The Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have agreed to extend their talks one week until May 2. The agreement was seen as a positive sign that the negotiators are making progress, and representatives of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, who are sitting in on the talks as observers, agreed to postpone their own bargaining talks with the AMPTP until May 5. Nevertheless, in a message posted on its website, the AMPTP cautioned: "At this time there remain significant gaps between the two parties, and we hope to use the extra time to narrow these gaps."

Suggesting that the recent writers' strike may have represented a lot of fury signifying very little, two principal online movie retailers have declined to discuss results of their download services. The website ContentAgenda has observed that on Tuesday Netflix chief Reed Hastings and on Wednesday Amazon chief Jeff Bezos each refused to respond to questions from reporters about digital sales or what their companies are paying to generate them. Paul Sweeting, editor of ContentAgenda, commented: "What does it say about the pace of development in the digital media delivery business that two established, successful and savvy media retailers like Netflix and Amazon have nothing to show for their efforts? Nothing good, is what." Last November's writers' strike was triggered by demands by the writers for payment when shows they have written are offered on the Internet; likewise much of the current discussions between the Screen Actors Guild and the movie studios and TV networks centers on payments from digital media, but thus far, analysts have pointed out, there is little to suggest that any significant revenue is being generated from online movie services. In fact, several analysts have suggested that the recent tumble in Netflix stock may have been precipitated by the company's decision to invest heavily in its download service without demonstrating that it will generate sufficient revenue to justify the expense.

Following a search spanning four continents, a nine-year-old Australian actress, Jordana Beatty, has been selected to star in the forthcoming Eloise in Paris. Handmade Films announced Wednesday that Jordana had been selected from more than 4,000 girls who had auditioned for the part, based on Kay Thompson's beloved fictional character (whose painting hangs in New York's Plaza Hotel). She will costar with Uma Thurman, who will play the character's nanny. Charles Shyer (The Parent Trap) will direct.

People with GPS-enabled cell phones will soon be able to speak the name of a movie they wish to see into the phone, receive directions to the nearest theater playing it along with screening times, and be able to buy tickets. It's all part of a new service announced Wednesday by the movie-ticket service Fandango, which said that it is partnering with Microsoft's voice-search service Tellme to make it available at once to users of BlackBerry devices and soon to those using new Helio Mysto phones. Within the next year it will also be available to users of other GPS devices. In a statement, Fandango CEO Chuck Davis said that the service was aimed at providing "consumers with another fast and intuitive way to get the movie information they want, and allow them to buy tickets immediately."

Producer Dana Brunetti has acknowledged that he and fellow producer Kevin Spacey had originally planned to film most of his gambling movie 21 in Toronto or Chicago until he was lured to Massachusetts by a $5-million tax credit. Brunetti told Bloomberg News that the other incentives were significantly less attractive and that Boston offered a better setting since the true story concerned a group of MIT card sharks. Nevertheless, the tax credits that the filmmakers received have sparked political debate over the role of government in supporting private businesses. "There's something obscene about giving Hollywood producers, with all their money, a tax break," Republican state Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei told the news service. And Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation in Boston, said, "We're not getting sufficient payback of this as an investment." Bloomberg reported that in the past two years the state has contributed $138 million to 88 film ventures and generated $544 million in wages and other production spending. Nicholas Paleologos, head of the Massachusetts Film Office observed that that amount doesn't include such things as additional wages for workers at hotels serving film crews.

In a bizarre statement to the court following testimony on Tuesday, private eye Anthony Pellicano, who is representing himself in his wire-tapping case, repeatedly referred to himself in the third person -- as if he and his client were not one and the same, drawing an amused reaction from the judge. At one point, Pellicano appeared almost about to evoke laughter from Judge Dale Fischer when he interrupted her to say, "When you are talking about me, you're talking about the person Pellicano, not the lawyer Pellicano, right?" Later he said that "Mr. Pellicano" would not testify during the trial if that meant that he would have to testify about conversations that he had had with his celebrity clients. "It's not going to happen, ever, no matter what the consequence," he said.

