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‘Gilmore’ gears up for sweeps

The recent change of street names in Stars Hollow doesn’t seem to be affecting the ability of past residents and visitors to find the place, at least not during November sweeps.

“Gilmore Girls” will welcome back a couple of familiar faces, plus a top-secret new one, during sweeps. The WB series will also take strides toward mending the season-long rift between mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel).

Milo Ventimiglia is set to reprise his role as Rory’s ex-boyfriend Jess on Nov. 8. He comes back to town and tells Rory about an “impressive accomplishment” that makes her rethink her current Yale-dropout, guesthouse-living situation.

Ventimiglia, last seen in the there-and-gone teen flick “Dirty Deeds,” stars in The WB’s midseason series “The Bedford Diaries.” He also had a recurring part on NBC’s “American Dreams” last season.

Two weeks after that, David Sutcliffe will make an appearance as Rory’s dad, Christopher. He’ll be part of a Thanksgiving episode in which Rory gets some unsettling news about her current beau, Logan (Matt Czuchry).

In between, on Nov. 15, someone from Luke’s (Scott Patterson) past will turn up in town, throwing a big wrench into his relationship with Lorelai.

Speculation has been that Lorelai maybe isn’t the only single parent in their relationship, but the network isn’t divulging any further details.

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Sigourney Weaver, who earned an Oscar nomination for playing scientist/activist Dian Fossey in the movie “Gorillas in the Mist,” will retrace her and Fossey’s journey in a special for Animal Planet.

The special, “Gorillas Revisited,” is set to air on the cable network in June 2006. Weaver will travel to Rwanda to speak with those who have continued Fossey’s work of trying to protect the country’s mountain gorillas and witness the great apes in their natural home.

Weaver filmed part of “Gorillas in the Mist” in Rwanda, and her trip to the central African country will be her first since the time she spent there shooting the 1988 film. The hour-long special will look at how the gorilla population has survived since that time and what scientists have learned over the years about their behavior.

Interviews with gorilla experts will be intertwined with the story of Fossey’s life and mysterious death, and the legacy she left that helped ensure the survival of the mountain gorilla, which was once near the edge of extinction.

The BBC’s Natural History Unit is producing “Gorillas Revisited” for Animal Planet.

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He was not charmed, I’m sure.

An irritated security guard handcuffed “Charmed” star Rose McGowan at a Hollywood nightclub Tuesday for what turned out to be a misunderstanding, according to published reports.

The actress was gettin’ down at The Vanguard club for a T-Mobile Sidekick II Juicy Couture Edition (whew!) launch party when she took issue with a man who was standing too close to her on the dance floor.

“Words were exchanged,” says rep Dominique Appel. “It happened he was a security guard. She was handcuffed and taken outside.”

Shortly afterward, an embarrassed McGowan was set free to party another day.

“There was no arrest and this is a nonissue,” adds Appel.

McGowan, 32, plays Paige, one of a trio of sibling witches on the WB’s “Charmed.” Her film credits include “Scream,” “Jawbreaker,” “Monkeybone” and the upcoming the upcoming crime thriller “The Black Dahlia.”

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Artists ranging from Dwight Yoakam to Norah Jones to the Foo Fighters have come aboard a CBS special paying tribute to Johnny Cash, which will air just before a movie about his life hits theaters.

U2, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Allison Krauss and Cash’s former fellow Highwayman Kris Kristofferson are also among the performers set for “I Walk the Line: A Night for Johnny Cash.” The one-hour special is set to air Nov. 16, the night after the CMA Awards on CBS and two days before the release of the Cash biopic “Walk the Line.”

The movie’s stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, will be on hand to introduce performances, as will Dennis Quaid, who played Cash contemporary Jerry Lee Lewis (who’s also set to perform on the special) in the 1989 movie “Great Balls of Fire.”

CBS aired a similar tribute special for Ray Charles last year, shortly before the release of the movie “Ray.” “Genius: A Night for Ray Charles” featured the movie’s star, Jamie Foxx, along with Quincy Jones, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and a host of other artists.

