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The Muppet Show, which turned 50 last month, was made in England because Lew Grade, a British producer with an empty studio outside London, offered Jim Henson $125,000 for one episode, on condition he shoot there. Henson had two failed ABC pilots and a stalled CBS deal behind him (Variety).
Daniel Weiss, 69, became director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art a month after the board fired Sasha Suda; vice chair Osagie Imasogie says a search would have been “performative” (ARTnews).
In 1947 the Minneapolis Institute of Art paid $10,000 for a “King Chak Mool” later exposed as a forgery. The dealer, Earl Stendahl, also ran looted Mesoamerican objects into Los Angeles collections, according to a new Getty Research Institute book (Hyperallergic).
Quebec novelist Thélyson Orélien admits plagiarism in articles he wrote in 2012-14 but denies using AI for C’était ça ou mourir, which the Goncourt jury dropped on September 25 (The Canadian Press).
La Scala’s workers voted to strike on October 20, opening night of Gounod’s Faust, with one vote against among more than 450, over a 15 percent raise (Moto Perpetuo).
One Minnesota school pulled 80 books last year, including The Handmaid’s Tale, after the state outlawed book bans (Star Tribune). South Grand Prairie High School in Texas canceled Little Shop of Horrors because a girl was cast as Seymour (Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
All of our stories below.