Category: TV

Sly to Produce Reality TV Boxing Series

Craig / / 2004, The Contender, TV

Sly to Produce Reality TV Boxing Series
Tue Feb 24, 8:31 PM ET
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES – Sylvester Stallone is getting back into boxing — this time finding and grooming young fighters to compete in a reality television show.

The 57-year-old star of the five “Rocky” movies will be executive producer of “The Contender,” working with reality mogul Mark Burnett (“The Apprentice” and “Survivor”) and Jeffrey Katzenberg, a founder of DreamWorks SKG.
Stallone and Burnett, speaking at a news conference at a downtown boxing club Tuesday, said the NBC series will focus on the lives of boxing hopefuls in and outside the ring. NBC executives said the show will likely air in the 2004-05 season.

“‘Rocky’ wasn’t about boxing; it was about the people around him who gave him reason to go on,” said Stallone, who originated the role of hard-luck fighter Rocky Balboa role in the 1976 best-picture Oscar winner.

The idea of the new series was hatched by Katzenberg, the former Disney executive who went on to form his own studio with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.

The series will follow would-be boxers from training camp through challenges in the ring over 16 episodes, with the winner getting $1 million and the chance to become a professional prize fighter. The boxers will fight one another in a weekly elimination process similar to other reality shows. Producers haven’t decided the weight class of the boxers yet.

Stallone said he will jump into the ring during the series and spar with some of the boxers. He believes the show will give boxers a Rockyesque chance at their dream.

“The door is now wide open again for you to have the opportunity to walk through it,” Stallone said, speaking to potential contestants.

Both he and Burnett expressed disenchantment with professional boxing today, saying the sport is often misrepresented on many fronts and has too many federations.

– Craig Zablo

Sly: Back into the Ring

Craig / / 2004, The Contender, TV

Sly may step in ‘Contenders’ ring
Tue Feb 24, 7:00 PM ET
MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

(Variety) A “Rocky” boxing match on NBC? Sylvester Stallone (news) hinted he might just suit up and get into the ring himself for the Peacock’s upcoming reality show “The Contender.”

Stallone and Mark Burnett traveled to downtown’s Los Angeles Boxing Club on Tuesday to reveal details behind the boxing-themed series.

According to Burnett, contestants will be put through a variety of challenges, leading up to a fight at the end of each episode — with the loser going home. The ultimate “Contender” will receive a $1 million prize and will likely emerge as the marquee star behind a new boxing federation created especially for the show.

Stallone said he partnered with Burnett and DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg to create “The Contender” after getting fed up with the state of pro boxing.

“I think there is a great deal of mismanagement in boxing today,” Stallone said. “I think the finest talent does not rise to the surface. Quite often the compromises that a fighter has to make through his managers to get in a position of competition is not quite worth it for them. So we have been I think, deprived of some new fresh talent.”

Stallone called the system Burnett and Katzenberg worked out “revolutionary.” “We welcome (fighters) to step forward who believe they have not been given a fair shake, who believe they do have the talent,” he said.

Burnett said he planned to cast a wide net for “The Contender,” and would even welcome non-English-speaking contestants. “We’ll use subtitles,” he said. “I think that’s interesting.” The producer said he’d even be willing to include contestants with criminal pasts, as long as they’ve “paid their dues.”

Contestants will also technically become professional boxers by participating in the show, because they will be paid during the show and will be fighting. Also, Burnett and Stallone said the contestants will all come from the same weight class, but the producers haven’t decided whether that will be heavyweight, welterweight or lightweight.

As part of the deal, NBC is giving up six 30-second spots to producers, who will then sell the spots and split any profits with the network. Burnett said he would work closely with NBC’s sales team to market the spots and strike product integration deals, but had no plans to link with a media buyer.

NBC honcho Jeff Zucker introduced the producers; also in attendance was Stallone’s brother Frank, who may also work on the show.

As for hopping into the ring, Stallone said “definitely” – and recounted the time he got into the ring with Joe Frazier. “I would say including the count, the fight was 14 seconds,” he said. “I considered him the hardest puncher in the world.”

Copyright © 2003 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. Variety is a registered trademark of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc. and used under license. All Rights Reserved.

– Craig Zablo

“The Contender” is Now a Contender

Craig / / 2004, The Contender, TV

NBC has signed on for The Contender, a boxing reality series developed by “Survivor” creator Mark Burnett, DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenburg and Sly Stallone.  NBC reportedly has agreed to pay $2 million an episode for the 16-part series.

Stallone will serve as executive producer with Katzenberg and Burnett, as well as appear as an on-screen mentor to the young fighters.

Now this is good news! – Craig Zablo

Sly Guests on AMC’s “Shootout”

Craig / / 2003, Cop Land, Rocky, Rocky VI, TV

Sylvester Stallone Guest Stars on AMC’s ‘Sunday Morning ShootOut’ on December 7 at 11 AM

for Sun. (Dec. 7) –(BUSINESS WIRE)–

AMC‘s weekly half-hour series, “Sunday Morning ShootOut,” hosted by Peter Guber and Peter Bart, brings the smarts and spin of Sunday morning political shows to the world of entertainment.

