James Thornton to leave Emmerdale next year

James Thornton to leave Emmerdale next year

The 36-year-old will wave goodbye to the soap "on a high with a big exit storyline in 2012"

James Thornton has confirmed he is to leave ITV1 soap Emmerdale next year.

The 36-year-old, who is married to Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page, joined the soap in July 2009 as farmer John Barton, who took over running Butler's Farm from the Sugden family.

James said: "I have had a fantastic time playing John for the past three years, but it's the longest I have ever played one part and the time now feels right to move on.

"I have decided to leave on a high with a big exit storyline in 2012, which I'm really excited about. I will miss all my colleagues at Emmerdale and have many very fond memories of my time in the Dales."

Emmerdale's series producer, Stuart Blackburn, added: "James has created a truly memorable character in John and he will be greatly missed, but his decision to leave has enabled us to play a hugely gripping and dramatic storyline which will be a highlight in Emmerdale in the coming months."

Downton Abbey v EastEnders - which will you be watching "live" on Christmas Day?

Downton Abbey v EastEnders - which will you be watching "live" on Christmas Day?

Who will win the clash of the festive titans? Vote in our poll to tell us which you'll watch as it's broadcast

The final draws for the festive fixture list have been made and we can now see who'll be facing who in the battles of Christmas Day.

BBC1's Doctor Who looks a good bet to beat ITV1's All Star Family Fortunes at 7pm, Strictly v Corrie at 8pm is harder to call. But the big match kicks off at 9pm.

The Downton Abbey Christmas special on ITV1 goes head to head with EastEnders' less opulent seasonal celebration over on BBC1.

Yes, there's catch-up TV, there are set-top box recorders, but on a day like this, surely there's something special about sitting down to watch a big show "live", as it's broadcast.

London riots drama starring David Morrissey leads Channel 4 Christmas schedule

London riots drama starring David Morrissey leads Channel 4 Christmas schedule

The festive line-up also includes Catherine Tate, Ben Elton, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and much more

A dramatisation of this year's London riots looks set to be one of the highlights of Channel 4's Christmas television schedule.  

London’s Burning (Thursday 22 December, 9pm) will star David Morrissey and Samantha Bond as police officers trying to deal with a night of violence and looting in Clapham Junction in August.

Using witness testimonies and interviews, the hour-long drama will "weave together" more than half-a-dozen narratives based on the accounts of shopkeepers and locals who were in the vicinity as the violence broke out.  The programme, which promises "vivid testimonies to the enduring values of humanity: courage, compassion, determination, kindness and tolerance", is directed by Justin Hardy and written by Mark Hayhurst.

Elsewhere on 4 this yuletide, documentary and current affairs programmes include King of Christmas Lights (Monday 19 December, 9pm), a Cutting Edge investigation into extreme Christmas decorators, The Year the Earth Went Wild (Monday 19 December, 8pm), a look back at 12 months of natural disasters, and Jon Snow’s 2011 (Wednesday 28 December, 8pm), the Channel 4 News presenter’s personal reflections on the year’s current affairs stories.

Catherine Tate and Ben Elton, respectively, present a pair of nostalgia-fests in the form of Laughing at the Noughties (Saturday 17 December, 10pm) and Laughing at the 80s (Wednesday 28 December, 11:35pm), while Alan Carr’s Chatty Man show gets a seasonal special on Christmas Day (9pm).

Later that evening, So This Is Christmas (11:05pm) sees comics reliving the best and worst of the festive period, while the channel's latest Comedy Showcase (Friday 30 December, 9pm) is a dedicated outing for Shooting Stars score-keeper Angelos Neil Epithemiou.

New entertainment series Home for the Holidays (starting Sunday 18 December) sees a soon-to-be-married couple bringing their extended families together for the first time over a Christmas week in an attempt to win a cash prize of up to half a million pounds.

Meanwhile, survivalist Bear Grylls takes comedian Miranda Hart on a testing snowbound expedition in his Wild Weekends (Monday 26 December, 9pm).

Foodies can get unusual Christmas dinner ideas in Jamie Oliver’s Christmas with Bells On (Tuesday 20 December, 9pm) while on Christmas Day they can follow Gordon Ramsay's Christmas Cookalong Live (from 10am). And there's a chance to watch some amateurs at work in the kitchen, too, in a couple of Come Dine with Me seasonal celebrity specials (Friday 23 December, 8pm; Monday 26 December, 6:35pm).

Betty White on Kissing Neil Patrick Harris and Her Birthday Wish

Betty White on Kissing Neil Patrick Harris and Her Birthday Wish

The 'Hot In Cleveland' (Wed., 10PM ET on TV Land) star planted a wet one on Neil Patrick Harris on 'Live! With Kelly' -- video is below -- and now she's revealing all about that instant-classic daytime kiss.

"Oh yes, a very good kisser," White said of the 'How I Met Your Mother' star's smooching skills in a red-carpet interview with AOL TV. "Not that I go around doing the research, but that's not a bad idea."

On 'Hot In Cleveland,' now in its third season, White plays Elka, the cantankerous caretaker of the home now occupied by Joy (Jane Leeves), Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli) and Victoria (Wendie Malick).

After more than 30 episodes on the hit series, White said her favorite part about Elka is one she can relate to.

"She doesn't take herself seriously, so nobody else can take her seriously," she said. "If I start taking myself seriously, just invite me off the planet."

The 89-year-old actress is approaching her milestone 90th birthday this January. To celebrate, NBC is hosting a birthday party for the TV legend, and TV Land will air a special birthday episode of 'Hot In Cleveland.' But what does White really want for her big birthday?

"Just to keep things going as they're going now," she said. "It's one of the highest spots of my life."

'Hot In Cleveland' Season 3 premieres Wed., Nov. 30 at 10PM ET on TV Land

RAI Announces Emergency Budget Plan

RAI Announces Emergency Budget Plan

The Italian state broadcaster will out source production work, trim $115 million in restructure.

The board of directors from struggling Italian state broadcaster RAI on Wednesday unveiled a emergency economic plan aimed at reducing the company’s debt as it seeks to remain above water.

The RAI plan is part of a wider government effort to slash spending and increase revenue in order to reduce investor fears that the country could be forced to default on its sovereign debt.

At RAI, the steps are dramatic: saving an estimated €85 million ($115 million) from reducing costs and selling off assets, mostly in 2012. This is in addition to a €70 million ($95 million) austerity initiative announced in May. If all goes according to plan, the board said RAI could break even by the start of 2013.

The plan involves streamlining the news service, including reducing foreign staff. But RAI said it will maintain eight foreign news bureaus in Beijing, Berlin, Cairo, Jerusalem, London, New York, Paris, and Washington D.C.

The company will also outsource some production work, which will result in closing some divisions, and it will focus more on producing low-cost quality programming rather than on programs that reply on expensive travel or special effects budgets. RAI will also sell much of its real-estate assets and reorganize management to eliminate duplicate services.

Earlier in November, RAI International, RAI’s global presence, said that cutbacks could force it to close its doors starting as soon as January unless it was provided with more resources. It was not immediately clear the impact RAI’s restructuring would have on RAI International’s fate.

Torchwood and Doctor Who star John Barrowman turns real-life crime fighter

Torchwood and Doctor Who star John Barrowman turns real-life crime fighter

Superman and Spider-Man step aside, there's a new hero in town - Barrowman

As Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood and Doctor Who, John Barrowman faces deadly alien threats week in, week out – turns out he’s a hero in real life, too.

The actor, currently rehearsing for his role as Robinson Crusoe in pantomime in Glasgow, tackled a burglar at the hotel where he was staying and held him down until the police arrived.

The teenage thief had apparently been ransacking a couple’s hotel room and was making his escape when Barrowman (from now on to be pronounced in booming tones like a superhero name) stepped in.

“The concierge was trying to sort my air conditioning. We heard this woman scream and shout, 'Stop him! Stop him!’” Barrowman told Wales Online.

“We saw this young boy running down the hallway. I told the concierge to chase him and called the hotel operator and told them to block the staircase so we could get him.

“The lad had tried to get away through the staff elevator and punched the concierge. I grabbed the kid's ankles, yanked him to the ground and then pulled him out into the hallway. I pinned him down. My tour manager then arrived and the three of us held him down until the police came.”

But what will become of the young criminal? Does prison beckon or perhaps an even worse punishment?

“It was sad. He was only 14 or 15. I think he was on drugs,” said Barrowman. ”I'd like to find out the boy's story and give him a second chance. Maybe he could work in the pantomime over Christmas to give him a sense of responsibility.”

'Law & Order: SVU' Stages 'Lights Out' Reunion

'Law & Order: SVU' Stages 'Lights Out' Reunion

"Lights Out" star Holt McCallany will reunite with showrunner Warren Leight for an episode of the NBC procedural.

Law & Order: SVU is staging a Lights Out reunion.

Former Lights Out star Holt McCallany has been tapped to guest star on the NBC procedural for an upcoming episode, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

McCallany, who played beleaguered boxer Patrick “Lights” Leary on the short-lived but critically praised FX drama, will play an ex-Marine who takes matters into his own hands after his daughter is the victim of a crime. An airdate for the episode has yet to be determined.

The guest gig reunites McCallany with Lights Out showruner Warren Leight, who took over the SVU reins from Neal Baer in April.

