'Desperate Housewives' apology over Philippines slur

Makers of the hit US television series 'Desperate Housewives'have apologized for a slur against Filipino medical workers that caused uproar here.

The apology was sent to Philippine broadcaster ABS-CBN's bureau in the United States and aired here Thursday by its cable news channel, ANC, following protests by the Manila government.

"The producers of the show and ABC studios offer our sincere apology for any offence caused by the brief reference in the season premier," ANC quoted the statement as saying.

"There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines," it said.

The apology was made a day after President Gloria Arroyo's office said it considered a portion of the dialogue in an episode aired last weekend as a "racial slur."

The episode showed actress Teri Hatcher, who plays Susan Mayer, asking during a medical consultation to check "those diplomas because I want to make sure that they're not from some med school in the Philippines."

An online petition calling on the ABC to issue an apology quickly spread through the large Filipino expatriate community in the US, many of them in the medical profession.

In Manila, Arroyo's chief aide, Eduardo Ermita said: "On the face, we can look at it as a racial slur."

"We are looked down upon too much, considering the number of our medical professionals in the US," Ermita said.

ABC said it remained committed to present "sensitive and respectful images of all communities" featured in its programs.

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Spears ordered to give kids to Federline

Britney Spears hit another personal low, being ordered to relinquish her children by a judge who had cited her drug-and-alcohol-fueled lifestyle.

Ex-husband Kevin Federline will take Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1, beginning Wednesday "until further order of the court," Los Angeles County Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon ruled Monday.

Phone messages left for representatives of Spears and Federline were not immediately returned.

This is the latest problem to plague Spears, whose fortunes have taken a very public turn for the worse since splitting from Federline, 29, last year. The two were married in October 2004. Spears filed for divorce last November and it became official in July.

Since becoming single, Spears has appeared increasingly erratic and out-of-control. First, she was photographed at various Hollywood hotspots partying hard with Paris Hilton, with some photos capturing the pop star without panties. Then Spears shaved her head as paparazzi looked on, beat a car with an umbrella and ended up spending a month in rehab.

Last month, Gordon said Spears engaged in "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol" and ordered her to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week as part of her ongoing custody dispute with Federline.

Spears also was previously ordered to meet weekly with a "parenting coach" who was to observe and report back to the court about her parenting skills. Both Spears and Federline must complete the court's "Parenting Without Conflict" class.

Spears was set to redeem herself and return to the pop throne with a much-hyped performance at the MTV Video Music Awards last month. But it was universally panned, with Spears appearing spaced-out and lethargic — and, in some eyes, less than buff. The following week, her management firm dropped her and her divorce lawyer resigned.

Spears was then charged with misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run and driving without a valid license for allegedly crashing into a parked car in August.

The driving offenses likely compelled the judge to issue Monday's orders, said New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder. Officials from the Department of Motor Vehicles said Spears applied for a California driver's license but did not complete the process.

"She was driving without a license with a child in the car," Felder said. "You can put aside the in and out of rehab, the shaving her head. But this? When a judge went out on a limb for her? There's no going back."

Though Spears must relinquish physical custody of the children until further ruling from the court, she and Federline still share legal custody.

Los Angeles divorce lawyer Connolly Oyler said he's surprised the children weren't taken from Spears sooner. Judges typically remove youngsters from households where parents are ordered to undergo drug testing, he said.

But, he added, all is not lost for Spears.

"If she picks a good counselor and gets a different set of friends, there's a good chance she can turn things around," he said, noting "she's only 25."

The couple is due back in court Oct. 3. Spears' new album is set to be released Nov. 13.

Hilary Duff waiting on tables in new movie, "Greta"

Pop singer Hilary Duff plays the title character in the interracial teen romance "Greta," which is shooting on location in New Jersey.

Duff's character is a waitress who falls for an ambitious cook (Evan Ross) at the restaurant where they work. But as their summer romance heats up, she has to overcome the concerns of her grandparents (Ellen Burstyn, Michael Murphy) about her boyfriend's criminal past.

The comic drama marks music-video veteran Nancy Bardawil's feature directing debut. Duff's feature credits include the "Cheaper by the Dozen" movie and "Agent Cody Banks."

Fall TV Season Claims First Victim, Nashville

Robert Altman's Nashville rated an Oscar. Fox's Nashville rated a quick hook.

The reality series is the first casualty of the new fall season, the network has confirmed to E! News.

Nashville aired but twice. The show about twentysomethings trying to make it in country music was supposed to bring a Southern-style Laguna Beach vibe to Fox. Instead, it only brought low ratings. The show averaged just 2.5 million viewers in its two outings, placing 109th in the most recent Nielsen Media Research standings.

The show will be replaced on the schedule this Friday by a repeat of K-Ville, Fox's struggling, but more-promising new cop show.

Elsewhere, Fox's House and ABC's Dancing with the Stars were the big ratings winners on Tuesday night.

The fourth-season premiere of the restaffed House averaged 18.1 million, preliminary Nielsen Media Research data showed. The show was down about 1.5 million total viewers from last fall's premiere, but up among 18- to 49-year-olds. Per ecstatic Fox, the show posted "the highest rated premiere of any network so far this season." All two days of it.

For all of its drawing power, House didn't really take off until Dancing with the Stars went off. In its first half-hour, House averaged 16.9 million viewers opposite Dancing's final half-hour (19.8 million). On its own, from 9:30-10 p.m., House zoomed up to 19.4 million viewers.

Overall, Dancing with the Stars stood as the night's most watched show, averaging 18.3 million fans for its boys' night in the ballroom. House stood as the highest-rated show in the 18-49 demographic.

Other premieres: The Kevin Smith-directed pilot of Reaper (3.2 million) helped bring (fan)boys to the America's Top Model-dominated CW; the ninth-season opener of NBC's Law & Order: SVU (12.1 million) won its time slot, but lost about 2.5 million viewers from last fall's first episode; Fox's Bones (8.3 million) kicked off its third season on par with its second (8.6 million); and, CBS' NCIS (13.7 million), fresh from a behind-the-scenes shakeup, added some viewers (about 200,000) from its fourth-season launch, while The Unit (10.7 million) lost about 1 million from its second-season debut.

Not that Fox is keeping track or anything, but the network wanted to point out that NCIS and The Unit both lost ground in the 18-49 department.

And not that CBS is minding that NBC is going to cram in as many Heroes viewers into next week's Nielsen standings as possible, but the network wanted to point out that once digital-video-recorder stats are considered, NCIS and The Unit will have both improved their lot in the 18-49 department.

Oddly enough, Fox and CBS had a differing of opinion on the performance of CBS' new Dallas of the Florida tropics drama, Cane (11.1 million).

Fox, the impartial observer, noted that the Jimmy Smits series was down 19 percent in the 18-49 demo from last fall's premiere of Smith, which you'll recall (and Fox did) was canceled after three episodes.

CBS, the hometown booster, noted that Cane was its most watched premiere in the 10 p.m., Tuesday time slot since a 1999 Judging Amy. As is its right, it noted the show's performance in the demo only in comparison to the lower rated The Unit, not the higher rated Smith.

The bottom line: Cane ran second in the hour in total viewers and the 18-49 demographic.

Nashville would love to have such problems.

Fishybot, a new web directory

A web directory or link directory is a directory on the Internet. It specializes in linking to other web sites and categorizing those links.

A web directory is not a search engine, and does not display lists of web pages based on keywords, instead it lists web sites by category and subcategory. The categorization is usually based on the whole web site, rather than one page or a set of keywords, and sites are often limited to inclusion in only one or two categories. Directories often allow Web site owners to directly submit their site for inclusion, and have editors review submissions for fitness. And it’s very good for SEO, Google Page Rank etc.

Fishybot is a human maintained and edited, SEO friendly web directory that lists quality, family-friendly websites.

It's a start up web directory, so you can submit your website for the top position of category. And the charge is very reasonable, a Regular Link just cost you $29 per year, you can add your website at here.

They do not accept the following types of sites, so please don't submit them, Sites that will not be approved will be refunded:

Site with any illegal content (porn/drugs/racist/wares/gambling).
Gateway pages or mirror sites.
Sites with excessive pop up's or any ActiveX content.
Under construction sites.

Search Engine Marketing: http://www.fishybot.com

Eva Longoria Sex Tape Rumour

The Web is a blazin' with the rumour that Eva Longoria is the star of the latest celebrity sex tape.

The tape is said to contain steamy footage of the Desperate Housewives actress with new husband, Tony Parker.

According to reports, the tape is already available on pay per view adult film websites, however a blog says they are willing to publish the tape after “verifying…legal issues associated with it.”

Only time will tell if this is another Meg White-style hoax – in the meantime, we've taken the opportunity to bring you some classic bedroom action from Eva.