Midnight Man

Bravo announced that Top Chef has been renewed for a 13th season. The long-running cooking contest continues to draw strong ratings, ranking as the #1 food competition series on cable in 2015 among key demographics. Open casting calls for the upcoming season begin on February 3 in Nashville. Other cities on the nationwide contestant search include Seattle, Chicago, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. Look for Season 13 to premiere this fall. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

HBO announced today that Togetherness has been renewed for a second season. The freshman comedy premiered earlier this month and is just three episodes into its run. Look for Season 2 of Togetherness to return in 2016. For now, new episodes are airing Sundays through to the finale set for March 8. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

IFC has cancelled The Birthday Boys after two seasons. The sketch comedy series aired a total of 20 episodes during 2013 and 2014. With word of the news, the cast posted a message on the show's Facebook page thanking the fans and the network. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

The BBC has confirmed that Atlantis has been cancelled after two seasons. The British broadcaster cited a need to increase the range of its dramas as the reason for not ordering a third season of the fantasy drama. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

For those who would give almost anything for a chance at superstardom, American Idol might be the entertainment industry's version of a Faustian bargain: Through 14 seasons, the very successful Fox show has exploited the fact that there are millions of singers who are willing to sign onerous deals for the chance to compete. But season 11 winner Phillip Phillips isn't going to let the deals he made as a precursor to his fame go unchallenged. On Jan. 22, Phillips lodged a bombshell petition with the California Labor Commissioner that asserts that Idol producer 19 Entertainment and its affiliated companies have "manipulated" him into accepting jobs since he hit it big. In a filing that reveals some of Phillips' post-show tribulations, including being forced to perform for free for one of Idol sponsors and not even knowing the title of his last album before it was announced publicly, the singer is seeking to void his various agreements with 19, said by the star's lawyer to be "oppressive, fatally conflicted." "I am very grateful for the opportunities provided to me through appearing on American Idol," says Phillips. "The value that the fans and the show have given to my career is not lost on me. However, I have not felt that I have been free to conduct my career in a way that I am comfortable with. I look forward to being able to make my own choices about my career and to being able to make great music and play it for my fans." The petition to determine controversy is grounded on the Talent Agencies Act, the California law that says only licensed talent agents can procure employment for clients. In the past, the law has been used as a cudgel by Hollywood artists from Arsenio Hall to Kesha who wished to escape paying commissions to their managers. Phillips now hopes to have the TAA applied to an entertainment company that has had its hand in his pocket even since he won Idol's 11th season on May 23, 2012. Before Idol viewers voted him the winner that year, Phillips signed a series of contracts governing his management, merchandising, recording and publishing. The deals are quite favorable to 19 Entertainment, a company founded by Simon Fuller that also produces other shows such as So You Think You Can Dance. For example, according to the complaint, when Phillips does endorsements, 19 gets as much as a 40 percent cut. Nevertheless, Phillips tells the California Labor Commissioner that 19 has a fiduciary duty to him, and that the company has breached such duty by compelling him to take jobs that are of benefit to the company and its affiliates rather than to him. In the time since he's been on the show, his managers at 19 have lined up gigs like performing at the NBA All-Star Game, singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a World Series game, and appearing on such shows as Letterman, the Today show, Ellen and The View. The appearances are said to have been "procured" by 19 despite not being licensed as an agent. This, the petition argues, amounts to a "pattern and practice of flagrant violations of the [TAA]." While some of these gigs boosted Phillips' profile and are arguably in his interest, some other appearances by the singer may have done little to boost his career. For example, the petition says he did a live show without compensation promoting Jet Blue in 2013. "In response to Petitioner's questions about why this deal would make sense, 19 admitted the deal was being entered into in exchange for Jet Blue's support for the 2013 American Idol Live Appearance Tour," says the petition. "Since Petitioner was not performing on the 2013 Idol Tour, the only conceivable purpose for Respondent booking the performance was to help the struggling finances of Respondent's Idol Tour." Similarly, Phillips says he performed at a corporate event for an insurance company — only it was labeled an endorsement deal. Raising a problem with this gig, he says 19 took the position that it was subject to the Merchandise Agreement, with a 40 percent commission. Phillips argues, "If Respondent was truly putting Petitioner's best interest above their interests, Respondent should have taken the position that the performances should be commissioned at the 20% commission rate provided for in the Management Agreement." The petition also chronicles other indignities that Phillips has faced in the past couple of years. He says that 19 lined up a producer for his first two albums that compromised his interests. He says 19 lied to him, saying that the producer wouldn't receive greater mechanical royalty rates than he would. He adds that 19 has repeatedly withheld information regarding his career, including the title of his Behind the Light album released last year. It's not unusual for those successful on reality TV shows to renegotiate deals at some point in their career. Phillips says that he "frequently requested" this, but suggests that the relationship between his management company and recording company frustrated any hope of doing so. According to the petition, "Because 19 Recordings, Inc. is also Petitioner's record company, 19, as Petitioner's management company, failed to secure even a single improvement to the terms of the Recording Agreement, in breach of Respondent's fiduciary obligations to Petitioner." Represented by attorney Howard King at King Holmes Paterno & Berliner, Phillips is making a bold and ambitious attempt to bring entertainment companies like 19 within the scope of the TAA, a law that has been controversial since it was added to the books in 1978. Phillips' attempt to challenge his Idol deals figures to spark jurisdictional challenges and raise issues about the corporate structure of 19, which is owned by CORE Media Group. Phillips will likely also have to get around a notable exemption in the TAA for the procurement of recording contracts. But if Phillips is successful in voiding his deals as a violation of the TAA, the ramifications would be huge, potentially impacting other successful competitors on Idol as well as perhaps other reality TV competition shows. The adjudication of TAA disputes also tends to be a very, very slow process, with rulings often happening many years after the initial filing of a petition. The result of the creeping pace could put a number of deals in legal limbo, undoubtedly a concern as Idol and other shows move forward. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