Leight told THR in September that he offered McCallany one of the first 10 episodes of the series but the timing didn’t work out and that he’d “have to find another nice part for him.”

“Anytime there’s something in the right age and gender, I think I could use some of those guys,” he said of tapping Lights Out cast members for SVU duty. Leight also offered gigs to Lights Out’s Stacy Keach (Pops) and Pablo Schreiber (Johnny), both of whom landed other jobs and were unable to fit SVU in.

McCallany, repped by APA, Mosaic and Stone Meyer, broke the news on Twitter, saying, “Warren Leight just offered me a job. Note to actors: Be nice to your showrunners.”

Over on the big screen, he has a number of features lined up, including Gangster Squad, which is currently in production.

The X Factor's Gamu Nhengu wins deportation battle

The X Factor's Gamu Nhengu wins deportation battle

Gamu Nhengu, 19, and her family granted right to remain in UK after immigration court turns down Home Office appeal

The former X Factor contestant Gamu Nhengu, her two brothers and mother have won their fight to stay in the UK.

Nhengu, 19, and her family, who are originally from Zimbabwe, had been refused leave to remain in February by the Home Office.

Earlier this year, they successfully appealed against the decision, but the Home Office then tried to overturn the decision and have the family deported.

The Home Office confirmed that a judge at the immigration court in Glasgow had refused its appeal – meaning that the singer and her family have been granted leave to remain in the UK.

Their lawyer, Frances Farrell, said Nhengu and her family were "delighted".

She added: "This has come after such a long ordeal. The Home Office has a last resort appeal right to the court of session, but I hope they respect the judgment made today. My client has been granted leave to remain in the UK so now she and her family are able to get on with their lives."

Nhengu, who lives in Clackmannanshire, gained fame on last year's X Factor programme when she was controversially kicked off the show during the judges' houses round.

She was dropped by judge Cheryl Cole, who took Katie Waissel, Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson through to the finals.

Her mother had her visa renewal turned down in August 2010, triggering a legal battle against deportation to Zimbabwe.

A UK Borders Agency spokesman said: "We are disappointed with the court's decision in this case and will be looking closely at the judgment.

"The UK Border Agency considers every case carefully and where we do not believe someone has the right to stay in the country, and they do not require our protection, we expect them to return home."

UK TV highlights 30/11/2011

UK TV highlights 30/11/2011

After The War Was Won | Super Tiny Animals | Charlie's Angels | Frozen Planet | Your Money and How They Spend It | Storyville: Bobby Fischer – Genius and Madman

After The War Was Won
1pm, Yesterday

We've all seen the footage from the end of the second world war. It looked as if Britain became one huge party with streets full of emotional scenes as soldiers reunited with their loved ones. But that's not the whole story. The demobilisation of 4.5 million troops took more than 18 months, and many of the returnees were damaged physically and mentally, arriving at homes that had completely changed in their absence. This series provides what might be the last chance to hear the stories of the elderly survivors. Phelim O'Neill

Super Tiny Animals
7.30pm, ITV1

Pigs aren't just for breakfast; they're for handbags, too. "Micro-pigs" have recently joined "teacup puppies" and "dinky donkeys" as a must-have accessory. These fairy-sized critters, weighing less than a pound (but costing considerably more), come with a never-ending range of pink tutus, crystal-encrusted bows, and tiny wellington boots. And it makes economic sense: you can feed four Lilliputian lovelies for the price of one normal-sized dog. But the phenomenon has also given rise to unscrupulous backstreet breeding, as Jane Horrocks explains.

Charlie's Angels
8pm, E4

ABC cancelled this reboot after four miserable, misguided episodes from creators who said they didn't want their remake to be "campy". But the crucial thing about camp is that it has brains. Irony. Wit. Fun. And the thing about this "campless" rejig, in which three bad girls do the bidding of some unseen billionaire pervert, is … well, it's just absolute guff, from the mechanically recovered acting to the feeble action scenes and dire script. Tonight, they bust a sex-trafficking ring. Whatever. Life-depleting.

Frozen Planet
9pm, BBC1

Having examined in often brutal close-up the lives (and deaths) of animals in the polar regions, this week we look at how the human animal copes in conditions to which we are ill-conditioned. Despite temperatures of -50C, and it being plunged into darkness for three months of the year, the Arctic plays home to villages, towns, even cities. These vary from communities of locals levering precariously down the sides of cliffs for seabird eggs, to overseas workers drawn by the oil industry, or teams of scientists letting off balloons into space.

Your Money and How They Spend It
9pm, BBC2

The second in this series has Nick Robinson looking at government revenue or, in other words, tax. Last year, £549bn was collected through taxation but the government still ran a deficit; so how can they raise more? Robinson does his best to bring to life a dry but essential subject, and he does a good job of delivering figures that may run counter to popular belief (the top 1% contributes 27% of income tax, for example).

Storyville: Bobby Fischer – Genius and Madman
9pm, BBC4

The line that divides genius from madness has rarely been more blurry than in the case of Bobby Fischer. More than three years on from his death – itself inevitably attended by controversy, including a bitter wrangle over his fortune and his exhumation – this documentary attempts the uphill task of making sense of Fischer's singular life story. The archive footage and interviews with those who knew him recall both the breathtaking chess champion who revolutionised the game, and the delusional wretch who spent much of his life all but rendering himself friendless and stateless.

Sesame Street goes to Afghanistan

Sesame Street goes to Afghanistan

Singing, dancing and barking are out, but Sesame Street is teaching Afghan children to count, read and write

Ever since they made their first appearance on a New York sidestreet in the 1960s, Big Bird and his pals have taught children around the world how to count, read and write.

Now the cast of Sesame Street has made it all the way to Afghanistan, with a few nips and tucks to make them palatable to the local audience.

Launching on Thursday evening, out goes anything that could be interpreted as encouraging children to sing, dance – or even bark like dogs.

With parents thought likely to frown on their children singing and dancing in front of the TV, the stars of Baghch-e-Simsim exhort their young viewers to "exercise" instead.

"We tested a scene where Ernie is barking like a dog and getting Bert to copy him, but we found that parents were dead set against it," says Tania Farzana the Afghan-American executive producer of the show. "A dog is considered to be unclean, so the parents didn't understand it."

The programme is a co-production between the non-profit Sesame Workshop and Moby Media, an Afghan company that specialises in bringing western TV formats such as Pop Idol and Deal or No Deal to Afghan screens.

With funding from the US state department, 26 programmes have been made at the scruffy central Kabul street where Moby is based. The programme will air four times a week on both its Dari and Pashtu language channels. But, although Big Bird has been renamed "King of the birds", the cultural accommodation has not all been one way.

Sesame Workshop executives in the US keep tight control over how their international partners refit their show. One segment recorded in Afghanistan involving a family car ride had to be dropped because, as with nearly all local motorists, no one was wearing a seatbelt.

And in a country where health and safety is unheard of, producers struggled to find a building site to film where workmen wore hard hats, sturdy shoes and protective clothing.

Nonetheless, the Sesame Street formula remains fundamentally intact, with cheery, brightly coloured puppets keeping children entertained while the programme delivers some carefully targeted educational messages, including the famous "letter of the day" and plenty of maths.

"In a country with an extremely young population and an education system that is not up to standard, then reaching millions of kids through television seems to us the way to go," said Saad Mohseni, chief executive of Moby Media.

Also present in the Afghan version is the social activism that once caused consternation in parts of 1970s America with its portrayal of a racially harmonious inner-city neighbourhood. For a film about a girl's first day at school, the Afghan production team deliberately chose a character from the Hazara community, a much put-upon minority in a country where there are growing fears of ethnic fragmentation.

Sherrie Westin, vice-president of Sesame Workshop, said the programme's daily mini-documentaries about the daily lives Afghan children "celebrate diversity and introduce children from Afghanistan's various provinces to each other".

Compared to many of the other 22 international Sesame co-productions there will be no new puppeteering in Afghanistan for the time being. Instead, the show's makers pick from vast amounts of already recorded video, which is then voiced over.

Moby Media, with its stable of Indian and Turkish soaps that have to be translated into local languages, has mastered the art of dubbing.

But revoicing a muppet poses different challenges, says Ali Abdullah Vakili, the 23-year-old voice of Big Bird. Because they speak by "mouth flapping" the Afghan scripts have to match the same syllables as the English original. "It's much harder than doing humans," Vakili says. "The first time I saw it I thought it was impossible."

Ade Edmondson's curious return as the face of Britain

Ade Edmondson's curious return as the face of Britain

In a former life, Edmondson used to have darts thrown at his head but now investigating provincial eccentricities is his thing

The more acutely observant among you may have noticed something slightly disquieting over the past few weeks. Quietly, without warning or public consent, Ade Edmondson has emerged as the face of Great Britain. Yes, that Ade Edmondson. The Ade Edmondson who trashed the set of University Challenge as Vivian in The Young Ones. The Ade Edmondson who regularly had darts thrown into his head as Eddie Hitler in Bottom. The Ade Edmondson who, to all intents and purposes, is the screaming Peperami sausage. And now he's the smiling face of Britain; a role he's flung himself into with aplomb, appearing on both ITV's Ade In Britain and BBC1's That's Britain! at the same time.

