The Style Network has been moved on the cable lineup, and Fox Reality is about to go the way of the dodo bird.
Time Warner Cable has moved Style from channel 61 in the basic package to channel 198 in the digital tier.
"Customers want more HD channels, and we are trying to accommodate them," said Scott Pryzwansky, a public-affairs manager with Time Warner Cable, in an e-mail interview.
For every one analog channel, he said, TWC can free up enough bandwidth to add as many as four high-definition or 12 standard-definition digital channels. Style was chosen because it is not widely viewed, falling in the bottom third of viewership.
Fox Reality (digital cable 127), a channel that aired reality programming, is being shut down by the Fox Cable Networks group. It will be replaced (in the same slot) by a new channel from Fox. The new channel is Nat Geo Wild, a wildlife-oriented spinoff of the National Geographic Channel, on March 29.
AMC and Mattel have joined forces to combine Barbie and Mad Men.
Barbie-style versions of the characters Betty Draper, Joan Holloway, Don Draper and Roger Sterling are being released, each dressed in the styles seen on the hit show and molded with a material that resembles the look and weight of porcelain. The articulated dolls will sell for $75 and will be available in select stores or online at BarbieCollector.com and amctv.com this July.
To see a photo of the Mad Men Barbie dolls, go to my Facebook page at tinyurl.com/tclodfelter. You can also see some recent posts of wacky press kits that various networks have sent to draw attention to their shows, including a Kirstie Alley nesting doll for her latest reality show. To promote Nat Geo Wild, mentioned above, the network sent a Barrel of Monkeys. But I figure most of you know what that looks like already.
Paul Reiser, best known for his sitcom Mad About You, is looking for a boy who uses a wheelchair to co-star in his next project.
Reiser is developing a new show from Warner Bros., and the production company, Bonanza Productions Inc., is holding an open casting call online for Zeke, a character on the show.
According to a press release from Warner Bros., "the kid is sweet, funny, really smart and upbeat. He loves sports, music and everyone he meets -- especially adults. Inquisitive and with a mind like a steel trap, he remembers everything -- which can be good or bad! He can easily get anxious and sometimes gets a bit obsessively focused on things."
They are looking only for boys who use a wheelchair. Boys ages 10 to 13 can apply online at www.tvpilotcastingcall.com between now and Friday. More guidelines and a script excerpt with instructions on how to record and submit a video are available on that site.
New on DVD Tuesday: the eighth and final season of Monk, the quirky USA detective series; the eighth season of Hawaii Five-0, which is now being remade as a prospective fall series; and the second season of Breaking Bad, the offbeat AMC series about a teacher drawn into a life of crime. In addition to the DVD release, the first and second seasons of Breaking Bad will also be available on Blu-ray on Tuesday.
tclodfelter@wsjournal.com
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