC brass. A script for the first one is being written now, according to a spokesman for Universal. Noth left "Law & Order" after the 1994-95 season. At the time, Wolf said the change was being made in order to bring in a younger star (Noth was replaced by Benjamin Bratt) and to add some new chemistry to the program. Also, Noth would have been in line for a steep pay increase had he been retained. So far, it appears no other past "Law & Order" stars will be in the films. Richard Huff 'Weird' item Fox has ordered a pilot episode of "Hollyweird," a potential horror-mystery series from frightmaster Wes Craven ("Nightmare on Elm Street," "Scream" and "Scream 2") and Shaun Cassidy, the former pop star who last year won kudos for creating and producing the short-lived but much praised CBS scare series "American Gothic.
" "Hollyweird," targeted for next fall, follows the lives of two friends from Ohio, a man and a woman in their early 20s, who develop a taste for the macabre after relocating to Los Angeles. They pair up to explore the dark side of L.
" TNT's Old Testament projects have included "Abraham," "Jacob," "Joseph," "David" and "Samson and Delilah.
" Variety Dot's all . . . This week's introduction of the new Tuesday combo of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek" gave the WB network its highest-ever night of Nielsen numbers. "ER" needn't feel threatened, but the WB crowd is crowing. . . . Whoopi Goldberg will be the center-square celebrity in the new syndicated "Hollywood Squares" series slated for next fall. . . . Cable's Nashville Network has acquired the rights to air all 221 episodes of "The Waltons.
" They'll air Monda>y through Friday at 11 a.
m. starting April 27. . . . Rosie O'Donnell has lined up the likes of Courteney Cox, Antonio Banderas, Janet Jackson, Jewell, Gwyneth Paltrow, Queen Latifah and Neve Campbell to appear on her normally Gotham-set daytime series when it emanates from Los Angeles all next month. . . . Tomorrow night at 10, ABC's Barbara Walters interviews Microsoft honcho Bill Gates on "20/20.
" Gates and Microsoft have been under fire from the Justice Department in recent months about being a virtual monopoly. R.
H.
