Kenny Ortega speaks at the Michael Jackson public memorial service on July 7, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

Kenny Ortega, director of the popular ‘High School Musical’ Disney Channel movies and subsequent feature film, has pulled out as director of the upcoming ‘Footloose’ remake over differences with Paramount Pictures.

Based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, ‘Footloose’ follows a city kid who moves to a conservative town and rebels against its no-dance law.

Insider sources say Ortega wanted to make a film with elaborately staged musical numbers at a budget of around $30 million, however Paramount production chief Adam Goodman wanted an edgier drama with less emphasis on the musical numbers and a budget around $25 million or less.

The studio is now on the look out for a new director who will be ready to begin production in March, when Chace Crawford, who’s signed on to star, is on hiatus from ‘Gossip Girl’.

The film is also set to star US ‘Dancing With the Stars’ pro dancer and country music singer Julianne Hough.

Ortega’s latest and arguable biggest film of his career, the Michael Jackson concert film ‘This Is It’, is due for release this Wednesday worldwide.

Source: Variety

'Dancing with the Stars' winner Adam Brand and dance partner Jade Hatcher.

The country music star defeated ‘Morning Show’ co-host Kylie Gillies, who was eliminated earlier in the night.

Her elimination from the comp left the path clear for Brand to take on ‘Today Tonight’ host Matt White in the final freestyle routine, in which the later received a perfect 10 from each of the judges.

But despite Matt White’s perfect score, it wasn’t enough for him to defeat Brand, who’s became a big viewer favourite in the lead up to the finale.

The night also saw live performances from ‘Packed to the Rafters’ star Hugh Sheridan, the cast of musical ‘Jersey Boys’ and from the winner himself Adam Brand.

Hosts Daniel MacPherson and Sonia Kruger thanked Australia for supporting the show in yet another successful season of the celebrity dance comp, which has performed well amidst strong competition.

The show is expected the return for a tenth series in 2010.

Seven are gearing up for a brand new season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and in a world first, one contestant will be dancing blind.

The 11 contestants for the 2009 series of ‘Dancing With the Stars’ were announced last week, which include:

• Adam Brand (Country music star)
• Emily Scott (Swimsuit model)
• Fiona O’Loughlin (Comedian)
• Gerrard Gosens (Paralympian/adventurer)
• Jessica McNamee (’Packed to the Rafters’)
• Kylie Gillies (’The Morning Show’)
• Layne Beachley (World champion surfer)
• Lincoln Lewis (’Home and Away”)
• Matthew White (’Today Tonight’)
• Peter “Spida” Everitt (Footy legend)
• Rob Mills (Singer and actor)

‘Dancing with the Stars’ begins soon on Seven. Make sure you check out the hot new promo for the new season below.

'Dancing With the Stars' hosts Sonia Kruger and Daniel MacPherson.

MEDIA RELEASE

Monday June 1, 2009 – Some of Australia’s most troublesome teenagers will find themselves facing a collision with culture in Channel Seven’s new fish-out-of-water series WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS, one of five new local new series to debut soon.

In this new series no family should miss, WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS will test the mettle of these kids with attitude when they are transported from their parents’ confines and sent to live overseas with a new family and a new set of house rules.

No swearing, no smoking, no wild parties, earlier curfews. Will this end in a life changing experience for these local teens that have gone off the rails?

WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS joins a new slate of new Australian-made programming, all coming soon to Seven.

NEW SERIES:

TV BURP: Comedian Ed Kavalee flips what we love and hate about our TV favourites on its head in this new comedy series. From soap operas to documentaries to reality TV, nothing is safe from TV Burp’s unique style of celebrating the week that was on TV. Based on the hugely successful and BAFTA award winning UK series, Harry Hill’s TV Burp.

ICU: From the crew behind the hugely successful Medical Emergency, this new series goes behind the scenes of The Alfred Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

AIR WAYS: An unprecedented look at the day-to-day running of a budget airline in Australia – all the stress and joy of travel come together in this series as passengers and the staff from Tiger Airways contends with misplaced luggage, delayed flights and even a wedding.

DOUBLE TAKE: A fast-paced collection of irreverent sketch comedy, DOUBLE TAKE focuses on parody and impersonation. Spoofs of your favourite TV shows (ones involving dancers, desperate farmers, losers and Sunrise included), movie send-ups and political trivialisation (think Julia
Gillard serenading K-Rudd).

WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS: And taking the tough line in the battle between teens and adults are the WORLD’S STRICTEST PARENTS, a documentary series which joins headstrong Aussie teens with strict parents from around the world in a bid to whip them into shape. These parents are tough but can they tame wild Aussie teens?

Seven’s Director of Programming and Production, Mr Tim Worner said: “A big part of our business at Seven is the development of local programming. The shows we are announcing today represent an investment made 12 months ago.

“We are tremendously thrilled to be launching fresh ideas and fresh faces into the mid year entertainment schedule. Audiences are making these shows the most popular on television – and that confirmation points to a very strong back half of the year. A second wave of local production is about to be commissioned. These projects will be announced in the coming weeks.”

