Mo'Nique's VH1 'Charm School Queen'

It looks like a February unveiling for Mo'Nique's VH1 "Charm School Queen" -- in which former contestants from Flavor Flav's hit "Flavor of Love" will be back on the tube, learning manners and competing in an etiquette boot camp. Yes, really.
 
To hear the ever-energetic Mo'Nique, it sounds like "Charm School" is meant to be an antidote to "Flavor of Love" -- in which the clock-wearing rapper was looking for Ms. Right in his own special way -- one that will leave women feeling strong and empowered. "The ladies on that show did some demeaning, degrading things women shouldn't be proud of," Mo'Nique declares. "They need to get their pride back. They don't have to go that low to be seen."
 
The actress has been doing double duty of late, in production on "Charm School" while promoting her "Skinny Cooks Can't Be Trusted" book, which takes a retro approach to food, including such delicacies as her mom's special macaroni and cheese.
 
"I had a desire to do it, because we've gotten into such a health-conscious place we took the fun and the taste out of eating. When you take the fun and the taste out you take the conversation out, too. I loved the way we used to eat and talk at my grandmother's house. You can't do that when you're eating a piece of lettuce for lunch. That's hell!"
 
The zaftig performer does, however, make clear she believes in staying healthy and exercising -- and she's been working out regularly for a year and a half.
 
"I walk around lakes, paddle through the water, go climbing. I love it; it's really good for the mental. There was a time when I hated it, but now when I don't do it, my mind and body miss it."
 
SUB-STANTIVE DEPARTURE:

"Supernatural's" Jensen Ackles may be a hottie who turns up -- a lot -- in magazines geared to young ladies, but that doesn't mean he's lost his humility. The actor tells us, "I didn't think they'd give me a chance to do it" when it comes his role in the upcoming independent comedy "10 Inch Hero," in which he plays a guy who works at a submarine sandwich shop.
 
"It was really cool, actually. I played kind of a punker, a skater punk, with a different-colored Mohawk each day, tattoos, piercings. The guy doesn't have a whole lot of drive. He's not someone who's going to try crush people on the way up," says Ackles with a laugh. It's a far cry from his series character, who hunts ghosts and demons. In fact, Ackles got a kick out of (SET ITAL) not (END ITAL) being recognized. "At lunch one day I went to a store dressed as my character and I was walking down the aisle, and a woman came around the corner, saw me, turned and hurried the other way. That was definitely a response I was not used to."
 
THE VIDEOLAND VIEW:

"Desperate Housewives" actor James Denton tells us we can expect to see his character, sexy plumber Mike Delfino, get "into a whole other mess of trouble" within the next couple of weeks. He's relieved that Delfino is finally out of a coma and back to, well, as normal as one can be with a massive memory loss like his. "It's much more fun to be awake and talking. It was getting boring," admits Denton, whose character was hit by a car at the end of last season's finale. He's also happy "to get out of that sort of monotone speaking" Mike had for a while. "It doesn't work so well in a comedy, but we had to be realistic. He couldn't just pop out of bed."
 
STARTING OVER:

An early December production start has been set for "The Riches" -- as in the FX series in which Eddie Izzard stars as an Irish-American grifter who, with his ex-con wife (Minnie Driver), seizes the opportunity to swap identities with a wealthy couple they find dead in a car crash. Izzard is among the exec-producers of the show, the pilot of which had to undergo reshoots. Formerly titled "Lowlife," it also got a new name. The extra tinkering could be worth it. The criminally minded couple unleash themselves in the upscale neighborhood to which their stolen ID counterparts were moving. He must pose as an attorney and she must deal with pretentious neighbor women, even while she attempts to hide her addiction to cough syrup. Izzard says one of the big attractions for him to take on the cable series is that it required only a five-month-per-season time commitment. He still has seven months a year to do other things.

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)