Television telex: 'Avatar' on MTV and Iranian-American sitcom

(AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON)

Canadian-American director James Cameron to talk about upcoming film Avatar in MTV special; a new animation series from Mathew McConaughey; and a sitcom pilot ordered about being Iranian-American in California.

'Avatar' roundtable televised
Director James Cameron will present his film Avatar during a roundtable discussion on a special MTV live webcast, December 3. Actors Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington join Cameron and producer Jon Landau, showing unseen footage from the live-action and animated movie. Fans can submit questions to the Avatar Facebook fan page.

A half-hour television special about the film, as part of the network's ‘Behind the Screen' series, will be televised on MTV on December 16, before the film's much-anticipated international release the week of December 18.

'Rooster Tales' new animated series for Fox
Actor Matthew McConaughey will develop an animated TV comedy, based on his brother's life, called Rooster Tales. Fox TV outbid Comedy Central and TBS cable network. The US-based network is already home to popular animated shows, The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Family Guy. This story follows a Texan beer-swilling sheriff who marries a younger woman from Mexico and inherits her extended family of 114. McConaughey will produce through his J.K. Livin' Productions, along with his brother Mike "Rooster" McConaughey.

ABC signs ‘Funny in Farsi'
US network ABC Television signed for a sitcom pilot about Iranian Americans, called Funny in Farsi, based on the Firoozeh Dumas' book, subtitled "A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America," about her life in Newport Beach, California. Barry Sonnenfeld, who won an Emmy for his short-lived series Pushing Daisies, will direct.

RC