It's Official: Caroline Rhea to Replace Rosie O'Donnell

This alternative to The Oprah Winfrey Show, who is not Oprah until it's Oprah according to David Letterman who's in his third month trying to be a guest on her show, but that's another story, will go on when this show morphs into The Caroline Rhea Show later this year. Rhea has already made numerous appearances as guest host on ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' this year.

Stations that have agreed to carry the show include ABC affiliates in New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston. The series has also been sold in several other major markets, including Phoenix, San Diego, Kansas City and Las Vegas. A Telepictures spokesman said the company is hoping to secure similar commitments from stations in Los Angeles and Chicago in the next few days.

Rhea will take over a show that became one of the first to successfully challenge the dominance of ``The Oprah Winfrey Show'' show on afternoon television. While ``Oprah'' went after the more staid crowd with her mix of segments on women's and lifestyle issues, Rosie, a strong children's advocate, created a lighter show in which she teased her guests and often poked fun at herself.

The Canadian-born Rhea is a comedian perhaps best known for her regular appearances on the current rendition of the TV game show ``Hollywood Squares'' and her role on the WB television series ``Sabrina, the Teenage Witch,'' where she plays Aunt Hilda.

And that sequeues into this next item...

'Sabrina' Dreams of 'Jeannie' Among Others

Appearing in the next few episodes are pop singers Vitamin C (Jan. 23), Carnie Wilson (Feb. 1) and Usher (Feb. 15), country singer Andy Griggs (Feb. 22), former WWF star Joanie Laurer (AKA Chyna), tennis star Andy Roddick and the return of "I Dream of Jeannie" star Barbara Eden.

"If I can put a celebrity in a role where I would cast a regular actor it's much more fun to have a celebrity there," says Paula Hart, "Sabrina's" executive producer and mother to the show's star, Melissa Joan, tells Zap2it.

Getting people to appear on the show is easy, she says, thanks to the large pool of celebrities they choose from.

"We go to all different types of people -- from Adrienne Barbeau to Usher," Hart says. "We really ran the gamut this year -- we had Hanson, Joanie Laurer who's formerly known as Chyna from the WWF and Vitamin C -- so it's been lots and lots of fun."

Some stars come to them, asking to be on the series (like Usher) and others are based on personal preference.

While guest-celebrities can help bring viewers to a show, sometimes, it isn't as easy as it sounds to fit them in if acting isn't what they're famous for.

"Sometime music people like Britney Spears, or especially sports figures, are not the best actors and we just kind of go with it and you kind of adapt it for them," Hart says.

As for who's her favorite guest celebrity on the show so far, Hart says "Barbara Eden," without missing a beat.

"She's wonderful to work with, she's very easy and adaptable and can do just about whatever you ask her to without any problems," she says, explaining her choice. "She doesn't have a lot of notes for us and she's just wonderful."

''Nikki'' nixed in its 2nd season

The WB has decided to halt production on the second season of the comedy which stars Nikki Cox as a Las Vegas showgirl and Nick von Esmarch as her wrestler husband. Nineteen episodes will be produced, down from the 22 the WB had ordered from corporate sibling Warner Bros. Television.

``Nikki'' will still air as planned this Sunday; the WB had already planned to preempt the series Feb. 3 for a ``Popstars 2'' marathon. It's unclear if the show will return after that.

A total of 41 episodes will have been produced when the show wraps. The show has averaged about 2.4 million viewers per episode so far this season.

Broadcasting and Cable: http://www.broadcastingcable.com - Rhea picked up in L.A., Chicago... Warner Bros. Domestic TV has cleared its new talk show with Caroline Rhea in Los Angeles and Chicago for the fall. Warner Bros. -- which announced earlier in the week that eight ABC owned-and-operated stations had signed on for the show, including WABC-TV -- has now added KCAL-TV Los Angeles and WCIU-TV Chicago. The Caroline Rhea Show is now sold in more than 64 percent of the country for the fall. Rhea will be taking over Rosie OİDonnellİs New York set and production crew. OİDonnell will also be involved on the production side and make guest appearances.

