News Round-up

How will FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS be different on its NBC run?
"Even though there might be people who saw the show on DirecTV," executive producer Jason Katims says, "I'm not sure they won't come back. There's going to be additional material now that we're going to be able to put up on NBC.com.We'll be able to put up deleted scenes and additional material, new things for them.

"We have a tremendous amount of scenes that, over the course of the season, that we've had to take out, really good material. That's always been the case with the show.

"That's something that has not been made available before. That will be made available as we start airing on NBC."

As for the episodes themselves, Katims says, "They'll be slightly different. One of the things that's been enjoyable about the process, usually you do the episode, and it's done, and you never get to go back and reconsider it. We've gotten to do that.

TOM CASIELLO: Great Marland's Ghost! - Part Four (Final Thoughts)
"The last five pages of Marland's proposed long story document are probably the most interesting to me, for numerous reasons. He's already covered most of the canvas - the Hughes Family in Part One, the Walsh and Snyder Families in Part Two, and the Ryan Family in Part Three. But as others have pointed out, there were a few people left on the canvas Marland has yet to cover, and in these last few pages, he not only discusses them, but after a long re-read of his own story, he ends up giving himself notes on what he's written."

Winners at the 35th annual People's Choice Award
Not many soapy winners at last night's awards show. Former ANOTHER WORLD actress Kyra Sedgwick won as favorite TV Drama Diva. GREY'S ANATOMY lost as favorite TV Drama to HOUSE.

MELROSE PLACE: Where Are They Now?
ABC News takes a look at the stars of the series and finds out what they are doing these days.

NIH grants $2 million to study effectiveness of cell phone sex-ed soap operas
The series of 12 20-minute episodes was funded by a Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey grant. A $2 million National Institutes of Health grant will test the campaign’s effectiveness. Women in the study will watch the episodes on their cell phones and have their “risk-reduction behavior” measured in comparison with a control group of women who will receive only text messages urging condom use. In total, 250 women will participate in the study.

Virgin Media and ITV sign on-demand deal
Cable operator Virgin Media has signed a deal with ITV to show some of the broadcaster's programming through its popular on-demand Media has signed a deal with ITV to show some of the broadcaster's programming through its popular on-demand service. Viewers will be able to catch up on missed episodes of such programmes as The X FACTOR and CORONATION STREET.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Robert Dubac
When Robert Dubac first began writing his one-man show "The Male Intellect: An Oxymoron," the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" was a best-seller and Oprah had just introduced some funny looking guy with more hair on his upper lip than his head named Dr. Phil.

The comic/actor had just wrapped up stints on daytime soap operas LOVING and ALL MY CHILDREN and was looking for something a little more challenging when he noticed a disturbing pattern.

Most men are taught what they know about relationships by the older generation - their fathers and older brothers - so they're always one step behind because they're being given antiquated notions, Dubac said in a recent phone interview from his Telluride home.

Conversely, this old-school man is all women know of, he said of what he calls "dating the Neanderthal."

ONE LIFE TO LIVE as a paradox
Scott Patrick Wagner of the Ventura County Reporter writes: "There is one TV show that I can speak of in unabashedly glowing terms, which creates paradox just by definition. What is this beautifully written, well-acted, tour-de-force series? One Life to Live. The soap opera. Yeah. It’s so good, I’m willing to out myself here as a fan. Every day. Hard to reconcile, huh?"