CBS, NBC set return dates for new episodes

New York – CBS and NBC have announced the return of many of their scripted series as TV production resumed Wednesday following a three-month writers strike.

CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother,” “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory” will return with new episodes March 17. Producers will make nine new episodes of each before the season ends.

“CSI: Miami” and “Cold Case” will return in late March. Others are set for early April returns, including “CSI” on April 3.

NBC announced that original episodes of several of its series will return in April, beginning with “My Name is Earl” on April 3, and, a week later, “30 Rock,” “The Office,” “Scrubs” and “ER.”

Cyruses just forgot to buckle up in film

Yonkers, N.Y. – Billy Ray Cyrus says he and his daughter, “Hannah Montana” actress Miley Cyrus, simply forgot to buckle up for one of their scenes in their new hit movie.

“We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seat belts,” the country music star said Wednesday on People magazine’s Web site. “Seat belt safety is extremely important.”

Consumer Reports magazine had noticed that the Cyruses were not wearing seat belts as they rode in the back of a Range Rover during Disney’s “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert.”

Don Mays, the director of product safety at Consumers Union, which publishes Yonkers-based Consumer Reports, said Wednesday, “We applaud the Cyrus family for recognizing that wearing seat belts in rear seats is essential.”

The magazine noted that 65 percent of the 13-to-15-year-olds killed in auto accidents in 2006 were not wearing seat belts. Miley Cyrus is 15.

Judge: Gibson complied with terms of probation

Malibu, Calif. – Mel Gibson has met terms of his no-contest plea to misdemeanor drunken driving after his notorious 2006 arrest in which he made derogatory comments about Jews, a judge found Wednesday.

Gibson will remain on probation for about 18 more months but won’t have to report at Superior Court again after Judge Lawrence Mira approved his progress.

“Assuming there is no violation on the terms of the probation, it will be finished at the end of 36 months,” Deputy District Attorney Gina Satriano said outside court.

After his no-contest plea, Gibson was sentenced to three years of probation, paid about $1,600 in fines and had to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and other meetings.

Satriano said Gibson attended five AA meetings every week for nearly five months and three per week for seven months. He also completed a 90-day program for drunken-driving offenders that included individual and group counseling, Satriano said.

Cher says goodbye to farewell tour

Los Angeles – Cher said farewell, but not goodbye.

Two-and-a-half years after the final show of her three-year “Farewell” concert tour, the Oscar-, Emmy- and Grammy-award winner announced last week that she’d signed on for a three-year, 200-show engagement at Caesars Palace.

Cher told AP Television the move was no mere change of heart. “Well, first of all, there was going to be a big time between ending the show, ending the tour and going to Vegas,” she said. “I wouldn’t have to move. I wouldn’t have to travel. I could just stay there. Because that’s what I really can’t do anymore, is I can’t go on the road. It’s just too much. It’s just too impossibly hard. And I started there, and I thought that it might be fun.”

“Cher at the Colosseum,” set to debut May 6, will include 18 dancers, aerialists, and new costumes designed by Cher’s longtime designer Bob Mackie. Choreography will be directed by Doriana Sanchez, a veteran of the “Believe” and “Farewell” tours.

‘King of the Hill’ creator to enter hall of fame

Austin, Texas – Mike Judge, creator of Fox’s “King of the Hill,” will be inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame next month.

Judge, who lives in Austin, and Morgan Fairchild, known for her various film and TV roles, will join previously announced inductees Thomas Haden Church, Jayne Mansfield and the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy,” the Austin Film Society said Wednesday.

The ceremony will be March 7.

The Texas Film Hall of Fame, located at the Austin Film Society’s Austin Studios, recognizes actors, directors, screenwriters, musicians, filmmakers and movies that are from, influenced or inspired by the Lone Star State.

Previous inductees include Dennis Quaid, Marcia Gay Harden, Forest Whitaker, Sissy Spacek and Owen Wilson.

Chan promotes Olympic equestrian event

Hong Kong – Jackie Chan saddled up for a video to promote the Beijing Olympics’ equestrian event.

In the 30-second video, the 53-year-old “Rush Hour” star urges audiences to visit his hometown of Hong Kong to watch the event and introduces various local tourist sites, Mayee Tang, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which is producing the video, said Wednesday.

Chan recorded the dialogue in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and the video was to be aired in mainland China and foreign markets, Tang said.

Photos posted on Chan’s official Web site show the action star sitting on a horse, resplendent in riding gear, including a black helmet, black suit jacket, white tie and black boots.

Chan’s video, shot Monday, highlights efforts to promote one of the Olympics’ more low-profile events.