Jimmy Stewart stamp to be released Friday

Indiana, Pa. – A stamp honoring Jimmy Stewart will be released Friday by the U.S. Postal Service at ceremonies in Indiana, Pa., and Hollywood, Calif.

The photo on the stamp is based on a portrait of Stewart as he appeared in a publicity photo for 1949’s “The Stratton Story.”

Stewart, who died in 1997, starred in more than 80 movies including “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Rear Window” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” He won an Oscar in 1941 for “The Philadelphia Story.”

The Pennsylvania ceremony will be held at the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, the actor’s hometown. The other will be held at Universal Studios in Hollywood.

Miss America signs TV deal with TLC

The Miss America Pageant has a new home – and, in keeping with the times, a reality series, too.

The 86-year-old beauty competition, which lost its TV deal with Country Music Television in March, said Monday that it had signed a new agreement with cable channel TLC through 2010.

TLC will telecast the next Miss America show on Jan. 26 from Las Vegas.

As a way of building interest in the telecast – which in recent years has seen a steady decline in audience, down to 2.4 million viewers last January – TLC will produce a reality series that, it said, will introduce viewers to “52 of the country’s smartest and most beautiful women as they prepare for a competition they’ve dreamed of their entire lives.”