Television - Page 26

Reuters - The lives of Fox's "American Idol" contestants might be incredibly stressful and unpredictable, but as long as musical director Rickey Minor is in charge of the music, they have one less thing to worry about.

Reuters - Dylan Walsh ("Nip/Tuck") and Jami Gertz ("Still Standing") will star in the Lifetime original movie "Christmas Miracle."

Reuters - "Legally Blonde" co-star Alanna Ubach has joined Fox's comedy pilot "Playing Chicken."

Television News

AP - Criss Angel, the punky magician whose "Mindfreak" show is shooting its third season for the A&E network, will team up with Cirque du Soleil on its sixth permanent show on the Las Vegas Strip, it was announced Thursday.

AP - INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — "Saturday Night Live" is just another game for Peyton Manning.

AP - When the pig is on the roof, people know "The Sopranos" are not far behind. The life-size pig sits on an old boarded-up building that will soon come to life as Satriale's, a fictional pork store where Tony Soprano and his Jersey crew hang out on HBO's acclaimed mob drama.

AP - NBC Universal and News Corp. joined forces Thursday with several major Internet companies to distribute TV shows, video clips and movies online in an effort to better control their programming and counter competition from YouTube.

AP - LOS ANGELES (AP) — His work as a mortician's apprentice got him noticed. His turn as eccentric paper salesman Dwight Schrute made him famous. Now producers can't seem to get enough of actor Rainn Wilson. A star of NBC's Emmy-winning comedy "The Office," and an alumnus of HBO's hit drama "Six Feet Under," Wilson is being offered roles for the first time in his 14-year career. And whenever "The Office" goes on hiatus, he takes them.

Reuters - The Walt Disney Co. will test a "watch-and-chat" feature next week on its ABC Family Channel Web site that lets groups of viewers watch TV shows on the Internet and chat about them at the same time.

AP - Activist groups sued the parent company of Comedy Central on Thursday, claiming the cable network improperly asked the video-sharing site YouTube to remove a parody of the network's "The Colbert Report."

AP - Anna Nicole Smith's autopsy report will be released Monday, more than six weeks after the former Playboy Playmate died, authorities said Thursday.

AP - It might have been the single ghastliest moment on a drama last season: On the finale of "The Shield," Detective Shane Vendrell executed his partner, Detective Curtis Lemansky, with a hand grenade. More Info...  

E! Online - Despite its ability to offer unlimited space for an infinite amount of creative material, the Internet sure seems awfully crowded these days.

Reuters - Media company NBC Universal said on Thursday it would introduce social networking and video sharing functions to its NBC.com Internet site in another move to compete for viewers with the likes of YouTube and MySpace. More Info...  

E! Online - The rotating door of famous rehabbers is back in full swing:

E! Online - Slowly but surely, Team Trump is bolstering its roster.

E! Online - Prison Break fans can now triple their hunk-watching pleasure.

E! Online - Sometimes, being bad can be a good thing.

Reuters - NBC is taking its "TV 360" approach for another spin. The network will announce a broad set of bold changes to its Internet strategy during its annual program development presentation to advertisers Thursday. More Info...  

Reuters - On a recent tour to support his weekly Public Radio International program and to promote its Showtime premiere, "This American Life" host Ira Glass recalled hearing his show encapsulated on Fox's "The O.C." A character asked, "Is that the show where all those hipster know-it-alls talk about how fascinating ordinary people are?"