Ex-astronaut to compete on ‘Survivor: Panama’

The next cast of CBS’ “Survivor” will include a retired astronaut who flew in space three times, twice on the space shuttle Discovery.

The 12th version of the popular game, this time set in Panama, will begin airing Feb. 2.

Dan Barry, a 52-year-old ex-astronaut from S. Hadley, Mass., is among the 16 cast members. Barry, who last flew in space in 2001, has four space walks to his name.

A yoga instructor, nurse, engineer, lawyer, social worker and logging sports performer are among his competitors.

They will be divided into four tribes of four in the first episode: older men, older women, younger men and younger women. The four tribes will become two in the show’s second episode.

Then there’s the big wrinkle that gives this season its name: “Survivor: Panama – Exile Island.” During each episode, at least one player will be banished to “Exile Island,” miles away from the team camps.

In addition to being removed from the group dynamics of the game, exiles will have to fend for themselves while on the island. There is, however, a hidden immunity idol on the island that they can use at a future tribal council.

Another lap for ‘Amazing Race’

“The Amazing Race” launches its ninth run on CBS with a two-hour premiere Feb. 28.

A network announcement said the show “returns to its international format where teams of two will travel to exotic locations, spanning five continents.”

It made no mention of the most recent “Family Edition” installment, whose ratings lagged behind the two previous seasons.

Really ‘Desperate’

“Desperate Housewives” has taken the prime-time soap to levels not seen since the heyday of “Dallas” and “Dynasty.”

Now, perhaps inevitably, someone is training cameras on nonactresses who live out their own dramas in an upscale community.

This spring, cable network Bravo will unveil “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” which will follow five women who live in a gated community in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.

Four of the women – a former Playboy Playmate, a “self-made” insurance broker, a “trophy wife” and a recently divorced single mother – are in their 40s, while the fifth, actually a single woman engaged to a divorced dad in the community, is younger.