Equity, Talbert make a deal

Talbert Legit thesps' union Actors Equity Assn. and David E. Talbert Presents, the company that has produced a string of stage offerings on the urban circuit, have made a deal for a labor contract that is Equity's first in that market. Urban circuit shows, which cater primarily to African-American auds, have traditionally hit the road in non-Equity tours. Circuit shows operate outside of the traditional Broadway model, booking single-performances and split-week stints in many markets and selling tickets at prices that are generally lower than the Main Stem norm. Talbert is one of the most prolific producers on the circuit, with credits including "Tellin' It Like It 'Tiz," "He Say, She Say, But What Does God Say?" and "Love in the Nick of Tyme." His upcoming Morris Chestnut starrer "What My Husband Doesn't Know," will be the first to go out under the Equity pact. The new Urban Broadway Contract is based on the Short Engagement Touring Agreement, encompassing regulations on salary, work rules and health and pension benefits. The pact is poised to benefit both sides, with Talbert now able to employ Equity thesps and the union making its first inroads in a market that, while popular and profitable with its core auds, often flies under the radar of Broadway-centric legiters. Equity organizers hope the Talbert agreement will be a model for deals with other producers on the circuit. "What My Husband Doesn't Know," also starring Michelle Williams, Ann Nesby and Clifton Davis, is skedded to stop in some 20 cities through November. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

A ballsy time to sell sports

The need for attention-grabbing properties has made TV's hunger for sports more ravenous than ever. Yet all the cash flowing into these games has only made the sporting world more chaotic than ever -- and must have left networks wondering about the sobriety of their business partners.Buoyed by the unquenchable appetite for sports, the new trend is for every pro franchise, college conference and even an individual marquee team, like the U. of Texas, to demand its own channel. And instead of pausing to wonder at what point the banana slices become too thin for consumers to notice, such outfits as ESPN, Fox Sports and Time Warner Cable appear content to let the inmates run the asylum.While all of this raises questions about whether greed might strangle the golden goose, since nobody wants to risk being left behind, there's little evidence of concern about death by gluttony.Despite splitting $9 billion annually, pro football's owners and players engaged in labor strife over the summer, then grudgingly reached a deal -- and returned in time to post predictably boffo ratings. Meanwhile, sharing a mere $4 billion a year has resulted in poverty-pleading NBA owners sidelining pro basketball players for at least the season's first two weeks, and possibly much longer.Like the NFL, the NBA is coming off a terrific season ratings-wise, fueled by the free-agency fracas unleashed by pitchman supreme LeBron James and his Miami Heat teammates. Yet the league could squander that momentum if it sacrifices most or all of the season -- a distinct possibility.The NBA's absence leaves the spotlight on Major League Baseball, whose postseason pyrotechnics actually have people buzzing about the game again. Of course, in order to fully appreciate America's pastime, one has to ignore the scandals pertaining to steroids or insolvent owners that have recently filled courtrooms.Still, the wackiest developments have involved the aforementioned creation of an ever greater number of local or regional sports networks, some of which will suffer if the NBA lockout lingers.Time Warner initiated a bidding war in Los Angeles by snagging rights to the much-beloved Lakers, prompting Fox Sports to preemptively seek to extend its relationship with the Dodgers via a 17-year, $3-billion deal. The only problem was that Dodger owner Frank McCourt desperately needs the cash to, among other things, settle his messy and very public divorce, prompting MLB commissioner Bud Selig -- concerned about how McCourt might spend the $385 million Fox pledged to commit upfront -- to step in and halt the agreement. (Full disclosure: I'm a part-time contributor to Foxsports.com.)College football, meanwhile, has tampered with decades of tradition and upended historic rivalries in a frenzied attempt to reconfigure itself into "super-conferences" in order to maximize TV revenues. Although the conference-hopping has temporarily cooled, the amount of time devoted to pondering where teams would land during the off season was exceeded only by the steady drip of scandals over players receiving improper benefits. In their own way, each thread illustrates the lack of rational authority governing what many derisively refer to as amateur athletics.Through all of this, major media companies have essentially thrown up their hands, insisting their billions in fees play no part in perpetuating flaws in the current system.This much is certain: The money keeps growing. Consider ESPN's $15 billion deal to extend its "Monday Night Football" rights through 2021 -- increasing its annual payment more than 70%, to $1.9 billion. For a network that needs exclusive programming to command lofty fees from cable operators and consumers, the NFL is simply must-have TV -- suggesting additional payments from other networks, and thus plenty more cash for owners and players to fight over in the future.Still, focusing on networks and leagues ignores another constituency in this equation -- and perhaps the most significant one: Die-hard fans, who might periodically express their disgust over battles pitting millionaire players against billionaire owners, but who in practice can't stay away for any length of time.As long as fans remain addicted to the exploits of their favorite teams, in other words, all the major sports will have them -- and the TV industry -- by the balls. Contact Brian Lowry at brian.lowry@variety.com

