Scripted

"Lincoln" has been a big hit in movie theaters, and on Jan. 22 Tony Kushner's screenplay for Steven Spielberg's film will arrive in book form, to be followed in late February by another new Kushner book -- the revised script for "Angels in America," the early 1990s stage drama that established him as a leading playwright. Kushner's longtime publisher, Theatre Communications Group, is issuing both volumes -- the film script about Abraham Lincoln's struggle to push the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery through Congress during the waning days of the Civil War, and the epic, seven-hour play about gay men trying to cope with the AIDs crisis during the 1980s.

As artistic director of L.A.'s Center Theatre Group, Michael Ritchie reads more than a play a day on average - perhaps 500 a year - in quest of the 15 or 16 he'll pick each season for his company's three stages. But lately he's noticed that there's a bit less to read. Shorter scripts have been popping up more than they used to. "Nowadays a lot more plays are being written as one-acts," said Ritchie - meaning the stories play out in perhaps 90 minutes or less, without stopping for intermission.

BEIJING - A popular joke making the rounds in Beijing touts the superiority of China's political system to that of the United States. After all, while the race between President Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney went down to the wire, the Chinese have known for years the outcome of the 18th Communist Party congress that opens Thursday in Beijing. Vice President Xi Jinping has been groomed since the last congress in 2007 to replace President Hu Jintao (first as secretary-general of the Communist Party)

Scott Baio, who was Chachi on "Happy Days" and "Joanie Loves Chachi" and Charles on "Charles in Charge," is now the star of "See Dad Run," the first scripted comedy from Nick at Nite. Without being actually privy to the internal memos, I would guess that the series, which premieres Sunday, exists to follow the lead of rival TV Land, which has already added some original - in the sense of new - old-fashioned sitcoms to its rotation of actually old sitcoms. "Hot in Cleveland," with Valerie Bertinelli and Betty White, was the first; "The Soul Man," with Cedric the Entertainer is the latest.

Last week, an acquaintance sent me a link to an article on the Atlantic's website about "Innocence of Muslims," the anti-Islam film that has provoked so much violence in the Middle East. To my horror, the story prominently featured a picture of me. When I watched the film clip, I was even more appalled. A year earlier, I had done two days of acting in a film I'd been told would be called "Desert Warrior. " The images were clearly from that film, but my words had been replaced by words I would have never uttered, and the resulting film was something I would never have agreed to participate in. Here's how it happened.

Brett Hundley was picking out footballs to use in UCLA's season opener. True, he was getting unsolicited advice from punter Jeff Locke after practice Sunday. But this was Hundley's call. His first big decision as the Bruins' quarterback. "I guess things are getting close," Hundley said. "That's pretty cool. " On Thursday, Hundley will take the field against Rice, his first game since his senior season at Chandler (Ariz.) High. The redshirt freshman will run an offense that UCLA players have never used in a game.

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Joe Biden isn't going to change his brand, even a day after his comments spurred a Category 3 storm of outrage. “I know I am sometimes criticized for saying exactly what I mean. And it's not going to change,” the vice president told a crowd of supporters at the end of a campaign speech here Wednesday afternoon. Biden was somewhat subdued at the outset of a roughly half-hour speech on the campus of Virginia Tech, paying closer attention, it seemed, to the TelePrompTer screens in front of him to more carefully keep to the script.

Rep. Paul D. Ryan says he doesn't like government waste and he's probably got very few friends in show business, so when he found out several years ago what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was up to in Hollywood, he tried to pull the plug on one  entertainment industry initiative. The CDC was one of the founders of Hollywood Health & Society, a program of the Norman Lear Center at USC. The program gives entertainment industry professionals free consultations on their television programs and movies so that any health-related plots reflect “accurate and timely information.” Over the past two years, Hollywood Health & Society has consulted on more than 380 story lines on shows such as “Grey's Anatomy,” “Private Practice” and “Sesame Street,” said the program's director, Sandra de Castro Buffington.

Walgreen drugstores and pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts have made peace. The two companies will once again allow people to fill prescriptions at the nation's largest pharmacy chain after a spat over money that began last summer. As of Jan. 1, people whose medical benefits were overseen by Express Scripts were forced to go elsewhere for their meds. As I wrote in October , Walgreen believed it wasn't being fairly reimbursed for its prescription drugs. Express Scripts insisted it was offering fair value.

After seven painful months of separation, Walgreen Co. and one of its largest customers, Express Scripts Holding Co., are back together. The companies said Thursday that they reached a new multi-year pharmacy network agreement that will allow customers of Express Scripts to once again fill their prescriptions at Walgreens stores. The agreement goes into effect Sept. 15. Terms were not disclosed. Shares of Walgreen jumped $3.65, or 11.8%, to $34.61 on Thursday, while Express Scripts shares rose $1.11, or 1.9%, to $58.80.