MacFarlane wanted Mr. T to replace Cleveland

Who did Seth MacFarlane's want to replace Cleveland Brown after the character left "Family Guy" for a spinoff?

Mr. T.

"It would be like Mr. T was in the show as Mr. T and he's just the fourth guy in the group," MacFarlane told fans at PaleyFest on Tuesday evening.

Except, MacFarlane said, Mr. T is a born-again Christian so it "didn't really work out."

The political and crude content of "Family Guy" was a frequent topic at MacFarlane's PaleyFest event. The evening was moderated by Bill Maher, whose HBO talk show "Real Time" featured MacFarlane as a guest for its recent season premiere.

"Animation is one of the few remaining television genres where you can really touch on politics," said MacFarlane, characteristically sipping a glass of booze throughout the event. "A live action sitcom can't really go there."

Letterman beats Leno on Monday night

This gets a headline because of the man-bites-dog rule: David Letterman beat Jay Leno in the adult demo Monday night. CBS' "Late Show" drew 4.2 million viewers and a 1.3 in the demo compared to NBC's "Tonight Show" bringing in 4.4 million viewers and 1.1 in the demo. Dave's guests were nothing special -- Kelly Ripa and Lady Antebellum.

So why the upset? Lead-in! CBS won Monday night primetime, NBC was a distant fourth place with the likes of "Trauma" and "Law & Order."

'Spartacus' production halted

Starz's freshman drama "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" has halted series production due to star Andy Whitfield being diagnosed with cancer.

Whitfield plays the title role in the show and was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and will begin treatment immediately.

'Lost' meets 'Baywatch' (video)

Inevitable ... and inevitably fun ...

CBS renews 'Undercover Boss' for second season

CBS is ordering a second season of its surprise success "Undercover Boss."

Since its post-Super Bowl debut, the midseason reality show has performed strong on Sunday nights, improving considerably on its "Amazing Race" lead-in.

"We are thrilled with the overwhelming response to the series and how audiences seem to connect to it on several levels," said Jennifer Bresnan, senior vp of reality at CBS. "The wish fulfillment of seeing the top boss perform jobs of the rank and file is universal, and the employees' stories discovered at each company are often relatable and inspirational."

Fox books summer: 'Lie to Me,' 'Hell's,' more

Fox will bring back "Lie to Me" in the summer as part of its post-season strategy, which includes a scripted series and the return of "Hell's Kitchen" and "So You Think You Can Dance."

The network's summer lineup is headlined by new series "The Good Guys" (formerly titled "Code 58"). This action-comedy from Matt Nix ("Burn Notice") stars Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks as two crime fighters. Fox will employ last year's "Glee" strategy with "Good Guys," giving the new show's pilot a preview after "American Idol" on May 19 before it makes its series debut June 7.

"Lie to Me," which has been on hiatus, is being pushed to post-season and will be paired with "Good Guys" to create an original scripted crime block. "Lie" returns June 7 and will serve as the "Good Guys" lead-in.

Fox is also extending "Glee" into the early summer, running the show until its finale on June 8.
In addition, "So You Think You Can Dance" will return starting May 27. "Hell's Kitchen" heats up June 10 and will air two-hour episodes throughout its run.

Fox's summer schedule below: 

Patton Oswalt to write 'Firefly' comic book (pic)

Comedian Patton Oswalt is penning a standalone comic book that picks up where the story of "Firefly" left off.

Oswalt is writing "Serenity: Float Out," which takes place after the 2005 film "Serenity," and focuses on the fallout after the death of the ship's pilot, Wash. The comic told MTV:

KISS developing kids TV show

For about two seconds in the 1970s, the rock band KISS actually scared parents.

Here they are now, developing a kids TV show with E1 Entertainment. Below KISS co-founder Gene Simmons boasts about the group's latest corporate merchandising efforts:

"KISS continues to be the juggernaut of licensing and merchandising, from KISS M&M's to KISS Dr Pepper,” Simmons said. “KISS is a band, but also the only music BRAND. Continuing in our 35 year history of going where no band has gone before, we are proud to partner with E1. Like all things KISS, we intend to make this a very special show for our fans."

