Walt Disney Co. is planning to rebrand its Toon Disney cable channel as Disney XD, a network aimed at boy viewers, the Los Angeles Times reports. After the switch, scheduled for February, Disney XD will air action-adventure and comedy series…
FX is fast-tracking a new project from “The Shield” creator Shawn Ryan, his first after the critically acclaimed series wraps up, the Hollywood Reporter says. Ryan is teaming up with “Ocean’s Eleven” writer Ted Griffin for an hour comedy about…
Sci Fi Channel plans to show a two-hour “Battlestar Galactica” special in 2009, after the final 10 episodes of the space drama have been aired, the Los Angeles Times reports. The feature will be directed by co-star Edward James Olmos…
AMC is working with producer Tony Krantz to develop a series based on Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 film “The Conversation,” Daily Variety says. Krantz, who has been trying to get the project going for about a decade, has tapped writers…
Discovery Holdings filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that sets Sept. 16 as the date when shareholders will vote on turning Discovery Communications into a publicly traded company, the Wall Street Journal says. Now, John Malone’s…
David Simon, creator of HBO’s “The Wire,” is recruiting former colleagues to appear in “Treme,” his new pilot for the premium network, the Hollywood Reporter says. Among the familiar faces are “The Wire” veterans Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters, who…
Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable CEO, is not averse to starting a network DVR service if allowed by courts, Multichannel News reports. Britt, who made the suggestion during Time Warner’s quarter-earnings conference call, says the idea is a “better engineering…
The NBA season opens with a doubleheader on TNT featuring Clevland’s LaBron James taking on the World Champion Celtics and last year’s top draft pick returning from injury against the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN says. ABC’s now-traditional doubleheader on Christmas…
Lifetime’s drama pilot, “Drop Dead Diva,” has added Golden Brooks and April Bowlby to its cast, the Hollywood Reporter says. The series will focus on a deceased model-actress who is reincarnated as a successful attorney. Sony TV is producing the…
Mark Wahlberg will cameo as himself in the fifth season of “Entourage,” the Hollywood Reporter says. Wahlberg, who is an executive producer on the HBO series, revealed that his scene will be alongside Jeremy Piven, the newspaper says. —Vlada Gelman