Television - Page 28

Reuters - Country singers Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson and Trent Willmon and rodeo champion Ty Murray are among those who will be featured in CMT's slate of seven new series and specials, which range from a practical-joke show to a search for the ultimate cowboy to a celebrity bull-riding challenge.

Television News

AP - Boxing great, ordained minister and grilling guru George Foreman just added another job to his resume: reality-TV judge. Foreman will be one of four judges on "American Inventor," when it begins its second season, FremantleMedia North America announced Tuesday.

AP - David Letterman showed up for work, but had to go home sick Tuesday before taping the "Late Show." A stomach bug was to blame, a network spokeswoman said. Adam Sandler, one of the night's guests, was quickly enlisted to fill in as host.

Reuters - ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" returned to the airwaves with the spring still in its step Monday.

Reuters - Calling television quiz shows in the hope of winning big money cost Julie Ellison nearly $8,000 in phone bills over 18 months and she never won a penny, but still she keeps on trying. More Info...  

AP - MTV's "Total Request Live" is no longer totally live. It's another sign of how both the audience and cultural juice have faded for "TRL," once the most influential program on television for music superstars from the Backstreet Boys to Beyonce — even if they just dropped by to push an ice cream cart.

AP - A Bahamian judge ordered a DNA test Tuesday on Anna Nicole Smith's infant daughter to identify the girl's father, an attorney for the baby's grandmother said, in what could signal an end to a bitter custody feud sparked by the death of the former reality TV star last month.

AP - Vilma Ebsen, who danced in the film "Broadway Melody of 1936" with her brother Buddy long before he became famous on "The Beverly Hillbillies," has died. She was 96.

Reuters - The annual bargaining sessions between U.S. TV networks and advertisers look even more contentious than usual this year due to divisions over whether a new ratings system should be used. More Info...  

AP - During a week of experimenting for TV networks, both ABC and Fox took advantage of strong lead-ins to entice viewers into watching something they might have otherwise missed. More Info...  

Reuters - The spectacle of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather Mills fox-trotting across the floor on her artificial leg proved a big ratings draw for ABC's hit show "Dancing with the Stars."

E! Online - Pamela Anderson has enough men in her life for now.

E! Online - The leg didn't fly off.

Monday's fourth-season opener of Dancing with the Stars, featuring Heather Mills' uneventful ballroom debut, averaged 21.

E! Online - We always knew Ellen DeGeneres was a card.

Reuters - CBS Corp. said on Tuesday it has purchased high school sports online network MaxPreps to expand its local sports coverage.

Reuters - MTV2 plans to release the entire upcoming season of "The Andy Milonakis Show" on Apple's iTunes a month before its first episode premieres on television, the cable network will announce Tuesday.

Reuters - Steven Bochco is back in business with FX.

Television News

AP - The Miss USA pageant gears up to name a new queen this week in a live televised competition that organizers say will spotlight how reigning titleholder Tara Conner nearly lost her crown and ended up in rehab.

AP - Cheryl Burke, two-time champion on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," says she doesn't feel any pressure to bring home another disco-ball trophy as the fourth season premiered Monday. Burke, who won with celebrity partners Drew Lachey and Emmitt Smith, tells People magazine's Web site: "I don't think it's pressure. Even after coming in last season after winning with Drew in the second season, it wasn't about, `Oh, I have to win again.'"

E! Online - No Luke, no Bo? No way! 

Former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones, who played mechanic Cooter on the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, is up in arms over a decision by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra to cancel an upcoming appearance by two of his onetime costars.