The Jonas Brothers have conquered both music and movies (albeit, a TV movie), but middle bro Joe recently told ELLEgirl magazine that the trio will begin filming a new series for the Disney Channel in mid-September.

The series, which doesn't have a title yet, is, according to Joe, "going to be about us as a band but dealing with normal things like trying to take out the trash and how not to get hounded by fans." Oh, and it will have a Flight of the Conchords feel to it.

Hm. Hm. Hm.

It was initially rumored that the series was going to be about a band living a double life as spies, but they seem to have put the kibosh on that rather quickly.

Thank God.

Okay, well, not entirely.

We're currently in the middle of the fifth season of Bravo's hit show Project Runway, but since the show is doing a little switcheroo and moving networks (they're going to Lifetime), the show won't be back on the air as soon as they had thought.

Once this season ends, Lifetime said it was delaying the start of its sixth season until January 2009.

A network rep told Entertainment Weekly, "With this move, the series will resume its traditional cycle of two seasons per year," a network rep explained to Entertainment Weekly. "We look forward to ringing in the New Year by giving Project Runway loyal fans a superlative season six with Heidi, Tim, Nina, and Michael. The new date and time will be announced soon."

So, if you're a fan of the show 24, you're probably already pissed off at the fact that you have to wait until 2009 to get new episodes - all thanks to the writer's strike.

But now you'll have another reason to be pissed! After the completion of its 18th episodes (of season 7) is done filming, production will shut down for about two weeks due to rewrites.

Apparently they plan on taking the show in a new, creative direction.

On the flipside, the premiere of season 7, which is set to air in January '09, and the first seven episodes, will NOT be affected. So you'll all get your Jack Bauer back.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the GG duo will play high school classmates of Tina Fey's character in a flashback sequence. (Are they trying to channel Ugly Betty...?)

While I watched 30 Rock here and there, I'll sure as hell be tuning in to see these guest appearances.

I'd like to briefly recommend a movie to you, this being the weekend, and a popular pastime being to watch a movie on Friday or Saturday night. Instead of wasting brain cells watching another brainless comedy from Will Ferrell's cloning machine, I suggest "Good Night, and Good Luck." It's about newsman Edward Murrow's fight against the injustices of McCarthyism in the fifties. My wife and I watched this last night, I for the second time and she for the first. The movie is shot in stark black-and-white that gives it an utterly realistic feel, with actual CBS broadcast footage from the time seamlessly intercut to give the viewer a sense of being there. The grayscale also serves to highlight the contrast between the calm, serious network news of then and now--today's news shows barely have time for the talking heads to scream at each other between flying, acrobatic graphics and thundering sound effects. The film is a great, compelling production and Murrow is perfectly executed by David Strathairn.

There are a few good themes running throughout that are worth your consideration. How we wield the instrument of the television. What TV has done to us. How the television news corps has changed since its inception. The responsibility of the press in general. Fighting against mass-hysteria fear-driven witch hunts and convicting those accused of nebulous charges with no evidence and no trial. Truth versus hyperbole. Truth versus fear. The consequences of a fear state. And on and on.

"To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck." - Edward Murrow

After a week hiatus, the recently canceled Stargate: Atlantis returns with the seventh episode of this final fifth season, tonight on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Whispers sees Sheppard and Beckett join a team investigating a hidden Wraith laboratory where Michael has been conducting genetic experiments.

The episode guest stars: Paul McGillion (Carson Beckett), Christina Cox (Anne Teldy), Leela Savasta (Alicia Vega), Janina Gavankar (Dusty Mehra), Nicole de Boer (Alison Porter), Darren Dolinski (Mirellus)

Watch it tonight on Sci-Fi at 10pm EST!

You can read more about tonight's episode by visiting GateWorld.net. Beware of spoilers though if you do not wish to be spoiled.

IL PALINSESTO DI RAIDUE SI TINGE DI NUOVO!

