Original Netflix content will be eligible for Emmys: "The first Netflix series, 'Lilyhammer,' is eligible for the Emmys, according to John Leverence, Emmys senior vice president of awards. The Emmys made broadband programming eligible in 2006. Shows must have a certain duration to avoid being entered as a short, and they must have at least six episodes. 'Lilyhammer' is eligible on both counts, and 'House of Cards' will be, too." STAR TRIBUNE

Radio special announced for the ACM Awards: "Dial Global Radio Networks has announced a radio special for the ACM (Academy of Country Music) Awards, celebrating this year’s nominees. The 'ACM Nomination Special' will be hosted by Broken Bow Records (BBR) artist Jason Aldean, and it will air March 24th or March 25th. Some of the artists featured on the special include Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Faith Hill and many more." ALL ACCESS MUSIC GROUP

Tehran ceremony honoring Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation") cancelled: "The Centre for Directors and the Supreme Council for Iranian Filmmakers issued a joint statement to Farhadi saying 'we were planning a simple and sincere ceremony for you to honour your great achievement for Iranian cinema, but we cannot hold it,' according to the ISNA news agency. The two bodies said officials scrapped the event but did not say why. The ministry of culture and Islamic guidance told ISNA it had no information about the ceremony." AFP

Five more performers added to the ACM Awards: "Blake Shelton, The Band Perry, Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts and Chris Young have been announced as performers for the ACM Awards on April 1. All five artists are nominated this year." CMT

Showtime sets 2012 return dates for "Dexter" and "Homeland": "As it hinted following 'Dexter' and 'Homeland‘s' successful pairing last fall, Showtime is keeping the two dramas together for another cycle. The pay cable network has set September 30 as a premiere date for 'Dexter‘s' seventh season and 'Homeland‘s' second. The two series will again air at 9 PM ('Dexter') and 10 PM ('Homeland') on Sundays." DEADLINE

Broadway Jr. founder Freddie Gershon, Arthur Siccardi Theatrical Serivces production supervisor Artie Siccardi, and the Theater Development Fund's Open Doors program will receive Tony Honors: "The Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were established in 1990 and are awarded annually to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theatre, but are not eligible in any of the established Tony Award categories."

Jonah Hill's Oscar nomination goes to his head on "Saturday Night Live": "Hill strutted into his 'SNL' hosting duties with ego totally out of check, ordering Andy Samberg to fetch him a diet coke (there would be a tip in it for him), and pulling out his phone to dial his close friend and 'Moneyball' costar Brad Pitt (it turns out Pitt had given Hill a fake number). All that and more was featured in a mini-documentary about Hill’s rehearsal week on 'SNL,' which he showed during his opening monologue." HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

AshleyMadison.com makes bid for Oscar venue naming rights: "The notorious extramarital dating site has made an official bid for the naming rights to the Hollywood and Highland Center, home of the Oscars telecast since 2001. Owner CIM Group has been searching for a replacement sponsor since Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and last week the website offered $5 million a year to rename it the AshleyMadison.com Theatre, noting that 'Hollywood and infidelity make for a natural partnership.'" NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Jim Rash's Oscar pose stole the show: "It certainly was not my intention to steal the show. When you're one of multiple nominees, you get a letter telling you to designate one speaker. Alexander (Payne) was ours. I did not set out to mock Angelina [Jolie] by any means. But I was watching her own that moment up there, rocking that look and sort of laughing as she posed. Then after your name is called, you're overwhelmed by emotion you can't articulate, and I wanted to silently show my pride. So I did that. And although everyone took it as me spoofing her, I was just trying to own that moment the way she had." CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Blake Shelton will host second annual NRA/ACM event: "Ready, aim, fire! NRA Country and the Academy of Country Music are revisiting a fruitful past partnership. The entities announced the Second Annual NRA Country/ACM Celebrity Shoot, which will be hosted by ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee Blake Shelton. The event will take place on Saturday, March 31, as part of ‘The Week Vegas Goes Country,’ which is the seven days leading up to the 47th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which air on April 1 on CBS." TASTE OF COUNTRY

Director Mike Nichols on selling "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway: "'The producers want us to sell, sell, sell,' Nichols tells NPR's Robert Siegel. 'That's my little joke. That's what we do by day; by night, we're artists.' The joke is that, these days, Nichols is selling 'Death of a Salesman.' He's directing a Broadway revival of the Arthur Miller classic — with Philip Seymour Hoffman cast as the salesman himself — that's set to open on March 15. According to Nichols, 'Death of a Salesman' is about a central relationship of American life — the one that exists between fathers and sons." NPR

