HBO is looking to push their programming even more left-field with the announcement of a new half-hour drama that tackles gender transformation.

Variety reports that the network has tapped In Treatment show runners Anya Epstein and Dan Futterman to develop a show centered on the story of a woman transforming into a man.

The show, entitled T, is said to be inspired by an episode of the public radio show “This American Life.”

HBO has tackled gender transformation before with the 2003 telepic Normal. And in film Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman received earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual in the film Transamerica.

While the show will no doubt inspire growing interest as it advances in development and ultimate premiere, is this the type of show that audiences will gravitate towards week after week?

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Word on the street is that Oprah Winfrey has not yet made a decision on moving her syndicated talk show to her new cable network OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network). Winfrey’s production company Harpo Inc. said she would make an announcement by the end of the year regarding whether The Oprah Winfrey Show would move from network television in mid-2011. The original report was released by Hollywood entertainment blogger Nikki Finke on Thursday but OWN has declined to comment.

Winfrey is regarded as one of the most influential women in the United States and among the most powerful women in entertainment (as you know) and her talk show is still the top-rated U.S. daytime talk show, averaging 7.1 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen.

Such a move would be a major blow to CBS Corp’s CBS Television Distribution arm, which syndicates the show, and Walt Disney Co’s ABC’s owned and operated TV stations which broadcasts the daytime favorite.

The decision is up to Oprah so we’ll just have to wait and see. I would say that her ratings might be affected because everyone doesn’t have cable but then again Oprah can afford to buy cable for all of her fans so they won’t miss her show if she decided to move. That’s a bit of a stretch but we know she’ll be OK. She’s like the Grand Wizard of all things wonderful and makes anything happen when she puts her mind to it.

The launch of the Oprah Winfrey Network, is a joint venture with Discovery Communications Inc. OWN has been delayed from its original 2009 start date but once up and running, it will be available in more than 70 million homes.

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Even in death Michael Jackson can’t be left alone.

A British television network is looking to wake him up tomorrow night for a network special.

Sky 1 is planning to broadcast a program dubbed “Michael Jackson: The Live Séance.”

British psychic Derek Acorah will attempt to contact Jackson’s spirit in an effort to get fans “to connect with their hero one last time.”

Sky 1’s Stuart Murphy told Yahoo UK: “There is an insatiable appetite to find out more about Michael Jackson. He was an extraordinary figure and the curiosity surrounding his life — and his death — stretches well beyond fans of his music.”

Hopefully if Michael does in fact answer the call, he yells a lot of expletives at Murphy for waking him up.

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Mariah Carey appeared on Larry King last night to promote the movie Precious (in which she plays a social worker), her latest album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and her latest fragrance, Forever.

People call her crazy but it’s that hustler’s spirit and ability to be versatile that has kept her afloat in the entertainment business for nearly 20 years, so maybe she’s crazy like a fox. After all, she is the top selling female recording artist of all time—and still successfully peddling music.

The interview went well. King and Carey have good chemistry (since she’s been on the show before) so it flowed more like general conversation. Plus, Carey seemed candid and open when she talked about her personal life, business ventures and music. As far as her marriage to Nick Cannon, she genuinely seems like a woman in love. She had a certain tone to her voice—soft and pink, if you will—when she talked about how they met (at a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards) and took us through how they eventually clicked so well that romance flowed naturally. There’s no mistaking that she’s smitten with him. She even randomly peppered conversation with some of his accolades—the way that people do when they’re bragging about their mate. It was really sweet. They’re 11 years apart but according to Carey, they’re both big kids and as far as she’s concerned she’s eternally 12 (and Santa Claus exists in her world).

By the way, Carey shut down rumors that she is pregnant saying that while the couple does want children, they are in no rush. (Heck, if Halle Berry can be a 40-something first time mommy then Mariah Carey can too).

The biggest bombshell dropped last night was when she admitted to having been in abusive relationships. She was visibly shaken while reminiscing her past and said that abuse had different categories ranging from emotional to mental. She added that getting out is not easy.

I was surprised to hear this about Mariah Carey, but above all else she is human first, and that’s what was so beautiful about the entire interview.

Did you watch? Thoughts?

Check out the clip below!

Retired NFL player and Real Housewife of Atlanta cast member Sheree Whitfield’s ex-husband Bob Whitfiled was a guest on the Nigel and Marco Show recently and threw lots of shade at his ex-wife’s way.

He revealed that he pays his wife $113, 422 a year after their divorce.

Perhaps that’s made him a little bitter because he ranted:

“Quit trying to trash me and then use my damn last name. I’m feeling like I’m the mad scientist and I created Frankenstein. She didn’t have that nose; I put that nose on her! She didn’t have them breasts, I put them breasts on her. I put some electricity on that ass and now she’s sparked up and tearing up the got damn laboratory. What the f*ck. Sit down somewhere and calm it down. You forget who made you girl!”

On the success of her show he noted:

“You get 3 million views a week. We got that and we weren’t even winning games. Atlanta is a small country ass town. It ain’t that much Hollywood in Atlanta that you can do.”

He then mentioned that he’s tempted to leak a sex tape and nude pics of Sheree adding, “You see what it did for Kim Kardashian”

If you recall these two have children together.

In any event, tonight we’ll get our last glimpse of Sheree and the rest of the housewives on TV for a while as part two of the reunion special airs tonight.

Here’s a preview:

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Some of our favorite actors and personalities will continue to star in new TV premiers this week, and last night was Morris Chestnut’s turn as the Sci-Fi remake of V finally debuted after months of anticipation.

