OWN's Existence 2. Documentary Is First-Rate

Existence 2. OWN is not just four-for-four using its Documentary Club choices - they are improving as time continues. With Existence 2. (premiering Thursday at 9/8c), director Jason Spingarn-Koff explores Linden Lab's virtual world Second Existence, by which people explore and interact within an online world via avatars of the choice. It's less than a game title, but exactly how the documentary subjects negotiate the pc world and also the real you make for gripping dramatic tension. OWN's Serving Existence is re-inifocing Spingarn-Koff weaves together three tales of people that are mainly recognized through their avatars. Aimee Goode and Candidly Berblinger (real title: Steven) really are a couple who met on Second Existence, where they involved in "emotional infidelity." In other words, when they were thumping avatars and doing strange pre-virtual sex meditation on giant floating lotuses, their real-existence partners thought these were just playing some game. Their cheating is presented at length in the film's start which is luridly fascinating. Asri Falcone may be the avatar of the Detroit lady who stays her nights (she looks after a nocturnal schedule to maintain her from real-existence distractions like telephone calls) creating houses and clothes for virtual-world citizens. After which, there's Ayya Aabye, an 11-year-old female avatar controlled with a grown guy whose identity is revealed progressively throughout Existence 2.. It isn't that after you ultimately see his face, it's some large reveal (you will not recognize him), it is simply that his arc is about visiting terms together with his own identity and thus this is an artistic decision (along with a smart one at this) to trickle his image in. OWN's Sons of Perdition is essentially fascinating That this type of person almost entirely missing self-awareness is really a plus towards the entertainment quotient. We are treated to some really absurd sex scene between Aimee and Candidly (Aimee: "Personally i think very naked." Candidly: "You're.Inch). Sinking from Second Existence and into online communication that's somewhat less removed, they intentionally drift off together while Skyping, making due inside their lengthy-distance relationship (Candidly: "I am gonna switch off my light, but I am gonna let it rest on to ensure that you are there and that i can hear you breathing." Aimee: "OK. Appreciate sleeping beside me. Makes me feel so in your area.Inch). Asri states her avatar is really a "mirror image" but anybody with working eyes can easily see that's false. At some point, it's stated that they consumes six figures consequently of her Second Existence work, but this will make no sense unless of course she's counting the decimal points. (As revealed late within the film, a category-action copyright suit regarding products built on as well as for Second Existence - the very first available - nets its six litigants, including Asri, under $600 as a whole.) She states she'll work with 5 or 6 several weeks, eight hrs each day to create a home, but thinking about that forts choose 4.200 Lindens (the 2nd Existence currency), which is equivalent to $15.61 in tangible dollars, this means that Asri's controller works best for under 2 cents an hour or so. She'd be best trading inside a metal detector. Meanwhile, Ayya Aabye's guy discusses his avatar as if she's another entity having a will of her very own ("One thing that I have learned from her is the fact that there is nothing ever enough"). Becoming Chaz review: Human in the end Second Existence appears to release these individuals grasp about the real life or attract individuals who never really been with them to begin with. Among Ayya's online buddies, another female child, is questioned and she or he discloses, "I possibly could not think that we're both males in tangible existence!" But can you explain that so unbelievable? The idea of a dude at his keyboard pretending to become female for reasons uknown is really as old as the idea of online social media. When Linden Lab Boss Philip Rosedale is questioned, he claims: "Situations are real because they are there around and that we have confidence in them. And when they are simulated on digital computer versus kind of simulated by atoms and molecules, it does not make a difference to us." It is a nice theory, and definitely perception could be that which you allow it to be, but there's a simple distinction between what's in a person's mind and what's within the real life. Just to illustrate: Destitute people. Just to illustrate highly relevant to the film at hands: Asri's proclamation that "you could have home of your dreams within Second Existence with no real-existence cost" is simply talk, thinking about that she's taking care of her avatar's mansion within the basement of her parents' house. OWN announces fall selection, including Rosie O'Donnell's new talk show While sad unexpected things happen to those people, their general attitude doesn't suggest tragedy. They appear, for better or worse, pleased with the choices they have made and exactly how they have chosen to complicate their real lives with Second Existence. A portrait of those complications, Existence 2. is strange and amusing, much like existence. It's virtually real.

