Bravo Sets Billiards Series

Bravo will present another take on the gaming-programming craze with the launch of a celebrity billiards show during the first quarter of 2005.

The one-hour, “backdoor pilot” Celebrity Pool show will pit two teams made up of four celebrities each in a billiards “battle of skill and wit,” according to Bravo executives.

The show follows on the heels of Bravo’s successful Celebrity Poker, which is set to bow its sophomore season later this month.

"Celebrity Pool is a cool, hip approach to a classic game that movies and TV shows have focused on for decades, and Bravo is taking it to the next level," Bravo president Lauren Zalaznick said in a prepared statement.

"Like Bravo's extremely popular Celebrity Poker, this show provides a new and unique opportunity for fans to watch their favorite celebs in a different light -- dropping their guard in the competitive heat of the game, egging each other on and providing entertaining banter about their teammates or opposing team members."

In other Bravo programming news, the network will build a reality series around the life of comedian Kathy Griffin, which is set to debut later this year. The six-episode unscripted series will document the comic's life and efforts to keep her career afloat, Bravo officials said.

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.