"Jersey Shore" has been canceled, but the cast members have signed up to support an MTV telethon. The live one-hour special called "Restore the Shore" will benefit relief efforts in New Jersey, which was recently damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Also featuring other celebrity guests, the fundraiser will encourage viewers to donate to help reconstruct the Seaside Heights boardwalk and support the re-building efforts of businesses and residents in the area. MTV is joining forces with Architecture for Humanity, a non-profit organization that provides design and construction services after natural disasters. "We are doing a live telethon to raise money to help rebuild," so Nicole Polizzi a.k.a. Snooki tweeted about the fundraiser. The mother of one recently also encouraged her fans to donate cleaning supplies, writing, "Help donate cleanin supplies,gloves,brooms,batteries,flashlights 2 help people rebuild their homes on SI u can drop them off@ 401 Guyon ave." The MTV telethon will air live on Thursday, November 15 at 11 P.M. from MTV's Times Square Studio. During and after the event, viewers can donate online or via text message. Previously, NBC held a Hurricane Sandy telethon featuring a host of A-list artists, namely Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon and more to help victims of the superstorm. The event raised $23 million.

Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Mary J. Blige and the other artists who supported NBC's "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" telethon, managed to raise nearly $23 million in a single night. The money will be donated to The American Red Cross in aid of the storm's victims in the East Coast. Red Cross and NBCUniversal announced on Saturday, November 3, a day after the benefit concert, "We are incredibly grateful and humbled by this outpouring of support for those who are suffering as a result of Superstorm Sandy. Our preliminary results of nearly $23 million raised are an extraordinary example of how the American people pull together in times of disaster. Their generous donations will go directly to those in need, and we urge the public to continue to give. We also thank the dedicated and talented team at NBCUniversal for the millions of people they have helped through this telethon." Donations were made by visiting RedCross.org, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or texting REDCROSS to 90999. The concert was broadcast live from New York studios of NBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza across all NBCU networks such as NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNBC, and Syfy. Beside performances, the telethon also featured appearances from Tina Fey, Kevin Bacon and Whoopi Goldberg among others. Springsteen, Steven Tyler, Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon did a special joint performance of "Under the Boardwalk".

Huge news from Disney, which is under the relatively new steerage of Alan Horn. CNBC was first to report via twitter that Disney has purchased Lucasfilm, paying the same amount for the company that it did for Marvel a few years ago: $4b in cash and stock. THR quickly confirmed the report, saying that current LucasFilm co-chair Kathleen Kennedy will become president of LucasFilm, as we’ve more or less known would happen. The bigger news is that THR mentions that a new Star Wars film is planned for 2015. Kennedy will be the exec producer of Star Wars: Episode VII and future Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas acting as “creative consultant.” Read a statement from Lucas after the break. Here’s what Star Wars and LucasFilm creator George Lucas had to say: For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products. In a conference call, Disney execs discussed the previous success that Disney and LucasFilm have had together, and the idea of bringing together the companies, their stable(s) of characters, and approach to creative content, based in part on the early experience of featuring Star Wars content in Disney theme parks. Star Wars Episode VII will be released in 2015, and followed by Episodes VIII and IX, with long-term plans including a “new Star Wars film every two to three years.” Those will be part of Disney’s overal eight to ten film per year plan. The Indiana Jones franchise is mentioned in the call, but one “encumbrance” of Indy is the fact that Paramount has released those films, so Disney can’t quickly begin making new films in that franchise. Star Wars is clearly the focus of Disney’s interest. Use of Star Wars in games, parks, and television mentioned as well, with no specifics. The deal specifically brings the already in-development Episode VII to Disney; which is to say, there’s a good amount of work done on that film already, with plans in place for the next two episodes as well.

Joss Whedon has added another star to the cast ensemble of "S.H.I.E.L.D.". The filmmaker, who is on board to write and direct the live-action TV project, confirms that former "ER" actress Ming-Na has been tapped to take a lead role in the pilot. The Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen of the NBC medical drama series will portray Agent Melinda May, an ace pilot, a weapons expert and a soldier who is described as being soulful but damaged by her time spent in combat. She'll join Clark Gregg who has been earlier slated to reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson though the character died in "The Avengers" movie. "S.H.I.E.L.D." centers on the secret military law-enforcement agency headed by Nick Fury in the Marvel Universe. Despite the connectionbetween the upcoming show and the superhero-ensemble feature film, it's believed the TV adaptation will not include the same characters. Whedon teams up with his brother Jed and Maurissa Tancharoen to work on the script. Production on the live-action show, which is made under the "Avengers" helmer's exclusive three-year film and TV deal with Marvel Studios, is expected to start soon. In addition to her "ER" role, Ming-Na is known for portraying Chun-Li Zang in "Street Fighter" movie and voicing Fa Mulan in "Mulan" films and "Kingdom Hearts" video game series. She also had regular roles on other TV shows namely "As the World Turns", "Vanished" and "The Batman". Her latest regular role was as Camile Wray on "Stargate Universe".