Damn, it's good to be David Tennant. The man formerly known as the Doctor is currently starring in the second season of ITV's Broadchurch, and come later this year he'll be dipping his toes into the superhero world, too. Tennant has joined the cast of Netflix's upcoming Marvel series A.K.A. Jessica Jones as the villainous "Killgrave," otherwise known as the Purple Man, Marvel announced Monday. The character was first introduced in the Daredevil comics as a Communist spy tasked with stealing a nerve gas from the U.S. Army. During his escape, he was engulfed in the gas, which turned his skin and hair purple and gave him the power to control the will of other people. He eventually used his powers on Jessica Jones when she was the superhero Jewel, making her his personal servant. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

The film will reunite Watson with her Perks of Being a Wallflower director Stephen Chobsky, who wrote the script for Beauty and the Beast. Bill Condon will be directing. Watson was previously attached to Warner Bros.' adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, which was set to be directed by Guillermo del Toro before he dropped out of the project last June. She has signed a contract with the Disney version with del Toro and Warner Bros. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

TLC announced today that Cake Boss has been renewed for two more seasons, which will be the show's seventh and eighth. A total of 40 new episodes have been ordered, which will air in 2015 and 2016. No US premiere date has been announced, but the network has said new episodes will begin airing this summer on TLC internationally and Discovery Networks International’s lifestyle brands. Get Your Very Own Self Defense Keychain: just click here