This sort of career diversion is nothing new, of course. Often when comedians reach a certain age and fall out of step with the zeitgeist, they'll find a pet subject to mine. Bill Oddie has wildlife, for instance, and Griff Rhys Jones has either ruined architecture or boats, depending on his mood. And then there's Jasper Carrott, who briefly showcased his love of impossible to understand sphere-based daytime gameshows as the presenter of Golden Balls.

But it's different with Ade Edmondson. He had a whole range of secondary careers open to him. He could have continued being a serious actor, following his stint on Holby City. He has a band that he seems to like being in. But no, it appears that investigating provincial British eccentricities is his thing now.

It's just a shame that neither vehicle for this new-found love is very good. That's Britain!, in particular, is terrible – it's a sort of nightmare hybrid of The One Show, The Great British Weather and Noel's HQ, presented by Nick Knowles and Julia Bradbury in a studio so small that the audience have to cluster around them like hungry zombies. Edmonson is merely a reporter on That's Britain!, and spent the first show of the series following a suitcase around an airport. That wasn't the highlight of the episode, though – that came when Barry off EastEnders spent six full minutes mournfully wondering why buses don't have conductors any more.

But while Edmondson is only a fragment in the horrific mosaic that is That's Britain!, he has to shoulder all of Ade In Britain himself. Now in its final week of daily hour-long shows, it's a sort of vaguely food-centric travelogue where Edmondson cures ham, holds sheepdogs, drives steam trains, wears a flat cap and generally acts like the precise opposite of Vivian or Eddie Hitler or the Peparami sausage.

It's all quite well put together – even if it is on at the same time as BBC2's identical Hairy Bikers' Best Of British – but it's difficult to understand why Ade Edmondson, once the poster boy for hilarious anarchy, is in charge of it. One can only assume it's because his name lends itself better to puns than, say, Rory McGrath or Fred Dineage. And if that's the case, we should probably start looking out for shows like First Ade (Ade Edmondson travels around the country in an ambulance, treating the minor injuries of local eccentrics) or Lime Ade (Ade Edmondson travels the country in a giant lime, visiting our most picturesque quarries) in the future.

Still, you can't blame Edmondson for elbowing his way to the front of the pack to claim all lightweight shows about Britain as his own. He's found his niche now, and he's not going to give it up without a fight. He's taken to it with such hunger that you half expect to see tourists entering this country for the Olympics being greeted with a giant picture of Edmondson, eating a Peperami and stroking a sheepdog with a dart sticking out of his face at a jaunty angle. And that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

TV Tonight 30th of November 2011: Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia.

TV Tonight 30th of November 2011: Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Will add this daily list in alphabetical order, of all the new episodes airing in Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia.

    112 - på liv och död S04E36: "Del 36 av 36"
    America's Next Top Model S17E12: "Tyson Beckford"
    American Horror Story S01E09: "Spooky Little Girl"
    Anderson S01E56: "Tracey Gold; Teacher Abuse Caught on Tape; Elton John"
    Arga snickaren S06E09: "Klas och Carolina"
    Baseball Wives S01E01: "Pilot"
    Best Dish - The Chefs S01E23: "Episode 23"
    Bitchin’ Kitchen S02E05: "Student Shkoff-fest"
    Black Gold S04E01: "Season 4, Episode 1"
    Blue Mountain State S03E13: "Corn Field (2)"
    Blue Mountain State S03E12: "Corn Field (1)"
    Brad Meltzer's Decoded S02E07: "UFO"
    Chelsea Lately S05E180: "Moshe Kasher, Arden Myrin, Gary Valentine"
    Chihayafuru S01E09: "Episode 9"
    Chris Moyles Quiz Night S05E03: "Vic Reeves, Tulisa, Emma Bunton"
    Come Dine With Me S17E81: "Series 17, Episode 68"
    Conan S02E11: "Claire Danes, Nick Kroll"
    Countdown with Keith Olbermann S09E118: "Season 9, Episode 118"
    Days of our Lives S47E15: "Ep. #11725"
    Deal Or No Deal (UK) S07E81: "Episode 1761"
    Devil You Know S01E12: "A Very Unusual Robber"
    Dickinson's Real Deal S08E08: "Series 8, Episode 8"
    Doctors S13E155: "An Uneasy Harmony"
    Dragons' Den (CA) S06E09: "Season 6, Episode 9"
    Drinking Made Easy S02E09: "Washington, D.C."
    Drop Down Menu S01E18: "Episode 18"
    Emmerdale S40E281: "November 30, 2011"
    Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files S02E12: "Bar Fright/Mexico City Cave Witch"
    Fais pas ci, fais pas ça S04E06: "Emmerdements durables"
    Fais pas ci, fais pas ça S04E05: "L’art d’être aimé ?"
    Four In A Bed S03E28: "Series 3, Episode 28"
    Frozen Planet S01E06: "The Last Frontier"
    Full Throttle Saloon S03E01: "Season 3, Episode 1"
    General Hospital (US) S49E169: "#12443"
    Ghost Hunters S07E24: "Membership Denied"
    Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden S22E63: "Season 22, Episode 63"
    Grand Designs S11E12: "Two-Storey Timber House, Kent Update"
    Halv åtta hos mig S07E55: "Stockholm - Jessica"
    Harry's Law S02E09: "Head Games"
    Hollyoaks S17E238: "November 30, 2011"
    Hot In Cleveland S03E01: "Elka's Choice"
    Hot Like Us S01E05: "Episode 5"
    Hotel cæsar S28E116: "Season 28, Episode 116"
    I Hate My Teenage Daughter S01E01: "Pilot"
    I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! (UK) S11E16: "Series 11, Episode 16"
    Inside the NFL S35E13: "13 11-12"
    Jeopardy! S28E53: "Show #6258"
    Jimmy Kimmel Live S09E168: "Jim Parsons, Taylor Kitsch, My Morning Jacket"
    Killing Time S01E06: "Season 1, Episode 6"
    Kirstie's Handmade Britain S01E07: "Episode 7"
    Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness S01E15: "The Kung Fu Kid"
    Lady Hoggers S01E05: "Boss Hog"
    Lady Hoggers S01E04: "Mud Hoggin'"
    Late Night with Jimmy Fallon S02E183: "Jeremy Piven, T.I., Hot Chelle Rae"
    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit S13E09: "Lost Traveler"
    Lingo (NL) S23E23: "Season 23, Episode 23"
    Live From Abbey Road S05E02: "The Pierces, Dark, Dark, Dark"
    Maken-ki S01E09: "empestuous Water Riding Battle"
    Man v. Food S05E25: "Oahu"
    Mashiro-iro Symphony: The Color of Lovers S01E09: "Two Same Colored People"
    Masterchef - The Professionals S04E15: "Series 4, Episode 15"
    MythBusters S09E22: "Toilet Bomb"
    Neighbours S27E233: "Episode 6303"
    One Life to Live S44E96: "Ep. #11075"
    Operation Repo S09E13: "TBA"
    Operation Repo S09E12: "TBA"
    Pauw & Witteman S06E58: "Season 6, Episode 58"
    Pointless S05E68: "Series 5, Episode 68"
    Prophets Of Science Fiction S01E04: "Arthur C. Clarke"
    Prosto w serce S02E63: "Season 2, Episode 181"
    Psych S06E07: "In For a Penny..."
    Rocket City Rednecks S01E18: "Hillbilly Hovercraft"
    Rocket City Rednecks S01E17: "Slingshot Into Orbit"
    RTL Boulevard S12E63: "Season 12, Episode 63"
    SpangaS S05E63: "Season 5, Episode 63"
    Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two S08E43: "Series 8, Episode 43"
    Superfans S01E04: "Season 1, Episode 4"
    Survivor S23E12: "Season 23, Episode 12"
    The 7pm Project S03E238: "Season 3, Episode 238"
    The Bold and the Beautiful S25E177: "Ep. #6206"
    The Café S01E03: "Out With the Old"
    The Colbert Report S07E151: "Stephen Sondheim"
    The Daily Show S16E151: "Bono"
    The Dr. Phil Show S10E57: "Desperately Seeking Attention"
    The Ellen DeGeneres Show S09E57
    The Exes S01E01: "Pilot"
    The Grammys S54E02: "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!!  
    The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson S03E05: "Series 3, Episode 5"
    The Jeremy Kyle Show S07E59: "November 30, 2011"
    The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson S07E203
    The Real World S26E09: "San Diego: All the Wrong Moves"
    The Soup S08E47: "November 30, 2011"
    The Tonight Show with Jay Leno S19E199: "Bill Cosby, Raini Rodriguez, Iron & Wine"
    The Ultimate Fighter S14E10: "Season 14, Episode 10"
    The View S15E61: "Jeremy Piven, Dane Cook"
    The Voice of Holland S02E16: "Real life 6"
    The X Factor (US) S01E19: "LIVE Performance Show #5 - Top 8 Perform"
    The Young and the Restless S39E174: "Ep. #9789"
    Thuis S17E68: "Season 17, Episode 68"
    Too Fat For 15: Fighting Back S02E16: "Picture Perfect?"
    Top Chef S09E05: "Don't Be Tardy for the Dinner Party"
    Trekant S02E04: "Ingen aldersgrenser?"
    Världens händelser S02E03: "Augustikuppen"
    Wereld draait door, De S07E73: "Season 7, Episode 73"
    Winx Club S05E12: "Diaspro's Deception"
    Work of Art: The Next Great Artist S02E07: "La Dolce Arte"
    Your Money and How They Spend it S01E02: "Episode 2"
    Столичани в повече S01E20: "Season 1, Episode 20"

Liev Schreiber Books Showtime Pilot 'Ray Donovan'

Liev Schreiber Books Showtime Pilot 'Ray Donovan'

Liev Schreiber dipping his toes in series TV. The 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' actor will star in Showtime's 'Ray Donovan' pilot, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Schreiber will play the title character, a "fixer" for the Los Angeles rich and famous. He's the man they call when a problem needs to go away. However, with all the drama of his clients he has his own troubled family to deal with.

