Susan Lucci To Co-Star In Marc Cherrys ABC Pilot Devious Service personnel

EXCLUSIVE: Daytime icon Susan Lucci will primetime while remaining close to her cleaning cleaning soap roots. The prior The Kids star is returning to ABC getting a plum co-starring role inside the network’s pilot Devious Service personnel, a primetime cleaning cleaning soap from Desperate Regular folks creator Marc Cherry, in the plum co-starring role. Using the Mexican format, Devious Service personnel follows four service personnel (Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sanchez, Judy Reyes) with ambition and dreams that goes for them once they use the wealthy and famous in Beverly Slopes. Lucci may have one of the companies, Genevieve Delacourt, a stylish, wealthy lady who's gently crazy. Getting spent her adult existence getting in a single effective guy to a different, she’s reduced to impacting on the Armenian pool boy, as well as the vertiginous drop in their sexual status leaves her — well, the word is nuts. Unused for you to get males walk past her as if she were as sexless just like a mailbox, Genevieve is feeling suicidal. In the last 41 years, Lucci carried out her signature role of Erica Kane on ABC’s daytime drama The Kids, really the only original cast member being round the series until its finish last fall.

Early B.O.: 'John Carter' pacing at $30 mil range

Disney's large-budget 'John Carter' is on the right track to gross roughly $$ 30 million a few days ago, arriving at #2 behind U's 'Lorax' (roughly $40 million).Disney's $250 million "John Carter" is off and away to a rocky start in the domestic B.O., using the three dimensional fantasy epic monitoring for any $28 million to $32 million weekend. Universal's "The Lorax" should easily win the weekend with roughly $40 million, based on estimations according to early Friday returns. For several weeks, Hollywood has thought the large-budget "Carter" would be a bust -- even though the sci-fi pic is fairing "slightly much better than expected," per experts, the studio seems to become many years from turning an income.Dependent on author Edward Grain Burroughs' 100-year-old material and getting no major stars, "John Carter" is a challenging pic to promote for that Mouse House. Last May, the studio transformed the title from the pic from "John Carter of Mars" to merely "John Carter" to distance the pic from paltry artist "Mars Needs Moms," which converted into a $100 million-plus write-off for Disney this past year."Carter," directed by Pixar vet Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo," "Wall-E"), stars Taylor Kitsch and informs the storyline of the Civil War vet who's adopted to Mars, where he finds themself in the center of an inter-species war.The NY Occasions known as the film "Untidy and chaotic but additionally colorful and type of fun" along with a 50% fresh rating on Rotten Tomato plants suggest other experts are simply as mixed.Overseas, the pic opened for an impressive $6.5 million in three dimensional-happy Russia, but other areas could pose a larger challenge.Meanwhile, U's "Lorax" is holding perfectly, using the Dr. Seuss pic only shedding 41% week-to-week, putting the $70 million Imagination Entertainment toon on componen to eclipse "John Carter" because the #1 pic locally.Other new releases, Par's Eddie Murphy-starrer "A 1000 Words" and Open Road's "Quiet House" are monitoring just below $7 million for that frame. Contact Stuart Oldham at stuart.oldham@variety.com

Murdoch control of BSkyB at risk

LONDON -- The inquiry into whether BSkyB is a "fit and proper" owner of a U.K. broadcasting license has been stepped up by local media regulator Ofcom. The Financial Times has revealed that a team, known as Project Apple, was set up in January at the regulator to scrutinize the ever-growing mountain of evidence that has emerged from such sources as the Leveson inquiry into press ethics, politicians' committees and police investigations. News Corp. owns 39% of BSkyB. In the worst case, Ofcom could revoke its U.K. broadcasting license if the company failed the "fit and proper" test.Other options open to the regulator include putting pressure on James Murdoch to stand down as chairman of the satcaster, and forcing News Corp. to scale down its stake in BSkyB, a move that would end its control of the highly profitable operator.Ofcom began preliminary inquiries into whether BSkyB was a "fit and proper" owner of a broadcasting license last summer, after phone hacking became toxic when it emerged that the cell phone belonging to murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler had been hacked by the News of the World. The paper, owned by News Corp. off-shoot News International, was subsequently shuttered. Since July the crisis has become even more dangerous for News Corp.Recently 10 of journalists at the Sun, also owned by News International, were arrested. They are alleged to have bribed public officials. A Freedom of Information request by the FT revealed that in January the media regulator established Project Apple. The regulator will pay special attention to a report by a committee of pols on phone hacking, due to be published this spring. Both Rupert and James Murdoch, who last week ankled as executive chairman of News International, were grilled by this committee. The regulator said: "Ofcom has a duty under the U.K. Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996 to be satisfied that any person holding a broadcasting license is, and remains, fit and proper to do so."New evidence is still emerging from hacking and corruption allegations. Ofcom is continuing to assess the evidence, including the new and emerging evidence, that may assist it in discharging its duties."Ofcom officials are believed to be liaising with the London police teams that are investigating hacking and bribery allegations, and scrutinizing evidence given to Leveson.Reports suggest that the regulator could make a ruling on the "fit and proper" status of News Corp. ahead of the conclusion of any criminal trials. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Happy Endings Scoop: Brian Austin Green to Woo Penny in Season Finale

