News Round-up: FNL, Population Growth, Jesse McCartney

Spring TV Previews
GREYS ANATOMY: Owen's post-traumatic stress disorder will take a turn for the worse when he ends up physically hurting Cristina, albeit unintentionally.

DESPERATE HOUSEWIVSES: Not even death will stop Edie from making life uncomfortable for her neighbors. The surviving housewives will be faced with the grim task of having to track down Edie's now-15-year-old son, Travers, and break the news to him about his mom's passing. The road trip turns out to be a good bonding experience for the ladies, so it's not a total loss.

Jesse McCartney's 'Departure'
Later this month, McCartney will appear in a story line on ABC Family's GREEK. But McCartney doesn't take everything he's offered. He turned down a chance to be in the cast of director M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation of Nickelodeon's The Last Airbender to focus on his tour in support of this third album, "Departure."

"It's a total balancing act," McCartney says. "Everyday there's always something I could be doing. It's all about timing."

Laila Morse: 'Wendy Richard saved me'
Laila Morse has said that former EASTENDERS co-star Wendy Richard saved her life by urging her to visit her doctor when she discovered a lump in her breast. The actress, who plays Mo Harris, told The Sun that she was initially too afraid to get A lump checked.

Morse said: "Wendy rang and asked if I'd been to the doctors. I told her I had and she asked me what they'd said. I told her it was just a mammary gland and nothing to worry about. It was a lie. I hadn't been. I knew from the tone of her voice that Wendy didn't believe me."

Ecologist argues for media to stop population growth
The United Nations estimates that the world's population will increase by 2.6-billion by the year 2050. An American ecologist visiting Australia argues that unless something's done about that, the globe's climate, water, energy and food shortages are just going to get worse. Bill Ryerson believes the key to stopping population growth lies in the mass media.

He's an ecologist who got into radio production after seeing the amazing results Mexican soap operas had in reducing that country's birth rate in the 1970s and 1980s. Ryerson created Population Media Centre to produce shows like radio soap YEKEN KINGNIT, started in 1998, which was followed by nearly half the population of Ethiopia.

The Population Media Centre now operates in 15 countries in Africa, South America and Asia. The soap operas are written and performed by locals based on the specific needs of their society and the health policies of their country's government.

Locklear to join new MELROSE PLACE?
Michael Ausiello says: "I hear Heather Locklear is pretty much a lock to reclaim her 'Very Special Guest Star' title."

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: The Greatest Show You're Not Watching
Doug Norrie of Cinema Blend writes: "FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is, first and foremost, a show about the characters and their quest to find meaning in a life that most of them are quickly finding out, has only struggles waiting for them. What happens when the lights go off on the field and the real world awaits? How do I get out of a small town? How can I become bigger than what is expected or assumed of me? Director Peter Berg’s characters face issues prominent in our everyday life without being heavy handed about it. They deal with love, family, infidelity, racism, teen pregnancy, alcoholism, sex, money, and identity without ever making the viewer feel like they are watching an after school special. This is no small feat. Most of the issues are so quietly and subtly introduced, the viewer notices them only in the passing of scenes."