"West Wing" Cast, Crew Mourn John Spencer; "King Kong" Tops Box Office
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. I`m A.J. Hammer, live in New York. Tonight, Hollywood is shocked and saddened by the sudden death of "West Wing" actor John Spencer, who died of a heart attack at the age of 58 on Friday. As celebrities mourned the beloved actor, obvious questions have come up. What`s going to happen to his role? What about the show`s future. Well, in the "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Special Report," we examine how TV shows deal with these types of tragedies. What happens when a major character dies? Let`s go to David Haffenreffer, who joins us live once again here in New York -- David.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Well, A.J., Spencer`s Emmy-winner role on "The West Wing" brought him five straight Emmy nominations from 2000-2005 and even a 2003 Golden Globe nod. And his death leaves a big hole in one of the show`s central plotlines. It`s a situation that popular primetime shows have had to deal with in the past, and Hollywood and viewers wait to see if "The West Wing" will take a cue from shows before it.</s>HAFFENREFFER (voice-over): John Spencer played the tough, no-nonsense politico Leo McGarry on The West Wing. And his loss has left the show`s staff and viewers shocked and mourning.</s>ALLISON JANNEY, ACTRESS: If we pull Brock`s credentials, this will seem bigger than an unfounded rumor.</s>HAFFENREFFER: "The West Wing`s" Allison Janney told SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, "I am truly devastated at the loss of my dear friend. John was a consummate professional actor and everyone adored him."</s>JIMMY SMITS, ACTOR: Where`d you get this?</s>HAFFENREFFER: And Jimmy Smits told us, "John was a true pillar of a man, and he set the stage for kindness and generosity." And his character will surely be missed by viewers everywhere.</s>BRADLEY WHITFORD, ACTOR: We`ve still got to line up a VP.</s>JOHN SPENCER, ACTOR: Want me to work up a list?</s>HAFFENREFFER: Spencer was central to the season`s plot. Ironically, his character survived a heart attack to run this season for vice president.</s>SPENCER: So who is it?</s>WHITFORD: You.</s>HAFFENREFFER: The election plotline will clearly need reworking, but with the show on hiatus for the holidays, how will "The West Wing`s" writers and producers make the transition smooth? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT went straight to "TV Week`s" Chris Lisotta for more.</s>CHRIS LISOTTA, REPORTER, "TV WEEK": My guess is they`ll go to the advisors, analyst and people who write on the show and consultants who have worked in the White House, go to those people first and say, "OK, what would happen if this person died in a campaign? What do people do, you know, when RFK died?" This show is definitely one for historical context. Maybe they`ll go back and look and see how campaigns have handled this in the past when there was an abrupt change or tragic situation.</s>HAFFENREFFER (on camera): SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been in touch with "The West Wing." They told us they don`t expect to tackle this issue until early in the next year. They need to grieve before they begin to decide what to do with Spencer`s character. But certainly, this is not the first time that a prime time show has had to make serious changes when an actor dies.</s>JOHN RITTER, ACTOR: I`m a man, not a miracle worker. Now go ahead. I don`t want you to be late. Just get.</s>HAFFENREFFER: John Ritter, the patriarch on "8 Simple Rules," died of a heart condition two years ago after completing just three episodes of the show`s second season. When the series resumed, they wrote in that Ritter`s character had died and added James Garner and later David Spade.</s>NICHOLAS COLASANTO, ACTOR: Is there a Rudy Pangitso (ph) here?</s>HAFFENREFFER: And who could forget lovable Coach on "Cheers"? He sat behind the bar for three seasons. When Nicholas Colasanto died in 1985 of a heart condition, writers of the No. 1 show killed off his character and brought in Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson.</s>JERRY ORBACH, ACTOR: We`ve got some questions we want to ask you.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Just recently, Jerry Orbach, who played Detective Lennie Briscoe for 12 years on "Law & Order," had filmed just three episodes of a 2005 "Law & Order" spin-off when he died of prostate cancer. The show referenced that his character had died.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look kind of tired.</s>JIM DAVIS, ACTOR: I`m not tired. Trying to keep myself busy. That`s all.</s>HAFFENREFFER: And "Dallas" fans will remember all too well in 1981, the actor who played Jock Ewing, Jim Davis, died of brain cancer. The show kept the character off screen and then revealed his character had died in a plane crash. When writers and producers are faced with handling a real life death, their often mirror reality by writing the death into the fictional plot line. Here`s Chris Lisotta.