NBC Publicity EVP Rebecca Marks Re-Ups With Network

NBC Publicity EVP Rebecca Marks Re-Ups With Network

Rebecca Marks, executive vice president, NBC entertainment publicity, has extended her contract with the network. Marks who has held her current position since 2004, began her career with NBC in 1984.

Under the agreement, Marks will continue to oversee all day-to-day publicity efforts for NBC's primetime, late-night and daytime programming, as well as the network's talent relations.

Marks serves under Richard Licata, executive vice president communications, NBC Entertainment, who came aboard at NBC from Showtime last July. Licata praised Marks' "extraordinary expertise and energy" while announcing the contract renewal.

“Very simply, the prospect of assembling a first-rate PR team who will shepherd NBC’s media profile and brand successfully into the future didn’t seem complete without the extraordinary expertise and energy of Rebecca,” Licata said.

Prior to joining NBC's publicity arm in 1999, Marks served in various other departments, including news, sales and corporate events.

Ratings: Howie Mandel's 'Mobbed' Down; ABC Sweeps the Night

Ratings: Howie Mandel's 'Mobbed' Down; ABC Sweeps the Night

Fox's reality series "Mobbed" didn't draw much of a crowd Wednesday night, while ABC swept the board with a primetime roster that included the top-rated "Modern Family," according to preliminary numbers.

The Howie Mandel-hosted "Mobbed" aired at 9 p.m. following a "Glee" repeat, receiving a 1.2 rating/3 share in the adults 18-49 demographic and 3 million total viewers. That's a far cry from the 3.8/10 and 10.8 million total viewers it received for its maiden episode last March -- though, in fairness, that episode was preceded by the immensely popular "American Idol."

Initially intended as a one-off special, "Mobbed" was picked up for an eight-episode season following its impressive first performance. A second episode aired on Nov. 23.

Though ABC saw mostly modest improvements with the return of its Wednesday night lineup after a month-long hiatus, the network took the top five ratings slots for the night, scoring a decisive win for the evening.

"The Middle" at 8 drew a 3.0/9 in the demo and 9.9 million total viewers, while "Suburgatory" at 8:30 received a 2.9/8 in the demo and 8.7 million total viewers. "Modern Family" at 9 had a predictable first-place showing, racking up a 5.6/14 in the demo and 13.9 million total viewers (which also made it the most-watched program of the night.)

The network's biggest gainer for the night, "Happy Endings" at 9:30, climbed 18 percent from its last original airing on Dec. 7, taking a 3.3/8 in the demo and 7.7 million total viewers. "Revenge" closed the night at 10 with a 2.5/7 in the demo and 7.9 million total viewers. Overall the network averaged a 3.3/9 in the demo and 9.3 million total viewers.

CBS began the night on a bright note, with the reality special "I Get That a Lot" returning at 8 p.m. and climbing 130 percent over its last episode in December 2010 for a 2.3/6 in the demo and 8.3 million total viewers. Repeats filled out the rest of the network's evening.

'Jersey Shore' Season Premiere: Meet The Situation's BFF, The Unit

'Jersey Shore' Season Premiere: Meet The Situation's BFF, The Unit

"Hurricane Situation" keeps promising he's coming straight for "Snooki Island," but it may be The Situation's best friend -- Jonny "The Unit" Manfre -- who gets into a smackdown with Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi on the fifth season premiere of "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m., MTV).

The Unit -- who bills himself on Twitter as "half man … half douche" -- first entered the situation, so to speak, last season, during phone conversations with The Situation. The Situation claims The Unit is his witness to an alleged hookup with Snooki, a rendezvous that she denied during the "Shore" gang's excursion to Italy for season four.

In a preview of the season premiere, the action has returned to the beach, and we see Snooki and The Unit get testy with each other in -- where else? -- a bar.

'Once Upon a Time's' Lana Parrilla: Mr. Gold has 'a big secret to be revealed'

'Once Upon a Time's' Lana Parrilla: Mr. Gold has 'a big secret to be revealed'

"Once Upon a Time" returns this Sunday, Jan. 8, where Lana Parrilla, who stars as the Evil Queen/Mayor on the show, tells Zap2it we will be seeing the fallout from Sheriff Graham's untimely death, which Regina is quite upset about.

"I think that she's quite heartbroken over it, no pun intended," says Parrilla. "I really do. I think there was a genuine love and care for him and making that choice to crush his heart and to kill him was not an easy one for her."

Emma will certainly also be upset in the aftermath, and Parrilla tells us that Regina and Emma do have a moment over Graham's death.

