Miami Dolphins to play ball with HBO's 'Hard Knocks'

The Miami Dolphins are teaming up with HBO Sports and NFL Films for the latest installment of "Hard Knocks," the cable network's series which offers an all-access pass into the daily lives and routines of a successful NFL team.

"Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Miami Dolphins" will kick off its five-episode season on Aug. 7. This edition will also mark the 40th anniversary of what some sports fans call the greatest season in NFL history -- Don Shula's 1972 Dolphins, who had a perfect undefeated record.

Said Ken Hershman, president of HBO Sports: "This marks the first time that the series has featured a first-year head coach (Joe Philbin), and we are extremely grateful to both Coach Philbin and the entire organization for agreeing to participate. As always, there will be plenty on the line for veterans, free agents and rookies."

The Dolphins are in the competitive AFC West division. A 24-person NFL Films crew will live at the team's training camp in South Florida, shooting more than 1,000 hours of video over the course of the series.

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-- Greg Braxton

Photo: Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) warms up with other rookies and tryouts during training camp at the team's practice facility in Davie, Fla. Credit: Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel/MCT

Jennie Garth reunites with '90210' pals, talks new reality show

Kelly Taylor, Brenda Walsh and Steve Sanders walk into a London hotel.

Stop blinking! It's not a "Beverly Hills, 90210" reunion episode -- if it were, we'd assume Brenda had moved back to good ol' England after struggling with motherhood and theater work in China.  But that was not the case. Rather, the stars of the '90s young adult soap -- Shannen Doherty, Ian Ziering and Jennie Garth -- reunited Thursday at the London Hotel in West Hollywood (which, it should be noted, used to be the Bel Age Hotel, the sometime home of Dylan McKay) for Garth's 40th birthday party/premiere party for her new CMT reality series, "Jennie Garth: A Little Bit Country."

"Ah!! I don't like to call it a reality series," Garth told Show Tracker. "I don't look at it that way -- that term sort of conjures up bad images in my head. This is really a 'follow-doc.' I never thought I'd be letting people into my life like this, but I'm glad I did."

The series, which premieres Friday, inducts Garth into the reality block, alongside her former female costars: Tori Spelling has become a fixture on Oxygen with her reality series "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" and its spinoffs. And Doherty recently took the plunge, documenting her road to wedded bliss on WE TV with "Shannen Says." While those shows follow the starlets with their current leading men, "A Little Bit Country" presents Garth post-split from actor hubby Peter Facinelli ("Twilight," "Nurse Jackie") after 11 years of marriage. 

Romney, Perry say no to Sunday talk shows, yes to late night

Jon Huntsman's rocking performance on "The Late Show" on Wednesday night was the latest example of a growing trend in American politics. In the not-so-distant past, visits to Sunday morning political talk shows such as "Meet the Press," "Face the Nation" and "This Week" were all but mandatory for presidential candidates. 

But in this election cycle, the once-mighty Sunday talk show seems less influential than in the past. Two of the current Republican hopefuls -- Mitt Romney and Rick Perry -- have avoided “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation” and “This Week" altogether. In contrast, nearly every candidate has made an appearance on one or more late-night talk shows.

Rather than submitting themselves to tough interrogation at the hands of NBC's David Gregory or CBS' Bob Schieffer, the Republican candidates — and even President Obama — have consistently opted for other, arguably more frivolous venues, such as "The View" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live." 

Some experts argue that, by appearing on entertainment programs, the candidates are getting free publicity without having to engage in a substantive discussion of the issues. By contrast, the Sunday talk shows are rife with potential for "gotcha" moments. Still others suggest that, in the current media landscape, the line between comedian and journalist is virtually indistinguishable.

Do you think the candidates are taking the easy way out by appearing on late-night shows? Read more about this issue in today's feature story by Scott Collins and consider the evidence below.

Herman Cain denying charges of sexual harrassment on "Jimmy Kimmel Live":

 

Rick Perry delivering the Top 10 List on "The Late Show" after his debate gaffe:

 

... Mitt Romney doing the same earlier this week:

 

Rep. Ron Paul on "The Tonight Show":

 

Michele Bachmann during her controversial appearance on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon":

 

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— Meredith Blake

Shannen Doherty to tie the knot in new reality show

It's time to update the "I Hate Brenda Walsh" newsletter: Shannen Doherty, who played the blunt-banged wannabe theater actress on the '90s teen drama "Beverly Hills, 90210," is getting married ... on TV!

