| Singer Kellie Pickler jives to victory on "Dancing With the Stars" |
 By Andrea Burzynski NEW YORK (Reuters) - Country singer Kellie Pickler won the 16th season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" on Tuesday night, winning over judges and TV audiences with her graceful style and high-jumping jives with partner and professional dancer Derek Hough. Pickler, who first grabbed attention as a contestant on "American Idol" in 2006, screeched and jumped up and down when she learned she had won. "This is amazing! Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, before fellow finalist and NFL player Jacoby Jones hoisted her on his shoulders to celebrate. ...
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| Carol Burnett to receive top honor for American comedians |
 (Reuters) - Actress and comedienne Carol Burnett will be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the top award for American comics, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said on Tuesday. Burnett, 80, whose Emmy-winning sketch comedy program "The Carol Burnett Show" was a mainstay on U.S. television from 1967 to 1978, will receive the award during a ceremony at Washington's Kennedy Center in October. ...
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| Guillermo del Toro's FX pilot 'The Strain' casts 'Breaking Dawn' actress Mia Maestro in starring role |
 By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Mia Maestro is moving on from the vampires of "Breaking Dawn" to sink her teeth into a new role with another bunch of suckers. Maestro, who played Denali coven member Carmen Denali in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn" films, has been cast as one of the female leads in "The Strain," Guillermo del Toro's pilot for FX. The pilot, based on del Toro's trilogy of novels "The Strain," "The Fall" and "The Night Eternal," will find Maestro in familiar thematic territory. The novels follow the efforts of Centers for Disease Control employee Dr. ...
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| 'Dancing With the Stars' and 'The Voice' pay respects to Oklahoma City tornado victims |
By Lee Hernandez LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" and NBC's "The Voice" both honored the victims of the Oklahoma City tornado last night on their Monday night broadcasts. On DWTS, co-host Tom Bergeron requested that the audience not applaud coming back from a commercial break during season 16's final performance show. "Here's why," Bergeron said, looking like he was on the verge of tears. "We're a live show, and as such, occasionally we go to air in the shadow of tragic events. That happened April 15, when we went to air hours after the Boston bombing. ... |
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| HBO's 'Girls' adds Jennifer Westfeldt for Season 3 |
By Tim Kenneally LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - HBO's "Girls" is getting a little extra oomph for its third season, in the form of Jon Hamm's gal. Jennifer Westfeldt, known to jealous women everywhere as the gal who's romantically attached to "Mad Men" star Hamm, has booked an appearance on the HBO series, the premium cable network told TheWrap on Tuesday. News of Westfeldt's appearance on the show first broke when the actress - whose own acting credits include 2011's "Friends With Kids" - was photographed shooting a funeral scene with "Girls" star Adam Driver in New York. ... |
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| CMT orders more 'Dog and Beth' |
By Jehtro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Fugitives, beware. "Dog and Beth" fans, rejoice! CMT has ordered 11 more episodes of bounty hunters "Dog," Beth and Leland Chapman's new series bringing its Season 1 order to 22 episodes. Production on the back 11 episodes will begin immediately. "We knew Dog and Beth would shake up the programming landscape at CMT and they've done just that, more than doubling our quarter-to-date prime average," said CMT's executive vice president Jayson Dinsmore in a statement on Tuesday. ... |
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| TLC brings NBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' back from the grave |
By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky-produced celebrity genealogy series, "Who Do You Think You Are?," can add a new branch to its family tree. TLC has picked up the former NBC documentary series for eight new one-hour episodes set to premiere on July 23. Production is already underway. "I've never stopped hearing about how much people love 'Who Do You Think You Are?,' and I've always known that we've had more great stories to share," said executive producer Kudrow in a statement. ... |
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| Netflix will air new Ricky Gervais series in September |
By Lucas Shaw NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Ricky Gervais' "Derek," a new Netflix series from the creator and star of "The Office" and 'Extras," will premiere on Netflix September 12. Netflix will release all seven episodes at once, the same approach it has taken with its latest original series "House of Cards" and "Hemlock Grove." Gervais wrote and directed the show, which he also stars in as the title character. Derek is a sweet, selfless but meek man who works in a retirement home alongside Dougie (Karl Pilkington) and Hannah (Kerry Godliman). ... |
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| VH1 sets 'Gossip Table' for June 3 |
By Tim Molloy NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - VH1 will air the new pop culture morning show "The Gossip Table" beginning Monday June 3, the network announced Tuesday. The 9 a.m. show will group together five gossip columnists each weekday morning in June. It will fill in while "Big Morning Buzz Live with Carrie Keagan" is on summer break. The gossips are Rob Shuter from "The Today Show" and NaughtyButNiceRob.com, Marianne Garvey from the New York Daily News, Noah Levy from In Touch, Chloe Melas from HollywoodLife.com, and Delaina Dixon from DivaGalsDaily.com. ... |
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| Hollywood's disabled actors protest NBC's 'Ironside' casting - when is it their turn? |
By Greg Gilman LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - When the '60s procedural "Ironside" is revived on NBC this fall, the setting will move from San Francisco to New York and the lead character will be African-American. But one thing hasn't changed: The actor playing Ironside can still walk from his wheelchair when the director yells cut. The colorblind casting is ironic to some disabled actors - who say having a walking actor play a paraplegic is as offensive as blackface. ... |
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| CBS takes key ratings crown for first time in 21 years |
(Reuters) - Broadcast network CBS said on Tuesday it won this season's ratings race among the 18-to-49 age group most prized by advertisers, claiming its first victory in that audience in 21 years. CBS, a unit of CBS Corp, snatched the title from News Corp-owned Fox, which had dominated the age group for eight straight years until it was hurt this season by a ratings slump for singing competition "American Idol." CBS rode hits like "The Big Bang Theory" and "2 Broke Girls" and was helped by February's Super Bowl broadcast, which attracted the biggest TV audience of the year. ... |
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| CBS pulls 'Mike & Molly' finale with tornado storyline from air |
 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS said on Monday that the network will delay airing the season finale of sitcom "Mike & Molly" in the aftermath of the Oklahoma tornados, due to similarities between the events and the episode's storyline. "Due to the tragic events this afternoon in Oklahoma, we are pre-empting tonight's season finale of 'Mike & Molly,' which has a related storyline," a CBS spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson told Reuters that the season 3 finale featured a tornado. ...
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