Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 10 April 2015.

The Golden Girls could become a Lego playset.
Proposal and mock-up set for the sitcom gets enough votes, next will be Lego having to approve it and and finding out if the licensing rights are available.

Famous Chinese TV presenter caught insulting Mao Zedong.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV's Bi Fujian was caught on camera calling the Chinese dictator "a son of a bitch" at a private dinner, which CCTV says in a statement "caused serious social impact".

Two Al Jazeera (DStv 406) journalists held in Nigeria have been released.
Ahmed Idris and Ali Mustapha were detained in their hotel ahead of the recent Nigerian general election.

TV channels of France's TV5Monde knocked out by hackers.
11 channels of France's public television station went dark and hit its websites as Islamic hackers claimed responsibility.

MUST READ. Turmoil, damage, bitterness behind the scenes at NBC News.
Scathing Vanity Fair article with numerous sources pulls the veil off the "civil war" and what has really been going on at NBC News before and after the scandal and suspension of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams.

The Teletubbies is getting a reboot.
Children's programme will return to CBeebies (DStv 306) after an absence of 14 years.

Full House will return as Fuller House to Netflix.
Beloved sitcom will become a Netflix series with several of the original stars who will appear.

Nina Dobrev leaving The Vampire Diaries.
Actress says in open letter to fans she always knew she would be gone after 6 seasons.


E! Entertainment (DStv 124) eNews anchor Giuliana Rancic is speaking out.
Giuliana Rancic is on a publicity blitz and book tour for her new book Off Script, so now she's talking. She says former boyfriend Jerry O'Connell cheated on her with a Spice Girl.
Her friendship with Fashion Police's Kelly Osbourne appears to have been fake - Giuliana Rancic hasn't spoken to Kelly since the Fashion Police scandal.
Meanwhile Kelly Osbourne tweets about "LIARS" on the very same day as Giuliana Rancic goes on television to promote her book and blames the Fashion Police Zendaya scandal on editing.
In another interview the skeletal Giuliana Rancic talks about her weight and denies that she doesn't have an eating disorder.
When Joan Rivers of Fashion Police died Giuliana Rancic "wept for an entire night".

BREAKING. No Golden Girls TV marathon or episodes after Rue McClanahan passed away.

You're reading it here first.

There will be no special broadcast or marathon episodes of The Golden Girls for South African viewers.

Readers of TV with Thinus asked me this morning about the possibility of a possible marathon broadcast or special episodes of The Golden Girls on maybe M-Net Series (DStv 110) or any of the other channels or platforms after the death yesterday of Golden Girl Rue McClanahan (read about it HERE).

''Will TopTV, DStv or SABC step up?'' a TV with Thinus reader asks. ''Whoever does broadcast The Golden Girls again, it will be very well received by all of us fans. Classics never die!'' I asked M-Net Series which would have been the most likely contender, but the answer is no. M-Net Series tells me they showed The Golden Girls up until about a year ago and currently the schedule doesn't allow for any shows or changes because of the shows currently licenced. ''It's not impossible, but the possibility of showing The Golden Girls now is highly unlikely.''

Here's is M-Net Series' official answer: ''The Golden Girls is a classic indeed that was much loved by all, but the process of acquiring content is a process that takes a lot of planning. At the moment M-Net Series does not have the capacity or budget to acquire added content that was not planned for for 2010/2011.''

To tie you over, here's some great moments and some hilarious bloopers from The Golden Girls.

BREAKING. Golden Girl Rue McClanahan who played Blanche dies after suffering ''a massive stroke''.

The golden girl, Rue McClanahan, best known for her role as sassy man-crazed Blanche Devereaux in the hit sitcom The Golden Girls has died. She was 76.

The Emmy-winning actress suffered ''a massive stroke'', E! News just reported. That leaves Betty White as the sole surviving member of the four female stars of the beloved sitcom, experiencing a popular fan revival and riding the wave of a Hollywood career that never went away.

Estelle Getty who played Sophia died in 2009 and Bea Arthur who played her daughter Dorothy passed away last year. Rue McClanahan's manager, Barbara Lawrence said the actress who's had a history of heart problems and suffered a minor stroke in January ''had her family with her. She went in peace.''

Rest in peace, Golden Girl.

UPDATE Thursday 3 June 23:50 - Betty White tells Entertainment Tonight that ''Rue was a close and dear friend.'' ''I treasure our relationship. It hurts more than I ever thought it would, if that's even possible."