BBC chief launches attack on BSkyB

LONDON -- BBC topper Mark Thompson has launched a withering attack on James Murdoch, and what he claims is BSkyB's success in making the paybox's size a no-go zone for U.K. politicians. Writing on the eve of the Edinburgh Intl. Television Festival, which bows Friday, Thompson referred back to the gabfest's 2009 MacTaggart lecture given by Murdoch. In that speech the BSkyB chairman famously declared in his concluding sentence that "the only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of (journalistic) independence is profit." In his article, the BBC director general said that in the light of the phone hacking and police corruption scandal at the News of the World, the defunct British tabloid owned by News Corp.'s U.K. subsidiary News International, the phrase had taken on "an almost tragic irony." He said that if Murdoch were giving the MacTaggart lecture today, he would need to amend one word in his "final flourish." The only reliable, durable and perpetual guarantor of independence is not profit. Nor who you know. Nor what corners you can cut. It's integrity," wrote Thompson in the Guardian, the U.K. paper whose investigations have put the phone hacking scandal at the top of the news agenda. As British policy makers prepare for new media legislation -- a U.K. Communications Bill is expected next year -- Thompson said that the "broader debate about the future media landscape must not deflect us from the most obvious and urgent matters arising from the News of the World case matters of personal conduct and criminality, and above all of ethics and values." Turning to the highly charged topic of the corp.'s own size, Thompson claimed that the "BBC today takes a smaller share of U.K broadcast revenues than at any time in its history," and that last October's license fee deal will lead to more cuts. It's impossible to look at the facts and still argue that the BBC represents a growing threat of economic dominance," he added. Thompson said BSkyB's 6.6 billion ($10.8 billion) revenue means that the paybox is "already by some margin the largest player" in British broadcasting compared with a BBC with revenue of $8.2 billion. Despite this BSkyB had been "uncannily successful in persuading politicians to leave it out of the equation when they debate economic and editorial dominance." The phone hacking and police corruption scandal has highlighted close ties between the Murdoch org and leading U.K. pols, including British prime minister David Cameron and his predecessors, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

'Last Call' visiting Fuse

'Last Call With Carson Daly'"Last Call With Carson Daly" is visiting Fuse. Madison Square Garden-possessed music cabler has acquired the privileges to NBC's latenight skein and, from September, will air it at 6:30 and 10:30 p.m. the next day of it works on the Peacock. Daly frequently has musical visitors on his half-hour show, which airs within the 1:35 a.m. timeslot. Fuse is searching to achieve to music-centric audiences and Daly frequently has emerging bands and new artists on his show. Also, broadened "Last Call" content that do not air on NBC -- extended interviews and performances -- is going to be on the Fuse website. "This partnership is really a no-brainer," stated Daly. "Getting the show air on Fuse the next day of it initially airs on NBC means more and more people can easily see what we have been so looking forward to creating." "Last Call" is calculating 978,000 total audiences, up 12% from last year. Daly has lately made his mark in primetime as host of NBC's reality hit "The Voice." Show will go back to the Peacock February. 5 soon after the Super Bowl. Contact Stuart Levine at stuart.levine@variety.com

West Memphis Three Movie in the Works

Talk about serendipity. The release of the West Memphis Three murder defendants from prison on Friday has added a happy ending to the third 'Paradise Lost' documentary by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, who were finishing off their film in preparation for unspooling at the Toronto and New York film festivals. It turns out that -- below the radar -- Dimension Films, the genre arm of The Weinstein Co., had been preparing a film on the case since 2006, when they bought the rights to Mara Leveritt's book 'Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three.' The studio hired Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman to write the script. But the production was put into turnaround and languished until a few months ago, when director Atom Egoyan came onboard and began rewriting the script with Boardman. The West Memphis Three -- Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr. -- were convicted of killing three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Ark., in 1993, on circumstantial evidence, and the trial and convictions quickly came in for criticism. Berlinger and Sinofsky made two documentaries about the case: 'Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills' and 'Paradise Lost 2: Revelations,' which aired on HBO. The third, 'Paradise Lost: Purgatory,' is scheduled to be released on HBO in January. In addition to the two films and a Web site set up for the three men, several Hollywood celebrities had rallied to the cause, including Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. 'Devil's Knot,' which will be financed independently at a budget of under $20 million, begins shooting in the spring -- with a happy ending. Tip o' the hat to Deadline.

Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete Leaving The Talk

The Talk Two more Talkers down... Leah Remini and Holly Robinson Peete are not expected to return for the second season of CBS' The Talk, according to Deadline.com. The daytime talk show will be undergoing several changes in its sophomore year, starting with the women on the panel. The contract options for Sara Gilbert, who also created the show, Julie Chen and Sharon Osbourne have been picked up. The options for Remini and Peete were not renewed, though it's unclear what the future holds for the pair. Sharon Osbourne to take Talk break Osbourne recently asked for time off from the show, but she expects to pop up from time to time in a reduced role when The Talk returns in the fall. Remini and Peete aren't the first Talk hosts to exit. Marissa Jaret Winokur, one of the original six co-hosts, left in January.

Fox News Yanks Facebook Post Following Death Threats

Fox News has been forced to take action surrounding threatening and racist comments on two separate web posts recently. First, the network was forced to yank a post from Facebook after a guest received multiple death threats from readers, Yahoo's The Cutline blog reported. The post centered on Blair Scott, communications director for American Atheists, who appeared on the network'sAmerica Live to talk about his group's lawsuit aiming to stop the use of a crucifix at the World Trade Center Memorial. VIDEO: Fox News Criticizes Chris Brown's 'Today' Show Appearance But the post received more than 200 comments that the network identified as threatening; they included multiple death threats aimed at Scott. As a result, Fox News later decided to delete the post. "We make every attempt to keep our Facebook page as safe as possible," Peter Drace, Fox News vp and creative director of promotion, told The Cutline. "And we take immediate steps to remove all hateful and dangerous language." Before the post was deleted, atheist blog One Man's Blog posted several of the comments, which included: -- "These people are f'ing scum of the earth. can we start killing them now? few groups are filled with more hatred than atheists." -- "I love Jesus, and the cross and if you dont, I hope someone rapes you" VIDEO: 'Fox & Friends' Slam SpongeBob SquarePants' 'Global Warming Agenda' -- "Someone show me where they live&and they will live no mere [sic]!" -- "They're atheists so it won't matter if you kill them." -- "KILL THEM." The second incident involved Fox News' Fox Nation website, which on Friday was forced to close comments on a post about President Obama that referred to his 50th birthday as a "Hip-Hop BBQ." The post spurred a slew of comments that the network deemed racist. "We found many of the comments to be offensive and inappropriate, and they have been removed," Fox News executive vp programming Bill Shine said. Related Topics Barack Obama Fox News Channel

TV CASTINGS ROUNDUP: 'AMC' Creator To Appear On Soap, Slew Of Actors Join Series

All My Children creator Agnes Nixon will appear on the daytime drama, which is nearing the end of its run on ABC. In an arc starting Aug. 31, she will reprise her role as Agnes Eckhart, a long standing board member of Pine Valley Hospital, which she created for herself in 2005 when she first appeared on the show as part of its 35th anniversary. This time around, Eckhardt is admitted to Pine Valley Hospital where Cara (Lindsay Hartley) and David (Vincent Irizarry) tend to her. She also crosses paths with Erica Kane (Susan Lucci). Another soap veteran, The Young and the Restless regular Michael Graziadei has booked a recurring role on FX's upcoming drama series American Horror Story. The thriller, from Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuck, is about a couple (Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton) moving into a 1920s house and their new nosy neighbor Constance (Jessica Lange). Graziadei, repped by Innovative and Main Title, will play Constance's new, young boyfriend. Ashton Holmes (HBO's The Pacific) has landed a recurring role on the upcoming ABC drama Revenge, which stars Emily VanCamp as a young woman who goes to the Hamptons to exact revenge on the rich Grayson family who destroyed her father. Holmes, repped by UTA and manager Jeff Morrone, will play a high-society bad boy who is a Harvard classmate of Daniel Grayson (Josh Bowman). iNew Zealander Simone Kessell has been tapped for a major recurringrole on Fox's upcoming prehistoric drama Terra Nova. Kessell, who joined the project for the reshoots of the pilot and has appeared in every episode shot so far, plays Alicia Washington, the tough second-in-command to the Terra Nova colony's Commander Frank Taylor (Steven Lang). Kessell, repped by ROAR and Buchwald/Fortitude, just wrapped the movie Singularity. Devin Kelley (The Chicago Code) has been cast in a recurring role on the USA series Covert Affairs. The actress, repped by APA and the Group Entertainment, will play the younger sister of Auggie's (Chris Gorham) deceased friend and former comrade. Top of her class at Duke, she is a Richmond girl at heart with an effortless beauty and charm that not even Auggie can resist. Mariana Klaveno (True Blood) has been cast in the TNT movie Innocent opposite Bill Pullman and Marcia Gay Harden. Based on the novel by Scott Turrow, the takes place twenty years after the events in bestseller Presumed Innocent. Klaveno, repped by APA and Shelter Entertainment, will play a court clerk whose relationships with both Rusty Sabich (Pullman) and his son come into the limelight after Sabich is charged with the murder of his wife. Klaveno is doing an arc on the upcoming season of Dexter.

