The TV Zone

It's not often we at 'Zone' drift down the Great White Way, but this is about Jeremy Piven, and this post is most definitely worth making an exception for: He's quit Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" after missing a couple of performances.

Still out partying with Brit, were we, Jer?

Or recovering from the partying (after all, Brit will only turn 27 once, right?).

The truth, in fact, is even stranger, as it so often is. He says he's got a high mercury count.

Here's the top of the Variety piece. Mamet's quotes are priceless:

"Piven has informed the producers that he hasn’t been feeling well and that the condition is attributable to a high mercury count.

"The show’s producers weren’t returning calls, but Daily Variety reached out to David Mamet, who wrote the showbiz satire and seemed skeptical of the reasons for Piven’s departure.

“I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury,” Mamet said. “So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer.”

"Mamet indicated that the show will go on despite Piven’s exit.

(Photo from Getty, taken when mercury count was lower.)