REVIEW: Genial Birder Comedy The Big Year Ponders Life's Big Questions, with Few Goofy Hijinks

The Big Year has such an overstuffed comedic cast that it’s a shock to realize how modest and unconcerned with generating broad laughs it is. Directed by David Frankel (of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me), produced by Ben Stiller and adapted from a book by former Denver Post reporter Mark Obmascik, The Big Year is only really a comedy in that it’s tonally light and doesn’t ever firmly commit in another direction. Mostly, it’s an earnest showcase for the subculture and annual circuit of competitive bird watching — the preferred term for the true devotees, apparently, is “birding” — in which the hardcore travel around the country hoping for sightings of as many species as possible, some keeping track (honor system only!) and submitting their final count to the North American Big Year contest. If you can’t begin to understand why someone would want to commit a significant amount of time and money to this activity (I’m still scratching my head over it myself), neither can many of the bemused supporting characters in the movie. One of the most commendable things about The Big Year is its willingness to allow that your passions are your passions, and while the world may not comprehend them, that doesn’t mean they have to be a source of unfair mockery. The three leads all experience their own encounters with resistance and scatterings of support, but the film never makes its obsessives into easy targets. Sad sack Brad Harris (Jack Black), who narrates, tries to balance his full time job at a nuclear plant with the time and expense of his pursuit of a Big Year, the helpfulness of his mother (Dianne Wiest) countered by the uncomprehending scorn of his father (Brian Dennehy). Then there’s former hotshot NY exec Stu Preissler (Steve Martin), who has the blessings of his loving spouse (JoBeth Williams) and enough cash to make travel to places like Brownsville, Texas, and Attu Island in Alaska easy. But his former colleagues (Kevin Pollak and Joel McHale — see what I mean about the cast?) still call on him for his business expertise, trying to lure him out of retirement. New Jersey contractor Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson) is the reigning champion of birding, but his competitiveness in the field has destroyed his past marriage and threatens his current one, as his wife (Rosamund Pike) grows impatient about his absences as she undergoes fertility treatments in the hopes of getting pregnant. Genial and mild, The Big Year doesn’t give in to the temptation to juice up its story with outsized caricatures or inflated dramas. Not that there’s much opportunity for such things with an arc that stretches out over a year and tracks the ups and downs of people who get excited over the effect El Nio will have on migratory patterns. Instead, the film delves into pop psych questions about quality of life and the pursuit of happiness, with uneven results that are sometimes achingly on the nose — Brad points out in voiceover that Stu’s starting to confront his own mortality, though how he knows this is cause for speculation — and other times startlingly grounded, as in the fights Kenny has with his wife, who loves him but has begun to accept he’s simply not going to be there when she needs him. The Big Year is going to disappoint anyone who shows up in search of slapstick and goofy hijinks, which is probably most of the potential audience, given the draw of the aforementioned cast (which also includes Tim Blake Nelson, Anthony Anderson, Anjelica Huston, Jim Parsons and Rashida Jones as Brad’s inevitable fellow birder crush) and a trailer that gathers up everything in the film that could remotely be construed as a pratfall. The Big Year isn’t enough of a success to cause anyone to seriously mourn this fact, but it does seem unfair that the picture is bound to suffer for not meeting these expectations when its aims are so completely different. In its depiction of birding and of a contest with no prize outside of recognition within a small community, The Big Year actually explores, though not deeply, success and competition and their meaning on a larger life scale. The drive that some of these characters have to be on top, whether in work or in their chosen calling, interferes with their day-to-day happiness, while another is denigrated for his lack of traditional accomplishments and his dedication to such an unconventional choice of hobby, despite the pleasure it brings him. Wispy-slight as it may be, The Big Year deserves props for these gentle, minor philosophical explorations — though any film that involves a character fecklessly maxing out credit cards in our current economic reality, all dreams and aspirations aside, could do with a little added introspection.

