In an action that seemed destined to send Tom Cruise scurrying back to Scientology's E-meters to discover the source of his recent tribulations, Paramount Pictures on Tuesday dropped him and his production company after an association of some 14 years. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone commented, "As much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. ... His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount." Redstone was presumably referring to Cruise's couch-jumping antics on Oprah Winfrey's talk show and his ballistic interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show about Scientology and psychotropic drugs. "We don't think that someone who effectuates creative suicide and costs the company revenue should be on the lot," Redstone added. In an interview with today's (Wednesday) Los Angeles Times, Cruise's production partner, Paula Wagner, denounced Redstone's remarks. "It is graceless. It is undignified. It's not businesslike," she said. In a separate interview with Daily Variety, she pointed out that during the last six years, Cruise/Wagner movies have accounted for 32 percent of Paramount's theatrical revenue. The Times account further noted that Paramount and Cruise/Wagner had been negotiating a renewal deal that would have cut the studio's commitment to pay them $10 million in overhead and development costs. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said that Paramount had offered them $2 million a year plus a $500,000 discretionary fund for each of two years. When Cruise/Wagner turned down the deal, Paramount Chairman Brad Grey prepared to announce an amicable end to the relationship, the Times said, citing one source. Grey and Viacom CEO Tom Freston were reportedly upset by Redstone's comments and told the newspaper's sources that he had not discussed his views about Cruise during the negotiations.

A class action lawsuit was filed against IMAX in federal court in New York Tuesday claiming that the giant-screen operators cooked their books in the fourth quarter of last year in order to attract a buyer or merging partner. The complaint claims that IMAX violated federal securities laws when it included in its SEC filings misleading statements about its financial health, including claims that it had received revenue from theaters that were not even open. On Aug. 9, IMAX acknowledged that it would respond to an SEC inquiry about its accounting practices, including revenue recognition issues. The news sent IMAX shares plunging to $5.73 per share from $9.63. They were trading at $5.11 in midday trading today (Wednesday).

It may draw only a fraction of the crowd that its rival YouTube attracts, but Sony Corp. has concluded that Grouper.com, another site that sports goofy videos, was worth $65 million. Besides, as the Los Angeles Times observed in reporting the sale of Grouper to Sony, analysts figured that "YouTube's price was probably too high to justify the risk." The newspaper also noted that Grouper runs little advertising because ad buyers "are leery of their messages appearing next to risqué or extreme clips." Sony Pictures CEO Michael Lynton denied that his intention was to use Grouper to promote its movies. "It's not as much a way of promoting our movies or television shows as a stand-alone business that has growth opportunities," Lynton told the Times. "The idea is for Grouper to stand on its own two feet and make money for us."

Pranksters in Phoenix released a snake in a theater showing Snakes on Plane last Friday and another in the theater's parking lot, Reuters reported today (Wednesday). A spokeswoman for the AMC theater chain said that the two snakes were removed and later released in the desert. "No one was harmed," she said.

Their ratings numbers may have paled compared with those for American Idol, but the summer-season finales of NBC's America's Got Talent and Fox's So You Think You Can Dance drew some of the biggest audiences of the summer. The "results" show of Talent and the final "performance" show the night before were the top-rated entertainment shows of the week, according to Nielsen Research. Nevertheless, they ended up behind CBS's 60 Minutes, which, due to a ratings anomaly, actually drew a smaller audience.The two-hour finale of Dance came in at No. 5. For the week, CBS once again headed the list with an average 5.0 rating and a 9 share. NBC placed second with a 4.3/8. Fox was close behind with a 4.1/7, while ABC trailed with a 3.9/7.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. 60 Minutes, CBS, 7.8/15; 2. America's Got Talent (Thursday), NBC, 7.3/12; 3. America's Got Talent (Wednesday), NBC, 7.2/12; 3. (tie) CSI: Miami, CBS, 7.2/12; 4. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 7.1/12; 5. So You Think Can Dance (Wednesday), Fox, 6.7/11; 6. Without a Trace (Thursday), CBS, 6.7/12; 8. House, Fox, 6.6/11; 8. (tie) Without a Trace (Sunday), CBS, 6.6/11; 10. Cold Case, CBS, 6.3/10.