Vulture sets out to name the best TV drama of the last 25 years in tournament form. "Breaking Bad" vs. "Friday Night Lights" in the quarter-finals: "It is, of course, ridiculously American to pit television shows against one another, as if they were politicians or beauty queens. But given that proviso, there are fundamental differences between 'FNL' and 'Breaking Bad.' The former is terrifically entertaining, and often moving. I enjoy watching it more than 'Breaking Bad.' But this enjoyment arises, in some measure, from the fact that I’m always aware the characters are going to be okay. In a deeper sense, I’m always aware the characters are characters. I never feel that way watching 'Breaking Bad.'" VULTURE

Esperanza Spalding stays true to herself on her second album: "Winning a Grammy would prompt some artists to rethink their next album. Not Esperanza Spalding — she didn't change a hair on hers. The explosively coiffed jazz singer and bassist — who shockingly won the 2011 best new artist Grammy over Justin Bieber and Drake — insists her fourth album 'Radio Music Society' (out March 20) is the same record she would have made three years ago. Because that's about when she started it." JAM! MUSIC

Grammy-winners The Civil Wars continue their breakthrough year: "The pair -- Joy Williams and John Paul White -- was booked to write and record a song for a documentary on hunger at T Bone Burnett's West Los Angeles studio-a coup in itself. But by the end of the weekend they had scored their first film, written and recorded songs for the documentary-and the much anticipated 'Hunger Games' film-and laid down a collaboration with the Chieftains. Soon thereafter, the Civil Wars would be back at Burnett's studio co-writing and recording with superstar Taylor Swift, whose enthusiasm for the band helped jump-start its career in February 2011." BILLBOARD

Oscar-winning writer Simon Beaufoy on his latest film, "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen": "No stranger to doing successful adaptations Beaufoy says his mantra is keeping the people, tone, spirit and heart of a book the same but putting everything else up for grabs. He describes the process of turning book-into-film sometimes as 'bruising.' He met ['Salmon' author Paul] Torday before they started and got his blessing but did not engage with him after that point. 'I think you are doing a disservice to a novel just by transposing it wholesale on to the screen because it doesn’t work.'" DEADLINE

"Avenue Q" will soon celebrate 1,000 performances at its current off-Broadway home: "The Tony Award-winning musical 'Avenue Q,' which played a six-year run on Broadway before moving to New World Stages, will celebrate its 1,000th performance at its Off-Broadway home March 14. On that date, the production will reach a combined total of 3,534 performances—2,534 on Broadway and 1,000 at New World Stages. The current cast of 'Avenue Q' includes Lexy Fridell, Nicholas Kohn, Veronica J. Kuehn, Rob Morrison, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Jeffrey David Sears and Haneefah Wood." PLAYBILL

Will online streaming be the next measure of post-Oscar success? "Looking at 'Hugo‘s' success online and considering how much has changed this year in the realm of Netflix memberships and video-on-demand binges, perhaps the box office bump for other Oscar winners will be more visible online than it has been in theaters. 'The Artist' will benefit from a Weinstein Company-Netflix deal and other Oscar winners may follow suit. As various methods of VOD become more prevalent, so too are the chances that Joe Moviegoer will stumble upon an Academy Award-winning flick–and actually watch it." EW.COM

ACM Awards announces performers: "Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw are the first seven performers announced for the ACM Awards in Las Vegas on April 1. Aldean and Chesney are both nominated in the entertainer, male vocalist, album, single and vocal event categories. Aldean also landed a video nod for 'Tattoos on This Town,' while Chesney and Grace Potter's 'You and Tequila' is up for song of the year." CMT

FX's "Justified" renewed for a fourth season: "Midway through 'Justified‘s' third-season run, FX has given the drama series a fourth season pickup with a 13-episode order. '"Justified" is one of television’s best series and this season has reinforced that excellence,' FX’s EVP of original programming Nick Grad said ... Through seven weeks of Season 3, first-run episodes of 'Justified' are averaging 4.3 million viewers, up 8% vs. season 2, and 2.1 million Adults 18-49, also up 8% from season 2." DEADLINE

