Familiar Faces On TV This Fall

Familiar Faces On TV
Celebrities Popping Up In New Shows


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William Shatner

There are a lot of familiar faces popping up on the TV channels.

Star Trek’s iconic Captain Kirk, William Shatner is venturing into another frontier– taking on hosting duties for a new talk show called Shatner’s Raw Nerve.

The show on cable’s Bio Channel (premiering August 19) will have Shatner interviewing an assorted bunch of Hollywood notables. Among his first crop of guests will be his former Star Trek castmate and good friend Leonard Nimoy, plus Valerie Bertinelli, Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, the very outspoken Judge Judy and late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

The gimmick for Shatner’s Raw Nerve is that in each episode, Shatner will attempt to probe his guest’s most sensitive subjects. Part of the fun will be waiting for the “raw nerve” to emerge and reveal another side of the celebrities. It will be interesting to see how some of the stars handle it.

Shatner calls it “edgy, off-beat and fun,” and says he’ll go from satirical to the serious to the sublime as he interviews his guests. He hopes to create unexpected moments with the most intriguing people.

Fans of Boston Legal don’t have to worry, Shatner will also be back this season on the ABC series to further explore his Denny Crane character’s battle with “mad cow.”

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Vivica A. Fox

She’s a fox! Vivica A. Fox is well known as a beautiful actress. But soon she’ll be showing off her talent as a fashion luminary.

Fox is the host and executive producer of a new VH1 competition show called Glam God. She’ll search for the next great celebrity stylist by putting contestants through challenges that will test their skills at creating the perfect look from head to toe.

“The competitors must have what it takes to become a stylist to the stars. They must be able to create a chic masterpiece using the three key elements of fashion– hair, make-up and wardrobe,” Fox explains.

Glam God premieres August 21, but you can get an online sneak peek on VH1.com beginning August 15.

More familiar faces– a trio from popular shows from the past– Ray Romano, of Everybody Loves Raymond fame, Scott Bakula, from Quantum Leap, and Andre Braugher, from Homicide, are doing a pilot for TNT called Men of a Certain Age. The drama will follow the three men who have been best friends since college and are now facing the onset of middle age.

Amy Ryan is returning to The Office on NBC, the former The Wire star will reprise her role as the human resources rep Holly Flax for at least five episodes next season. Holly Flax is coming on as a potential love interest for Steve Carell’s character.

Not so lucky in love will are Jay Mohr and Paula Marshall playing a couple going through post divorce turmoil on CBS’ upcoming sitcom Gary Unmarried.

Michael Imperioli, who played a great mobster on the Sopranos, will be playing a cop, Detective Ray Carling, on the new ABC drama Life on Mars Ray. The show centers around Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara), a modern day police officer who gets the shock of his life after a car crash and finds himself back in the 1970s. Imperioli will be one of Tyler’s colleagues in the show based on a successful British series. Harvey Keitel is also joining Life on Mars, playing the head of the homicide department.

AMC, proud of its classic movies, is turning a classic TV drama into a six-hour miniseries. A remake of The Prisoner is set for the AMC schedule in 2009, starring Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ) in the lead role of Number Six, and Sir Ian McKellen as Number Two. In the original 1968 series Patrick McGoohan was Number Six, forever trying to escape his strange prison. Nowadays he’d be voted off by celebrity judges.


Margie Barron has written for a wide variety of outlets including Gannett newspapers, Nickelodeon, Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine, Fresh!, Senior Life, Production Update, airline magazines, etc. Margie is also proud to have been half of the husband & wife writing team Frank & Margie Barron, who had written together for various entertainment and travel publications for more than 38 years. Frank Barron was the editor of The Hollywood Reporter, having served twice in that capacity. In between, he was West Coast news director for Billboard Publications, supervising their five magazines. Barron also created the western TV series “The Man From Blackhawk” for the ABC network. For more than three decades he and writer-wife Margie Barron covered Hollywood for Production Update magazine, and they contributed to numerous publications.

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