Urbana native Clancy Brown is so proud of his TV series — which TNT refuses to air — that he's rented a Sharonville hotel conference room to show it this weekend.

        Mr. Brown, son of former U.S. Rep. Clarence “Bud” Brown, will show all 13 episodes of Breaking News during the weekend meeting of the Clancy Brown Fan Club at the Sharonville Radisson Hotel, 11320 Chester Road.

        TNT canceled Breaking News, a drama about a CNN-like 24-hour TV news operation, last spring before airing any of the 13 episodes.

        Tim Matheson (The West Wing, Wolf Lake), Scott Bairstow (Party of Five) and Mr. Brown (Flubber, Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers, Earth 2) starred in the series.

        “It was a great show, a really important show, but at the wrong network,” says Mr. Brown by phone from his Los Angeles home.

        Breaking News episodes dealt with an exclusive interview with a Muslim terrorist based on Osama bin Laden; heroic firefighters saving plane crash victims; hate crimes against gays based on the Matthew Shepard murder; uncovering irregularities on a popular reality TV show; and the murder of a young woman involved in a Washington sex scandal.

        Mr. Brown says the series was supposed to premiere last January, but was postponed for a year. Then the network pulled the plug on Breaking News and the second season of Bull, a drama about stockbrokers, after AOL purchased Time Warner, which operates TNT, CNN, HBO and the WB networks.

        The decision was made by TNT before WB President Jamie Kellner was named Turner Broadcasting chairman and CEO in early March.

        Mr. Kellner told TV critics in July that he had never seen Breaking News, but he stood by his TNT programmers who shelved it after spending $20 million on the show.

        “They felt that it was not going to be a show that was going to last and work on the air, on their network. So I just agreed with them,” he said.

        Mr. Brown says that Breaking News and Bull were scrapped as part of a tax write-off by AOL Time Warner.

        “I really never have any hopes it will be seen on the air, on any other channel. I don't think anybody can buy it, because they want to write it off,” Mr. Brown says.

        Mr. Matheson, a regular on CBS' new Wolf Lake (10 p.m. Wednesday, Channels 12, 7), says that Breaking News got caught in the “change in ownership and management styles” with the AOL purchase.

        “I'm not sure that we'll really ever know what happened,” Mr. Matheson says. “But everybody was very proud of ... and passionate about the show, and we're very surprised that it didn't go on, or it didn't at least get on to have a chance to see how it would do.”

        TNT executives, says Mr. Brown, “insisted we complete the 13 shows, so they got everything they paid for. In fact, they got more than they paid for. It's a darn good show,” he says.

        Breaking News will be shown at the Sharonville Radisson 7-10 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday. It's open to the public.

        Kiese-watching: The season premiere of The District last Saturday was dedicated to Jack Maple, the police veteran who was the basis for Craig T. Nelson's Jack Mannion character. Mr. Maple, co-creator of the series, was a former New York deputy police commissioner and consultant for police departments in Baltimore, New Orleans and Philadelphia. He died of cancer in August.

        The District (10 p.m. Saturday, Channels 12, 7) also has added Jonathan LaPaglia (Seven Days) as Detective Kevin Debreno. He replaces actor David O'Hara, whose David McGregor character was killed in a car bombing in the May season finale.

        Kiese-watching: Jay Leno's lament after doing jokes about Elton John, Hugh Grant and Cher last week: “We can't do Bush jokes. He's smart now!”

        Hall of Famers: WLW-AM's Gary Burbank and 40-year Cincinnati radio veteran Dusty Rhodes will be inducted into the Ohio Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame Nov. 11 in Akron, Ohio.

        Tickets to the dinner ($35) are available by calling (888) 922-4631, or writing Todd T. Taylor, Hall of Fame president, 10872 Portage N.W., Canal Fulton, Ohio 44614.

        More Buffy: Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns now air weekly on WXIX-TV (midnight Saturday, Channel 19), in addition to 7 p.m. weeknights on FX cable.

        N.Y. concert: Paul McCartney will headline The Concert for New York, a benefit for relief efforts to air 8 p.m. Oct. 20 on VH1.

        Also scheduled to perform are The Who, James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, Bon Jovi, Macy Gray, John Mellencamp, Goo Goo Dolls and Jerry Seinfeld.

        Around the dial: James Conlon, Cincinnati May Festival musical director, will be the artist of the week on Breakfast with the Arts (9-11 a.m. Sunday, A&E).

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