"There is a scene that takes place between Regina and Emma where you do see her love and care for him and that it was hard for her," says Parrilla. "But at this point, no one knows that she had anything to do with that."

But you Sheriff Graham fans out there can take a little heart - even though he's dead in Storybrooke, we wondered if there are more interactions in store in Fairytale Land between the Evil Queen and the Huntsman. Parrilla teases, "Possibly."

However, Sheriff Graham's death is not the focus of the episode, titled "Desperate Souls." Instead, as the "Once Upon a Time" executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz told us back in December, we are getting to find out the backstory of Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle).

So we had to ask - in Fairytale Land, were Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen cohorts? Or enemies?

"That's a good question," says Parrilla. "I think we're both. There's still more to be told, when it comes to that relationship. I think it's still being developed. But there is a kinship between these two. It's a love-hate. There's a camaraderie and then they're rivals."

"I always question who's more powerful," she continues. "I think they kind of take turns. They one-up one another, I think it's just fun for them. At least that's how Robert and I play it. We have a blast."

We noticed in the episode description that Rumpelstiltskin's son is mentioned. So we mentioned to Lana that we don't think Mr. Gold has a son in Storybrooke.

"No, he doesn't. Or does he?" she laughs. "I don't know. It's a big secret to be revealed. We're going to see a very different side to Rumpelstiltskin. How did Rumpel become Rumpel? ... Then in Storybrooke, Regina and Mr. Gold are rivals, they're up against one another yet again."

"Once Upon a Time" airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

FX Lands Box Office Hits to Close Out 2011

FX Lands Box Office Hits to Close Out 2011

"Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and "We Bought a Zoo" are all due beginning in 2013 and early in 2014.

Solidifying its status as basic cable's leading destination for movies, FX closed out 2011 by signing deals for the commercial television premieres of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and We Bought a Zoo, announced Chuck Saftler, Executive Vice President, FX Networks.

Other late season releases picked up by FX were The Sitter, Puss in Boots, Real Steel, Immortals, Paranormal Activity 3, and A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.

FX's 2011 film acquisitions will debut on the network beginning in 2013 and early in 2014.

"We landed 19 films that grossed more than $100 million representing two-thirds of all films that topped that mark, which was by far our best year ever," said Saftler. "Our film library is deeper, stronger and more diverse than ever across all genres. Our movie line-up has been a key primetime ratings driver, and it continues to provide an outstanding lead-in platform for our original series."

It was another banner year for FX as the network secured the premiere rights to 12 of the top 20 box office hits, and 28 of the top 50 highest grossing films of 2011. In addition, 22 of those movies held the top spot at the box office 31 weeks of the year. In 2010, FX acquired 10 of the top 20 box-office hits, and 12 out of the top 20 in 2009.

Other top films acquired by FX in 2011 include The Hangover: Part II, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Thor, The Green Hornet, Hall Pass, Bad Teacher, The Roommate, Battle: Los Angeles, Captain America, Just Go With It, The Green Hornet, Tron: Legacy, True Grit, and the animated movies Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rango.

Get 'Smash'ed Early!

Get 'Smash'ed Early!

NBC's Smash is easily 2011's most exciting, inventive and addictive new series -- and thanks to XFinityTV, you can check out the pilot episode three weeks early!

On January 16, the premiere episode (airing Feb 6 on NBC) will be available on Xfinity On Demand, while their iPad app and XfinityTV.com will carry the episode starting January 23!

And trust me, you'll want to get on-board with this series from the beginning because the behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to bring a Broadway show to life not only features amazing characters but some of the most refreshingly original music to ever grace the small screen.

'Glee' exec confirms Rachel's dads story

'Glee' exec confirms Rachel's dads story

Glee's executive producer Ryan Murphy has confirmed that he is casting two actors to play Rachel's dads.

The pair have been mentioned a number of times in the series and last month reports claimed that the fathers will appear before the end of the current season.

Murphy has now told TV Guide that a collection of actors are interested in the roles.

"I'm currently meeting and talking to [actors]," he said. "So many people are interested in playing them.

"I had no idea when I sent out word to a couple of agents that there would be so much interest. But there is."

However, Murphy revealed that Elton John, who has previously been linked to the role of Rachel's dad, will not be able to take part in the show.

"He is, unfortunately, touring," he said, adding that the fathers are expected to be introduced in February or March.

Lea Michele, who plays Rachel, has previously revealed that she thinks Nathan Lane would be a good choice to play one of the dads.