While no specific airdate has been set, “Days of our Lives” stars Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans) and James Reynolds (Abe Carver) will be joining host Pat Sajak and Vanna White on an upcoming episode of “Wheel of Fortune” later this fall, it was announced Friday on the official Twitter page for the game show. Their appearance is just one of several expected to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration of the daytime soap opera.
After picking up the exclusive streaming rights to all-new episodes of “The Mindy Project” in May, following FOX’s decision to pull the plug on the series, Hulu announced today during its portion of the summer Television Critics Association Press Tour that the fourth season of the very young-skewing comedy will kick off on Tuesday, September 15 and each of the 26-episodes ordered will air once a week, like it did on broadcast.
It’s officially upfront week where the networks announce their new season lineups filled with an abundance of new programming consisting of scripted comedies and dramas, unscripted fare, sporting events and specials. Today, FOX announced its fall lineup with the addition of Ryan Murphy‘s “Scream Queens,” which brings together such stars as horror queen Jamie Lee Curtis and “Glee” alum Lea Michele, Rob Lowe comedy “The Grinder,” John Stamos and Ben Savage vehicle “Grandfathered,” the television version of the hit 2002 Tom Cruise film, “Minority Report” starring Stark Sands (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) as a man haunted by the future and Meagan Good (“Think Like A Man” franchise, “Californication”) as a cop haunted by her past. Also joining the network next season is “Rosewood,” which will lead into an 18-episode repeat free season of “Empire” on Wednesdays.
Hallmark Channel announced today that production has begun in Vancouver, Canada on “Radio Hype,” an original movie set to air sometime later this year on the cable network and stars Alison Sweeney (“Days of our Lives,” “The Biggest Loser”) and Jonathan Scarfe (“Raising the Bar,” “Hell on Wheels”).
It looks like Showtime’s revival of “Twin Peaks,” the cult drama series that aired on ABC from 1990 to 1991, might be in jeopardy after co-creator David Lynch announced this weekend that he has dropped out of the project as director, following tense contract negotiations with the network that were halted over disagreements on financial compensation.
After conducting interviews with several of today’s top talents and filing special assignment reports for the newsmagazine on multiple occassions over the past year, CBS Television Distributions’s “Entertainment Tonight” officially announced today the hiring of “All My Children” alum Cameron Mathison (ex-Ryan Lavery) as its new weekend co-anchor and a full-time correspondent. He will also serve as a fill-in anchor for the weekday telecast, hosted by Nancy O’Dell and Kevin Frazier.
First announced in October of last year, Pop is ready to release their “Queens of Drama” as soap stars Lindsay Hartley (“All My Children,” “Days of Our Lives,” “Passions”), Crystal Hunt (“Guiding Light,” “One Life to Live”), Vanessa Marcil (“Las Vegas,” “General Hospital”), Chrystee Pharris (“PSNS,” “GH”) and Hunter Tylo (“The Bold and The Beautiful”) are joined with special appearances by Donna Mills (“Knots Landing,” “Melrose Place” and “GH”) in their new reality series debuting Sunday, April 26 at 10:00 PM, ET/7:00 PM, PT, immediately following the network’s exclusive live broadcast of “The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.”
On Saturday, May 2 at 9:00 PM, ET/PT, get ready for Alison Sweeney (“Days of our Lives”) and Cameron Mathison (“All My Children”) to take America by storm when their Hallmark Movies & Mysteries original movie, “Murder She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Mystery,” premieres on the cable network. The movie, also starring “One Life to Live” alum Barbara Niven (“Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove”), is based on the bestselling series of books by Joanne Fluke and follows the story of Hannah Swensen (Sweeney), owner of the Cookie Jar shop where patrons frequently gossip about the latest happenings in town.
The 10th anniversary edition of “Dancing with the Stars” will launch on Monday, March 16 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT, ABC recently announced. The competition series, which began in the summer of 2005 with “General Hospital’s” Kelly Monaco taking home the coveted mirror-ball, will be without long-time dancers Derek Hough and Cheryl Burke, however.
Saturday, January 17 was Whitney Houston night on Lifetime as the network premiered “Whitney,” its biopic based on the romantic life of Houston and husband Bobby Brown, one-hour special, “Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney,” and “Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances,” hosted by long-time friend and the man who discovered her, Clive Davis. According to Nielsen Media Research ratings data, overall 11.8 million viewers tuned in during the event block (8:00 PM – 12:00 AM, ET/PT).
