Vale: Allan Melvin

Allan Melvin, best known as 'Sam the Butcher' in The Brady Bunch, has died aged 84.

Melvin passed away from cancer at his LA home on Thursday.

Melvin spent decades playing a series of sidekicks, second bananas and lovable lugs, including Archie Bunker's friend Barney Hefner on All in the Family, and Sgt. Bilko's right-hand man Cpl. Henshaw on the Phil Silvers Show.

He was also the voice of Magilla Gorilla.

Melvin's other credits include several guest appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle: USMC, and The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Source: AAP
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Returning: Spicks and Specks

After spending the festive season touring live shows around Australia, Adam Hills, Alan Brough and Myf Warhurst return to our screens next month.

The new series of Spicks and Specks premieres 8:30pm Wednesday February 6.

Now in its fourth year, the music trivia show is going great guns for the ABC, with regular figures around 1.2m each week.

In the first ep, Myf Warhurst is joined by the bass player for Pink Floyd and Roxy Music, Guy Pratt, along with comedian Cal Wilson, while Alan Brough teams up with former Australian Idol Guy Sebastian and all round funny guy Dave O'Neil.

Press Release:

Fresh from touring live venues around the country, the Spicks And Specks team return to ABC TV for another year of fun, frivolity and funky tunes with a brand new series, beginning Wednesday 6 February at 8.30pm.

Host Adam Hills turns on the charm as he takes the two teams through a musical steeplechase of games including Know Your Product, Sir Mix n Match-a-lot, Word Up, Malvern Stars and of course, the Final Countdown.

Myf Warhurst is joined by the bass player for Pink Floyd and Roxy Music, Guy Pratt, along with comedian Cal Wilson, while Alan Brough teams up with former Australian Idol Guy Sebastian and all round funny guy Dave O'Neil.

Spicks And Specks - it's the best fun to be had on tv. Read more...

Dr. Phil regrets

And so he should.

At a taping of his show on Thursday (January 17), which will air on Monday, Dr. Phil McGraw admitted his visit to Britney Spears' hospital room didn't help matters.

"Was it [my statement] helpful to the situation? Regrettably, no. It was not, and I have to acknowledge that and I do," he told his studio audience.

"I definitely think if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't make any statement at all. Period."

McGraw told USA Today earlier this week that he visited the singer as "a friend and ally of the family", not as a psychologist. He stopped practicing medicine years ago, and is not licensed in California.

McGraw appears to have stopped short of saying the "s" word.

New episodes of his series resume on TEN 12:00pm Monday.

Source: Celebrity Truth Read more...

Nine opens bat on ratings season

So you think Nine is going to kick off its first night of ratings with Underbelly?

Don't be so sure.

This year Nine has summer cricketing commitments that will see it trail into March.

On the first day of 2008 ratings Nine will be mid-way into the Commonwealth Bank Series and there is a day/night match scheduled from 2:15pm at the MCG. It means Underbelly may not be scheduled for that Sunday night, unless the match finishes by 8:30pm. There is no way Nine will want to launch it later.

The cricket has been doing well for Nine, giving big lead-ins to National Nine News.

Could Nine's big new crime show settle into Mondays at 8:30pm where City Homicide has done nicely for Seven? Stay tuned...

Excerpt from Press Release:

NINE’S SUMMER OF CRICKET TELECAST TIMES

3 MOBILE TEST SERIES: AUSTRALIA v SRI LANKA
FIRST TEST
November 8-12, 2007 Australia v Sri Lanka – Brisbane
SECOND TEST
November 16-20, 2007 Australia v Sri Lanka – Hobart
3 MOBILE TEST SERIES: AUSTRALIA v INDIA
FIRST TEST
December 26-30, 2007 Australia v India – Melbourne
SECOND TEST
January 2-6, 2008 Australia v India – Sydney
THIRD TEST
January 16-20, 2008 Australia v India – Perth
FOURTH TEST
January 24-28, 2008, Australia v India – Adelaide