Ann Biderman, the creator of 'Southland,' will executive produce the series alongside Mark Gordon. Bryan Zuriff will co-executive produce. Production is expected to being in early 2012.

In 2007, Schreiber, who can next be seen in 'Goon,' did a multi-episode guest arc on 'CSI' as Michael Keppler.

'Ray Donovan' is one of three pilots in the works at Showtime. 'Masters of Sex' and a 'The Andrew Gurland Project' are all in contention for series order at the cable network.

'Eastbound & Down,' 'Life's Too Short' Get February Premiere Dates

'Eastbound & Down,' 'Life's Too Short' Get February Premiere Dates

Kenny Powers is coming back for some new misadventures this February.

'Eastbound and Down' Season 3 will kick off Sun., Feb. 19 at 10PM ET. The eight-episode season will be paired with Ricky Gervais' new comedy 'Life's Too Short.'

Veteran film actor Warwick Davis headlines the fake documentary series as a fictionalized version of himself. The 'Life's Too Short' version of Davis is a down-and-out little person who is trying to get back in the spotlight.

'Life's Too Short' premieres Sun., Feb. 19 at 10:30PM ET.

The series is written, directed and executive produced by Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The two will also appear as themselves in minor roles.

'Life's Too Short' Season 1 guest stars include Johnny Depp, Sting and Steve Carell.

Ricky Martin Heading to 'Glee'?

Ricky Martin Heading to 'Glee'?

Ricky Martin is in talks to return to TV with a guest role on 'Glee.'

According to TVLine, Martin will play a Spanish teacher. Naturally, Martin will headline two musical numbers on the hit Fox series.

It seems as if 'Glee' is lifting its "no guest star" ban for Martin. In June, series co-creator Ryan Murphy said the show was going back to basics.

"We're not going to have any guest stars," Murphy told TVLine. "And we're going to do fewer songs." Since then, Idina Menzel rejoined the cast for a mult-episode arc and several 'Glee Project' cast members made their 'Glee' debut.

This is Martin's first scripted acting role (where he's not playing himself) since 1996's 'Barefoot in Paradise.' Martin spent two years on 'General Hospital' in the mid-1990s before hitting it big as a solo artist. His 'Glee' episode is set to air in January.

Is 'Pan Am' Canceled? ABC Says No

Is 'Pan Am' Canceled? ABC Says No

Has ABC canceled 'Pan Am'? Series star Karine Vanasse sent a vague tweet about the future of the series.

"Well, we received THE call, #PanAm is only coming back for one more episode after Christmas," she said on Twitter. "But up to the end, we'll give it our all!"

The series, set in the 1960s, followed a group of young stewardesses and pilots as they traveled the world as part of Pan American World Airways. Christina Ricci, Margot Robbie, Kelli Garner, Mike Vogel and Michael Mosley round out the cast.

The show debuted to solid numbers, the premiere was watched by more than 11 million viewers, but subsequent episodes dropped sharply in total viewers. The most recent episode was watched by 5.6 million viewers.

ABC left the series off its midseason schedule, replacing it with 'GCB.' The network is still maintaining the show has a shot at a second season. "Pan Am' is not canceled -- it's shooting and airing 14 episodes and is still in contention for next season," a rep for ABC told AOL TV.

"Nothing has changed," another ABC rep said. "We are not canceling 'Pan Am.' We are still in production and will continue to be in production finishing the original 13 episodes plus one more additional one. We have one more original episode this coming week, Dec. 4 and then will return in January with new episodes, airing all of them. 'Pan Am' is still in contention for next season. We won't know about that until our upfront announcement in May."

'Pan Am' is one of two network period dramas to launch in the 2011 season. The other, 'The Playboy Club,' was canceled after three episodes.

'The Killing' Season 2: Michelle Forbes returns, and we'll really find out whodunit

'The Killing' Season 2: Michelle Forbes returns, and we'll really find out whodunit

After last season's non-resolution on "The Killing," the AMC series will, we're promised, tell us who murdered Rosie Larsen in Season 2. And Rosie's mom will be there to find out.

Michelle Forbes, who scored an Emmy nomination for playing grieving mother Mitch Larsen last season, will return to the show in 2012, TVLine reports. Executive producer Veena Sud also promised a resolution to the case, which infamously did not come in the first-season finale.

"We will solve the investigation of who murdered Rosie Larsen -- all will be revealed -- and there will also be a second case that emerges," Sud tells the site.

The show will also incorporate two new characters into Season 2: Alexi, a 19-year-old "bad boy" who grew up in Seattle's foster system, and Lt. Carlson, a politically savvy cop.

"The Killing" is likely to premiere in the spring.

Bryan Singer to Direct, Executive Produce NBC's 'The Munsters'

Bryan Singer to Direct, Executive Produce NBC's 'The Munsters'

The project, which received a pilot order earlier this month, is a reimagining of the 1960s sitcom from "Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller.

Bryan Singer is moving from mutants to Munsters.

The producer-director-writer, who has been involved with three of the X-Men films in the superhero franchise, is closing in on a deal to direct and executive produce NBC's The Munsters, sources confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

The project, which received a pilot order earlier this month, is billed as an imaginative reinvention of the classic comedy series as a visually spectacular one-hour drama.

Singer will executive produce alongside Bryan Fuller (Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies), who also is writing the Universal Television-produced project.

Fuller and NBC first made an attempt to revive the 1960s CBS sitcom last year, with the network ultimately passing. His newer version is said to be an edgier and slightly darker take exploring origins of Herman and Lily Munster (originally played by Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo) and how they arrived at the famed 1313 Mockingbird Lane address.

The original series, produced by Universal Studios, aired 70 episodes from 1964-66 on CBS.

Singer directed the first two X-Men films and produced the second and third in the series. He also helmed and produced Superman Returns and Valkyrie and directed the upcoming Jack the Giant Killer.

On the TV side, he directed the pilots for Fox's House and ABC's Football Wives. His executive producing credits include House and ABC's Dirty Sexy Money.

USA Sets Return Dates for 'White Collar,' 'Royal Pains,' Series Premiere Date for 'Common Law'

USA Sets Return Dates for 'White Collar,' 'Royal Pains,' Series Premiere Date for 'Common Law'

USA has released its 2012 mid-season schedule, which means that 'White Collar' fans, your wait to find out what happens to Elizabeth Burke is almost over.

'White Collar' returns to the network to continue Season 3 on Tues., Jan. 17. And don't worry 'Collar' fans, Neal Caffrey and his fancy suits will definitely be back for Season 4. Meanwhile, 'Royal Pains' will continue its own third season on Wed., Jan. 18. Both shows will air at the 10PM ET time slot.

The network will also premiere its new buddy cop dramedy, 'Common Law,' on Thurs., Jan. 26. The series stars Michael Ealy and Warren Kole as a pair of bickering LAPD detective partners who are ordered into couples therapy by their boss.

The show made headlines a few months ago when cinematographer Dennis Hall died on set while shooting the new USA series.

Lifetime, 'Army Wives' Producer Developing Affair Drama

Lifetime, 'Army Wives' Producer Developing Affair Drama

Barbara Hall and "Saving Grace's" Gary Randall will executive produce the project, described as a sophisticated look at the anatomy of an affair.

Lifetime is ready to have an affair.

The female-skewing cable network is developing a high-end drama exploring the anatomy of extramarital affairs, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.

Barbara Hall(Army Wives, Judging Amy, Joan of Arcadia) will write and executive produce the project, with Gary Randall (The Glades) also aboard as an EP through his Grand Productions shingle.

Described as a sophisticated look at an anatomy of an affair, each season of the potential series from Fox TV Studios would revolve around a different couple.

The untitled project reteams Hall with Lifetime, where she served as a consulting producer on Army Wives in 2008.

Repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment and Ziffren Brittenham, Hall's credits also include Chicago Hope and Northern Exposure. Randall, who was an EP on Saving Grace and whose The Glades was renewed for a third season last month, is repped Bloom Hergott.

Lifetime also is developing This American Housewife, a drama from Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas exploring a woman who hears voices; a chaplain drama from Touched by an Angel's Martha Williamson; and Cinnamon Girl, a 1960s coming-of-age drama loosely based on Renee Zellweger's life.

In addition, the network is also developing a period drama revolving around The Hollywood Reporter founder William Wilkerson with Johnny Depp’s shingleInfinitum Nihil attached as well as a contemporary reboot of Steel Magnolias from Hairspray duo Neil Meron and Craig Zadan, among other projects.

