Hear the world’s sounds. Smooth Operators. Shows led by antiheroes tend to have their cake and eat it too: They’re able to critique a particular way of life while profiting off it in terms of lurid plotting or borderline hypocritical humor (think “Breaking Bad” and “Eastbound and Down”). Reveling in excess, Showtime’s “House of Lies” ups the ante by having cake that’s obscenely expensive and then billing it to a client. The new 30-minute comedy series focuses on Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle), a management consultant who, along with his “pod” — a team consisting of Jeannie (Kristen Bell), Clyde (Ben Schwartz) and Doug (Josh Lawson) — traverses the country to blow smoke up the rears of companies eager to improve their images.
The story fits the TV format ingeniously: A new episode means a new client company and a new cadre of guest stars and scenarios. Furthermore, in a moving desert island sort of dynamic, the pod travel as a group and the principals have the chemistry required to pull this off. It’s possible. Planting a Successor. The Oracle of Omaha will hand over his legendary investment firm to the Farmer of Decatur. In a “60 Minutes” segment that will air Sunday, Warren Buffett, 81, said that when he dies he wants his son, Howard, a corn and soybean farmer living in Illinois, to become the non-executive chairman of Omaha, Neb. -based Berkshire Hathaway. The disclosure comes as a shock since “Howie,” as he is known, was not among the list of potential successors at Berkshire, a favorite topic of speculation on Wall Street. Billionaire Buffett said his oldest son, 56, would be a good successor because he understands the values of the company, which has a $100 billion portfolio.
“Your worry that somebody will be in charge of Berkshire that uses it as their own sandbox in some way,” said Buffett. For his part, the younger Buffett, who does not have a college degree, is amenable to the plan, he told the newsmagazine’s Lesley Stahl, as long as he doesn’t have to stop farming. –MarketWatch. Evolution Bites Shark. The world’s first breed of hybrid shark has been discovered in a development that scientists are calling unprecedented and extraordinary. A result of mating between the Australian blacktip shark and the larger common blacktip, the hybrids were found along a 1,243-mile stretch of sea between New South Wales and Queensland. The hybrid shark is seen as a sign that the Australian blacktip, which typically only lives in tropical waters, is adapting to global warming and sea temperature changes.
Breeding with the common blacktip allows the hybrids to venture farther into colder waters, which could ensure their long-term existence. “This is evolution in action,” said University of Queensland researcher Jess Morgan. In a real-life example of survival of the fittest, the hybrid shark is thought to be stronger than the two species that created it, meaning it will likely outlast the common and Australian blacktip. – Adam K.
Hurd Culled. The Chicago Bears cut Sam Hurd yesterday, 48 hours after his arrest on drug charges, as his attorney tried to quell a sensational report that the wide receiver had been peddling cocaine and marijuana to dozens of NFL players. Hurd, 26, was released on $100,000 bail following a hearing in federal court in Chicago. His lawyer told reporters his client “100 percent” denies he was selling drugs to fellow players. Chicago radio station 670 The Score on Thursday cited an unidentified federal agent as saying the government has a list of his customers. “It is patently and totally false. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said yesterday the league isn’t “aware of such a list.” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo declined to make a direct comment, telling the Associated Press, “I’m certainly not going on any witch hunts about players.”
Angelo did confirm the team was cutting Hurd, who was nabbed Wednesday with what authorities said was a kilo of cocaine. FACEBOOKIE. Facebook is about to up the ante on its gaming platform, and not with the play money being bet on Zynga. The social network is in talks with a number of British gaming operators to offer real-money online gambling, perhaps as soon as the first quarter of 2012, according to eGaming Review, a website covering gambling industry news.
Access to these apps will not be available in countries like the U.S. where strict laws prohibit online gambling transactions. Facebook reportedly began exploratory talks with gaming experts and consultants about a year ago. By the summer, serious discussions began with developers and licensees, and the company has been staffing up recently to prepare for the launch of real-money betting apps, according to reports in Tech Crunch and Wicked Chops Poker. Two of the online poker companies being considered for a partnership with Facebook are 888 Holdings and Gamesys. One name not being tossed around is Zynga. Wizarding World Expansion: Universal to Expand Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Close dialog.