The cooks, the thieves, the wives and the Lohans

Lost without Lost? Desperate without Housewives? If you don't know what to watch on the box now that your favourite programmes are winding down for the season, here's a preview of some of the new shows coming up for winter.

REALITY:

THEBIGSTUFF

TV3, starts this Tuesday, 7.30pm

Are you a pack rat? Is your furniture buried beneath a pile of junk, much of which should have been thrown out 10 years ago? In this New Zealand series about redesigning your life by lightening your physical load, life designer Sian Jaquet and project manager Gez Johns help people get rid of their possessions and turn their house into a home. It's part house design, part counselling as the duo tackles the big stuff about the issues of chaos.

 

KITCHEN CRIMINALS

Food TV, now screening weeknights 7.30pm

Is cooking a talent or a skill? Michelin-starred chefs Angela Hartnett and John Burton Race attempt to answer this question as they reform some of Britain's worst amateur cooks. Hartnett previously worked under Gordon Ramsay before appearing with him in Hell's Kitchen. Burton Race made a name for himself in the series French Leave and is a judge for cooking show Britain's Best Dish. The two attempt to upskill their contestants from two-minute noodles and frozen pizza into gourmet chefs.

 

VANITY LAIR

Vibe, starts Saturday, July 5, 6.30pm

Ten beautiful people crammed into a grand old English villa for 10 weeks sounds like a recipe for disaster or the subject of a new reality "experiment" to see what real beauty means. One contestant vomited when told he was not considered scientifically beautiful. He also said he'd rather lose his legs than his hair. Each week three new contestants are introduced into the lair, and the residents must vote one of them in. That person then has the power to eliminate one of the residents. The first episode sees the departure of probably the only "real" person in the house, 18-year-old horse-rider Stephanie. It can only only better.

 

LIVING LOHAN

Vibe, starts Tuesday, 9.30pm

Here's the million-dollar question about Dina Lohan is she just another "showbiz mom", or a genuinely caring, nurturing parent trying to encourage her kids to spread their wings? Our money's on the former, but now you can be the judge, because the Lohans (minus the famous redheaded, "I'm a lipstick lesbian" Lindsay) are starring in their very own reality show. Mama Lohan is training 14-year-old Ali, who for some reason resembles Ashlee Simpson (something you're not telling us, Dina?) to be the family's next cash-cow, oops I mean celebrity daughter. She employs a young music producer whom she met online to help them on their way. Obviously, Mrs Lohan has never heard of scam artists, or Sam Lutfi.

 

OPRAH'S BIG GIVE

TV3, starts Wednesday, 7.30pm

The big O is back, this time with a dramatic new series about altruism what happens when people compete to give to others rather than personal gain? A group of 10 people are given the challenge to change the lives of strangers in creative ways. What the contestants don't realise is the winner (The Biggest Giver) will win a $US1 million prize. Because this is Oprah, the celebrity guests run to A-list names John Travolta, Jada Pinkett-Smith, tennis legend Andre Agassi, skateboarding star Tony Hawk and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

 

DARE TO WIN

TV2, starts June 22, 7.30pm

Dominic Bowden, fresh from LA and The Next Great American Band (which unfortunately has been canned) is the host of this new game show where teams of four (family, friends, flatmates or workmates) are given a challenge. They have a week to practise before going in front of a live studio audience where one person from the group is selected to perform the challenge. The winner gets $10,000 if it all sounds a bit of a cliche, remember this is the same channel that brought us possibly the world's worst show, Singing Bee.

 

DRAMA:

CRIMINAL MINDS

TV One, starts Thursday, 8.30pm

The most exciting thing about the third season of Criminal Minds is the addition of Joe Mantegna to the largely unknown cast. Viewers may not recognise his face (although they should, Mantegna played treacherous mobster Joey Zasa in The Godfather III), but will recognise his voice from The Simpsons. He's recurring cast member Fat Tony, the mob boss. In Criminal Minds, Mantegna plays profiler David Rossi, the replacement for Mandy Patinkin's character Jason Gideon. Patinkin left because of the show's violence, but Mantegna has no such qualms. "What we deal with on the show is no more than reality. In other words, this group, this bureau of the FBI exists and these crimes are real. It's dark and it may be grim, but having said that, it fulfils a need. We are the last of the white knights who are trying to slay the dragon."

 

ARMY WIVES

TV2, starts Thursday, 8.30pm

Ah, the challenges of being an army spouse your husband is always away or employed on "top-secret" missions, there's abuse, rumours and adultery to contend with on the domestic front and then there's the Jodies civilians who hit on the wives of enlisted men. They can be hard to resist on lonely Saturday nights down at the local army pub. A bit like a trashier version of Desperate Housewives, the "wives" consist of Claudia, Denise, Pamela and Roxy, who live together in the fictional Fort Marshall but in a twist to the tale, civilian husband Roland is also part of the spousal mix. The two-hour premiere shows the women (and man) meeting for the first time in the ladies room during a special officers' dinner: one is heavily pregnant, another is covered with bruises and someone's having sex in a toilet cubicle.