'The X Factor' Schedule Changes: Wednesday's Episode Canceled

Ray Mickshaw / FOX Well, it seems appropriate that Rihanna has a hit song titled "Umbrella." She was to debut as a guest mentor on Wednesday's episode of The X Factor featuring the judges' homes, but Fox just announced it's pulling tonight's airing due to a rainy day. PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes: THR's 'X Factor' Cover Shoot Apparently, rain has delayed Game 4 of the American League Championship Series a couple hours. So, the network has decided to air Wednesday's episode on Thursday at 8 p.m. And Thursday's episode will now air on Sunday at 8 p.m. That stands for both the East and West Coast airings. The show will return to its previous schedule with an episode next Tuesday at 8 p.m. Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter:@TheRealJethro RELATED: THR COVER STORY: What the X Is This All About? 'The X Factor' Vs. 'American Idol:' Who's Leading the Battle for Talent Show Supremacy (Analysis) THR's Complete 'X Factor' Coverage Fox Broadcasting Corporation The X Factor

TV Land Orders Potential Hot In Cleveland Spinoff With Cedric The Entertainer To Pilot

TV Land’s proposed Hot In Cleveland spinoff starring Cedric the Entertainer is moving one step closer to reality with a pilot order. The pilot order was somewhat surprising given that Cedric’s minister character was introduced on an episode of Hot In Cleveland that aired in August. Written by Hot In Cleveland creator Suzanne Martin, the episode had been perceived as a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff series starring Cedric. Now the project also is going through a traditional pilot process. The potential spinoff follows Cedric’s character Reverend Boyce as he moves to Cedric’s hometown of St. Louis and has to balance his wild past with the expectations of his congregation and his family. Martin and Cedric wrote the pilot and are executive producing with Hazy Mills’ Sean Hayes and Tod Milliner, who also executive produce Hot In Cleveland. Production is slated to begin on Dec. 2.

'Arrested Development:' 5 Things to Know About the Series' Potential Return

Over the weekend, news broke that cult series Arrested Development might return to air. The Hollywood Reporter breaks down how the story started, what the stars of the show are saying and the roadblocks that could keep it off the air.our editor recommends'Arrested Development' Actor Exits Broadway's 'La Cage aux Folles''Arrested Development' film gets closer'Arrested Development' Stars Confirm Plans for Show's TV Return 1. Creator Mitch Hurwitz teased the possibility of a nine or 10 "mini-season" at the NYer Festival on Sunday. The short-lived series starred Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor. PHOTOS: Best and Worst TV Dads: 'Modern Family,' 'Shameless,' 'The Simpsons' 2. Bateman then confirmed the news on Twitter Sunday afternoon. "We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early '13." Arnett also confirmed the news online, writing: "I'm peeing with @batemanjason at the moment..and we can confirm that we are going to make new AD eps and a movie." PHOTOS: Fall TV Death Pool: Will 'Charlie's Angels,' 'Whitney' or 'How to Be a Gentleman' Be Axed First? 3. There could be issues with scheduling. Arnett appears opposite Christina Applegate on NBC's Up All Night. Both Cera and Bateman have two movies in the works. Hurtwitz hinted at the festival that each episode will center around a different character from the series so that they aren't required to be on set as often. 4. Will Fox network execs greenlight it? The show has a devoted -- but small -- audience. It was canceled in 2006 after just three seasons on air, despite winning six Emmys. 20th Century Fox TV declined comment Sunday. PHOTOS: Fall TV's 12 Most Anticipated Shows 5. A reunion or movie has been in the works for a long time. In 2008, Hurwitz and Ron Howard reportedly closed a deal for a movie from Imagine and Fox Searchlight. Bateman and Arnett helped fuel the news of this online, but the movie nhas not yet happened. Related Topics Jason Bateman Will Arnett 5 Things You Didn't Know