ABC Family Renews 'Pretty Little Liars' For Third Season

ABC Family Renews 'Pretty Little Liars' For Third Season

"A" will be back to wreak more havoc on the 'Pretty Little Liars' for another season. ABC Family has renewed the hit teen-skewing series for a third season.

After teasing fans with a Halloween prequel, Season 2 is set to continue on Mon., Jan. 2 at 8PM ET. The third season will likely launch this summer and be 24 episodes.

Series star Shay Mitchell broke the story on Twitter and Zap2It confirmed the news.

"Picked up for a third season of 'Pretty Little Liars' !! Congrats to all the cast & crew! I can't wait to see what 'A' has in store for us!"

The series has delivered strong numbers for ABC Family. Its midseason finale was watched by about 2.5 million viewers. The Season 2 premiere was watched by a season high of 3.7 million viewers.

In the past, the series has been praised by GLAAD for its portrayal of gay teenagers.

"Programs like 'Pretty Little Liars' and 'Greek' have woven gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters into their stories in a way that mirrors the diversity of our community and the experiences of younger generations," Herndon Graddick, senior director of programs at GLAAD, said in a statement. "Viewers expect to see television environments that accurately reflect what it's like to be a young adult, and today that includes young adults who happen to be gay.

BET Sets 'The Game' Premiere Date, BBC America Solidifies 'Doctor Who' Christmas Special

BET Sets 'The Game' Premiere Date, BBC America Solidifies 'Doctor Who' Christmas Special

Led by Tia Mowry Hardrict, the comedy returns for its fifth season in January.

BET has set a return date for The Game while BBC America has solidified its annual Doctor Who Christmas special.

The Game will launch its fifth season on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012 at 10 p.m. on BET, the cable network revealed late Tuesday. Tia Mowry Hardrict leads the cast playing the wife of a professional football player (Pooch Hall).

The Game debuted on its new home for its fourth season with huge numbers for BET in January, drawing 7.7 million viewers. This makes it the best showing for the series on cable and broadcast ever, and BET's most-watched telecast.

The comedy, created by Mara Brock Akil, was canceled by the CW after three seasons in May 2009, when it was averaging 2 million viewers. BET picked it up in 2010.

Doctor Who's Christmas special, "The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe" will air on Christmas Day at 9 p.m. on BBC America.

The official synopsis as follows: "Set during World War II, the special follows Madge Arwell and her two children, Lily and Cyril, who have been evacuated to a draughty old house in Dorset. When they arrive they are met by the property’s caretaker, a mysterious young man in a bow tie, and a big blue parcel is waiting for them under the tree. They are about to enter a magical new world and learn that the Time Lord (Matt Smith) never forgets his debts."

'Project Runway All Stars' Cast Revealed

'Project Runway All Stars' Cast Revealed

'Project Runway All Stars' is hitting the runway this winter. The design competition will premieres Thurs., Jan 5. at 9PM ET on Lifetime.

Project Runway All Stars Cast

Supermodel Angela Lindvall hosts the competition and Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles will play mentor. Designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman will also serve on the judges panel. According to the Hollywood Reporter, guest judges include Miss Piggy, Miranda Kerr and Pharrell Williams.

Check out the cast list below!

The 'Project Runaway All Stars' returning contestants include:

Kenley Collins (Brooklyn, NY) -- Season 5, Second runner-up.
Michael Costello (Palm Springs, CA) -- Season 8, fourth place.
Gordana Gehlhausen (San Diego, CA) -- Season 6, fourth place.
Mondo Guerra (Denver,CO) -- Season 8, runner-up.
Mila Hermanovski (Los Angeles, CA) -- Season 7, second runner-up.
Kara Janx (New York, NY) -- Season 2, fourth place.
Elisa Jimenez (New York, NY) -- Season 4, 10th place.
April Johnston (Savannah, GA) -- Season 8, fifth place.
Rami Kashou (Los Angeles, CA)-- Season 4, runner-up.
Austin Scarlett (New York, NY) -- Season 1, fourth place.
Jerell Scott (New York, NY) -- Season 5, fourth place.
Sweet P/Kathleen Vaughn (Pasadena, CA) -- Season 4, fifth place.
Anthony Williams (Atlanta, GA) -- Season 7, fifth place.

'X Factor' Swap: Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland Switch in the Works?

'X Factor' Swap: Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland Switch in the Works?

THR investigates reports out of England which suggest that show creator Simon Cowell is contemplating some big casting moves.

Leave it to the British tabs to cook up another X Factor fantasy, this time involving U.S. judge Nicole Scherzinger and U.K. judge Kelly Rowland.

According to Now Magazine, the show, and creator Simon Cowell specifically, is contemplating a possible swap that would send Scherzinger to London and bring Rowland to Los Angeles. The weekly quotes a source who says, “Simon thinks [Rowland] will be amazing on the US show” and notes that Scherzinger has had a “mixed reaction in the U.S.”

While it’s true that some lingering resentment remains over the audition phase dismissal of UK X Factor import Cheryl Cole in favor of Scherzinger, who was initially hired as a co-host, as the competition has progressed, the sassy Pussycat Dolls singer, along with her popular “over 30s” contestants, which include Stacy Francis, LeRoy Bell and last man standing Josh Krajcik, has built a supportive audience all her own.

On the other hand, Scherzinger has had a successful single (“Don’t Hold Your Breath”) and album (Killer Love) chart in the UK where she is a bonafide solo star, while the album’s U.S. release has been marred by repeated delays. Rowland has seen moderate solo success on both sides of the pond, but after she received harsh criticism for calling out sick on UK X Factor (she was legitimately and severely ill, her doctor later revealed), perhaps she would get a warmer welcome on American shores. In other words, a swap might not be such a crazy idea.

An insider denies that any conversations of the sort have taken place and insists that all players are happy and focused on the season at hand. This week, that means Michael Jackson songs, the theme for Wednesday night.


An X Factor spokesman tells the tab that, “no decisions of cast changes will be made until the show ends next month.”

Preteens Watch More TV This Fall, But Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Drop

Preteens Watch More TV This Fall, But Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network Drop

Viewership by kids ages 2-11 is up 1.7 percent season-to-date, but Viacom’s and Time Warner’s kids networks have slipped in the ratings.

More preteen children have been watching TV so far this fall season, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing data from TV ratings firm Nielsen.

But it highlighted that Viacom’s Nickelodeon and Time Warner’s Cartoon Network have seen ratings declines among children between the ages of two and 11, while Walt Disney’s networks have shown diverging trends.

The Journal said that the data shows an accelerating decline at Nickelodeon in recent weeks, raising questions about Viacom's recent suggestion that a glitch caused a sharp drop in fall ratings for Nickelodeon.

For the TV season through Nov. 20, an average of 5.8 million kids 2-11 have been watching TV, including broadcast and cable - live and recorded TV, the Journal cited Nielsen data as showing. That is up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. Slightly fewer preteens are watching TV during the day, and more are watching non-kids networks, the Journal said.

For Nickelodeon, Nielsen's data shows that 969,000 kids between the ages of two and 11 watched in September, down 11 percent from the year-ago period. But the data shows a 17 percent drop for October, and a 19 percent decline in the first three weeks of November.

Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman during his company’s latest earnings conference call said the ratings drop since September has been "inexplicable" and that it has been working with Nielsen to explain it.

Nielsen in a statement told the Journal that "the review process confirms that our measurement methodology, operations and related reporting processes are working as expected."

The Media Rating Council, which has been working with the two parties, said it expects to complete its work by early December, but plans to release its findings only to Nielsen and Viacom.

Meanwhile, Cartoon Network averaged 479,000 preteen viewers between Aug. 29 and Nov. 20, down 12 percent from the year-ago period, the Journal said. A Cartoon Network spokesman pointed to a year-ago ratings boost from a movie.

Walt Disney’s Disney XD averaged 149,000 in the period, down 1 percent, but its Disney Channel has drawn an average of  924,000, up 5.9 percent.

The Hub, a joint venture channel of Hasbro and Discovery Communications, said its audience among kids 2-11 rose more than 50 percent to 46,000 compared with the year-ago period.

'Happy Endings' Pairs Up Michael McKean and Megan Mullally

'Happy Endings' Pairs Up Michael McKean and Megan Mullally

Michael McKean and Megan Mullally are dating ... on 'Happy Endings.'

According to TVLine, McKean has been cast as Dave's dad. When he comes to town, he'll be joined by Penny's Mom, Dana, played by Megan Mullally. Could Dave and Penny become step-siblings!?

The episode is set to air in early 2012. This is Mullally's second guest appearance on the series. Her character made her debut in an early October episode. Dana and Penny performed a mother-daughter duet to 'Torn.'

The very busy 'Will and Grace' veteran also recently joined the cast of Fox's 'Breaking In.' Don't worry, she'll continue her recurring role on 'Parks and Recreation' and Adult Swim's 'Children's Hospital.'

To recap: McKean. Mullally. 'Happy Endings.' We're so there.

Melissa McCarthy: There Are Other Things to Worry About Besides My Weight

Melissa McCarthy: There Are Other Things to Worry About Besides My Weight

Melissa McCarthy has had one incredible year. The star of 'Mike and Molly' took home the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy, besting Edie Falco, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Laura Linney and Martha Plimpton, and received rave reviews for her scene-stealing role in the hit film 'Bridesmaids.'