"Monsieur Lazhar" lost Oscar, but sweeps the Genies: "At last month's Academy Awards, Philippe Falardeau had to watch as another director took the stage to accept the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. On Thursday night, everyone was watching him. His critically acclaimed drama 'Monsieur Lazhar,' which tells the story of an Algerian teacher helping students recover from a tragedy in a Montreal elementary school, was named Best Motion Picture at the 32nd Annual Genie Awards, which were held in Toronto on Thursday. Falardeau also walked away with the statuettes for Achievement in Direction and Adapted Screenplay." CALGARY HERALD

Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" will open the Cannes Film Festival: "The film, which recounts a tormented and surprising story of children and adults in 1965, will play in the Grand théâtre Lumière of the Palais des Festivals. Attending will be the Jury presided over by Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti. 'Wes Anderson is one of the rising powers of American cinema, to which he brings a highly personal touch, particularly in "Moonrise Kingdom," which once again is a testimony to the creative freedom in which he continues to evolve,' said Thierry Frémaux, the Festival’s General Delegate." THE WRAP

There are few Oscar-worthy roles for black actresses: "African-American actresses have gone on to play a variety of roles. But playwright Murray Horwitz argues many of them present African-Americans as victims ... According to Horwitz, layered roles for African-American actresses have been rare. Most fit the traditional niche. Like the abusive mother in Lee Daniels' 2009 drama 'Precious.' Mo’Nique won an Oscar for that supporting role." VOICE OF AMERICA

Woody Allen in talks to star in John Turturro's upcoming comedy: "The avuncular director is in talks to join John Turturro's indie comedy, 'Fading Gigolo.' This is stunning news for Allen aficanados; the director hasn't taken an acting gig in someone else's movie in over a decade. The film itself harkens back to surreal 80s-style Woody, which imagines Turturro and Allen as penniless besties who hatch a scheme to break into the gigolo industry in order to cause a stir in their Hasidic Jewish neighborhood." MOVIEFONE

Songwriters Hall of Fame honors Bette Midler: "Grammy Award winner Bette Midler will receive the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award at the 43rd Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 14 in Manhattan. The annual honor is presented to 'industry veterans who are acknowledged as pioneers in their craft, whose body of work over time has been substantial, enduring and influential, and whose success and contributions over a lifetime have inspired the music community.'" PLAYBILL

Did the best films win Oscars 20 years ago? "The 3rd annual 20/20 Awards were announced recently, honoring the best films of 1991 after two decades worth of distance and hindsight. Great idea — even though the event turned out just about as anticlimactically as this year's real thing. That's what happens when Oscar apparently gets it right. To wit, 'The Silence of the Lambs' once again swept the major categories of Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay (Adapted), claiming five 'Felixes' on the night and leading the way among an unprecedented eight 'Odd Couples' to win both Oscars and Felixes." MOVIELINE

Additional titles added to Tribeca Film Festival lineup: "The Tribeca Film Festival announced its Spotlight and Cinemania programs today, including Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary, 'Mansome,' period drama 'Cheerful Weather for the Wedding' with 'Like Crazy's' Felicity Jones, and 'Struck By Lightning,' written by 'Glee's' Chris Colfer. 'It was important that we head into Tribeca’s second decade highlighting projects that were attuned to the pulse of our cultural climate,' said director of programming Genna Terranova, in a release." EW.COM

Indiewire makes its Cannes Film Festival wish list: "Indiewire's annual Cannes wish list isn't so much about officially predicting the lineup, but rather is a roster of films we hope are finished in time, good enough and invited to the Croisette (though we do muse about what's more likely than others). Among the candidates are celebrated filmmakers like Woody Allen, Paul Thomas Anderson, Olivier Assayas, Jacques Audiard, David Cronenberg, Xavier Dolan, Matteo Garrone, Wong Kar-Wai, Ken Loach, Terrence Malick, Cristian Mungiu, Francois Ozon and Walter Salles." INDIEWIRE

"Lincoln" tops Jeff Well's list of possible 2012 Oscar contenders: "The usual Spielberg-kowtow instinct (i.e., to show obeisance before power) plus the impact of Daniel Day-Lewis's lead performance plus the instinct to show respect and allegiance for the legend of Abraham Lincoln. Classic historical chops. Will Spielberg try to hold back on his usual instincts? He may, I think, because of the Lewis influence." HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE