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From Mansfieldnewsjournal.com

Programming heats up for sweeps (tru mention)

By Melissa Scott

Tuesday 4 November 2003, by Webmaster

She sees dead people — as part of her job working the night shift at the morgue.

But what makes Tru Davies truly special is that they speak to her, too. Only the ones that die an unnatural death, though, giving Tru a chance to save them when life is rewound and she relives the day they die.

Fox launched its new supernatural crime drama, "Tru Calling," starring Eliza Dushku as the title character, 8 p.m. Thursday.

And it was surprisingly good considering the premise is an amalgamation of "Early Edition" and "Groundhog Day" with a little "CSI" and "Law & Order" thrown into the mix.

Dushku, former co-slayer on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," kicks major butt as the savior of murder and suicide victims and only comes off slightly crazy when she appears to read minds while reliving her day.

"Tru Calling" isn’t the only new addition to the November lineup. With the completion of the World Series, Fox began rolling out its new series at the end of October and that continues this week with "Bernie Mac" on Sunday.

November also is sweeps month for the networks, and viewers should expect lots of razzle-dazzle and a few special guest stars. A few things they shouldn’t expect to see this month are CBS’s "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.," NBC’s "Coupling" and "The Lyon’s Den," Fox’s "Luis" and UPN’s "The Mullets," which have been pulled from the schedule and some — such as "Luis" and "Brotherhood" — that may never return.

There will be plenty of other shows to watch, however, according to www.eonline.com. Some of November’s best will include:

Guest stars

Pam Anderson will appear in an episode of ABC’s "Less Than Perfect" tonight as an ex-temp.

Ross (David Schwimmer) will be confronted by a jealous ex played by Greg Kinnear on NBC’s "Friends" on Thursday.

Regis Philbin will guest star on Kelly Ripa’s new show "Hope & Faith" on Friday on ABC.

Wayne Newton will show up on NBC’s "Las Vegas" on Monday.

And Will Smith pops up Nov. 18 on UPN’s "All of Us," a show of which he is executive producer. Award shows

"The 37th Annual Country Music Awards" will air Wednesday on CBS.

"The 31st annual American Music Awards" will be on ABC on Nov. 16.

And cohost Queen Latifah will help christen the "Vibe Awards: Beats, Style, Flavor" on Nov. 21 on UPN. Must-see shows

"8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" returns tonight on ABC. The show took a break to regroup after the death of John Ritter, who played the patriarch of the Hennessey family. James Garner joins the cast and "Bob Newhart" vet Suzanne Pleshette, "Cheers"’ John Ratzenberger and "Laverne & Shirley"’s Cindy Williams will try to fill the whole left by Ritter’s passing.

"Judging Amy" celebrates 100 episodes tonight on CBS as does UPN’s "The Parkers" on Nov. 17 and NBC’s "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" on Nov. 18.

Lovebirds Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter from the "Bachelorette" are featured in the first of three prime-time specials leading up to their wedding on ABC Nov. 26. The actual nuptials should take place Dec. 10.

And, last, but not least, CBS will once again air "The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show" on Nov. 19. Next week: Delve beneath the surface of Fox’s "Skin."