Sci Fi reviving "Alien Nation"
Tim Minear of "Angel" and "Firefly" fame has been charged with creating a fresh take on the 1988 movie that already spawned a Fox spinoff.
Farrah Fawcett mourned at funeral
Ryan O'Neal was a pallbearer, while Farrah's "Charlie's Angels" co-stars and her dad and sons were in attendance for today's service.
Coming to cable: The Wedding Channel
WE TV is spinning off an entire channel devoted to weddings that will include such shows as "Bridezillas" and "Amazing Wedding Cakes."
Hustler releasing porn movies with nods to classic TV shows
Titles include "Everybody Loves Lucy," which will be released in both black-and-white and color.
Kris Allen: Michael Jackson was my inspiration
The "Idol" winner recalls the King of Pop's influence on his singing career.
MTV renews "16 and Pregnant"
Plus, Dr. Drew Pinsky plans will host a the show's Season 1 finale special.
ABC denies Susan Boyle is coming to "Ugly Betty"
The "Britain's Got Talent" star won't be playing herself.
Watch "Real Housewife" Danielle Staub on "All My Children"
She had just two lines in a small 2001 role.
Liza Minnelli & Delta Burke to play "Drop Dead Diva" sisters
They'll guest on the Lifetime series in September.
Simon Cowell to earn $144M a year for "Idol"? No way!
A report that Cowell could get an "Idol" raise of three to four times his current salary — to $100 million or $144 million a year — sounds too fishy, says Verne Gay. "There is NO WAY Fox is going to pay him $144 M a year. Impossible," he says. "That would exceed the profit of the entire Fox network, in all probability, and wipe out whatever's left too. It would be the highest services contract fee in TV history, by a vast margin. It would be suicidal – for Fox and for the entire TV industry."
How Michael Jackson redefined the Super Bowl
Jackson should be called the "King of Pigskin" for his 1993 Super Bowl performance, says Richard Sandomir. "His three-song medley at halftime of Dallas's 52-17 trouncing of Buffalo in 1993 signified a tectonic shift for the N.F.L," Sandomir explains. "For years, the league had packed its halftimes with a roster of the unhip: Up With People, Pete Fountain, Carol Channing, marching bands, the Rockettes, Elvis Presto and Disney characters. Jackson produced a stunning first: raising NBC's halftime rating higher than the Super Bowl action before it."
Katie Couric to host Jackson special tonight // Which Jackson specials are left?
Discovery hasn't decided "Pitchmen's" fate in wake of Billy Mays' death
The infomercial reality show was a strong performer for Discovery Channel, drawing 1.45 million viewers. PLUS: Mays' infomercials pulled until next week.
Jeff Goldblum admits he's dead
Even an in-person appearance on Stephen Colbert last night did little to prove that he is very much alive.
Denis Leary is resisting a "Rescue Me" movie — unless it has zombie firefighters
"I'm not into that," Leary says of making a film. "I don't want to see a 'Sopranos' movie. This is just me. I like to think the end is where it was on TV as opposed to becoming a movie. I said, 'What if we did a movie and they're not firefighters. It's a zombie movie.' And they were like, 'What?' I went, 'It could work like 'Shaun of the Dead' in a firehouse.'"
Showtime makes "Brotherhood's" cancelation official
The Season 3 DVD set has been dubbed "Brotherhood – The Final Season."
"Saved by the Bell" magician was helping Michael Jackson
Ed Alonzo, who was Max from The Max, had been commissioned to work on Jackson's 50-show run in London.
FX announces return dates
"Sons of Anarchy" is back Sept. 8, "Nip/Tuck" begins its second-to-last season in October, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" kicks off on Sept. 17 and "Damages" is expected to return in January.
"Survivor" Bob Crowley forbidden from writing about "Gabon" in his new book
The "Survivor"-winning bow-tied physics teacher is releasing his autobiography, "Making Waves: The Stories of Maine's Bob Crowley." "We had some stuff about the show in there originally, but we sent it to ('Survivor' producers) and they penciled everything out," says Crowley. "When I went on the show, I signed something that said I couldn't write about it for three years."
"Bachelorette" Jillian insists: "I AM a smart girl"
Jillian knows everything thinks she's a fool for keeping Wes. "I totally understand where you're coming from though and I know how frustrating it is when you wish I could have seen what you're seeing now (I feel your pain!)" But, she says, the final result is all that matters.