CBS Renews Shows/Ellen Pulled

CBS has renewed four comedies and five dramas for 2002-03, but some of this season's series may not make the cut.

CBS renewed its entire slate of Monday night comedies ("The King of Queens," "Yes, Dear," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Becker") and Tuesday dramas ("JAG," "The Guardian" and "The Judging Amy"). As expected, full-season renewals were a formality for CBS's hit 9 p.m.-to-10 p.m. (ET) Thursday hit drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," which is going to get a spinoff series next season, and 10 p.m. Saturday drama "The District."

Although CBS appears to have very few holes in its prime-time schedule, there are still several high-profile shows sitting on the fence, awaiting word whether they'll return next season. Topping the list is freshman 8 p.m. Sunday drama, "The Education of Max Bickford," which has exhibited renewed signs of growth in recent weeks. Sunday night's airing of "Bickford," starring Richard Dreyfuss, turned in a second-ranked 8.5 rating/13 share household average (representing 12.2 million total viewers) -- marking its second highest ratings since its premiere on Sept. 30, 2001.

Also on the renewal watch list is the 10 p.m. Monday drama "Family Law" and the 8 p.m. Friday sitcom "The Ellen Show" (starring Ellen DeGeneres), which have both been somewhat challenged in attracting new audience sampling.

Among the latest renewals, one of the most unexpected surprises of this season has been the ratings success of 9 p.m. Tuesday drama, "The Guardian," which is scheduled in what has been arguably the most competitive time period on TV this season.

In a related story, CBS has shut down production of ``The Ellen Show,'' making the struggling Ellen DeGeneres comedy the latest series to fall victim to network belt-tightening.

A total of 18 episodes had been taped when the lights were turned off Friday; a few months ago, the network had announced a full-season order of 22 episodes.

``The Ellen Show'' failed to catch fire with audiences in its regular Friday slot. A handful of Monday airings fared better, but didn't wow.

The show had already been pulled through the February sweeps. Five remaining original episodes are slated to air in March and April, and CBS insiders said ``Ellen'' remains a contender to make the net's fall 2002 sked, which will be announced in May.

In recent weeks, several shows previously greenlit for 22 episodes have seen their orders reduced as networks look to save money on underperformers.

Fox, for example, cut back on ``Undeclared'' and ``Titus.'' ABC shaved off several episodes of ``Once and Again,'' while the WB shut down ``Nikki'' earlier than planned.

The WB to Add Two More Hours on Sunday Nights

The network had originally planned to add two hours of programming to Saturday nights (which is currently doesn't program), but some affiliate stations, especially those owned by Tribune, preferred that the night be kept empty for sports programming.

"We have weighed the question of how and when to expand to Saturdays for a few years and we agree with many of our affiliates that Sunday provides far more benefits for both the network and the stations," says Jed Petrick, The WB's president and CEO.

From 5 to 7 p.m. on Sundays, The WB will repeat shows aired earlier in the week on the network. Advertising will be sold separately for both runs of the series. The shows to be repeated have not yet been determined.

The extra hours give the network more space for advertising -- the main way broadcast networks turn a profit. It's space that's been in demand, according to Petrick, due to the network's strategy of targeting female teens 12 to 34-years-old.

In addition, airing a show twice in the same week, has been shown to increase its viewers, Petrick says.

"In the past, both '7th Heaven' and 'Gilmore Girls' have benefited dramatically by airing twice in the same broadcast week," he says, "and we believe we will be able to replicate that success by carefully selecting strong shows to fill out our new 15-hour schedule."

Plus, the move may end up helping to draw viewers to the network's regular Sunday night lineup, attracting viewers to the primarily male-skewed comedies, such as "Off Centre" and the new "JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment."

Tribune (which also owns Zap2it) had a 25 percent stake in The WB, owns WB affiliates in eight of the top 10 markets and 13 of the top 20.