 

BURYING BRIAN

TV One, starts July 2, 8.30pm

If you've looked across at your husband and wished he'd drop dead, spare some sympathy for Jodie. After drunkenly declaring that most churlish of sentiments for her spouse in a crowded pub, she goes home to discover that he has, indeed, kicked the bucket. In a panic, she enlists the help of her two closest friends to bury the body. Initially the ladies think they've got away with it, but they soon discover the field in which Brian is buried is being dug up for a housing development. There's a lot of Kiwi-lebs in this local drama including Shane Cortese, Rebecca Hobbs, Robbie Magasiva and Ian Mune.

 

COMEDY:

GAVIN & STACEY

TV One, starts Friday June 27, 8.30pm

A Bafta Award-winning comedy, this show is one of the BBC's biggest hits. Gavin (Mathew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) are two misfits who speak every day on the phone at work. They have become quite obsessed with each other even though they've never met (Gavin lives in England and Stacey in Wales. When Stacey decides to move to London to be with her man, the reaction of those around them varies. The first season is only six episodes but in the UK, the series is already on to its third season. Horne and one of the other core cast, Nessa Jones, won Baftas for best male and female comedy newcomers, so this is definitely one to watch.

 

CHUCK

TV2, starts this Wednesday, 8.30pm

Chuck Bartowski is a Stanford University drop-out who's fixated on his last relationship his college girlfriend who cheated on him with his roommate. He becomes an unlikely spy after he accidentally downloads all the CIA's most sensitive secrets into his brain after opening an email attachment. The tall, gangly Chuck is played by an endearing, curly-haired Zachary Levi. Chuck, of course, needs a love interest, and who better than lithe blonde Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski (she speaks fluent Polish in real life). The show has glib conversation, co-star chemistry, zesty writing and is slick, real slick the first episode is shot like an action movie. It looks set to be a Tuesday-night favourite.

 

SPORT:

 

OLYMPICS

TV One and Freeview 20 (live), Friday, August 8 Sunday, August 24, continuous coverage from midday

This is the big one. The opening ceremony is on Friday, August 8, at 8pm with athletes from 205 countries gathering in Beijing on the centenary of the modern games. The first week brings a variety of games into play such as rowing, badminton, baseball, boxing and more, but the much-anticipated athletics finals won't be till the start of the second week.

 

ALL BLACKS TESTS

Sky TV (live) and Prime, through July and August

Our national shame, oops sorry, game. We really should beat England on Saturday (7.35pm) but frankly, the Tri-Nations could be a bit of a shocker. Win or lose, there's bound to plenty of drama on and off the field, while the battle between the coaches (Henry vs Deans) is shaping up to be an even bigger showdown than Clark vs Key. 





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Three Drives

   
Artist: Three Drives

   Genre(s): 
Trance
   Trance: Psychedelic
   

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Discography:


   
 Greece 2000 Incl Leama and James Davis Mix Vinyl

   Year: 2007   
Tracks: 2


   
 Greece 2000 (Miditec rmx)

   Year: 2006   
Tracks: 1


   
 Air Traffic

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 5

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Dancing on Ice stars pick up bug

'Dancing on Ice' stars Gareth Gates and Greg Rusedski may have to miss this week's show after picking up a bug.
According to reports, the skating stars have been too ill to rehearse their routines in recent days and may not be able to take part in Sunday night's live show.
A source told The Mirror: "Gareth and Greg both became poorly yesterday and we're all crossing our fingers they recover for Sunday."
"Sometimes it lasts 24 hours, sometimes three days, and leaves you feeling very weak."
"It's important we stop anyone else going down with it. We're doing everything possible to keep contestants apart so they can't cross-infect."

Will & Grace star agrees film deal

'Will & Grace' star Debra Messing has joined the cast of a new family drama-comedy called 'Humboldt Park'.
Variety reports that the cast of the film also includes John Leguizamo, Alfred Molina, Freddy Rodriguez, Jay Hernandez, Mercedes Ruehl, Luis Guzman, Melonie Diaz and Vanessa Ferlito.
'Humboldt Park' tells the story of three siblings who return to the family home for a festive visit.
Messing will play the wife of Leguizamo's character.
Shooting on the Alfredo De Villa-directed film begins next week in Chicago.

