Ted Danson

Ted Danson strolled along Santa Monica Beach, a bit overdressed among the sneaker-and-sandal crowd in his crisp button-down and dark blazer draped elegantly over one shoulder. As he studied the horizon, an incognito Dave Chappelle caught his eye and Danson deftly sidestepped a clutch of oncoming tourists to present himself before the comedian. "How are you?" he asked, offering his hand and tilting that closely cropped snow-white head of his. "You are like a hero in my family." Chappelle, dressed for a jog, looked braced for Ashton Kutcher and the "Punk'd" crew.

SERIES The Witch Doctor Will See You Now: In the premiere of this new series, Piers Gibbon travels to Hong Kong to study traditional Chinese medicine (7 and 10 p.m. National Geographic). The Sing-Off: The groups each perform a rock classic and a country song in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). Terra Nova: Maddy and Reynolds (Naomi Scott, Dean Geyer) are stranded in the wilderness as a meteor wipes out all the technology and throws the colony into chaos in this new episode (8 p.m. Fox)

Well, it's official. At this stage in his career, there is nothing Ted Danson can't do. Including walk into an aging franchise, crash through its calcified conventions and deliver a whole new sort of genius investigator — one who isn't tortured or crazy, one who can ask his wary new team about local farmers markets with the same easy confidence that he uses to dress down a subordinate who thinks paperwork is beneath him. Watching Danson glide...

The Brooklyn-based writer Jonathan Ames was in Southern California not long ago, not long before the third-season premiere of "Bored to Death," a lovely and good-hearted detective comedy about a Brooklyn-based writer named Jonathan Ames. Ames, who created and writes or co-writes every episode, had come west to appear on Craig Ferguson's talk show, where the two would discuss hair and masturbation. The writer is not shy about airing what for most people would remain hidden desires: "What's Not to Love?

"I've always been kind of a shill," says Ted Danson. "The guy out in front of the tent saying, 'Thank you so much for watching "Cheers," come on in and let me introduce you to the marine biologists who have something really important to tell you.'" The former Sam Malone might seem an unlikely environmental activist, but Ted Danson has quietly been advocating on behalf of our oceans for 25 years. Now he has taken his commitment to a new place: bookshelves. His recently released first book, "Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do To Save Them" (co-written with Michael D'Orso, Rodale, $32.50)

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Cheers to Ted Danson! The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Damages" actor will replace Laurence Fishburne as team leader on "CSI. " ( Los Angeles Times ) "True Blood" actress Deborah Ann Woll better get used to the sunlight because she, Antonio Banderas and Steve Coogan have signed on to "He Loves Me," Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' follow-up to their 2006 road-trip hit "Little Miss Sunshine. " ( Los Angeles Times )

It was early Sunday afternoon at the Futures for Children benefit and host Ted Danson, tall and rangy as a Texas cowboy, was standing in the entry of his Santa Fe-style home in Santa Monica Canyon, greeting guests and talking about his youth. How he grew up in Flagstaff, Ariz., where he hung out with Hopi and Navaho children, and how today his involvement with Futures for Children is "kind of a pay-back to my childhood." Suddenly a broad grin spread across his face and he began to laugh.

Suddenly, here is Ted Danson, back in our sitcom lives. Only this time he came in through the back door--on "Becker," a midseason replacement on CBS. Keeping "Becker" off the new fall lineup in favor of the since-canceled "Brian Benben Show" has turned out to be a canny piece of Monday night strategy by CBS.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals doesn't have a tournament scheduled this weekend, but eight of its players will compete in the Honda Del Sol pro-celebrity challenge on Saturday at Santa Monica Beach, just west of the Loew's Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes, the AVP's top-ranked players, and Adam Johnson and Brian Lewis are expected to compete. AVP women who are scheduled to compete are Jackie Silva, Linda Carrillo, Angela Rock and Holly McPeak.

Old "Cheers" pals Sam Malone and Frasier Crane will reunite next month when Ted Danson guest stars on "Frasier" in a special episode for the ratings sweeps, NBC Entertainment President Warren Littlefield announced Monday during the semi-annual gathering of national television writers and critics.