She followed all that success up with her first guest host gig on 'Saturday Night Live.' That's an impressive body of work for one year. However, she still can't escape talking about her real body.

"I've been up and down," McCarthy told Anderson Cooper during an appearance 'Anderson,' Cooper's daytime talk show. "I've been much thinner since my second baby. I'm still working on it. It's a work in progress."

On 'Mike and Molly,' McCarthy plays Molly, one part of an overweight couple that meets at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. In addition to all her career success -- McCarthy also recently sold several projects, including a movie and TV script -- the 'Gilmore Girls' veteran is launching a plus-sized clothing line. Yet the actress said she's still working on her body, but it's not exactly a priority.

"I hope I wake up at, like, 94 pounds," she said with a laugh. "But I don't think that's going to happen ... There's so many other things to worry about. I still worry about it, but I think, my kids are healthy, I've got a great husband, and I go to work every day and do what I want. I'll keep working on the other, I just can't put any time to worrying about it."

'Gossip Girl': This isn't the Ivy you're looking for

'Gossip Girl': This isn't the Ivy you're looking for

It was just a matter of time until Charlie/Ivy's (Kaylee DeFer) double life on "Gossip Girl" caught up with her. It appears that time pretty much ended on Monday (Nov. 28).

[Spoiler Alert]

The mess all starts when C/I's ex-BF Max decides to up the ante on his blackmailing efforts. Rather than attempting to sell his silence for a measly $50,000, he bumps it up to $500,000. This marks the tipping point. So like extravagantly lined up dominoes (including Serena and Lily), they all fall culminating with Grandma CeCe fainting. But this isn't the best part. C/I then pulls a Jedi mind trick that even Obi-Wan Kenobi would be proud of.

In other news, now that Nate (Chace Crawford) is running the NY Spectator, he's immediately stuck with a editorial conundrum. It may be that the wife of his cousin Trip van der Bilt (Aaron Tveit) is having an extra-marital dalliance. So Nate is faced with the conflict of running this new found dirt or honoring his family ties. Lucky for everyone, Nate has strong instinct for investigating all his sources first. The outcome is a surprise only DC and Hollywood could dream up.

And what would a "Gossip Girl" recap be without some Blair (Leighton Meester) and Chuck (Ed Westwick) drama. Blair is busy trying to figure out the new Chuck so that she can impart this wisdom onto Louis. But Chuck's not offering the quick fix she's looking for. Never one to be patient on such matters, she resorts to dragging him to see his therapist for additional insight. It is here that he admits exactly what the cause of his change is. And it's not something she wants to hear.

When Chuck recaps the therapy session for Nate, Mr. Archibald asks Mr. Bass whether he's still in love with Blair. "I can't imagine the day I won't," he says.

Uh oh. Uh oh.

Is TV Too Gory?

Is TV Too Gory?

When you absolutely, positively have to determine whether a zombie has devoured a missing girl, there's only one thing to do: Shoot it in the head and disembowel what's left of the flesh-eater's rotting corpse.

Yuck? Perhaps, but it's that kind of occasional carnage that has fans rabid for AMC's The Walking Dead. The zombie series continues to unearth big ratings as it ushers in a new age of horror and thriller series — and the accompanying gore — on TV. The trend began with Showtime's Dexter and the titular killer's plastic-wrapped human-carving station, as well as HBO's True Blood and its flesh-ripping, neck-biting vamps. Then came The Walking Dead, and more recently, FX's American Horror Story and NBC's Grimm, both of which have scared up sizable audiences.

TV's past thrillers, such as The Twilight Zone, relied more on psychological scares than gore. Horror is a polarizing genre, which is why the networks mostly avoided it. But times have changed, content standards have loosened, and cable is able to target a niche crowd that likes a little gristle in their TV diet.

The horror genre has made a bit of a comeback in recent years, as audiences grew accustomed to more graphic thrills via the popularity of movies like Saw, Paranormal Activity and The Human Centipede (some of which have been dubbed "torture porn" because of their graphic nature). Also, dark procedurals like CSI and Criminal Minds made it safe to show brutalized corpses in prime time, paving the way for some of the gruesome images on TV's horror explosion.

"CSI took it to another level in terms of exploring gore," says AMC programming senior vice president Joel Stillerman. "Our intent was never to highlight the gore," he adds of The Walking Dead. "We do it in a way that's organic to the story. People who love that stuff can geek out, and if you don't, you can cover your eyes. We know where the limits are and we know what flies and what doesn't. If we push it, we run a disclaimer."

But TV producers say they're still more interested in scaring audiences than grossing them out. Compared to the realism on TV's forensics and autopsy shows, the worlds of The Walking Dead and American Horror Story are at least rooted in make-believe.

Fans of The Walking Dead know to expect the occasional blood and guts — like the time a zombie was sliced in half as it was pulled out of a well — which help balance quiet, more emotional moments in a story that at the core is about a family trying to survive an apocalypse. "There are certain conventions in the horror genre, and one is that dispatching zombies, or humans being attacked by zombies, will be fairly graphic," says executive producer Gale Anne Hurd. "If you aren't making a campy show, which we're not, it is something we're expected to deliver. After all, zombies are no longer alive, and the only way to 'kill' them is with a head shot."

Viewers don't appear to be turned off by the splatter. The Walking Dead's season premiere attracted the best adult 18-49 ratings ever for a cable drama. At FX, American Horror Story continues to grow its audience and was recently renewed for Season 2. FX programming executive vice president Nick Grad says American Horror Story is bringing in a large female audience that is more interested in the show's characters and its underlying theme — about a marriage in trouble — than its horror imagery (which includes a blood-thirsty demon baby). "We don't want to be gratuitous just for the sake of being gratuitous," he says. "If you're going to do something pretty extreme, there has to be a reason you're doing it."

Even though ABC's upcoming The River will contain gory elements, the show's producers say much of it will be blurred out. "We're not really fans of gore," says executive producer Michael Green. "There's a difference between horror and thriller, and we're more in the thriller camp."

That means audiences won't get a good glimpse of a gruesome dead body that The River's art department prepared for one episode — at least not yet. Just in case viewers demand more gore with their goose bumps, fellow exec producer Zack Estrin says they're mulling an uncensored DVD. After all, in Hollywood everyone's looking for that other kind of gross — profits.

Desperate Scousewives debuts with more than 500,000 viewers

Desperate Scousewives debuts with more than 500,000 viewers

E4 reality TV show performs well on its first night as it follows in the high-heeled footsteps of the The Only Way Is Essex

After The Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea and Geordie Shore, the structured reality bandwagon rolled into Liverpool with Desperate Scousewives, which debuted with more than 500,000 viewers on E4.

It remains to be seen whether the new E4 series wins a Bafta, like The Only Way Is Essex, but it certainly has the most puntastic title.

Desperate Scousewives, which the Radio Times said was "about as lifelike as the terracotta tans, straightened bleached blonde locks, acrylic fingernails and foot-long eyelashes" of its stars, averaged 562,000 viewers, a 3.1% share, between 10pm and 11.05pm on Monday on E4, including the E4+1 audience.

The first of the eight-part series performed well for E4, 24% up on the channel's slot average for the past three months, but failed to hit the ratings heights of 1 million-rating TOWIE. Early days, though.

The Guardian's John Crace said it was "predictable, vacuous and with a tongue in as many cheeks as possible, Desperate Scousewives is a show that leaves you feeling just that bit grubbier for having guiltily enjoyed it".

Victoria Secret Fashion Show 2011-2012

Victoria Secret Fashion Show 2011-2012

Tonight the 2011-2012 show from the Victoria Secret brand will air.

Here are a preview of the show and a Xmass song performed by the biggest super models of the world.

Enjoy!

'Pretty Little Liars' premiere: 'The Liars are at each others' throats'

'Pretty Little Liars' premiere: 'The Liars are at each others' throats'

We've got more info about the midseason premiere of "Pretty Little Liars," Rosewood fans. We already knew the show was returning Monday, Jan. 2, but now have some juicy new details about the episode, titled "Through Many Dangers, Toils and Snares," which picks up a month later in the town of Rosewood after the four Liars were caught by police.

According to the press release:

"A month has passed on 'Pretty Little Liars' since Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer were arrested and a lot has changed in Rosewood, and with the girls. No longer the mighty four best friends, the Liars are at each others' throats and Emily has been iced out completely. But what could have divided them so severely? Has 'A' finally won the game of divide and conquer? With Emily now truly on her own, is she ripe for 'A's' picking?"

Sounds exciting. Plus, there's an all-day "PLL" marathon Monday, Jan. 2 starting at 11 a.m. ET/PT and running up to the one-hour premiere at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Are you so pumped, Liars fans?

'Face Off' comes back to Syfy

'Face Off' comes back to Syfy

Syfy's highest rated unscripted reality show "Face Off" returns on Wednesday, January 12th and we can't wait to see what magical creations this season's contestants come up with. We're also excited to see where they go. Last year's winner, Conor McCullagh just wrapped production on a little film called, "The Hunger Games." Maybe you've heard of it?

