Fancast: Inside TV

Marie Osmond fainted, cried, and laughed her way through Dancing With The Stars. She also showed up on Larry King with her brother Donny, who also happened flash his dazzlingly white smile throughout the top-rated final broadcasts. Now, guess what? The two of them appear to be headed back to TV. That's what's being floated in the industry press this morning. "Sources have indicated that there's been interest in the Osmond siblings -- who starred together in such series as the 1970s variety show "The Donny & Marie Show" and the late-'90s daytime talker "Donny & Marie" -- from networks and syndicators," says the Hollywood Reporter. "The news comes after the duo's recent announcement that they will perform together for a week in July in Las Vegas at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre, which has led to speculation that they might set up a permanent show in the city. The seven performing Osmonds also are set to celebrate their 50th anniversary in entertainment with a reunion tour next year in the U.K."

Showtime announced it's picking up the sexy U.K. comedy Secret Diary of a Call Girl. "One of the UK’s leading young actresses Billie Piper takes on the challenging lead role," the network explained. "To her friends and family she is Hannah, a legal secretary clocking in regular hours and enjoying a “normal” life. To her clients, she is Belle, the answer to all of their fantasies. Her challenge is to keep her two lives separate. Inevitably they begin to blur." For those interested in the inside baseball spin here, the series, set to debut in spring or summer 2008, was delivered to the network via Chris Albrecht, the head of global media for IMG, whose eye for spotting hit shows helped define HBO until he left the cabler earlier this year.

We've been hearing VH-1's Celebrity Rehab is extremely entertaining within the reality genre, and that the transformations and revelations from the celebrity participants, including Jeff Conaway, Chyna, Brigitte Nielson, and porn star Mary Carey, as they journey from tweaked to sober make for stunning television, which is good news for our longtime friend Dr. Drew (yes, in the interest of disclosure, we know and admire him). We'll be previewing some episodes soon. In the meantime, so you can start planning your DVR schedule, here's VH-1's upcoming reality lineup:

• Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew Pinsky premieres January 10 at 10p. The eight one-hour episodes follow celebrities as they enter a no-frills treatment center to kick their addictions.

• Rock of Love with Bret Michaels ramps up for a second season ton January 13 at 9pm with 20 new breathtakingly skankified women vying for the heart of the cowboy-hatted rocker. Good luck.

• Scott Baio is 46 . . . and Pregnant season two has the commitment-challenged star getting married (as reported earlier) and dealing with fatherhood starting January 13 at 10pm.

• My Fair Brady . . . Maybe Baby? Can you believe a third season? It's true, and it starts January 20 at 10:30 pm with still-married couple Chris Knight and Adrianne Curry contemplating adding a baby to the mix.

Spike Feresten, the host of Fox's once-a-week Talk Show, announced that he's going back to work. The off-beat former Seinfeld writer will be back on air with a new show on January 12, more than a week after Leno, Letterman, Kimmel and Conan will have returned with new shows. This is actually good news since Feresten has an original take on the talk show and a low-key, funny sense of humor that works in his post-midnight slot. He doesn't get the big name guests schilling their latest projects. Instead he typically books sharp, intelligent comics and actors who know how to deliver a bit and not take themselves too seriously. For those not yet familiar with Feresten's Talk Show, Fancast has numerous clips and full-episodes that are worth spending time with. Recommended:

Comedy For Stoners: Emo Baby vs. Goth Baby
Idiot Paparazzi
Seth McFarlane as Sinatra

Actress Gloria Reuben steps back to the future tomorrow night by returning to NBC's long-running drama "ER." She joined "ER" in its second season, playing a physician's assistant with HIV, a controversial role at the time, and she reprises that character in a guest role promoted as one-night only. "Of course there was a lot of apprehension and anxiety, like returning home after not having been there for so many years," she told the Los Angeles Times. "I didn't know what to expect. But when I got there, it was like no time had gone by at all."

