President Obama lands in Los Angeles Monday (Reuters)

By Joshua L. Weinstein Joshua L. Weinstein – Mon Oct 24, 3:13 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – President Barack Obama returns to Los Angeles Monday, just in time for rush-hour, for two fundraisers in Hancock Park.

He'll spend the night in the area and tape a segment of "The Tonight Show" Tuesday morning.

Air Force One lands at Los Angeles International Airport around 4:45 p.m. Monday.

With the next election less than 13 months away, Obama has been heavily courting Hollywood lately, and he continues with Monday's visit.

The president's first stop is the Hancock Park home of James and Mai Lassiter, where he'll attend a fundraising dinner. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith will host that event.

Tickets are going for $35,800.

After that, the president heads to a Latino gala at the nearby home of Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas. Eva Longoria is hosting.

Tickets cost between $5,000 and $35,800.

Obama was in West Hollywood for a pair of fundraisers September 26. And he was in Culver City and Brentwood for fundraising events at Sony Pictures Studio and Tavern restaurant on April 21.

His last visit to Hancock Park, in August 2010, caused traffic havoc, with all lanes of Olympic Boulevard were closed.

Today's visit marks Obama's eighth visit to Los Angeles since taking office.

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Wendy Williams lands Charlie Sheen interview (Reuters)

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Charlie Sheen will hit up one of the handful of shows he missed in his springtime media barrage when he appears on "The Wendy Williams Show" next Monday, the same day his roast airs on Comedy Central.

The outspoken Williams and catchphrase-prone Sheen should have plenty to discuss, including the roast he taped over the weekend. Sheen said at the event that his roasters couldn't hurt him, adding, "Even I can't hurt me."

"I am beyond excited and I can not wait to talk to Charlie," said Williams. "He's easily the hottest topic of the year and I'm thrilled that fans of 'The Wendy Williams Show' will be the first to see and hear everything that's going on in his life, in his own words."

Sheen's appearances seem certain to steal some of the spotlight from his former show, "Two and a Half Men," which returns Monday with Ashton Kutcher in his place.

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Sarah Silverman comedy lands at NBC (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Sarah Silverman's upcoming comedy series has found a home at NBC, an individual familiar with the project confirms to TheWrap.

The single-camera comedy, which is being co-produced by Imagine TV and 20th Century Fox Television, has received a put-pilot commitment from NBC, following a bidding war between multiple networks.

Silverman is co-writing with Dan Sterling and Jon Schroeder, both veterans of Comedy Central's "The Sarah Silverman Program."

Silverman will co-executive produce with Sterling, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo.

The series had also sparked interest from ABC and Fox.

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Dr. Phil lands interview with Casey Anthony parents (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The parents of Casey Anthony, who was acquitted in July of charges that she killed her young daughter, will sit with Dr. Phil for their first interview since the trial, the program announced on Tuesday.

Anthony's trial in the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee became a media sensation when it aired on television, and since it ended, the 25-year-old mother and her parents George and Cindy have stayed away from the public spotlight.

"I looked them straight in the eye and asked them some very tough questions," Dr. Phil McGraw said in a statement. The interview will air on September 12.

"Despite living under a 'media microscope' for years, their story has never really been told and there's so much more to it than we've heard in the media," McGraw said, adding that "nothing is off limits during this interview."

The case of Casey and Caylee Anthony took many twists and turns after the two-year-old's skeletal remains were found in a plastic bag near the Anthony's Florida home in December, 2008.

Casey Anthony never reported her daughter missing and, in fact, it was Cindy Anthony who first told police. Casey Anthony initially gave false statements about her and her daughter's whereabouts, and she eventually was charged for the murder.

The trial began in May 2011, and included the prosecution's contention that Casey Anthony wanted only to party and avoid parenting, so she researched the use of chloroform and used the chemical to put her daughter to sleep then suffocate her.

The defense claimed that Caylee had drowned in the family's pool and was found by George Anthony, who then covered up the death. The defense also claimed that George Anthony had sexually abused Casey since the time she was a young girl.

On the witness stand, George Anthony denied he had ever abused Casey, and Cindy Anthony claimed it was she, not Casey, who researched the use of chloroform.

Eventually, a jury found Casey not guilty of murder, but agreed with prosecutors that she had lied to police. Anthony is currently out of jail and in seclusion at an unknown location.

"We appreciate the way in which Dr. Phil has helped others, and we trust him enough to completely open our hearts in telling our story," George Anthony said in a statement.

The "Dr. Phil" episode with the Anthony interview will air on September 12, when the program returns for a 10th season.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Outside Lands fest about more than music (AP)

The Outside Lands festival has acts like the Grammy-winning Arcade Fire and Muse as headliners, but co-promoter Rick Farman is just as excited about another attraction at the three-day event — its culinary delights.