Chestnut is costarring in the remake of the 1980s show about an invasion of aliens known as “visitors” and the resistance against them. I missed last night’s episode but Essence online caught up with Black America’s favorite leading man, and he discussed his character and the pressure he feels to be a part of a revamped oldie but goodie. Here’s what he said:

About his character:
Ryan Nichols is a finance guy who’s about to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring when he realizes that the aliens have invaded the planet. There are a lot of secrets he has that he now has to deal with.

On What it Means to Be Part of a Remake:
It was kind of a challenge because in the 80’s the show had a cult following and we knew it was going to be a tremendous effort to capture what most people remember, but it turned out to be okay. My character is a resurrection of a couple of characters from the original series, but you’ll have to watch to identify who he is.

His Thoughts on the Show:
I’m proud of the show and I hope people will support the show, and I just want people to be patient because in the beginning [my character] isn’t very prevalent but toward the end he is, so I want to encourage people to stay with the show because I believe they’ll be pleasantly surprised. So please be patient and stick around to see your boy.

I’m glad he clarified that bit about his character not being prevalent in the beginning because I would have been mad otherwise. But anyway, did you watch last night? What did you think?

V airs on Tuesdays at 8 P.M. ET, on ABC.

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It seems like VH1 can’t get enough of the members of TLC. The network aired a documentary on the life of the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes years ago and more recently signed Chilli for a dating reality show. Now it seems the reality-friendly channel will be chronicling the return of TLC in a new series.

After Chilli and T-Boz recently performed at Justin Timberlake’s charity gala in Las Vegas, it’s been announced that the two remaining members of TLC want to give the world a glimpse into a full-fledged TLC reunion.

The as-yet-untitled show will be executive produced by Chilli’s’ longtime manager Bill Diggins and is set to premiere next March.

With T-Boz only recently acknowledging that she underwent major surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor that left her with complications in her speech, sight, and balance this show will no doubt offer a lot more than the group’s previous stab at reality TV, R U The Girl.

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I hate that you’re probably going to get 50 IQ points dumber after reading this post, especially after my colleague, Michael A,  posted a blog about The Wire becoming a Harvard course. But I need someone, anyone, to share this random recap that is the inaugural episode of For the Love of Ray J Season 2.

Just when you thought it was safe to turn back to Vh1 on Monday nights, they return with more shenanigans of the same variety as Real Chance of Love. I watched with no shame (surely, I can’t be alone if there’s a second season of this nonsense). Last night’s episode was the typical madness. The new batch of girls arrived at the house to proclaim their wild passionate “love” for Ray J and to begin clawing their way to his heart. The first order of business was for them to receive their stripper names nicknames based on how they looked. As you can imagine, it’s the usual assortment of wannabe models and actresses so the names varied from “Exotica” to “Gifts.”

So far, Exotica is filling the void where last season’s “Caviar” left off. Exotica is a Cape Verdian bombshell with an incoherent accent but where she ups Caviar a notch is when it comes to dubious behavior. She began solidifying her status as the Queen B of the house by interrupting other women who were trying to get one on one time with Ray J, and by making negative comments about people’s looks.

“Fetuccini” (named because of her Italian heritage) was the first girl booted because Ray J deemed her a star chaser after the house was abuzz about the fact that she allegedly dated Tyson Beckford and various other celebrities. We already know she wasn’t the only girl there with ulterior motives, but if all the girls were eliminated then there would be no show (and no random amusement). Overall, I think this is going to be good in a bad, rot your brain kind of way. But at least Ray J looks better than Real and Chance.

What do you think?

The Wire should have been far more popular than it was.

Granted it’s a cult favorite and critics love it, but the show never received the wide audience it deserved to. The show was robbed many times over for not rewarding the great writers and actors, but pop culture was an even greater causality as the failure of this show to catch on with a larger fan base prevented greater dialogue about the show’s gritty subject matter.

You can turn on the news to hear stories of drug-inspired violence and read the newspaper to read over a bunch of regurgitated statistics about city crime, but The Wire offered a human face to those stories.

If the show were more popular perhaps the conversations likely to be held in the Harvard class inspired by the show will now tackle.

Harvard University has announced plans to offer a course on the famed HBO series.

The class is intended to use the show to fuel a better understanding of how to combat real urban social issues like those featured in the Baltimore setting of the show.

Sociology Professor William J. Wilson told the Harvard Crimson, “‘The Wire has done more to enhance our understanding of the systemic urban inequality that constrains the lives of the poor than any published study.”

I minored in Sociology and I completely agree. If I didn’t hate student loans more than anything else on Earth I’d want to be in the class myself.

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I must admit, despite being a performing arts nerd, Glee never piqued my interest. However, I’ve been hearing good things about the show. The latest good news is that Fox’s collection of quirky teen singers will receive a 2009 Diversity Award for favorite new diverse ensemble cast, in November.

The series focuses on kids in a motley high school glee club that mixes jocks, cheerleaders, a boy in a wheelchair, a geeky girl, a gay student, an Asian goth and an overweight African-American girl. Their main goal is to overcome adversity in high school and beyond.

The high school glee club theme makes it sound typical but I did some research and discovered that the music (in addition to the diversity) is what makes the show interesting and unique. It’s definitely like a more mature, less corny version of High School Musical.

The ensemble was last seen performing last Saturday before game three of the World Series, but check out this clip from the show:

Note to self: Watch the next episode.

Glee airs every Wed on Fox at 9/8c.

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