There's a hugely diverse group this year, including a toy designer, a sculptor, a tattoo artist and a high school teacher and contestants range from traditionally trained to self taught. But the real draw? The creatures they make.

This season, the group will have to re-imagine characters from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," a waterproof sea creatures, bring phobias to life and build dinosaur/human hybrids. The show will again be hosted by Mckenzie Westmore, and judged by makeup artists Ve Neill, Glenn Hetrick and Patrick Tatopoulos.

Ladies and gentlemen, your "Face Off" Season 2 contestants are:

    Athena Zhe - 25 - Resides in New York, NY; From Ukraine
    Beki Ingram - 30 - Resides in Crestline, OH; Hometown Phoenix, AZ
    Brea Joseph - 32 - San Diego, CA
    Gerald "Jerry" Macaluso - 43 - Resides Ft. Lauderdale, FL
    Greg Lightner - 35 - Resides Coral Gables, Florida
    Heather Henry - 33 - Dallas, TX
    Ian Cromer - 22 - Resides in Staten Island, NY; Tampa, FL
    Matt Valentine - 33 - Austin, TX
    Miranda Jory - 21 - Resides Louisville, KY and Seattle, WA
    Nicholas "Nix" Herrera - 31 - Orlando, FL
    Rayce Bird - 29 - Shelley, Idaho
    Sue Lee - 26 - Resides in Jersey City, NJ; Hometown is Long Island, NY
    Tara Lang - 27 - Hometown is Littleton, CO; Resides West Hollywood, CA

'24's Jon Cassar to Direct Canadian Futuristic Cop Drama Pilot

'24's Jon Cassar to Direct Canadian Futuristic Cop Drama Pilot

Cassar, a Canadian native, will tackle Reunion Pictures’ female police procedural about a cop from the future who finds herself trapped in present day Vancouver.

The series, to start shooting in Vancouver in early 2012, will air on Showcase and be shopped worldwide by GK-TV.

No word on casting for Out of Time, which was created by Simon Barry, who shares executive producer credits with Jeff King, Tom Rowe and Patrick Williams.

The Canadian director of 24, Criminal Minds and Fringe has lots of experience helming homegrown dramas like Mutant X, Queen of Swords, Due South and Forever Knight.

Cassar’s latest project was Fox’s Terra Nova, where he shared executive producer credits with Steven Speilberg and Peter Chernin, oversaw production on the first 13 episodes shot in Queensland, Australia, and directed five episodes.

Cassar jumping on board the Out of Time pilot should shorten the odds on the Canadian police procedural snagging an American broadcast partner.

Showcase parent Shaw Media, which ordered ten one hour episodes of Out of Time, is co-producing the Canadian dramas Rookie Blue and Combat Hospital with ABC.

The futuristic Out of Time portrays a female cop, Kyra Cameron, who goes in search of nine of the most ruthless criminals from the year 2077 after they managed to escape execution through a rift in time.

Armed with advanced technology, Cameron’s most powerful weapon – a multi-tasking second skin that doubles as a communication device – malfunctions.

So Cameron calls for backup on her suit’s command frequency, and Alex Sadler, a high tech pro, responds to her call to return home – but not before she catches the terrorists before they change the course of the future forever.

How 'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show' Turns $12 Million Into $5 Billion in One Hour

How 'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show' Turns $12 Million Into $5 Billion in One Hour

Do we have the gun?" Todd Thomas, the collection designer for the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, set to air Nov. 29 on CBS, inspects a lavender tulle tutu worn by supermodel Lily Aldridge, wife of Kings of Leon lead singer Caleb Followill.

"The gun," is a glue gun. And Thomas, who has seen his share of runway mishaps during nearly a decade with Victoria's Secret, needs it to tack up under-layers of tulle that have come loose in the back, slightly obscuring Aldridge's g-stringed derriere.

It is five days before the Nov. 9 runway show, and about 30 people are jammed into a small room on the 12th floor of the midtown Manhattan headquarters of Victoria's Secret. Thomas, Sophia Neophitou, the British fashion editor who came aboard as head stylist last year, and Monica Mitro, executive vp brand communications and events and a 17-year veteran of Victoria's Secret, are furiously working to put the final touches on 69 looks to be worn by 36 models, more than ever have walked the runway at the annual underwear spectacle. Today's fitting is its own media event; fitters, dressers and assistants jockey for space in the stuffy room with photographers, reporters and video crews.

"There are a lot of people here today, darling," says Neophitou, lifting her mane of grey-flecked black curls from her neck. The windows are thrown open in a futile attempt to lower the temperature in the room.

Aldridge's lavender tutu is paired with a black velvet corset, diaphanous lavender push-up bra and red satin heels with ballet straps.

"Can you walk for me pretty girl?" asks Neophitou.

Aldridge flounces toward Thomas, Neophitou and Mitro. Neophitou rises from her Eames swivel chair and gently pats Aldridge's breasts.

"They look good," she purrs, "amazing."

Despite appearances, the Victoria's Secret fashion show is not really about fashion. Yes, the foundations of the runway getups are bras and panties that are available at your local Victoria's Secret store. But you can't buy Brazilian supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio's gold-plated wings festooned with 105,000 Swarovski crystals.

Broadcast in more than 180 countries, the $12 million made-for-TV-event attracts the world's top models and features A-list musical guests. And it's all designed to burnish a brand that peddles fantasies to everyone from teenagers to suburban housewives of America.

"It's become a performance-slash-lifestyle-slash-variety show and, of course, with models wearing intimate apparel," says Francois Lee of ad buying firm MediaVest. The special has shifted from "just an extension of a catalog to really showcasing the lifestyle aspect of the brand."

“It’s a marketing marvel,” adds Bob Horowitz, president of reality production house JUMA Entertainment, who as the former head of IMG's U.S. television division has packaged his share of TV specials.

The runway show started in 1995 as a modest proceeding at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan and has been televised regularly since 2001, when ABC first put it on. CBS has had the show since 2002 but did not air it in 2004 -- a response to the national outrage over Janet Jackson's Super Bowl nipple flash on the network. The TV special is designed to send consumers to the web or the company's 1,000-plus retail outlets -- just in time for the holiday season.

And it works: Victoria's Secret, founded in 1977, last year raked in net sales of $5.5 billion.

"It's the only one-hour network show dedicated to a single brand," says Mitro. "It puts our brand in front of millions of people around the world during the crucial holiday period."

CBS licenses the show from Victoria's Secret for slightly more than $1 million, well below the $20 million it pays for the Grammys. The show is not exactly a ratings blockbuster -- 9 million viewers tuned in last year, compared with nearly 27 million who watched the Grammys this year -- but it does bring younger viewers to CBS; more than half of the 2010 audience was in the 18-49 demo.

"We are a big-tent broadcaster. We want everybody," says Jack Sussman, executive vp specials, music and live events at CBS, who oversees production of the show. "This diversifies our portfolio of specials."

Although it has never drawn an FCC indecency fine, the show has intermittently raised the ire of watchdog groups including the Parents Television Council. But despite the copious amount of taut flesh on display, the TV special features no pixilated nudity. "There are the occasional issues that come up unexpectedly," says Sussman. "But that's the beauty of postproduction."

And Sussman, who says the show's viewership is 60 percent women, the same as for most of broadcast TV, has his own decency filter: "Do my two teenage daughters want to see it? Will my wife watch it? And will my mother not turn it off? And this show gets through that filter."

The special is a mashup of runway spectacle, musical acts, behind-the-scenes fodder and vignettes about some of the models. And it has increasingly lured top-tier musical guests, critical for creating buzz. The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Usher and Katy Perry have all been paid to appear.

This year's show, held at the Lexington Armory in New York, featured performances from Nicki Minaj and Maroon 5 -- whose frontman, Adam Levine, dates Victoria's Secret model Anne Vyalitsina -- and headliner Kanye West. He was joined onstage by surprise guest Jay-Z; they performed "Niggas in Paris," an F-bomb-laced paean to fame and materialism, as Jay-Z's pregnant wife Beyonce sat in the front row. (It had yet to be determined if the song will make it into the broadcast.)

Leslie Wexner, the septuagenarian billionaire CEO of Victoria's Secret parent Limited Brands, is a staple at the show, which is also known, and judged by, the hodgepodge of celebrities it attracts. Russell Simmons, Michael Bay (who has directed Victoria's Secret commercials), Debbie Harry, Donna Karan, Alexander Wang and former French Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld attended this year.

Orlando Bloom, husband of Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr, could be seen cheering demonstrably when his wife, who gave birth to their son in January, sauntered down the runway wearing the collection's now iconic $2.5 million Fantasy Treasure Bra -- designed by London Jewelers and embellished with nearly 3,400 precious stones including 142 carats of diamonds.

Haute couture it is not. Maryna Linchuk wore a bubble skirt that looked like a frosted pink donut and Shannan Click sported a bra festooned with a blinking heart on each breast. None of these outré items is available at Victoria's Secret stores. Still, the show gets more national media attention than anything on the runways at New York Fashion Week.

"It's one giant PR stunt," says Linda Ong, president of branding firm Truth Consulting. "It's about getting people to keep this very mass-market brand top-of-mind. The celebrities, the million-dollar bra. They always have some model who just had a baby, and so it's all about how much weight she lost. It's a pseudo-event. But because of the PR machine, people cover it likes it's news."

