newsmakers

newsmakers

Betty White to host new NBC reality show

LOS ANGELES

The unstoppable Betty White is taking on reality TV with a hidden-camera show that turns senior citizens into merry pranksters.

NBC has ordered 12 episodes of “Betty White’s Off Their Rockers,” the working title for a series based on a hit Belgian program that has been produced in other European countries and South Korea.

“People have been telling me that I’m ‘off my rocker’ for years — now I can prove it,” White said in a statement Thursday.

The reality show follows seven seniors who band together to play pranks on younger people, with White helping conspire to put one over on “the unsuspecting youth of America,” said NBC and Universal Media Studios executive Paul Telegdy.

White, 89, has a track record at NBC. She starred in the network’s sitcom “The Golden Girls” for seven seasons and won an Emmy last year as host of “Saturday Night Live.” An air date for the series was not announced.

5 Browns dad gets 10 years in abuse case

PROVO, Utah

The father of the renowned piano group The 5 Browns has been sentenced to serve at least 10 years in a Utah prison on charges that he sexually abused his three daughters when they were children.

Keith S. Brown pleaded guilty in February to one felony count of sodomy and two felony counts of sexual abuse.

Fourth District Judge David Mortensen sentenced the 55-year-old on Thursday to 10 years to life on the first count, and 15 years to life for each of the others. The sentences will run concurrently, but Brown will have to serve at least 10 years under the plea agreement.

Judge Judy released from hospital

LOS ANGELES

TV’s “Judge Judy” is out of a Los Angeles hospital after an overnight stay and says “all is well” with her.

In a statement Thursday, 68-year-old Judy Sheindlin said she was on her way home and expressed appreciation for the “loving messages” she had received.

Sheindlin was taken by ambulance from her show taping Wednesday to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for an undisclosed condition.

She planned to return to work on “Judge Judy” as scheduled April 12.

Springsteen writes letter to the editor

NEPTUNE, N.J.

Bruce Springsteen has written a Letter to the Editor to what he calls his hometown newspaper.

Springsteen on Thursday thanked the Asbury Park Press for a March 27 article about how anti-poverty groups in New Jersey are facing an uphill battle as Gov. Chris Christie seeks to cut spending and property taxes.

Springsteen writes that the “article shows that the cuts are eating away at the lower edges of the middle class, not just those already classified as in poverty.”

Springsteen says it will “likely to continue to get worse over the next few years.”

Associated Press