Syndicators court Lopez; Arroyo in a Jam?
LA LAW The unfortunate phenomenon of the TV judge got its start in the 1980s with Judge Joseph Wapner, and picked up steam with Judge Joe Brown, Judge Larry Joe Doherty, and, of course, Judge Judy (Sheindlin). Who's next? How about Judge Lopez, as in Maria Lopez? Could happen. As we speak, the former superior court judge is in LA talking with syndicators, including Telepictures and King World, about wearing a black robe on the small-screen. "There's very high-level interest in building a show around Maria," said local entertainment lawyer George Tobia, who's repping Lopez on the Left Coast. "She has everything they're looking for: a wealth of experience on the bench; she speaks her mind; she's smart; she happens to be a woman originally from Cuba; and she's attractive." Lopez is also not currently working as a judge, having resigned in 2003 amid charges that she abused her office and lied under oath. (Lopez, the wife of Boston Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich, originally came under fire for ordering probation for a transgender man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy, and berating the prosecutor in the case.) The fact that Lopez resigned does not hurt her, and may help her, Tobia said. "All of that makes for a nice dossier. She's a lightning rod," he said. "People care what she does and says." Still to be figured out is the show's format. One would have Lopez traveling the country dispensing her unique brand of TV justice.
WHAT TRAGEDY? Give that Katie Couric credit. She certainly has a nose for news. Chatting this week with People magazine editor Larry Hackett about the bust up of Brannifer -- Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston -- the "Today" host could hardly contain herself. "I actually called our newsdesk on Saturday and said: 'I know that we have this tsunami going on, and -- and all these people, but is it true that they broke up?' " How's that for sensitive? The former girlfriend of Sox chairman Tom Werner went on to explain her interest in the celebrity breakup this way: "It sort of made you feel like, 'Gosh, can any marriage last?' And here they seemed really suited to each other. They were, you know, so attractive. They both seemed like very nice people." Need more? A fuller transcript can be found at www.wonkette.com.
FROM POTS TO TV By day, Daniel Banks, 11, is a sixth-grade student at the Hobomock Elementary School in Pembroke, but tonight he'll be the drummer with Paul Shaffer and The CBS Band on David Letterman's late-night show. And while it's the biggest gig of his short but full career, it's not even the only one the young blues drummer from the suburbs had this week. "Well, my band, the Moondance Blues Band, played at the Purple Eggplant Cafe in Abington with Shirley King -- she's B.B. King's daughter," Banks said. Asked to cite his influences and favorites, Banks named drummers Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, Sandy Nelson, Ringo Starr, Chris Rivelli. Who's Chris Rivelli? "He's my teacher in Quincy." Oh, OK. So what do his classmates in Pembroke think of him being on Letterman? "Some of them think it's really cool . . . some of them don't really talk to me."
ROCK JOCK Still on indefinite hiatus from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, singer Dicky Barrett's got a new gig. Barrett, who does some announcing for Jimmy Kimmel on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," is the new morning host on Southern California's Indie 103.1 radio station. The cleverly titled "Mighty Morning Show" debuts Jan. 31 at 7 a.m.-- that's 10 a.m. Boston time. "I'm not gonna [expletive] with the format," Barrett said in a statement.
PITCHING IN Say this about Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo: If Eddie Vedder ever pulls the rock 'n' roll equivalent of a rotator cuff, Arroyo could step in and sing with Pearl Jam in a pinch. "I'd be ready and able," said Arroyo, after his weekend set at the "Hot Stove, Cool Music" benefit. "But I don't know if I'd be able to do him justice. I've got the baritone, but he screams a little better than me."
Jim Sullivan of the Globe staff
contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at
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