Weekend overshadowed by war activity
By Todd Leopold
CNN
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A workman prepares an oversized version of that most coveted of Tinseltown men, Oscar, early in the week.
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ON CNN TV
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'Eye on Entertainment' on CNN's 'Live Today' charts the coming weekend, Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon ET.
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(CNN) -- With the Academy Awards on Sunday and the opening rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament under way, this would normally be one of the most active television-watching weekends of the year. It may still be a busy television weekend -- but many people may be watching the news instead.
Eye opener
The 75th annual Academy Awards is scheduled on ABC Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. ET, 5:30 p.m. PT. Steve Martin hosts. Though organizers have been adamant that the show will go on, it will not go on as usual: The red carpet has been shortened, stars will enter the Kodak Theatre directly without pausing for interviews and photographs, and the mood is expected to be subdued. Even the Barbara Walters interview special ABC airs before the broadcast, an annual custom for many viewers, has been postponed. With activity having begun in Iraq, the network may decide to air news coverage, though it will consult with the Motion Picture Academy in advance.
Over on CBS, the first- and second-round games of the NCAA men's basketball tournament are scheduled to air from about noon ET Thursday through Sunday evening, likely ending just before the Oscar broadcast. However, if war begins, CBS may devote its airtime to news and turn some games over to ESPN. The announcers include Dick Enberg, Matt Guokas, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Len Elmore, Gus Johnson, Kevin Harlan and Jay Bilas.
On screen
• Gwyneth Paltrow longs for the bright skies of international air travel as an aspiring flight attendant in "View from the Top." The comedy also stars Christina Applegate, Candace Bergen, Rob Lowe and Mike Myers.
• Stephen King's "Dreamcatcher" comes to the screen, with Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Tom Sizemore and Donnie Wahlberg. Some moviegoers may visit just for the coming attractions: Warner Bros. (an AOL Time Warner company, as is CNN.com) is attaching a "Matrix"-related nine-minute animated short to the beginning called "The Final Flight of Osiris."
On the tube
• Two networks are trying vastly different types of counterprogramming against the Oscars Sunday. At TCM -- another AOL Time Warner company -- the "31 Days of Oscar" continues with the all-time classic (and best picture winner) "Casablanca" at 8 p.m. ET, followed by "The Way We Were" at 10:30 p.m. NBC is taking the opposite tack, running a "Making of 'Fear Factor'" special at 7 p.m., a 90-minute "Fear Factor" at 7:30, and the not-to-be-confused-with-Oscar-material "Billy Madison" at 9. To each his or her own.
Sound waves
• Linkin Park follows its best-selling "Hybrid Theory" with "Meteora" (Warner Bros.), on Tuesday, March 25.
• Celine Dion's new album, "One Heart" (Sony), is also released Tuesday.
Paging readers
• Philip Gulley's latest Harmony novel, "Signs and Wonders" (HarperSanFrancisco), is due out March 25.
