British scientist says she wrote ‘Call Girl’
Blog was turned into books, TV series that aired on Showtime
A British scientist says she is Belle de Jour, the anonymous blogger whose accounts of life as a call girl were turned into books and a TV series. Brooke Magnanti was quoted by the Sunday Times as saying she decided to reveal her secret because she was afraid an ex-boyfriend would expose her. Magnanti is a child health researcher at the University of Bristol in western England. She told the newspaper she turned to the sex trade in 2003 while finishing her Ph.D. and worked as an escort for more than a year.

Ricky Gervais pens ‘PhoneShop’
U.K. comedy is set in cell phone retail store
The action is set in a phone store at a shopping mall where graduate Christopher (Tom Bennett) needs to prove himself worthy of a job by selling a cell phone before the shop closes for the day. “PhoneShop,” to air in the U.K. on Channel 4, has been created, written and produced by Phil Bowker and supervised by Gervais. Bowker, head of comedy at U.K. shingle Talkback Thames, gave Gervais his first job on TV a decade ago.

Alyssa Milano to guest on ‘Castle’
Will play Nathan Fillion’s ex on ABC drama
Alyssa Milano, star of ABC’s midseason comedy “Romantically Challenged,” is pulling an extra duty on the network, signing on for a guest stint on ABC’s sophomore drama “Castle.” On the quirky detective show about mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) working with the NYPD, Milano is doing to play Castle’s ex-love. Her appearance is sure to complicate the flirtatiously charged relationship between Castle and detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic).

Ray Bradbury to develop miniseries
Author inks deal with White Oak for ‘Bradbury Chronicles’
Ray Bradbury has signed on with White Oak Films to develop a miniseries based on six of his short stories. White Oak’s John Dayton will exec produce “The Bradbury Chronicles” — now targeted as a six-hour event. No network is yet attached. Bradbury, the author of famed books such as “Fahrenheit 451” and “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” will help choose and adapt the six stories.

ABC closing in on ‘Charlie’s Angels’
Network close to deal on pilot order
ABC is close to giving a pilot order to a modern version of the classic 1970s TV actioner “Charlie’s Angels.” Josh Friedman, who recently adapted the “Terminator” franchise for his Fox series “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” is onboard to write and exec produce the new “Angels.”

Hayden Panettiere, TV producer
Hayden Panettiere is bringing her famed producing skills to a new CW project. Here’s Nellie Andreeva with more…
The CW is going to medical school with “HMS,” an ensemble drama from “Mystic Pizza” writer Amy Holden Jones. The project, about a group of bright students at Harvard Medical School, marks the producing debut of “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere, who is attached as co-executive producer.

Torchwood creator talks season four
Show creator Russell T. Davies told TV Guide that Torchwood is likely to be renewed for a fourth season. The BBC has yet to officially green-light a fourth year, but Davies said he’s already working on ideas for the further adventures of Captain Jack Harkness and crew.

Never-before-aired ‘Star Trek’ pilot to be released
As “Star Trek” fans know there were two very different pilots for the original series. The first, “The Cage,” was rejected by NBC for being “too cerebral” (ah, some things never change). The second, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” replaced the actor who played the captain with William Shatner and was more action driven. That pilot had an alternate version which was largely lost and has never aired. Apparently, a film collector in Germany somehow acquired a print of the alternate version and recently brought it to the attention of CBS/Paramount. CBS is now releasing this version on Blu-ray on Dec. 15.

Syfy going into ‘Outer Space’
Half-hour show is a futuristic comedy about eight astronauts
Syfy is expanding its comedy block with the premiere of five-episode comedy series “Outer Space Astronauts.” The half-hour show, which combines live-action and 2D and 3D animation technology, will debut Dec. 8. “Astronauts,” from creator/exec producer Russell Barrett and exec producers David O. Russell and Scott Puckett, is a futuristic comedy about eight military misfits who journey to the far reaches of the galaxy on board the O.S.S. Oklahoma.

Zack Whedon Offers ‘Dr. Horrible’ Sequel Update
“They finish up ‘Dollhouse’ in the winter—at least what they’ve scheduled to shoot thus far—so hopefully when that’s done, we’ll all be able to get together more frequently and grind it out,” he explained. “There are a couple of songs written. It’s very promising. We’re all very excited about where it goes.”

ABC cancels ‘Hank’
Production will stop after completion of 10th episode
ABC has canceled the freshman comedy starring Kelsey Grammer. The show is filming episode 10 and will stop production after wrapping that episode. ABC, which has aired five half-hours of “Hank,” has no immediate plans to run the remaining five segments.

Joss Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse’ canceled
Sci-fi series expected to finish its 13-episode order
The network has canceled Joss Whedon’s cult fave, which in May beat the odds with a second-season pickup despite low ratings. The sci-fi series, which is filming episode 11, will finish its 13-episode order. “Yes. Canceled. Sad but true,” tweeted Maurissa Tancharoen, a writer on “Dollhouse” who is married to Whedon’s brother Jed Whedon, also a writer on the show.

‘V’ Star Scott Wolf Gets Info on Need-to-Know Basis, Like Fans
“I think we all believed in the show and have loved being a part of it, and you know, I’ve said to some of the other cast members, there have been a lot of things that I’ve been a part of that, even if things are going well, it’s sort of hard to see. It’s just hard to sort of see off into the future. And with this show I just, from the minute I jumped on board with it, I’ve just really been optimistic about it. I feel like it’s such a fun story.”

Nielsen: TV viewing reaches all-time high (chart)
More data from Nielsen suggesting that the number of hours Americans spend watching TV is continuing to increase despite people also spending more time in front of their computers and PDAs. The average person spends four hours and 49 minutes per day in front of the tube, up four minutes from the 07-08 season and rising 20% from 10 years ago.

But Wait, There’s More…

• U.K. sports rights may be kept on free TV
• CBS to swap ‘Three Rivers,’ ‘Cold Case’
• NBC Goes Green in Prime Time…Again
• Zachary Levi talks possible early ‘Chuck’ return
• New Dollhouse Web game might actually be good
• Fox sets ‘Fringe’ campaign
• Howard J. Morris, Jenny Lee sell ‘Women Are Crazy, Men Are Stupid’ script to ABC
• Jeri Ryan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste to star in ‘Secrets in the Walls’ for Lifetime
• Tarses family to develop family NBC sitcom
• High Point acquires ‘Londoners’
• Dean Stockwell talks Battlestar’s The Plan

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.