THIS WEEK’S GUEST: Actor, writer and director Sylvester Stallone. Since achieving worldwide fame with Rocky, which won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1976, Stallone has acted and co-written such successful films as First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo III. His acting credits include Get Carter, Driven, Demolition Man and Copland, which garnered him international critical and audience acclaim. Most recently, Stallone has completed filming Avenging Angelo, co-starring Madeline Stowe.

DISCUSSION TOPICS: 1) The producers of Rocky offered you $150,000 to cast Ryan O’Neal in the title role. What made you turn it down? 2) Why did you agree to take a major pay cut for the film Copland? 3) Lost
Souls Seeking Redemption, Rocky VI — is this a parallel to your own life and life experiences? 4) Your upcoming Rampart Scandal delves into the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. What made you choose this piece and how did it come about?

WHEN: The episode will air on Sunday, December 7 at 11 am ET/PT on the AMC cable network. The episode can also be viewed at http://movies.yahoo.com, beginning at 12 Noon (PT).

BACKGROUND: “Sunday Morning ShootOut” is a new, half-hour weekly series on AMC hosted by entertainment industry veterans, Peter Guber and Peter Bart. Guber is the chairman of Mandalay Pictures, former CEO of Sony Pictures, the producer of dozens of Hollywood‘s most successful movies including Midnight Express, Batman, Rainman, Basic Instinct. Bart is editor-in-chief of Variety, and former Hollywood reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. In his career as an executive at Paramount Pictures and as president of Lorimar, Bart played a major role creating classics like The Godfather, Rosemary’s Baby and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Like other Sunday morning debate shows, the sparks fly here as prominent producers, directors, writers and stars join the hosts to debate all sides of the week’s biggest stories in the world of movies and entertainment. The experts provide informed and spirited perspectives on the winners and losers at the box-office, the rising and falling fortunes of the stars and studios themselves and the emerging trends that are forever reshaping the business of entertainment.

The pic above comes from an ad in Entertainment Weekly and the text from Business Wire. – Craig Zablo

Sly and Frank Stallone on Monday Night Football

Craig / / 2003, Commercials, Frank Stallone, TV

Sylvester Stallone will be the Guest of Honor on the season premiere of ABC’s Monday Night Football on September 8, 2003. Sly is one of the celebrities asked to tape “openings” for the games this season. Sly has the honor of the first game of the season.

If you’d like to see a preview of Sly’s footage, the SZ has it! Access Hollywood ran the piece on Friday and thanks to our own Wizardfenix, we had it posted the same evening! [You may need to go to www.divx.com and get the download.] After viewing it, there can be no doubt that Sly could easily come back for Rocky VI!

Frank Stallone will also be at the game with Sly. During the game, odds are good that the new commercial for ABC’s NYPD Blue fall season will air. When it does you’ll hear Frank singing the song ‘It Had to Be You’.

A tip of the hat to Wizardfenix and Simon! – Craig Zablo

Sly on TV!

Craig / / 2003, TV

The July 25, 2003, issue of Entertainment Weekly‘s “What to Watch” section contained the toon to the left along with news that Sly will appear on the following shows this week:

David Letterman – Thursday

Conan O’Brien – Friday

Sly is also scheduled to appear on Friday’s AM Today and Regis & Kelly. Check you local listings for exact times!

– Craig Zablo

Sly Set to Present

Craig / / 2003, Celebs, TV

SYLVESTER STALLONE will be a presenter at the American Film Institute’s next special, “100 Years – 100 Heroes and Villains,” which will air June 3 on CBS. Others set to present include: HARRISON FORD, JODIE FOSTER, KIRK DOUGLAS, GEENA DAVIS, KATHY BATES, DENNIS HOPPER, CHRISTOPHER REEVE, and others.

– Craig Zablo

Catholic Guilt

Craig / / 2002, TV

The current issue of Entertainment Weekly (May 31, 2002) contains the following:

If all else fails, blame the Church. That’s what Sylvester Stallonedid when CBS didn’t pick up Lefty, the television drama he exec-produced starring Titanic‘s Danny Nucci as a tough-talking priest. Stallone believes the Catholic Church’s current troubles led the Eye to pass on the pilot. “Danny was fantastic,” says Stallone. “And to come out with a show about priests at this particular time… I think people are waiting for something to help them exhale.” Stallone‘s the one who needs to take a breather, says one source close close to the negotiations. It wasn’t the preist-pedophilia scandal but Lefty‘s soft, Touched by an Angelsensibility that prompted CBS to reject it in favor of the sharper fare like Without a Trace, a missing persons drama with Anthony LaPaglia, and the cop-themed RHD/LA, which stars Tom Sizemore and is exec-produced by Heat‘s Michael Mann. Says the source, “The network wants to go in a certain direction, with younger-skewing, harder-edged shows with an urban feel.”

– Craig Zablo (May 27, 2002)