Surprising many TV columnists and bloggers who had expected Jason Castro or Brooke White to be the next contestants eliminated from American Idol, viewers instead voted out Carly Smithson, whose performance on Tuesday had received much praise from the show's judges. On Wednesday's telecast, which drew a 14.2 rating and a 21 share (22.62 million viewers) the judges seemed to agree that the show had become more of a popularity contest than a talent contest. Even White, who had muffed the lyrics of her song and had to restart on Tuesday, seemed surprised that she was among the five finalists left standing. Also on the Idol telecast, President Bush made his second appearance of the week on a reality show -- he had appeared Monday on NBC's Deal or No Deal -- when he announced that the final tally for the Idol Gives Back charity show had come to $65 million.

The May ratings "sweeps" officially begin tonight (Thursday), with analysts anxiously waiting to see whether audiences will be returning to their sets to watch the return of Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty with new episodes. NBC is also moving Tina Fey's 30 Rock into the 9:30 time period, following The Office. Advertisers, especially film studios, particularly fancy Thursday night since it's the time when weekend plans are made. Thus far, however, returning shows have not seen returning audiences except for the CBS bloc of comedy shows on Monday nights -- the first new shows to return after the strike. CBS, however, went out of its way to herald the returning shows. But some TV executives have conceded that networks may not have done enough to make audiences aware that their favorite shows have returned. As today's Hollywood Reporter indicated, many returning shows have seen double-digit decreases in the ratings from their pre-strike averages, with ABC's Desperate Housewives off by a third and NBC's E.R. down by a quarter.

Both CNN and MSNBC attracted more viewers in the key 25-54-year-old demographic for their coverage of the Pennsylvania primary results Tuesday night than did the usual cable news leader, Fox News channel, Nielsen Media said Wednesday. CNN drew an average of 805,000 viewers in the demo during primetime, while MSNBC attracted 641,000. Fox, by contrast, counted only 556,000. CNN's audience peaked during the 10:00 p.m. hour with 910,000 in the demo. Overall, CNN delivered an average of 2,558,000 total viewers in primetime. Fox followed with 2,357,000. MSNBC averaged 1,615,000. None of the major broadcast networks covered the election results live, although NBC sent its top political correspondents and Nightly News anchor Brian Williams to its sibling cable channel for virtually uninterrupted coverage of the primary results. CBS and ABC do not operate cable news channels.

Jimmy Fallon has been tapped to replace Conan O'Brien on NBC's Late Night when O'Brien takes over hosting duties on The Tonight Show from Jay Leno next year, Fox.com entertainment columnist Roger Friedman reported today (Thursday), saying it was "a done deal." Friedman, who cited no sources, said that NBC plans to make a formal announcement around May 11th when it presents its fall schedule to advertisers.

Joseph Adalian, who has covered broadcast television for Variety for a decade, is leaving the trade publication to become deputy editor and columnist for TVWeek. Both publications are owned Crain Communications. In a statement, Chuck Ross, publisher and editorial director at TVWeek, said, "I have known Joe for over a decade and when one thinks of the top reporters and writers in this business, Joe is at the top of the list."

More than 85,000 people have posted videos and profiles online hoping to win the chance of becoming Paris Hilton's "BFF" (Best Friend Forever) on a new MTV reality series, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Of those who have submitted their willingness to appear on the show, 20 will be selected by the show's producers, who include Hilton herself. In an interview with the wire service, Hilton said that when she was approached with the idea for Paris Hilton's My New BFF she "just thought it would be so much fun ... having boys and girls move into a house all vying to be my best friend ... and I'd also like to meet some new friends." Hilton added that the person she selected, boy or girl, would have to have the ability "to like handle all the other things that are going to come with being by best friend." AP: "Like what?" Hilton: "Just being in the media, just someone who's not going to care about that, just someone who cares about me ... and that is not going to screw me over. Just someone to have a great time with."