Add to that the return of four favourite series, soon to Seven:

RETURNING SERIES:

SURF PATROL: A man dies f times on a Gold Coast beach and is resuscitated by lifeguards. Tom Williams joins the real heroes of Australian beaches, volunteer life guards, as host for the third season of SURF PATROL. A former life saver himself, Williams will follow the men and women who strive to keep the most popular and treacherous of this country’s 11,000-plus beaches safe.

PACKED TO THE RAFTERS: The Rafter family is back for season two – and things are getting to get a lot more packed…With Julie (Rebecca Gibney) revealing to the family she is pregnant, the Rafters are thrown into more chaos. Lucky Dave (Erik Thomson) keeps a level head and keep things on track. Expect a wedding this season.

DANCING WITH THE STARS: Daniel MacPherson and Sonia Kruger return to host this enduring series – the next line-up of celebrity hoofers will be announced soon, and expect the unexpected this year. Todd McKenney, Helen Richey and Mark Wilson will keep them on their toes from behind the judges’ desk.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: Jennifer Hawkins, Ernie Dingo and Tom Williams return in new episodes, with the best budget travel within Australia and overseas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Channel Seven Publicity
(02) 8777 7250

Brothers & Sisters

“Brothers & Sisters” continues to follow the California-based Walker family through the complicated maze of American life today. The compelling one-hour drama series is about a collection of five enmeshed and somewhat damaged adult siblings, their spouses and their strong and passionately devoted mother, Nora Holden (Oscar and Emmy Award winner Sally Field).

The Walkers’ lives have not been without challenge; romance, parenting, divorce, infidelity, addiction, war, birth and even death have pushed each of them to the limit, but they continue to work toward living their lives as individuals, while loving each other unconditionally and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy after the loss of their larger-than-life family patriarch, William Walker.

“Brothers & Sisters” stars Dave Annable as Justin Walker, Maxwell Perry Cotton as Cooper Whedon, Kerris Lilla Dorsey as Paige, Sally Field as Nora Holden, Calista Flockhart as Kitty Walker, Balthazar Getty as Thomas Walker, Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Whedon, Rob Lowe as Senator Robert McCallister, Sarah Jane Morris as Julia Walker, Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker, Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden, Emily VanCamp as Rebecca Harper and Patricia Wettig as Holly Harper.

The series produced by ABC Studios. Ken Olin (“Alias,” “thirtysomething”), Greg Berlanti (“Dirty Sexy Money,” “Everwood”), Monica Owusu-Breen (“Alias”), Alison Schapker (“Alias”), Sarah Caplan and Molly Newman are executive producers.

Castle

When viewers first met Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) — a famous mystery novelist and divorced father raising his teenage daughter (Molly Quinn as Alexis), while being kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother (Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers) — he was bored with his own success. He then found out that a real-world killer was staging murder scenes depicted in his novels. Castle was questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a bright and aggressive detective who kept her investigations under tight reins, especially the years-old unsolved murder of her own mother. Though they instantly clashed, sparks of another sort began to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle stepped in to help find the copycat killer. Once that initial case was solved, together Castle and Beckett built on their new relationship investigating more strange homicides in New York as much fun as one could have with death and murder. In the season finale, Castle, against Beckett’s direct order to stay out of her mom’s case, unearthed information in that homicide which may end his relationship with her forever.

Also starring in the series are Ruben Santiago-Hudson as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito and Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

“Castle” is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe serves as executive producer/writer, along with executive producers Rob Bowman, Armyan Bernstein and Laurie Zaks.

Desperate Housewives

After jumping five years ahead into the lives of the women of Wisteria Lane, critically acclaimed series “Desperate Housewives” returns for its sixth season on ABC. Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Mike (James Denton) are brought together by their worst fears; Lynette’s (Felicity Huffman) unexpected pregnancy tests her family; as Bree’s (Marcia Cross) marriage dissolves, she finds herself in the arms of another man; Gabrielle (Eva Longoria Parker) is in for a surprise when she and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) welcome their niece into their home; and Katherine (Dana Delany) struggles over the thought of losing Mike.

“Desperate Housewives” stars Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Hodge, Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis, Ricardo Antonio Chavira as Carlos Solis, Doug Savant as Tom Scavo, Kyle MacLachlan as Orson Hodge, Dana Delany as Katherine Mayfair, Shawn Pyfrom as Andrew Van De Kamp, Brenda Strong as Mary Alice Young, James Denton as Mike Delfino, Charlie Carver as Porter Scavo, Max Carver as Preston Scavo, Joshua Moore as Parker Scavo, and Kendall Applegate as Penny Scavo.

Marc Cherry serves as executive producer and creator. Sabrina Wind, George Perkins, Larry Shaw and David Grossman are executive producers. “Desperate Housewives” is produced by ABC Studios and is the winner of both the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy.

Grey’s Anatomy

“Grey’s Anatomy” is the recipient of the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama, and multiple Emmy nominations including two for Outstanding Drama Series.

The doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital deal with life-or-death consequences on a daily basis – it’s in one another that they find comfort, friendship and, at times, more than friendship. Together they’re discovering that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white. Real life only comes in shades of grey.

“Grey’s Anatomy” stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd, Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang, Katherine Heigl as Isobel “Izzie” Stevens, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, T.R. Knight as George O’Malley, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens, Jr. as Richard Webber, Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres, Eric Dane as Mark Sloan, Chyler Leigh as Lexie Grey and Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt.