Alison Sweeney and Ali Landry Please join Hollywood Girls Night for an evening of gossip, grub and girly cocktails. RSVP appreciated. Friends Ali Landry and Alison Sweeney, aka The Alis, wanted more quality time with their busy Hollywood gal pals who juggled their careers with motherhood. Thus, a series of themed dinner parties was born, which evolved into TV Guide Network's five-part series, Hollywood Girls Night, premiering Sunday at 9/8c. Check out the rest of today's news "I love to host parties. I'm a Virgo, I'm a good planner. So I was always in charge of scheduling," Sweeney tells TVGuide.com. "It became such a fun release for all of us. We've always had this idea of working together, and Landry is this great at-home creative person, and I like to cook. This all just came together." Upcoming dinner guests include Real Housewives' Kyle Richards, The Girls Next Door's Kendra Wilkinson, Dancing with the Stars' Cheryl Burke, Daisy Fuentes and the Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger. And most topics of conversation are fair game, whether it's secret celebrity crushes or sex. "I feel I don't live my life in secret," Sweeney says about the decision to televise the get-togethers. "I don't really have dirty laundry. And our show is really positive. It's not about embarrassing people or making people look bad. We want it to be funny and gossipy and interesting and fun and maybe sassy." Landry adds, "When we were doing the original, non-televised parties, we would take to Twitter and Facebook and ask the followers, 'OK, I'm in charge of an app today for the dinner party, do you have any ideas?' And everyone gave their responses. We even had a few people say, with the day and age of Twitter and Facebook and texting, that you never really sit down with you girlfriends face-to-face anymore. So we sort of inspired them, the fans, to start this tradition with their friends." To get in the mood for sharing secrets, here's 7 confessions from The Alis: 1. Worst kitchen disaster. "It was at Sweeney's house on our first episode caught on tape, where I was trying to do gumbo," says Landry. "I'm from Louisiana, so it's no joke. It was so hot and I was pregnant. It was like 15 degrees hotter in there. I was stirring this pot, and the recipe got too close to the stove, it lit on fire, she's dying laughing. I stepped on her blind dog because I couldn't see over the belly and then I peed on myself because of course I had the bladder issues, being pregnant. Major disaster." 2. Most sex-obsessed. "Kendra is the most upfront about it," Sweeney admits, "but Landry and I are a little bit more conservative on that discussion. So I was very much like, jaw-dropped. I couldn't believe we were talking about it. Never mind that it was on TV. I'm willing to go there about certain subjects, but there are certain ones I feel self-conscious about. I'm shocked easily, I think." 3. Biggest fashion indulgence. "I have way more shoes than I would've thought one person would need," says Sweeney. "My husband points it out to me. He's like, "You need to wear them. If I don't see scores at the bottom of your shoes, I'm selling them on eBay." I was like, 'Hold on! I'll wear it.'" 4. Hungriest on set. "That's me," says Landry. "I really look forward to this all day long, these meals. I load my plate and I even ask, 'Can I go back and get seconds? Make sure it's hot.' So I'm just sitting and everyone else is taking just one or two bites because they're ready to talk, and I'm like cutting, eating. No problem." 5. Most annoying habit. "I sound like a Valley girl," Sweeney confesses. "I say 'like' a lot, and it annoys me because people point it out to me. It is ridiculous. It is embarrassing. I am a 35-year-old woman; I should not say 'like' as often as I do. But it keeps you young." 6. Most TV-obsessed. "I'm almost embarrassed to tell you. I TiVo every reality show there is," says Landry. "It's killing my husband because those shows are taking the place of the shows we actually watch together like 60 Minutes, 20/20. MSNBC's Lockup? I totally watch that." 7. Guiltiest food indulgence. Landry: "I'm from Louisiana and we all do snoballs, not snowcones, so the ice is definitely finer. It's like powdered snow. We do a condensed milk on top of it. So I found a place in Inglewood, New Orleans Snoballs, that has my favorite flavor, which is ice cream and then I get extra cream on top. Sometimes I have seriously driven from my house in Los Feliz all the way to Inglewood on one of those days. It's good that it is where it is or I'd go more often." Sweeney: "There used to be a restaurant in Studio City called Killer Shrimp, and now there is one in Marina del Rey. I love Killer Shrimp. It was the best thing that ever happened to my body, but the weird thing about it is it's actually borderline painful to eat. It's uncomfortable and you're sweating, and you cannot stop eating it. So I've tried to make it a few times and I must say I do a pretty damn good version of it. Obviously it's ridiculously bad for you, but I don't make it that often." Hollywood Girls Night premieres on Sunday at 9/8c on TV Guide Network. Check out this sneak peek of the ladies discussing what they wear to bed: