News items: Deepak, horror, strike, Rosie...

Strangely enough, from Sundance Channel, on the interview series:
ICONOCLASTS features actor Mike Myers and physician, author, and philosopher Dr. Deepak Chopra. The episode, which will premiere on Thursday, November 8th at 10 p.m. ET/PT, features the two influential figures as they walk through New York City’s Central Park and tour Chopra’s urban oasis, The Chopra Center and Spa.

Top 31 Horror Films, as released by Moviefone:
31. The Ring
30. Hellraiser
29. Nosferatu
28. The Descent
27. The Omen
26. The Fly (Cronenberg)
25. Wicker Man (the original)
24. Carnival of Souls
23. The Eye
22. Scream
21. Friday the 13th
20. Dracula (1931)
19. Evil Dead 2
18. Carrie
17. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
16. Night of the Living Dead (original)
15. The Blair Witch Project
14. Bride of Frankenstein
13. A Nightmare on Elm Street
12. Rosemary's Baby
11. Frailty
10. 28 Days Later
9. The Haunting (1963)
8. Dawn of the Dead (original)
7. The Thing
6. The Sixth Sense
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
4. The Shining
3. Psycho (original)
2. The Exorcist
1. Halloween (original)

TVguide.com says NBC is developing a spinoff of "The Office," but it won't involve any of the main cast members. (Sounds bogus.)

By the way, TV writers may go on strike on Halloween, which will affect scripted shows down the road big-time. One report has NBC reacting by airing in-the-can British versions of the show (quite funny) with the American version on Thursdays.

Rosie O’Donnell, left, joins Martha Stewart in the craft room of Martha's show Wednesday to create Candy Wrapper Decoupage. It will be her first television appearance since leaving The View, says a publicist.

Court TV to be Renamed truTV Jan. 1, with Branding Campaign to Start Nov. 1;
Network Will Evolve to Lure More Fans Who Love Real-Life Excitement

From Court TV; it will soon be Tru:


The upcoming revamp of Court TV into truTV will feature a new tagline and a growing list of original series that are designed to target an audience of viewers who want first-person access to exciting, real-life stories.
“Not Reality. Actuality.” will serve as truTV’s tagline when the network’s new name debuts Jan. 1.

Planet Earth to replay on Discovery

From Discovery Network:
Beginning Sunday, November 11 at 8 PM (ET/PT) two episodes of PLANET EARTH will air each week for six consecutive weeks.
On November 11 at 10 PM (ET/PT), following PLANET EARTH, viewers can catch the debut of Discovery Channel’s new adrenaline-filled six-part series FEARLESS PLANET, a thrill ride through the earth’s most awesome natural wonders, taking extreme filmmaking to a whole new level. Viewers join world paragliding record holder and renowned extreme sportsman Will Gadd as he journeys to some of the most amazing locations in the world – Alaska, the Sahara, Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef and the Grand Canyon – to understand how these stunning formations were created. The series uses cutting-edge photo-real computer graphics to bring to life the geological processes that created these natural wonders.

Is Hugh Jackman there? How about Amanda Huginkiss?

As we predicted (and it wasn't a tough call if you saw the pilot), Hugh Jackman's sing-a-long drama "Viva Laughlin" is the first scripted show to be canceled this season. "Online Nation" was zapped on CW, but that was a cheesey "AFH Videos" ripoff.

No way, nah-ah, I'm not buying it; maybe the Onion hacked into Times site

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/20/world/asia/20japan.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

Now he's Dr. Danger on Mojo channel

I actually get this channel, Mojo, which features our favorite cable show, the drinking series "Three Sheets" with Zane Lamprey. So if you're like me, you remember the many news reports and medical features by Dr. Bob Arnot on network news. Today on Mojo he is "Dr. Danger," and from this photo (from an episode Wed., Oct. 17 at 10 p.m.), it looks like his trips to risky locales could end badly. Come back to us, Dr. Bob! We're concerned about you.

Jorja, Jorja, the whole day through...

From ew.com:
CSI's Jorja Fox in which the television star officially announces that she will be leaving TV's No. 1 drama. The 39-year-old actress wrapped production last week and will only appear in 5 more episodes of CSI this season. "There are all these things I want to do. Some are personal. Some are professional. And I really need to do some of them before I get too old," explains Fox.


TV writer David Hiltbrand says this is what happens when you're a woman in Hollywood, implying she couldn't get her money and was jettisoned. (And Gary Sinise recently pocketed a big salary increase to $5 million a year, he says).
He also mentions Sarah Wayne Callies, who plays Michael’s love interest, Sara, on "Prison Break"? "She wouldn’t sign a new contract, so this week Sara’s head was delivered in a box to Michael’s brother, Lincoln," he writes.
Yikes. I've been moving away from "Prison Break" after two electrifying seasons. But it's all about the pecking order in Hollywood, and Sinise has more in the way of credits than Jorja Fox.
Not that there isn't discrimination, but paydays must be all over the map out there.

