MUMBAI: Comedy Central this summer will launch three new shows. The Comedy classic ?Wonder Years? has already kicked off on the channel. Quirky shows ?Whitney?, ?Are We There Yet? and ?Up All Night? from 8 April,2013. These three shows are the latest seasons from the US.

Viacom 18 senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia said, ?At Comedy Central, our aim is to treat viewers with some of the best comedy shows available across the globe.This summer once again, the channel has come up with new power packed line up of shows. We are confident that the impressive line-up of new & fresh shows will keep the laughter quotient high and elevate category growth too.?

?Whitney? is a sitcom set in Chicago that entraps sarcastic yet surprisingly sweet and funny situation.The show stars Whitney Cummings and is based on her real-life experiences and her comedy routines.She portrays a fictionalized version of herself, living in with her supportive boyfriend. The show airs Monday -Wednesday at 10 pm.
 
Following that is ?Up All Night? at 10:30 pm. This takes an irreverent look at parenthood through the point of view of an acerbic working mother.This series traces the journey down the line of Reagan,a producer on her best friend Ava?s talk show, and her supportive, stay-at-home husband Chris, as they try to adjust to life with their newborn baby Amy.

After that is ?Are We There Yet:? at 11 pm. This series postulates the blended family of Kingston-Persons. It showcases the challenges faced in their everyday life and the trials of a newly amalgamated family. The show also captures the fledgling romance between Nick, a playboy bachelor and Suzanne, a divorced mother of two kids. Catch all the excitement of how Suzanne manages her life between her boyfriend and kids.

MUMBAI: Tribune Co has received a waiver from America?s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to transfer its broadcast licences to a new owner that will allow it to come out of a four-year old bankruptcy.

Tribune, which owns eight newspapers and 23 TV stations, has got a permanent waiver in Chicago from FCC?s Media Bureau and a temporary waiver in New York,Los Angeles, South Florida and Hartford, Connecticut.

As per FCC rules, a media company is not allowed to own a newspaper and a TV station in the same market. Tribune had urged the FCC to grant a permanent waiver on the cross-media ownership that has prevented media conglomerates like News Corp to own a newspaper.

The waiver from FCC paves the way for transfer of Tribune?s broadcast licenses to its new owners led by group of creditors which include Oaktree Capital Management, Angelo Gordon & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

"The Federal Communications Commission today announced that it has approved Tribune Company?s request for the assignment of its broadcast licenses, and has granted the company a permanent waiver of the ban on cross-ownership in Chicago and temporary waivers in New York, Los Angeles, South Florida and Hartford.

Tribune owns 23 television stations and eight newspapers in markets across the country," Tribune said in a statement.

"We are extremely pleased with today?s action by the FCC," Tribune CEO Eddy Hartenstein commented. "This decision will enable the company to continue moving forward toward emergence from Chapter 11, a process we expect to complete over the course of the next several weeks.?

Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai said he was pleased with the FCC order to grant waiver Tribune on the cross-media ownership rule though he would have favoured a permanent waiver.

"While my preference would have been for the Media Bureau to grant the Tribune Company permanent waivers from the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule in the New York, Los Angeles, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, and Hartford-New Haven markets, I am nonetheless pleased with today?s Order," Pai said in a statement.

"It (waiver) facilitates the company?s exit from bankruptcy, grants Tribune a permanent waiver in the Chicago market, and allows the company to maintain its newspaper-broadcast combinations in the four other markets so that they may be examined under the new rule we are likely to adopt later this year."

Terming the cross-media rules as outdated, Pai was in favour of doing away with cross-media given the financial condition of newspapers.

"Given the financial conditions confronting the newspaper industry, we should be applauding companies that continue to operate daily newspapers rather than saddling them with artificial and outdated regulatory burdens," he averred.

Meanwhile, Chicago Tribune has reported that Peter Liguori, a former top TV executive at Fox and Discovery, is set to be the new CEO of Tribune.

MUMBAI: BBC has announced a documentary ?Supersized Earth? that traces the story of how humans have changed the world in a single generation. In this series for BBC One in the UK, Dallas Campbell travels the globe, visiting the world?s largest and most ambitious engineering projects, exploring the power of human ingenuity and the making of the modern world.

In 1980 the tallest building on the planet was the Sears Towers in Chicago and Dubai was a dusty strip of desert with a single highway. Fast forward 30 years and the world?s tallest building stands at more than 800 metres, cities like Las Vegas have sprawled across the desert and are home to millions, and China is the manufacturing capital of the world, with many of the fastest growing cities on earth.

In just a single lifetime, humans have changed the face of the planet on a scale unimaginable to our predecessors. Supersized Earth charts the epic scale of our redesign of the planet for the first time.

Throughout the series Dallas undertakes some extraordinary feats ? from cleaning the windows of the world?s tallest building - the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, to scuba-diving in raw sewage in Mexico City, in order to unblock the turbines driving the mega-city?s failing sewage system. He also flies a replica of the Wright Brother?s glider from 1902, paraglides over the world?s largest greenhouse array and travels to a cosmodrome on the desert steppes of Kazakhstan, to witness a new age of space travel.

He said, "The way we live on the planet is changing in ways that our ancestors would have thought impossible. Telling that story has been utterly absorbing and fascinating and by far the most ambitious and demanding project I?ve ever worked on. I?ve had privileged access to the some of the world?s defining engineering projects - projects that are re-shaping the planet, and the chance to experience first-hand some of the extraordinary innovations that allow us to live the way we now do."