“Grey’s Anatomy” was created and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes (“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”). Betsy Beers (“Casanova”), Mark Gordon (“Saving Private Ryan”), Krista Vernoff (“Law & Order”), Rob Corn (“Chicago Hope”), Mark Wilding (“Jake: 2.0″) and Allan Heinberg (“The O.C.) are executive producers. “Grey’s Anatomy” is an ABC Studios production.

LOST

After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, housing and hatches with electricity and hot & cold running water, a group of island residents known as “The Others,” and a mysterious man named Jacob. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, a downed Beechcraft plane from a failed drug run, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative — a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past. They also encountered a freighter stationed off the island that some thought would lead to their rescue, but ultimately almost caused their extinction. The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against all odds if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their journey, nothing is what it seems, and danger and mystery loom behind every corner, with even those they thought could be trusted turning against them. Even heroes have secrets.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Terry O’Quinn as Locke.

A 2008 recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award, “Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost,” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Private Practice

From Shonda Rhimes, the Golden Globe-winning creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” comes a story about finding a way to begin the rest of your life. Addison Forbes Montgomery is a renowned neonatal surgeon at the pinnacle of her profession. Having left behind Seattle Grace Hospital and a broken marriage, Addison has moved to Los Angeles for sunnier weather and happier possibilities. Now reunited with her friends from medical school, Naomi and Sam Bennett, Addison has joined their co-op practice at Oceanside Wellness Group in Santa Monica. The practice’s resident pediatrician is Dr. Cooper Freedman, Dr. Pete Wilder is the alternative medicine specialist, psychiatrist Dr. Violet Turner and office manager/nurse, William Dell Parker, round out the tightly knit group of professionals. The doctors of Oceanside work together to find solutions to their patients’ needs, but along the way they encounter medical cases that challenge their ethical and moral ideals and their abilities as doctors. For Addison, an old friend’s invitation has brought her to a new city and a new life full of promise – now it’s up to her to take chances in dating and find her place in this new medical environment. At Oceanside Wellness Group, the doctors are dedicated pros; it’s their private lives that need a little practice.

“Private Practice” stars Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder, Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman, KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King, Chris Lowell as William Dell Parker, with Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett and Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner.

“Private Practice” was created and is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes. Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Mark Tinker, Jon Cowan and Robert Rovner are executive producers. The series is produced by ABC Studios.

Ugly Betty

In the superficial world of high fashion, image is everything. Styles come and go, and the only constants are the super thin beauties who wear them. How can an ordinary girl from Queens possibly fit in? Sweet, intelligent, hard-working and undoubtedly fashion-challenged, Betty Suarez dreams of a successful career in magazine publishing. After taking a job at Mode Magazine, the bible of the fashion industry, Betty’s indomitable spirit and bright ideas win over the respect of her Mode cohorts despite continuous predictions of failure. She thrives in the ultra-competitive environment in spite of her lack of fashion sense. Betty forms an unlikely team with her boss, Daniel Meade, the co-editor in chief of Mode Magazine, as they help one another navigate the choppy waters of NYC’s shark infested fashion scene. Now she must prove that she is not just a super assistant with no fashion sense, but an aspiring career woman and editor-to-be while balancing her tumultuous love life and her family responsibilities.

“Ugly Betty” stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, Eric Mabius as Daniel Meade, Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater, Ana Ortiz as Hilda, Tony Plana as Ignacio, Becki Newton as Amanda, Mark Indelicato as Justin, Michael Urie as Marc and Judith Light as Claire Meade.

Based on “Yo Soy Betty La Fea,” the groundbreaking Colombian telenovela that became an international phenomenon, “Ugly Betty” is from ABC Studios. The series has been awarded the Golden Globe, Peabody, NAACP, ALMA, GLAAD and Imagen awards and earned 3 Emmy awards and 17 nominations. Executive producers are Silvio Horta (“Urban Legend”), Academy Award-nominee and Emmy Award winner Salma Hayek, Jose Tamez, Richard Heus, Ben Silverman, Teri Weinberg, Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally.

Better Off Ted

“Better Off Ted” is a satirical office comedy about successful good guy, Ted, who runs research and development at the morally questionable Veridian Dynamics. No achievement is too far-fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Need cow-less meat grown in a test tube? Done. Need pumpkins that also double as weapons of mass destruction? No problem. Ted’s a single dad to a seven-year-old girl, and he loves his job, but he’s starting to take a closer look at the company’s extremely dubious practices. Do you manufacture the best teeth whitener ever if it could also kill off all of the planet’s fish? Probably not, but…

Ted’s also fighting an attraction to co-worker Linda, who enjoys small acts of rebellion against Veridian (she’s secretly stealing and hoarding all the company’s creamer packets). But he holds back about his true feelings. He’s already had his self imposed “one office affair” with berboss Veronica. Incredibly beautiful (if seemingly devoid of conscience and also emotion-free), Veronica lets nothing get in her way when it comes to serving Veridian’s needs even if it means doing something like cryogenically freezing an employee for testing purposes. And after all, the employee, research scientist Phil, survived (after he thawed out). So what if he screams like an eagle at the slightest provocation? He and his best friend, fellow research scientist Lem, are both geniuses and when they’re not bickering, they’re responsible for many of Veridian’s miracles of weird science.

