Something must be going right for Boss: Starz renewed the Kelsey Grammer-led political drama for season two well before next Friday's series premiere. I recently sat down with star Jeff Hephner to find out what's so intriguing about Chicago politics and how his character, Ben Zajac, fits into the picture.

Ben is an idealist, who grew up in Chicago and whose passion for his hometown caused him to leave a lucrative law career for the murky world of public service. His charisma is not scripted; it's courtesy of Hephner, who is as affable and charming as they come. If that's not ende...

David Chase, multi-award-winning creator of "The Sopranos," is returning to HBO to develop a miniseries about the invention of cinema and subsequent growth of the Hollywood film industry.

Entitled "A Ribbon Of Dreams," the miniseries will begin in 1913 and follow two men, one a college-educated mechanical engineer, the other a cowboy with a violent past, who form an unlikely producing partnership and together become pioneers and then powers for a time in motion pictures.

Chase will write and executive produce the miniseries, as well as direct the initial episodes. Paramount Pictur...

Many television series are based in real-life cities (Full House - San Francisco; Family Matters - Chicago; and Beverly Hills, 90210 - Beverly Hills). Even though several TV towns are fictional, TV fans can't help but wonder what it'd be like to live there.

Here's a look at some of our favorite fictional TV towns:

Stars Hollow, Connecticut (Gilmore Girls)

Stars Hollow, which was founded in 1779, is a small town in Connecticut that's home to some very eccentric characters. From Rory and Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham), to the grouchy Luke Danes and the always stranger Kirk, ther...

Former Northern Exposure star Janine Turner has written a book profiling historic women who managed to juggle a career with single motherhood. The 45-year-old, who is herself a single mom, wants Holding Her Head High to encourage women raising children by themselves to have the confidence to not worry too much.

Turner explains, "I'm a single mom and we all have days when life seems overwhelming. I wanted to share a message of hope - we're not alone; women have done it for centuries."

-More Janine Turner Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Networ...

Dick Wolf, David E. Kelley, Shonda Rhimes and Joss Whedon have all done it. You may be wondering what IT is exactly. They've all at some time point created a spin-off or expanded their TV show into a franchise (see Law & Order). They've all done crossovers between their shows, if you count the backdoor Private Practice pilot on Grey's Anatomy last season.

But those crossovers would not have been possible if they didn't all share one common trait: all of them are showrunners who have, in recent memory, shepherded multiple television shows, sometimes across different channels.

The ...

Happy Birthday to "Northern Exposure" actress Janine Turner (1962), film and television actor Xander Berkeley (1958), Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoades (1956; d. 1982), R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck (1956), comedian Steven Wright (1955), "Amadeus" actor Tom Hulce (1953), "Poltergeist" actress JoBeth Williams (1948), jazz musician Dave Brubeck (1920), "Cinderella Man" Jim Braddock (1905; d. 1974), baseball player Tony Lazzeri (1903; d. 1946), Bewitched matriarch Agnes Moorehead (1900; d. 1974), and prolific musical lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896; d. 1983).

The close bond between a single mother and her teenage daughter is often tested in the dramatic television series Gilmore Girls. Lorelai Gilmore became pregnant at 16, and, against the wishes of her mother and father, chose to keep the child and raise it on her own. The complete series is now on DVD. Also in stores: the complete series of The Addams Family, Miami Vice, and Northern Exposure, as well as season three of Melrose Place.

Acting pals Rob Morrow, Chad Lowe and Fisher Stevens sparked a major emergency operation in the mountains near Aspen, Colorado at the weekend when they accidentally skied into an off-limits area.

The trio were taking part in the Celebrity Downhill event to benefit Colorado's Aspen Youth Experience when they realized they were lost. They had to be rescued by the Aspen Mountain Ski Patrol.

Former Northern Exposure star Morrow tells local newspaper the Aspen Times Weekly, "Fortunately, we're all good skiers, (but) we were going every which way."

Morrow, Lowe and Stevens found th...

The complete ninth season of South Park arrives on DVD this week. Episodes include "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" in which Mr. Garrison gets a sex-change operation and Kyle attempts to undergo a procedure to turn into an African American to make the basketball team. One of the season's most noted episodes is Tom Cruise parody "Trapped in the Closet." Also on DVD: season 1 of The Loop and Hawaii Five-O, season 2 of Stargate: Atlantis, season 5 of Moonlighting, and season 6 of Northern Exposure.

Happy Birthday to "Northern Exposure" actress Janine Turner (1962), film and television actor Xander Berkeley (1958), Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoades (1956; d. 1982), R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck (1956), comedian Steven Wright (1955), "Amadeus" actor Tom Hulce (1953), "Poltergeist" actress JoBeth Williams (1948), jazz musician Dave Brubeck (1920), "Cinderella Man" Jim Braddock (1905; d. 1974), baseball player Tony Lazzeri (1903; d. 1946), Bewitched matriarch Agnes Moorehead (1900; d. 1974), and prolific musical lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896; d. 1983).

Wow, it's a BIG week for television-related DVD releases. Get started on your Christmas shopping early with the entire seasons of Friends, Six Feet Under or Homicide: Life on the Street. Also on DVD: season 2 of NCIS; season 4 of Lois & Clark and Reba; season 5 of Home Improvement, Northern Exposure and Quantum Leap; and season 6 of CSI, 3rd Rock From The Sun, and The Golden Girls.

If you can't wait to see episodes air on Bravo later this year, check out the fifth season of HBO's critically acclaimed Six Feet Under on DVD. The series takes a darkly comical look at members of a dysfunctional Pasadena, Calif., family that runs an independent funeral home. Also in stores this week: season one of Knots Landing, season three of Degrassi the Next Generation, and seasons four of Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure.

The WB Network welcomes a sexy and intriguing celebrity guest roster to kick-off its midseason, including Nick Lachey, James Denton, Kelly Carlson and James Marsters. The announcement was made today at the network's Winter 2006 Television Critics’ Association Press Tour.

Actor Nick Lachey guest stars on TWINS in an episode entitled "Himbo," which will air February 24 (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET). Lachey will play Charlie Solik, a former underwear model and Arnold Undergarments’ new Marketing Director, hired by Farrah (Molly Stanton). This is Lachey's second guest appearance on the network afte...

The sixth series of mafia family drama The Sopranos will be the last according to the show's creator David Chase.

Chase remained elusive about how the story would unfold, but confirmed there would be eight bonus episodes for fans to look forward to after the final season is over.

He says, "There will be these 12 (forthcoming episodes) and then another eight, and that will be the end."

Rumours of The Sopranos appearing in a feature length film were knocked by Chase, producer of Northern Exposure and The Rockford Files, who claimed any ideas for the movie have already been used...

Happy Birthday to "Northern Exposure" actress Janine Turner (1962), film and television actor Xander Berkeley (1958), Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads (1956; d. 1982), R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck (1956), comedian Steven Wright (1955), "Amadeus" actor Tom Hulce (1953), "Poltergeist" actress JoBeth Williams (1948), jazz musician Dave Brubeck (1920), "Cinderella Man" Jim Braddock (1905; d. 1974), baseball player Tony Lazzeri (1903; d. 1946), Bewitched matriarch Agnes Moorehead (1900; d. 1974), and prolific musical lyricist Ira Gershwin (1896; d. 1983).