Reuben left the hit show in 2000 and then toured as a backup singer for Tina Turner. She said that after leaving the show, "I really didn't know what was going to happen next. Then I met Tina. I know when creatively I can't stand still just for secturiy or financial reasons. I thought, `This is crazy and fun and wicked.' Five costume changes! It was fantastic, and I would do it again." Reuben recently recorded a solo album and starred in a pilot for producer Steven Bochco.

PBS' documentary "Pioneers of Television" starts tonight (check listings) and runs through January 23. A follow-up to the successful 2005 documentary "Pioneers of Primetime," this new four-part effort focuses on sitcoms, late night, variety, and games. Each installment combines archival clips with reflections from more than 100 stars, including interviews with Merv Griffin (the final sitdown before his death), the last remaining Honeymooner Joyce Randolph, both Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, Jonathan Winters, Tom and Dick Smothers, Phyllis Diller, and more.

• “Sitcoms” (Wednesday, January 2, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT)--This episode focuses on five key sitcoms: “I Love Lucy,” “The Honeymooners,” “Make Room for Daddy,” “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” The last remaining Honeymooner, Joyce Randolph, offers surprising insights into the mind of Jackie Gleason. Similarly, Marlo Thomas speaks candidly about her father, Danny. Andy Griffith offers forceful opinions about the people and techniques that made his show work. In a rare occurrence, both Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke recount their years on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Hundreds of episodes were culled for the most entertaining clips — including one particularly side-splitting bit by Don Knotts.

• “Late Night” (Wednesday, January 9, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT)--The stories of Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson headline this episode about the formative years of late-night television. Merv Griffin also emerges as a key player on the late-night scene. (His interview for PIONEERS was his last before he died.) Regis Philbin offers revelations about his years as a late-night sidekick (to Joey Bishop). Dick Cavett and Arsenio Hall also discuss their years in the mix, and Sigourney Weaver offers personal details about her father, Pat — the creator of “Tonight.” The episode is peppered with dozens of never-before-seen clips, including Johnny Carson performing in his early 20s.

• “Variety” (Wednesday, January 16, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT)--This episode begins with Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” and Milton Berle’s “Texaco Star Theater” and progresses through “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Smothers Brothers” and “Laugh-In,” among others. Tim Conway and Jonathan Winters tell hilarious stories about their variety show years. Conversely, Pat Boone offers chilling insight into early TV’s unspoken racism, and Tommy Smothers details the compelling behind-the-scenes story of his landmark show. Tony Orlando wraps up the era with especially insightful comments about the genre. The episode includes fresh bites from PIONEERS’ earlier interviews with Milton Berle, Red Skelton and Sid Caesar. There’s no shortage of great clips for this episode; standouts include Flip Wilson in a hilarious turn as Geraldine.

• “Game Shows” (Wednesday, January 23, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET/PT)--This episode traces one of broadcasting’s strongest genres — from its beginnings in radio through its heyday in the late 60s. Bob Barker talks about his earliest work, and Merv Griffin details his creation of “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.” Monty Hall recounts his compelling rags-to-riches story, and Betty White remembers her role as the first female emcee. Clips for this episode are wide-ranging and include Phyllis Diller’s very first TV appearance — as a painfully shy contestant on Groucho Marx’s “You Bet Your Life.”

FX announced it's bringing Dirt back for season two starting March 2. The series, an exploration at the dark underbelly of the celebrity gossip world produced by and starring Courteney Cox Arquette, finished only seven of the 13 episodes for which it was contracted before the writers strike interrupted production. It will resume where it left off, with Cox-Arquette's tabloid editor character Lucy Spiller bleeding and unconscious on the floor following a vicious attack by actress Julia Mallory (Laura Allen). FX officially renewed the series last May.

Guess what happened when Nickelodeon aired the first episode of "Zoey 101" since its 16-year-old star Jamie Lynn Spears announced she was pregnant? About 7.3 million people tuned in last Friday to the series' hour-long season finale, making it the most watched show in Nick's history!

Talk about timing. Fancast comedy correspondent Bob Hellman recently named The Odd Couple as the funniest sitcom ever. Today's NY Times included a story about the show, whose third season comes out on DVD January 22:

SELDOM, if ever, has a single comedic property gone through so many incarnations as “The Odd Couple.” It began life in 1965 as Neil Simon’s Broadway hit about the domestic discord between two divorced yet utterly dissimilar roommates, the finicky neat freak Felix Unger and the sloppy, beer-swilling Oscar Madison. It became a film (1968) and a television series (1970-75). It then morphed into a Saturday morning cartoon (1975-77), followed by a short-lived black television version (1982-83) and a more successful, virtually all-female Broadway rendering (1985-86) before reverting to basics with the 2005 revival on Broadway.

You wonder why they bothered. The first television show, starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, was the funniest of the bunch, Broadway original included.

Click here to keep reading the NY Times story.

Think you're funny? NBC's hit competition show "Last Comic Standing" wants to hear from you. Host Bill Bellamy is hitting the road in a multi-city search for America's funniest new comedian for season six. OK, it's not the same as when Simon, Randy and Paula search for talent, but it will make for good TV.

Per NBC, candidates should be at least 18 years of age and be prepared to showcase their funniest two minutes for the talent scouts. The top comics from each city will advance to the semi-finals where they will be narrowed down to the top 10 finalists, who will then engage in a fiercely funny and fast-paced competition where only one will become the next "Last Comic Standing."

Casting calls will be held in the following locations:

"Deal or No Deal" and "American Gladiators" were the #1 and #2 shows on television Monday night in primetime's key demographic of adults 18-49, pacing NBC to a decisive win for the night in adults 18-49, total viewers and other key measures, according to "fast affiliate-based" "live plus same day" viewing figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Bravo announced a fourth season renewal for the acclaimed Emmy-winning unscripted series "Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List." "Kathy has a brilliant ability to capture the pulse of pop culture with her devastatingly entertaining commentary," said Bravo executive Frances Berwick. "Kathy's career and fame continue to grow, threatening her D-List status, and providing a hilarious and authentic insight into the life of a performer."

All of Griffin's regular "peeps" will return, including her assistant Jessica, her assistant's assistant Tiffany, her "manager" Tom, and her beloved mother, Maggie. There are whispers that Griffin may have her staff adorn uniforms to finally show a little respect for the company. Watch clips of Kathy in action by clicking here.

Oxygen is renewing its hit series "Tori & Dean…Still Inn Love" (working title) for a third season, set to premiere this summer, the network announced. The new season will commence with a twist -- the couple realizes if at first you don't succeed, move back to LA! Watch clips from the previous season by clicking here.

Actors, proud new parents and aspiring entrepreneurs, Tori Spelling ("Beverly Hills 90210") and husband Dean McDermott are checking out of their bed & breakfast and moving back to Hollywood in the third season of "Tori & Dean…Still Inn Love" on Oxygen. After trading in the glam 90210 lifestyle last year for their country inn Chateau La Rue in Fallbrook, CA, the McDermotts are now returning to Los Angeles after succumbing to the hectic lifestyle of caring for a baby and pursuing their acting careers all while running a bed and breakfast.

"Over the last year, Tori and Dean have become one of America's favorite families and one of Oxygen's break out series." said Lauren Zalaznick, President of Oxygen Media. "They're a modern day Lucy and Ricky. They've got a great sense of humor about themselves, trying to juggle the demands of parenthood, marriage, their families and their work lives."

Set for eight one hour episodes, this season of "Tori & Dean" follows the couple as they leave the B&B behind, buy a new house and search for pre-schools for baby Liam.

Are you smarter than a cheerleader? Tomorrow night, Thursday, is your chance to see as the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders guest on Are You Smarter Than A Cheerleader. To warm up, check out some Smarter clips by clicking here, and full episodes here.

The Sci Fi Channel and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Comics announced the January 23, 2008 release of The Stranded, the first comic book from their joint venture under the SciFi/Virgin Comics banner. The Stranded, created and written by Mike Carey, is an epic adventure spanning two worlds as seen through the eyes of five ordinary people whose extraordinary abilities may ultimately spell doom or salvation for the entire universe.