“Better Off Ted” stars Jay Harrington as Ted, Portia de Rossi as Veronica, Andrea Anders as Linda, Jonathan Slavin as Phil, Malcolm Barrett as Lem and Isabella Acres as Rose.

“Better Off Ted” is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television. Victor Fresco (“My Name Is Earl,” “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”) is executive producer and creator of the series.

Scrubs

This irreverent and offbeat comedy received two consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2005 and 2006, and was named TV.com’s “Best of 2007″ in Comedy.

“Scrubs” focuses on the unique point of view of Dr. John Dorian, or “J.D.” (Zach Braff). After surviving his internship and residency, and year as an attending physician with his own class of unmanageable interns at Sacred Heart Hospital, J.D. is moving on to greener pastures. He continues to face many challenges in his personal and professional life trying to balance his roles as doctor, father to Sam, devoted live-in boyfriend and friend to his very quirky companions at Sacred Heart.

In its debut year, “Scrubs” was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award. It has received a total of 16 Emmy nominations, and it won an Emmy for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing in 2005 and another for Outstanding Sound Mixing in 2007. In 2004 the series was honored with a prestigious Humanitas Prize. Beginning that same year, it received three consecutive Producers Guild Award nominations, from 2004-2006.

“Scrubs” is produced by ABC Studios. Bill Lawrence (“Spin City”) is the executive producer and creator.

America’s Funniest Home Videos

“America’s Funniest Home Videos” will celebrate its 20th season when it returns in the fall. Hosted by Tom Bergeron, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” is the longest-running primetime show in ABC history and has been entertaining viewers for decades by showing what happens when adults, children and even inanimate objects are at their spontaneous best, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” has given away over $10 million in prize money and evaluated more than half a million videotapes from home viewers. Viewers wishing to submit home videos to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” should visit www.ABC.com for details.

Vin Di Bona is executive producer, with Todd Thicke and Michele Nasraway serving as co-executive producers.

The Bachelor

ABC’s “The Bachelor” is the original primetime romance reality series that offers one lucky man and 25 lucky women the unique opportunity to find true love. The new Bachelor will get to know 25 women via a series of social gatherings and exotic, romantic dates some in groups, some individually. He will introduce some of the women to his family, and will visit their hometowns for a slice of their life in an effort to determine the woman with whom he is most compatible.

“The Bachelor” is hosted by Chris Harrison and produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss and Martin Hilton are executive producers.

Dancing with the Stars

Hosted by Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) and Samantha Harris (“The Insider”), “Dancing with the Stars” challenges celebrities from the worlds of Hollywood, sports, and beyond, to perform choreographed ballroom routines ranging from the foxtrot to the cha cha cha. Celebrities are paired with some of the top professional ballroom dancers in the world and their live televised performances are judged by renowned ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

“Dancing with the Stars” is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, “Strictly Come Dancing.” This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Americas. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are co-executive producers. Alex Rudzinski directs.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Put together one very run-down house, a deserving family, several opinionated designers, seven days and what do you get? The answer is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The show has won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality Program, plus the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show/Makeover and the Family Television Award for Best Alternative/Reality Program. Each episode is self-contained and features a race against time on a project that would ordinarily take at least four months to achieve, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to totally rebuild an entire house every single room, plus the exterior and landscaping. The lives of the lucky families are forever changed when they learn that they’ve been selected to have their home walls moved, their floors replaced and even their facades radically changed. The result should be a decorator’s delight if it can be done in time.

The design team includes team leader Ty Pennington, with designers Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Tracy Hutson, Eduardo Xol, John Littlefield, Rib Hillis and Didiayer Snyder.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The executive producer is Anthony Dominici (“America’s Next Top Model,” “The Amazing Race”).

Supernanny

“Supernanny” is in its fifth season with Jo Frost criss-crossing America, taking on some of its toughest parenting challenges. She can tame the wildest toddler, soothe the savage six-year-old and get the most difficult child to overcome problems with behavior, sleep, mealtime, potty training and other challenges that have vexed parents around the world for centuries. The series debuted in America in early 2005 and captivated the country with Jo’s practical, no-nonsense style, honed over 20 years of nannying. “Supernanny” is now an international phenomenon; it airs in 172 territories, almost all of them with Frost as Supernanny. The series has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award.

Nick Powell is the creator and executive producer of both the American and British versions of the show. Nick Emmerson and Stephanie Schwam are executive producers of the American version. “Supernanny” is produced by Shed Media US.

True Beauty

What makes a person truly beautiful? From executive producers Tyra Banks (“The Tyra Banks Show,” “America’s Next Top Model”) and Ashton Kutcher (executive producer of “Punk’d” and “Beauty and the Geek”), beauty is redefined in the popular ABC series “True Beauty.”

Gorgeous female and handsome male contestants assume they’re being judged solely on their outer appearance, but they’re only half right; outer beauty is just one component the judges are looking for. Contestants, unbeknownst to them, are also being evaluated for their INNER beauty as they’re tested in challenging situations that require them to make moral decisions.

