D Angelo

William P. D'Angelo, producer of such television series hits as "Love, American Style," "Room 222" and "Alice," who also created innovative children's shows, including "Run, Joe, Run," has died. He was 70. D'Angelo died June 8 in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer. Raised in New York City, D'Angelo graduated from Fordham University with little idea about what to do with his life. The Army drafted him and assigned him to a film unit as a cameraman.

Beverly D'Angelo, in a throwback to the days of drop-dead femmes fatales , chews up a role that actresses would die for and runs away with the four-hour miniseries "Trial: The Price of Passion" (Sunday and Monday at 9 p.m. on NBC, Channels 4, 36 and 39). It's not that John Gay's teleplay (based on Clifford Irving's book, "Trial") would have it any other way.

As celebrity host Mary J. Blige pointed out when introducing headliner D'Angelo on Saturday at the Wiltern Theatre, the seventh annual KKBT-FM-sponsored Holiday Cooldown event was chiefly a present for the ladies, what with several bedroom-oriented male R&B acts crossing the stage. The yuletide decor reflected the season, but in contrast to last year's Cooldown, none of the featured performers essayed holiday tunes during the three-hour show.

D'Angelo's "Voodoo" and Shelby Lynne's "I Am Shelby Lynne" are both albums that require some listener patience, but they ultimately reward you for the time spent. They are the standouts in the latest guide to keeping up with what's exciting in pop music on an album budget of $50 a month. January D'Angelo's "Voodoo" (Virgin).

This was the last year that BET staged its annual awards spectacle at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where it'd been held since 2006, and Sunday's telecast lived up to its "Too big to miss" tagline. The three-hour-plus production saw the highly antcipated return of D'Angelo, over-the-top performances by Kanye West (and his G.O.O.D. Music clan), Nicki Minaj and an emotional tribute to the late Whitney Houston led by her mother, Cissy. Though not a ratings smash -- it drew 7.4 million viewers, down slightly from last year's 7.7 million --  next year's telecast could change that.

There were only good vibes Friday night during the 10th annual Soul Train Music Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium, where the big winners were TLC and soulful newcomer D'Angelo, who each took home awards in three categories. D'Angelo (whose full name is Michael D'Angelo Archer) won best new artist along with awards for his acclaimed debut album, "Brown Sugar," and the single of the same name.

Are D'Angelo and fire departments around the country in cahoots? * Everywhere the dynamic young R&B singing virtuoso turns up for a concert, women in the audience scream and wave their hands as if it were Beatlemania again, and fire department reps with walkie-talkies invariably turn people away from the packed venue, including, in this case, Hollywood bigwigs accustomed to carte blanche.

They say that good things come to those who wait, but you can't blame soul music fans for being a little impatient over the last few years. It has been more than two decades since Al Green, arguably the greatest soul singer ever, returned to gospel music, and no one has stepped forward during that period to lay a convincing claim on his secular crown. But the wait is officially over.

SAN FRANCISCO — How does a 28-year-old make $400 million in 18 months? With the right idea at the right time in mobile apps for smartphones. Kevin Systrom won the start-up sweepstakes this week when Facebook Inc. said it would pay $1 billion in cash and stock for his photo-sharing app maker, which has a loyal following of 30 million users but never made a dime. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg called Systrom to personally negotiate the deal for the social media giant, which is expected to fetch a valuation of $100 billion as soon as next month when it begins selling shares to the public.