NBC's "Lipstick Jungle" to Replace "ER"

Following last week's announcement that a new 'celebrity' cycle of Donald Trump's reality show "The Apprentice" would replace the popular NBC comedy "The Office" come January 3, the network has now said that midseason drama "Lipstick Jungle" from "Sex and the City" author Candice Bushnell and starring Brooke Shields, will replace "ER" effective February 7.

ER which airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. will run out of fresh episodes written prior to the strike by the end of January at which time it will be taken off the schedule to make way for the, as NBC exec Ben Silverman puts it, provocative new series.

The new dramedy is based on Bushnell's bestselling novel of the same title and it stars Shields ("Suddenly Susan"), Kim Raver ("24") and Lindsay Price ("Beverly Hills, 90210") as three high-powered friends living in New York City.

NBC has yet to announce what they will air on Thursdays at 8, but many believe the Peacock will stick with repeats of its popular comedies "My Name is Earl" and "The Office."

Even if the strike is resolved before Christmas, it may take a few weeks before production continues on shows that had been forced to shut down, so even if NBC does go back to its regulra Thursday night schedule, chances are this will be NBC's Thursday night line-up in the early weeks of 2008:

8:00 pm Comedy Reruns
9:00 pm Celebrity Apprentice
10:00 pm Lipstick Jungle

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John Stamos Apologizes for Bizarre Behavior

"ER" star John Stamos was quite a bit on the tipsy side during his bizarre appearance on an Australian morning chat show causing a stir Down Under.

The actor's rep Lewis Kay, however, blamed it all on his jet leg and following Stamos' departure said in a statement:

"John has been traveling extensively for the past few weeks in Greece, Egypt and Tokyo and had a difficult time adjusting to the time difference in Australia, which in turn led to many sleepless nights since his arrival."

Rumor has it though, when Stamos arrived in Australia on June 21 he was in high spirits at the Sydney strip club Pure Platinum.

Four days later he appeared on the popular program Mornings with Kerri-Anne, bleary-eyed and shabbily dressed. That must have been one nasty jet lag.

Needless to say, all subsequent interviews had been canceled and Stamos was put on the next flight back to the US.

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Visnic, Tierney Confirm Leaving "ER"

Croatian actor Goran Visnic and his "ER" co-star Maura Tierney have confirmed to TV Guide they are on the way out of the fading NBC medical drama.

Earlier this year, Visnic had already announced he would be leaving the series at some point.

Now the actor said more specifically he would only do "a couple" (or fewer than five) episodes next season, the show's 14th.

He says: "We’re still talking about how and when we’re going to do it. But it’s kind of a logical progression because every summer I want to do a movie and... there are always problems with my scheduling. I think it’s a nice run to be on a show for eight years."

Tierney who is currently filming "Semi-Pro" with Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson would also like to do more features.

The show had already been renewed for the 14th season in a special 3-year deal in March 2005.

Following a surprisingly successful fall, "ER" has somewhat cooled off in the ratings in recent weeks and the 14th season may very well be its last.

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"ER" EXTENDED, "TRAVELER" SHORTENED

NBC's veteran medical drama "ER" that entered its 13th season this fall has gotten a new lease on life. Although the network had initially anticipated the ratings for the aging series to continue to slide this season, the show bounced back.

Is it the improved writing following a terrible cliffhanger last season; or is it the addition of the star John Stamos (whom ABC was finally kind enough to release from his pointless "Jake In Progress" contract that prevented him from joining the show last season); or is it simply the weak competition over on ABC and CBS ('Six Degrees' and 'Shark' that lose a significant chunk of lead-in audience)?

Whatever the case the network has ditched plans to interrupt the show for the winter (mid-season drama 'The Black Donnellys' are looking for a new home) and now it ordered another episode on top of the original 24 episode order, bringing the total to 25.

thriller series "Traveler" from 13 to only 8 installments. The series stars Steven (Rex Van De In related news, ABC has decreased the order for their excellent new mid-seasonCulpKamp on "Desperate Housewives") and Logan Marshall Green (Ryan's brother Trey on "The O.C.).

NBC KEEPS "ER" ON AIR

NBC president Kevin Reilly has announced that the Peacock network will abandon their original plans to put "ER" on a 13-week hiatus during the winter.

Initially, NBC was going to launch a new series "The Black Donnellys" about an Irish family with Mafia connections living in New York at some point mid-season. The idea was to keep the veteran medical drama rerun-free this season, as the network was somewhat disappointed with its ratings last year.

NBC which is known for its "super-sizing" of sitcom episodes as much as earlier starts for its popular shows, reflected its lack of confidence in "ER" by changing its official timeslot from 9:59pm to 10:01pm.

The drama which is now in its 13th season, however, managed to beat out new shows on ABC and CBS, the two networks that have larger audiences in the 9pm hour and gain audience as opposed to last season.

For this reason, NBC will not only keep "ER" on Thursday nights all season long, but it may also increase this year's episode order from the standard 22 to 24 or more. I suppose, after all these years, good ole "ER" is still a safer bet than the somewhat gloomy and risky "Black Donnellys".