MUMBAI: US broadcaster CBS has announced a February premiere date for the next season of the reality show ?Survivor? and ordered two more editions of the series for broadcast during the 2012-2013 season. The broadcasts next season will mark the 25th and 26th editions of television?s longest-running hit reality competition series.

Emmy Award winner Jeff Probst will return as host and executive producer for all three upcoming cycles. Probst has hosted ?Survivor? since its inception in May 2000.

CBS Entertainment executive VP, alternative programming Jennifer Bresnan said, "Survivor is an outstanding franchise. Its format guarantees fresh characters, exotic places and fascinating social dynamics every season. And, the show is backed by an A-plus production team that is as passionate as the diehard ?Survivor? fans. All of us at CBS are incredibly proud of Survivor?s ongoing success."

The show?s executive producer Mark Burnett said, "I am extremely proud of the continuing success of ?Survivor?, which is due to the immense loyalty of our millions of fans. We are excited to offer two more seasons of ?Survivor? and look forward to entertaining audiences for years to come."

Probst said, "I am thrilled to continue working on the longest-running reality competition show with the world?s greatest adventure crew for two more seasons. We are so thankful for the supportive fans who remain with us every season, and we promise to deliver another year of quality television."

MUMBAI: Jon Gruden, analyst of ?Monday Night Football?, has agreed to an exclusive agreement with US sports broadcaster ESPN that will keep him on sports television?s signature series and out of coaching for the next five years.

The new contract begins in September 2012.

Since joining ESPN in May 2009, Gruden has teamed with play-by-play commentator Mike Tirico and analyst Ron Jaworski - earning two Sports Emmy Award nominations in the Best Analyst category - to help make MNF the most-watched series in cable television history.

The Super Bowl-winning coach has contributed to ESPN?s annual NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage and other platforms. He was also part of the MNF team that called the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl.

In addition to his NFL role, Gruden has called a handful of marquee college football telecasts for ESPN, including the Rose Bowl (2010) and Bowl Championship Series National Championship games (2010 and 2011) for ESPN Radio, and the 2011 Outback and Orange bowl games.

Gruden has been widely praised for his SportsCenter Special: QB Camp prime time shows which have become a popular part of ESPN?s annual pre-NFL Draft coverage. The in-depth, one-on-one interviews and film sessions have featured Gruden mentoring top quarterback prospects such as first-round NFL Draft picks Sam Bradford, Cam Newton, and Tim
Tebow.

Gruden said, "Our Monday Night Football crew is special, and to have the opportunity to continue to be a part of this team, working these big-time NFL prime time games every week on ESPN, I?m fired up".

ESPN executive VP production Norby Williamson said, "Jon has made a remarkable transition from Super Bowl-winning head coach to one of the premier football analysts in our business. His long-term commitment to ESPN will continue to elevate our Monday Night Football presentation and we look forward to finding even more opportunities to take advantage of his passion for football and unique insights into the game."

Mumbai: US cable network AMC has announced that Emmy Award-winning make-up effects artist Greg Nicotero has been a named co-executive producer of ?The Walking Dead?.

Nicotero has also inked a first-look deal with the network, which gives him the opportunity to bring his own passion projects to AMC.

At the recently held Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Nicotero won Best Prosthetic Make-up for ?The Walking Dead?. Nicotero directs a series of webisodes this season and is also set to direct an episode. 

AMC senior VP of original programming, production and digital content Joel Stillerman said, "Greg?s talent extends well beyond the word of special fx makeup. He is also a truly talented director, and has an incredibly comprehensive understanding and appreciation for great storytelling. His knowledge and respect for the genre is unparalleled, and we are looking forward to expanding our relationship with him with an eye towards developing more great original series."

Nicotero, who co-owns KNB EFX GROUP, one of Hollywood?s most successful Make-up Effects Studios, premiered his film The United Monster Talent Agency on AMC?S Fearfest last Halloween.

His work on ?The Walking Dead? continues this season on amctv.com. Beginning on 3 October, fans are able to watch the six-episode web series.

Produced by Generate, and conceived and directed by Nicotero and written by John Esposito, the webisodes tell an ?origin? story of a woman?s struggle to survive and to protect her family as the world begins to fall apart. Fans have the opportunity to explore the back story of one of the most celebrated ?walkers? last season. It focuses on "Bicycle Girl," the infamous zombie from season one, who was shot by Rick Grimes in the pilot episode. Fans learn about this woman?s life before the apocalypse, and watch her story unfold into
what becomes her ultimate demise into zombie-hood.