Chris Harrison: Wes sounded like Bill Clinton // Wes left a trail of slime
The medical examiner today said there was no evidence of head trauma, as was initially speculated after Mays bumped his head when his plane landed on Saturday and the tires went out. The autopsy showed that the TV pitchman had hardening of the arteries. The medical examiner also said that Mays didn't know about his heart disease since he wasn't taking any medication for it. 
Jackson's "Billie Jean" video opened the door for black artists at MTV. As David Vigilante notes, "When MTV launched in 1981, it modeled its playlist on the popular album-oriented rock radio format of the day, which meant that music by black artists was effectively excluded from the network. You might see the occasional Jimi Hendrix clip, but there was no room for funk, disco, R&B or that new emerging form — rap. It wasn't long before the public took note of the glaring absence of African-American artists." But Jackson changed all that, he says. "Jackson opened the door with the video for 'Billie Jean,' which was simply too good for its time to be overlooked." 
"The people I talk to don't like the new Conan," says TV professor Robert Thompson. "This show isn't nearly as interesting as his other show used to be." As Kevin Downey, Conan "looks to be stuck between his old persona and his first efforts at a new, more mainstream persona, and he's clearly uncomfortable." The problem, he says, is that Conan's idiosyncratic style that puts viewers’ attention squarely on him, which makes matters worse. 
"Hung," which premieres Sunday, is the first show championed by HBO's new entertainment chief Sue Nagle. And HBO is hoping it becomes the next "Sopranos," a breakout hit that everybody will be talking about. "HBO is banking on this show to become a breakout hit," explains the NY Times. "Not just a niche-market gem like 'Flight of the Conchords' or a critical (but ratings-challenged) darling like 'In Treatment,' but something that speaks to the national mood, a 'Sex and the City' for both sexes that would cement the reputation of a relatively new management team at the cable channel." 
From Jackson's first appearance on TV in 1969 through the present day, Robert Lloyds says, "Michael Jackson was the first great pop star whose career was shaped by television — not merely showcased by it, like those of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, but inseparable from the medium. He was indebted to it and influenced it in turn. Across his four-decade career, he was often someone to listen to, but he was always — for better and sometimes for worse — something to see."
CBS, NBC and ABC will all pay tribute to the King of Pop, who 
The "Charlie's Angels" star died of cancer this morning at 9:28 a.m. PT. "She's gone. She now belongs to the ages," said Ryan O'Neal, who added, "I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She's in a better place now." As The Guardian notes, Farrah was "
A family attorney in the county where the Gosselins filed their divorce papers says the court could pull the plug on the show. The question for the court, she says, could be whether it's "in the best interest of these children to have their lives on TV as children of divorce — is that way too much emotional baggage for any minor to have in their lives as children of divorced parents on TV? I think so." 
"Any job can be done with distinction and a certain amount of flair; the trick with being a second banana is not to have too much flair," says Tom Shales. "McMahon usually knew just how far he could go in supporting Carson without ever upstaging him. At this delicate part, he was a master. A second banana must know his limitations and McMahon had plenty, but then if he'd been in any way the equal of his boss, he would have had his own top show."
TLC president Eileen O'Neill, who discovered the Gosselins, wouldn't say how long she knew about their separation or whether the kids know about the divorce. But she did say that with their separation, "We anticipate that the focus will remain on the parent-child relationship" and that there won't be any more "dual couch conversations." As for the news of their breakup within the family, O'Neill says: "We did not document family conversations … As they've said all along, certain matters are private, and we've respected that." 
Johnny Carson's longtime "Tonight Show" sidekick passed away this morning after suffering a "multitude of health problems the last few months." McMahon reportedly was suffering from bone cancer. His death comes exactly one year after he made the news when his home was in foreclosure. McMahon most recently appeared in a 
Next week's show will mostly be a clip package as the Gosselins take a break from filming for the next month. TLC reportedly called for the production break because of all the hoopla surrounding their breakup. Of the 40 episodes ordered, only six have aired. According to the LA Times, "Because of all the turmoil in the Gosselin's marriage, TLC does not have enough footage to put together new episodes right now as its production schedule had become very last minute. Episodes this season were often completed as late as the day of airing." 
One of the stars on Bravo's new reality show (pictured) is so Chuck Bass-like that Chuck Bass should sue for copyright infringement, says Caryn James. The show, she says, "so slavishly echoes 'Gossip Girl' — which is already based on the phenomenon of superindulged, precociously sophisticated, Champagne-swilling Upper East Side prep-school kids — that watching the new show is like being lost in a hall of mirrors. Has 'Gossip Girl' simply broadcast the students' types to the world? Or has the drama so influenced the culture that the six people on NYC Prep are now taking cues from its imaginary world? We'll never sort that out."
