The Rock Returning To TV, Low Ki/WWE, The Massive WWE Layoffs
>> As reported earlier, newly signed WWE wrestler Low Ki worked last night's Florida Championship Wrestling show. He pinned Trent Baretta in a singles match. Low Ki was seen meeting fans following the show. WWE stars Eve Torres, Dolph Ziggler and Scotty Goldman were also at last night's FCW show.
>> Wall Street analysis & commentary website 247wallstreet.com has an article looking at WWE's massive staff purge. The writer asks: "Does WWE get to fully expense all those chairs and other bits of equipment they break, or do those get amortized? Maybe it shouldn't blow up any more cars or other expensive props as part of the cost cutting ahead."
>> Nickelodeon sent out the following press release today:
Nickelodeon's 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards Locks Dwayne Johnson to Host 2009's Star-Studded, Slime-Filled Live Telecast, Saturday, March 28
He'll Rock at the Helm of the Annual Event Mixing Mega-Stars and Mega-Mess at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ — Movie star and 2008 Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards nominee Dwayne Johnson (The Game Plan), will host Nickelodeon's 22nd Annual Kids' Choice Awards, Saturday, March 28 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT). That's when kids will honor their favorites from the worlds of film, music, sports and television in a star-studded live telecast (tape delayed for West Coast) from UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Torrential slime is forecast for the no-holds-barred kudo/mess-fest on the night kids rule and Hollywood royalty revels with them. "We customarily break records at Kids' Choice, and in 2009, the show is certain to be the biggest, loudest and messiest yet. For the first time Dwayne Johnson will host the ceremony, and we are very excited for him to make his mark with his big presence and kid-friendly style," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon, and an Executive Producer for the Awards show. "Dwayne is a pop culture icon and a Kids' Choice veteran who has been a presenter and a nominee for Favorite Male Movie Star. Our audience loves him."
"Every spring I look forward to three things: the Easter Bunny, bass fishing with my bare hands and the brilliance of fluorescent green slime flying through the air at someone's face. That's why it's so cool for me to be hosting this year's Nickelodeon's Kid's Choice Awards!," said Johnson. "What's great about this event is that it honors kids by honoring their opinion. The best way to do that is by me leading millions of kids into total chaos, crazy fun and endless buckets of slime!"
Host Johnson, who'll star in March as a cabdriver taken for a ride by two paranormal teens in Disney's feature Race to Witch Mountain, starred last year as Agent 23 opposite Steve Carell in Get Smart and as superstar quarterback Joe Kingman, who tackled fatherhood for the first time when his 8-year-old daughter turned up at his door, in the smash hit The Game Plan. This year too, he'll headline as a winged dentist in 20th Century Fox's comedy The Tooth Fairy and voice an astronaut stranded on Planet 51 in New Line Cinema's first 3-D CG-animated feature.
As The Rock, he gained fame wrestling in WWE and WWF (1996-2004) and became a nine-time world champion. Johnson stepped outside the ring in 2000 to host Saturday Night Live. In 2001, he appeared on the big screen in The Mummy Returns and the following year top-lined its sword-and-sandals sequel The Scorpion King. He played a heroic bounty hunter in the jungle action comedy The Rundown and segued into tough guy roles in such mid-decade films as Walking Tall, Gridiron Gang and Be Cool before taking the lead recently in a string of kid and family targeted comedies.
The U.S. Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards is broadcast in more than 228 million households across Nickelodeon's 36 channels in the UK, Europe, Russia, Israel, Asia, Australia, Latin America and Brazil. Nickelodeon also produces nine fully localized Kids Choice Awards annually in the U.K., Germany, Sweden, Holland, Italy, Brazil, Australia and China. Nickelodeon's 2009 Kids' Choice Awards will be produced by Nickelodeon Productions in association with Bob Bain Productions. Saturday Night Live veteran Beth McCarthy will direct. Bob Bain and Marjorie Cohn are executive producers. Paula Kaplan is co-executive producer. Nickelodeon, now in its 30th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 98 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 14 consecutive years.
For more information or artwork, visit https://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B).