News Round-up

MobiTV adds CBS shows
MobiTV said Tuesday that it has struck a content deal with network TV provider CBS (now the parent company of CNET News) to bring some of its most popular TV shows to mobile phones.

MobiTV will offer a CBS channel as part of its $10/month services, offering full episodes of hits such as CSI, NUMB3RS, CSI: NY, and THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. The shows will be available on AT&T and Sprint-Nextel the day after they appear on TV. It will also include video-on-demand news sport and comedy clips from CBS Mobile.

MobiTV, which has been around for about five years, already offers more than 40 channels of daily live TV from several networks including ABC, NBC, ESPN, and Discovery Networks. It also offers made for mobile videos and video on demand clips to more than five million subscribers on over 350 mobile devices.

PASSIONS' Daphnee Duplaix to host Playboy TV game show
Ever see a smart man lose his wits when a pretty woman looks his way? Then just imagine the stupefying effect that a beautiful (and scantily clad) temptress would have on the mental processes of a male game show contestant.

That's the inspiration behind SHOW US YOUR WITS, Playboy TV's sexy new game show. When unsuspecting guys at a gentlemen's club slip into the back room for a lap dance, they are surprised by the show's beautiful host -- Playboy Playmate Daphnee Duplaix, from NBC's popular daytime drama PASSIONS (Valerie), who announces that they have been chosen as contestants on Playboy TV's newest game show.

But with SHOW US YOUR WITS, the surprises don't stop there. The contestants soon find themselves struggling to answer embarrassingly simple trivia questions when faced with the distracting activities of some of the world's sexiest dancers. In the bonus round, contestants get the chance to double their winnings, but only if they're able to ignore the double distraction of two girls at once.

90210's Lori Loughlin wants more drama
"I'd hate to think this is it for her," former daytime star Loughlin says of Debbie's lackluster story arc thus far. "I'd love to see more conflict in her life, I'd love to see her and Harry come against obstacles that real couples deal with - the days when the bloom is off the rose."

Lionsgate to acquire TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com
In a surprise move, Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. agreed Monday to buy TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com for $255 million, torpedoing a deal announced just over two weeks ago with media entrepreneur Allen Shapiro and a private equity unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The purchase from Macrovision Solutions Corp. is expected to significantly expand Lionsgate's cable holdings and reach, giving the Santa Monica studio one of the most widely distributed cable networks in the United States.

Watch the full season premiere of KYLE XY a week early on Fancast
Fancast has the exclusive online premiere that you can watch right now. The show's new season starts on ABC Family next Monday.

Mario Lopez psyched to run the Rocky steps
Former B&B actor Mario Lopez was up at 6:30 yesterday morning to run the Art Museum steps before starting a day of interviews promoting EXTRA. The actor, who had stayed at the Four Seasons, said the Rocky statue belongs at the top of the steps, and argued that it is most certainly art when informed of the battle that resulted in the bronze version of Sylvester Stallone being put on the lawn. "It's an inspirational story the city should embrace," he said.

MAD MEN is a Critics pick
TV critics and Emmy voters don’t always see eye to eye, but when it comes to the delights of Don Draper, the two camps are completely copacetic. Avoiding any signs of a sophomore slump, AMC’s MAD MEN—which in September snagged the drama series Emmy—soared to the top of Television Week’s semiannual Critics Poll, the first basic-cable series to manage that feat. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS was ninth in the poll.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: BRIAN LANE GREEN
If your January is a let down from the blizzard of holiday activity, check out the upcoming stage production by the Gulfshore Playhouse at the Norris Center in Naples. It’s “Singing Down the House — Brain Lane Green and Johnny Rodgers in Concert,” Jan. 16 and 17, a show done in a cabaret-style setting. Green is known to soap fans for his roles on ANOTHER WORLD, ALL MY CHILDREN and DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

First photo from GLEE
The new FOX show stars former ATWT actor Matthew Morrison (ex-Adam).

SHORTLAND STREET murder too brutal rules BSA
From gay sex scenes to murder scenes - Television New Zealand's popular soap opera SHORTLAND STREET is in trouble with the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) again.

In December, the BSA upheld a complaint about a homosexual encounter shown on one episode. The BSA said the scene in question was not suitable for child viewers, even when subject to guidance from a parent or adult, because of its sexual content. The BSA made it clear its findings had nothing to do with the fact that the scene involved two men; the scene would have been equally inappropriate if it had involved a heterosexual couple.

In a decision released today, the BSA upheld a complaint about an episode where character Craig Valentine was killed. The episode showed a car chase before Dr Valentine was beaten with a baseball bat and eventually left in a car which was set alight. The episode was given a PGR warning. A majority decision by the BSA said the episode was unsuitable for children, even with adult supervision, because of the realism of the violence.

The BSA website states: "The theme was likely to frighten and disturb child viewers, particularly because the violence - which included easily accessible weapons such as baseball bats - was realistic in the sense that it could happen in New Zealand."