Luck

In an odd yet understandable marketing strategy, the folks behind E!'s new reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" have spent a lot of pre-premiere publicity time explaining what the show isn't. Which is to say, Clint Eastwood. The legendary actor and director will appear in but a few episodes and then only briefly. He will not, for instance, be slamming doors or engaging in filmed therapy sessions with his wife, Dina, around whom the show revolves (see title.) That doesn't mean the show is not about Clint Eastwood; it is. If the principal characters -- Dina, her 15-year-old daughter Morgan and 19-year old stepdaughter Francesca -- were not related to him, there would be Absolutely No Reason to watch this, which, by reality show standards, promises to be tame to the point of sedation.

The cancellation and hefty write-down of HBO's"Luck" and the closure of a TV channel in India put a damper on an otherwise solid first quarter forTime Warner Inc. The New York media giant reported a profit of $583 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared with $653 million for the same period in 2011, an 11% drop. Revenue was up 4% to $7 billion. "We're off to a great start to the year, and we're benefiting from strong momentum for our content across our businesses," Time Warner Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes said Wednesday.

The wait for tables is getting longer at Buck's, a popular breakfast spot for the tech elite and a weather vane for the Silicon Valley economy. Here, like everywhere else, Facebook is the talk of the town. "Charles Schwab was in the restaurant the other day, and I asked him to hook me up with some Facebook shares," said Jamis MacNiven, owner of Buck's, in the wealthy suburban enclave of Woodside. "He told me even he can't get Facebook shares. " The new tech boom officially gets underway Friday when Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg rings Nasdaq's opening bell remotely from the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters, launching the largest initial public offering of stock in Silicon Valley history.

NEW YORK - Coby Fleener's first NFL route was a comeback pattern. The Stanford tight end will be reunited in Indianapolis with Andrew Luck, his college quarterback. "I just sent him a text message that had a lot of exclamation points in it," Fleener said Friday, minutes after the Colts made him the second pick of the NFL draft's second round - 33 selections and 23 hours after Indianapolis used the No. 1 overall pick on Luck. For Fleener, a first-rounder in most mock drafts, the disappointment of slipping into the second day was quickly washed away when his cellphone finally rang in the green room at Radio City Music Hall.

J. Paul Reddam might not be the type of businessman for whom people suffering through the recession can bring themselves to root. Reddam, 56, is president of Anaheim-based CashCall, the mortgage refinancing and high-interest personal loan company who critics say has unfairly capitalized upon people's financial woes during the country's economic and employment crisis. But the Sunset Beach resident is also owner of Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another, who could provide horse racing with a huge shot in the arm Saturday with a victory in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

'Luck' Where: HBO When: 9 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)

Making my way through HBO's new racetrack drama"Luck," I wondered at times if I was looking at a new rule-breaking version of the art form, a Monet perhaps, or a "Ulysses. " Or I wondered if it was just a show drowning in pretension, the work of people hoping that novelty would disguise a lack of professional rigor. Having finished the nine-episode first season, I am inclined toward the former, though there is enough of the latter to make me appreciate the confines of more traditional television storytelling.

'Good Luck Charlie' Where: Disney When: 8:30 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-G (suitable for all ages)

HBO has pulled the plug on its gambling drama "Luck" after controversy erupted over the deaths of three horses during production. "It is with heartbreak that executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann together with HBO have decided to cease all future production on the series 'Luck,' " the network said in a statement. The statement continues: "Safety is always of paramount concern. We maintained the highest safety standards throughout production, higher in fact than any protocols existing in horseracing anywhere with many fewer incidents than occur in racing or than befall horses normally in barns at night or pastures.

The Currans of Granada Hills have been taking family vacations on the Las Vegas Strip for years. They weren't about to pass it up just because Jeff Curran's business selling upscale cookware is down sharply. But this summer it would be a smart Vegas vacation. A year ago they plunked down $100 each for tickets to the Blue Man Group show at the Venetian. This year, the family of four -- Jeff, 59, his wife, Michele, 55, and their adult son and daughter -- took in the Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Harrah's with tickets discounted to $10 apiece.

1. Indianapolis Colts: QB Andrew Luck, Stanford - The last time the Colts had the No. 1 pick in the draft was 1998, when they selected Peyton Manning. Luck spent his early childhood in London, England, and Frankfurt, Germany, where his father, Oliver, was the GM of two World League of American Football teams prior to becoming league president. Oliver went to high school in Houston, where he was co-valedictorian of his class. Comment: Because the Colts are rebuilding, that should buy Luck some time.

