TVSquad

Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts will return to the ABC show on Monday.

Roberts underwent surgery last week after discovering she had breast cancer. The surgery went well and Roberts is now awaiting test results to figure out what her next step should be. ABC spokesperson Bridgett Maney says that Roberts is feeling great and is looking forward to getting back to work.

Roberts will be returning at an interesting time, as the newest Nielsen numbers indicate that the ratings for the 18-49 demographic are down 10% for all morning shows (GMA, Today, and The Early Show) compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, the cable news morning shows have seen increased ratings.

I think the Dutch have us beat when it comes to crazy ideas for reality shows. A couple years ago, they produced a one-off reality series about a woman who wanted some sperm and nothing more, and now they've come up with Big Donor Show, which features a dying woman who will pick one contestant to receive her kidney.

All ethical issues aside, some questions remain, such as whether or not Lisa's (the donor) organs can be transplanted at all, given that she has cancer (specifically: a brain tumor). Also, the donation would probably have to be made before she died, because once she's dead, her wish to have any organ donated to a specific person is no longer valid.

J.J. Abrams is in talks with HBO to direct and executive produce a new medical drama that looks at the toll cancer takes from the patients point of view. This would be the first project that Abrams undertakes with the new mega-contract he signed with Warner Bros. back during the summer. Abrams' own production company, Bad Robot, is part of the contract he signed.

The drama, based on the book The Anatomy of Hope, will be written in part by Tom Schulman -- the same guy who wrote Dead Poets Society and won the Oscar for it.

Seems like Abrams has his hands full lately. I doubt very much he'll have much time to devote to Lost if he's busy directing this new show, executive producing What About Brian, and getting things ready for the eleventh Star Trek movie. This guy is in demand.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

(S10E14) After relentlessly satirizing current events for several episodes, the minds behind South Park took a nice departure with this episode, offering up a hysterical take on mainstream movie conventions, complete with a voiceover and musical score provided by a man who follows Stan around to clue everyone in on what's happening while he plays music on a portable record player.

Following the old comedy standby that pain is always funny, this episode sees Stan trying to become responsible, but having more pressure put on him from the town's adults than he can handle. First his bike is towed (that's right, I said "towed"), so he can't do his paper route, and if he can't make money from the paper route, he can't get his bicycle back. He ends up enlisted to coach the pee-wee hockey team, a group of toddlers who can barely skate and never score a single goal.

While recovering in the hospital from cancer surgery, the syndicated Ebert and Roeper has had a different guest host on every week to fill in for Ebert while he recovers. Now that it's been revealed that Ebert is actually going to be spending more time in the hospital than he initially thought, even more hosts have been lined up to keep the show going as he convalesces. The guests, which will appear on the show until the end of September, include Aisha Tyler, Fred Willard, television writer John Ridley, entertainment reporter Toni Senecal, and Chicago Tribune movie critic Michael Phillips. It is still uncertain when Ebert will be able to return to work, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. Having guest critics on is fun and all, but I do miss Roger.