Michael Jackson

Let the Michael Jackson comeback begin. Today, with the release of the 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, Jackson and company launch the first salvo in what has so far been an abortive effort to get the pop star's career back on track. Good luck! According to The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Norm Clarke (love the eye patch, by the way), Jackson had been holed up at the Palms for the last couple of months of 2007 with his handlers trying to finagle a six-figure deal for him to host a New Year's party. Alas, he's "too radioactive." The new edition of the "world's biggest selling album of all time" may begin to change all of that. It has a couple of new tracks with will.i.am, Fergie, Akon and Kanye West contributing new versions of "The Girl Is Mine," "P.Y.T.," "Billie Jean," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," using the old recordings. Click "Read More" to hear a sample from the album and from other new releases hitting stores today.  read more »

In a part of Greenwich where giant mansions are the rule, locals seem to want to set a limit:

With plans calling for almost 39,000 square feet in the main building, plus an 1,165-square-foot pool house, the home that Joseph M. Jacobs, a 53-year-old hedge fund manager, wants to build for his family on 11 acres in the Conyers Farm section of town would be twice the size of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and would top the Greenwich mansion occupied by Leona Helmsley, the self-appointed queen of a real estate empire.

Among the amenities:

his-and-her dressing suites; a five-car garage; a home theater; a staff lounge; and most spectacularly, a 3,600-square-foot indoor gym, complete with its own squash court, golf simulator, massage room, beauty parlor and indoor pool, with views of a sunken garden.

- Tom McGeveran

New York Times critic Margo Jefferson has written a risky little book on Michael Jackson.  read more »

New York Times critic Margo Jefferson has written a risky little book on Michael Jackson.  read more »

On a recent frosty Tuesday night, taxi doors slammed as people piled out and streamed towards Pacha,  read more »

Gifford Miller greeted bleary-eyed commuters at 96th street and Broadway with a chorus of volunteers behind him. "What time is it?" Mayor Time," they sang as he squeezed hands and tunelessly hummed some song with the lyrics "oh well I know I must be free."

But not all the volunteers' chants worked so well. "Give me an M" got nothing butter a murmur. "For Christ's sake," said one disappointed volunteer.

Luckily, Judge H. Steed jumped on the scene. After pledging his support for Miller in a rant that ended in a hug from the candidate, Steed demanded a campaign sign and started his own cheer. "Michael Jackson may be chiller, but we vote for Gifford Miller!"

As Miller's aides debated whether Steed was deranged, a drunk or on crack, the campaign's best cheerleader screamed out an inspired "You can think about it, or you can be about it. Gifford Miller!"  read more »

The Observer learned last night that the next executive producer of ABC News' Nightline will be James Goldston, the British television journalist best known for having edited Martin Bashir's famously discomfiting Michael Jackson documentary, according to sources directly familiar with Goldston's contract negotiations. Goldston, currently a senior producer of primetime specials and investigative reports for ABC News, inked the deal with the network yesterday afternoon, the sources said.

Goldston will take over for Tom Bettag--Nightline's longtime executive producer and a close friend of anchor Ted Koppel--who plans to step down when Koppel does, this coming December. The two announced their "suicide pact" this spring, after years of tense relations with the network stemming from ABC's aggressive and unsuccessful 2002 bid to lure David Letterman to the 11:35 time slot Nightline has held for 25 years.

Goldston's top competition for the post was Sara Just, the current second-in-command at Nightline, who was said to be the preferred candidate among the show's tight-knit staff. Just traveled to New York for a meeting this morning with ABC brass. ABC plans for her to continue to work as managing senior producer of the show at least through the December transition, an ABC source said.

Since Koppel and Bettag announced their intention to leave, the Alphabet network has been experimenting with new formats for Nightline, the storied half-hour, single-topic program that has won every major journalism award more than once, including eight Peabodys, twelve duPont-Columbia awards, and scores of Emmys. Just has overseen the experimentation, trying out multi-topic and multi-anchor shows on Koppel's two nights off each week.

The shows have featured fill-in anchors Chris Bury, Jake Tapper, Bill Weir and Cynthia McFadden, among others. Segments have included a homage to still-not-retired 46-year-old baseball legend Rickey Henderson, narrated by ESPN's Jeremy Schaap, and a much-buzzed about alternative-format edition shot in New York, on a stage that resembled a jazz club, with a smoke machine and small tables and chairs for the audience.

