Screen People | Ben Affleck PBS probes slave-owning issue; actor expresses regret

PBS is conducting an internal review following revelations that producers of “Finding Your Roots” may have violated the network’s editorial standards after a request by Ben Affleck that the program not reveal he had a slave-owning ancestor.
Meanwhile, Affleck has expressed regret for seeking to have the information omitted from the episode that featured the actor and aired last October.
“We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors and the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery,” Affleck posted on his Facebook page this week.
The review by PBS and New York station WNET began Saturday, according to a statement released Tuesday by PBS spokeswoman Anne Bentley.
In his Facebook post, Affleck acknowledges that, initially, “I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed.”

Beach Boys – Brian Wilson happy to have an old friend on new record, tour

While Brian Wilson doesn’t plan to officially reunite with the surviving members of the Beach Boys, having an old friend sing on a new record certainly provided a comfort zone.
Former bandmate Al Jardine, who sang lead vocals on Wilson’s 1965 chart-topping single “Help Me, Rhonda,” appears on a few tracks on his recently released “No Pier Pressure,” and Wilson couldn’t be happier.
“He sang my song ‘Sail on, Sailor’ in 1972, then he sang ‘Sail Away’ for me on this album,” the 72-year-old singer-songwriter said in a recent interview. “He still sounds as good as he ever did.”
Brothers Dennis, Brian and Carl Wilson, along with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, got together in 1961 to create songs about surfing, fast cars and girls and became a top musical group. Their hits include “Good Vibrations” and “California Girls.”
The Beach Boys combined the harmonies of a jazz-vocal group with the energy of a rock ‘n’ roll band. Wilson took it further with unusual musical arrangements, creative studio production and a tapestry of sounds that enhanced each song.

Sandra Bullock – She is: People’s Most Beautiful Woman

People magazine has named Sandra Bullock as the “World’s Most Beautiful Woman” for 2015.
The 50-year-old actress, who voices a supervillain in the upcoming movie “Minions,” tops the magazine’s list, announced this week.
Commenting on being selected for this year’s cover, Bullock says she just laughed when she heard about the honor. “No, really. I just said, ‘That’s ridiculous,’” she tells the magazine. “I’ve told no one.”

Dr. Oz – We will not be silenced

Vowing that “we will not be silenced,” television’s Dr. Oz is fighting back against critics who are trying to get him removed from a faculty position at Columbia University.
Dr. Mehmet Oz will air an episode of his syndicated talk show last week that specifically takes on the group of 10 doctors from around the country who wrote to a Columbia dean about him. The group suggested last week that Oz promotes “quack treatments” of weight loss supplements with no scientific proof that they work.
Oz taped a message previewing his show where he said he knows he has alienated people in “our quest to make America healthy.” But he said freedom of speech is a fundamental right of Americans, and the other doctors are trying to silence him.

betty willis – Woman who designed “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign dies

The woman who came up with a neon sign that has welcomed countless visitors to “fabulous Las Vegas” since 1959 has died.
Betty Willis, credited with designing the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, died in her Overton, Nevada, home last Sunday, according to an obituary on the Virgin Valley & Moapa Valley Mortuaries website. The 91-year-old artist’s often-copied sign sits in a median in the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard south of the Strip.
“It’s the most recognizable icon in the world,” said Danielle Kelly, executive director of The Neon Museum in Las Vegas, where the signs of Sin City’s past are retired and on display.
The welcome sign’s design, which doesn’t have a copyright owner, has become a fixture on travel tchotchkes from Vegas and everywhere else, Kelly said. She has a T-shirt from San Francisco with that city’s name swapped in for Las Vegas in front of the sign’s recognizable shape, she said.
In 2009, the sign was added to the National Register of Historic Places.