It is awards season in Hollywood (Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, etc.) and there are now hundreds of awards shows covering all aspects of the entertainment industry. One group, the extras or un-credited actors, however, has heretofore been absent from the limelight, but they are looking to change things – it seems that they are tired of going unnoticed. Sam Jenkins, a working extra, is determined to make sure that this year will be the year of the extra. Jenkins has organized an awards show for his peers, The Un-Credited Actors Awards, which will be held in March at the Holiday Inn in Universal City and will highlight the many facets of the extra industry and the skills of those involved in the background people biz. Award categories will include: Best Use of an Appendage, Best Crowd Scene, Best Scene Steal, and Best Un-Credited Actor in a Musical or Comedy. The winners will receive “Spotties” - spotlight shaped statues – and an opportunity to speak. The show will also present a lifetime achievement award to Bill Taylor, an extra who has performed in over five hundred films and TV shows and who has refused to take speaking roles. “Un-credited actors deserve credit and respect,” says Jenkins. “We’re as much a part of the production as anybody else on the set, yet we literally get nothing – no pay, no glamour, and typically two day old sandwiches. Just because we are not allowed to speak doesn’t mean we have nothing to say.” It seems that extras are finally getting their day in the sun – the HBO show Extras is a big hit – but many Hollywood insiders are not pleased with their desire to be noticed. “Can’t they just talk at home?” said one. “Before you know it they will start going after speaking roles and that will mess everything up. Why is it so difficult to be content with nothing?”  [Jeffrey Tipton]

Superbowl entertainers were acknowledged for their historic contributions.  A life-sized replica of Janet Jackson's breast will be on display for the latest Celebrity Junk Museum exhibit.  A replica of Rolling Stones' singer Mick Jagger will also be on display.  In the exhibit, visitors are encouraged to touch and interact with the display objects.

HOLLYWOOD — In light of the major world religions acquiring the various Hollywood studios, the new exhibit looks at how the entertainment logos have changed, going from the secular 20th century icons to the more fundamentalist 21st century imagery.  The exhibit features the re-crafting of the Paramount logo shortly after Scientology bought the studio and placed Tom Cruise at the helm.  The Sultan of Bahrain's buyout of Universal is depicted in the "universality of the Islamic crescent" imagery.  The fundamentalist Hindu buyout of Disney wasted little time in generating a more devout, restrained look for the classic cast of characters.