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Actress Suzanne Pleshette, who started out in films such as The Birds but became a television star playing Bob Newhart's wife on The Bob Newhart Show, died Saturday night of respiratory failure at her home in Los Angeles; she was 70. Pleshette had been battling lung cancer since 2006, when she underwent chemotherapy and had part of one lung removed. A fresh-faced beauty with a distinctive, husky voice, Pleshette worked mostly onstage in the 50s, with one of her most notable roles as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, replacing original star Anne Bancroft. She made her film debut opposite Jerry Lewis in The Geisha Boy and worked steadily in television as she launched her film career. Her most notable screen role was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, where she played a local schoolteacher who befriends out-of-town socialite Tippi Hedren and helps protect the children of the town during one of the film's terrifying bird attacks. In 1964, she married screen heartthrob Troy Donahue, her co-star in the romantic drama Rome Adventure, though the marriage lasted less than a year, and in 1968 married Texas oilman Tommy Gallagher.

Despite a prolific career in film and television, Pleshette gained her fame playing Emily Hartley, the down-to-earth wife of psychiatrist Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) on the 70's sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, which ran for six years and earned her two Emmy nominations. Pleshette was so well-known as the small-screen wife of Newhart that she reprised her role in an unexpected cameo in the series finale of Newhart's second major sitcom, Newhart. The episode, where Newhart awakens in the bedroom set of his old show with Pleshette by his side (as they often ended episodes of their old show, trading dry banter) is considered one of the most clever, and surprising, series finales in television history. Pleshette continued working in television through the rest of her career, earning another Emmy nomination for playing Leona Helmsley in Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, and made appearances in sitcoms Good Morning Miami, 8 Simple Rules... and Will & Grace (where she played the mother of Megan Mullally's character, Karen Walker). Pleshette also provided the voices of Yubaba and Zeniba in the English language version of Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning animated film Spirited Away. In 2001, after the death of her second husband, Pleshette married actor Tom Poston, whom she had met 40 years ago and who had co-starred in Newhart; they remained married until his death last year. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...

Actress Suzanne Pleshette, who started out in films such as The Birds but became a television star playing Bob Newhart's wife on The Bob Newhart Show, died Saturday night of respiratory failure at her home in Los Angeles; she was 70. Pleshette had been battling lung cancer since 2006, when she underwent chemotherapy and had part of one lung removed. A fresh-faced beauty with a distinctive, husky voice, Pleshette worked mostly onstage in the 50s, with one of her most notable roles as Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, replacing original star Anne Bancroft. She made her film debut opposite Jerry Lewis in The Geisha Boy and worked steadily in television as she launched her film career. Her most notable screen role was in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, where she played a local schoolteacher who befriends out-of-town socialite Tippi Hedren and helps protect the children of the town during one of the film's terrifying bird attacks. In 1964, she married screen heartthrob Troy Donahue, her co-star in the romantic drama Rome Adventure, though the marriage lasted less than a year, and in 1968 married Texas oilman Tommy Gallagher.

Despite a prolific career in film and television, Pleshette gained her fame playing Emily Hartley, the down-to-earth wife of psychiatrist Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) on the 70's sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, which ran for six years and earned her two Emmy nominations. Pleshette was so well-known as the small-screen wife of Newhart that she reprised her role in an unexpected cameo in the series finale of Newhart's second major sitcom, Newhart. The episode, where Newhart awakens in the bedroom set of his old show with Pleshette by his side (as they often ended episodes of their old show, trading dry banter) is considered one of the most clever, and surprising, series finales in television history. Pleshette continued working in television through the rest of her career, earning another Emmy nomination for playing Leona Helmsley in Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, and made appearances in sitcoms Good Morning Miami, 8 Simple Rules... and Will & Grace (where she played the mother of Megan Mullally's character, Karen Walker). Pleshette also provided the voices of Yubaba and Zeniba in the English language version of Hayao Miyazaki's Oscar-winning animated film Spirited Away. In 2001, after the death of her second husband, Pleshette married actor Tom Poston, whom she had met 40 years ago and who had co-starred in Newhart; they remained married until his death last year. --Mark Englehart, IMDb staff...

Emmy winner Mandy Patinkin leads the cast of the CBS drama pilot Quantico, which also includes Shemar Moore and Lola Glaudini. Meanwhile, Ever Carradine has been cast in another ABC drama pilot, Commander in Chief. In other pilot casting news, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Daniel Cosgrove and Constance Zimmer (NBC's Good Morning Miami) have joined the ABC drama In Justice, Less Than Perfect co-star Zachary Levi has been tapped to star in the CBS comedy Three, and D.B. Woodside and Elize Du Toit have joined Ivan Sergei in UPN's drama pilot Triangle. Quantico, from Touchstone TV, is a suspense thriller that centers on the workings of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. Patinkin will play the leader of the team, with Moore, Glaudini and Matthew Gubler playing members of the squad.

