Between 20 and 25 employees of NBC’s “The Tonight Show” have been laid off and host Jay Leno has taken a substantial pay cut, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN on Saturday.

The employees were let go Friday, with Leno’s salary reduction intended to prevent even more staff reductions, the source said.

The actions were taken as NBC seeks to move the show to a cost structure typical of late-night programming, as opposed to prime-time shows, according to the source.

Leno replaced the legendary Johnny Carson as host of “The Tonight Show” in 1992, a job he held for 17 years when he left in 2009 to helm “The Jay Leno Show” with a 10 p.m.

Read full article…

With the whispering buzz almost at a fever pitch now as the suburban housewife set goes berserk over the erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the new Meryl Streep film about an Omaha woman who tries to get the spice back into her sex life couldn’t be timelier.

“Hope Springs,” which also stars Tommy Lee Jones and funnyman Steve Carrell (playing it serious this time), tackles the topic of the decline of intimacy in a three-decade old marriage.

Read full article…

On The Opening Ceremony:
I went there [to an opening ceremony rehearsal] with Meredith [Vieira] last night and its wild, theres no question about it. Its a lot to get your arms around, but I think the people at home are going to love it. Its got all the right elements, a couple of wow moments, Matt tells us. There are elements that are completely embargoed. Theres huge messages up on these big screen TVs that basically say Dont Spoil The Secret. A lot of the elements that are going to be in the show, that we know about were not even done for this audience. Because they know they cant trust people to go home and not share things.

On Doing The Today Show From London:
The entire gang arrives tomorrow morning.

Read full article…

One of the three Porsches Tom Cruise drove in ”Risky Business” is up for auction. The 1979 sportscar is expected to fetch up to $60,000 at Profiles in History’s Hollywood Treasure From the Vaults sale, which begins on July 28. Auction house boss Joe Maddalena hopes the car will surpass the expected price because of its history.

He tells “Access Hollywood Live,” “Tom Cruise learned to drive a stick in this car … and there’s a rumor Sean Penn actually had snuck into one scene and he started the car and got ready to drive and Sean Penn stuck his hand in and turned the ignition off.”

Maddalena reveals Porsche officials refused to let director Paul Brickman use their cars in the 1983 film so he had to buy three used Porsches for the film. Mad

Read full article…

There’s an old adage that says, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Not everyone takes that to heart.

Early this weekend, Ryan Perez –a blogger who was a contributor to gaming hub Destructoid – decided to pick a bone with geek culture icon Felicia Day via Twitter. He questioned whether or not Day made any contribution to the gaming industry other than cultivating a geeky persona.

Read full article…

A cruise ship attendant claimed in a federal lawsuit that John Travolta sexually assaulted him during a Caribbean cruise in 2009, according to court documents filed last week.

Fabian Zanzi, who said he was assigned to be Travolta’s personal attendant, accused the actor of “harmful and offensive contact” by “removing his bath robe, grabbing plaintiff’s hand, and forcing his naked person and erect penis against plaintiff’s person,” the complaint said.

“This is another ludicrous lawsuit with inane claims,” Travolta lawyer Martin Singer said.

Read full article…

Boy bands are back!

Summer Mixtape Festival:
98 Degrees will be reuniting for the first time in over a decade! Were very excited about the opportunity, and weve been toying around with the idea for a couple years of: if we got back together, when would be the right scenario, and this music festival right here just kind of seemed like the right time to get back together and do a show and kick the tires and see how it feels, Drew tells us.

Nick had this to say about his earlier tweet: I didnt say we werent going to do it, but there was some speculation about a full tour happening this summer and our fans have been kind of eager to see us get back together.

Read full article…

LOS ANGELES — The animated sequel “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” was the most-wanted movie for audiences, debuting at No. 1 for the weekend with $60.3 million.

Ridley Scott’s “Alien” offshoot “Prometheus” opened strongly in second-place with $51.1 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” Paramount, $60,316,738, 4,258 locations, $14,166 average, $60,316,738, one week.

2.

Read full article…