Newsweek's Michele Bachmann Cover Sparks Controversy

Newsweek editor-in-chief Tina Brown is stirring up controversy again over another cover.our editor recommends'Newsweek' Owner Sidney Harman Dies at 92Sidney Harmans Family Committed to Newsweek, Daily BeastFormer Entertainment Weekly Publisher to Run the Business Side of Newsweek-Daily Beast A month after sparking debate over a cover image that was edited to make it look like a 50-year-old Princess Diana was walking alongside Kate Middleton, Brown has decided to use an image of presidential hopeful Michele Bachman on the cover that makes her look, as Yahoo's Cutline blog puts it, "crazy." Specifically, the photo -- which features the headline "The Queen of Rage" -- shows Bachman, a Republican representative from Minnesota, with intense eyes and a half-smile. "Michele Bachmann's intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now, and Newsweek's cover captures that," Brown tweeted Monday. STORY: Princess Diana Newsweek Cover Sparks Outrage on Twitter Bachmann's press secretary declined to comment when reached by Yahoo, while the politician herself deflected a question from a voter in Iowa. But a slew of conservatives attacked Brown over her decision. "Under the editorial control of Tina Brown, the rice paper magazine barely struggles against its bias towards conservative women to view them with anything other than contempt," Dana Loesch wrote on Andrew Breitbart's website BigJournalism.com. Added Ed Morrissey on HotAir.com: "Memo to conservative women. When approached by Newsweek or Time for a cover story, always bring your own photographer." STORY: Princess Diana, Kate Middleton Share Cover of Newsweek Via Digital Trickery Some tweeters made jokes about the cover image, saying it wasn't that out of the ordinary. "Honestly, I think the greater technical feat would be Newsweek shooting a photo of Michele Bachmann NOT looking crazy," quipped Conan writer Rob Kutner. Added Florida radio DJ Randi Rhodes: "'Baggers up in arms because Newsweek took a pic of Bachmann that looks like half of the other pics of Bachmann." Before Brown took over, Newsweek raised eyebrows over an extremely close-up photo it published of Sarah Palin on its cover in 2008. The following year, it published an old photo of the former Alaska governor with the headline "How do you solve a problem like Sarah Palin?" STORY: Official: Newsweek, Daily Beast Merger a Done Deal Last month, the cover image showing Princess Diana and Kate Middleton, the new Duchess of Cambridge, appearing to walk side by side generated outrage online, with one tweeter writing of the image: "Vomit rises in the throat." Newsweek merged with Brown's website the Daily Beast in November. As part of the deal, Brown also remained editor-in-chief at the Daily Beast. Since taking over, Brown has made many changes to the magazine, including switching typefaces and increasing its use of photography, that were initially met with several less-than-rave reviews, but some critics have since come around. Related Topics

Jessie Eisenberg May Be The Double

For Richard Ayoade's next film.... Given how solid IT Crowd co-star Richard Ayoade's first film - Submarine, in case you were crazy enough not to see it - was, it's no surprise that he's attracting top name talent for his follow-up. And so it has proved to be, with Vulture learning that Jesse Eisenberg will star in The Double. The casting hasn't been officially announced just yet, so we're going to let this one straddle the worlds of rumour and fact for now. But if it definitely pans out, it's great news. That said, Ayoade hasn't picked something easy for his second stab at filmmaking - he's adapted Fyodor Dostoyevsky's eponymous novella. Nor familiar with it? Not a shock, but the basic story finds a Russian government clerk whose life begins to fall apart when he discovers that an identical man, right down to the details of his life, including his name, starts working in his office. Since this is an indie production, we doubt Ayoade will be splashing out on the technology David Fincher used to create the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network, but a double dose of Eisenberg being paranoid and twitchy sounds like it could work.

