Criminal Minds Star Shemar Moore On Probation Filed under ( CBS, Criminal Minds, Shemar Moore )

Criminal Minds actor Shemar Moore was arrested on June 1st after being stopped for speeding. He was officially charged on June 22 with a DUI and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or above, said Frank Mateljan, city attorney spokesman.

He has now been sentenced to 3 years of probation and 80 hours of community service after pleading no contest in an alcohol-related speeding case. As part of his plea arrangement, he had to plead no contest to a misdemeanor count of exhibition of speed, and the DUI charges were then dropped.

"I'm a serious and conscientious person by nature, but my one vice is driving fast, and it unfortunately took something like this for me to take stock and slow down," the actor said in a statement last month.

Photo from AOL News.

It's Official: Mandy Patinkin Closes Door to Criminal Minds Filed under ( CBS, Criminal Minds, Mandy Patinkin )

As we reported last week, there was much unrest on the CBS set of Criminal Minds, namely with the show's lead actor Mandy Patinkin. The show's executive producer recently posted the below update on the very popular Criminal Minds fansite, which was quickly followed by the official word that Mandy has requested to be let out of his contract, and granted said request. What the heck is he thinking?

"There have been several reports recently in the media about the Mandy Patinkin situation on Criminal Minds. Firstly, they are true — Mr. Patinkin has left the show. What's troubling to us, though, is that the reports tend to suggest or hint that the producers, the studios or CBS have something to do with what has happened. Phrases like 'maybe cooler heads will prevail... ' and the like have been used. Let me make this clear: This is not about a contract renegotiation, this is not about money, this is not about something Mr. Patinkin asked for that wasn't provided — in fact, everyone involved in the show has for two years bent over backward to give him anything he wanted.

Mr. Patinkin told the show, the studios and the network that he was returning right up to the day before we started shooting the first episode, and then simply did not show up. He also has not contacted anyone within the show (producers, cast, crew) to explain why he isn't returning. Even to this moment, we have no word from him. He gave us no advance notice that anything was wrong, no oppurtunity to find a way to make the loss of this character work, no indication that we should be looking for someone else, no warning that we might have to rewrite the first seven scripts (which is how far ahead we try to work) without the central character in them. None. Zero. He was not, as some media reports have indicated, written 'lightly' in our first episode; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Because of the construct of the first episode story, he was actually in the center of that episode. He left us completely in the proverbial lurch.

As loyal fans of the show, we think you all deserve an explanation and I wish I had a better one to give you. The most amazing writing staff in television is working very hard to find a way to make this work, and we will find a way to give you the organic, dramatic experience you expect from CM.

If I have new news I will provide it, and if there are questions you have... we will do our best to answer. If you hear a rumor, please ask us. I remain touched and humbled by the support you have all shown the show.

Thank you so much,
Ed Bernero

Trouble on the Criminal Minds Set? Filed under ( CBS, Criminal Minds, Jorja Fox, Mandy Patinkin )

I sincerely hope not, since it's one of my favorite crime shows. TV Guide is reporting that actor Mandy Patinkin was written out of the season premiere after failing to show up for work. And coincidentally, or maybe not so much, that the Criminal Minds folks are advertising for an actor fitting the description of his character. Uh oh. Sure hope we don't have another Jorja Fox on our hands.

Photo from TV Guide.

Rosie Gets a Big, Fat N-O from Price is Right Head Honchos Filed under ( CBS, Rosie O'Donnell, The Price is Right, The View )

Somebody said no to Rosie? Yup. Turns out the CBS head honchos turned her down for the coveted spot of host of The Price is Right.

She told TV Guide recently, "They thought I was too controversial to host the game show. I just wanted to ‘gay it up.’" What changes exactly did she want to make? Per TV Guide, she apparently, "wanted to get rid of Barker’s beauties in favor of a chorus line of Broadway hunks, confetti, musical bumpers and a much-needed set makeover 'so the colors actually match!'" She said that she was disappointed that they passed on her, but is in the process of mulling over offers to start her own daytime talk show again.

In the meantime, don't cry for her. She has already finished a tell-all book on her 10-month stint on The View, and plans to release it on September 18th. Guess when you're out of work, you have nothing but free time to write. "It’s not mean-spirited," O’Donnell says. "It’s just honest."

Photo from TV Guide.

John Billingsley Joining NCIS Filed under ( CBS, John Billingsley, NCIS, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Nine )

John Billingsley, who was most recently seen on the now-defunct show The Nine, is probably best known for his role as Dr. Phlox from Star Trek: Enterprise.

He will be guest starring on an upcoming episode of CBS' NCIS. In the May 1st episode, he will play Jackson Scott, a visually impaired photographer who helps solve a case surrounding a deceased petty officer.

Photo from johnbillingsley.net.

Pirate Master Details Unveiled Filed under ( Are You Smarter than an Average 5th Grader?, Cameron Daddo, CBS, Mark Burnett, Pirate Masters, Survivor, The Apprentice )

Mark Burnett is adding to his empire, slowly but surely. Poised to become the Aaron Spelling of reality television, the man behind Survivor, The Apprentice and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is ready to unleash his newest show on the public. Pirate Master premieres on May 31 (on CBS, of course) and will be hosted by Australian actor/musician Cameron Daddo (Big Momma's House 2). The 13-episode series stars "16 people who all agree that had they been born 250 years ago, they would have liked to be pirates," as Burnett told TV Guide recently, from the set on the Caribbean island of Dominica.

Contestants live on a 179-foot-square rigger for 33 days while searching for buried treasure worth $1 million. Burnett said that the game stems from a mythical pirate story he came up with, "Captain Steel."

"Each man returned to the ship with a set of maps and hid them in a chest with 14 compartments, and it was only a few weeks ago that the chest was recovered," he said. "So the contestants are sailing to a different destination each week around the island looking for the treasure."

"It's a huge — and hard — adventure, with jumping off waterfalls, swimming up canyon lakes and crossing mud-filled jungles," Burnett says. The show's motto? "Watch your back." As Burnett notes, "Pirates have their own rules, and while they need to work as a group on the expeditions, you never know who's going to stab you in the back."

Contestants dress in period costumes, eat gruel and are ruled by an elected captain who can be overthrown if he doesn't treat his crew well. Each week at "Pirate's Court" — which are, according to Burnett, modeled after actual tribunals — a player is cast off the ship and set adrift on a raft. "If you can't run with the crew, if you can't swim or row or navigate, you're a liability."

The pirate crew is made up of eight men and eight women. Among them: "a very tough Nigerian who became an American and a former Navy rescue swimmer, who's currently a smoke jumper. Everybody's a good athlete, but what they've learned is that to be a great pirate, you have to be really smart."

"It's a lot of fun, a great summer yarn. It's fantasy meets reality," says Burnett, who wrote the show back in 2003, adding "It's a big endeavor to pull off."

Photo from TV Guide.

Dean Cain to Star in New CBS Drama Filed under ( CBS, Dean Cain, Lois and Clark, Protect and Serve, Superman )

The former Lois & Clark star and father of one is returning to the small screen in a new drama for CBS this Fall. Protect and Serve follows police officers in suburban Los Angeles.

Photo from Star Pulse.