TVSquad

There are a lot of so-called "psychics" and "mediums" on television, but very few of them admit they're full of crap.

That's why I like Derren Brown. Using a mix of psychology and manipulation, he gets ordinary folks to do things they wouldn't normally do. Brown does not claim to be psychic, or to possess supernatural abilities, he simply has a knack for getting inside a person's head.

He's already made a name for himself in his native U.K., performing such stunts as playing Russian roulette on live television and convincing one person they had been transported into a zombie video game.

Ana Claudia Talancon has been cast as the lead in Whitney, a new comedy for HBO about a group of sexy women in Miami who take advantage of men by making each men think they're the only ones in the women's lives. The pilot was written by Lisa Schrager and will film in Miami. Ana Claudia Talancon was last seen in theaters in Richard Linklater's film Fast Food Nation.

There's not much information on this new series, so all I can say is I hope it doesn't fall into the newish cliche of smart, sexy women manipulating stupid men. I'm not saying women can't be smart and sexy, and I'm definitely not saying men can't be stupid, I'm saying that mix has been done before. I want to know what Whitney will bring to the table that hasn't been done before.