Good Day Live co-host Jillian Barberie has inked a new one-year deal with KTTV-TV to continue co-hosting the nationally syndicated morning show and the local Good Day L.A. as well as providing weather forecasts for the Fox O&O station's morning newscasts. Additionally, Barberie will explore new starring vehicles to be developed for her. "I am excited to continue with Fox and my morning news family, and I am also excited about all the possibilities ahead of me," Barberie said. Barberie, who recently recurred on NBC's Good Morning, Miami, is repped by Lisa Blum of Modus Entertainment. A representative for KTTV declined to comment Friday.

NEW YORK -- John Quaintance has been tapped by Fox 2000 to pen a rewrite of the studio's big-screen adaptation of Aquamarine. Based on the novel by Practical Magic author Alice Hoffman, Aquamarine follows two best friends who find a brokenhearted mermaid in the swimming pool of a deserted beach club. Director of production Rodney Ferrell is overseeing for Fox 2000. Quaintance, a staff writer on NBC's Good Morning, Miami, also has sold his spec script Material Girls to Maverick Films. Girls is described as a "riches-to-rags comedy" about two young heiresses who lose their father's fortune and are forced to fend for themselves in the real world. Concept Entertainment's David Faigenblum and Eve LaDue will produce. Quaintance is repped by Don Buchwald & Associates, Howard Entertainment's Cindy Schultzel and attorney Mark Gochman.

Without a Trace popped for CBS Thursday on a night of lessened competition from reruns on NBC. CBS won the night on the strength of a fresh installment of 9 p.m.'s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which brought in 24.6 million viewers and 7.9 rating/22 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, coupled with a solid retention performance from Without a Trace (19.2 million, 6.1/17) against a repeat ER (11.1 million, 4.9/14), according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. CBS took a big drop in the opening hour of primetime in its first Survivor-less Thursday of the season, following Sunday's Survivor: Pearl Islands finale, but all things considered the Price is Right Spectacular special (12.5 million, 3.2/10) did respectable business in the 8 p.m. hour against a rerun of NBC's Friends (13.4 million, 6.1/19) and an original Good Morning, Miami (10.3 million, 4.8/14). The weaker lead-in took a toll on CSI's demo performance, but the original episode of TV's top drama still jumped 11 share points at 9 p.m. against repeats of NBC's Will & Grace (10.3 million, 4.8/14) and Scrubs (9.0 million, 4.4/12).

CBS outplayed, outwitted and outprogrammed the demo competition last week, narrowly edging NBC in the ratings thanks to four hours of the Survivor reality franchise. Sunday's two-hour finale of Survivor: Pearl Islands was the week's top-rated show in the key 18-49 demographic and, paired with a 10 p.m. reunion show featuring this season's Survivor castaways, handed the eye network a nearly 2-to-1 advantage for the night over its nearest demo competitor, Fox. On Thursday, the penultimate episode of Survivor: Pearl Islands easily rolled over NBC's block of a Friends repeat and Good Morning, Miami, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Thursday was another big night for Survivor: Pearl Islands and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which drove CBS to the nightly win in viewers and the adults 18-49 demo. NBC's 8-10 p.m. comedy block struggled against the eye network's juggernaut, especially with a Friends (14.8 million viewers, 6.5 rating/19 share in adults 18-49) repeat leading off the night against Survivor (22.3 million, 8.1/23). NBC also suffered from the weakness at 8:30 p.m. from an original episode of NBC's Tuesday comedy Good Morning, Miami (11.7 million, 5.4/14). That lead-in made it an especially tough climb for Will & Grace (12.8 million, 6.5/16) at 9 p.m. against CSI (26.7 million, 9.6/24), which as usual was the most-watched program of the night.

Warner Bros. Television has pinned vp stripes on three current programming executives: Lisa Lang, Adrienne Turner and Kimberly Metcalf. Turner and Metcalf have been promoted from director status while Lang joins WBTV from Universal Television, where she was vp comedy programming. All three report to senior vp current programs Melinda Hage. "Adrienne and Kim have proven invaluable to our department," Hage said. "Lisa Lang is an exceptional executive with a stellar reputation in the industry." Turner joined WBTV in 1999 and has worked on such series as NBC's Friends and Good Morning, Miami as well as the WB's Gilmore Girls. Metcalf also signed on in 1999 and has worked on such drama series as CBS' Without a Trace and the WB's Smallville. As part of the executive shuffle, Rachel Filippelli has been named manager current programs.

