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.

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),

Many television series are based in real-life cities (Full House - San Francisco; Family Matters - Chicago; and Beverly Hills, 90210 - Beverly Hills).

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.

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.

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),

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.

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).