Television Programs

Terrell Owens is one beautiful man and he knows it, oh, Lord, he knows it, and so do his publicists, Kita Williams and Monique Jackson, the forces behind "The T.O. Show," which premieres tonight on VH1. Why else would the publicity art include a nude portrait of the football star, why else would Owens spend at least 60% of his time in front of the camera shirtless? Good thing too, because the sculpted pecs, mighty shoulders and perfect abs are just about the only thing the show has going for it.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) has become such a perpetual figure in American politics that it's easy to think of him as more memorial than man, one of the capital's landmarks -- the Mall, the Smithsonian, the White House and Teddy Kennedy in the Senate. It is difficult to tell his life story without almost immediately running into a similar problem.

When ABC's highly anticipated new drama "FlashForward" premieres in September, HBO will probably be scrutinizing the show's ratings just as much as the alphabet network will. That's because the pay cable channel was pitched "FlashForward" and passed, but not before negotiating a nice stake in return for letting the producers shop it elsewhere.

The much-maligned world of reality television is winning praise these days for "keeping it real" in an unexpectedly relevant way -- reflecting a more diverse America than its more highbrow cousins in scripted prime-time shows. Despite decades of public pressure on the major networks to diversify, the lead characters in all but a few of prime-time scripted shows this season are still white -- and usually young and affluent.

The son of famed Orange County television evangelist Robert H. Schuller said Tuesday he had acquired cable network AmericanLife TV from the Unification Church in partnership with a private equity fund that invests in Christian media firms. The deal comes seven months after the older Rev. Schuller said he was removing his son, the Rev. Robert A. Schuller, as the only preacher of "The Hour of Power" three years after turning the long-running Christian television program over to him.

I was several floors up in a burning high-rise, trapped with hundreds of other panicked co-workers who couldn't find an easy escape. The halls were filling with smoke, as were the stairwells, so I took the only obvious way out. I stepped into an elevator -- and plummeted to a fiery, premature death. Or so it was meant to seem. In truth, I was just acting. I was an extra on the set of an elaborate pyrotechnic simulation that makes up the escape-from-fire episode of a Spike TV show, "Surviving Disaster," that premieres tonight at 10. The latest high-octane infotainment program to hit the testosterone-fueled cable network, "Surviving Disaster" is half reality TV, half scripted narrative -- a program that takes advantage of the country's high anxiety and enthusiasm for preparedness while striving to live up to its name.

Two years ago, Calgary real estate executive Ryan Alexander Jenkins was sentenced to 15 months' probation and ordered to complete domestic violence counseling after hitting his then-girlfriend. But Jenkins came to Los Angeles and was selected as a contestant on the VH1 reality show "Megan Wants a Millionaire," on which wealthy men compete for the love of a young woman. Now Jenkins is wanted in the slaying of his ex-wife, model Jasmine Fiore, and "Megan Wants a Millionaire" has been abruptly pulled off the air by VH1. The case raises questions about how a man with a record of domestic violence got onto a show on which the object is to marry a woman.

Most fledgling poets would be thrilled if their work were to be broadcast on one of Afghanistan's premier cultural television programs. Roya was terrified. Her unemployed brother, who doesn't think women should take part in public activity of any kind, was at home that evening, watching television with her and her mother. "I was afraid if he saw me reading my work at a conference that was televised, he would kill me," she said. Mercifully, he was bathing when the program came on. She was in agony until it ended, torn between the thrill of hearing her own words and the fear of discovery: "My heart was beating so hard!"

Microsoft Corp. is going back in time to promote its new Windows 7 operating system. Taking its inspiration from Texaco Star Theater, a Milton Berle-hosted 1950s variety show that was television's first big hit, the computer giant is teaming with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane to sponsor a 30-minute show to air on the Fox network next month. The show will run without commercials, and promises to feature "unique Windows 7-branded programming that blends seamlessly with show content."

For the TV networks, the meat and potatoes of prime time are back on the menu. After abandoning America's heartland and failing in recent years to create a successful sitcom, ABC on Wednesday will try to revive its legacy of strong family comedies with "The Middle." Set in the fictional town of Orson, Ind., "The Middle" stars Patricia Heaton as a harried mom trying her best to hold down a job selling cars while taking care of her husband and their three mostly ordinary kids -- even if that means serving them still-frozen waffles.