Director Silvio Narizanno dies

Silvio Narizzano, a Canadian-born film and TV director with wide-varying credits but most widely known for his 1966 romantic comedy "Georgy Girl," starring Lynn Redgrave and James Mason, died This summer 26 working in london. He was 84.Occur swinging London, the sexually frank "Georgy Girl," that also starred Charlotte now Rampling and Alan Bates, came four Oscar nominations, including best actress (Redgrave), supporting actor (Mason) and cinematography. The film, which gained Narizzano a nomination in the Berlin Film Festival, was the director's second.Narizzano was created to Italian-People in america in Montreal. After graduation from Bishop's U. in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he became a member of Montreal's Mountain Playhouse, where he was affected by Pleasure Thompson, an innovator in British-language theater within the province.In the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., he was an assistant to Norman Jewison, Arthur Hiller and Ted Kotcheff. In early nineteen fifties he created instances of "Ford Television Theatre," "Tales of chanceInch and "Encounter" in the network.In 1956 Narizzano co-directed "Method of Theatre," a documentary short that profiled Tyrone Guthrie, a vital founding father of Canada's Stratford Theater Festival.After that he started pointing and creating mostly within the U.K., though he did helm an adaptation of Graham Greene's "The Fallen Idol" for CBS' "The DuPont Show from the Month." He directed the Brit telepic "Doomsday for Dyson," compiled by J.B. Priestley, and multiple instances of "ITV Television Playhouse" and "ITV Play each week.Inch He also directed several episodes all of "Saki," "Paris 1900" and "Zero One."In 1965 Narizzano made his feature helming debut with Hammer horror film "Die! Die! My Darling," notoriously Tallulah Bankhead's last movie.He adopted 1966's "Georgy Girl" using the 1968 romantic Western "Blue," starring Terence Stamp, and 1972 black comedy "Loot," an adaptation from the Joe Orton play. He came back to Canada for 1977's "Why Shoot the Teacher," the storyline of the teacher (Bud Cort) your one-room schoolhouse throughout the Depression.Exactly the same year he helmed a exclusive TV adaptation of "Return, Little Sheba," starring Laurence Olivier and Joanne Woodward.A 1980 adaptation of Paul Scott's novel "Remaining On," which starred Trevor Howard and Celia Manley and broadcast on PBS' "Great Performances" the year after, came critical huzzahs, but Narizzano's options that come with the time, "The Category of Miss MacMichael,""Bloodbath" and "Options," were substantially less effective in each and every respect.After helming the 1984 Agatha Christie adaptation "Your Body within the Library" for that BBC, Narizzano labored little for a long time his long term trouble with depression was amplified through the 1983 dying of his partner, the author Win Wells.He's made it by two siblings along with a brother. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Henry Cavill as Superman in 'Man of Steel' (First Photo)

Warner Bros. has released the first photo of Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel. In the photo, Cavill, who last starred on Showtime's The Tudors, wears his cape and appears to dodge sparking flames. Zack Snyder's take on the superhero film hits theaters in 2013. It also stars Amy Adams as Lois Lane, former CSI star Laurence Fishburne as Daily Planet editor in chief Perry White, and Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Superman's adoptive parents, Martha and Jonathan Kent. Russell Crowe and Julia Ormond play his birth parents. Michael Shannon plays villain General Zod. His partner in crime is Faora, played by Antje Traue. Man of Steel is produced by Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder. The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer, from a story by Goyer and Nolan, based upon Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers. RELATED: 'Man of Steel's' Laurence Fishburne: 5 Things to Know Zack Snyder's Superman Movie 'Man of Steel' Moved to June 14, 2013 Hollywood Shares Their Comic-Con 2011 Experiences Henry Cavill Man of Steel

TCA: Showtime Picks Up Steve Carell & David Steinberg's Doc Series On Comics, Sets Premiere Date For 'House Of Lies'

