Trade Round-Up: American Idol Eats Olympics
· Sony, Paramount and Warner Bros. are cutting back on movie releases for the Sony PSP handheld video game system, turning fans of squinty-entertainment to the downloadable promise of the video iPod. [Variety]
· American Idol and House beat NBC's Olympics coverage by a wide margin in the ratings. Health officials now express concern that audiences will soon choose watching the reality show over doing anything else, including eating and breathing. [Variety]
· Requiem for a Dream director Darren Aronofsky gets first-look shingle at Universal, nearly passes out fantasizing about the possibilities of big budget Jared Leto-getting-his-arm-sawed-off sequences. [Variety]
· Pilot season casting frenzy: Teri Polo in CBS' Welcome to the Jungle Gym (get it?), Connie Britton in NBC's Friday Night Lights, and Daryl Sabara in TBS' Boy's Life. [THR]
· CBS and NBC shake up their schedules, with CBS moving Out of Practice and Courting Alex (the who now, what now?) to Wednesday, and NBC extending a show we've heard of, The Office, to May. [THR]