Doherty, who also appeared on the supernatural series "Charmed," is about to walk down the aisle and have it all captured in a new WE TV series, the network announced Thursday.

The one-hour show, tentatively titled "The Shannen Doherty Project," will showcase Doherty's relationship with photographer Kurt Iswarienko as they gear up for wedded bliss. 

Photos: A quick guide to wedding reality TV

The news release says something about "wedding preparations, a house tragedy that may end in lawsuits, and the next chapter of the actresses burgeoning career" (do with that what you will), but there's no mention if her sideburn-heavy former castmates Jason Priestly and Luke Perry will be invited to the nuptials (we're crossing our fingers!). Perhaps Tori Spelling can plan the festivities?

The eight-episode series, which starts production in August, is scheduled to premiere in 2012.

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-- Yvonne Villarreal
Twitter.com/villarrealy

Photo: Shannen Doherty. Credit: Chris Helcermanas-Benge / Crown Media

Gay and lesbian coming-out stories on teen dramas: Now status quo?

"Gossip Girl" has told a gay-teen coming-out story. So has "Glee," "Pretty Little Liars," "90210" and "Degrassi." And out-at-home Calvin on "Greek" had to go through the process all over again with his frat brothers.

"I felt like the world of '90210' was missing the gay characters that it would realistically have," said Rebecca Sinclair, the CW series' showrunner and executive producer, on the writers' decision to show teen character Teddy Montgomery's coming-out process. "If I had created the show, I would definitely have made one of the main characters gay. And honestly, in a genre that depends on the coupling, decoupling and re-coupling of its characters, it behooves us to find the most diverse ways to do that."

Read hers and others thoughts on the matter in my story about gay and lesbian characters in teen dramas.

What do you think? Has the gay character become an essential part of a teen drama? And do you think it's realistic to show the character's coming-out story? Share in the comments section.

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photos, clockwise from top left: Shay Mitchell as Emily in "Pretty Little Liars." Credit: ABC Family.   Argiris Karras as Riley in "Degrassi." Credit: Epitome Pictures. Trevor Donovan as Teddy in "90210." Credit: the CW. Chris Colfer as Kurt in "Glee." Credit: Fox

The Kardashian sisters invade '90210'

Beverly Hills just got a triple dose of Kardashian.

Kim, Kourtney and Khloe are making their way to the posh neighborhood as guest stars in the Season 3 premiere of the CW’s “90210.”

“We’ve always been big fans of the show and grew up watching the original cast, so this is a real honor to have the opportunity to guest star on the show,” Kim, who's previously appeared on "Brothers," "Beyond the Break" and "CSI: NY," posted on her site.

The sisters, who star on E!'s popular reality series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," won't be roaming the halls of West Beverly as students, though; they will be playing themselves, according to a network spokesperson.

"90210" returns in September on a new night -- Mondays.

-- Yvonne Villarreal

Photo: Khloe (left), Kourtney  and Kim Kardashian arrive at the Wet Republic pool at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino to celebrate Kourtney's birthday in April in Las Vegas. Credit: Ethan Miller / Getty Images.

Dress yourself in ‘Glee’: TV shows go licensing crazy

Rabid "Glee" fans out there have been snapping up any product related to the hit Fox show, but there hasn't been much, mostly CDs and digital downloads of the cast's cover versions of classic pop and rock songs.

That's about to change.

By fall, Gleeks and those who want to make them happy will be able to shop for as many as 100 "Glee"-branded products like karaoke machines, musical greeting cards, pajamas, games, books, bedding and cosmetics. How about a Cheerios Halloween costume? Not out of the question.

20th Century Fox's licensing division, which controls the deals to make tchotchkes based on the popular show, has agreements in place for "Glee" clothing to be sold at Macy's and accessories at mall chain Claire's. The merchandise, including Hallmark cards and Mattel games, will hit stores during back-to-school, a busy buying time for teens and their wallet-wielding parents.

Fox executives said it was important to hold back rather than flood the market with "Glee" swag the moment the musical dramedy took off last fall. Robert Marick, executive vice president of Fox Licensing, said he and his team wanted to gauge demand from fans and pick the right partnerships and product categories before moving forward.

"We didn't want to just slap a 'Glee' logo on a shirt," Marick said. "The product has to reflect the creativity of the show."