CBS put out the call yesterday: "Price is Right, come on down!" The network started up six one-hour long episodes for prime time. The Drew Carey-hosted game show will begin airing on February 22. "This will be the first time the show has aired at night since Drew Carey replaced Bob Barker as host," Variety noted.

"With "Price" at 8, CBS is shifting "Ghost Whisperer" to 9 p.m. That means frosh vampire show "Moonlight," which now airs Fridays at 9, will go on hiatus. "Ghost" and "Moonlight" are both in repeats because of the strike."

Fancast has full episodes that you can watch by clicking here.

Set a place at the table for Padma. Bravo set March 12 as the return date for its hit series Top Chef. The new season is set in Chicago. "This season the chefs bring a diverse wealth of talent and skill to the table that we've not seen before," said chef and host Tom Colicchio. "The title 'Top Chef' has proven to be an amazing opportunity for these chefs to make a name for themselves in the competitive culinary world."

To meet the cast of Season Four, visit www.BravoTV.com. You can also satisfy a craving for Top Chef by watching clips, tips and interviews here.

Lifetime announced yesterday that it will be introducing a new reality dance competition series called “Your Mama Don’t Dance.” According to the press release, Ian Ziering, of Dancing With The Stars and Beverly Hills 90210 fame, will host the series that “pairs young professional dancers with a parent, who must learn to work together and get in sync, emotionally and physically, as they vie to win $100,000 in cash and prizes, then it’s up to America to vote for its favorite team.” Apparently the rules of plagiarism don’t apply in TV the same way they do in high school.

Alas, network execs believe the country can’t get enough dance at witnessed by the plethora of terpsichorean-themed shows including So You Think You Can Dance, Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann and the upcoming shows: Dance Machine, a reality competition series where amateur two-steppers battle it out for an opportunity to win prizes; the Family Channel’s revived 80’s classic Dance Fever; Bravo’s Step It Up, where trained and self-taught dancers will compete to master the art of ballet, Broadway, burlesque and more; and A&E’s Danceaholics, an hour long reality series about real people battling the urge to dance all the time.

Okay, the last entry is a joke. But we wanted to make a point about originality.

A big shout out and welcome aboard to talk show host Craig Ferguson, who on Monday's show announced that he had passed the written exam for U.S. citizenship. Not only that, he got a perfect score. "All of you people born here, if you had to take that test — well, Canada would be building a fence right now," he said on his CBS show Monday. Ferguson, who will be sworn in a few weeks from now, might have a point. Below is the list of 100 questions from which the actual test questions are selected. How many can you answer correctly? (At the very end, you will find a URL to the answer key.) Good luck -- and no asking a fifth grader for help.

She's been famous forever. She's suffered from depression, adopted children, had a slew of her own, and put her teenager in rehab. She's also fainted on TV. That's why Marie Osmond is getting her own daytime talk show starting in 2009, it was announced yesterday at NATPE, the annual TV syndication convention, in Las Vegas. The show will be called "Marie." "It will be a real feel-good show," said Osmond, who co-hosted a talk show in the 90s with her brother, Donnie. "I've been through a lot of things in life and have no problem talking about it. Women need a safe place where they can laugh, feel good and relate to (other women)."

Longtime CBS Washington newsman Bob Schieffer, who has anchored "Face the Nation" since 1991, said Tuesday he plans to step down from the Sunday morning political talk show with the inauguration of a new president. "That's when I'll stop doing what I'm doing now," Schieffer, who turns 71 next month, told The Associated Press. "But I'll still have some relationship with CBS, at least I hope so."

Will football fans watch Oxygen? The femme-oriented network hopes to lure some by kicking off the launch of its new reality series "Deion & Pilar: Prime Time Love" on Super Bowl® Sunday with a special "SuperSneak" look at the series. The new reality show follows the home life of former NFL superstar Deion Sanders and his wife, Pilar and five kids in small town Texas. The 22-minute, commercial free sneak peek is set to air during the Super Bowl® halftime show on February 3rd breaking into Oxygen's regularly scheduled programming. The episode also will be streamed online on oxygen.com.

