Emmys to add 10 nominations

Hollywood, Calif. — The prime-time Emmy Awards this year will hand out an additional 10 nominations in major categories to “accommodate an abundance of outstanding programs and performances,” the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Wednesday.

The categories that will get an extra nominee are: outstanding comedy and drama series, outstanding lead actor and actress in comedy and drama series, and outstanding supporting actor and actress in a comedy and drama series.

Emmy nominations are slated for July 16, and the awards ceremony is set for Sept. 20.

Franco wins Harvard Hasty Pudding award

Cambridge, Mass. — James Franco, who won recent acclaim for playing both a goofy pot dealer and Harvey Milk’s lover, has been named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year.

Franco will receive the award at a roast Feb. 13 by the Hasty Pudding — the nation’s oldest undergraduate drama troupe.

The 31-year-old actor was nominated for a Golden Globe for his supporting role in “Pineapple Express” and starred opposite Sean Penn in “Milk.” He has appeared in TV’s “Freaks and Geeks” and the “Spider Man” trilogy and portrayed James Dean in the TNT biopic.

Renee Zellweger will be honored as the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year today. Last year’s honorees were Christopher Walken and Charlize Theron.

Springsteen ‘furious’ with Ticketmaster

Trenton, N.J. — Bruce Springsteen said Wednesday that he is angry with Ticketmaster and believes its selling practices constitute a conflict of interest.

When tickets for Springsteen’s show at New Jersey’s Meadowlands went on sale Monday, some fans got an error message on their computer screen that shut them out. The potential ticket-buyers then saw an ad for Ticketmaster subsidiary TicketsNow offering tickets for hundreds of dollars more than face value.

Springsteen said on his Web site Wednesday that he and the E Street Band are “furious.”

TicketsNow allows people who have tickets to exchange, trade or sell them at marked-up prices. The band said it has received assurances from Ticketmaster that it will stop redirect Springsteen fans to TicketsNow.

The snub to Springsteen fans on Monday prompted U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell to call on the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to investigate possible conflicts of interest involving Ticketmaster and TicketsNow. The New Jersey attorney general’s office is also investigating whether Ticketmaster has violated any consumer fraud or ticket resale laws.

Blagojevich says he’s misunderstood

New York — David Letterman’s first guest appeared to the strains of “My Way.” Then, ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was posed a question a lot of people wanted to ask.

“Why exactly are you here? Honest to God,” asked Letterman, as his guest settled into his seat.

“Well, you know, I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest…”

“Well, you’re on in the worst way, believe me,” the host interrupted.

Blagojevich made another round of TV show visits Tuesday, repeatedly saying he’ll be vindicated in the scandal that has cost him his job and has him facing a criminal trial.

He told Letterman that he keeps thinking he’ll wake up and people will realize “this is just one big misunderstanding.”

Last week, the Illinois Senate convicted Blagojevich of abuse of power. Blagojevich also faces federal charges including allegations he tried to profit from selling President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.

Letterman asked Blagojevich what he planned to do with his time leading up to the trial.

“Well, I’m looking for work,” Blagojevich replied. “Are you hiring?”

ABC to air Bob Saget sitcom after ‘Dancing’

Hollywood, Calif. — ABC has picked up the sitcom “Surviving Suburbia” with Bob Saget for a high-profile 8:30 p.m. Monday time slot after “Dancing With the Stars” this spring.

If the title of the show — which has Saget playing a cynical suburban dad — sounds familiar, that’s because it was supposed to premiere this year on The CW, part of a Sunday lineup farmed out to the mini-studio Media Rights Capital.

But in November, The CW abruptly yanked the entire MRC schedule, with a network executive declaring that it was “simply not working.”

Mandrell, Clark, McCoy join Country Hall of Fame

Nashville, Tenn. — Barbara Mandrell, Roy Clark and Charlie McCoy will become the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The Country Music Association announced the selections Wednesday in Nashville. All three will be formally inducted in the spring.

‘Fringe’ co-stars Anna Torv, Mark Valley wed

New York — Life imitates art at the Fox series “Fringe,” where co-stars Anna Torv and Mark Valley have wed.

Torv’s representative, Jen Turner, says the couple were married in December. She didn’t provide any details.

Torv, 29, plays FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham on “Fringe.” Valley, 44, played Dunham’s partner and secret lover, agent John Scott, when the series began last fall. But their relationship took a mysterious turn when Scott was seemingly killed and exposed as Dunham’s apparent betrayer.