Each episode will showcase an outer beauty and an inner beauty challenge, during which contestants will be judged on everything from how well they perform in photo shoots to how well they respect their elders. The three judges will observe and critique the contestants’ behavior and eliminate one person each week. Only after someone is eliminated will the truth about the show be revealed to him/her, as they watch a video montage of their behavior captured by a hidden camera during the shoot. At the end of eight episodes, one winner will be declared, a person who is truly beautiful inside and out. That person will receive a cash prize and a spot in PEOPLE magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People issue.

Executive producers of “True Beauty” are Denise Cramsey (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), Tyra Banks and Laura Armstrong for Bankable Productions, and Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg, Karey Burke and Rod Aissa for Katalyst Productions. The series is a production of Warner Horizon Television.

Wife Swap

Each week two very contradictory families from across the country participate in a two-week-long challenge: The wives exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover daily life in another woman’s shoes. This astonishing experiment repeatedly changes lives and redefines families.

In the first week of the swap, the wives move in and adopt their new family’s lifestyle, no matter how different it may be. They agree to follow a manual written by the departing wife that sets out the rules of their new household how they parent, shop, do the house work, manage their budgets and their social life. In the second week, everything changes. The new wives take charge. They introduce their own set of rules and get to run the new household their way. It’s a radical shock to both families. The results are explosive, enlightening, emotional and often comical.

At the end of the show, the two couples meet for the first time. In a highly-charged exchange of views, both couples make a frank assessment of each other and talk about what they’ve learned from the experience.

“Wife Swap” is an RDF USA production. The show was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Mike Gamson, and Michael Davies of Embassy Row (“Who Wants to be a Millionaire”). Neil Regan, Julie Cooper and Will Nothacker are co-executive producers.

20/20

ABC News’ acclaimed series “20/20″ has distinguished itself as one of the most esteemed news programs in broadcast journalism. Amid the heated, competitive environment of primetime entertainment, “20/20″ has demonstrated its ability to consistently attract a significant segment of the viewing audience by offering viewers more choices and more chances to learn about the world around them. Copy/pasted from Futon Critic For over three decades, “20/20″ has continued to combine hard-hitting investigative reports, newsmaker interviews and compelling human interest and feature stories that have changes lives.

The program is co-anchored by the broadcast team of Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel, both award-winning journalists.

The cast of highly anticipated sci-fi drama 'V'

This just in, ABC has given us a sneak peak at its 2009/2010 schedule, which features 4 new comedies, 6 new dramas and 1 alternative series.

ABC will have a ton of new shows they include ‘Cougar Town,’ ‘The Deep End,’ ‘Eastwick,’ ‘FlashForward,’ ‘The ‘Forgotten,’ ‘Hank,’ ‘Happy Town,’ ‘The Middle,’ ‘Modern Family,’ ‘Shark Tank’ and ‘V.’

The aforementioned shows join the alphabet’s other big guns in ‘Dancing with the Stars’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Brothers and Sisters’ and ‘Private Practice’

ABC PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2009 (All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-10:00 PM Dancing with the Stars
10:00-11:00PM Castle

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00PM Shark Tank
9:00-10:00PM Dancing with the Stars (Results Show)
10:00-11:00PM The Forgotten

WEDNESDAY
8:00-8:30PM Hank
8:30-9:00PM The Middle
9:00-9:30PM Modern Family
9:30-10:00PM Cougar Town
10:00-11:00PM Eastwick

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00PM FlashForward
9:00-10:00PM Grey’s Anatomy
10:00-11:00PM Private Practice

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00PM Supernanny
9:00-10:00PM Ugly Betty
10:00-11:00PM 20/20

SATURDAY
8:00-11:00PM Saturday Night College Football

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00PM America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00-9:00PM Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00-10:00PM Desperate Housewives
10:00-11:00PM Brothers & Sisters

‘The Bachelor’ will air Monday nights from 8:00-10:00 p.m. following the run of ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ and ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Better Off Ted’ will air at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., respectively, following the run of ‘Dancing with the Stars The Results Show.’

Australia's Rachel Griffiths stars on ABC's hit drama series 'Brothers and Sisters'.

Staple series ‘Brothers and Sisters’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Private Practice’ and ‘Ugly Betty’ have all been renewed for the 2009/2010 season by ABC.

The five series join the final season of ‘Lost’ which was given a three season pick-up back in 2007.

Conspicuously, all of ABC’s current midseason programs have yet to receive a pick-up from the alphabet, including ‘Scrubs’, ‘In the Motherhood’, ‘Samantha Who?’, ‘The Unusuals’, ‘Better Off Ted’ and ‘Castle’.

Also on the pick-up list are gangbuster reality series ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘The Bachelor’; as well as ’Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’, ‘Wife Swap’, ‘Supernanny’ and ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’.

The Daily Telegraph is today reporting that James Mathison has left ‘Australian Idol’, after six years as co-host on the Network Ten series.

The 31-year-old hopes to pursue his own music interests as the guitarist for his band, The Punisherz.

“There is a part of me who has a little bit struggled with being ‘that guy from that thing’ and taking a step back totally allows you to do what you want to do without that scrutiny,” he said.

” [Music] is my main interest at the moment.”

