TV Briefs: "Dirty Dancing," "The Wiz" and Jon Stewart

ABC developing new "Dirty Dancing"

NEW YORK ABC is stepping out with a new production of "Dirty Dancing."

The network said Tuesday it will film a three-hour adaptation of the 1987 film that starred Jennifer Grey. This time, actress-singer Abigail Breslin will play the lead role of Baby.

No other cast members were announced, nor did ABC specify an airdate for the film.

"Dirty Dancing" tells the song-and-dance story of a young woman in the early 1960s who vacations with her parents in the Catskill Mountains and falls for the resort"s working-class dance instructor, who in the original film was played by Patrick Swayze.

-- The Associated Press

"The Wiz" helps NBC to a ratings win

NEW YORK NBC"s winning streak in the television ratings hit two weeks, with a turnout of 11.5 million viewers for its live production of "The Wiz" helping the network on a night its ratings are usually low.

NBC also benefited from a strong showing for its special saluting the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in New York City, the Nielsen company said. A two-week winning streak may not seem like much, but these days CBS is rarely dislodged as television"s most popular network.

The Christmas tree lighting reached 8 million viewers, but CBS" airing of the holiday chestnut "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer" was seen by a million more people.

-- The Associated Press

Jon Stewart returns to The Daily Show

Jon Stewart returned for a special episode of The Daily Show Monday night dedicated to one of his most passionate causes, health care for 9/11 first responders.

In 2010, Stewart successfully helped shame Congress into passing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act by bringing a panel of first responders onto his Comedy Central program. The legislation, named after a New York police officer who worked at ground zero following 9/11 and later died of a respiratory disease, covered medical expenses for emergency workers thought to be sickened by their exposure to toxic substances during the recovery efforts.

Most of the act expired Oct. 1, and, much to Stewarts dismay, it has not yet been renewed despite the repeated efforts of many first responders.

The only conclusion that I can draw is that the people of Congress are not as good a people as the people who are first responders,said Stewart, who retired from The Daily Show after 16 years in August and was sporting an off-duty gray beard and t-shirt.

-- The Los Angeles Times

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