Scripts

A class-action lawsuit filed by two Nashville men who alleged that ABC's dating shows "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" intentionally excluded people of color has been dismissed. Lawyers for Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson had claimed in U.S. District Court that both shows over the last 10 years and 23 combined seasons had never featured a person of color in the central role. The defendants, including ABC and Warner Horizon Television, which produces the franchise, defended the casting on First Amendment grounds.

Beginning today, struggling screenwriters searching for a way into Hollywood will be handed a new opportunity courtesy of Franklin Leonard, the creator of the Black List, an annual compendium of the best unproduced screenplays. The list, which has become a barometer for quality screenwriting and launched its own website last year, will now allow screenwriters to upload their scripts to the site hosted by Leonard for $25 a month. The scripts will be available to the 1,000 industry professionals who currently subscribe to the site monthly.

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.

Franklin Leonard, the founder of Hollywood's influential Black List that ranks the best unproduced screenplays of the year, has been forced out of his post at Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment, according to sources close to the executive.  Leonard, who declined to comment on the development, had been employed by Smith's company as a production executive for the last two years. He shared the title of vice president of creative affairs with Caleeb Pinkett, the brother of Smith's spouse Jada Pinkett.

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.

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.

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.