Morning Meme: Sir Elton Serenades "Gnomeo & Juliet," "Pt. Dume" Aims To Be New "Baywatch" and Prepare For "ReCaprica"

Plus new Saturday Night Live promos, Joe McElderry pitches new album, and Dan Savage wants you to know It Gets Better.

Gregory Bonnan, who created Baywatch is back with a new syndicated series called Pt. Dume in 2011. It’s not all that different than Baywatch, really. A bunch of delinquent teens are forced to take part in a Coast Guard training program in Malibu. Slow motion running may be involved, but it will be in formation.

The Vatican bank has had €23 million in deposits frozen as the head of the bank is investigated for money laundering.  The jokes write themselves.

Oprah is teaming up with Mark Burnett to launch a panel show for her new Oprah Winfrey Network to compete directly with The View. So now we’ll have The View, The Talk, The Gossip Queens, and now whatever this is. I’m not sure I can handle that much crosstalk in my life.

The Log Cabin Republicans released a statement blaming the failure of yesterday’s vote for cloture on the Defense Authorization Bill squarely on Senator Harry Reid, and not on the Republicans.

Out cutie Joe McElderry has released the first single from his album, and has a new interview with Radio 1’s Scott Mills.

Two Georgia men have filed lawsuits alleging sexual coercion by anti-gay Atlanta super church pastor Eddie Long. It’s a shock, I know. I’ll wait while you collect yourself.

Lyle Lovett has signed on for an episode of Castle as a secretive government agent who investigates Beckett and Castle as they try to solve the case of a scientist who died of explosive decompression. I’ve been fascinated by Lovett’s occasional acting choices since he appeared in The Opposite of Sex.

Michael Petrelis has an interview with Laurie Perper, a former co-chair at GLAAD who has several allegations of staff defections and donations drying up at the organization.

A man has filed a lawsuit against basically everyone in Hollywood alleging that the idea for Modern Family was his, and he’d been circulating a pitch for the show since 2006, under the title Looney Bin. The show had all the characters, down to races and sexual orientations, and he had even filed with the copyright office to have Sofia Vergara play the fiery Latina.

Yesterday during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell coverage, someone left a comment over at Joe.My.God saying “All faggots must die.” Obviously they didn’t know how traceable these things are, or they wouldn’t have done it from a U.S. Senate computer in the Atlanta office of Senator Saxby Chambliss. Investigation is ongoing.

HBO has renewed Boardwalk Empire after airing only a single episode. It’s going to take time to earn back the $65 million they spent on the pilot episode.

Natalie Portman is attached to an “edgy” remake of Snow White. Is that really necessary?

Shia LaBeouf says he tried to edit a line of dialogue he found awkward while making Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but Oliver Stone wasn’t having it. “I wrote Scarface. Go f**k yourself.”

I always loved Ender’s Game as a book. Heck, I liked the whole series. Then I realized what a horrible anti-gay bigot Orson Scott Card was, and it tainted the books to the degree I couldn’t even keep my well-worn copies any more. They’ve tried to make a movie version before, and it stalled, but now it’s back on. I know this is going to end up depressing me.

Ryan Reynolds finally admits his dance card is full. He thinks it’s likely that both Deadpool and R.I.P.D. will both get made, but only one will get made with him in the lead.