Craze yields to caution in tight-fisted era

BSkyB displayed its purchasing energy using its pricey purchase of privileges to 'Glee.'UKTV bought the privileges to NBCU drama 'Grimm.'Five years back, well-heeled U.K. webs regularly outbid each other to secure firstrun exclusive privileges towards the latest zeitgeist show in the U.S.It happened for "Buddies," "The Simpsons" and "Lost," to focus on several auctions by which prices shot with the ceiling to unparalleled levels.But as fears of the double-dip recession linger and broadcasters' budgets remain tight, a putting in a bid war has become the exception as opposed to the rule for British purchasers trying to strengthen their agendas.Prior to the recession, the galleries gained large benefits because the cost of premium shows jumped to $a million an hour or so and beyond.Our prime point was when Sky 1 bought ABC's 'Lost' from Funnel 4," recalls Theresa Smart, who runs her very own media working as a consultant within the U.K.Which was a never-to-be-repeated deal," she forecasts. "Across Europe -- and also the U.K. isn't any exception -- satellite and cable channels are purchasing increasingly more U.S. shows, while demand in the terrestrials has tended to flatten out."When "Glee" transformed hands in May, pay box BSkyB was reported to possess compensated 500,000 ($814,000) a chapter to secure the series from Funnel 4 niche web, E4.For that tv stations, anxious about ad revenues within an internet, the finish from the frenetic dealmaking seen prior to the recession is really a welcome trend. But because the "Glee" incident indicates, it's mistaken to claim that levels of competition are evaporating within the U.K. program purchases market. Or that the full-throttle putting in a bid war will not bust out soon between, say, BSkyB and Funnel 4, if the right show emerge -- regardless of the lowering probability of any "Lost"-style budget-breaking deals.By far the greatest spender within the U.K. purchases marketplace is BSkyB, whose revenues have defied the recession. After lately poaching "Mad Males" and "Nurse Jackie" in the BBC, plus "Glee" from E4, experts might conclude that BSkyB is near to monopolizing purchasing high-finish U.S. fare in Blighty.Permanently measure, the satcaster is the owner of the Cinemax catalog, with past, present and future U.K. privileges stitched up.Sky offers very deep pockets," states an adversary network professional. "If there's a show they would like to acquire, the odds are they will have it.InchGetting bought Virgin Media TV's funnel portfolio this past year, headed by Living TV, the paybox's requirement for a variety of acquired shows across genres is more than ever.You will find more channels that need shows, but we're still selective by what we buy," states BSkyB mind of purchases Sarah Wright. "We'll only buy when it's value.4 or 5 years back everyone was overpaying for shows. That is not happening now, but it's still a proper market."Captured, Funnel 4 came back towards the purchases market inside a large way -- not too it had ever withdrawn -- buying Warner Bros. comedy "2 Broke Women," the remake of "Charlie's Angels," political thriller "Homeland" and laffers "New Girl" and "Apartment 23."With "Your Government" no more area of the agendas and "Buddies" poached by Comedy Central, Funnel 4 required to fill lots of slots, especially on E4.UKTV, now co-possessed by Scripps, doesn't have Funnel 4's financial firepower, but it's proving itself to be a pressure to become believed with when it comes to purchasing high-profile U.S. shows. Last fall, it clicked up ABC crime saga "Body of Proof" and, urged through the skein's perf, lately bought NBCU drama "Grimm."'Grimm' is our greatest acquisition up to now," states Catherine Mackin, UKTV's chief buyer. "We are trading more in U.S. shows, but they need to be suitable for what's nowadays a ten-funnel portfolio.Things to know about the present crop of U.S. shows is the fact that I believe there's something for everybody. We're always searching for the great finds.InchAssociated LINKS: Mipcom drama purchasers choose carefully Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com