Si inizia gia dal mattino alle 11:00 con Insieme sul 2, il programma, che vedrà, come promesso, la firma di Michele Guardì, già autore della ormai sgombrata Piazza Grande, Mattina e Mezzogiorno In Famiglia, andrà ad occuparsi di società, arte, cultura, territorio e costumi, con un taglio editoriale prettamente giovanile. “Faremo più informazione culturale di Porta a Porta” ha dichiarato scherzosamente Marano in un’intervista rilasciata di recente al settimanale Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni. “Ogni settimana andremo in un piccolo paese italiano che entrerà a far parte del programma e potrà dire la sua sui temi trattati in studio, interagendo con gli ospiti”, conclude il direttore, che sulla nuova proposta pare puntare molto.
Sarà condotto da Milo Infante, con la partecipazione di ben 5 giornaliste, Marica Morelli, che lascia Verissimo, Paola Cambiaghi, Ingrid Muccitelli, provenienti da Omnibus, e le sorelle gemelle Laura e Silvia Squizzato. Poi secondo Diva e Donna, Monica Leofreddi sarebbe stata "risarcita" in veste di autrice dello stesso programma e non, bensì, come tutti si aspetterebbero, in quella di conduttrice.

Dopo il salto le altre novità !

Passando al pomeriggio, dopo il Tg2 delle 13 e le sue rubriche, alle 14:00 vedremo una novità, Scalo 76  in versione quotidiana (oltre a quella del sabato) sotto il nome di Cargo, condotto da un nuovo trio Federico Russo (ex volto MTV), Chiara Tortorella (ex volto All Music) e l'inossidabile Paola Maugeri (anche volto di MTV).

Alle 14:40 si continua con un altro nuovo programma Italia allo specchio che va in parte a sostituire il compianto L’Italia sul Due. Come afferma la conduttrice, Francesca Senette (ex volto del Tg4), fresca di promozione: “Sarà uno spazio di approfondimento di riflessione e di analisi delle notizie che già sono state date dai telegiornali. Un momento di pacata rilettura dei fatti. Il progetto di un contenitore quotidiano, due ore in diretta, la conduzione da sola con ospiti in studio e argomenti di attualità con taglio giornalistico mi hanno spinta a credere che si trattasse di un’occasione importante per mettermi alla prova come giornalista e come conduttrice”. La conduttrice afferma anche che non si parlerà delle invitanti tematiche legate all’attesa Isola dei famosi.

Continua il pomeriggio poi, con un appuntamento fisso, (conduttrice vincente non si cambia) Ricomincio da qui di Alda D'Eusanio che andrà in onda dalle 16:05 alle 17:20.

APPUNTAMENTI TV RAIDUE

INSIEME SUL 2 - dal lunedi al venerdi dalle 11 alle 13

CARGO - dal lunedi al venerdi dalle 14 alle 14.40

ITALIA ALLO SPECCHIO - dal lunedi al venerdi dalle 14.40 alle 16.05

RICOMINCIO DA QUI - dal lunedi al venerdi dalle 16.05 alle 17

Kitchen Nightmares kicked off last night with a two-hour look back at some of last season's most unfortunate restaurants. Nostalgia and, naturally, star Gordon Ramsay's fiery temper were key ingredients in the Fox drama. Before the celebrity chef doles out the advice to an all-new set of troubled eateries this season, he visited six especially troubled spots that he schooled last year. But these weren't just goodwill missions. Ramsay wanted to see if they followed his advice a year out.

So, did they listen? You better believe they did!

Unlike Hell's Kitchen where Ramsay rages like a grease fire, Kitchen Nightmares casts the Brit in a mentor-like role. But he's cranky enough to get his point across -- and make you fear the possibility of not heeding his sound advice. That's because ultimately he's there to teach and support the failing restaurant staff. Think of him as Extreme Makeover: Home Edition's Ty Pennington with a lot less soul(patch).

We'll take a closer look as the season starts afresh next week – with all new adventures around the USA – but first, let's look at the two most improved restaurants that Ramsay revisited last night.

