WEEKLY TV NEWS

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Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave in January Source: Billboard Tuesday, November 18, 2003

The latest celebrity couple to receive the MTV reality-show treatment is Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and actress Carmen Electra.

Production has begun on Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave, a documentary miniseries that will follow the engaged pair as they plan their wedding, which is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles later this year. The show is scheduled to premiere in January.

"MTV has been given an unprecedented look into the personal and professional lives of Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro to reveal the behind-the-scenes process of putting on a wedding that might prove to be the most talked-about event of the year," MTV/VH1 president of entertainment Brian Graden said in a statement.

The show will cover the planning of the wedding, the pair's bachelor and bachelorette parties, a guest performance and the wedding itself, which will bring the series to a close.

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Fox Launching American Idol 3 on January 20 Source: Variety Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Fox has set a premiere date for the third edition of reality smash American Idol.

"Idol" returns Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m. with a two-hour special (pre-empting 24 that night), followed by another special one-hour edition at 8 p.m. the following night, Jan. 21.

The talent contest will then settle into its regular program pattern: Tuesdays at 8 p.m., with a half-hour recap and winner's episode Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. Judges Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson, as well as host Ryan Seacrest, are back this season on "Idol".

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Who will be the ultimate SURVIVOR?
Richard Hatch, watch out. You're a wanted man.

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Dateline: Tuesday, November 18, 2003

By: PATRICK SAURIOL
By: News Editor
Source: USA Today




USA Today reports that the eighth edition of CBS' reality game show SURVIVOR will be a reunion of memorable past contestants including the first champion, Richard Hatch. According to the paper, the number of players will be upped from 16 to 18 and run for one more additional episode, making SURVIVOR 8 14 episodes long. The first episode is scheduled to kick off directly after the Super Bowl concludes on February 1, 2004.

Other contestants said to be among the returners are Ethan Zohn (winner of SURVIVOR AFRICA), Jerri Manthey and Colby Donaldson from SURVIVOR THE OUTBACK and Rudy Bosch and Susan Hawk from the first game.


CBS should be making an announcement as to who is on the contestant list, as well as where the secret location of SURVIVOR 8 is, shortly.

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Family Guy Making a Come Back to TV? Source: USA Today Tuesday, November 18, 2003

20th Century Fox is considering a plan to resume production of Family Guy, a sometimes crude animated comedy that the Fox network took off the air more than 18 months ago.

As many as 35 new episodes could return in January 2005, marking the first time that a canceled series has been revived based on strong DVD demand and ratings in syndication.

Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow said a decision is expected soon and called the series a late-blooming phenomenon that may have aired before its time.

A DVD set of the show's first 28 episodes released in April has sold nearly 1 million copies, making it this year's top-selling TV show and the No. 4 television title ever. A second collection, of 22 episodes, has sold 520,000 copies. And the series is Cartoon Network's most popular among adults.

The series was created by Seth MacFarlane, who wrote scripts, drew characters, provided voices and infused the show with rapid-fire sight gags. But ratings faded, and the show ended with a whimper early last year.

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USA & Universal Planning Scarface Limited Series Source: The Hollywood Reporter Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Universal is looking to develop Scarface as an original limited series on USA Network. The cable channel is developing a multihour project that could resurrect the characters from Al Pacino's 1983 tour de force or explore other story lines set in the same Miami-based crime world.

Details are still sketchy as USA has just begun its efforts to lure top-notch talent on both sides of the camera to fill the shoes of Pacino and director Brian De Palma.

Universal saw further potential for Scarface as a younger generation discovers the gangster drama on DVD, where the recently released two-disc "Anniversary Edition" drew advance orders for more than 2 million units. A four-hour edition of the film provided a ratings bonanza for USA last month.

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Alliance Atlantis Still Hot for Third CSI Show Source: Reuters Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Alliance Atlantis Communications Corp. said on Wednesday it should get $481 million in cash from its hit CSI shows in coming years and may spin out a third series from the popular franchise.

The Toronto-based co-producer of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the No. 1 show on U.S. television, and CSI: Miami, said it was in talks about a third series with CBS Productions, a unit of Viacom Inc.

"We and CBS want to do a third 'CSI'," Peter Sussman, head of Alliance's production arm, told analysts and investors. "The market is telling us that we should do a third 'CSI'. And the only criteria for us are when to do it and how to do it right. We want to do it right for the benefit of the two existing series."

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Letterman to Paris Hilton: ''We'll make you a hero.'' The X-rated heiress has backed out of all her scheduled ''Simple Life'' interviews, including one on ''Late Show'' by Gary Susman




CANCELED RESERVATION Hilton scrapped her scheduled Letterman appearance

Paris Hilton's reality show ''The Simple Life'' debuts on Fox on Dec. 2, but her publicist said Thursday that the hotel heiress has, understandably, dropped all her scheduled interviews to promote the show in the wake of the scandal surrounding her appearance in a widely circulated homemade sex video. David Letterman, who would have hosted the first of those promotional appearances next Wednesday, urged her to reconsider, making a public plea on Thursday's ''Late Show.''

''We'll talk about anything you want to talk about -- if you have pets, we'll talk about your pets,'' Letterman said. ''If you want to talk about the sexual videotape, fine. If you don't, that's fine with me, too.'' He added, ''We all know it's not your fault. It's your idiot boyfriend's fault, that's the problem. We'll set the record straight -- it'll be a love fest.''

Hilton's videotaped love fest, excerpts of which have turned up all over the Internet, has already earned her a $10 million lawsuit from ex-boyfriend Rick Solomon, who claims Hilton and her family have wrongly accused him of filming his sexual encounter with the then-19-year-old heiress without her consent. Letterman appeared to side with such accusations, saying: ''All I want to say to Paris is, 'You're being led down the wrong path.' You come on this show, by God, we'll make you a hero.''

(Posted:11/21/03)