LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It's called “Survivor,” and one of the castaways lived up to the name of the hit CBS “reality” series by surviving a bad fall from a horse and returning to the show despite his injuries, according to a published report.
CBS hinted that trouble was on the way last week in its preview of scenes from the newest episode of “Survivor: The Australian Outback” set to air on Thursday night.
In anticipation of potential controversy over the show, CBS said on Thursday morning it would hold a news conference early Friday to discuss “the events that occur” in the broadcast.
According to a report in the New York Post's PageSix.com Web site, one of the “Survivor” participants fell off a horse during the taping of the show and broke his collar bone. Based on the age given in accounts of the accident, the Web site surmised the injured person was 53-year-old Rodger Bingham of the Kucha Tribe.
At the time of the accident, hospital officials confirmed that the injured party was treated, released and flown back to return to the show.
CBS' apparent preemptive move comes just weeks after the network defended its decision to air an episode in which a wild pig was hunted down and killed by one of the tribes. Animal rights groups criticized the sequence as gratuitous, but CBS defended it, saying “viewers recognize that hunting and fishing as a means of sustenance have been acceptable since the dawn of time.”
CBS is a unit of Viacom Inc.
Harry Potter Gets Royal Seal of Approval
LONDON (Reuters) – J.K. Rowling, creator of the hugely popular Harry Potter series, enjoyed a magical moment on Friday when Britain's Prince Charles presented her with an Order of the British Empire.
The author, whose bewitching books about a bespectacled schoolboy wizard have catapulted her into the ranks of Britain's wealthiest women, was honored for services to children's literature.
Pottermania is set to escalate this year when the film version of the first book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,” is released.
A sneak preview, which went online on Thursday, offered fans their first tantalizing glimpses of Harry and his friends battling with spells, potions and flying broomsticks at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
“I saw the trailer early and thought it was absolutely wonderful, so I was really happy,” Rowling told ITN news.
Daniel Radcliffe was the lucky 11-year old picked to be Harry. His red-haired friend Ron is played by Rupert Grint and Emma Watson is the conscientious Hermione.
“From what I've seen so far it's a great film. The three main children, the leads, who are unknowns, they are absolutely wonderful. They couldn't have been better cast,” Rowling added.
The film, one of this year's eagerly-awaited features, is set for release on November 16. Fans in the United States will flock to see “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,” but the UK version will retain the book's original title.
The 35-year-old author, whose first name is Joanne, wroteher first best-seller in an Edinburgh cafe when she was a single mother, struggling to live on state benefits with daughter Jessica.
“I never dreamt Harry Potter was going to be the thing that saved us,” she once told reporters.
Her creation has been credited with helping children to rediscover books in the electronic age where Playstation and Pokemon rule.
More than 60 million copies have been sold in 200 countries, gripping the imagination of adults and children alike.
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