TV Roundup

TV Roundup: Katherine Heigl Wants to Return to 'Grey's Anatomy'

World Premiere of "New Year's Eve".Grauman's Chinese, Hollywood, CA.December 05, 2011. (Bauer Griffin)more pics »

Katherine Heigl (ABC) Katherine Heigl apparently wants go back to the Grey's Anatomy operating room. The actress, who played Dr. Izzy Stevens on the show for five seasons, told E! recently:

"I’ve told them I want to [return]. I really, really, really want to see where [Izzie] is. I just want to know what happened to her and where she went and what she’s doing now. My idea is that she actually like figures it out, and finds some success and does really well in a different hospital. She was always floundering you know, and so she was always one step behind the eight ball and I want to see that girl take some power back.”

Heigl said that she left the show in 2010 to focus on her family, but there were also rumors that the actress had been at odds with Grey's producers for a while. She slammed the show's writers in 2007 when she chose not to enter herself into the Emmy race because she "did not feel I was given the material ... to warrant a nomination." She also complained publicly on Letterman about the show's 17-hour work days.

So why is Heigl talking about returning to Grey's now? She has a movie to promote, naturally. One for the Money, based on the popular book series by Janet Evanovich, hits theaters on January 27.

• Ryan Seacrest's quest to take over the world is nearing completion: the ubiquitous American Idol host is launching his very own cable channel. Seacrest, along with partners Mark Cuban, AEG, and talent agency CAA, will focus on live lifestyle and pop culture content. Seacrest currently has no plans to give up his E! News and Idol hosting duties (not to mention his producing roles on the various Kardashian shows). The network will likely launch this summer.

In other Ryan Seacrest news, Idol creator and So You Think You Can Dance judge Nigel Lythgoe has reportedly said that if Idol producers cut Ryan's paycheck he will pay the difference out of his own pocket (via TMZ). Seacrest's $15 million Idol contract is up for renewal at the end of this season, and there are rumors that producers plan to offer him a pay cut. However will he survive?! Those yachting vacations don't pay for themselves.

• American Idol season 11 premiered last night, and though the show offered the usual parade of wackos (including a girl who lives in a tent in the woods with her boyfriend), there were a few stand-outs who look like they could go far in the competition. The highlight of the evening was definitely Phillip Phillips, who overcame his unfortunate name and blew the judges away with a gravelly version of Stevie Wonder's "Superstitious" and an acoustic rendition of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Check it out!

'80s Carrie Bradshaw (WENN) • Are you ready for Sex and the City: The High School Years? The CW network has picked up The Carrie Diaries, a new series based on the book of the same name by Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell (via THR). The show will feature Carrie Bradshaw navigating love, sex, and friendship during her senior year of high school in the early 1980s (back when her shoe collection was presumably a whole lot smaller).

• DVR Watch: American Idol is on again tonight and forever more (Fox, 8pm), The Vampire Diaries has Bonnie dreaming up ways to kill Klaus (CW, 8pm), The Big Bang Theory celebrates its 100th episode (CBS, 8pm), 30 Rock gets meta with an episode about Liz doing damage control after a video of an offensive Tracy Jordan rant goes viral (NBC, 8pm), Parks and Recreation has Ben and Leslie at odds over how to run her campaign (NBC, 8:30), Project Runway: All Stars has the designers creating outfits for Miss Piggy (Lifetime, 9pm), and Archer premieres season 3.5 (FX, 10pm).

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