"People (are) talking about what they're going to eat and going to drink ... almost as much as what they're going to see or hear music-wise," he said about the event, which starts Friday and wraps up Sunday.

Outside Lands, now in its fifth year, this year features acts including Erykah Badu, John Fogerty, the Arctic Monkeys and dozens more. Since its inception, the festival has played up its San Francisco food-and-wine connections. Its "Taste of the Bay" lineup includes numerous local eateries, and it also has a separate wine component.

"It was very much a part of the original plan of the event, to really incorporate some specific aspects of the Bay area culture into the event, and food and wine were two of those top things that we focused on right off the bat," said Farman, whose Superfly Presents is one of the two promoters of Outside Lands.

"But that said, it certainly has grown each year, and this year, sort of the vision that we had first set out for the festival has really culminated."

Many music festivals incorporate art, food and other elements to enhance the event. Superfly Presents also puts on the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., which also has film, comedy and other attractions.

Farman said Outside Lands was inspired by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which incorporates that city's famous food fare into the festival.

"We really looked to that in some ways as a mode — how could we create an event that expressed the culture of the Bay area? So I think it is something certainly festivals in general can offer music fans other than something beyond (the) music experience," he said.

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Online:

http://www.sfoutsidelands.com

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Nekesa Mumbi Moody is the AP's music editor. Follow her at http://www.twitter.com/nekesamumbi

(This version CORRECTS Corrects spelling of Muse.)

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Ashton Kutcher lands on 'Two and a Half Men' (AP)

NEW YORK – Ashton Kutcher will replace troubled star Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS comedy "Two and a Half Men" next season, the network and producers Warner Bros. Television said on Friday.

The deal apparently came together quickly, following reports earlier this week that negotiations with film actor Hugh Grant to join the show had fallen through. Kutcher is familiar to television audiences through his role on Fox's "That 70s Show," film roles like the romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" and for producing and hosting the prank show "Punk'd."

Kutcher said he believes that "we can fill the stage with laughter that will echo in viewers' homes.

"I can't replace Charlie Sheen but I'm going to work my ass off to entertain the hell out of people," he said.

Kutcher's quote was the only mention of Sheen in Friday's news release. Warner cut short the show's eighth season and fired Sheen two months ago following his public implosion through hard partying and angry criticism of show creator Chuck Lorre.

"We are so lucky to have someone as talented, joyful and just plain remarkable as Ashton joining our family," said Lorre, also the show's executive producer. "Added to that is the deep sigh of relief knowing that our family stays together. If I was any happier, it'd be illegal."

Producers did not immediately say how Kutcher would be integrated in a show where Sheen's character was the comic center, portraying an advertising jingle writer with a playboy lifestyle not unlike the actor's own. Jon Cryer portrays Sheen's brother, and Angus T. Jones plays Cryer's son.

Even through reports of Sheen's personal problems, "Two and a Half Men" had continued to reign as television's top situation comedy and anchor CBS' Monday night lineup. A deadline on deciding whether the show would continue was looming with CBS set to unveil its fall schedule to advertisers in New York next Wednesday.

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Bristol Palin lands her own TV reality show (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Single mom Bristol Palin has landed her own reality TV show, and producers say she will allow cameras "exclusive access" into her personal life for the first time.

The small U.S. BIO cable channel said on Monday it had ordered 10 half-hour episodes of a documentary series that will follow Palin and her two year-old son Tripp as they move to Los Angeles and work for a small charity there.

Palin, 20, the unmarried elder daughter of Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin, became a celebrity in her own right last year by waltzing her way to the finals of "Dancing With the Stars" despite having two left feet.

Late last year she bought a five-bedroom house near Phoenix, Ariz., with her earnings from the show and as a spokeswoman for a teen abstinence campaign group. At the time, she was reported planning to attend college there.

But the as-yet-untitled TV documentary will see Palin moving in with two former child stars, brothers Kyle and Christoper Massey. She and Kyle competed on the same season of "Dancing with the Stars."

The series will follow her work for an as-yet-unidentified Los Angeles charity and is scheduled to air in late 2011, BIO channel said.

"Bristol is the kind of personality BIO is drawn to," said David McKillop, executive vice president of programing at BIO Channel.

"Her personal life has been playing out in the media for several years but this will be the first time she's opening up her real life, with her son and her friends the Massey Brothers," he added.

Monday's announcement follows speculation that Palin may have have undergone plastic surgery. Photos taken at an appearance by the young mom at a red carpet event in New York last week showed her with a slimmer, heart-shaped face and chin.

In March, Palin signed a deal for a book about her life growing up in Alaska in the media and political frenzy surrounding her mother Sarah, who grabbed the national spotlight when she was chosen as Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008 elections.

Sarah Palin, who starred in her own reality series for TLC last year, is weighing a presidential run in 2012.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant)

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