Today's Buzz stories
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An 'Apprentice' learns fast
NEW YORK (AP) -- Kwame Jackson is starting to look less like an "Apprentice" and more like Donald Trump.
The runner-up in the first season of the NBC reality show "The Apprentice" has completed a multibillion dollar real estate deal of his own. With two other partners, Jackson has made a deal with officials in Prince George's County in Maryland to develop 550 acres into commercial and residential property.
The deal is worth $3.8 billion and will provide over 32,000 jobs, Jackson said.
"For me, 'The Apprentice' was the beginning," he told The Associated Press Tuesday. "It's not a ceiling, it's a floor."
In developing one of the nation's more affluent black counties, "We believe in being catalysts in what we call the second generation of the civil rights movement," Jackson said.
His company, Legacy Development Partners, will announce the specifics of the real estate deal at a news conference Wednesday. It also plans production of an executive menswear line and a network TV show.
"The Apprentice," and real estate mogul Trump, return to NBC on September 9.
Heche joining 'Everwood'
NEW YORK (AP) -- Anne Heche will join the cast of "Everwood," the WB drama about a Manhattan brain surgeon who relocates in a Colorado mountain town.
The actress, who has starred in the movies "Wag the Dog" and "Six Days, Seven Nights," will play the role of Amanda Carver, the Patron Saint of the town of Everwood, the WB announced. The show's main character, played by Treat Williams, becomes involved with Heche's character while helping her cope with her husband's paralysis.
Also joining the third season of "Everwood," which premieres 9 p.m. EDT September 13, will be Scott Wolf, best known for his role on "Party of Five."
"Anne Heche is a phenomenal actress and, along with the addition of Scott Wolf, brings a great new sense of excitement to what is already an outstanding show," said David Janollari, the WB's president of entertainment.
New Whoopi B'way show
NEW YORK (AP) -- Whoopi Goldberg is returning to Broadway in the show that jump-started her career 20 years ago.
Goldberg's self-titled one-woman show opens November 17 at the Lyceum Theatre, the same house where the show premiered in October 1984, it was announced Tuesday. The original show ran for 156 performances.
Since then, the actress-comedian has appeared on Broadway in the revivals of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
She won a supporting actress Oscar in 1991 for "Ghost." Her movies also include "The Color Purple" and the "Sister Act" films.
Preview performances begin November 6. Goldberg will try out her show in Philadelphia, playing a week's engagement at the Merriam Theatre starting October 13.
'Rescue' renewed
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) -- FX has renewed Denis Leary's firefighter drama "Rescue Me" for a second season.
Just five episodes into the series' first season, the cable channel has ordered at least 13 more installments; the exact order hasn't been determined but it is not expected to be any more than 15.
Leary plays a New York fireman haunted by the September 11 terrorist attacks. He also writes and executive produces the series with Peter Tolan and Jim Serpico.
"Rescue Me" has averaged 2 million viewers in the key adults 18-49 demo in its Wednesday 10 p.m. slot, the highest total in that coveted demographic for a new basic cable show. The series averages a cumulative audience of 9.5 million over the course of its five airings per week.
But strong ratings wasn't the only thing that factored into "Rescue's" renewal, according to John Landgraf, president of entertainment at FX.
"The issue is, how strong is the series creatively and is it growing," he said. "I feel and everyone else here feels (that) the show has only gotten better since the pilot episode."
The second season of "Rescue," from producers Sony Pictures Television and DreamWorks TV, is expected to begin in mid-2005; the series is still in production on its first season.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