• Congratulations to Dillons, a New York City Indian restaurant that was, before Ramsay's intervention, crawling with bugs and vermin. With a new name--now called Purnima--a focused menu and new chef consultant Vikas Khanna, the restaurant seems to be bringing in the crowds and, as its owner attests, filling the restaurant's coffers with almost a $1 million a year. Ramsay seemed genuinely touched by the success story too – didn't you think?

• The Mixing Bowl, in Bellmore, N.Y., struggled financially thanks to a generous manager who gave out 50% off coupons to diners and cooked up similarly desperate promotions to lure people in off the streets. With a focused menu, a new decorating scheme and a new philosophy – make the diners come to you – the restaurant turned itself around. But did it stay that way? Yep, Ramsay looked overjoyed to see that the colorful discount signs and promotions were a thing of the past.

Check back next week to read about Ramsay's latest restaurant makeover. --Brian Orloff

Tell us: Which restaurant makeover impressed you the most? And have you eaten at any of the featured restaurants before/after their makeovers?

George Holz/FOX

Blake Lively and Leighton Meester will guest star in an episode of NBC's 30 Rock during November sweeps, according to EW's Michael Ausiello. The girls will play old classmates of Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon during flashback sequences.

The episode will be Lemon's 20-year high school reunion, and it reveals a teenage Lemon was something of a Gossip Girl herself. Meester's and Lively's grown-up versions haven't been cast yet, but producers are looking at Lively's older sister Robyn as a possibility.

30 Rock seems to be on a roll with their slate of high-profile guest appearances this season. Jennifer Aniston has been filming her guest spot this week on the NBC hit, her return to the network since Friends ended in 2004. --Emmet Sullivan

STEVE SANDS/NEW YORK NEWSWIRE; Michael Swarbrick/I

The Conference Board reports:

Online TV viewing has been gaining in popularity. Nearly one-fifth of American households who use the internet watch television broadcasts online, double the viewership from 2006, The Conference Board and TNS report today. The top two destinations for online broadcasts are the official TV channel homepage and YouTube.com.

Why? That answer is not surprising either:

Most consumers do not like a set schedule. Being able to watch broadcasts on their own time and at their convenience are the top reasons users tune in online. Other reasons include avoiding commercials and portability. Nearly 72 percent of online households log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis, and one in ten cites entertainment as the most important internet.

Read the rest of the report HERE:

This report makes for a good jumping off point for starting a discussion on the potential for television news. What is its future?  How can it be adapted to meet the changing habits of TV viewers?

Many stations have online components but what about ideas to totally revamp TV news?
Here are a few resources that report some findings that can also be used in this discussion:

marketingcharts.com

Pew Research Center

"Adriana has always been a huge fan of Ugly Betty and is thrilled for the opportunity to make a guest star appearance," says Lima's rep Liza Anderson.

On a future Betty (returning to ABC Sept. 25, 8 p.m. ET), Lima will be hired to pose on the pages of Mode's "sizzling hot issue" and will work with Betty Suarez (America Ferrera) on a cover story about the virtues of exotic fruit, including the fictional "tico berry," which the Vicoria's Secret model -- playing herself -- will credit as a booster to her sexy appearance.

But in a twist right out of Betty's madcap world, Lima, 27, will sport a broken finger from a real-life fall she suffered while on vacation in Croatia.

Lima starts filming next week. -- Bryan Alexander

Francis Specker/Landov; BOB D'AMICO/ABC

[By Darren]

Heroes is back in an all new season titled Villains. The third volume will open with a three hour episode sure to delight fans.

As with most Heroes news any detail no matter how trivial or minute may in fact be a spoiler so please visit the 10th Wonder Podcast for more Heroes news.

Season 3 premiers September 22nd on NBC (US) and Global National (CN) and on BBC Two (UK) on September 25th.

[By Darren]

Ready your duct tape and sharpen those knives, Dexter is back! Blood splatter analyst by day and a methodical serial killer by night, award winning actor Michael C.Hall returns as the darkly dreaming Dexter in an all new season .The third installment of the Showtime series will boast new characters, new love interest and some intriguing plot development that will spiral Dexter into an "Avalanche" when he kills an innocent victim.

