TV News Page 644

Memorable moments from the recent Beijing Olympic will be highlighted in a two-hour special by NBC. The network will air "Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony: TV Event of the Year" on a primetime slot (8/7c) on December 27 with hosts Bob Costas and Matt Lauer.

The two men, who also hosted the original telecast in August, will show the biggest moments in the sports event, including the performance of swimmer Michael Phelps that brought U.S.A. eight gold medallions. There will also be a brief look forward to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The chance for "Pushing Daisies" to get a revival is getting slimmer as its star, Kristin Chenoweth, has been hired for a new TV series created by David E. Kelley. The man who is also known as the creator of "Ally McBeal", is gearing up NBC's new project, "Legally Mad", by casting Chenoweth as one of the characters.

"I've wanted to work with her for a long time and can't wait to reveal her as someone who's completely mad," Kelley said. Chenoweth will take the role as Skippy Pylon, an apparently cheerful and brilliant attorney who still has psychotic sides in her. She is often mistaken as a teenager, but enjoys the compliment.

It was reported earlier this month that there will be a re-casting on "Samantha Who?" for the role of Sam's ex, Funk, and apparently execs have found the new guy. If the character was previously known to be played by Timothy Olyphant, the role now belongs to Billy Zane.

EW's Michael Ausiello revealed sources confirmed to him, that producers of the show starring Christina Applegate as Samantha, have replaced Olyphant with the "Titanic" star. This was reasoned as a scheduling conflict because when it was decided that Funk is brought back on the script, Olyphant had already committed himself to FX's "Damages".

The CW have started with the promo of their new reality TV series, "13: Fear is Real". After a clip previewing a scene from the show was released yesterday, the network have unleashed two more promos, an intro to the show and a title sequence.

Apt to its title, the promo gives introduction to how the game will be played, and where it will take place. 13 people are transported to a remote place in Louisiana Bayou which is deemed the most haunted place in the U.S. as well as the place where Voodoo is practiced largely. The contestants only know that they will be dropped into a dark wood to face their fears but they have no idea that they are being watched. The last person standing will be granted a cash price of $66,666.

The last episode of William Petersen as Gil Grissom on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" will be aired on Thursday, January 15. In "One to Go", Grissom will officially leave the unit and the show will welcome Laurence Fishburne's Dr. Raymond Langston as its regular.

As seen on the preview of this last episode of Grissom, there will be a few flashbacks of his scenes starting from the year 2000. The crime drama series aired its pilot on October 6 that year and Grissom had a scene with novice agent Holly Gribbs (Chandra West). It was in the episode that Grissom is known to have an eye for insects.

Just a few days after Michelle Aguilar was crowned the champion of "The Biggest Loser", eleven new teams consisting of two overweight people each are introduced for the new season of the reality show. The new season, according to the press release, marks several "firsts" with the series' oldest, youngest, heaviest female and heaviest contestants in the show.

Estella Hayes, 63, and her husband, Gerald "Jerry" Hayes of the same age, are the oldest team to ever participate in the show. Meanwhile 18-year-old Mike Morelli becomes the youngest, teaming up with his 54-year-old father. The heaviest female contestant would be at 379 lbs while the heaviest contestant in the show's history weighs at 454 lbs.

A sneak peek to the third season of HBO's "Big Love" is made available. The season is made up of ten episodes and the premiere of the season will be on screen January 18 with the episode called "Block Party".

In the episode, Margene helps Bill pitch a Mormon-friendly casino while Barb becomes more enthusiastic about Ana and Nicki uses a block party as her coming-out pulpit. Also, Bill is trying to woo a fourth-wife prospect through unorthodox group-dating rituals and face unexpected repercussions from the imprisonment of "prophet" Roman Grant and the ascension of his scheming son Alby. Bill also has to deal with the escalating hostilities between his parents and brother and navigate crises involving his children.

Another take on "90210" episode 12 has been given out. The chapter which is called "Hello, Goodbye, Amen" and aired on January 6 will reveal a shocking truth about Adrianna who at the same time is recovering from her drug addiction.

