Star! presents two new programs that provide another daily fix of Hollywood celeb ‘lifestyles.’
Up first is everyone’s favourite Hollywood voyeur, Jackie Collins who will expand her already famous celebrity tell-all novels into an hour-long series titled Jackie Collins Presents. It premiers Wednesday, March 30 at 9 p.m. and continues weekly. It is targeted at females 18-49.
Next, viewers get a peep into a day in the life of a star with a weekly series called Life Is Great With Brooke Burke. The show will feature half-hour eps spanning topics like celebrity moms, instant fame, celebrity pets and big spenders, beginning Friday, April 1 at 11 p.m. The show is anticipated to skew female (although Burke has many male fans) 18-49.

The Toronto Blue Jays and TSN have extended their partnership for two more years with a deal that will take them into the 2006 baseball season together.
Dating back to TSN’s inception in 1984, the Blue Jays have always appeared on the network. In their 21st season together, TSN will broadcast a total of 42 games, with a minimum of 23 games in the 2006 season. The anchoring lineup remains the same with Rod Black doing the Blue Jays play-by-play and ex-Jay Pat Tabler providing analysis and colour commentary. Last year 25 games were broadcast with an average audience of 239,000 viewers 2+ per game.

Food Network Canada is picking up the eight-part series Return of the Chef from Britain’s Channel Four. The doc profiles Michelin Star chef John Burton Race as he settles with his family in the English countryside and opens a new restaurant. The series airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m., beginning April 5, but viewers can catch a sneak peak of the one-hour premiere on Sunday March 27 at 7 p.m.
http://www.foodtv.ca

National Geographic is premiering two new series this April, giving civilians the chance to be SAS operatives or spies.
The first hour-long series follows the British Army’s Special Air Services division, to see how ordinary people will fare in the intense training and jungle warfare. SAS Jungle: Are You Tough Enough? airs Monday to Thursday, April 11-14 at 9 p.m., with two eps on Friday, April 15, beginning at 8 p.m. Then, beginning April 23, SAS Jungle will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. (except May 7).
The second hour-long series, Spy, gives 16 people the chance to complete an intense training program conducted by former intelligence operatives from the CIA and FBI and then to complete intricate operations in the real world using their newly acquired skills. Spy will air Saturdays at 8 p.m. (except May 7), beginning April 16. Target demo for the two shows is adults 25-54.

Things are going to be different this time around with the seventh offering of The Bachelor, premiering this month on Citytv.
The season begins with a special two-hour ep on Monday, March 28, at 9 p.m., and will continue with weekly hour-long episodes every Monday. Financially secure 29-year-old ‘jack of all trades’ Charlie O’Connell is the bachelor on this stripped-down instalment of the popular reality series. Many of the previous series mainstays, like limos, gowns, tuxedos and the infamous rose ceremony will be absent.

Two Quebec unions put the issue of the province’s ban on advertising to children back on the table as part of a recent joint submission to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The main issue for the unions representing Quebec writers and performers – SARTEC (Société des auteurs de radio, télévision et cinema: http://www.sartec.qc.ca/info_s.html) and UDA (Union des artistes: https://www.uniondesartistes.com/) – is the negative cultural impact caused by the shortage of Canadian-made, French-language children’s programming in the province. Reopening the discussion on advertising to children is just one of their suggestions for encouraging production of kids’ shows in the province.
Anne-Marie Des Roches, director of public affairs for Union des artistes (UDA), says the ban on kids advertising resulted in private broadcasters TVA and TQS eliminating kids programming. That left it up to public broadcasters Tele-Quebec and Radio-Canada and specialty channels such as Teletoon to serve up kids programming.