Like father, like daughter.
Bindi Irwin, the 8-year-old daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, will star in a wildlife series to air on the Discovery Kids network early next year. The show's working title: "Bindi, The Jungle Girl."
Her father died from the poisonous jab of a stingray Sept. 4. Besides Bindi, he left behind her mother, Terri, and 2-year-old brother, Bob.
The show, now in the early stages of production, was originally "going to be a father-daughter thing," starring the nature-loving duo, Discovery publicist Annie Howell said Monday. "Steve and Bindi were very enthusiastic about doing the show together."
Irwin will appear with Bindi in scenes filmed before his death, his manager, John Stainton, said in an interview on People magazine's Web site.
"Some people think that I would be afraid of them, but I'm never ever afraid of an animal," Bindi said in an interview Monday. "I just get excited, and some that are dangerous I just think, 'Oooh! What's going to happen?' and things like that."
-- Associated Press
Hayek guests on 'Betty'
Salma Hayek's last role on an American prime-time series was on "The Sinbad Show" in 1993. She was a regular for about a month before her character was written out of the Fox sitcom.
Things have worked out OK for her since then, what with her being an Oscar nominee and one of the most famous actresses in the world and all. And, because of that, she's now returning to prime-time TV.
Hayek, an executive producer of ABC's new series "Ugly Betty," will go in front of the camera for several episodes starting Nov. 2 -- the first night of November sweeps. She'll be playing a character named Sofia Reyes, whom ABC describes as "a newcomer to the Mode scene who will leave a lasting impression on Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius) and Betty Suarez (America Ferrera)."
Hayek has already done an uncredited cameo on the show's pilot, appearing as an actress in a telenovela (which is how she got her start in showbiz) playing in Betty's home.
"Ugly Betty" has helped ABC change its fortunes on Thursday nights this season. The critically hailed show has drawn better than 15 million viewers per week in its first three airings and a pretty solid 4.8 rating among the all-important adults 18-49 demographic. Both numbers are almost double what the network drew at 8 p.m. on Thursdays last season.
ABC rewarded the series with a full-season pickup at the end of last week.
-- Zap2it.com
'Monk' reunites with dad
Will the defective detective survive meeting his long-lost father?
USA Network announced last week that Emmy-nominated Dan Hedaya (Nick Tortelli on "Cheers" and "The Tortellis") will guest star as the hitherto unseen father to "Monk's" titular sleuth.
The special holiday episode begins as Adrian Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) quiet Christmas plans go awry when his father, Jack Monk -- who's been absent for 40 years -- drops back into his life. Adrian must leave Natalie's (Traylor Howard) holiday party and take to the road with his truck-driver dad, who has somehow gotten mixed up in a dangerous mystery and must trust his son to help him solve the case. The episode will premiere on USA on Nov. 17.
-- Zap2it.com
Channel surfing
ABC has picked up "Brothers & Sisters" for a full season. ... CBS has given "Close to Home" a full-season order. ... "The Amazing Race" will have its season finale Dec. 10, and "Survivor: Cook Islands" will wrap up on Dec. 17.
Rob Owen,
Post-Gazette TV editor
First Published: October 18, 2006, 4:00 a.m.