Shannen Doherty gets animated for latest role

Shannen Doherty is no stranger to the television screen, from hits series and canceled shows to cameos. We’ve watched her navigate the upscale halls of West Beverly High as Brenda Walsh in “Beverly Hills, 90210” -- and later serve as a director of the school productions in the revamped CW version of the teen drama.  And we saw her bewitching ways as Prue on “Charmed.” Then there was her short stint on last season’s “Dancing with the Stars.” Now Doherty is swapping the TV screen for a computer screen.  

Doherty lends her voice to “Mari-Kari,” a new animated Web series from FEARnet. The series, which makes its cyberspace debut Thursday, has the actress voicing identical twin sisters Mari and Kari; both are adorable and wide-eyed grade-school students, but one of them also happens to be a vengeful ghost who takes a gory approach to anyone who crosses her living sister. “Mari-Kari," directed by writer and creator Jody Schaeffer, will start off with eight one- to two-minute episodes.

Read more about the show or check out an interview with Doherty over at our sister blog, Hero Complex.

--Yvonne Villarreal

Photo: FEARnet

'90210' exclusive: Trevor Donovan officially promoted to series regular

There has been a lot of angst among “90210” fans about whether heartthrob Trevor Donovan, who plays surfer and tennis pro Teddy Montgomery, will be sticking around.

Now, Show Tracker can settle the anxiety. A CW spokesperson confirms to us exclusively that Trevor Donovan has been promoted to a series regular for Season 3.

Fans were surprised when Gillian Zinser was officially promoted before Donovan. He has definitely paid his dues with several stormy moments with the series’ bipolar beauty, Silver (played by Jessica Stroup).

The network released a description of “90210’s” Season 3 at upfronts today.

Warning: Spoiler alert!

'90210' finale: Naomi really tries, doesn't she?

To be honest, I finished the season finale of “90210” and thought, “That’s it?”

There just didn’t seem to be anything major resolved, and the cliffhangers, used a bit loosely in this case, didn’t feel like finale-level cliffhangers. With that said, there were a couple storylines I enjoyed.

Poor used-up Naomi
I loved everything about Naomi’s story in the finale. There was a lot, yes, but she had movement, activity and depth. I thought the scene in whch she was watching Jen’s ultrasound and trading insults with her at the same time was hilarious. I loved that she stole the paternity results and sent them with balloons to Ryan, which set off his spiral into the role of “homeless drunk man” again. How nuts was his bus-jacking caper? Way to prove you’re ready for fatherhood, Ryan!

'90210's' Shenae Grimes on the finale, Luke Perry and whether Liam's boat floats

Shooting on Season 2 of “90210” has wrapped, but Shenae Grimes (who plays Annie) isn’t resting. She's working on finding a hospital to partner with on a nonprofit program she founded called Project Lemonade. The program aims to enrich the lives of seriously ill children and teens by pairing them with an artist peer.

Project Lemonade grew out of Grimes’ personal photography project, in which she took photos of her best friend, Laura Worthington, as she was fighting Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphatic system, part of the immune system.

In March, Grimes had her first showing of those photos at a silent auction benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and she would like to do many more.

“I’m hoping to pair off with a hospital in L.A.,” Grimes, 20, tells us, “and start this sort of creative, spiritual endeavor for pediatric cancer patients, and hopefully it will become an annual event.”

Grimes spoke to us not only about Project Lemonade but also about which of the original “Beverly Hills, 90210” cast members she’d love to guest-star on the show, Rob Estes’ departure and what to expect from “90210’s” Season 2 finale.

Warning: Spoiler alert!

'90210': Ade is with Javier, and Jen is with child

In this episode of “90210,” relationships are strained when Naomi finds out Jen is pregnant, Navid gets pushed aside by “Javianna,” Silver dumps Teddy, and Harry has some explaining to do.

Naomi is driving a Pinto
Where did the production even find one that was running? I love the sight of Naomi in that car with her fabulosity and gold Bluetooth earpiece. Jen is a lot of things, but she’s not boring.

We need to start with Jen. First, where did the baby bump come from? I can’t believe she has been hiding that this whole time. It reminded me of some of the hijinks the original “Melrose Place” threw at us in the late-'90s. It was good, old-fashioned camp drama (which is something I wish “90210” would embrace more). Now that I think back, I remember wondering why she was wearing a really loose dress last week in a scene at the beach club. The baby’s father is either her husband or Ryan. Liam would have been an awesome plot twist, but they had sex almost a year ago. That takes him out of the running. Where was Ryan in this episode? Is he sleeping off his “homeless-man” stint from the last episode? And, why haven’t Navid and Adrianna even mentioned it again? I digress.