Season 3 premiers September 28th on Showtime(US) and The Movie Network(CN).

Apparently we didn't have anyting better to do on a Monday night than plant ourselves in front of the television (I was in class, but taped it, obv) because the premiere of 90210 gave the CW network its highest ratings everrrrr!

Version 2.0 - which was quick to feature alums Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) - averaged an amazing 4.9 million viewers.

Will the show remain popular, or will it sink when it goes up against favorites like House and The Biggest Loser?

You Decide!

So my girl Jennifer Aniston is headed back to television. And it's about damn time, if you ask me. Now, if you follow the crew from Friends (ya know, like I do because it's my favorite show EVER), then you'd know that yes, Miss Aniston appeared on an episode of BFF Courteney Cox's prematurely cancelled show Dirt. She even garnered a lot of attention thanks to a little chick on chick kissing between the biffers.

Anyway - Jen will be making an appearance on 30 Rock. And NBC said on Tuesday that she'll be playing a "free-spirited, Fatal Attraction-like stalker." Her character, Claire Harper, is former roommates with Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon, and will attach herself to Liz's boss Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin. (Yea, I don't know why either.)

Tina then said, "Jennifer is not only incredibly lovely to have around, she also has what the young people would call 'mad skills.' We're very excited that she's joining us."

30 Rock returns to NBC on October 30. Go watch! I know I will.

Singer Adele is conquering the U.S. and now she has a new single called "Chasing Pavements" that she sang on the View show on 9/3/08.

IT IS FANTASTIC!

Some of her music was featured on the show "One Tree Hill".

If you missed her singing the song CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Image Source

Famous singer Leona Lewis has a second single out called "Better In Time" that she performed on Regis and Kelly show on 9/3/08.

I love the song and I hope you guys do too!

HERE it is if you missed her performance!

Image Source

Neil Postman 1931-2003

Every once in a while you read a book that changes your life.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman was such a book for me.

Although I read it in 1985, it was a book that made me see the world in a very different way, and had an enormous impact on my career and my life.

Postman's basic thesis, boiled down to a sentence or two, was that television has come to dominate the arena of public discourse.  And television, almost by definition, must be entertaining. Hence, anything that is communicated by television must also become entertaining or it will not be able to hold our attention. This goes for politics as well.

Postman was once a guest on the Today Show. Bryan Gumbal was interviewing him.  Gumbal asked Postman a question and Postman simply stared at Gumbal.  The staring went on for a long time, at least a long time for television, as Gumbal become increasingly uncomfortable.  Finally, after about a minute of dead air, a lifetime for live TV, Gumbal turned to Postman and said, "Professor Postman...."

Postman turned irritable.  "I'm thinking!" said Postman.

It was a great piece of political theater.  Thinking, of course, is something you are not allowed to do in television. It is not entertaining to watch people think.

Neither is it entertaining to lay out the details of solutions to complex problems.

Entertainment TV much perfers snappy lines:  "John F. Kennedy was a friend of mine, and you sir, are no John F Kennedy".  It's what sells.

Last night, watching Sarah Palin deliver her opening speech at the RNC, I was reminded so strongly of Postman's book.

Palin is entertaining.

She is good TV.

She is funny.

She delivers a line well.

She is also a die-hard Christian Fundamentalist who favors teaching creationism in the classroom, does not subscribe to global warming, is opposed to gay rights and gay marriage, is anti-abortion and feels that God has directed us into Iraq.

It is up to the media to dig this stuff up, but last night she and the RNC began the process of innoculating themselves against 'the media'.

Who knows if 'the media' will even have the courage to take issues to the public.  Issues are not entertaining,

She is.

As Postman said: Amusing Ourselves to Death.

Good for Tom Brokaw on Morning Joe making a sane point about how speeches only matter so much. Obama gives a great number of electrifying speeches, but there are members of the media and the public who respond by saying, "That was good, but I still have lots of questions".

I don't think Palin's speech, or any speech, can go far enough to make this choice question-free.