Nicotero said, "Working on ?The Walking Dead? with such a fantastic cast and crew has been an amazing opportunity, and to have our contribution to the show celebrated is a tremendous compliment. I have always felt like the show had a cinematic feel and everyone involved is dedicated to making this show something special. To be able to branch out and to develop not only the web series but also genre material is something I have always wanted to do; given the people I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 23 years."

MUMBAI: Next month?s television trade event Mipcom 2011 that will take place in Cannes is preparing to welcome a galaxy of  internationally-recognised actors, directors, writers, producers and show business personalities.

Holding a Mipcom World Premiere Television Screening of its new thriller TV series Missing in the Palais des Festivals? Grand Auditorium, ABC Studios is bringing stellar cast members of the show to Cannes.

American film and television star Ashley Judd portrays Becca Winstone, a mother and former CIA agent struggling across Europe to rescue her kidnapped son. Ashley Judd is known internationally for her numerous leading roles in major Hollywood productions including Heat (co-starring Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer), A Time To Kill (Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock), High Crimes (Morgan Freeman), Crossing Over (Harrison Ford), Double Jeopardy (Tommy Lee Jones), De-Lovely (Kevin Kline) and Bug (directed by William Friedkin).

New Zealand?s Cliff Curtis gained his fame in Hollywood while portraying characters of many ethnic origins in blockbusters like Live Free Or Die Hard (with Bruce Willis), Training Day (Denzel Washington), Three Kings (George Clooney), The Insider (Al Pacino and Russel Crowe) and Bringing Out The Dead (Nicolas Cage, directed by Martin Scorsese).

The son of Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini and Italian director Livia Giampalmo, Adriano Giannini co-starred with Madonna in the 2002 Swept Away, directed by Guy Ritchie. Giannini became a huge name in Italy with The Consequences Of Love, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, and appeared in Steven Soderbergh?s Ocean?s Twelve.

Creator and executive producer of Missing, Gregory Poirier, previously wrote the screenplay of the John Singleton film Rosewood in 1997, for which he won the Writers Guild of America?s Paul Selvin Award. Poirier also gained professional recognition in writing National Treasure: Book of Secrets (starring Nicolas Cage), Gossip (Kate Hudson), A Sound Of Thunder (Ben Kingsley), The Lion King II: Simba?s Pride and in writing and directing the spirited and energetic comedy Tomcats (2001).

?Missing? executive producers, Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo, are joining the ABC Studios entourage in Cannes along with Mipcom 2011 Personality of the Year Anne Sweeney, Disney/ABC Television Group President and Disney Media Networks Co-chair.

Dutch director of major blockbusters Robocop, Basic Instinct, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven is flying to Mipcom to promote FCCE?s Hollywood-style format and cross-media event called The Entertainment Experience, the world?s first multi-platform format based on a user-generated movie. All aspects of movie making, including acting and filming, are produced by new talent ? anybody can sign up ? guided by an established director who will also make the final cut of the movie. FCCE is in talks with several major international directors for a worldwide rollout of The Entertainment Experience.

Emmy Award winner Eddie Izzard is sailing into Mipcom to promote his appearance as legendary pirate Long John Silver in RHI Entertainment?s new miniseries event adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson?s ?Treasure Island?. Eddie will be accompanied by Treasure Island?s director Steve Barron. The classic tome, which has been given an edgier tone to appeal to the modern viewer, also stars Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings) and Donald Sutherland (Pride & Prejudice).The adrenaline-charged adventure was filmed earlier this year in Puerto Rico and Ireland and is due to premiere on Sky1 HD in the UK.

Entertainment One and Endemol are bringing the eagerly-awaited new western show Hell On Wheels to MIPCOM, along with cast members Anson Mount (City By The Sea, In Her Shoes, Last Night), Grammy Award-winning hip hop artist and actor Common (Terminator Salvation, American Gangster, Date Night, Wanted), Dominique McElligott (Moon, The Philanthropist, Blackthorn) and Colm Meaney (Dick Tracy, Die Hard 2, The Commitments, Con Air). Hell On Wheels will debut in November on AMC in the US.

Endemol is jetting to Mipcom with two other shows. Fran Drescher (The Nanny), writer, producer and star of hit sitcom Happily Divorced will appear alongside co-writer and Executive Producer Peter Marc Jacobson. Renewed for a second season on TV Land, the show is inspired by the real life story of Fran Drescher and her ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson. After 18 years of marriage, Drescher is shocked to discover that her husband Peter (John Michael Higgins) is gay. The LA-based florist must deal with this bombshell and learn to juggle her new relationships and her ex-husband, who remains in the same house post-divorce. Emmy Award-winning actress Kristen Johnston (Third Rock From The Sun, ER, Ugly Betty, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me) leads the cast of brand new TV Land sitcom The Exes, focusing on the lives of three men whose landlord also happens to be their female divorce attorney and avoids her own relationship and commitment issues by becoming immersed in the men?s affairs.