COMMONWEALTH BANK SERIES – ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL SERIES 2007-2008
February 3, 2008 Australia v India – Brisbane
February 5, 2008 Sri Lanka v India – Brisbane
February 8, 2008 Australia v Sri Lanka – Sydney
February 10, 2008 Australia v India – Melbourne
February 12, 2008 Sri Lanka v India – Canberra
February 15, 2008 Australia v Sri Lanka – Perth
February 17, 2008 Australia v India – Adelaide
February 19, 2008 Sri Lanka v India – Adelaide
February 22, 2008 Australia v Sri Lanka – Melbourne
February 24, 2008 Australia v India – Sydney
February 26, 2008 Sri Lanka v India – Hobart
February 29, 2008 Australia v Sri Lanka – Melbourne
March 2, 2008 FIRST FINAL – Sydney
March 4, 2008 SECOND FINAL – Brisbane
March 7, 2008 THIRD FINAL (if required) – Adelaide


COMMONWEALTH BANK CHAPPELL HADLEE TROPHY
December 14, 2007 Australia v New Zealand – Adelaide
December 16, 2007 Australia v New Zealand – Sydney
December 20, 2007 Australia v New Zealand – Hobart

KFC TWENTY20 INTERNATIONAL
December 11, 2007 Australia v New Zealand – Perth
February 1, 2008 Australia v India – Melbourne Read more...

Returning: Life on Mars

The ABC will air the second series of Life on Mars next month.

The UK drama will air from 8:30pm Thursday February 14.

John Simm returns for another stint at being trapped in 1973 for this lively UK cop show. He is again surrounded by lots of brown suits and politically-incorrect accomplices.

The show has been such a hit that the US spin-off starring Irish actor Jason O'Mara is being readied by acclaimed writer David E. Kelley. But the writer's strike again has another show with an unclear future.

Press Release:

Trapped in 1973, all Sam Tyler (John Simm) wanted to do was to get home. But where and when would that home be? As Life on Mars comes to a thrilling conclusion in this second series, is it time for Sam to finally go back to the future?

Despite eerie visions that suggest a tantalising proximity to 2007, DI Sam Tyler once again wakes up to find himself very much amongst the pale brown hues of the technologically prehistoric, politically incorrect world of seventies Manchester. And, what's more, he's got a murder to solve.

Sam encounters the young incarnation of Tony Crane (Marc Warren), a nasty villain he put away in 2006. He realises he is faced with the chance every copper dreams about: stopping the killer before he kills.

Gambling everything on ensuring the man is sent down, Sam's flagrant disregard for procedure stuns his colleagues in CID.

But they can't appreciate what Sam is starting to fear - that, since his car accident in 2006, the villain has been released and has found his way to his hospital bedside where he is exacting his revenge on Sam's vulnerable body.

Still desperate to discover how he got to 1973, why he remains there and how he may return to the present day, Sam has to race against the clock to capture a killer who is trying to murder him in the future.

Kindly link to this website when sourcing or posting in messageboards, thanks! Read more...

Airdate: Out of the Question

Glenn Robbins' new quiz / panel show Out of the Question will premiere at 8:30pm Thu Jan 31 on Seven.

The series, produced by Jigsaw, sees topical questions put to three celebrities designed to reveal information about them.

The half hour show will be followed by three episodes of Family Guy.

Kindly link to this website when sourcing or posting in messageboards, thanks!
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Returning: Two and a Half Men

Nine has made a smart move in changing its plans for repeats of Two and a Half Men weeknights at 7pm to all new episodes.

If the show has to go in at 7pm it might as well be first-run eps.

Nine will now screen episodes from Series Three beginning with ep 23 "Argument for the Quickie" from Monday Jan 28.

The sitcom will then move into Series Four. It will even air a new ep in its 8:30pm timeslot on Jan 31. Read more...

WIN revamps Perth News

WIN is making changes to its News in Perth that will see veteran journalist Greg Pearce become its senior presenter.

Pearce, who is one of Western Australia’s most well-known newscasters, will join Dixie Marshall to present National Nine News at 6pm from Monday to Friday.

It will be followed at 6.30pm by a new locally produced A Current Affair hosted by Sonia Vinci.

For too long Nine's national ratings for News have been dragged down by a poor performance in Perth. At times its east coast news outrates Seven but always lags behind due to the non PBL stations in WA and SA.

Pearce started his career at Channel 9 in Perth before changing networks and moving to Sydney and more recently Bunbury.

"I am looking forward to teaming up with Dixie Marshall and the other talented members of Nine News," said Pearce.

Director of News, Adrian Beattie, said he was delighted that Pearce was joining the news team.

“His warmth and experience will bring even more authority to an already impressive news program - and being able to use Sonia Vinci to present our local A Current Affair means that Nine’s news hour in Perth has one of the strongest team of presenters in the country.”

Source: Perth Now Read more...