Sundance Channel

Denver is competing with New Orleans to be the next city to host the Sundance Channel reality show “Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys.” If you have a gay BFF, and you’re between 25 and 45, and you think you’d be right for the prying eye of the cameras, here’s what to do:

Email GIRLSWHOLIKEBOYSCASTING@GMAIL.COM
“Send us a bio of who you and your gay BFF are, including name, age, and occupation. Tell us why you’d be great for the show. Why MUST we cast you guys? What’s happening in your lives? Why is your relationship like none other? What’s going on in your relationship that makes it so special? Why do we need you? Attach a photo & phone number where you can be reached.
MUST LIVE IN THE DENVER OR NEW ORLEANS AREA”

Either Denver or New Orleans will be picked for a future season. Season 1 was cast in New York. Season 2, which premieres Nov. 18 on Sundance, was cast in Nashville.

Going into next week’s semi-finals, J. R. Martinez has the edge. Hope Solo is also in it to win it. Rob Kardashian, not so much. He was in jeopardy! Ricki Lake, fatigued, made it into the semi-finals. Nancy Grace got chutzpah points for the cartwheel but was also in jeopardy… And then was cut.
Goodbye, Nancy.
It was not much of a surprise on a night cursed with more talk than dancing.
Too much filler chit chat. “How do you feel about tonight’s elimination?” Oh, spare me. And the riff on SportsCenter, “DanceCenter”? Make it stop.
The athletic Michael Jackson tribute number by the Stars of Dance troupe was cleverly choreographed, even if the costumes looked like Teletubbies.
Stand by for Muppets next Tuesday.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If you missed Tina Fey on “Rock Center,” talking to Brian Williams about the easily confused names of their primetime shows, her maternity leave, the “Real Housewives” franchise and (obliquely) how far behind NBC is in the ratings…check this clip. Brian continually looks like he’s thinking of something smart and hilarious to say, but stops himself because he’s also the network’s news figurehead. An odd combination of roles he’s set for himself.
Meanwhile, Fey says she looks forward to the next season of her show, due to return in January “if everything’s still here.” Ouch.

Kent Smith/SHOWTIME

Showtime’s worthy hit “Homeland,” already renewed for a second season after just five episodes on the air, is television’s most nuanced look at the fissures in post-9/11 American society to date. A dark meditation on the war on terrorism, torture, the intelligence community and the ramifications on the families of those involved, it has kept us guessing.
As in any spy thrillers, the world of secrecy is painted as all-consuming. The families of those in intelligence live outside the norm, enduring a world of secrets and betrayals, married to a spouse who’s married to the job.
In such a world, we learned in Sunday’s episode, a lie detector test is about control, not truth. CIA boss Saul Berensen (Mandy Patinkin) flubs the test, while Nick Brody (Damian Lewis), the Marine suspected of being “turned” by a terrorist group, aces the test. The audience knows Brody is lying on at least one count, thanks to the question of marital infidelity inserted by CIA operative Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), who’s just had drunken sex with him in the backseat of a car. Of course she’s as damaged and full of dark secrets as Brody, in her way, and as willing to work outside the lines.
At home, Brody is a mystery to his wife, played by Marina Baccarin, and kids. They don’t even know he has converted to Islam and secretly prays in the garage. (Brody increasingly looks like a messed up vet, with the supposed evidence of his “turning” piling on just to mislead the audience.)
So far, series creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa (“24″), have built a long list of twists and possible red herrings to keep us guessing: is there a mole inside the CIA? Who’s warning the terrorists that the CIA is on their trail? And–here’s where the needs of a TV series conflict with the requirements of the real world–since when does a CIA agent hook up with the guy she’s convinced is a terrorist? What next, a romantic weekend in the country? Oh wait, we’ve already seen next week’s log line.
Despite great acting and smart camerawork, the plotlines of the last couple of episodes have strained credulity. But we’re already hooked and along for the ride.

