The competition among TV networks, movie studios and A-list stars can be fierce, but the fight against cancer will unite them on Friday.

More than 60 celebrities will participate in Stand Up to Cancer, a live fund- and awareness-raising television special that will air simultaneously at 8 p.m. on ABC, NBC and CBS.

Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, Jack Black, Sheryl Crow, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Garner, Diane Keaton, Rob Lowe, Sharon Osbourne, Keanu Reeves and Carrie Underwood are among the stars set to appear.

They'll join previously announced participants including Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, Lance Armstrong, America Ferrera, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron and Forest Whitaker.

The celebrities, along with network news anchors Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, will deliver an evening of "edutainment," said executive producer Laura Ziskin, a cancer survivor who helped establish the event and the nonprofit group behind it.

"There will be laughter. There will be tears. And you'll learn something about how we can turn the outcome of this disease if we just set our minds to it," Ziskin said.

She described the special as "a phone-in, a sit-in, a love-in."

"People can call in and talk to their favorite celebrity" when making donations, Ziskin said.

Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna are among a group of singers who will debut their single, "Just Stand Up," which will benefit cancer research.

The aim of the event is to encourage scientists to work together to improve overall cancer care and prognoses, Ziskin said.

"This is what we're asking the whole cancer community to do," she said. "Put aside your competitive issues and come together for the greater good." (Sandy Cohen, Associated Press)

He does comedy, writes books, mixes it up with the hottest stars in music and Hollywood. With all this, who needs swimming?

Certainly not Michael Phelps -- not anymore, at least. But as a presenter at the 2008 Video Music Awards, all that fresh Olympic bling will certainly help.

The swimmer who took home a record-breaking eight gold medals from the Beijing Games joins Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan and Ciara as presenters at Sunday's VMAs telecast from Los Angeles on MTV. It's been a busy week for Phelps, who announced he'll write a book about his road to Olympic history (to be released in time for the holidays) and plans to host the season premiere of NBC's "Saturday Night Live." (AP)

Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people. Nielsen Media Research said more people watched the presidential nominee speak than watched the Olympics' opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year.

His TV audience nearly doubled the number of viewers who watched John Kerry accept the Democratic nomination to run against President Bush four years ago. Kerry's speech was seen by just over 20 million people.

Obama's audience might be even higher because Nielsen didn't have an estimate for how many people watched the speech on PBS or C-SPAN. (AP)

Jennifer Aniston will return home to NBC, the TV network where she became a breakout star on the hit sitcom "Friends." She's filming a guest appearance on the network's "30 Rock," her publicist confirmed last week.

There were no immediate details on the role Aniston will play -- as herself or a fictitious character -- or the episode's planned air date. (AP)

At ABC, where August is the new May, officials just announced the pickup of five new series last week for the 2008-09 TV season, which starts this month.

But one of them is a reboot of a comedy the network debuted in the fall of '98 called "Cupid." The original starred Jeremy Piven -- he's the one who steals the show in "Entourage" -- as a guy who thinks he really is Cupid, the god of love. It lasted a mere 15 episodes.

A decade later, Bobby Cannavale will play Trevor, aka Cupid; and Sarah Paulson, aka Christian Comic Chick on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," will play Dr. Claire Allen. Rob Thomas, who created and exec-produced the original, is doing same on the reboot.

"Castle," on the other hand, is a "comedic crime procedural" about a famous mystery novelist, Nick Castle (Nathan Fillion), teamed with an NYPD detective -- female and, we're guessing, hot but dismissive of Nick -- after a real murderer starts staging scenes from Nick's books.

"The Unusuals" is also a comedic procedural set in a New York police precinct where the newbie, Detective Casey Schraeger (Amber Tamblyn), discovers that everyone in the homicide division has a distinctive sense of humor and his or her own "dirty little secrets."

And those are just the dramas. Notice how none of them is serialized?

"Better off Ted" is an office comedy about a man named Ted who, ABC says, is successful but morally conscious even though he runs the R&D department at the "morally questionable" Veridian Technologies. Veridian is the developer of suicidal turkeys and edible metal, and hilarity ensues. Jay Harrington is Ted, and Portia de Rossi is Veronica, his superhuman boss.

"Single With Parents" stars Alyssa Milano as Kristin Newman. Actually, that's the name of the woman who created this series based on her own life. Which is, a chick in her mid-30s who has divorced parents who need to be put down. Beau Bridges, Dad, needs her as a surrogate parent, and Annie Potts, Mom, counts on her 24/7 as a shrink and confidante.

Traditionally, the broadcast networks announce a slew of new series in May. But this year, in May, ABC announced that it is adding only a couple of series to its prime-time lineup in the fall, owing to the writers strike having slowed production of pilots and brought to a halt production on last season's freshman series. (Lisa de Moraes, The Washington Post)