Charlie Sheen - Sheen Rejects Wedding Gifts

Generous CHARLIE SHEEN and BROOKE MUELLER are refusing to accept gifts at their wedding this month (30May08) - they want guests to make a donation to their favourite charity instead.

Invitations for Sheen and Mueller's 30 May (08) nuptials include the request "no gifts, just donations to Chrysalis - an organization in Los Angeles that is dedicated to changing lives through jobs", reports the New York Post.

A source tells the newspaper, "Charlie (Sheen) has been working with the group, which gets people off skid row, for many years, and the money will go towards the charity's big annual gala, the Butterfly Ball."

Sheen and Mueller met at a party in early 2006, just after Sheen had separated from his then-wife, Denise Richards. The actor proposed to the real estate agent-turned TV personality last summer (Jul07).

This will be Sheen's third marriage and Mueller's first.

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Corrie's Liam set for dramatic exit?

'Coronation Street' heartthrob Rob James-Collier is reportedly set to quit the show when his current contract expires at the end of this year.
According to Digital Spy, the 31-year-old actor, who plays factory boss Liam Connor in the show, is leaving because of "typecast" fears.
A show source reportedly told the News of the World: "Nobody was expecting this and it's bad news because Liam has become hugely popular with fans."
"He won Sexiest Male at the British Soap Awards and they had big things planned for him."
"They wanted the Carla-Liam-Maria thing to really step up in pace, with him finally cheating on his girl with his sister-in-law. It would have given them a brilliant storyline which could have bubbled away until Christmas."
According to the report, a 'Coronation Street' spokesperson late confirmed the actor's planned departure, saying: "We've known for some time that Rob would be leaving at the end of his current contract."
"It's given the writers time to pen a really good exit storyline for his character, Liam."
"Rob will remain filming with us until around October and he will bow out on screen at the end of the year."

Kerry girl Jessie loses BBC show final

Kerry singer Jessie Buckley has come second in the final of the BBC One talent show 'You Could Be Nancy'.
Following the elimination of Samantha Barks in the first part of the final, Buckley and Jodie Prenger were pitted against each other for the coveted role of Bill Sykes' girlfriend in the musical 'Oliver!'.
Prior to the result, three of the five judges - Cameron Mackintosh, Barry Humphries and Andrew Lloyd Webber - said that Buckley was the singer they wanted to win.
But Prenger won the public vote and will star in the West End show.
During the final Buckley sang 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face', 'Truly Scrumptious', 'Maybe Someday', 'As Long As He Needs Me' and 'The Man Who Got Away'.

Tom Morello Talks Obama, Not Rage Against The Machine, On Set Of Anti-Flag Video

It's a weeknight in Glendale, California, and Tom Morello — guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and the man they call the Nightwatchmen — is standing inside Moonlight Rollerway, a fake moustache that looks more like a woolly bear caterpillar resting across his upper lip. Around his neck, there's a long string attached to a silver whistle. He's holding a clipboard, and there's a red headband on his forehead that matches the red wristbands he's rocking.

Across the back of his red, white and blue track suit read the words "Coach Tom." He mutters to himself, "Ah, the things I do for Anti-Flag."

No, Tom's not switching careers — he's shooting a cameo for the Pittsburgh political punkers' new video. Morello will be featured prominently in the band's upcoming clip for "The Bright Lights of America," the title track and first single off the band's eighth studio LP, which hit stores last week.

As the cameras roll, Morello — playing the irritable coach of "Team USA," during a global roller-derby battle royale — springs into character, acting every bit the epitome of the amped-up, steroid-chomping Little League dad. He pumps his fists in the air and barks at the derby girls who skate past him: "Move your ass! That's not good enough! Not on my time, ladies!"

According to Anti-Flag frontman Justin Sane and bassist Chris #2, the video's concept is inspired by the stories of difficult times faced by the many fans they meet on the road. It's also a statement on the absurdity of extreme ideologies and the future of American society.

"The song focuses on two characters: a girl I met last year who is a cutter, and to feel alive, she has to cut herself. It's also about a boy who has a really hard time in his home life, and to deal with it, he feels he needs to be on drugs all the time," said Sane. "It's very dark content, but in the end, the song is very optimistic. It says we all go through these really hard times, but we have our community, we have each other, to pick ourselves up and be there for each other. It also asks the questions, 'Who are we as Americans?' 'Where is this nation going?' 'Why are so many people on antidepressants?' People can't handle reality. Is this the direction we want our country, or even the world, to be going in?"

Morello has been friends with the Anti-Flag lads for several years now, having enlisted the band as the support act on Rage's Battle of Los Angeles tour back in 1999. "Anti-Flag are a band with a lot of heart, and a band that genuinely cares about its fans," said Morello. "I don't get dressed up in a getup like this for just any band. They are the best punk-rock band of our era, and it's always an honor to share the stage with them or even to be stuck in a roller rink in a goofy outfit with them."