That exposure can be a career maker for models. Former Victoria's Secret spokesmodels Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks have parlayed that fame into media mogul status.

"It puts millions of dollars of advertising behind you," says Ivan Bart, senior vp of IMG Models.

Victoria's Secret spokesmodels can earn $5 million a year, while those who don't have contracts with the company pocket $10,000 or more for the runway show alone, say sources. IMG Models has nine women in the runway show including Kerr, Lily Aldridge and Candace Swanepoel, all of whom have lucrative contracts as Victoria's Secret spokesmodels.

"By promoting the brand you're getting more experience doing publicity, events, speaking on camera, talk shows -- everything that it takes to be a brand ambassador," says Bart. "That gives you tremendous visibility and opportunities."

The acrid smell of hairspray and burnt hair permeates a long, cavernous room on the fifth floor of the Armory. It is Nov. 9, the day of the runway show, and the bomb-sniffing dogs from Spartan Security Services have cleared reporters and photographers who have made their way into the hair and makeup rotation, a five-hour media op with a buffet. The models -- wearing matching short magenta satin robes -- mingle with the media mob while they are alternately assaulted by an army tugging at their tresses and dabbing lip gloss on pillow lips. (There are 21 makeup artists, 19 hair stylists and 50 dressers.)

A paper sign clipped to a heavy blue curtain indicates the "bronzing" corner. And a peek through a crack in the drapes reveals dressers slathering spray tan on a topless model. "Make sure that the girls have no shimmer at all on the body," admonishes head makeup artist Tom Pecheux.

In another corner, the $2.5 million Fantasy Treasure Bra is displayed on a form while security specialist Darren Pittman stands sentinel. ("I have to stay with the bra," he says.) It will appear in the Victoria's Secret holiday catalog, though it isn't likely to find a buyer. In fact, none of the multimillion-dollar Fantasy Bras has been purchased. They end up getting dismantled, say sources.

But all of that bling is simply stitched onto the Victoria's Secret Gorgeous Push-up Bra. And that particular fantasy can be yours for about $50.

BY THE NUMBERS

    142: Diamond carats in Fantasy Bra
    100: CBS production staffers
    50: Dressers
    36: Models
    9 million: Viewers in 2010
    3: Bomb-sniffing dogs

Hugh Laurie Says He'll Retire From TV After 'House'

Hugh Laurie Says He'll Retire From TV After 'House'

After eight seasons, the end of 'House' could be looming, and with it, comes the end of Hugh Laurie's decorated TV career.

In an interview with the UK's Daily Record, the British actor revealed that once Fox's medical drama comes to an end, he's done with TV roles.

"I think I have been rather spoiled here [in America]," he said. "I can't imagine there will be another one quite like this. And I think I am extremely lucky to have had the one shot that I have had at it, and I wouldn't go looking for lightning to strike twice."

Laurie added that he thinks he's "no longer a desirable commodity for TV" after eight seasons and nearly "170-odd shows" as the grumpy doctor. The actor has received six Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe Awards for his role on the series.

Instead, the award-winning 'House' actor is interested in more behind-the-scenes work.

"I think I will probably be as interested by either writing or producing or directing, or some other aspect. I find the whole field of it fascinating."

But that's not to say he won't continue acting on the big screen. Laurie currently voices a character in the holiday animated feature 'Arthur Christmas.'

Fox has yet to announce a ninth season for the medical drama, meaning that the future of 'House' is still uncertain. Laurie's contract is up at the end of this season, and executive producer David Shore is currently in talks with the network to decide if this will be the last season of the medical drama, reports TV Guide.

'Community' Wins TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorite Poll

'Community' Wins TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorite Poll

'Community,' the cult-hit series NBC pulled from its midseason schedule without any explanation, has won TV Guide Magazine's annual Fan Favorite Poll. How 'bout them apples?

Roughly 300,000 people voted on TV Guide Magazine's Facebook, and 'Community' bested many cult-hit shows including 'Chuck' and 'The Vampire Diaries.' The NBC series will be honored with three different covers for the Dec. 5 issue. The 'Community' issue hits newsstands Dec. 1.

"Because we don't get nominated for awards, this is our fans' outlet to tell us that they care," 'Community' star Gillian Jacobs said in a statement. "They may not see us win Emmys or SAG Awards, but they do have the power in something like this to vote, and you see a lot of people care about our show."

Other nominees for this year included 'Dexter,' 'Game of Thrones,' 'Revenge,' 'Ringer,' 'Person of Interest,' 'Terra Nova' and 'The Walking Dead.' Additionally, fans could submit a write-in vote. Last year, 'Supernatural' took home the title.

In November, NBC announced '30 Rock' would be taking the Thursdays at 8PM timeslot in place of 'Community.' While 'Community' has struggled in the ratings, the series has a very vocal fan community, including an NBC executive.

Series star Yvette Nicole Brown tweeted a photo of Edwin Chung, senior vice president of primetime at NBC, wearing a homemade 'Save Community' T-shirt. "Witness @NBC exec Edwin Chung's support of #Community! #TheyLoveUsToo #ipromise," she tweeted.

Fans have also started various other campaigns including We Love 'Community' Tumblr, Occupy NBC Twitter and the 'Community' Twibbon. Still looking for a way to show your support? Here at AOL TV we have thrown our support behind the show with a goatee graphic and Maureen Ryan's passionate open letter to NBC.

'Absolutely Fabulous' Christmas Special Preview: Vlogs and Vitamins

'Absolutely Fabulous' Christmas Special Preview: Vlogs and Vitamins

Edina, darling, you are looking fabulous. 'Ab Fab' fans, brace yourselves, because Edina and Patsy, the dynamic drunkard duo, are coming back -- just in time for the holidays.

'Absolutely Fabulous,' the cult hit series written and created by star Jennifer Saunders, debuted in 1992 in the UK before ending in 1996 and reviving itself in 2001 with two new seasons. Now Saunders and Joanna Lumley, who plays Edina's hard-partying sidekick, are back with three new 'Ab Fab' specials, including a much-anticipated three-part Christmas special.

The first preview for the 'Ab Fab' Christmas special was recently released, and in true Edina fashion, the public relations professional is seemingly up-to-date on all things web 2.0. She tweets, blogs about her favorite cheese and even vlogs. Her bumbling assistant Bubble even has an iPad to help Edina update all of her social media accounts.

Sadly, there's no sign of our darling Patsy in this minute-long clip, but we do get a glimpse of Mrs. M.

With an all-denim outfit like that, we can't wait to see what kind of trouble Edina and Patsy get into this time around.

The Christmas special is set to air in December on BBC. There's no word on whether the special will air in the US. In the past, the series has aired in the US on Comedy Central, PBS, Oxygen, BBC America and Logo. Watch the clip below.

'Justified,' 'Archer' Season 3 Premiere Dates Revealed

'Justified,' 'Archer' Season 3 Premiere Dates Revealed

FX has released it's 2012 midseason schedule, and the network will open its new year with their hit drama 'Justified.'

The network's new age Western, which stars Timothy Olyphant as U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, comes back on Tues., Jan. 17 at 10PM ET. This season, Raylan finds himself facing off against dirty politics, a mysterious man named "Limehouse" and a lethal criminal from the Motor City.

FX also released the premiere dates of Season 3 of 'Archer' (Thurs., Jan. 19 at 10PM ET) and its new animated comedy 'Unsupervised,' which will air after 'Archer' at 10:30 PM ET.

Random Television News......

Random Television News......

'ER' veteran Sherry Stringfield will co-star opposite Virginia Madsen in TNT's 'Hornet's Nest.'

Based on the Patricia Cornwell novel, the film will be part of TNT's Mystery Movie Night and debut spring 2012. Madsen will play police chief Judy Hammer and Stringfield will play her top deputy, Virigina West. The two make a serial killer their top priority.

Robbie Amell plays reporter Andy Brazil, Michael Boatman co-stars as Richard Panesa and Michael Silver rounds out the cast as Hammer's deputy chief, Adam Goode. Hammer pairs Stringfield's character up with Brazil's cub reporter, causing some friction.

In other TV news ...

'Big Brother' winner Rachel Reilly and her fiancee Brendon Villegas will be part of 'The Amazing Race.' The two were spotted filming the upcoming season. [Reality Blurred]

Louis C.K. is returning to 'Parks and Recreation.' The 'Louie' star played Leslie Knope's boyfriend during Season 2 of the NBC series. He'll appear in an early 2012 episode. [TVLine]

The season premiere of 'Kourtney and Kim Take New York' was watched by 3.2 million viewers, becoming the highest rated episode of the series. So much for that Kardashain boycott! 'After Lately' also premiered higher than last season with 1.2 million viewers. [E!]

'The Walking Dead' midseason finale was watched by 6.6 million viewers. The finale outperformed Season 1 ratings, but didn't best the early Season 2 numbers. [THR]

'Dancing With the Stars' champion J.R. Martinez is shopping around his memoir. The soap star started writing the untitled book before he joined 'Dancing With the Stars.' [NY Post]

'Mad Men' actor Darren Pettie will guest star on ABC's 'Pan Am.' Pettie will play Vince Broyles, a WWII veteran who clashes with Dean (Mike Vogel). [EW]