A man of many talents, Bruce Springsteen?s E Street Band?s guitar player and singer Stevie van Zandt is also a radio show producer and a versatile film songwriter. In 1999, Van Zandt became a TV series face when portraying mob consigliere Silvio Dante in the show ?The Sopranos?. At Mipcom this year, Stevie van Zandt is promoting his new ?dramedy? mafia series Lilyhammer, the story of a reformed criminal who testified against his mafia boss in New York and entered the Witness Protection Programme in the Norwegian countryside. The show is produced by Rubicon and distributed by SevenOne International.

After the recent success of his 3D hit feature length documentary ?Cave Of Forgotten Dreams?, German filmmaker Werner Herzog will attend Mipcom to present his documentary film on the fate of American convicts on death row ?Into The Abyss - A Tale Of Death, A Tale Of Life?, presented by ZDF Enterprises.

Distributed by BBC Worldwide, ?Death In Paradise? is a fish-out-of-water story about a quintessential English cop posted to the Caribbean island of Sainte-Marie. British comedian, actor and director Ben Miller and French actress Sara Martins will be accompanied at Mipcom by executive producer Anthony Jordan of Red Planet Pictures. ?Death In Paradise? is the first drama partnership between the BBC and France Televisions.

One of America?s leading stand-up comics and American Comedy Award winner Margaret Cho will electrify the red carpet and the Mipcom Opening Night Party, promoting her new concert film release Cho Dependent, that is represented internationally by Beyond Distribution.

French star photographer, filmmaker and Goodplanet Foundation President Yann Arthus-Bertrand, French production companies Robin & Co and Calt Productions president Jean-Yves Robin and Robin & Co MD Nicolas Coppermann are attending Mipcom to present their new film and television production joint venture Hope Production, dedicated to addressing international environmental questions.

Reed Midem?s television division director Laurine Garaude said, "We are delighted to welcome such a rich line-up of international talent at Mipcom this year. This reflects the fact that some truly big cinema names are increasingly involved in television projects and that producers and distributors recognise the importance of bringing this talent to Mipcom to meet the international entertainment community and promote their shows."

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate NBCUniversal‘s channel, Universal Channel, has bolstered its portfolio of content in the UK with the acquisition of two new US dramas ‘Harry‘s Law? and ‘Law and Order: Los Angeles‘.

Harry‘s Law is the latest US hit from Emmy Award winner David E. Kelley, the writer and producer of Boston Legal and Ally McBeal, and stars Oscar winner Kathy Bates ‘Misery‘ in the eponymous lead role as Harriet ‘Harry? Korn.

Launched in the US on NBC in January 2011 with over 11 million viewers, Harry?s Law ranked as NBC?s most-watched scripted series of the 2010?11 broadcast season and was subsequently renewed for a second season in May.

 
Universal Channel has acquired the exclusive UK rights to both seasons of Harry?s Law from Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

Law and Order; Los Angeles is the latest spin-off of Dick Wolf‘s successful Law and Order franchise, originated for NBC in the US. Universal Channel, which is already the UK premiere home of ‘Law and Order: Special Victims Unit‘, has licensed the exclusive basic television rights in the UK to the West Coast-based series from NBCUniversal International Television Distribution.

Universal Networks International UK MD Laurence Dawkin-Jones said, "Having moved higher up the EPG in February, our priority is to capitalise on Universal Channel‘s new prominence by bringing viewers first run, exclusive content they will not find elsewhere. Harry?s Law and ‘Law and Order: Los Angeles? are terrific, high-quality titles which we are thrilled to claim Universal Channel is UK home to"

‘Law & Order: Los Angeles‘ made its UK debut on Universal Channel on 12 September, while Harry‘s Law will launch on 10 October.

‘Harry?s Law‘ is a quirky, light-touch legal drama which follows Harriet Korn a curmudgeonly ex-patent lawyer who makes a fresh start after she is abruptly fired from her blue chip law firm. Setting up in the characteristically unconventional location of an abandoned shoe store, Harriet forms her own criminal law practice, Harry?s Law and Fine Shoes, with a team of unlikely kindred spirits. David E. Kelley
created the series and serves as executive producer with Bill D‘Elia.

Law & Order: Los Angeles sets the classic crime-then-punishment storytelling of the landmark original series against the distinctive backdrop of LA. The drama follows the progression of cases as they are investigated by the LAPD‘s elite Robbery Homicide Division and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys.