Aaron Barnhart's TVBARN.COM

Revolving doors on "Earth"

By John Zipperer

It may be "Earth: Final Paycheck" for Richard Chevolleau (left) and Lisa Howard (right), the actors who play Augur and Lili Marquette, respectively, on the syndicated "Earth: Final Conflict." According to Syfy World, rumors are swirling that neither of them will return for the fourth season of the SF drama series from Tribune Entertainment. Though the reports are being denied officially, it's undeniable that sci-fi producers in recent years have had to be flexible when dealing with the revolving door for actors at every step in the pecking order.

This is not the first time "E:FC" has had major talent upheaval. The show, after all, dumped its star, Kevin Kilner, after the first season. Kilner was less than gracious concerning the increased free time this afforded him, and he complained publicly that he was treated shabbily by the producers when they let him go. The producers went out, recast the lead role, wrote in a new character, and delivered a well-received second season (in particular, the first half of the season was very strong). If you can survive the replacement of your lead actor, you can certainly expect to remain happy and healthy when you lose two supporting actors (one of whom, Howard, reportedly lost out to the popular Jayne Heitmeyer).

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The daily digest ... for March 21, 2000: "Entertainment Tonight" is reporting that MTV's Tom Green has cancer and will suspend production of his show so he can seek treatment. I am persuaded by this earnest-looking press release that Green is not making this up as a prank ... Speaking of press releases, my favorite of the day came over the fax, courtesy of FX. "FX Presents an All New Episode of Its Critically Acclaimed New Original Series Son of the Beach Tuesday, March 21 ..." Well, one would hope FX would present an "all new episode" of a series that is exactly one week old; even USA extended "GvsE" that much credit. But having Ken Tucker compare your show favorably to MAD Magazine is not exactly what I would call "critical acclaim" ...

Not to be one-upped by the pregnancy announcement of pal Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell is devoting Tuesday's broadcast to adoption. It will be a veritable how-to for women and men thinking of adopting, although bear in mind that men are optional ... "The Steve Harvey Show," a truly decent sitcom, will get another year on the WB, where it is the network's highest-rated comedy, which unfortunately ain't sayin' much ... And here's a New York Post article with possibly far more than you'd ever care to know about how an actor choreographed his character's on-screen killing. Note: It's a "Sopranos" character rubbed out in Sunday's episode, so if you haven't seen that one yet, don't click the link.

Previously on TV Barn:
20 March: Midseason shows
17 March: Pilots of the airwaves
15 March: Reader mail
14 March: "Farscape" season no. 2
13 March: There's something about Gary Considine
10 March: WWF bolts USA deal

Coming up next ... subject to last-minute changes:
Wednesday: TBA
Thursday: "Nightline" at 20
Friday: Oscars!

On this date... in 1991, "L.A. Law's" Rosalind Shays gets dumped twice. First by senior partner Leland McKenzie and moments later by writer David E. Kelley, who has her character get off the elevator on the wrong floor — the hard way — in the episode "Good to the Last Drop." -- Tom Heald