“That is why I did the audition all those years ago and when I had a break after Idol last year I just had a real pull towards that initial love of working in music and interviewing bands, doing reviews. I love that stuff,” he said.

“For six years ‘Idol’ has been my life.

“You really don’t have time to do anything else. I might not have been the greatest friend to people because I had no time, so it would be cool to change that.”

One of the first people Mathison told of his departure was Andrew G, who he has worked closely with for over nine years.

“I had to follow my gut and I wanted new challenges,” he says.

The presenter also had to convince Network Ten, that he wasn’t planning to jump ship and sign with a rival network.

“I am not going to be on TV for a while now, not ‘Dancing With The Stars’ or anything like that. I just want to explore other music opportunities while I am here in New York and at home.”

Well, all I can say is, look forward to lots of boring awkward moments from Andrew G on ‘Idol’ this year, when it returns later in 2009.

Daniel MacPherson will move to Los Angeles in September, when his contract with the Seven Network expires.

The Melbourne-based actor will depart Seven’s police drama ‘City Homicide’, but says he wants to continue working on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ by flying back and forth from LA.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the 28 year old spoke of his wonderful relationship with Seven, “beyond September I’d like to think there’s more work between us.”

“One of my long-term goals has been to head to the States and my mantra has always been that I wouldn’t head over there until I’m 100 per cent ready,” MacPherson said.

Last year, MacPherson secured representation by Hollywood agency ICM, whilst visiting LA with manager Mark Morrissey.

MacPherson will join fellow Australian actors Chris Egan (‘Kings’, ‘Home and Away’), Chris Hemsworth (‘Star Trek’, ‘Home and Away’) and Jesse Spencer (‘House’, ‘Neighbours’), who’ve all found success while living in LA.

The cast of 'Chuck' at WonderCon. From left: Yvonne Strahovski, Joshua Gomez, Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin.

Everyone’s favourite spy might be back for another season claims executive producer and co-creator of ‘Chuck’, Josh Schwartz.

During an interview at WonderCon he revealed, the season two finale “will end in a way that’s going to launch the show into season three with a real—it’s a game-changer. I think that it’ll be immensely satisfying in its own right, but it also really, really launches the show in a way that, you know, we’re already breaking season three stories and can’t wait to start telling them.”

Schwartz is optimistic about another season for the series, which has won critical praise despite lackluster ratings.

“The network has been incredibly supportive of the show, and there’s a lot of internal support for the show,” Schwartz said. “Creatively, they’re really happy with the show. They recognize the challenges of the time period we’re in and all of the sort of hiatus impediments that have been thrown in our way. So I think, you know, on that level it’s very positive. But, you know, we still have several more months to go, and … it’s very competitive, (up against ABC’s) ‘Dancing With the Stars’ this year. Will Jewel out-dance Denise Richards? I know that I can’t wait. And Jewel’s husband also, go with the soft shoe, he’s in there. Yeah, yeah. So, um, so you know, I think we feel very, very optimistic, and we feel really, really good about the show creatively, and I think you know, everything that we can control, we feel very good about.”

Quizzed on if NBC has set a benchmark for renewal, Schwartz replied “If there is a threshold number, we have not heard it yet,” further adding “NBC’s been very good about (renewing) the shows that they love based on creativity alone.”

As for the show’s season finale, Schwartz said “This is our finale. This would be our finale whether we knew we were picked up, whether…we were picked up for next year or five years. This is what we’ve been wanting to do for a while, and we’ve had this planned since the beginning of season one.”

Tuesday night saw ABC dominate with the finale of Dancing with the Stars and the umpteenth repeat of A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, 20.58M; A18-49: 5.1 (rating)/14 (share); A18-34: 3.4/10 and 11.1M; A18-49: 3.5/9; A18-34: 2.6/8 respectively. What will the alphabet do now that Dancing with the Stars is finished? Their Mondays and Tuesdays will certainly collapse.

Fox were a close second in the 18-49 demo but took the crown in the 18-34 demo with House and Fringe (more House than Fringe). House finished with 12.49M; A18-49: 5.0/14 and A18-34: 4.9/15. While Fringe may be a work in progress, its numbers aren’t promising (8.73M; A18-49: 3.9/10; A18-34: 3.6/10) and loosing nearly 3M from its first half hour (first five minutes of the first half hour includes the last 5 minutes of House).

Over at CBS, NCIS managed 18.16M; A18-49: 3.7/10; A18-34: 2.1/6. The Mentalist which followed continues to be the highest rating freshman drama (15.91M; A18-49: 3.6; A18-34: 2.3/6) with Without a Trace completing the night, 10.37M; A18-49: 2.5; A18-34: 1.6/5. CBS’s Tuesday line-up has held up well against the Dancing with the Stars juggernaut and ratings are sure to improve once Dancing is out of the way.