The creators of Sci Fi Channel's hit series Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International are adding a new pieces to their #1 paranormal franchise, UFO Hunters. Airing tonight at 10 p.m. on SCI FI Channel on Wednesday, this hour-long special episode sets out to investigate claims of UFO sightings and otherworldly experiences with the help of New York Strange Phenomena Investigators. The network claims investigators Oliver Kemenczky and Ted Davis bring decades of experience and unquestioned credibility in the UFO community to two fascinating cases. In one case, the team must go to the bottom of the ocean to investigate a fireball that fell from the New Jersey sky. In the other, they interview eyewitnesses, including one man who claims to have been abducted, to investigate an unidentifiable object seen in the skies over two states, New York and New Jersey. Before you laugh, nearly 34 percent of Americans believe in UFOs.

After 17 years in daytime Television, Montel Williams’ show will not go on. According to Variety: “CBS TV Distribution confirmed Wednesday that it will end production on the syndicated yakker at the end of this season.” There will also be a “Best of Montel” package that the network is throwing together for the fall ’08 season which will showcase segments from all of the various seasons of the show. We’re not sure how we feel about this one. On one hand, we can’t say that we’ve paid that much attention to the show since the days we used to stay home sick from school, but there’s still a feeling of loss knowing that Montel’s bald headed pearls of wisdom and life lessons will no longer be there for us in sickness nor in health. It makes us wonder what Sally Jessy Raphael is up to. Hmmm.

After only two airings, Fox has ordered 13 additional episodes of The Moment of Truth. The game show has enjoyed large ratings by following American Idol.

Not only did Star Jones lose weight, she's now being downsized on air. Her daytime talk show for truTV has stopped production and the last episode will air today, the network announced. Jones will continue as a legal expert for truTV, previously known as Court TV until it changed named January 1. According to a network memo, Jones' show was axed because it didn't fit in with the network's rebranding effort.

During the Super Bowl, Fox teased their upcoming police series New Amsterdam, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as NYPD Det. John Amsterdam, a man who has been granted eternal life until he finds his soulmate. It previews March 4, but you can sneak a peekc on Fancast by watching here.

NBC's Late Night host Jay Leno was given respect by the New York Times for continuing his run as the number one in late night. "Jay Leno has no access to his regular team of 19 writers and must rely on a lineup of guests that seems more appropriate to a daytime cable talk show," wrote the Times. "Yet after a hiatus forced by the Hollywood writers’ strike, he has maintained his customary position atop the ratings in late-night television. And he’s winning even though his main competitor, David Letterman, was widely thought to have an advantage: a deal with the Writers Guild of America that brought his writers back and allowed him to book A-list Hollywood guests." Watch Tonight Show clips and full episodes here.

Two fans are restoring the M*A*S*H set in Malibu State Park 25 years after the Korean War series went off the air. The 10-foot sign was planted last week. "Its familiar-looking, hand-lettered arrows pointed the way to Boston, Seoul, Coney Island, San Francisco, Tokyo, Burbank, Death Valley, Toledo and Decatur -- just like the ones that for 251 episodes stood in the center of the fictional 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital compound," wrote Bob Pool in a most excellent story in the L.A. Times. "The iconic signpost was being returned for the first time in a quarter-century to the "MASH" filming location. Soon it will be the centerpiece of a partially restored set that state officials plan to use to pay tribute to Malibu Creek State Park's cinematic past."

A big ratings win for Fox, which enjoyed a Super Bowl viewership of 97.45 million. According to Nielsen Media Research, the top 5 spots were headed by the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl post game, House, American Idol (Tuesday), and American Idol (Wednesday). Lost (both the return and the recap) and the new series Eli Stone (#10) were the highest-rated non Fox shows in the top 10.

Last Thursday's debut of Survivor: Micronesia, pitting a tribe of fans against a tribe of all-stars, attracted 13.9 million viewers. It was the smallest opening night audience in the show's eight-year history. Survivor: China's debut drew 15.4 million and last year's Survivor: Fiji drew 16.4, according to Nielsen. Even so, the show still topped its 8 PM time slot.

