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FILM/TV BITS: Idols Tucker on Fox; I Love NY finale; Snipes-related sentencing; 30 Rock renewed; BETs Ballers; Gumbel on CW.
*Former "American Idol" finalist Lisa Tucker has been cast in the Fox drama pilot "Born in the USA," which follows real-life issues of blue-collar families in Philadelphia. The 17-year-old will play a smart, beautiful and quiet girl with a good sense of humor, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The 2005-06 "Idol" finalist has appeared on Fox's "The O.C." and multiple episodes of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101." At age 11, she performed a nine-month run in "The Lion King" at Hollywoods Pantages Theatre.
*The season finale of VH1s I Love New York was watched by 4.8 million viewers Monday night to give the reality show its highest-rated episode of the season. The spinoff of Flavor of Love 2 featured contestant New York looking for love among a group of bachelors. Not only did she choose Tango to be her rock in the season finale, but she also accepted his rock when he got down on bended knee and proposed.
*A man linked to the Wesley Snipes tax fraud case was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in prison. Arthur L. Farnsworth, 43, of Sellersville, PA, was also fined $500 and ordered to cooperate with Internal Revenue Service investigators in documenting his finances and beginning to pay his tax debt of almost $83,000, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Prosecutors said Farnsworth transferred his money to overseas bank accounts and put it into bogus trusts to try to hide his income. A raid on his home in 2002 found documents detailing some of the trust funds, leading to a nationwide probe of fraudulent trusts. That led to charges against other people, including Snipes.
*Tracy Morgan will be employed for at least another season. Despite low ratings, NBC has decided to renew its freshman sitcom, 30 Rock. Now the bad news: On April 12, NBC is moving the show to a suicidal time slot 9 p.m. Thursdays putting it up against ratings monsters "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS and "Grey's Anatomy" on ABC. In related news, 30 Rock star Judah Friedlander has been cast in Eddie Murphys upcoming comedy Starship Dave. Friedlander will play the engineer of a crew of tiny humanlike beings that, in an effort to save their doomed world, takes on a perfect disguise: a vessel that looks like an ordinary, normal-size man (Murphy). Gabrielle Union has also been cast.
*BETs will premiere its new sports talk show, Ballers, on April 20. The program features hosts John Salley, former NFL star Hugh Douglas and comedian Guy Torry talking sports in a nightclub setting. BET CEO Reginald Hudlin told the Associated Press: "I had worked a few Super Bowls for FSN, and one thing I noticed was how comfortable these guys were in a nightclub atmosphere. Many times I had an opportunity to be involved in conversations taking place at nightclubs, and I thought, 'Why aren't we rolling the cameras on this?' It also gives fans the opportunity to 'hang' with the athlete instead of just watch them play." Joining the fellas each week are ladies DJ Rashida and Claudia Jordan from "Deal or No Deal." The show will be shot at Platinum Live in Studio City, Calif.
*This afternoon on the CW, Bryant Gumbel hosts a one-hour program exploring the hardships of poverty. Life Below The Line: the World Poverty Crisis, premiering at 3 p.m., will look at some of the most impoverished places on the planet and feature individuals and organizations who are working to solve poverty in their own way. Some of the celebs featured include Della Reese, Sir Roger Moore, Ed Begley, Jr. and Jewel.
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