Lucille Ball’s career honored
To mark Saturday’s centennial of Lucille Ball’s birth, the Queen of Comedy is being honored with TV marathons and a new comic book.
Hallmark Channel will air 102 episodes of “I Love Lucy” from 5 a.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. Monday.
On Turner Classic Movies, Ball’s big-screen career will be showcased with a 24-hour block of 14 of her movies starting Saturday at 3 a.m.
And in September, Bluewater Productions will release a 32-page commemorative comic book celebrating her life and career.
Gay family-friendly
ABC Family stands at the head of the class in a new report looking at depictions of gay, lesbian and transgender people on television.
In its fifth annual Network Responsibility Index, the advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation assessed the quality and quantity of gay characters on the broadcast networks plus 10 cable channels.
The top score went to ABC Family, targeted at viewers age 14 to 34, which features several series with gay characters, including “Pretty Little Liars” and “Greek.”
CW earned the best score among any broadcaster, thanks to openly gay characters on shows such as “90210” and “Gossip Girl.” GLAAD gave failing grades to cable outlets A&E and TBS.
One area of concern: the continuing lack of transgender characters on television.
Gaultier goes Gaga
Platinum-selling pop star Lady Gaga will sit down with fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier for an interview special airing next month on the CW network.
In “Gaga by Gaultier,” set to air Sept. 12 at 8 p.m., they meet in Paris to discuss her meteoric rise to fame, her love of fashion and art, and her strategy in marketing her image and music.
Sarah’s second childhood
Sarah Michelle Gellar, headed for a new series on CW, says she’ll find time to return to “All My Children.”
Gellar confirmed Thursday that she’ll make a farewell appearance on the canceled soap, where she played Kendall Hart from 1993 to 1995 and won a daytime Emmy award.
“Children” will disappear from ABC on Sept. 23, ending a four-decade run.
In the CW’s “Ringers,” debuting Sept. 13, the former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star plays a woman in trouble who impersonates her twin sister.
De Niro returns to ‘9/11’
Robert De Niro will host CBS’ update of its award-winning film on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to mark the 10th anniversary next month.
CBS will revisit “9/11,” first broadcast in 2002, including new interviews with firefighters and others who were part of the Peabody Award-winning first film, which contains the only known footage of the first plane striking the World Trade Center.
De Niro, who hosted the original special, will visit the 9/11 memorial and show viewers progress on the site’s rebuilding.
More reality, Palin-style
The Alaska hair salon made famous for Sarah Palin’s up-do is getting the reality show treatment in “Big Hair Alaska,” a two-part series airing in September on TLC.
That’s the same cable network that aired “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” an eight-part docu-series on the former Alaska governor, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee and possible presidential candidate.
Brand new on Hulu
Hulu, the online video service that primarily shows reruns from major broadcasters, is getting into the business of original programming.
In the first of several projects, the company has teamed up with Morgan Spurlock, the documentary maker who criticized fast food “Super Size Me.”
They are creating “A Day in the Life” – six half-hour episodes where filmmakers follow famous people such as billionaire Richard Branson.
A new animation king?
NBC is expanding its relationship with the co-creator of “King of the Hill” in a bid to move into prime-time animation.
The production deal with Greg Daniels, who also is behind such NBC shows as “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” will include various programming but emphasize animated series – a market Fox has cornered with shows including “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy.”
The network also has made a deal with Will Ferrell’s production company and is working with Sean Hayes (“Will and Grace”) on a new sitcom and producer Dick Wolf (“Law & Order”) on a firefighter drama.