A biopic about former American Idol contestant Fantasia Barrino was watched by 6.6 million viewers on the Lifetime Television cable channel in its debut last week and by an additional 12.4 million by the time reruns played out during the week. The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, ranked second for the week with a 5.0 cable rating, behind the 5.6 rating for TNT's The Closer, starring Emmy nominee Kyra Sedgwick. Also performing strongly on cable for the week was Comedy Central's Roast of William Shatner, which drew 4 million viewers.

EchoStar Communications, already reeling from a court decision that many of its settop digital recorders violated TiVo's patents, lost another major legal battle Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay a lower-court order requiring EchoStar's DISH Network to stop offering subscribers signals from stations outside their local markets. At least 630,000 DISH subscribers are reportedly affected by the ruling. In a statement, EchoStar said that it would "continue to explore every possible option available to avoid unnecessary disruption to our customers who watch distant network channels."

In its mano-a-mano battle with NBC's morning leader, the Today show, Good Morning America has scored a major "get," landing an interview with with Quintana Shotts, an ex-wife of John Mark Karr, the man who confessed last week to killing JonBenet Ramsey. Shotts married Karr in 1984 when she was 13 and he was 19 but filed for an annulment nine months later, saying in her complaint that she was "fearful for her life and safety." The interview was scheduled to air today (Wednesday). Meanwhile, it was announced Tuesday that Sam Champion, the dapper weatherman for WABC-TV, ABC's owned station in New York, will become the "weather anchor" and "weather editor" for GMA beginning Sept. 5, the same day that Chris Cuomo is due to make his debut on the morning show as its news anchor.

Federal Judge Thomas Ellis III has ordered the Justice Department to determine how CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl got information about an FBI investigation into the alleged leak of classified information to two members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAF), from "a mole working at the highest levels of the Pentagon," the New York Sun reported Tuesday. On the same day that the report aired, Aug. 27, 2004, the FBI confronted the two men, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, who were charged with conspiracy to acquire classified information. The court-ordered investigation triggered concern by First Amendment advocates. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, told the Sun that a pattern has emerged: "Justice goes back and ... gets affidavits from everyone saying, 'No. It wasn't me." Then, the court would demand that "Lesley Stahl or her producer identify who their confidential source is." Commenting on the Sun's report, Vaughn Ververs, who runs the CBS blog Public Eye, said, "The ongoing trend of investigators trying to force reporters to give up confidential sources looks like it may end up hitting closer to home for us."

On the heels of George Clooney's successful film drama about the clash between CBS News personality Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy on television in 1954, a successful stage drama has been mounted in London about the 1977 TV encounter between former President Richard M. Nixon and British interviewer David Frost. The play, Frost/Nixon, which has a limited run through Oct. 7, stars Frank Langella as Nixon and Michael Sheen as Frost. Theater critic Nicholas de Jongh, writing in the Evening Standard, gives the play high praise and singles out Langella for special acclaim, calling his performance "amazing ... one which nobody interested in great acting should miss." Michael Billington in the Guardian also lauds the performances, and concludes: "I felt I had not only got a glimpse into the characters but became nostalgic for an era when television itself had a theatrical weight and power." Television screens in the back of the stage play an important role in the play itself. Looking at the live Nixon on stage, he appears "composed," Simon Edge notes in the Daily Express, but looking at him as a television camera captures him in closeup, "he is red-faced, sweaty and bug-eyed ... [revealing] the reductive power of a TV close-up. It is perfectly done." Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph concludes that Frost/Nixon "memorably nails the moment when politics and showbiz became inextricably intertwined."

Although some may wonder who's been doing the counting, TV Guide Channel said Tuesday that Joan Rivers and Melissa Rivers will be conducting their 1000th red-carpet interview Sunday during the 58th annual Primetime Emmy Awards. (They'll begin at No. 982.) "Don't miss an unforgettable Hollywood moment," the channel said in a news release. "Tune-in for all the fashion hits and misses, along with unpredictable and hilarious commentary from Joan and Melissa."