NEW YORK - The NFL, a league that has long embraced its tradition, tried something new Thursday night. A no-huddle draft. The picks were coming so fast and furious, at one point Commissioner Roger Goodell had a backlog of three picks in his suit pocket. And the first is usually the slowest, most contemplative round. The league might need an auctioneer Friday for Rounds 2 and 3. The first round ended in three hours, a tidy made-for-prime-time span. Amazingly, that was an hour slower than the fastest opening round on record, in 1972, when there were six fewer franchises.

NEW YORK — We won't get fooled again. Unlike a year ago, when an early run on quarterbacks caught most NFL draft prognosticators flat-footed, most have now resigned themselves to the notion that the QB count might reach four before the first round is done Thursday night. And the first two passers are already penned in. Stanford's Andrew Luck will be the No. 1 pick, by Indianapolis, and Washington will take Baylor's Robert Griffin III second. It will be the first time quarterbacks have gone 1-2 in the draft since 1999.

Monday we asked which of the two players everyone assumes will go 1-2 in the NFL draft -- Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III-- will have a better pro career. So far, Luck has the edge with 38% of the vote (followed by both successful with 31%, Griffin with 22% and both disappointments with 9%). So that's the long-term prognosis -- today we will look at the short term. Which of the two will have the best rookie season in the NFL? The Indianapolis Colts already have stated they will be taking Luck at No. 1 overall, and the Washington Redskins will stun the world if they don't use the No. 2 pick on RG3. Writers from around the Tribune Co. will be discussing the topic throughout the day. Join the conversation by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own. Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times Robert Griffin III will have a better rookie season because he'll be surrounded by a better supporting cast.

The worst-kept secret in the NFL is officially out of the bag. The Indianapolis Colts will use the No. 1 overall pick Thursday on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. General Manager Ryan Grigson confirmed that to reporters Tuesday, and the Colts' official website led with the headline, "Luck to Be First Pick" on its front page. The Colts had informed Luck last week that he would be the first player selected. That means a quarterback will be taken first overall for the fourth consecutive year, the second-longest such streak in NFL history.

Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III appear poised to be only the fourth pair of quarterbacks to go 1-2 in the NFL draft in the last 20 years. Both have had stellar college careers, but only one seems destined to have the same kind of success in the NFL ... if history repeats itself. In all three cases during the last two decades, one member of the quarterback duo selected in the top two of the draft has gone on to enjoy a lengthy and successful pro career; the other has been more or less a bust.

I jumped out of bed the next morning, ready to have good things happen. But I accidentally hopped on my dog Manfred's tail. He was so surprised he yelped and ran--right into my mother's big hallway plant stand. It was a real mess, but I happily cleaned it up because I knew good things were going to start happening any minute. I ran in the bathroom to brush my teeth, then I hurried down to eat breakfast. I was telling Mom about the good luck that was coming when she held up her hand.

Re John W. Larsen's May 27 letter about the unavailability of boxes at the Hollywood Bowl: I thought I was the only one who had such problems: I have had no luck for the last 25 years! It seems the boxes are always filled with drowsy executive types who appear to be there because this is the thing to do . Automatic renewal of box subscriptions should be done away with. Because this facility is a public institution and because of its popularity, the boxes should be assigned annually via lottery.

A year ago, when the NFL was slogging through its labor meltdown, there was plenty of hand-wringing that rookies wouldn't be as prepared to play as in seasons past. It was a reasonable assumption they would be shortchanged by a compressed off-season and frantically rushed training camps. Instead, the 2011 rookie class produced several spectacular players, among them Carolina's Cam Newton, Denver's Von Miller, Cincinnati's A.J. Green and Andy Dalton, Arizona's Patrick Peterson, San Francisco's Aldon Smith and many more.

  The Indianapolis Colts have informed  Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck that he's the No. 1 pick in next week's draft, The Times has confirmed. The news was first reported Thursday morning by ESPN's Adam Schefter. That means Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III is in line to go second to the Washington Redskins. Although that 1-2 lineup has been forecast for months, there had been increasing speculation in recent weeks that the Colts were flirting with the idea of taking Griffin.