Adrianna invites Brenda to attend a support day at her rehab center, but the day quickly turns upside down when Adrianna learns information that will cause her life to change forever. Brenda and Kelly stand by Adrianna's side and Brenda reveals a secret she has been hiding from Kelly.

The list of TV series and made for TV movies that fill in the nominations of Screen Actors Guild Awards next year is unraveled. This time around, NBC's comedy series "30 Rock" has shown another domination by taking three nominations, including a nod each for its two lead actors, Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey.

Also triumphing on the primetime television is the Paul Giamatti-starring miniseries "John Adams". Like "30 Rock", the show accumulates 3 nominations, the same amount that other series like "Mad Men", "The Closer" and "Boston Legal" gather. This time the network that earns most of the nomination is HBO with 9 while ABC and NBC follow behind with 8.

The CW make an introduction to their new reality show, "13: Fear is Real" by releasing a clip from one of the episodes. Using a night vision camera, the clip shows Ted trying to look for Leah in the dark and eventually hears her screaming asking for help in the distance.

To be premiered on January 7, "13: Fear is Real" is a new show designed to evoke a person's deepest fear. Pitted against each other in situations straight from the horror movies, the 13 will face shocking surprises, psychological scares and lots of "beware of the dark" moments, all designed by a "mastermind" of terror.

In January, NBC will present a brand new reality show called "Howie Do It" which is hosted by "Deal or No Deal" Howie Mandel. The idea of the one-hour show is to play pranks on unsuspecting people and Howie will go on disguise as Larry before revealing himself to the 'victims'.

To introduce the show to the public, the network has released a promo preview and the opening scene. Through the promo, it is found out how Howie does his show, including standing up as the world's worst waiter, and sending a singing telegram delivery boy to a funeral. The sneak peeks to these pranks that Howie play are included in the opening scene clip.

In the new "Cold Case", a flight can also be deadly from its internal affair. Traveling through time in the '60s when female flight attendants were dubbed the glamor girls of the air, "Wings" will re-open the case of a stewardess' death after her remains are found in the rubble of a demolished Philadelphia hotel.

Rush and the team discover many hostile suspects who resented Ally Thurston who was trying to assemble a stewardess union. Golden Globe Award nominee Adrienne Barbeau, Emmy Award winner Mariette Hartley and Golden Globe Award nominee Lee Majors guest star as former stewardess colleagues and a pilot colleague of the victim who are each questioned by the team. Also in this episode, Raymond J. Barry debuts in his recurring role as Rush's father.

A preview of the eleventh episode on the second season of "Private Practice" has been released. The show will move on in a new time slot next year, every Thursdays at 10/9c right after the airing of its original show "Grey's Anatomy". The first episode of the new year will take impact on January 8.

Dubbed as "one of the best episodes in the season", the January 8 episode is called "Contamination". It centers its story on a six-year-old boy named Michael who just comes back from Switzerland, and interacted with farm animals like sheep and cows. Taking place in the pediatric ward, the case also focuses on the health of four-year-old Will and an autistic boy name Jefferey.

Another promo for "True Beauty", the latest reality show coming from Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher, has been released by ABC. The footage introduces once more on how the game will be played and when the show will start airing.

The network schedules the show to be premiered on January 5, 2009 at 10/9c. Six good-looking females and four males will live in the same house, thinking that they are competing for a regular beauty pageant where looks is the ultimate power. Little do they know that the judges, supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, fashion critic Nol Marin and host Vanessa Minnillo, will evaluate them based on the inner beauty.

The identity of 25 women who have registered themselves to be the potential one true love of "The Bachelor" Jason Mesnick has been unveiled. For the first time in the history of the show, the line-up will include single mothers, Megan, Stacia, Stephanie and Treasure who also have successful careers.

In the press release, issued by ABC, the group of women will among others, consist of "a Brazilian seductress who aggressively pursues the Bachelor, a woman who is one of Jason's biggest fans and thinks she knows him better than himself, a gorgeous pageant queen who can't wait for motherhood, a clever Canadian gal who wants to put Jason to an unusual test and a voluptuous free spirit who has her eye on Jason to fulfill her dream of a big, international-type family."