DirecTV Defends Football Advertisements Against 'Deceptive' Comcast Suit

DIRECTV Comcast prosecuted DirecTV a week ago on the national marketing campaign allegedly meant to mislead football fans into think they'd receive "free" football with service. The satellite giant has taken care of immediately Comcast's emergency injunctive request, saying its advertisements are truthful which Comcast anxiously waited two several weeks following the advertisements first broadcast before filing law suit. In the brief for an Illinois justice of the peace judge, DirecTV states that Comcast's accusations that it's misleading people "edges on absurd." Comcast had contended that DirecTV was attempting to pull a bait-and-switch, tempting fans with "free offers" but really imposing in it a 2-year contract with "hefty" cancellation costs, plus automatic renewal within the second year in the full cost. In reaction, DirecTV states the particular phrase in the advertisements is "no extra charge," that has allegedly been transposed to "free" by Comcast "as though this means exactly the same factor." The satellite giant provides the judge the Merriam Webster dictionary's meaning of the term "extra" as "a lot more than arrives, usual or necessary additional," explaining National football league Sunday Ticket clients is going to be billed the typical satellite television costs but nothing "additional" for that football package. DirecTV also describes that commercial having a Philadelphia Eagles fan worrying about the inability to see his team on tv. The organization discloses that whenever the commercial arrived on the scene, the Nfl objected inside a letter. In reaction, DirecTV states it transformed the commercial to ensure that now, throughout the start moments from the ad, what "10 am, LaInch expensive on screen, in order to make obvious in which the disgruntled Eagles fan is really situated. Obviously, DirecTV doesn't explain why it made a decision to air that one ad within the town of Philadelphia. DirecTV does say it went in the advertisements, though, all of the necessary reports concerning the 2-year agreement and auto-renewal conditions and directed customers to its website for more particulars concerning the conditions of their offer. That could be true, although it requires an bald eagle-eye (or stop and zoom) to place it. Are you able to? Here's among the ads within this campaign featuring just-inducted National football league Hall of Famer Deion Sanders: E-mail: eriqgardner@yahoo.com Twitter: @eriqgardner

Zemeckis' ImageMovers inks deal with Universal

ZemeckisRobert Zemeckis has signed a two-year first look deal to bring his ImageMovers Digital shingle over to Universal, where he'll get back into creating live-action pics in addition to the motion-capture animation he's been focused on in recent years.IMD, which Zemeckis founded in 1997 and Walt Disney Studios acquired in 2007, was without a home since the the Mouse House decided last March not to reup their deal.Run by Zemeckis and his business partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey, Imagemovers had been producing mocap pics such as "The Polar Express" and "A Christmas Carol" -- but was also behind box-office dissapointment "Mars Needs Moms," which grossed only $40 million worldwide.Sources say that the deal would have Zemeckis developing both live-action and motion-capture pics for Universal. IMD would not move to the Universal lot, however.Even with Imagemovers being shut down, Zemeckis has stayed busy circling several projects, including "Flight" at Paramount starring Denzel Washington. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com