News Brief

People Magazine: A Las Vegas judge has dismissed a portion of a lawsuit filed by actress Hunter Tylo against a therapist who was counseling her 19-year-old son, Michael Tylo II, prior to his drowning last October. THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL star filed the suit in the form of a Jan. 24 amendment to an April 2006 malpractice lawsuit filed against Henderson, Nev., therapist Shanna Downing, who was working with several members of the Tylo family in 2004 and 2005. Downing countered the wrongful death lawsuit with a motion to exclude Michael Tylo II as a party in the legal action, and Tylo was required to respond to Downing's motion by Feb. 11, but she missed the filing deadline. "To date, no opposition has been filed," court papers state. While the judge agreed to dismiss Michael Tylo II as a party in the wrongful death action, his estate remains a party in the earlier malpractice lawsuit, set for trial in the fall. Downing's attorney, Michael Shannon, had no comment. Tylo attorney Patricia Vaccarino was unavailable for comment.

Grand Rapids Press: Shawn Christian isn't a doctor, but he does play one on TV. As Dr. Daniel Jonas, the newest hottie-with-a-scalpel on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Christian plays "a highly skilled surgeon with a penchant for surfing," he said in a phone interview from the Burbank, California, set of the NBC daytime drama. It may be the first time the 42-year-old has played a doc and a wave shredder at the same time, but he has inhabited those roles separately quite a few times during the course of his varied, 19-year career.

Tampa Tribune: Here's something you don't expect about becoming a Hollywood star: It's hard to get chain food. "I want to go to Olive Garden so badly," said former GUIDING LIGHT actress Brittany Snow, and she's not joking. "You can't get that in Los Angeles; you have to drive far out in the suburbs to find chains. You have to go all the way to Burbank." Or Tampa. That's where the 21-year-old actress will be tonight, receiving a Rising Star award from the Gasparilla Film Festival. She said she'll be here a few days and wouldn't mind hitting, say, Outback Steakhouse or Chili's while in town.

Richmond Times Dispatch: "Life," said former THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star Victoria Rowell, "is inconvenient. If life were easy, everyone would be successful." But discipline and determination can turn obstacles into opportunities, said the dancer/actress who recently added best-selling author to her list of accomplishments. Rowell was the keynote speaker at yesterday's Capital One Future Leaders Forum for Young Women at the firm's western Henrico County complex. About 500 high school students from across the state attended the daylong event, which included mentoring sessions and workshops on career development and financial management.

This is Money: ITV boss Michael Grade could have wished for something a little more fun to mark the week that he officially becomes a pensioner than facing the City to explain why profits have plummeted along with the share price at Britain's foremost commercial broadcaster. MOVING WALLPAPER, a behind-the-scenes comedy about the producer of a soap opera called ECHO BEACH - which is then broadcast as a genuine show immediately afterwards - was the kind of thing more likely to pop up on Channel 4. ITV1's audience share at 9pm has fallen from 20.3% to 16.9%. MOVING WALLPAPER and ECHO BEACH have proved little short of a disaster with the pair dragging down the 9pm Friday slot 51% year on year. The shows averaged 3m and 2.6m viewers respectively compared with ITV's hoary old standby MIDSOMER MURDERS, which took more than 6m.

FanBolt: UGLY BETTY actor Alan Dale has launched a vicious attack on the TV show that propelled him to stardom in his native Australia, branding its producers "greedy and nasty". Dale shot to prominence in Aussie soap opera NEIGHBOURS, but he quit in 1992 after seven years of clashing with tyrannical program-makers. And the actor fears its current cast and crew members will be suffering under the same oppressive regime. He says, "The show I loved. It was sweet and the people I worked with were sweet, most of them. But the producers were greedy and nasty. There are many examples of the things these people did and, as far as I know, are still doing. When you live in a country where there is not much else to do as an actor, there isn't much choice but to put up with it. But I used to fight them all the time, which is one of the reasons we parted company."

Terre Haute Tribune Star: EVENT: Light bulb drive, by radio station WMGI-FM 100.7, to keep Friday Night Lights on NBC programming in the fall, 5:30 a.m. throughout morning show, station parking lot, 824 S. Third St., (812) 232-4161.

San Francisco Chronicle: Former LOVING actress Teri Polo hit it big as Ben Stiller's girlfriend in the movie "Meet the Parents" (2000), and she played Stiller's fiancee in "Meet the Fockers" (2004). So it's no surprise she will be in the upcoming film "Little Fockers." Now the 38-year-old actress and mother of two has put the Manhattan Beach (Los Angeles County) home that she shares with musician Jamie Wollam on the market at just under $2.6 million.