Ken Ehrlich Productions, which produced the Charles special, is also behind the Cash tribute. Ehrlich, who executive produced this year’s Emmys, and Randy Phillips will exec produce “I Walk the Line.”

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On the heels of its first pickup of a new series this fall, ABC has given the full-season reward to another of its new dramas, the sci fi-tinged “Invasion.”

The series, which follows the odd occurrences in a South Florida town following a hurricane, earned its pickup on the basis of having made ABC more competitive at 10 p.m. ET Wednesdays than it’s been in several years. And though part of that credit may go to the show’s lead-in, “Lost,” “Invasion” has managed to hold up well against CBS’ “CSI: NY” and NBC’s “Law & Order.”

“Invasion” joins “Commander In Chief” in receiving a full-season order from ABC. “These shows are great additions to our network and continue ABC’s creative and ratings momentum,” says Stephen McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment. “I applaud all the tremendous work that has gone into making both of these series.”

“Invasion,” created by Shaun Cassidy (“American Gothic”), follows the aftereffects of a hurricane in a South Florida town that also brought strange, glowing and possibly alien beings to the local waters. The series stars William Fichtner, Eddie Cibrian, Kari Matchett, Lisa Sheridan and Tyler Labine.

Through five weeks, the show is averaging 12.6 million viewers and a 5.2 rating in the key ad-sales demographic of adults 18-49; the latter figure is the best for a new drama this season.

While “Invasion” bleeds a substantial number of viewers from “Lost” – which is drawing better than 22 million people per week – it has still posted the best ratings at 10 p.m. Wednesday since ABC started airing scripted series there in 2000-01.

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Spike TV is giving armchair athletes and weekend warriors a chance at sports glory, greenlighting a fantasy camp/reality show that pits regular folks against pro athletes on the field.

The series, called “Pros vs. Joes,” is scheduled to premiere next spring. In each episode, a group of sports fans will get a chance to compete against a group of athletes that includes NFL greats Jerry Rice and Tony Dorsett, former NBA players Karl Malone and Dominique Wilkins and star female athletes Brandi Chastain, Jennie Finch and Misty May.

“This series will answer the age-old question every guy is thinking: If I got the chance, could I prove I’m a better athlete than an NFL Hall of Famer like Jerry Rice, and NBA Hall of Famer like (Malone) or even one of the world’s best female soccer players?” says Sharon Levy, head of alternative programming for Spike TV.

In each episode, a set of three “Joes” will be pitted against five pro athletes in a series of athletic challenges for a chance to win season tickets to their favorite team’s games. The athletes will have to compete in events outside their specialty.

The finale of the 10-episode series will pit the top-performing athletes against the best Joes for what Spike calls “the ultimate sports fantasy prize package.” Prospective Joes can get casting information at SpikeTV.com.

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The No. 1 new series of the TV season will, unsurprisingly, be sticking around for the whole season.

ABC has picked up nine additional episodes of “Commander in Chief,” bringing its season order to the industry-standard 22. The series, which stars Geena Davis as the nation’s first female president, has soared to the top of one of the most competitive hours in primetime and given ABC a strong foothold on Tuesday nights.

The show is the closest thing the 2005-06 season has to a breakout hit, averaging about 16.4 million viewers per week. That ranks first among the 30 or so new shows on the networks and eighth among all series. And while shows about politics tend to skew older, “Commander in Chief” is also drawing a healthy 4.5 rating among adults 18-49.

Those ratings are coming in a hotly competitive time period as well. “Chief” airs at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, facing off against NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” (the top-rated new show in adults 18-49), CBS’ “Amazing Race” and “House” and postseason baseball on Fox.

The series has gone through an offstage upheaval as well. Creator Rod Lurie, who wrote and directed the “Chief” pilot, has stepped down as showrunner (though he retains an executive producer credit), and ABC and producer Touchstone TV have brought in Emmy winner Steven Bochco (“NYPD Blue”) to oversee the series from day to day, largely to ensure timely delivery of episodes.

“Commander in Chief” is the first of ABC’s five new shows to earn a pickup.