Well, it's official. At this stage in his career, there is nothing Ted Danson can't do. Including walk into an aging franchise, crash through its calcified conventions and deliver a whole new sort of genius investigator — one who isn't tortured or crazy, one who can ask his wary new team about local farmers markets with the same easy confidence that he uses to dress down a subordinate who thinks paperwork is beneath him. Watching Danson glide...

The polygamous family featured on cable television's "Sister Wives" challenged the bigamy law that makes their lifestyle illegal Wednesday. Attorney Jonathan Turley filed a lawsuit challenging the Utah law in Salt Lake City's U.S. District Court. Turley represents Kody Brown and his four wives — Meri, Janelle, Christine and Robyn. Kody Brown is legally married only to Meri Brown. The Browns belong to the Apostolic United Brethren church, which practices polygamy as part of its faith.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Cheers to Ted Danson! The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Damages" actor will replace Laurence Fishburne as team leader on "CSI. " ( Los Angeles Times ) "True Blood" actress Deborah Ann Woll better get used to the sunlight because she, Antonio Banderas and Steve Coogan have signed on to "He Loves Me," Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' follow-up to their 2006 road-trip hit "Little Miss Sunshine. " ( Los Angeles Times )

"I've always been kind of a shill," says Ted Danson. "The guy out in front of the tent saying, 'Thank you so much for watching "Cheers," come on in and let me introduce you to the marine biologists who have something really important to tell you.'" The former Sam Malone might seem an unlikely environmental activist, but Ted Danson has quietly been advocating on behalf of our oceans for 25 years. Now he has taken his commitment to a new place: bookshelves. His recently released first book, "Oceana: Our Endangered Oceans and What We Can Do To Save Them" (co-written with Michael D'Orso, Rodale, $32.50)

UNDERRATED Relatively Clean Rivers: We've been intrigued by this obscure band's self-titled 1975 release since it was name-checked by Wilco in advance of the album "Sky Blue Sky. " After finally tracking down a copy, we not only hear its easygoing guitars in Wilco and Blitzen Trapper, but there's something about its woozy, rural psychedelia that sounds like nothing else. Start with the song "Hello Sunshine" and watch your Indian Summer get a little sunnier. Ted Danson on 'Bored to Death': Right down to its Brooklyn setting, this HBO series couldn't be hipper with Wes Anderson favorite Jason Schwartzman starring as writer-series creater Jonathan Ames.

Ted Danson strolled along Santa Monica Beach, a bit overdressed among the sneaker-and-sandal crowd in his crisp button-down and dark blazer draped elegantly over one shoulder. As he studied the horizon, an incognito Dave Chappelle caught his eye and Danson deftly sidestepped a clutch of oncoming tourists to present himself before the comedian. "How are you?" he asked, offering his hand and tilting that closely cropped snow-white head of his. "You are like a hero in my family." Chappelle, dressed for a jog, looked braced for Ashton Kutcher and the "Punk'd" crew.

The new Ted Danson comedy "Ink" is indeed going back to the drawing board, with CBS drafting another "Cheers" graduate, Rhea Perlman, to take its place at the prime-time bar. In a costly eleventh-hour move, CBS said Thursday that it will delay "Ink's" scheduled and heavily promoted premiere from Sept. 16 until Oct. 21 because the network and the stars were unsatisfied with initial episodes.

On a night when there was no dominant winner, the talk backstage at the Emmy Awards in Pasadena Sunday was narrowly focused on the individuals bestowed with the statuettes. Those who trekked back to meet the press--not everyone did--were happy but not always expansive. One of the happiest was Ted Danson. Veteran loser Danson, finally a winner after eight previous Emmy nominations, said that it felt good to be recognized finally for his work on "Cheers."

The novelist Jonathan Ames was rereading works by the pulp writer David Goodis several years ago when he first got the inspiration for "Bored to Death," the latest quirky comedy to join HBO's lineup. Intrigued by the character of the hard-boiled detective, he briefly considered posting an ad on Craigslist advertising his services as an investigator. "I just wanted adventures," he said. Instead, Ames penned a dark short story about a writer named Jonathan Ames who poses as a detective on Craigslist.