Goldston is scheduled to take over the experimental programming in two weeks, according to a newtwork source.

In response to public speculation about what will become of Nightline, which began as a 20-minute show called "America Held Hostage" during the 1979-80 Iran hostage crisis, ABC News executives have said repeatedly that no matter what happens to the format after the old guard leaves, the show will retain its basic DNA: same in-depth interviews. Same moody gravitas. Same set; same staff; same city.

But Goldston's appointment over Just--a long-time staffer with a flawless Nightline pedigree--makes those assurances somewhat less reassuring. Despite an accomplished career abroad, including a long stint with the British television network ITV, where he produced the popular Iraq war news show "Shock and Awe," Goldston is still an outsider, assigned to lead a close-knit group that is often accused of elitism and clubbiness by others at the network. He lives in New York, and Nightline is shot in Washington. Bettag originally did the executive producer job from New York as well, but the news has only fueled insider speculation that the network has plans to move Nightline to its New York studios, where executives can keep a closer eye on the staff.

Goldston's appointment also raises the possibility that Bashir, who works as a correspondent for ABC News, might join his old friend on Nightline. Producers have auditioned a rotating docket of talent on Koppel's off-nights but have not settled on a new anchor or anchors, and Bashir could be a promising candidate. His documentary "Living with Michael Jackson" was originally produced for ITV in 2003. It aired on ABC that same year and drew more than 27 million viewers. That program, in which Jackson extolled the virtues of sharing his bed with little boys, became not-damning-enough evidence at the heart of Mr. Jackson's second child molestation trial, at which Mr. Bashir testified and which concluded earlier this year.

Thus the new Ted Koppel could be the man who helped sear an image of the King of Pop's bedtime habits into the American brain.

Still, for Nightline fans who wish the show would stay the same, the results could have been worse--a lot worse. The appointment of Goldston should at least quell persistent rumors that ABC might bring in Ellen DeGeneres or Chris Rock to replace Koppel and make a go of taking on Jay Leno and Letterman. It also should at least forestall the efforts of ABC's sports and entertainment divisions, both of which had been working up proposals for what they would do with the coveted late-night time period.

And if nothing else, beleaguered Jimmy Kimmel—the recipient of Nightline's lead-in, who must by now have developed a nervous tic for all the rumors of his show's imminent cancellation or exile to a wee-hours time slot—can breathe a little easier. For the time being.

--Rebecca Dana

UPDATE: ABC News confirms the hire in a press release:

ABC NEWS NAMES JAMES GOLDSTON EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF "NIGHTLINE"

James Goldston has been named executive producer of ABC News Nightline, ABC News President David Westin announced today. Mr. Goldston will oversee production and editorial content of the program and assume management of "Nightline's" Washington, DC and New York City based offices, following current executive producer Tom Bettag's departure at the end of the year. "James is a talented and experienced producer with deep roots in daily and documentary news. His admiration and respect for Nightline's rich history and tradition coupled with his strong journalistic background makes James the ideal producer to lead Nightline into the future," said Mr. Westin. "I am delighted and honored to be joining the Nightline team. It is a show with a rich and vibrant heritage, and I'm very much looking forward to working with everyone at ‘Nightline' to maintain and enhance its reputation in the year's ahead," said James Goldston.

Prior to joining ABC News in 2004, Mr. Goldston was the executive producer of Britain's most watched current affairs program, ITV1's "Tonight with Trevor McDonald" from 2002 - 2004. There, he produced a series of celebrated documentaries, including "Millionaire - A Major Fraud," Britain's most watched documentary for nearly 10 years; Shock and Awe - "Tonight's" award-winning coverage of the Iraq War anchored from Kuwait and Baghdad," and "Living with Michael Jackson." From 1999 - 2001, he was a senior producer of several award-winning interviews and investigations for "Tonight."

The Royal Television Society has awarded Mr. Goldston and "Tonight" the prestigious Program of the Year award three times in five years.

Mr. Goldston was a producer for several BBC News programs, including "Newsnight," the network's nightly news analysis show and a "Nightline" descendant. There he was responsible for daily coverage of several international stories, including the Kosovo War, the Good Friday peace agreement, and President Clinton's impeachment. He has produced for the BBC's flagship current affairs program, "Panorama" and "The Money Program."