10-18 update. From TV Guide: In her only interview, CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn tells TVGuide.com’s Michael Ausiello that “fans will not have seen the last of Sara Sidle. Nor will Grissom.” When asked if Jorja Fox was definitely returning to the hit CBS series, Mendelsohn responded, “Yes. You can count on it.”

So maybe it was just a negotiating thing.

Imagine being the loser of this pathetic challenge

From WPLR.com:

EAST HAVEN, CONN. – 99.1 WPLR’s Chaz & AJ - Connecticut’s Number One Morning Show - are giving dads the chance to take their daughters to see Hannah Montana, one of the hottest tickets of the year. Chaz & AJ’s male listeners are calling in with their sexiest voice to qualify to win tickets. After answering a series of questions, five selected contestants come together Wednesday October 17, 2007 at 8:30a.m dressed like “Hannah Montana” to race in a forty (40) yard dash. Hair and heels will be flying at Crisafi Track & Field behind the Joseph Mellilo Middle School - 67 Hudson St. in East Haven Wednesday morning.

Saturday Night Live "Weekend Update" jokes

From NBC:
"Yesterday, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the environment. Then, in a stunning reversal, the Supreme Court awarded it to George Bush."
POEHLER -- "Communist Cuba paid tribute on Monday to Ernesto 'Che' Guevara, the populist revolutionary and guerrilla fighter. And not, as most college students believe, the founder of Urban Outfitters."
MEYERS -- "New York City this week was honored as one of the nation's most bike-friendly cities, along with San Francisco which was noted for being both bike-friendly and bike-curious."
MEYERS -- "Blind people are saying that gas-electric hybrid cars pose a serious threat to them because they are hard to hear, making it dangerous for them to cross the street. Also making it dangerous for blind people to cross the street: everything else."
POEHLER -- "The Benjamin, a New York City hotel, has employed a sleep concierge to help its guests sleep better. Though the concierge says he prefers his original title, bartender."
POEHLER -- "Dr. Peggy Whitson, a 47 year-old astronaut, has become the first woman to command the International Space Station. As a result, ships are not allowed to dock without a few minutes of foreplay."

MEYERS -- "A naked man talking on a cell phone in Times Square was arrested Thursday after walking into a Tad's Steaks. The polie said they knew something was wrong with the man when he walked into a Tad's Steaks."
POEHLER -- "The top prize at this year's Rubik's Cube world championship went to a 16-year-old, who solved the puzzle five times in an average of 12.5 seconds. The teen said afterward that he would need a lot more time to solve the puzzle that is woman."
POEHLER -- "A 3 year-old boy who was lost in the Amazon rain forest for 11 days has been found alive. Reportedly, the boy survived by hanging out in a nearby Starbucks."
MEYERS -- "Many Blackberry users are now reporting feeling vibrations when they are not holding their devices. In an effort to combat these phantom sensations, makers of the Blackberry suggest you stop doing cocaine."
MEYERS -- "A transplant specialist is developing a new technique in which a scalp from a cadaver can be transplanted to a balding person. The only side effect so far: vultures."
POEHLER -- "Researchers in Tokyo are developing a robot that would be able to give therapeutic facial massages. So please, just relax as I put this experimental robot on your face."

Lou "I see Alien People" Dobbs moving time slot

From CNN:

Situation Room to Run 4-7p.m., Lou Dobbs Tonight Moves to 7 p.m. as Network Girds for Intense Election Year

Leveraging the ratings successes and buzz around two of its signature political programs, CNN will flip the time periods of Lou Dobbs Tonight and the third hour of The Situation Room. Under the new schedule, The Situation Room becomes a single, three-hour program from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (ET), leading into Lou Dobbs Tonight at 7 p.m. (ET).
The new schedule creates a four-hour block of breaking news plus political analysis and opinion. CNN's lead political anchor, Wolf Blitzer, will kick off the evening then hand off to Lou Dobbs. The new lineup debuts Monday, Nov. 5, one year from Election Day 2008.

WNEC grad and state soldier killed in Iraq

Sickening news today in the death of Jason Lantieri of Killingworth, 25, a brave soldier who was volunteered to serve our country in Iraq and died there this week. My daughters knew him well from Western New England College, and now all they have are their memories. It will be an emotional service this week. He was a good guy who died serving his country.

shows in trouble

Yahoo.com lists these shows as "in trouble" during this early part of the tv season:
"Nashville," "Cavemen," "Big Shots," "Journeyman," "K-Ville."

Cox blames WFSB, but it's not that simple

The Giants-Jets game won't be seen in Cheshire, Meriden or Southington because WFSB has chosen to show the Patriots game Sunday at the same time and Cox Cable doesn't carry WCBS-2. A Cox spokeswoman told me "We're completely at the mercy of WFSB." But years ago Cox carried most of the New York affiliates. It since has dropped them, presumably to save money. So the point is not that WFSB in Hartford thinks the Patriots are more interesting (I would disagree but I understand they had to make a choice), but that Cox has thrown out most of the NY channels. It's the same situation in Comcast Clinton. Other Southern Connecticut systems still carry WCBS, for just this type of reason.

