People talk 1/11/04

Comedian Brady's show won't be renewed

LOS ANGELES -- "The Wayne Brady Show" won't be back for a third season because of low ratings, Buena Vista Television has announced. The syndicated show remains in production and will air through May. The comedian won best talk show host and "The Wayne Brady Show" tied for best talk show with "The View" at last May's Daytime Emmy Awards. Brady also received a Primetime Emmy last September for his work in ABC's improv show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

Paul Newman donates to Maine wildlife trail

WATERVILLE, Maine -- Actor Paul Newman donated $10,000 to help build an 18-mile trail system for runners, bicyclists, walkers and skiers in central Maine. Peter Garrett, president of Kennebec Messalonskee Trails Inc., said he wrote a letter to Newman in November explaining that the trail system would open up land along the Kennebec River and Messalonskee Stream for people to exercise and see wildlife. Garrett said he recently received a check and a letter from Newman expressing support for the project. Newman has donated to other local causes, including $10,000 to United Way of Mid-Maine Inc. and $15,000 to the South End Learning Center.

Sharon Osbourne will return to her talk show

NEW YORK -- Sharon Osbourne returns on the air Monday as host of her syndicated talk show. It will be her first appearance on "The Sharon Osbourne Show" since her husband, rocker Ozzy Osbourne, was injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident last month. Monday's show will feature a tribute to Ozzy that chronicles the rocker's life before and after the accident. Meanwhile, MTV said "The Osbournes" series would return with five new episodes starting Jan. 27.

-- From wire reports

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PARIS -- French actress Brigitte Bardot has sent a letter to China's president criticizing the killing of civet cats in its fight against the SARS virus. Bardot's letter to President Hu Jintao claims there's no scientific proof about which animal species first caught the severe acute respiratory syndrome and lashes out against China's "cruel and barbarous slaughtering methods." The southern Chinese province of Guangdong has targeted 10,000 civets for slaughter -- by drowning, electrocution or incineration -- by Saturday as part of its battle against the spread of the virus. The mass slaughter stems from the suspected link between wild animals and the virus, which killed 774 people worldwide last year. Bardot, 69, is no stranger to using her celebrity for feisty campaigns to defend animals. In 1997 and 2000, she was convicted in France of inciting racial violence after she criticized in print the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep.

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HOUSTON -- Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu and Lil' Romeo are expected to attend a Jan. 31 event at Texas Southern University sponsored by the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The artists will lead discussions about the hip-hop industry, the importance of voting and other issues such as the spread of HIV and AIDS. Admission is free, but attendees must register to vote to get a ticket. Organizers hope the event will draw 10,000 people, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday. The Houston summit will be followed by similar voter registration and community awareness drives in cities nationwide. A hip-hop summit in Philadelphia registered 11,000 new voters last summer and an April event in Detroit drew 17,000 participants.

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WASHINGTON -- Mandy Moore posed for the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine -- but don't look for anything racier. The 19-year-old star of "Chasing Liberty" plays a U.S. president's daughter who runs away during a diplomatic trip to Europe to escape the public eye. Moore said posing for "those sort of magazines" was not her cup of tea. There's also something else Moore won't do -- tattoo her boyfriend's name on her body. "No. No names. I think that's the worst decision ever when getting a tattoo."

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NEW YORK -- Cheryl Hines says her real-life marriage is far less taxing than her fictional one to Larry David on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Hines is married to talent manager Paul Young. The 38-year-old actress -- who is pregnant with the couple's first child -- was nominated for an Emmy last year for her role as Cheryl David. "The fact that you believe she genuinely likes me is quite an achievement," David tells the magazine. "And what amazes me is that Cheryl always knows how to make the scene funny, without really caring how she comes off."

-- From wire reports