As for the night's other premiere, NBC's Lipstick Jungle garnered only 7.6 million viewers and lost in the 10 PM hour to ABC's Eli Stone (9.4 million) and CBS's Without A Trace (10.2 million).

After getting canceled last spring, Jericho fans overwhelmed CBS with protests (including 20 tons of peanuts to signify execs were nuts), and this week, on February 12, the series set in a post-apocalyptic American returns for a seven-episode run that will stitch together storylines and perhaps, if ratings miraculously spike, convince the network to keep it going. Go behind the scenes with Fancast and watch Jericho's cast and producers at the table read for the first episode of the new season. Then check out a fiery preview of an explosive sequence from that episode. Then watch more Jericho clips courtesy of Fancast.

One day after the writers strike settled, ABC picked up nine popular scripted series for next season, reported The Hollywood Reporter. "The list include juggernauts "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" (which is in the first year of a three-season pickup), sophomore series "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ugly Betty" as well as freshmen "Private Practice" "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?" and "Dirty Sexy Money." The returning series all have been picked up for a full season. "Boston Legal" and "Men In Trees," are missing from the list this time around, raising serious doubts about the their future on the network."

NBC's popular reality series "The Biggest Loser" is launching a 13-city cross-country search to find new contestants for the next edition of the hit show.

With the success of the "team" theme this season in "The Biggest Loser: Couples," producers are once again looking for outgoing and charismatic teams of two who have the personality, desire and competitive edge to vie for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lose weight, change their lives forever and compete for a grand prize of $250,000.

Teams can include family members (siblings, cousins, parent and adult child, etc.), spouses, dating or engaged couples, grandparents, co-workers, former teammates or athletes, best friends and college students. Candidates must be at least 18 years of age and legal residents of the United States.

A list of cities and dates can be found on the jump.

A&E has greenlit the Benjamin Bratt drama "Cleaner," its first original scripted series in six years. Production should begin in a few weeks on the series, which finds Bratt as a reformed drug addict working as an interventionist. According to Media Week, A&E's last scripted original was Timothy Hutton's "A Nero Wolfe Mystery" in 2001.

A girl has got to work, right? That explains the story behind Variety's report that Denise Richards will star in her own reality show for E! Entertainment Television, with Ryan Seacrest producing. According to Variety, "Untitled project will focus on Richards' life as a single mom (and tabloid staple) following her high-profile divorce from Charlie Sheen. Seacrest is producing via his overall deal with E!, which has already yielded the popular "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

The show will debut this summer. "At the core of this series is a resilient single mom who is trying to get her life back on track," said Lisa Berger, executive veepee, original programming and series development for E!

Next week is the 20th anniversary of America’s favorite criminals-gone-wild series, Cops (it’s also a weekly top performer among Fancast users).

In honor of the milestone, Fox is releasing a DVD box set featuring the original pilot, tons of bonus footage, including spoofs and "cops on Cops", and some hilarious interviews with celebrity fans of the show Luke Wilson, Pete Sampras, and Chris O'Donnell.

How did it all begin? Simple. With no end in sight to the 1988 writers strike, and no new programming coming in, Fox decided a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of outrageous criminals and the cops chasing them would be good TV. With a catchy theme song – sing it "Whachu gonna do, whachu gonna do when they come for you” – they were right. You can watch full episodes of Cops on Fancast right now by clicking here.

Meredith Viera did some apologizing this morning on The Today Show after Jane Fonda dropped one of the foulest of naughty words ever uttered on live TV, slang for female genitalia. It made Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction look harmless. "It was a slip and obviously she apologizes and so do we," Vieira said. "We would do nothing to offend the audience, so please accept that apology." Fonda's blue bon mot comes just a few weeks after Diane Keaton dropped the F-bomb on Good Morning America. Goodness knows what CBS' The Early Show has planned.

A note of caution: The Fonda clip does contain a dirty word and you should definitely not watch or listen if you are offended by any bad words starting with an A, a B or especially a C.

The LA Times headline said "Somehow, Leno Stayed On Top." Somehow? Maybe not the coolest guy on late night, he's still Jay Leno. See why by watching Fancast's selection of full episodes of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.