Over the years, we've had an assortment of Penn alumni win big on gameshows.

After the jump, watch former Los Angeles Penn Club President Melissa Wu (C'98) give her best "alluring" voice to Wayne Brady and make two (!) deals with "Let's Make a Deal" host Wayne Brady.

Find out what was behind the curtain she chose!

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I've got some more alumni who are blowing up in the world of entertainment that you should know about!

After the jump, learn about alumni who are appearing on, writing for and creating some great new TV shows.

...Plus one alum who is writing about his experience producing one very newsworthy Broadway show.

Happy new year everyone!

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In our latest installment of Hollywood Penn alumni you should know about, this fall season has been a busy one for Hollywood Quakers...

After the jump, check out:

• the animated episode a Penn alum wrote for a new children's cartoon
• a new big studio deal for one Penn alum
• Penn alumni with new TV shows and promising TV pilots
• a Penn alum development exec makes a big move
• a Penn alum writer's assistant gets promoted to staff writer!
• a Penn alum appears on a popular TV drama

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DT Favorite Tom Christensen (W'2003, Mask and Wig) appears as a guy in a trenchcoat holding up the diner on tonight's "2 Broke Girls".

After the jump watch the preview and tune in tonight at 9/8c on CBS!

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By the looks of my Facebook feed, just like previous year's Emmys, there were a bunch of Penn alumni at tonight's Emmy Ceremony.

If you caught the "Homeland" win for Best Drama tonight, you would have heard a thank you to writer and Penn alum Meredith Stiehm (C'90).

If you don't know about Meredith, she's had a great track record here in Hollywood. After the jump, find out more about the popular show that was her claim to fame.

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Last night, Elizabeth Banks (C'96) stopped by The Tonight Show to promote her new People Like Us film. The conversation shifted from her sexy MTV movie award acceptance to her chatting about the time a policeman stripper was invited to the Tri-Delt house while she was at Penn.

Check out her appearance at minute 4:00 after the jump!

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I've covered comedian Penn alum Ethan Fixell (C'04, Off the Beat) before as he and his friend Dave doubledated through North America.

Now Ethan just got added to the list of Penn alumni who have appeared on the Jay Leno show.

After the jump, watch Jay Leno's "favorite new comedy duo" perform a very funny musical number singing about people's facebook comments (minute 1:30) on the Jay Leno Show from this past Thursday.

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It's rare when you see any glimpse of Penn featured in a TV episode but tonight you may have noticed that there was a Penn diploma hanging on Betty Draper's doctor's wall.

Check it out below and then a close up of it after the jump!

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For the last few years as a medical consultant on various shows Penn alum Zach Lutsky (C'96) has had the opportunity to write or re-write all the medical scenes in those shows.

After the jump find out how Zach has finally gone from a consultant to a full time writing staff member on "A Gifted Man"!

His first episode, "In Case of Blind Spots" airs tonight (Feb 3) at 8pm on CBS!

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One of my favorite new shows this TV season is ABC's "Pan Am". The show does a great job romanticizing the 1960s while skillfully unfolding the backstories of the show's characters. (and yes ladies, now's the time to start thinking about a "sexy" Pan Am halloween costume)

When I was watching the 2nd episode this week, a Penn alum's name in the opening credits surprisingly caught my eye.  And she happens to have had a pretty big role in the show.

After the jump, find out who this Penn alum is, watch a clip of her in the show and find out what other big films and broadway shows you may have seen her in!

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Remember in the movie Up how the old man got his house to fly using balloons?

Well, Penn alum Vin Marshall (ENG '00, WQHS) actually accomplished this on the new show he is hosting on the National Geographic Channel called "How Hard Can It Be?" and it premieres this Sunday October 2nd.

After the jump watch this AWESOME clip of a "bonafide flying house" from the show and find out what 2 other captivating episodes of his will also be airing this week!

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Over the past couple of years, Doctor Zach Lutsky (C'97) appeared on the Dr. Oz show, was the medical consultant for "Miami Medical" and "ER", and even had an acting cameo on a TV show.

Recently, Zach has been working on the new CBS show "A Gifted Man" (debuts tonight at 8 pm) as the head Medical Consultant.

After the jump learn how Zach was able to secure this position through "an amazing twist of fate" and find out what it has been like working with actor Patrick Wilson!

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Over the past couple of years on "Project Runway", we've seen this mega fashionista guest judge and this Penn alum appear as a contestant.

Last night a 3rd Penn alum appeared on the show and guest judged alongside Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors. And we learned she's "not a fan of voluminous wee wee pads" and she "loves sparkle".

