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Wesley Chapel Family's Favorite Mom Could Become America's As Well

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 8, 2008

Lisa Couture has been celebrating Mother's Day for more than a month. And Sunday, the whole country could share her joy.

The Wesley Chapel wife and mother of three is one of 15 mothers who are vying for the "America's Favorite Mom" title, which will be bestowed on NBC on Sunday night.

The 7 p.m. special will be hosted by Donny and Marie Osmond and will feature the top nominees.

All this week, the semifinalists have been profiled during the 9 to 10 a.m. hour of the "Today" show. Friday is Couture's moment in the spotlight as one of the "Chairman of Everything" moms.

Viewers are voting online to pick the winner, who gets a $25,000 prize and the chance to bask in the glow of the Osmond siblings' pure white teeth.

Couture, who has been legally blind since 1987, was nominated in February by her husband, Ron, for all that she has achieved in life. Couture cares for the couple's three children - ages 4 through 7 - and helps care for her father, who is recovering from a heart attack. She also earned an MBA while running the Couture household.

"I live by hearing, feeling and touching," she told the Tribune in March.

BOWLING FOR DOLLARS: Tampa bowling ace Lucy Sandelin will be vying for a $50,000 prize and all the glory that comes from winning "The Clash of the Champions."

Bowling, which is so rarely seen on network television these days, takes the spotlight at 5 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Sandelin, 51, a 10-time Team USA member, goes up against 15 other male and female champions in an event that was taped in Kansas City, Mo., this week.

"An event like this would be fun to watch in person, but getting to bowl is priceless," she says in a prepared statement from CBS

She adds that "since we are all champions who love to bowl, my guess is the person who can control their nerves the best with a strong mental game will come out as the champion."

UPFRONTS: Next week, the broadcast networks will announce their fall and winter schedules at gala parties in New York known in the industry as the "upfronts" (describing how advertisers will put money up before the season begins).

NBC announced its plans last month. Who can forget that the peacock network plans to add "Knight Rider" as a series? The network also is keeping "Friday Night Lights" and adding a spinoff from "The Office."

Other newcomers include "My Own Worst Enemy," starring Christian Slater as a mild-mannered suburban guy who moonlights as a ruthless spy.

Next week, ABC is expected to add only a couple of new series such as Ashton Kutcher's reality game show "Opportunity Knocks" and David E. Kelley's drama "Life on Mars" and the NBC import "Scrubs." The fate of "Boston Legal" hangs in the balance.

ABC is expected to renew "Pushing Daisies," "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money" from the fall.

Fox could add J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama "Fringe," which is being described as another "Lost," only bigger in scope. Fox has another high-profile new entry: "Dollhouse," from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" creator Joss Whedon. It stars Eliza Dushku as a secret agent with a blank memory who can be reprogrammed to take on any identity.

Generating strong buzz at CBS are dramas "The Mentalist," "Eleventh Hour," "Mythological Ex" and an untitled Geena Davis project.

The CW probably will keep its new Monday lineup of "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill" intact. A "Beverly Hills, 90210" spinoff is being considered for Tuesdays along with a drama "How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls."

TUNE IN TONIGHT

Scrubs, 8:30 p.m., NBC

In the seventh-season finale, the staff works together to defeat an unknown monster plaguing Elliot's patient.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 9 p.m., CBS

The difficult star of a sitcom (Katey Segal) is killed while filming an episode in Las Vegas. Among the suspects, her husband and her TV stand-in.

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