The box office rose from the dead over the Easter weekend, topping the comparable week in 1998 for only the second time this year. Other new films failed to make a similar splash. Judge Judy Vs. Sheindlin is the husband of the star of the Judge Judy TV series. Jerry Sheindlin is expected to take over the faltering TV show in the fall, according to the Daily News, which cited unnamed sources.
TV is an industry of copycats.
The Balkan crisis pushed audiences for all the cable news networks up significantly between March 24 and April 2, according to ratings released by Nielsen Research on Monday. CNN's audience swelled to an average of 1.1 million homes, an 84 percent boost from its early March average of 604, 000. Fox News was up 29 percent. At the Jenny Jones civil trial, an attorney representing the family of Scott Amedure argued Monday that Amedure's murder could have been prevented had Jones' staff looked into the psychiatric history of Jonathan Schmitz, now serving time for the killing. Tricon is the fast-food chain operator that Pepsi spun off in 1997.