In the first episode, Dallas looks at how we are building faster than ever before and the extremes that are gone to daily in order for us to live the way we do.

In episode two, he explores how we are shrinking the planet, transforming our transport networks, and moving more objects around the globe faster.

In the final episode, Dallas examines what it takes to keep seven billion of us alive, in terms of energy, food and water.

Drawing on satellite imagery, CGI and specialist filming, the series provides a new view on the world and compresses time to watch a generation of change pass in a few moments. Multiple time?lapse cameras track the progress of the biggest construction projects underway today, from bare rock to engineering marvels. Each an emblem of a global trend, together they capture the sheer scale of human ambition to remake the planet.

Filmed in HD, Supersized Earth invokes the stunning and sometimes terrible beauty of the man-made world.

MUMBAI: US cable network USA Network from the NBCUniversal stable has announced a slate of comedies and dramas. It is also looking at the reality genre to boost its reach.

The new comedy slate feature comedic talent, including Kelsey Grammer, Mark Gordon, Denis Leary and Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun.

USA co-presidents Chris McCumber, Jeff Wachtel said, "The comedy genre has re-emerged as a top choice for television audiences, and we anticipate our latest projects coupled with ?Modern Family? will ignite excitement with our viewers. Our track record of provocative storytelling from marquee talent has made USA a top entertainment brand for consumers and a great investment for brands looking to reach them."

The Upcoming half hour comedy slate includes ?Regulars?. It is about a misfit group of customers and employees at a suburban New Jersey bar express their joys, sorrows and observations through karaoke.

Modern Family executive producer.Steven Levitan said, "USA is the perfect home for ?Modern Family.? We are proud to anchor USA?s next generation of comedies when we begin airing next year."

?The Dicicco Brothers? comes from comedy icon Kelsey Grammer ?Frasier? and writer Ed Cannistraci. This is the story of a promising dot-com entrepreneur who moves to the very politically correct culture of Silicon Valley with dreams of making it big. His dreams may unravel though when his colorful, blunt, and unrefined extended family arrives to "offer their support."

??Paging Dr. Freed? is a comedy about two gynecologist brothers who inherit their father?s thriving medical practice after he suffers a heart attack during an attempt at "playing" doctor with his young secretary. Along with taking over the family business, these brothers also must deal with something else their father left behind - their overbearing, neurotic mother. Trusted and beloved by their patients, these guys are professionals when it comes to women but only from the neck down.

?Sirens?, meanwhile, offers the comedic point of view of Denis Leary. His new comedy follows three of Chicago?s best EMTs whose sometimes self-loathing, other times narcissistic, and always downright self-destructive personalities make them unqualified for sustaining relationships, friendships and most occupations. They are, however, uniquely qualified for saving anyone unlucky enough to wind up in their ambulance.

On the drama side of things, ISA Network is encouraged by the success of ?Suits? and ?Necessary Roughness?. New shows announced include ?Political Animals?, the pilot ?Graceland? and the development of three dramas - Bang Bang, Rare, Mind Fields, Fallen, ?We Counted Your Knives? and the Untitled Dick Wolf Project.

"As USA moves into Upfront week, this new slate reaffirms the network?s position as a ?blue chip investment? to the advertising and creative community. These projects will continue to further the scope of our dramas with the collaboration and passionate input of Hollywood?s top talent," said McCumber and Wachtel

In ?Bang Bang? an unlikely partnership is formed when veteran hitman Danny is saved by rival novice hired gun Marco, while executing a target. This duo pair up to execute contracts, if they don?t kill each other first.

?Rare; is set in Tour which is a new restaurant in San Francisco. Part of its allure may be the chef, a mysterious ex-special forces captain who?s good with a knife both inside and outside the kitchen. Even if he tries to resist his old violent life, he will be unlikely to keep it entirely outside his new establishment.

In ?Fallen? after an accident, a cop -- known for his "act first, ask questions later" approach -- develops the rare condition of synesthesia and suddenly finds himself seeing "emotions." His partner doesn?t quite understand this "touchy-feely" approach to solving crimes, but there?s no doubt that this new insight is helping clear cases.

USA Network is also looking to extend its audience reach by diving into the reality genre with the pilot pick-up of ?Bride Or Best Man?. In addition, ?Romancing The Globe?, a new relationship series, is in development from executive producer Mark Burnett. The slate also includes two previously announced projects - the pilot for The Choir and the recently greenlit series ?The Moment?.

McCumber and Wachtel said, "As we move into the world of reality programming, we?re staying true to our brand DNA by focussing on real life characters that are every bit as fascinating, inspirational and entertaining as our scripted ones. These unscripted series let us welcome characters of all types, which will continue to broaden our appeal to audiences."

?Bride Or Best Man? is being pushed as a "bromantic comedy" with a twist; this series highlights a trip down the aisle that goes completely wrong when the Groom and his Best Man are left in charge of planning the ?big day.?

?The Choir? follows accomplished UK choirmaster Gareth Malone as he embraces various American communities and assembles a choir made up of the most unexpected mix of individuals. Malone believes in the transformative power of music and uses choirs as a way to bring people together, raise morale, and restore a sense of pride in community.

The journey is both comedic and emotional with each episode culminating in an orchestrated choir performance. Malone began his career leading choirs for the London Symphony Orchestra and since then, has gone on to win an International Emmy and numerous BAFTAs as well as recently having an album top the UK pop charts.