TV Briefs

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Singers fall into the GAP

This fall GAP will launch a series of TV commercials featuring eight singers looking hip in GAP jeans while singing a cover version of one of their personal favorite songs.

Joss Stone, who replaced actress Sarah Jessica Parker as the retailer’s It girl, will perform the Beach Boys “God Only Knows.” The other women are Alanis Morissette (“Crazy,” Seal), Liz Phair (“Cheek to Cheek,” Irving Berlin) and Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child (“Let’s Stay Together,” Al Green).

As for the boys, Brandon Boyd of Incubus will sing Elvis Costello’s “Alison” and be joined by John Legend (“Hello It’s Me,” Isley Brothers), Jason Mraz (“One Love,” Bob Marley) and Keith Urban (“Most People I Know Think I’m Crazy,” Billy Thorpe).

The “Favorites” campaign will also spawn a CD that will be given to customers who spend more than $60 in GAP stores between Sept. 1 and 17, along with the director’s cut version of the commercials and behind-the-scenes footage.

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Oprah puts 20 years on DVD

Oprah Winfrey will celebrate two decades on the air by sharing some her favorite moments with her audience.

The talk-show queen and King World, which distributes her daytime show, are teaming up with Paramount Home Entertainment to offer a DVD set called “The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary DVD Collection.” The multiple-disc set is scheduled for release in November, in time for Oprah fans to give or receive it during the holidays.

A DVD set is somewhat unusual for a daytime talk show, but given Winfrey’s track record of driving sales on everything from books to ice cream, it’s probably a pretty safe bet for the distributors.

“Every show you’ll see here holds such profound meaning for me,” Winfrey says. “I appreciate every hour our viewers spent watching us grow forward.” Winfrey is donating her share of the proceeds to Oprah’s Angel Network, a charity Winfrey founded in 1998 to support nonprofit groups that aid children, women and families.

The DVD will include full episodes and highlights of others that feature that include memorable interviews, big surprises for the audience and tear-jerker moments. Bonus material will include behind-the-scenes footage from her Harpo Productions, clips from her early days in broadcasting and remembrances from her favorite shows.

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Sideshow Bob, ‘Macgyver’ coming to Springfield

Bart Simpson’s nemesis will return to “The Simpsons” in the coming season, and Homer will find a new foe as well, in the voice of Alec Baldwin.

Baldwin, Kelsey “Sideshow Bob” Grammer, Oscar winner Frances McDormand and Patty and Selma’s favorite actor, Richard Dean “MacGyver” Anderson, will be among the guest voices on “The Simpsons” for 2005-06, Fox says. William H. Macy, Lily Tomlin, Terry Bradshaw and Dennis Rodman and “The Office” star Ricky Gervais, who also wrote his episode, will also appear.

The show’s 17th season will open with Baldwin – who previously played himself on the show – playing a marine biologist named Caleb Thorn who woos Marge (Julie Kavner) when she leaves Homer (Dan Castellaneta) after he lets Fat Tony (Joe Mantegna) film an adult movie in their living room to pay off a gambling debt.

The Sideshow Bob episode hasn’t been scheduled yet. When we last saw the homicidal former Krusty sidekick, he was helping Homer solve a murder plot against him and found he couldn’t kill Bart (Nancy Cartwright), having grown accustomed to his face.

Rodman and Bradshaw will both lend their voices to the annual “Treehouse of Horror” episode, which, despite the fact that the season begins in September, will again air after Halloween. It’s set for Nov. 6.