TVSquad

Certain shows seem to be perfect for certain television networks. That's the point of programming, no doubt, and Lifetime has done a good job filling their female-centric niche with TV movies and series like Army Wives. That said, I think there will soon be a new favorite on Lifetime and it's called Drop Dead Diva. It's chick-flick, rom-com for weekly TV viewers, and while men might enjoy the whimsical plot and attractive characters, this is a show that ladies will adore.

If you were talking high concept like a Hollywood pitchman, you could describe Drop Dead Diva as Ally McBeal for the Lane Bryant set. Or maybe it's Sara Lee meets Heaven Can Wait. However, you put it, Drop Dead Diva is a switcheroo story about a vapid, but lovable, gorgeous size 2 model who dies at the exact same time as a brilliant, generous size 16 workaholic attorney, and in one of those wonderful Hollywood comedy devices, shallow Deb's spirit winds up in good Jane's body.

Rick and Steve are a gay couple, and they're animated. I don't mean they're lively, I mean they're the stars of a new animated series for Logo called Rick and Steve. The series, which begins July 10 at 10:00 p.m., features voice work by Alan Cumming, Margaret Cho, Wilson Cruz and Peter Paige. The music for the series is composed by the same folks who wrote the music for Avenue Q.

The characters in Rick and Steve resemble tiny posable toys, which makes the show look like something created for the Nick Jr. set. Of course, the themes are just a tad more adult than that, or so I gathered by watching the trailer.

Quick. Name a network television show, other than Margaret Cho's All-American Girl, that featured Asian-Americans in all of the lead roles. Sure, you can find a handful of Korean-Americans in the ensemble casts of Lost and Survivor, and the animated Long family rules the roost on the Disney's Channel's American Dragon. But, not since Cho's short-lived 1994 series has there been an entire show constructed around the trials and tribulations of Asian-American characters. On December 26th, that may change.

PBS affiliates around the country are debuting the series My Life...Disoriented, a Degrassi-style high school drama about sisters Kimberlee and Aimee Fung. The girls' lives are turned upside down when they move from San Francisco to a largely white neighborhood in Bakersfield, California. The show was created by Five Dollar Martini Productions - a partnership which includes three Asian-American women including actress Di Quon.

Ugly Betty is joining the fray in fighting for young girls' self-esteem. ABC has announced a new public service campaign - Be Ugly '07 - to hit the web and the streets on December 30th. The campaign's aim - aside from scoring more viewers for ABC's hit dramedy - is to debunk conventional notions of beauty. The campaign's slogan - "Be real, be smart, be passionate, be true to yourself and be ugly."

ABC, which pulled its plastic surgery show Extreme Makeover from the airwaves, is hoping to capitalize on the recent super-thin model backlash started on the catwalks in Europe and the Dove "Real Beauty" ads. ABC marketing executive Michael Benson would like you to know that redefining beauty is "in the cultural zeitgeist."