Catching All the News That Slipped Through the Cracks

Catching All the News That Slipped Through the Cracks

Published: May 07, 2010 @ 4:15 pm
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By Lisa Horowitz

Here's a quick roundup of the day's television announcements:

--ABC has set an airdate for "Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon," the American Cinematheque's annual gala event honoring a midcareer film artist, recorded live March 27 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The hourlong special will air Thursday, May 27, at 9 p.m., following the season finale of "FlashForward."

Stars who paid loving (and mocking) tribute to Damon include Jimmy Kimmel, Don Cheadle, Clint Eastwood, Sarah Silverman and Ben Affleck. 

--The Hollywood Reporter says Shawn Ryan has told Fox he won't continue as showrunner on "Lie to Me" if the show is picked up for next season. The Tim Roth starrer returns June 7 with a dozen new episodes.

--Discovery, home of Shark Week, is celebrating Anniversary Week -- its 25th -- from June 13-19 with special episodes of franchises including "Dirty Jobs," "Mythbusters" and "Man vs. Wild." The channel launched on June 17, 1985.

Starting Sunday, June 13, at 9 with "25 Years of Discovery," the week of specials continues with "4D Atlas Hawaii" at 10 p.m. June 13; "Dirty Jobs: The Dirty Truth" (9 p.m. June 14), "After the Catch" (10 p.m. June 15), "Mythbusters: 25 Best Busted Myths" (9 p.m. June 16), "Scariest Moments at Sea" (9 p.m. June 17), "Discovery Saved My Life" (9 p.m. June 18) and "Man vs. Wild Top 25" (9 p.m. June 19).

Also in June, Discovery will premiere new series "Ultimate Car Build Off" (formerly "Garage Wars") at 9 p.m. June 21; "Heartland Thunder" at 10 p.m. June 21, about Friday night dirt track racing in Kansas City; and "Stranded," at 10 p.m. June 11, featuring Dave Canterbury and Cody Lundin being dropped into various scenarios and demonstrating what it takes to stay alive.

--This week's episode of "The Real Housewives of New York City" was the highest-rated non-reunion episode of the entire series among all key demographics, according to Nielsen Media Research. The episode delivered 1.57 million adults 18-49 and 2.25 million total viewers, up 18 percent across the board from the previous week. It's on a pace to be the highest-rated season for the series, averaging 1.27 million viewers in 18-49 and 1.87 million total viewers through 10 episodes.

--USA's "Psych" returns as part of the network's summer weekday block of original series starting Wednesday, July 21, at 10 p.m. Guest stars this season will include John Michael Higgins and Emmy winner Jean Smart.

--IFC announced premiere dates for some of its returning comedy series. "The Whitest Kids U Know" kicks off 10 new scripted half-hour episodes on Friday, June 11, at 10 p.m. "The IT Crowd" returns Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 10:30 p.m.; the first three seasons of the show are running now on IFC.

On Aug. 20, it's the reunion of the original five Kids in the Hall for "The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town," an original eight-episode "gothic comic murder mystery." Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson play nearly all 20 of the new characters in their trademark gender-bending style.

Tags: ABC, ABC News, American Cinematheque, Boston Med, David Cross, Discovery, IFC, Kids in the Hall, Lie to Me, Matt Damon, Psych, Shawn Ryan, Television, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, The IT Crowd, The Whitest Kids U Know, USA, Will Arnett
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