Showtime has picked up Steve Carell and David Steinberg's docu/interview series, now titled Laughing Stock. The series, which will premiere in January, features host Steinberg interviewing top comedians of several generations, including Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Lily Tomlin, Don Rickles, Carol Burnett, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Judd Apatow, Robin Williams, Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock, Jane Lynch, Tina Fey and Carell. Additionally, Showtime announced a premiere date for new dark comedy series House of Lies starring Don Cheadle. It will debut on Jan. 9, sandwiched between the season premieres of Shameless and Californication. Showtime entertainment president David Nevins today introduced to critics his first 2 new at the network, drama Homeland and House of Lies. There will be more soon. "Weve definitely been in expansion mode, we're now up to 10 major scripted shows and there are more coming," he said during the network's executive session."We believe in investing in renewable resources, which is fundamentally our series. We are in a good place now trying to get gradually bigger." He said Showtime is not tempted to reenter the longform arena despite HBO's Emmy success with movies and miniseries. "If you do longform, you can rack up a large number of Emmy nominations but I like our strategy to put resources in renewable things." Asked about the cancellation of United States of Tara, Nevins said, "It was a big show for us, it received critical acclaim, it got Toni Collette an Emmy. We thought that show had accomplished what it was going to accomplish, and it was time to plant some new seeds." As for veteran Weeds, "We haven't picked it up yet but Im optimistic," Nevins said. "I think that show has real life in it. (Creator) Jenji (Kohan) has done a really good job of evolving her show." Nevins also hasn't made a decision on the future of reality series The Real L Word but noted that creator Ilene Chaiken "has made good creative adjustments, the show became more distinctive, about a specific subculture." Asked about the upcoming season of Dexter, despite a strong spiritual element, "Jesus will not be in the show this year," Nevins quipped. He described the season as a "Dan Brown-style mystery. Theres a story to be followed, clues to be unpacked."

IATAS to fete Nigel Lythgoe

The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is set to present British producer Nigel Lythgoe with a 2011 founders award. Lythgoe, exec producer of "American Idol" and e.p. and co-creator of "So You Think You Can Dance," will receive the kudo at the 39th annual International Emmys gala in Gotham on Nov. 21. Lythgoe began his showbiz career as a professional dancer and choreographer, starting out in the corps de ballet for the national tour of "The Merry Widow" and moving on to choreograph the BBC's "Young Generation" company, among many others. As a television choreographer, he collaborated with performers ranging from Ben Vereen and Shirley Bassey to the Muppets. As a producer, Lythgoe's credits include "Gladiators" and "Blind Date," as well as the U.K. incarnation of "Survivor;" Lythgoe joined Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment group, where he produced "Pop Idol" -- the show that would spawn "American Idol." Most recently, he launched "CMT's Next Superstar," and is involved with charities including Dizzy Feet, which provides scholarships to young dancers and works to provide dance education in underprivileged communities. "This is a true honor," Lythgoe said. "The world of television is becoming increasingly more global, and I am grateful that The International Academy is recognizing the growing importance of performing arts and dance on television throughout the world." Contact Sam Thielman at sam.thielman@variety.com

Second Tron: Uprising trailer online

Versus to Be Rebranded as NBC Sports Network

NEW YORK - Comcast-controlled NBCUniversal on Monday said it will rename sports cable network Versus as NBC Sports Network in January. The company had previously said it will rebrand the network this year and had signaled it would include the NBC name. The name change comes as the conglomerate looks to make the sports network a bigger ratings draw to boost advertising sales and subscriber fees paid by TV distributors. The NBC Sports Network will serve as the NBC Sports Group's 24/7 cable platform, the company said in a statement. "This effort is a major step towards a complete strategic alignment of all our platforms and businesses," said NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus. "This is more than just a name change for Versus. It's a complete repositioning of the brand to provide value for marketers, consumers as well as all our affiliates and distributors. We want anyone who comes into contact with any of our assets to immediately connect with the NBC Sports brand promise." The sports network recently extended its deal with the NHL and is also a key part of the Olympics coverage that will be featured across NBCUniversal's assets. A new NBC Sports logo will also be introduced along with the name change on Jan. 2. In the new logo, the peacock is slightly larger, the words "NBC" and "Sports" each have a separate new font and the latter, which used to be at an angle, has been straightened to allow for the word "Network" to fit beneath it. Said John Miller, chief marketing officer, NBCUniversal Television Group and head of the NBC Sports Agency: "The changes are subtle, but signal a big change: a new beginning for the NBC Sports Group." The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that NBC's on-air style and sports presentation, which emphasizes storytelling and profiles of athletes, will also come to the network as part of the rebranding. NBC Sports Group's regional sports networks are not currently scheduled to be re-branded, but Lazarus said "many will evolve to have the look and feel of our NBC Sports brand and production values." Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai Related Topics Comcast NBCUniversal Versus