Bobby Fuller was an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitar player best known for his singles "I Fought the Law" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," He was found dead in a car parked outside his Hollywood home. An autopsy report stated that Fuller's face, chest, and side were covered in hemorrhages likely caused by gasoline vapors and heat. The coroner checked "accident" and "suicide" as causes of death. Those checks, however, were accompanied by question marks, leading some to believe that Fuller was actually murdered. He died July 18, 1966 at the age of 23. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Thelma Todd was an American actress. Appearing in about 120 pictures between 1926 and 1935, including the Marx Brothers' 'Horse Feathers' and 'Monkey Business.' She was found dead in the garage of actress Jewel Carmen, the former wife of Todd's lover and business partner. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. Police found that Todd had spent the night before her death at a popular Hollywood restaurant, where she had an argument with her ex-husband; she then retreated to Carmen's home, which was a block away from a restaurant that she owned. Whether foul play was involved in the death remains up for debate. Some believe Todd was targeted for extortion, while others wonder if she was locked inside the garage by a murderer. Blood was found on her head and dress, leading some to believe she was knocked unconscious before being exposed to the gas. She died Dcember 16, 1935 at the age of 29. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman, which was the biggest role of his career, and the one that sank it as well: Reeves could never escape the shadow of playing Superman, he was reportedly cut out of 'From Here to Eternity' after test audiences shouted, "There's Superman!" at the screen, and eventually killed himself because of depression over his career. Or maybe he didn't. While the official cause of death is suicide, Reeves was found laying naked on his bed, face up, with a gun between his feet on the floor, many believe he was the victim of an accidental shooting or murder. It was rumored that George's former girlfriend, Toni Mannix, ordered a hit on him after he broke up with her. Mannix died from Alzheimer's disease in 1983, but in 1999, Los Angeles publicist Edward Lozzi said that Mannix confessed to him that she told a priest she was responsible for Reeves's murder. In 2006, a film about Reeves life and death called 'Hollywoodland'.He died June 16, 1959 at the age of 45. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Thomas H. Ince was an American silent film producer, director, screenwriter, and earlier an actor. He was a pioneering studio mogul who made more than 600 films.Known as "The Father of the Western," On Nov. 15, 1924, on the yacht of William Randolph Hearst, Ince fell ill and was returned to shore.Later he succumbed to heart failure, but in the newspaper that evening it was reported that Ince was shot on Hearst's yacht. In one version of events, Hearst allegedly walked in on Marion Davies, whom he was in love with and Charlie Chaplin in a compromising position. During the ensuing struggle, Ince arrived and was accidentally shot. Another theory posits that Hearst shot Ince thinking he was Chaplin. The Peter Bogdanovich-directed film 'The Cat's Meow' with Kirsten Dunst focused on Ince's mysterious death. He die November 19, 1924 at the age of 42. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress in film, theatre, and television. She was also a nightclub entertainer, a singer, and one of the early Playboy Playmates.While no one will dispute that bombshell Jayne Mansfield's death was from anything other than a car accident, she's still the subject of a particularly gory urban legend. It's long been rumored that the actress was decapitated, but that wasn't the case according to the police report. It seems that a widely-circulated photo of the accident scene with the actress' wig lying outside the car may have misled some into believing otherwise. She died June 29, 1967 at the age of 34. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Albert Dekker was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in Dr. Cyclops, And was a fan of autoeroticism, was found hanging from a shower curtain rod wearing delicate ladies’ silk lingerie. He had dirty hypodermic needles stuck in each arm, a hangman’s noose around his neck, a scarf over his eyes, and a rubber-ball bit in his mouth, its metal chains tied firmly behind his head. The corpse was trussed in leather belts fastened around his body like a halter, the end of one clutched in his hand. Each wrist was handcuffed separately. Among other equally weird sentiments scrawled in flaming red lipstick all over his body was “make me suck.” He died May 5, 1968 at te age of 62. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Gwili Andre was a Danish model and actress who had a brief career in Hollywood films. Blonde, blue-eyed Gwili Andre from Denmark, “the highest priced model in America,” was taken on as a “Garbo look-alike” by RKO Studio, earning $25,000 a year and dating Howard Hughes. To her dismay, she failed to become a movie star. In a bizarre suicide, she was found sprawled on the bedroom floor of her apartment, burned to a crisp in a funeral pyre she had made out of old publicity clippings. She died Feburary 5, 1959 at the age of 51. Just one day after her 51st birthday. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Peggy Entwistle was a was a Welsh-born English stage and screen actress, who once appeared on stage opposite Humphrey Bogart, entered Hollywood mythology by hurling herself off the Hollywood sign in 1932. Her part in RKO’s “The 13 Women” ended up on the cutting room floor; some say she lept from the 13th letter of the sign, then called Hollywoodland and lit by electric bulbs. Actually, she climbed up 50 feet of an electrician’s ladder behind the H, losing one of her shoes in the process. When she reached the top, she jumped, plunging to her death. Her suicide note read: “I am afraid I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E.” She died September 16, 1932 at the age of 24. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Elvis Presley was an American singer and actor, who died after years of deteriorating health from drug use. He was regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King", and he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music. When he died tens of thousands of people attended his funeral, and some even believe that he didn’t die, that he faked his own death ant to this day the Elvis sightings continue. He died August 16, 1977 at the age of 42. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