ABC issued full-season orders to the fairy tale drama “Once Upon a Time,” the coupling sitcom “Happy Endings” and Tim Allen’s defense of machismo “Last Man Standing.” The network also ordered five additional scripts for “Pan Am.”
The biggest success of the lot has been “Once Upon a Time,” which has managed to break out as the highest-rated new drama of the season, even playing against football and baseball. “Once” has average 12.3 million viewers and a 4.0 rating in the demographic valued by advertisers, adults 18 to 49.

The competition has always been fierce, but now a local TV station is boasting about shaving seconds off its automated snow day school closing reports.

Channel 31 proclaims “FOX31 DENVER PROVIDES SNOW CLOSURE INFORMATION FASTER THAN ANY OTHER COLORADO MEDIA OUTLET.” Using Nexus SchoolClosings, one of the handful of automated systems available to news outlets, KDVR and its website can report delays and closings first, the station claims.

The press release: “When a school administrator remotely enters a closure into our system, there is no delay before it is conveyed to our audience. New information appears on the air, on our web site and on our mobile app literally within 15 seconds,” says VP of Technology David Harpe. “For our FOX31 Denver on-air viewers, we don’t make them wait through a long, hours-old closings list to see the most recent changes. Our exclusive ‘Just In’ feature flashes a real time alert on screen every time a new delay or closing comes in. New closings are displayed first, followed by a comprehensive list of all closings for the area. With these technologies, FOX31 Denver viewers and KDVR.com visitors have the most up-to-date information throughout the day.”

Longtime ratings and especially snow day kingpin 9News dusted off the claims of its rival like so much powder on the windshield. KUSA General Manager Mark Cornetta said, “We have the technology to do the exact same thing but chose not to.” Because 9News prefers to alphabetize the list of school closings and add to the list as it scrolls around, “small schools could interrupt all morning. We’ve chosen not to use that feature.”

Viewers are now free to clock the announcements down to the millisecond. Or do what most rational people do these days: reach for the smartphone or iPad by the bed and see what your kid’s school is doing.

Watch Steve Jobs: One Last Thing – Walt Mossberg on the Jobs-Gates Relationship on PBS. See more from PBS Presents.

Tonight at 9 p.m. on RMPBS, “Steve Jobs: One Last Thing,” condenses Jobs’ life story into a single hour. Included are interviews with colleagues and excerpts from an interview with Jobs shortly after his cancer diagnosis.

In this clip, Wall Street Journal tech columnist Walt Mossberg recalls interviewing Jobs and Bill Gates, being onstage with them and hearing “nasty” things from each about the other, off the record.

ABC

When it was announced that David Arquette had to go, the ballroom crowd voiced deep disapproval. Were they hoping Nancy Grace would be the one dismissed?

From the start, Arquette revealed himself to be a mediocre dancer, but with a pleasing disposition and self-deprecating humor. (I still get the feeling his wife Courtney Cox wasn’t thrilled about the prospect of cheering him on from the sidelines like a celeb-prop.)

And so week 7 of season 13 winds down. Can it get any less suspenseful? The good news of the week: Watching DWTS on fast-forward takes only 33 minutes. That includes stopping for a bit o’ Bieber.

Memo to the director: we really don’t want to see so much of Brian Williams’ back. The way the NBC anchor is situated on the high-backed couch on his new primetime magazine, “Rock Center,” doesn’t serve the viewers. Still, his talk with Jon Stewart was fun.

The ratings were so-so (4.1 million viewers) on Halloween night, but NBC has stressed they’re not putting Williams out there as a “ratings play.”

Nice to see Denver’s own media star Harry Smith back and telling stories.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Showtime

Showtime has picked up “Homeland” for a second season. The series starring Claire Danes and Damian Lewis is the network’s highest-rated freshman drama series ever, generating 4.4 million viewers “across platforms” in its first week.

That means 4.4 million viewers caught it either online, on demand, live on TV and within 7 days of broadcast on TV. The series has gained followers each week, with Sunday’s episode drawing the biggest crowd yet.