‘Kitchen’ closed for good, Fox says

The re-opening of “Kitchen Confidential” earlier this week has turned out to be a one-night-only affair.

Fox has pulled the plug on the first-year comedy, which hardly got off the ground early in the season and was absent for all of November sweeps. When it finally did return Monday, it did so to meager ratings, leading the network to pull the show.

Monday’s episode, featuring a mini- “Alias” reunion of “Kitchen” star Bradley Cooper and guest Michael Vartan, drew only about 3.4 million viewers, fifth in its half-hour. It also managed only a 1.7 rating in Fox’s core demographic of adults 18-49, fourth among the six networks for its time period.

Probst keeps ‘Survivor’ torch lit

Speculation about who will be the next host of “Survivor” is moot, at least for a couple more years.

Jeff Probst, who’s been with CBS’ flagship unscripted series since its beginnings in the summer of 2000, has signed a new contract with the show to remain as host through the 16th “Survivor,” which would likely air in spring 2008. His current deal was up after the 12th installment, which will air later this season.

“I was thinking about retiring and spending my time traveling to exotic locations around the world, meeting new and interesting people,” Probst says in a statement. “Then I realized, uh, wait a second, I’m already doing that with “Survivor” and getting paid for it as well.”

– Zap2It.com

Before the current edition of the game, “Survivor: Guatemala,” Probst said he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d remain with the game, which has taken him and its players to Africa, Thailand, Panama and several locations in the South Pacific. But he also knew he had a good thing going.

“I don’t want to be the David Caruso of reality,” he said in September, referring to Caruso’s split from “NYPD Blue” after its first season. But, he added, “signing another long-term deal would be hard.”

CBS has already ordered “Survivors” 13 and 14 for next season, and barring a huge ratings slide, it seems a safe bet the network will pick up the show for 2007-08 as well. “Survivor: Guatemala,” which has its finale Sunday, is averaging about 18.1 million viewers per week, down some from last season’s installments but still head and shoulders above any of its Thursday-night competitors.

BATEMAN VS. BATEMAN ON “ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT’

If “Arrested Development” is indeed going down, then it’s going down on its own defiantly left-field terms.

In the show’s latest bit of inside-joke casting, Justine Bateman – the older sister of star Jason Bateman – will guest-star on the Fox series scheduled for Jan. 9. She was filming the episode this week.

Some time ago, “Arrested” creator Mitch Hurwitz joked that he’d like to bring Justine Bateman on the show as a love interest for her brother’s character, Michael Bluth. That won’t be the case in this episode. Instead, she’ll play the far less cringe-inducing role of Michael’s long-lost older sister Nellie.

After discovering he has another sister, Michael tracks Nellie down and hires her as a consultant for The Bluth Co. As with most things related to the business, though, the plan doesn’t quite work out the way Michael envisioned, and he discovers Nellie might not be who she says she is.

Justine Bateman, who became famous as Mallory Keaton on “Family Ties” in the 1980s, more recently starred in the Showtime miniseries “Out of Order” and the Hallmark Channel movie “The Hollywood Mom’s Mystery.” She’s also put in a couple of guest appearances on CBS’ “Still Standing” over the past two seasons.

Her episode of “Arrested Development” may be one of the show’s last. Fox has decided against a full season of the show, which has aired six episodes so far this fall. The week following Bateman’s episode will bring two hours’ worth of “24,” and the unscripted show “Skating with Celebrities” takes up residence in the 8 p.m. EST Monday timeslot after that.

MEET YOUR NEW DANCING “STARS’

Former champion athlete? Check. Older actor not afraid to poke fun at himself? Check. Oscar winner? Yep, check that one too.

Throw in a couple more Hollywood types, a teenage rapper, a pro wrestling “diva” and a guy from ESPN, and you have yourself a “Dancing with the Stars” cast.

ABC unveiled on Thursday the names of the 10 more-or-less people who’ll be taking part in the second edition of “Dancing with the Stars,” which premieres Jan. 5. The contestants include several people who were rumored to be taking part, like future NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and Drew “Nick’s brother” Lachey.

Among the names ABC managed to keep under wraps successfully are famously tanned actor George Hamilton, “Paper Moon” Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal, ESPN wiseacre Kenny Mayne – who, provided he sticks around a little while, should have some fun with the cheese-tastic show – and Stacy Kiebler, a long-legged World Wrestling Entertainment “diva.”

Actresses Lisa Rinna (“Veronica Mars”) and Tia Carrere – who tangoed with Arnold Schwarzenegger in “True Lies” – newscaster Giselle Fernandez and teen rapper Romeo round out the field.

As with the show’s inaugural run this summer, each celebrity will be paired with a professional ballroom dancer (some returnees, some new) to perform various steps. A combination of audience voting and scores from judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli will determine who stays and who goes each week. Tom Bergeron returns as host.