Adventurer to host reality-competition show
Suddenly, the “in box” for TV tidbits is filled to overflowing. Let’s make a dent in it today.
Bear is back. NBC has ordered eight episodes of a new extreme adventure reality-competition series hosted by adventurer Bear Grylls of Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild fame.
The series, Get Out Alive, is set for next summer and will feature teams of two contestants in extreme survival situations.
Grylls said the new series will be exciting, but will also “inspire and teach the essentials that one day may just save your life.”
So, the next time you’re stranded in the wilds of Patagonia with nothing but a knife, two paper clips, an 8foot length of parachute cord, a rusty tin can and an eightman sound and camera crew, be sure you’ve watched Get Out Alive before you go.
Series ending. ABC has announced that it’ll pull the plug once the current 13 episodes of Private Practice are finished. That was when star Kate Walsh had announced she would be leaving the show. Private Practice, airing at 9 p.m. today, is in its sixth season and averages about 6 million viewers.
Straight Arrow. Pleased with the ratings so far, The CW has given its new action drama Arrow a full-season order (nine more episodes). The series earned 4.1 million viewers for its premiere — the best-watched CW debut in three years.
Threepeat. Fox has ordered a third season of The X Factor despite the fact that Season 2 is still disappointing in the ratings with “only” 10.6 million viewers each week.
This season features new judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato, with Khloe Kardashian (seriously?) and Mario Lopez as co-hosts when the show goes live on Thursday.
No word yet on whether Spears, who is being paid the princely sum of $15 million, will be back next year.
Going live. All the preliminary stuff is almost out of the way and NBC’s The Voice will hit the stage big time when it switches to live competition and America gets to finally vote for the top 12 finalists.
The regular telecast will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, followed by special live episodes Nov. 7 (7-9 p.m.) and Nov. 8 (7-8 p.m.)
Soul mates. ABC plans to pull out all the stops for the wedding of Bachelorette Ashley Hebert and her sweetie, J.P. Rosenbaum.
The “spectacular event” will be in December and will mark only the second time any Bachelorette couple has tied the knot. Not a good track record.
Ashley and J.P. got engaged in Fiji at the end of her edition in August 2010.
Former Bachelor and Bachelorette participants will be on the guest list to milk this thing to the last drop. No word on whether Brad Womack will attend.
One more try. For January’s 17th edition of The Bachelor, ABC is bringing back recent dumpee Sean Lowe. Lowe, 28, a last-minute Emily Maynard reject, is from Dallas. ABC says he is “ready to look for love again and confident he will find his soul mate.” Right. Cluck, cluck. Adult Swim, the grown-up cartoon block airing on Cartoon Network, has ordered Season 7 of Robot Chicken for 2013. Season 6 of the stop-motion animation is airing at 11 p.m. Sundays.
Deja vu again. Donald Trump will be back on NBC early next year with the first All-Star Celebrity Apprentice featuring 14 “fan favorites” from the past five seasons.
The celebrities include Trace Adkins, Stephen Baldwin, Gary Busey, Penn Jillette, Lil’ Jon, Bret Michaels, Dennis Rodman and Dee Snider.
Also returning are Marilu Henner, La Toya Jackson (billed as “an entertainment icon”), Claudia Jordan, Omarosa Manigault, Lisa Rinna and Brande Roderick.
Celebrity advisers will include Piers Morgan, Joan Rivers, John Rick and Arsenio Hall. Last season’s The Celebrity Apprentice raised more than $2 million for charity.
On the job. ABC Family has cast Denise Richards in the drama series pilot Socio (as in sociopath).
The tale follows Danny Ryder (Avan Jogia), who has returned to town after serving five years in custody for murdering his aunt for unknown reasons when he was 11.
Richards will play Danny’s mother. No word on when the pilot will air.
Train wreck TV. The troubled Lindsay Lohan’s “comeback” TV movie Liz & Dick will air Nov. 25 on Lifetime. Lohan will play Elizabeth Taylor to Grant Bowler’s Richard Burton.
It seems to me that Lohan, 26, ought to play Lindsay Lohan in a Lifetime movie since that’s what her life of legal and substance abuse problems has been like for several years.