While Morello refused to respond to fast-spreading rumors that Rage Against the Machine (who were just announced as Lollapalooza headliners) are in the studio at the moment working on new material, he did discuss this year's presidential election. And why wouldn't he? This is a member of the most political bands ever to emerge — a band that decided to call it quits at perhaps the worst time possible — just before George W. took office.

"As the half-Kenyan Harvard graduate from Illinois who is not running for office this year, I've got to say, there's been a lot of talk of change in this election year," Morello said. "It remains my belief that change is not made by politicians, but by people. No matter who is elected, we do not abdicate our responsibility to take action, to organize, to struggle and to push who is in office to make change on the ground. You can't wait and hope your vote will turn the system around. You need to take action where you live and where you work."

While Morello hasn't decided who'll be getting his vote just yet, he admitted he has been impressed by Senator Barack Obama's campaign.

"I haven't picked a candidate ... my candidate is the American people, the people who work hard for a living and struggle to make ends meet," he said. "The only time in my adult life that I have ever been impressed by a politician was Barack's speech on race. As someone who has witnessed racism up close his entire life, it's nice to see someone who intelligently, candidly and honestly talked to the American people as if they were adults for a change, that didn't try to get something out of people by using 'freedom, good; evil, bad.' I mean, that's the level of our political discourse, from both parties. And to speak intelligently and honestly about a very uncomfortable topic that has been the curse of the United States of America since its founding was something that was very impressive to me."

But Morello isn't sure what chance Obama stands in the race for the White House.

"Can a country that elected George W. Bush, twice, elect someone who comes across like that is unclear to me," he said. "If America elects [Republican Senator John] McCain, well, then maybe we don't deserve better than McCain. In the most recent congressional election, the Democrats were elected to stop the war, and like cowardly dogs, they failed to do that. No matter who is in office, it's our responsibility to take the wheel of history in our hands, if we want to see a different and better world than the one we live in now."






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Sean Combs - Combs To Sue Cufflink Company

SEAN COMBS is considering suing a cufflink company - because its name is too similar to his.

The rapper's lawyers have told bosses at Cuff-Daddy.com - a family-owned cufflink company - that the business' name was to similar to the star's former moniker, Puff Daddy.

But bosses at the company insist they are not trading on his name and hope to resolve the issue with the star's legal team, reports TMZ.com.

A spokesman for Combs was unavailable for comment.

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Hugh Grant - Damages For Hugh Grant And Liz Hurley Over Tabloid Snaps

Hugh Grant, Liz Hurley and her husband Arun Nayar have been awarded £58,000 in damages after photographs of them were published in Sunday newspapers.

The covert pictures had been taken as the group were holidaying at a private resort in the Maldives and were published in the News of the World and Mail on Sunday.

The three - who were not present at the high court hearing in London - will receive an equal share of the damages paid by Big Pictures (UK) Ltd and Eliot Press SARL after they launched a class action against the agencies, with Associated Newspapers and News Group Newspapers contributing to the damages.

Laura Tyler, representing Grant, his former girlfriend Hurley and Nayar, said the trio had chosen the resort due to its privacy and were dismayed at the publication of the pictures.

"It has been most upsetting for the claimants to have their privacy invaded by these defendants," she told Mr Justice Eady.

"The defendants have accepted that the photographs should not have been taken and that their actions invaded the claimants' privacy."

The photographs were published in the News of the World under the headline 'Liz does the blokey-cokey' while the Mail on Sunday used the banner 'Hugh's that gooseberry?' to accompany the story.

Matthew Nicklin, counsel for the photographic agencies implicated in the case, said: "Through me the defendants offer their apologies to the claimants for any distress which they may have caused."


15/05/2008 12:28:35

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Michael Jackson drops lawsuit against accountants

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop star Michael Jackson has dropped a lawsuit against an accounting firm he had accused of making deals and hiring people without his permission, according to court papers obtained on Thursday.


The papers, filed on April 14, did not say whether Jackson had reached a settlement with the firm or dropped the litigation for another reason.


Jackson, through his production company, MJJ Productions Inc., sued the accounting firm of Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman and Sloan in December 2006, alleging negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.


The lawsuit alleged the firm did not pay workers' compensation payments on his behalf in 2004 and 2005 and was late paying taxes he owed, in addition to hiring people and entering into contracts without his authorization.


The accounting firm countersued Jackson the day after he filed his court papers, claiming the singer owed nearly $1 million in unpaid bills. That action was dismissed.


Jackson has maintained a low profile since his June 2005 acquittal on child sex abuse charges in California. His lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.


(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)