News Brief

NIGHT SHIFT's Chad Allen interviewed by OUT.COM

Allen, who will be playing Eric Whitlow on the show, tells Nelson Branco at Out.com: "I’m blown away myself at how much I love working on NIGHT SHIFT, and I sort of slap myself on the wrist for judging the medium so much. I had heard all the stories about how fast soaps move, [that] they don’t care about the characters or performance. But it’s been the opposite. They really care about creating great moments, and nurturing the artistic process. That surprised me — much to my shame."

GLAAD survey of fall schedule shows most regulars ever
The number of gay and lesbian TV characters on the broadcast networks will double to an all-time high this season. There will be 16 regular characters on major-network scripted series this season who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, according to an annual survey conducted by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

That's more than twice as many as last year and the most in the 13 years GLAAD has been doing the study. The figures also reverse a trend of declining LGBT representation on broadcast, which had dropped the past two years. The number of recurring LGBT characters also is rising this year, up from 13 last season to 19.

"This dramatic increase shows how far many networks have come in developing complex, multilayered lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters," GLAAD president Neil Giuliano said.

Why Diet And Exercise Alone May Not Work In The Fight Against Obesity
For the 9 million Americans battling severe obesity, losing weight with diet and exercise alone can be challenging. Studies have found that diet, exercise and behavior modification alone fail 95 percent of the time. GUIDING LIGHT actress Caitlin Van Zandt was among those severely obese Americans trapped in an unsuccessful cycle of diets and exercise. She carried most of her excess weight around her middle as dangerous belly fat, and she was suffering from high cholesterol, asthma and low self-esteem. After seeing herself on television, she knew she needed to take action.

"My moment of truth was when I was visiting my grandmother and we were watching GUIDING LIGHT-I became really emotional when I saw myself on TV," said Van Zandt. "At that moment, I realized that I needed to act before my health became seriously impacted by my weight."

GOSSIP GIRL with 3.4 million viewers on Monday
The premiere week competition hit the CW, whose fourth week of "Gossip Girl" (3.4 million, 1.6/4) took a rough knock, down 20% from last week (but down only 9% in its target W18-34 demo). "One Tree Hill" also declined (3.1 million, 1.5/3) down 17%.

DESPERATE HOUSEWVIES on TV Guide Cover
The DESPERATE HOUSEWVIES stars pose together for the first time on a magazine cover since season 1, this time on the cover of TV Guide.

“The idea for the five-year jump on DESPERATE HOUSEWVIES really came from the executive producers of LOST,” show creator and executive producer Marc Cherry. “I’m actually doing something unheard of in Hollywood. I’m giving credit where credit is due… We didn’t need to do this, we wanted to do this. It’s given us all a new lease on life. We’re treating the season premiere like a pilot, as if we’re meeting these women all over again.”