The Fab Five have a queer eye for scripted television, too. The stars of Bravo's breakthrough reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, who have become a staple on the talk show circuit in the past few weeks, will make their scripted series debut on an episode of the NBC comedy Good Morning, Miami. The Fab Five -- Carson Kressley (fashion), Thom Filicia (interior design), Ted Allen (food and wine), Kyan Douglas (grooming) and Jai Rodriguez (culture) -- will guest star as themselves in the second episode of Good Morning Miami's upcoming second season. The episode, which will also feature guest stars Jillian Barberie and Tiffani Thiessen, is scheduled to air Oct. 7.

Sexy actress Heather Locklear has finally cleared up speculation about her next project with TV network NBC - by choosing to pursue other options instead. The former Spin City beauty had originally planned to release her own show Once Around The Park. But once that failed to make it into the station's autumn schedule, reports emerged she was set to join the cast of Scott Foley's show A.U.S.A. And just this week, Locklear, who has a proven track record of boosting ratings on failing shows, was expected to rescue sitcom Good Morning, Miami. But Locklear, who appeared in Dynasty and Melrose Place, has decided to look for work elsewhere. The actress will next be seen in summer comedy flick Uptown Girls.

With NBC's bubble shows, Ed, Boomtown and Good Morning, Miami, all snagging last-minute full-season pickups, NBC will introduce six new series this fall, sources said -- three comedies and three dramas. The network has given 13-episode orders to the untitled Tracy Morgan and Whoopi Goldberg comedies, from Carsey-Werner-Mandabach and NBC Studios; the Reveille/NBC Studios adaptation of the BBC ensemble comedy Coupling; NBC Studios/DreamWorks TV's untitled Las Vegas drama starring James Caan; 20th Century Fox TV/Brad Grey TV's ensemble legal drama with Rob Lowe; and 20th TV/Imagine TV's dramedy Miss/Match toplined by Alicia Silverstone.

With NBC's bubble shows, Ed, Boomtown and Good Morning, Miami, all snagging last-minute full-season pickups, NBC will introduce six new series this fall, sources said -- three comedies and three dramas. The network has given 13-episode orders to the untitled Tracy Morgan and Whoopi Goldberg comedies, from Carsey-Werner-Mandabach and NBC Studios; the Reveille/NBC Studios adaptation of the BBC ensemble comedy Coupling; NBC Studios/DreamWorks TV's untitled Las Vegas drama starring James Caan; 20th Century Fox TV/Brad Grey TV's ensemble legal drama with Rob Lowe; and 20th TV/Imagine TV's dramedy Miss/Match toplined by Alicia Silverstone.

CBS ruled the primetime roost on Thursday as NBC served up reruns of Friends, Will & Grace and ER. ABC and Fox, meanwhile, were deep in the Nielsen cellar with near record-low ratings for the night, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media Research. CBS won the night by a wide margins with big turnouts for Survivor: Amazon (19.1 million viewers, 7.2 rating/21 share in the adults 18-49 demo), CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (26.1 million, 9.7/25) and Without a Trace (17.6 million, 6.2/16), which had no trouble beating NBC's 10 p.m. ER rerun (11.7 million, 5.3/14). NBC sandwiched originals of Scrubs and Good Morning, Miami between its tentpole reruns but all around it was a lackluster night for the peacock, which took second place (11.9 million, 5.5/15) behind CBS (20.9 million, 7.7/21). ABC's 8-10 p.m. block of Whose Line Is It Anyway? episodes (one original followed by three repeats) and 10 p.m. newsmagazine Primetime Live yielded an anemic 5.1 million viewers and 1.8/5 in 18-49 for the night. Fox was even further behind with a nightly average of 4 million viewers and 1.9/5 in the demo generated by back-to-back That '70s Show repeats and 9 p.m. newsmagazine The Pulse (3.6 million, 1.5/4).

CBS had a strong Thursday night showing from Survivor: The Amazon and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, putting the eye network over the top in the total viewer column for the night. But big turnouts for Friends and ER gave NBC the victory in the adults 18-49 demo. Meanwhile, ABC's 10 p.m. newsmagazine Primetime Live delivered its second highest-numbers of the season on the strength of Diane Sawyer's interview with Lisa Marie Presley, though it was still kept to third place behind ER and CBS' Without a Trace. From 8-10 p.m., however, ABC pulled cable-level numbers with back-to-back episodes of Whose Line is it Anyway? (4.9 million, 1.8/5) and a rerun of last week's Bachelor: Where Are They Now (5.6 million, 2.3/6) reunion special at 9 p.m. Fox also was barely on the radar with a rerun of Married By America (3.4 million, 1.4/4) and newsmagazine The Pulse (3.8 million, 1.6/4). NBC and CBS had their usual see-saw duel in the opening hour of primetime with Friends (20.5 million viewers, 9.7 rating/27 share in the adults 18-49 demo, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen Media research. CBS' Survivor (20.2 million, 7.4/20) ran a close second and then pulled ahead of NBC's Scrubs (15.5 million, 7.6/20) at 8:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., CSI (25.9 million, 9.2/23) had a strong showing while NBC's comedies, Will & Grace (15.1 million, 7.7/19) and Good Morning, Miami (11.7 million, 5.7/14), had an off night. NBC pulled back into the lead at 10 p.m. with ER (19.1 million, 8.9/24). For the night, NBC averaged 16.8 million and 8.1/21 in 18-49. CBS weighed in with 19.9 million viewers and 7.2/18 in the demo.

