Gear Live Television News: Articles Tagged Non Hodgkin Lymphoma

TV Talk: Captains Return to Deadliest Catch, Starz Recasts Spartacus

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Comedy, Kids, Prime Time, Reality, Specials, Cable, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Gossip, News, Renewals,

-After threatening to leave the program, Capts. Sig Hansen and Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand have agreed to return to Deadliest Catch. Filming on Season 7 of the Discovery Channel series will begin this week.

-A number of comediennes will return to NBC for a two-hour special airing November 1. Familiar faces on The Women of SNL will include Laraine Newman, Nora Dunn, Cheri Oteri, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and, of course, Tina Fey.

-Starz has decided to renew Spartacus with a new actor in the lead role. Andy Whitfield had hoped to continue with the series, but was forced to drop out after his non-Hodgkin lymphoma returned.

-An HIV-positive muppet will be included in the Nigerian version of Sesame Street. The female character named Kami will help the show address important regional issues including AIDS, malaria and gender inequality.

Andy Whitfield Leaves Spartacus After Cancer Return

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Prime Time, Cable, News,

UPDATE: Starz has decided to recast the lead role.

Andy Whitfield’s long-anticipated return to Spartacus: Blood and Sand has been canceled altogether.

The actor, who was diagnosed back in March with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, had already been training for Season 2 of the Starz series. Although he was given a clean bill of health back in June, a recurrence of cancer will now require “aggressive treatment.”

“It’s with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus‚ and all the wonderful people involved,” Whitfield, who played the title character, said in a statement. “It seems that it is time for myself and my family to embark on another extraordinary journey. Thank you sincerely for the support so far.”

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TV Talk: Pawn Stars Cashes In, Maura Tierney Returns to TV

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Drama, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, Cable, HBO, News, Ratings,

-People love sifting through old crap. Monday’s episodes of American Pickers and Pawn Stars broke audience records for the History Channel. Pawn‘s 5.9 million viewers was the network’s largest ever.

-Meanwhile, True Blood sucked up more viewers for its third season premiere. Sunday’s debut attracted 5.1 million viewers, up 38% from Season 2’s open. (That doesn’t count the additional 1.3 million who watched the 11:00 replay.)

-A cancer-free Andy Whitfield will begin preparations for Spartacus’ second season. Production on the show had been put on hold when Andy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

-Former ER star Maura Tierney is scheduled to star in ABC’s The Whole Truth. She was originally supposed to be part of NBC’s Parenthood, but had to drop out due to breast cancer treatments.