Capping off the night, NBC had a two hour special of The Biggest Loser netting an unusually low 6.77M; A18-49: 2.6/7; A18-34: 2.2/7. Numbers might have been down last night but it deserves more credit for its 2008 performances given NBC’s troubles this year. However, Law and Order: SVU is loosing steam with a series low rating in the demos (8.55M, A18-49: 3.2/9; A18-34: 2.9/8)

Meanwhile on Cable:

Star Wars: Clone Wars (Cartoon Network, 9pm Friday) 2.775M
Sons of Anarchy (FX, 10pm Wednesday) 2.457M
Mythbusters (Discovery, 9pm Wednesday) 2.348M
South Park (Comedy Central, 10pm Thursday) 2.255M
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX, 10pm Thursday) 1.297M
True Blood (HBO, 9pm Sunday) 2.4M
Entourage (HBO, 10pm Sunday) 2M

Sorry no Summer Heights High numbers

Source: Nielsen TV Ratings

Welcome to Australia, home of convicts, criminals and pirates. In honour of the release of Australia’s largest and most expensive film ever, go download this episode and spread the pirate cheer by sharing it on bittorrent. But only if you’re on iiNet, okay?

ABC have cleaned up on the first night of ratings for the US fall season, boasting the largest overall audience figures of all networks. CBS won in the demos with its CSI: Miami/Monday night comedy block.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars won its timeslot from 8pm to 10pm with massive overall audience figures (5.3/13 in 18-49, 21.34m), setting up a huge lead in audience for legal dramedy Boston Legal. It made for the largest audience on the opening Monday of the season in nine years for the alphabet network.

The CBS comedy block scored highly in the young adult demo with The Big Bang Theory (3.6 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, 9.32 million viewers overall) and How I Met Your Mother (4.0/10, 9.79m) which scored its highest season premiere ever. Two and a Half Men gained on its previous years figures (5.3/12, 14.48m), while newcomer Worst Week closed the night (3.8/8, 10.87m).
NBC didn’t fair as well with overall audience figures. Heroes scored its lowest season premiere ever, however still holding up quite well in the demos (5.0/12, 10.09m).

FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2.3/6 in 18-49, 5.89m) and Prison Break (2.5/6, 5.84m) failed to impress as usual, having the unfortunate disadvantage of starting several weeks before ratings season.

The CW remained steady in its demos with Gossip Girl (1.6/4, 3.33m) and One Tree Hill (1.5/3, 3.14m), placing the green network third for the night in women 18-34 (3.6/9). Gossip Girl also scored its second best 18-34 score to date (2.4/7).

Last night all three commercial networks went head2head in what is considered to be only just the beginning of a massive post-olympics ratings war.

Last night Seven premiered its newly revamped Dancing with the Stars, with its new host and ’sexiest’ cast ever. While Nine sizzled up the screen with its blockbuster tele-movie premiere Scorched. Ten round things out debuting Australian Idol’s top 100 singers in the widest talent search ever conducted in the show’s history.

In honour of the afore mentioned shows, I thought I might play judge and rate these shows out of 10. Read my reviews after the break.

Australian Idol

I didn’t get a chance to see last nights episode, that’s the only problem with all three networks showing their biggest shows at the same time. So this result is based on what I’ve seen of Idol so far this season.

I get the feeling this show is starting to run out of fuel. Each year becomes more and more of what we’ve seen the previous years. While the show’s judges has been very exploratory of different types of singers over the past few seasons, we keep ending up with the same results by the end of the series. All the more interesting voices and unique talents get voted out before we even get to the grand final. So we are (or I am anyway) left with two singers we don’t particularly care about. Not to mention the fact that even though a singer may win Idol, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee success as a recording artist. The more successful recording artists have been the runner up or even just one of the top 12 finalists.

In this day and age when almost anyone can become a recording artist and distribute their music independently or online, all singers really need is the exposure they get from television, which is what Idol does. Winning the show has become less important because no matter who wins, we’re still bound hear music on the airwaves from our top 12 singers despite what place they come.

So perhaps its time for Australian Idol to start rethinking its formula for the show. As evidence by the dwindling ratings on the finale episodes each year, it seems people are becoming less and less interested in the outcome of the show; and would be perhaps far more intrigued in the process in which it takes for a recording artist to get to where they are.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Dancing with the Stars

Its been one of the biggest success stories for the Seven Network in recent years, but after six series, it was starting to get a little dated, a little tacky and a little annoying, thanks to the host Daryl Sommers. So when Seven said it would be an ‘all new’ Dancing with the Stars this series, they really meant it.

They’ve completely revamped the show from the dance floor up. There is a brand new set, and new logo and theme song, a new judge, new pro dancers, a new host and nine ‘hot’ new competitors, plus Red Symons.

The show’s new host Daniel McPherson, who apart from the failed Ten series, The X Factor, has had little hosting experience on Australian television. So it was always going to be quite interesting to see how he would handled the pressure of hosting another live show. But despite his initial nervousness (or perhaps my nervousness for him), by the end of the show I had completely forgotten it was his first episode all together. He worked quite well with the always brilliant Sonia Kruger, whose one liners always seem to save the day.

The new celebrities were fun and enthusiastic, their behind the scenes video packages were considerably more entertaining than previous years. Experienced judge from both the UK and US versions of the show, Bruno Tonioli, brought an extra level of entertainment to the already ridiculous judging panel. His bizarre yet somehow relatable analogies were exactly what the panel needed, if only to just confuse the contestants.

Apart from the few teething problems, which are only expected on a live show, I found the new series to be a real step forward. They’ve removed what didn’t work and brought in a whole new level of fun and excitement for such a dated concept.

