Tuning In

Starz fright nights

The Starz network celebrates Halloween this weekend with both a marathon of fright flicks and the premieres of two ghoulish hits.

Eddie Murphy’s “The Haunted Mansion” kicks off the festivities at 9 p.m. Saturday. The film, co-starring Terence Stamp and Don Knotts, blends horror and comedy with Mr. Murphy playing a real estate agent trying to sell a home that’s teeming with spirits.

Up next at 10:30 p.m. is “Final Destination 2,” featuring Ali Larter as a car-accident survivor who realizes other survivors are suddenly dying off.

Sunday’s features include the remake of “Willard,” starring Crispin Glover; the sub thriller “Below”; “Freddy vs. Jason”; and the premiere of last year’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remake starring Jessica Biel. The new “Massacre” got clobbered by most critics. Yet audiences lined up to see Miss Biel square off against the murderous Leatherface.

Burstyn’s ’Family’

The family business takes on a whole new meaning in an original CBS movie airing this weekend.

“The Madam’s Family: The Truth About Canal Street Brothel” stars Academy Award winner Ellen Burstyn and Annabella Sciorra (“The Sopranos”) in the true-life story of three generations of women behind a successful house of ill repute.

Miss Burstyn plays an aging prostitute who mans the phones at the brothel, now run by her daughter Jeannette (Miss Sciorra). Jeannette’s daughter, played by Dominique Swain, is the operation’s main attraction, but her attributes can’t stop the FBI from trying to shut the place down after a regular john accuses the women of drug trafficking.

“The Madam’s Family” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS.

Canceled ’for Life’

For the cast and crew of “Grounded for Life,” the punishment is permanent.

Ater a five-year run on two networks, the show has been canceled by the WB, Reuters News Agency reports.

The network opted not to pick up more episodes of the show beyond the initial 13 ordered in May. The series finale of the family sitcom starring Donal Logue is expected to air early next year.

At the end of its run, “Grounded” will have 91 episodes in the can, half of them produced by Carsey-Werner for the WB and half for Fox, where it premiered in 2001. It’s slated to begin its off-network run on cable’s ABC Family next year.

“Grounded” is the second casualty of the WB’s Friday night lineup this season, but at least the show got a chance to be seen. The network’s “Commando Nanny” hit production problems that caused its delay — and, later, its cancelation without a single episode airing.

Remaining Friday comedies “Reba” and “What I Like About You” will be joined by “Shacking Up” in midseason.

Reality parody in works

The creator of “Scrubs” is working on a new show combining reality television with the sitcom.

Bill Lawrence’s “Nobody’s Watching” revolves around two twentysomething guys who win a reality-show contest and get to create their own sitcom, Reuters reports.

As they struggle to make a TV comedy, their every move is filmed and they’re confined to live on a soundstage — without realizing that they are the show.

The WB Network is close to ordering the pilot from Mr. Lawrence.

“’Nobody’s Watching’ is a classic buddy sitcom masqueraded as a reality show parody,” Mr. Lawrence told Reuters. “It was a product of us trying to do something new and the frustration in the writers’ room over the dominance of reality television.”

Mr. Lawrence first pitched the show to NBC, which passed on it. The WB, on the other hand, quickly offered a production commitment. It hasn’t been determined whether the show will be targeted for a midseason or fall 2005 launch.

Before “Scrubs,” Mr. Lawrence co-created ABC’s “Spin City.”

Compiled by Christian Toto from staff and wire reports.