</s>LISOTTA: You can`t fake it. You can`t bring in a second Darren. This is not like "Bewitched" where the character leaves and you replace them with someone else or like a soap opera. I think with a prime time narrative show, it is so unique. It`s such a unique relationship with the viewer from other kinds of television that you have to respect that. Because if not, you will really turn off audiences, because they`ll think that you`re doing something unseemly or disrespectful to the actor.</s>HAFFENREFFER: Nine new episodes of "The West Wing" have been broadcast already this season, and five more have been completed. The show`s next production meeting is set for January. And you can bet there will be some big discussions about the show`s future then --</s>A.J. HAMMER: Regardless of how the network and the producers handle it, David, a big hole in the future of "The West Wing," as far as I`m concerned, from here on out. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s David Haffenreffer, thanks so much.</s>VARGAS: A look now at this weekend`s box office. In final figures out just this afternoon, "King Kong" was king. It pulled in more than $50 million from Friday through Saturday, $60 million in total since opening last week, or last Wednesday. That`s $66 million, actually. "The Chronicles of Narnia" in second. "The Family Stone" with Sarah Jessica Parker opens in third. "Harry Potter" in fourth. And George Clooney`s "Syriana" at five. So is "King Kong" a box office beast or a royal disappointment? Expectations were high for "Kong`s" opening weekend, but now some are saying that "King Kong" didn`t live up to its big name. That`s the subject of tonight`s "Show`s Biz," a look at the business of entertainment. Live tonight in Hollywood is Paul Dergarabedian. He is the president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box office figures. So Paul, let`s take a look at this. Let`s take a look at the numbers. It took in $50 million its opening weekend, another $80 million overseas. That`s a total of more than $130 million. Not too shabby, I think. Yet why are people saying that this is a disappointment?</s>PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, PRESIDENT, EXHIBITOR RELATIONS: Well, I think initially when the film opened on Wednesday, it did $9.8 million. And when you have a movie like "King Kong" with a director, Peter Jackson and all the hype that surrounds a film like that, there`s automatically huge expectations placed on the film. Now $9.8 million isn`t a bad number, but it`s certainly not a record breaking type of number. And that`s what I think everyone expected. Now, over the course of the weekend, it`s done very well. It did $50 million for the Friday/Saturday/Sunday, $66.22 for the five days, Wednesday through Sunday. And I think this is a film that will play for a long time. People have been very distracted. You know, the holidays are with us. And people are shopping or going to Christmas parties or holiday parties, whatever, and I think that has taken people away from their chance to go to the movies. But I think word of mouth is so strong on this movie that people are going to want to go see it.</s>VARGAS: Is this generally a bad weekend to open a movie because of the holiday shopping?</s>DERGARABEDIAN: Well, it can be. I mean, Christmas day is often a pretty good box office day. But this time of year is kind of problematic, because you have people doing all kinds of different things, one of them being going to the movies. But people have to find the time to do that.</s>VARGAS: Paul, a lot of people have been comparing this to "Titanic." Now, "Titanic" didn`t do very well at the box -- well, it did all right, but it didn`t do great.</s>DERGARABEDIAN: Right.</s>VARGAS: And now we know that`s one of the greatest movies ever.</s>DERGARABEDIAN: Yes, well, "Titanic" opened with $28.6 million for its entire first weekend, and then it went on to make $600 million domestically. So that was sort of a slow start for that film. That was a three-hour epic, a period piece. "King Kong," I think, is going to find an audience over the long term, and I think a lot of people have also compared it to "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"...</s>VARGAS: Right.</s>DERGARABEDIAN: ... the first of that trilogy and also directed by Peter Jackson. That film opened with $18.2 million on its first Wednesday, but its first weekend it did $47 million. So this actually has outpaced that, so it should do very well over the long haul.</s>VARGAS: Well, that`s our time, Paul. Thank you so much.</s>DERGARABEDIAN: Thank you.</s>VARGAS: Paul Dergarabedian in Hollywood.</s>HAMMER: Well, the president takes over TV to help boost his poll numbers. Did it work? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT gets the talk radio buzz, coming up.</s>VARGAS: Plus, the comedian who`s not afraid to be punch line of his own jokes. Tonight, the emotional story of an entertainer who`s using his deformity to break down barriers. Still to come.</s>HAMMER: And the WWE champion heads into battle, but not into the ring. Coming up, superstar wrestlers spend some time with U.S. troops right in the middle of a war zone. It`s an interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.