One thing Cox did do recently, quietly, is add CNN HD and TBS HD, in time for the baseball playoffs on TBS. Cox needs to do these things because it fears competition from AT&T's U-verse, which is in the area now (and recently suffered an attack by Dick Blumenthal because it offers to the service mostly in affluent areas). People with HD sets will go wherever the most HD channels are offered for a decent price.

Updated response to comment: I think Connecticut is still more Giants country than Patriots. Far more Giants fans reside below I-84, of course, but large numbers of Patriots fans have only become a factor since they got Belichick, a former Giants coach. Oh, and I might add, the Patriots thought so much of Hartford they used them as a patsy to get a new stadium built. (Premature Haaatfid Courant headline: Touchdown!)
The problem is that if you were raised in New Haven or Fairfield County, you look to New York for sports and culture and news, not Hartford or Boston. We are closer to New York than Boston, too.

Sehorn to get some action in wife's new series

From ABC:
NFL analyst and retired New York Giants defensive back Jason Sehorn will guest star with his real life wife of six years and series lead, Angie Harmon, in an upcoming episode of “Women’s Murder Club.” In the episode, Sehorn will play an NFL star who crosses paths with Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer after his close friend is murdered. The show premieres Oct. 12.

Rare good news for journalism in U.S.

From ABC:

In the largest expansion of ABC News’ foreign bureaus in two decades, ABC News’ President David Westin announced the deployment of seven reporters to posts around the globe. ABC’s reporters will be based in New Delhi, India; Mumbai; India, Seoul, South Korea; Jakarta, Indonesia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Dubai, UAE; and Nairobi, Kenya.

Clear Channel not always right-wing

From a publicist for this show:

POPULAR RADIO PERSONALITES LAUNCH FIRST NATIONALLY SYNDICATED GAY RADIO TALK SHOW: "PRIDE RADIO WITH RYAN & CAROLINE"
NEW YORK – Popular radio personalities Ryan Jay and Caroline Hand announced today they have penned a deal with Clear Channel Radio, a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc., the leading radio network in the USA serving more than 110 million listeners, to launch America's first nationally syndicated radio talk show targeted to the LGBT community - PRIDE Radio with Ryan & Caroline.

The program is an innovative radio talk show formatted for FM stations across America, featuring interviews with celebrities, music artists, fashion gurus, travel experts, authors; gossip from leading Hollywood correspondents; coverage of entertainment and topical news, movie reviews, and lifestyle trends. Listeners can also call in to share their coming out stories.

Until now, Clear Channel's Pride radio has been, as described by Jared Cohen, Coordinator for Clear Channel Content Research and Development, "a musically driven channel that you can shake to."

"We are committed to developing new talent," Mr. Cohen confirms. "Ryan and Caroline are radio's Will & Grace and Pride reflects their unique sensibility, celebrating pop culture and all things entertainment."

Co-hosts, and real-life best friends, Ryan Jay and Caroline Hand met as producers at the music television channel, VH1. Between them, they have produced for Bravo, MTV, Showtime and The Jerry Springer Show. Their first venture together was the movie review blog, WeSeeMovies.com, a site they continue to produce. WeSeeMovies.com brought them to the attention of Cohen, who noted the pair's chemistry and felt their relate-ability and quirkiness would be suitable for the new LGBT radio show he was developing.

"The time feels right to launch a radio program for our community and those who support us," declared Mr. Jay, a gay man who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He notes being inspired by today's generation of gay men and women who are coming out earlier than ever before. Jay waited until after college to come out, "because at the time, there was no programming that spoke to me as a gay man. This was before Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Showtime's Queer As Folk. If I had found a radio show that validated my feelings, I would have busted out of that closet a lot sooner!"

Clear Channel is the second major media and entertainment company to introduce programming specifically targeted to the LGBT community. Last year, Viacom launched the first gay television channel, LOGO. The station has experienced a slow beginning, but with promising new programming being introduced this year, it appears to be on an upswing.

"Not everyone on the show is gay," laughed Caroline Hand, the "Grace" sidekick to Ryan Jay's "Will" on PRIDE Radio with Ryan & Caroline. The pair embraces their sitcom label. They are even introduced on the show as radio's Will & Grace. "I'm the token straight girl. Behind every great woman is a gay man."

James of Cheshire to be on "Ugly Betty"; not literally though

James Van Der Beek of Cheshire will guest star on "Ugly Betty" Oct. 18, says ABC, playing a top advertiser who demands that Daniel fire his tranny sister. And I'm quite sure "tranny" doesn't denote "transmission."

EM:HE Bridgeport will be shown Oct. 14

The "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" about the Brown family in Bridgeport, filmed in August, will be shown Oct. 14, ABC says. See the Friday Weekend section on Oct. 12 for more.