James Hoffa was an American labor union leader caught up in the organized crime world, he became involved with organized crime from the early years of his Teamsters work, and this connection continued until his disappearance The FBI has followed leads into his suspected murder, in vain. He disappeared July 30, 1975 at the age of 62. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Jim Morrison was an American singer, poet and songwriter best remembered as the lead vocalist of the Doors. The singer died in a Paris bathtub, officially he died of a heart attack, although there was no autopsy because of a lack of evident foulplay and unofficially he died of a drug overdose. Some deny that he died at all. He died July 3, 1971 at the age of 27. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Jimi Hendrix was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, who began playing guitar at the age of 15. According to the coroner’s report, died in London after choking on his own vomit while intoxicated with sedatives, but conflicting accounts from Hendrix’s companion the night of his death stirred skepticism. Scotland Yard opened an inquiry more than two decades later, but that ended inconclusively. He died September 18, 1970 at the age of 27. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Amelia Earhart was an American aviation pioneer and author who disappeared with no trace while flying over the Atlantic in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. She flew a Purdue-funded Lockheed Model 10 Electra airplane and prior to that was also the first woman to solo fly the Atlantic ocean. She disappeared July 2, 1937, at the age of 39. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

George Sanders was a Russian-born English film and television actor, singer-songwriter, music composer, and author. Some Hollywood deaths are bizarre because of tragic circumstances. Others are bizarre because of unfortunate accidents. Sometimes, it’s a combination of the two. The death of George Sanders is a different story altogether. Born in Russia to British parents, George Henry Sanders’ family returned to England at the outbreak of the Russian Revolution. After attending college, Sanders made the move into acting. He appeared in several British films before making the trip to Hollywood in the mid-‘30s. Sanders’ suave manners and plummy speaking voice made him an instant go-to choice for directors seeking either a classy gent or a charming villain, and he appeared in a number of now-classic films including Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and All About Eve, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1950. Professionally successful, Sanders’ personal life was more checkered. He married multiple times, most of the time unhappily, and most famously to Hungarian sexpot Zsa Zsa Gabor. Sanders developed a drinking problem, and as he entered his 60s, his health began to deteriorate. Dogged by awareness of his increasing infirmity, enfeebled by a stroke, and losing his taste for life, Sanders checked into a hotel in Spain, where he overdosed on barbiturates—five bottles of them—and dashed off one of the most famous suicide notes in history: “Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.” A second note to his sister observed “Don’t be sad. I have only anticipated the inevitable by a few years.” A man who had four colorful wives, a successful Hollywood career, a bestselling autobiography, and an Academy Award dies from boredom? George Sanders either had the most bizarre Hollywood death of all. He died April 25, 1972 at the age of 65. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Marie Prevost was a Canadian-born film actress. Modern audiences tend to look back upon movie stars of an earlier age as somehow simpler and more innocent, untainted by the temptations and setbacks that visit contemporary celebrities. Anyone who investigates the back pages of an earlier Hollywood is sure to find that this isn’t the case. Take the story of Marie Prevost. Born in Canada, Mary Bickford Dunn moved to L.A. and made her movie debut in 1916. A couple of years later, she was signed on as one of Mack Sennett’s “Bathing Beauties.” No doubt dismayed by the similarity of her given