After the jump, learn more about Stacey Bendet (C'99) and her story from her fashion beginnings at Penn to becoming a web designer to running a 50 million dollar company!

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If you caught "Curb Your Enthusiasm" last night, you would have seen Larry David dating a waitress from his favorite restaurant played by Penn alum Rebecca Creskoff.

If you recall, we've seen Rebecca playing Lenore, a "classy pimp" on HBO's other hit series, "Hung".

After the jump, check out some clips from last night's Curb episode where Larry chastises Rebecca's character for sending "smiley faces" in text messages and then insults her by discussing "the sorry window"! Fantastic stuff!

...Also, find out about Rebecca's "interesting" first acting job after grad school!

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As you've seen on DT, I continue to focus on juicy alumni journeys in entertainment.  To recap, we've covered journeys in acting (from a guy's and girl's perspctive), music, TV and Film production and TV writing.  And we even have advice on how to use DT in your entertainment career search.

Today, I've got an interesting tale about a 2010 grad who got a good taste of working in one of my favorite daily television shows and is now changing careers and changing coasts for a career in law. All with the plan of hopefully returning to entertainment one day.

This is "entertainment"/"law" path is a common one that I've seen over the years , but wanted to highlight it as there will continue to be Penn graduates who will contemplate this decision.

After the jump, find out about Corey Singer (C'10, Penn Players (Chair ’09-’10), Penn Singers, Quadramics) and...

• his path from Penn to working in an entertainment career
• which NY based show he worked on (hint: see headline and picture above : ) ) and his unique(!) responsibilities on the show 
• his career advice 
• and where he sees himself in 10 years!

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Earlier this week, TV producer Roy Bank (C'94) launched his new NBC gameshow.

Now there's another show of his that got picked up for a second season and he's looking for small business owners.  The show is sort of "Apprentice" minus the celebrities and minus the competition.

It's called "The Mentor" and it hooks up small business owners with top CEOs for "a crash-course mentorship on transforming business dreams into reality"(previous mentors have been executives from Jamba Juice, 1-800-Flowers, Seventh Generation and The Boston Beer Company, Inc.)

I've done a ton of stories on Penn alum and undergrad entrepreneurs, so I know there are some of you who are perfect for this.

After the jump, learn more about the show and how to apply!

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Not since we saw this "classy pimp", have we seen a Penn alum in front of the camera on any of HBO's hottest shows.

Now let's add one more to this "Penn alumni on HBO" list.

If you saw the first episode of "True Blood" this past week, and then had to go to your HBO GO app to watch the second episode ("You Smell Like Dinner"), you would have seen Penn alum Marcus McGee (C'01) make a cameo as "James".

After the jump, check out where in the episode he appeared (plus a screen grab of his appearance!) and find out about Marcus' day on the "True Blood" set!

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Have you been watching Penn alum Becki Newton's (C'00) new "Love Bites" show on NBC? If you have, on last week's episode, Becki shared the screen opposite another Penn alum and DT favorite, Vanessa Mizzone (C'99).

After the jump, watch the scene!

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Recently, I reported that Penn alum Joe Port (C'97) and his writing partner Joe Wiseman had their TV pilot "Family Album" most likely scheduled for a mid season slot on Fox.

Now, more good news.  Yesterday it was announced that Fox has signed a two-year overall deal with them. (source)

Fantastic news, and the inspirational story here for DT readers is how the Joes got their start together.

For those of you looking to write and produce, after the jump read their story and take note!

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A few weeks ago at the start of alumni weekend, Penn alumni working in reality TV from both sides of the camera came back to Penn to discuss what is "real" and what it takes to make it in the business.

The "Getting Real: From Campus to Camera" panel was moderated by Katherine Sender, Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication. Panelists included:

• Mark Cronin (ENG '86), writer and producer of "celebreality" shows such as "The Surreal Life" and "Flavor of Love"
• Kristin Haskin Simms (C'93), contestant on the eighth season of "Project Runway"
• Charlie Herschel (C'01), contestant on the seventeenth season of "Survivor"
• Greg Goldman (C'96), producer of reality television shows such as "Don't Forget the Lyrics", "Secret Millionaire" and "Shaq's Big Challenge"

Overall the contestants on the panel discussed the application process, the submission videos they created, the psych tests they had to take, how closely the edited version was to real life, and recognition in the real world.

The real juice on the panel however came from the producers (especially Mark Cronin) including what they look for in a contestant (and their casting tape) and the true "manipulating" roles they serve as producers on the show.

After the jump, watch the video and check out 10 juicy highlights I've boiled down from the panel that you'll be interested in for sure!

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