HBO has picked up “Entourage” for a sixth season, reports Variety. Production on the new season will begin early next year for a summer debut.

The fifth season of the half-hour comedy premiered in September.

Michael Lombardo, HBO president of programming group and West Coast operations, called “Entourage” a “smart, sharp comedy series that continues to evolve.”

The series, created and executive produced by Doug Ellin, stars Adrian Grenier as once-hot actor Vincent Chase, as well as Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara. Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson also executive produce.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is planning a return to television, with a half-hour HBO show, says Variety.

The project entitled “The Wonderful Maladys,” penned by screenwriter Charles Randolph, follows the lives of three adult siblings who face dysfunction after losing their parents at a young age, says the paper.

Since her hit television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” stopped production, Gellar has focused on features, but she says she is excited about the new TV project and tells Variety it is “a terrific next chapter for me.”

She’s sticking around to play Hillary Clinton when necessary, but, after that, Amy Poehler will be peacing out to have a baby — and she’s not going to return.

“It’s gonna be really hard — Boyz II Men hard — to say goodbye to yesterday,” she says. “SNL was dangerous, late-night, last-minute and star-studded, but like any good drug, you need to know when to put it down.”

Amy will be working in some capacity on The Office spinoff after she leaves SNL, but she hasn’t gone into much detail about that.

The buzz for the “Saturday Night Live” season premiere this weekend just got a lot bigger! Not only is Olympic champ Michael Phelps hosting, but Barack Obama is slated to make a guest appearance.

People magazine says that Obama will fly in from New Hampshire to be “live from New York,” but the extent of his on-air involvement is not yet known.

“The details of the sketch are still being worked out,” Obama’s campaign tells the mag.

The Democratic presidential hopeful previously appeared on “SNL” during the primary in sketch where Amy Poehler played Hillary Clinton.

NBC has released the following promo images for the third season of “Heroes,” subtitled “Villains.” The new season kicks-off on Monday, September 22 (8-9 p.m. ET) with an hour-long compilation show that will lead into an all new, two-hour premiere (9-11 p.m. ET).

Michael Phelps delivered a brief cameo on Entourage – and some cast members would like to see the Olympian join them fulltime in the future.

“I could see him coming back as one of the boys,” said Jeremy Piven during a party to celebrate the fifth season premiere of the HBO hit – held Wednesday at New York’s Ziegfeld Theater.

And talk about swimming with sharks. Imaging how his own character – abrasive agent Ari Gold – would interact with the 23-year-old, real-life gold medalist, Piven, 43, said, “I can see Ari being very aggressive in recruiting him to represent him and also stopping at nothing to poach him from another client. That’s what Ari would do.”

Jerry Ferrera, who plays Turtle on the show, also likes the idea of Phelps coming back for more. “I’m lobbying to get him back next season so that I can be there,” he said. “He could teach Turtle how to swim.”

Doug Ellin, the show’s creator and executive producer, said it was by chance that Phelps landed on Entourage at all. He happened to be walking by the set while a scene was shot in New York City. It took just minutes for Ellin to welcome him in.

Swimmer Stopped Traffic
“It was the coolest thing in the world. When he showed up, I’m not exaggerating, city buses stopped and people started yelling and within five minutes we couldn’t even shoot,” said Ellin.

Phelps plays himself in his appearance and gives actor Kevin Connelly’s character a hard time.

“He and I bump into each other on the side of the road, at a crosswalk on 57th and 7th. He bumps into me and looks at me like he’s gonna beat me up,” said Connelly. “It was great. We had actually taken a few takes of the scene, and then we decided we’re gonna pop Michael Phelps into the shot.”

Source: People

I can’t stand the show, but i’m sure someone out there cares. ~ Perricone

Hollywood actress Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s hit show Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been blamed for 50,000 women abandoning traditional Western religion to study paganism.

According to the recent British study published in Women and Religion in the West, young women have taken an increased interest in practising witchcraft after Gellar’s hit U.S. TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer hit the mainstream.

The study’s author Dr. Kristin Aune says: “Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In short, women are abandoning the church.”

The Church of England has declined to comment on the study.

Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis has revealed he will be the next star to appear on business tycoon Donald Trump‘s hit U.S. reality TV show.

Network executives at Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice have yet to confirm the show’s competitors.

But Francis has admitted he is keen to join the cast, confirming to Hollyscoop.com, “I’m doing Celebrity Apprentice.”

Just last week (beg18Aug08), Trump revealed to Los Angeles radio host Ryan Seacrest that he has received countless calls from celebrities desperate to revive their careers with a turn on his show.

Interested parties reportedly include comedian Joan Rivers, former basketball star Dennis Rodman, and socialite Khloe Kardashian.

The show is set to begin recording in the autumn and is scheduled for a premiere in January.