4 out of 5 stars

Scorched

It’s a concept which is a little too close to home for comfort, but this is an issue which our country may face in just a few years time. In the Nine Network’s blockbuster tele-movie event. It’s Sydney in 2012, there hasn’t been any rain for 247 days and bush fires are ravaging the city. Tens of thousands of homes are at risk while hundreds of volunteers are working to fight the flames. But what happens when the city’s remaining water supply runs out. How do you fight fire without water.

Coming off a successful run of Australian drama with Underbelly and Sea Patrol, it seemed ripe for the Nine Network to premiere it’s political tele-movie Scorched. Starring some of the biggest names in Australian television, Cameron Daddo, Rachel Carpani, Georgie Parker, Vince Colosimo, Libby Tanner and Les Hill. It was bound to have some traction, and did it ever!

It’s always a problem when dealing with disaster movies/mini-series that the sensational elements end up overpowering the real stories behind the story, but what set Scorched aside from these other movies (particularly disaster mini-series from the US) is that it brought everything back to the characters. Characters that you actually cared about, characters that you despised, characters that you wanted to see actually fighting to save their lives.

The concept was great. The dialogue was realistic. The acting was spot on, not overly dramatic as to verge on melodrama. The screenwriting and direction was flawless. I didn’t cringe once, which is a good indicator. I’ve been waiting for the time that Australian television would start to experiment with politics and conspiracies into their story lines. I love it.

The visual effects were amazing, I can’t even recall another Australian television project which has featured visual effects so prominently. We need more of this. It really raises the bar for what’s achievable on Australian television.

The cinematography and grading was beautiful. You see something as stunning as this and wonder, why isn’t more Australian drama shot on film!?! Despite how much digital technology advances, watching something shot beautifully on film definitely has more of an impact on viewers than many networks think.

Finally, what would a disaster tele-movie without the cheesy supers at the end telling us how many people died, what happened to the city, how much it will cost to repair the damage. This is the only thing dropped the ball for me. As much as the end supers have become part of the disaster movie formula. I still can’t help but feel slightly ripped off when they appear.

Scorched was one of the most ambitious, breathtakingly fresh concepts I’ve ever seen on Australian television. If only more Australian drama was like this.

4.5 out of 5 stars

It’s a new season of television! And boy is there a lot to talk about. In our first post-olympics podcast, we discuss Packed the Rafters, All Saints, Idol, Make Me a Supermodel, ABC Family, and plenty of Aussie Drama. The return of Cult Show of the Week and our new segment So You Think Concepts.  We wrap up by discussing the new season of Dancing with the Stars.

So which is it tonight? Australian Idol or Make Me A Supermodel?

If that question’s not hard enough, then how about Sunday’s dilemma? Australian Idol, Dancing with the Stars or Aussie telemovie Scorched?

Damn you networks! Damn you!

If only TiVo didn’t completely suck. If only Nine weren’t screwing over IceTV. If only TV downloads were legal.

Imagine a future when we could actually watch WHAT we want, WHEN we want…Oh who am I kidding. That’s just a dumb idea, right?

Seven has had a little bit of fun revising with their post-Olympics schedule. They’ve moved their big ratings winner Dancing with the Stars to an all new night.

All Saints finally gets to start on time on Tuesday nights taking the lead-out from the new Aussie drama series Packed to the Rafters. While Dancing with the Stars becomes Seven’s new Sunday night tent-pole between The Outdoor Room and Criminal Minds.

See Seven’s full line up after the break.

UPDATE All Saints has always been on Tuesday nights. Thanks to Stuart for the correction.

Monday

7:30 Border Security
8:00 The Force
8:30 City Homicide
9:30 Bones
10:30 Boston Legal

Tuesday

7:30 RSPCA Animal Rescue
8:00 Find My Family
8:30 Packed to the Rafters
9:30 All Saints

Wednesday

7:30 Crash Investigation Unit
8:00 Medical Emergency
8:30 Criminal Minds
9:30 The Apprentice UK

Thursday

7:30 Make Me A Supermodel
8:30 Ghost Whisperer
9:30 Ugly Betty

Sunday

6:30 The Outdoor Room
7:30 Dancing with the Stars
9:45 Criminal Minds (Repeat)

SEVEN has stared running their new promos for their second series of “Dancing with the Stars” for ‘08.  This time round, SEVEN seems to be taking the approach of casting young attractive celebs in order to either bring in more viewers or….no wait, just bring in more viewers.  Taking over the role as host is City Homicide’s Daniel McPherson, who’s last hosting gig was the “The X Factor” on TEN, which didn’t have so much of an x-factor as it had a fail-factor.

• Jodi Gordon (Actress, “Home and Away”)
• Danny Green (Boxer)
• Toni Pearen (Television Personality)
• Cal Wilson (Radio Personality)
• Charli Delaney (Presenter, “Hi-5″)
• James Tobin (Entertainment Reporter, “Sunrise”)
• Brooke Hanson (Former Olympic Swimmer)
• Red Symons (Television Personality)
• Paul Licuria (AFL Player)
• Luke Jacobz (Actor, “Home and Away”)

Hit more to see the promo.