name to one of the biggest stars in Hollywood (Mary Pickford), the comedy of Svengali renamed her Marie Prevost, “The Exotic French Girl.” The rechristened beauty moved on to many starring roles as the ‘20s quintessential brazen and independent female, the flapper. She appeared in a series of romantic comedies made by some of the biggest directors of the time, including Cecil B. DeMille and Ernst Lubitsch, and her career seemed to be on an upward trajectory. Circumstances halted the rising star, however. Her marriage to leading man Kenneth Harlan began to fail, and her mother was killed in a car crash. Prevost began to drink, and her slim flapper body lost its shape. The industry’s transition to sound affected almost every actor who had been a star in the silent era, and Prevost was lumped into this group of former silent stars. Her drinking increased, and by the early 30s, she was lucky to play bit parts. Desperate to recover some of her former glamor, Prevost began to diet dangerously. This, combined with her ongoing alcohol problem, could only lead to disaster. On January 23, 1937, neighbors irritated by the barking of a dog in Prevost’s apartment called the police. What the police found shocked them: the malnutritioned corpse of Marie Prevost, her legs and arms chewed up by her traumatized dog. Years later, pop singer Nick Lowe would somewhat indelicately memorialize this discovery in his song “Marie Provost.” The final indignity for the forgotten Marie, he misspelling of her name in the title. She died January 21, 1937 at the age 38. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

Tennessee Williams was an American playwright and author of many stage classics, and although a man named Williams was responsible for Sal Mineo’s death, another man named Williams was responsible for the launch of his career: Tennessee Williams.The Rose Tattoo provided Mineo with his first role on stage. (Natalie Wood was no stranger to Williams, either. She starred with Robert Redford in This Property Is Condemned, a Williams adaptation from 1966, as well as in a TV version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with her husband Robert Wagner in 1976. Of course, appearing in a Tennessee Williams play in the latter half of the 20th Century was certainly not unusual. Williams dominated the theater scene of the period, and he remains one of the most popular and respected playwrights in American letters, 30 years after his death. Active as a writer from the ‘30s until the ‘80s, he produced dozens of plays, two of which won the Pulitzer Prize, and many of which were made into successful Hollywood films: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Night of the Iguana among them. Despite often controversial themes, the films made from Williams’ plays were popular hits and featured some of the biggest stars of the day, including Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Elizabeth Taylor. Despite his success, Williams’ life was troubled and unstable. After the death of his long-time partner Frank Merlo in 1963, Williams became dependent on prescription drugs and sleeping pills. Alcohol abuse added to his woes, and his mental health declined. Inevitably Williams was discovered dead in his New York hotel suite. Drugs were involved, to no one’s surprise, but the actual cause of death was asphyxiation. One theory is that Williams was attempting to swallow some barbiturates, and he accidentally dropped a cap from an eye drops bottle that he was using as a pill holder down his throat. Another is that Williams was holding the cap in his mouth as he put in eye drops and somehow swallowed it. Whatever happened, Williams could not have scripted a more absurd or hapless end for one of his own characters. He died Fubruary 25, 1983 at the age of 71. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here

John Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician. Half of the very popular Blues Brothers, was found dead in his Hollywood hotel room. He died from an overdose of heroin and cocaine at the time called a ‘high ball’. His companion at the time was sentenced to prison for giving him the fatal overdose. Be Your Own Boss-Learn How To Sell New & Used Items On Amazon & Ebay: just click here