Yeah. That just hurt to read.

'Bachelor' wedding disappoints, 'Trauma' returns low

UPDATED: Jason Mesnick, you're no Ryan Sutter.

A "Bachelor" special showing the wedding of Mesnick and Molly Malaney pulled a decent number Tuesday, but was a far cry from Sutter and Trista Rehn's televised nuptials back in 2002.

The wedding drew 9.3 million viewers and a 2.8 adults 18-49 rating, with ABC landing in third place for the night. "Castle" (9.1 million, 2.4) was down a notch from its last original.

CBS won the evening highlighted by a season-high "Two and a Half Men" (17.6 million, 5.8). CBS also aired "How I Met Your Mother" (10.1 million, 3.9), "Rules of Engagement" (10.1 million, 3.6) -- which perked up from last week -- and "Big Bang Theory" (16.3 million, 5.9). "CSI: Miami" (11.9 million, 3.3) hit a season low.

NBC re-ups with Miss Universe, USA

Miss America may be searching for a new home, but NBC has renewed its deal with Donald Trump and the Miss Universe organization to televise "Miss Universe" and "Miss USA" for three more years.

“There's been renewed interest in this series of beauty pageants, especially among a new generation of younger viewers," said Paul Telegdy, executive vp of alternative programming, NBC. “NBC is proud to maintain this unique American cultural tradition as a viable series of competitive programming specials that continue to be a popular source of entertainment.”

Oscars rise! Most-watched in five years

The lowest-grossing movie might have won the top prize, but that didn’t stop “Avatar” fans from boosting ABC’s Oscars telecast to stellar ratings on Sunday night.

ABC's presentation of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards continued broadcast's award-show-ratings winning streak, marking the annual program's most-watched telecast in five years.

The Oscars were seen by 41.3 million viewers, and marking a second straight year of gains.

Given that the Golden Globes, Emmy Awards and Grammy Awards all posted ratings improvements this season, industry analysts expected the Oscars to climb as well -- especially with 10 nominees in the running for best picture, including boxoffice titan "Avatar," which lost the best picture prize to little-seen indie favorite “The Hurt Locker.”

A dispute between an ABC affiliate and Cablevision resulted in the telecast starting 15 minutes late for up to 3.3 million viewers in the New York City-area, with many households doubtless taking longer to realize the channel was back on. Researchers say the confusion and delay should have only minimally impacted ABC's ratings.

The Top 5 highest-rated markets were Chicago (37.6), West Palm (33.3), Boston (33.2), Kansas City (32.8) and San Francisco (31.8). ABC's red carpet pre-show drew 25.1 million viewers, the show's largest audience in three years. The final Barbara Walters special pulled 15 million viewers, its biggest audience since 2002.

Here are Oscar ratings for the past five years in total viewers (millions). 

ABC restored to Cablevision

By Nellie Andreeva

The Oscars have been saved!

'Fringe' renewed for third season

Fox has renewed "Fringe" for a third season. The drama has helped give Fox a foothold on ultra-competitive Thursday nights this season though suffered some ratings decline going into such a tough time period. Fox's Kevin Reilly indicated the Thursday night drama was likely to return to Hollywood Reporter last week during his Q&A. Reilly also said the network is bullish on "Lie to Me" and "Human Target" getting a renewal, though the network will probably want to see more weeks of ratings on both before making a decision.

UPDATED: WABC, Cablevision make offers to end Oscars stalemate

Pressure intensified Sunday on WABC and Cablevision to resolve their dispute as millions of New York City-area residents faced the prospect of being unable to watch the Academy Awards.

With the Oscars telecast mere hours away, WABC sent Cablevision a new offer to end the stalemate between the companies while the cable operator has endorsed a government call for arbitration.

The moves give the parties two ways to potentially end the standoff so New York City-area Cablevision customers can watch the Academy Awards.