The battle of Thursday night became even more intense between CBS and NBC while ABC and Fox fell further into also-ran territory for the night. NBC took the nightly win the adults 18-49 demographic (10.7 rating/26 share); CBS prevailed in total viewers (22.3 million). NBC led off the night with another strong showing from Friends (25.3 million viewers, 12.s1/31 in 18-49). CBS' Survivor: Thailand (21.6 million, 8.6/22) rebounded from the dip it took last week due to the extra-long Friends episode. But even as Survivor took a big jump in the demo in its second half-hour, NBC's Scrubs (20.3 million, 10.3/25) had a firm grasp on Friends coattails. At 9 p.m., CBS took over with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (29.7 million, 11.0/26) winning the hour against NBC's Will & Grace (19 million, 10.1/24) and Good Morning Miami (14.8 million, 7.9/19). But at 10 p.m., NBC's ER (24.4 million, 12.0/30) pole-vaulted over CBS' Without a Trace (15.7 million, 5.3/14). ABC was barely a factor for the night, averaging 5.3 million viewers and 1.7/4 in 18-49 with its Concert for the World's Children special followed by the 9-11 p.m. telecast of My Best Friends' Wedding. Fox couldn't get arrested either, pulling in 4.6 million viewers and 1.8/4 with reruns of 30 Seconds to Fame and a World's Fastest Police Chases special.

A supersized Thursday lineup helped NBC take a ratings win last week as the November sweep neared its midpoint. The landmark 200th episode of Friends stretched to 47 minutes -- and 47 valuable minutes they were, given that the program gobbled up more than a third of viewers in the key 18-49 demo, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. Friends was followed by Will & Grace, which expanded to 38 minutes and retained 81% of its lead-in's massive demo audience. Then there was an extra-large Scrubs, which posted an unorthodox 9:25 p.m. start time and concluded 34 minutes later. All this time-shifting may have nonplussed viewers, but it offered an undeniable bounty for the peacock, which also enjoyed the fringe benefit of pre-empting the somewhat lower-rated new sitcom Good Morning, Miami. The Thursday lineup trounced its nearest competitor, CBS, by 4 full demo rating points. That was key to NBC's overall win for the week ending Nov. 10. NBC averaged a 5.1 rating/14 share, trailed by CBS (4.4/12), ABC (4.0/11) and Fox (3.2/8). But CBS still led among total viewers (14.2 million), followed by NBC (13.3 million), ABC (10.4 million) and Fox (7.4 million).

NBC has rewarded its new sitcom Good Morning, Miami with a full-season order. The network on Friday ordered nine additional episodes of the backstage comedy about a local morning show from creators/executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (Will & Grace) and Warner Bros. Television. "We're pleased with how it's performed (in the ratings) and grown creatively," NBC Entertainment president Jeff Zucker said. "More than anything, I believe in Max and David, and I think they've continued to find the voice of the program." Zucker said Miami has held its own against one of the most popular shows on television, CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The sitcom's first four episodes averaged an 8.4 rating/20 share in the key 18-49 demo, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. Thursday's episode was down a bit (6.2/15), no doubt because it followed a repeat of Will & Grace and competed against the World Series on Fox.

The Thursday ratings gave CBS plenty to crow about as a record-setting CSI: Crime Scene Investigation pulled the network to a rare win in total viewers over NBC's typically dominant lineup. CSI delivered its most-watched episode ever, with 30.7 million total viewers, up 1% from the Sept. 26 season premiere, according to figures from Nielsen Media Research. That helped CBS tiptoe past NBC for the night, 22.7 million viewers vs. 22 million. It's the first time CBS has beat NBC with Thursday original programming since April. Meanwhile, CSI's performance in the key adults 18-49 demo (11.4 rating/27 share) beat that of NBC's Will & Grace (10.6/25) and Good Morning, Miami (8.5/20). But NBC still managed a big win in overall 18-49 results -- a 10.9 vs. CBS' 8.5. That's because the peacock's Friends (12.7/33) and ER (12.3/31) remain ratings monsters even in the face of stiff competition from CBS' Survivor: Thailand (8.6/22) and Without a Trace (5.3/14).