BC-TV-BRIEFS:ZP – entertainment, people (980 words)

Television news briefs

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Fox to reopen ‘Kitchen in November

As “Kitchen Confidential” has only aired three episodes, none of them to much of an audience, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Fox had given up on the show, network protestations to the contrary aside.

It appears, though, that the network will indeed stick to its word and let “Kitchen” try to cook up some new viewers during the November sweep period. The show is scheduled to return to the air Nov. 14 – six weeks after its last airing on Oct. 3.

Some of its off time was caused by Fox’s coverage of the major league baseball playoffs. This week and next, the network is airing repeats of “Prison Break” in the 8 p.m. hour, and on Nov. 7, “Arrested Development” will get a full hour.

The first episode back for “Kitchen Confidential” will be one featuring star Bradley Cooper’s former “Alias” co-star, Michael Vartan. He’ll play an arrogant French chef named Michel who sparks a food fight between his restaurant and Jack Bourdain’s (Cooper) Nolita.

“Kitchen Confidential” has struggled in the Nielsens during its brief time on the air. Despite mostly positive reviews, it has drawn only about 4 million viewers per episode.

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Lifetime movie gets heavy ‘traffic’

Lifetime’s miniseries-with-a-message “Human Trafficking” had little trouble getting its message across this week, as it became the highest-rated original movie on basic cable this year.

The four-hour miniseries, which aired Monday and Tuesday, averaged a 4.6 household rating and 5.5 million viewers over its two nights. The conclusion built on the audience for the part one, drawing 5.8 million viewers and higher numbers of the female viewers Lifetime targets.

Lifetime, which along with the Sci Fi Channel airs more original movies than pretty much any other ad-supported cable network, can now lay claim to the top 11 basic-cable original movies of the year, based on household ratings. “Human Trafficking” takes over the top spot from the true-crime story “Murder in the Hamptons” and “Odd Girl Out,” both of which scored a 4.4 rating.

“Human Trafficking” stars Oscar winner Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”) as a New York detective who teams up with a veteran Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent (Donald Sutherland, “Commander in Chief”) to bust an international sex-trafficking ring. The movie aims to spread awareness of the issue while also telling a good crime story.

Lifetime will re-air all four hours of the miniseries on Saturday.

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MOOD SWING: PR FIRM SORRY FOR RACIST ALLEGATIONS

A nightclub owner who was accused of making racist remarks about Gabrielle Union should be in a better mood after receiving an apology.

BWR Public Relations sent out a press release apologizing for statements sent in an interoffice email that claimed Mood owner David Judaken had refused to allow BWR client Gabrielle Union to have her birthday party at the club because of her race.

“After investigating the claims, BWR concluded that there was no satisfactory evidence that racial comments were ever made by Mr. Judaken,” reads the statement. “BWR’s longstanding relationship with Mr. Judaken’s clubs, and the fact that the African-American community regularly frequents his clubs, were wholly inconsistent with the allegations.”

“I appreciate BWR’s prompt investigation of these claims and their integrity in taking appropriate action to remedy this situation by issuing this press release,” responds Judaken.

On Friday, an e-mail by BWR employee Holly Shakoor was sent through internal email cautioning other publicists not to do business with Mood, claiming that Judaken had cancelled Union’s birthday party once he realized she was black. The message allegedly quotes Judaken as saying, “I thought she was the white volleyball player. I don’t want her kind of people in my club.”

Somehow, the e-mail leaked to the press “thereby leading to media reports widely disseminating the unsubstantiated statements.” Judaken, who also owns hot spot Garden of Eden, vehemently denied the allegations, threatening legal action for the bad publicity.

“BWR apologizes to Mr. Judaken for any harm to his reputation that may have been caused by the false allegations,” the PR firm continues. “If BWR could withdraw this claim from the court of public opinion, it would.”

Union, who turns 33 on Saturday, stars as crime reporter Perri Reed in ABC’s supernatural drama “Night Stalker.” Her other credits include appearances on “Friends,” “ER,” “7th Heaven” and “Family Guy.” Her big screen credits include “Bring It On,” “The Brothers,” “Abandon,” “Deliver Us from Eva,” “Cradle II the Grave” and “Bad Boys II.”

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SHEEN VS. SHEEN ON “TWO AND A HALF MEN’

If you add one Sheen to “Two and a Half Men,” what do you get?

November sweeps stunt casting.

“The West Wing” star Martin Sheen will guest-star with his son, Charlie,” on an episode of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” scheduled for Nov. 7. It will mark the first time father and son have acted together since Martin Sheen made a guest appearance on “Spin City” in 2002.

In the episode, Martin Sheen will play Harvey, the father of Charlie’s neighbor/stalker, Rose (Melanie Lynskey). Following a night of drinking with Rose, Charlie wakes up the next day not quite sure of what happened. His confusion doesn’t sit well with Harvey, who demands to know what Charlie’s intentions are with regard to Rose.

The show’s creator, Chuck Lorre, told reporters last summer that Martin Sheen would likely make an appearance on “Two and a Half Men” this season, although he didn’t share any details at the time. Co-star Holland Taylor offered one suggestion: “He better come on – and he better come on to me.”

Unfortunately for Taylor, who plays Charlie and Alan’s (Jon Cryer) domineering mother, her name isn’t mentioned in the episode summary from CBS.

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AP-NY-10-27-05 1646EDT