Mr. Goldston joined ABC News last year as a senior producer of primetime specials and investigative reports, including ABC's world exclusive investigation into Victor Conte, the figure at the center of the Balco steroids sports scandal.  read more »

Mr. Goldston is a graduate of Jesus College, Oxford University.

New York magazine, July 25, 2005 CELEBRITY PSYCHOS Celebrity and Its Discontents: A Diagnosis By Vanessa Grigoriadis Telephone rage, impromptu African sabbaticals, a trial that could only have taken place in Neverland—this season, our neurotic star culture seems to be suffering a complete mental collapse. Are only the crazy drawn to fame, or does fame make the famous crazy? Sidebar: See Our Diagnostic Celebrity Manual New York magazine, December 8, 2003 STARS GONE WILD Exploding Stars By Simon Dumenco Michael Jackson. Paris Hilton. Kobe Bryant. Martha Stewart. In a culture that worships celebrity, some of the most famous seem to be suffering a collective meltdown—accused of acts that betray their own particularly self-destructive brand of entitlement. But to what degree do we share the blame? Sidebar: Daphne Merkin imagines Michael Jackson on the couch.  read more »

Another weekend, another irrelevant Michael Jackson post. The last, I promise.

But if you enjoyed The Politicker's link to Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's frolics among the Jackson fans, which we posted last week, you should check out the animated intro to Jackson's official fan site, MJJSource. A true, multi-media classic of contemporary lunacy, it includes a recital of some of history's memorable dates: Martin Luther King's birthday, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela's liberation, and, of course, the acquittal of Michael Jackson.  read more »

The video should cheer up even the 19 Council Members who will spend the weekend explaining to constituents why Gifford Miller poisoned the water at the local day-care center and firebombed the neighborhood animal shelter.

We'll be back at full strength, and god-willing with new software, July 5. Have a nice, long weekend.

There's nothing more depressing than having to watch history being made from the sidelines; I'm talk  read more »

At last, the footage of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog mixing it up with Michael Jackson supporters outside the courthouse is online.

The connection to city politics? We're working on it.  read more »

Have a nice weekend.

Last week, I did something incredibly rash and intrepid.  read more »

Girls!  read more »

As professional accomplishments go, there can’t be many things more difficult than singing your wa  read more »

Your skin is a horror.  read more »

Wednesday, May 12@ Tucker Carlson, CNN's 34-year-old paleo-yuppie pundit guy-Robert Novak's right-wi  read more »

In one of the backstage hospitality rooms of the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Chris Rock sat on  read more »

"The truth hurts," said Steven Erlanger, culture editor of The New York Times , when asked about the  read more »

2003's Last Belches: Michael Talks to Ed, Local Anchors Sleep Through BalldropWednesday, Dec. 31  read more »

I've got it. You've probably got it.  read more »

As you frantically channel-surf for the latest Michael Jackson tidbits, be sure not to miss out on R  read more »

You are so annoying!  read more »

On Monday, Nov.  read more »

Universal Television chairman Michael Jackson has plunked down $2.6 million for a 1,808-square-foot  read more »

Musical style and technology have always been in conversation, each one pushing the other along.  read more »

American Skin: Pop Culture, Big Business, and the End of White America , by Leon E. Wynter.  read more »

Last week on HBO, Dennis Miller quipped that it was quite a brave and selfless act for a white super  read more »

Michael Jackson is not just a bad man, as this newspaper editorialized when he and Al Sharpton attac  read more »

Council Speaker Gifford Miller and some of his colleagues are working on a plan to refine a glitch i  read more »

Michael Jackson-the 44-year-old British TV programmer imported by Barry Diller to run Vivendi Univer  read more »

Liza finally did it.

The last time she got married was in Halston's living room. The  read more »

Liza finally did it.The last time she got married was in Halston's living room. The  read more »

Tavern on the Green … shit. I'm still only at Tavern on theGreen.

It was going on 2 a.m.  read more »

Celebrity bell-ringers have become as essential to the life of stock exchanges as light blue coats a  read more »

Of course, any seminar that advertises singer Michael Jackson along with the phrase "Love, Work and  read more »

Michael Jackson is living on East 74th Street.According to real estate brokers, the king of pop has  read more »

SoHo  read more »

The first time it was appropriate to use the names Michael Jackson and Jarvis Cocker in the same sen  read more »

As Boy George never sang but ably demonstrated, every chameleon runs the risk of shedding one skin t  read more »

January is the cruelest month.  read more »