TaleSpin: From the Access Hollywood Newsdesk (7/16/07)

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By George Larrimore and Shelly Aguilar

STRANGE CASE: Have you ever heard of a child trying to nullify the marriage of a parent? It’s happening in Hollywood. Over the transom this morning came the papers in a legal action brought by Richard Pryor’s daughter Elizabeth against his widow Jennifer Lee Pryor.We’ve been expecting something like this, hearing that there’s simmering animosity between at least some of his kids and Ms. Pryor, who took care of Richard for several years prior to his 2005 death, and who now controls a large part of his estate. The suit itself gives precious little detail except to charge that there was fraud in the marriage of Jennifer and Richard, and it asks that the marriage be nullified. The attorney who represents Elizabeth Pryor says she wants the court to sort this out and won’t allow her client to talk. And a call to Pryor’s widow has gone unanswered so far.

Click here to view the Pryor trust change documents.

Click here to view the annulment documents.

PARIS PERKS PROBE: LA Sheriff’s Department confirmed today that they would be an investigation into whether Sheriff Lee Baca’s people gave Paris Hilton special treatment while she was behind bars on a probation violation. And now there are questions as to what the investigation might reveal. The L.A. Times reported on Friday the Paris allegedly had access to a private phone, that a captain in the department personally delivered her mail to her and that Paris was given a new orange jumpsuit instead of an old used one. And this after Sheriff Baca has said publicly that she would get no Special Treatment.

WHY PROBE? This seems like small potatoes. And in Paris’ world it is. But this is not about the Heir Head, it’s about the Sheriff and his political enemies, some of whom are in the Deputies Union. When the Sheriff told The Media that Paris would receive no special treatment the Union took him at his word, and immediately started probing for discrepancies. Now they wonder what other perks Paris might have gotten. Presumably those will be revealed in a probe headed by the LASD Internal Affairs Bureau. But IA is under Baca’s jurisdiction. So we’re told it’s not so much what they find, but what they actually allowed to look into in the first place.

LOVE THAT ANKLET: Lindsay did some Clean and Sober partying in Las Vegas over the weekend as she belatedly celebrated turning 21. The Ankle Bracelet Accessory that she wore was the talk of Our Show this morning. The way it works is that device takes a reading of skin moisture every 30 minutes. That info is sent along to the company that makes the thing. If there’s a problem, such as the presence of a Mojito or a Cosmopolitan in the bloodstream then, in theory, Somebody Really Important gets notified. So we wondered if people had tried, say, deodorant, to fool the Bracelet. Not that, but we’re told they have tried; plastic wrap, foil and chicken skin. They’ve also tried cutting the thing off and putting it back on the next morning. We’re not saying Lindsay has tried any of those things.

HOLLYWOOD, ARE YOU LISTENING?: For a new Broadway musical how about Pirates of the Caribbean? The costumes would be Les Miserab-ly fabulous and you’d need a big chorus of Pirates and Wenches for the yo-ho-ho-ing.And for an action feature: a spin-off from the History Channel’s hit Ice Road Truckers. There are elements of danger and desperation in every episode. Last night a young driver had to leave his daughter’s side even though she was undergoing surgery so that the pipes/fuel/food could Get Through. After you nail down the rights send my fee to our Burbank address.

GOOD LUCK WITH THIS ONE: Hit-starved NBC has made a deal with (and these are their words) “word-renowned mystifier” Criss Angel and “famed mentalist’ Uri Geller” for a new competition show called ‘Phenomenon’ in which they “search” for the “next great mentalist.” Maybe it will play out like this; they tease us that they’ll reveal the next great mentalist…next. They go to commercial break during which the drama heightens, the two contestants stand sheepishly side-by-side, avoiding eye contact. The nervous announcer takes out the card with the lucky winner’s name on it. And before he can read it the loser says “I knew all this last night.”

I’m psychic.. I know you have news to share. Send it to McGeorgenews@nbcuni.com

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