1. Famed writer Gore Vidal — whose prolific output included some 25 novels, two memoirs, and several books of essays, as well as plays and TV screenplays — has died at the age of 86. “Mr. Vidal was, at the end of his life, an Augustan figure who believed himself to be the last of a breed, and he was probably right,” reads his New York Times obit. “Few American writers have been more versatile or gotten more mileage from their talent.”
2. Ricky Gervais is launching a new web series called Learn English with Ricky Gervais that he says will subtitled in as many languages as possible. [via THR]
3. Talk about striking while the iron’s still hot: Ousted Community showrunner Dan Harmon — who is currently working on an animated series for Adult Swim, a stop-motion film with Charlie Kaufman, and a sitcom for Fox — has yet another new project in the works, this one, a half-hour multi-cam comedy for CBS. [via TVLine]
4. If you missed it last night, watching Stephen Colbert grill Jeff Koons on his “shiny” art and obsession with balloon dogs was pretty amusing. [via GalleristNY]
5. DJ Shadow has become the first artist to strike a payment deal with BitTorrent; as part of their agreement, the site is offering three MP3s from his upcoming album, Hidden Transmissions from the MPC Era (1992-1996), for download. [via Rolling Stone]
Bonus Buzz: Angelina Jolie From 1989 To 2012