If you watched the Olympics at all over the weekend, you probably got a peek at the latest group of contestants for "The Apprentice."

The promos hinted at a more global cast, and indeed, three of the 18 players NBC unveiled Monday are originally from outside the United States -- although all of them currently live in this country. The three international contestants are Brent, a lawyer originally from Toronto, now living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Lenny, a former Soviet soldier who now runs a trading company in New Jersey; and Sean, a London-born recruitment consultant who lives in Miami.

Season five of "The Apprentice" premieres Feb. 27 on NBC.

(Zap2it.com)

Devane returns to '24'

It's been an open secret that Elisha Cuthbert would return to "24" at some point this season. Now it's official.

Fox isn't saying when, but the network is confirming that Cuthbert will be appearing on the show in the coming weeks as Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) tries to re-establish contact with his daughter now that he's not pretending to be dead anymore. William Devane will also reprise his role as Secretary of Defense James Heller. New cast members set to appear soon include Ray Wise ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and C. Thomas Howell ("The Outsiders").

Additionally, Fox says it will air back-to-back episodes of the show on March 6, with previously announced guest stars Peter Weller and JoBeth Williams making their first appearances then.

(Zap2it.com)

Open mike on WPXI

Sunday morning on Channel 11's local news, viewers heard an off-camera Kevin Benson utter a profanity (the s-word). Benson didn't know his audio was going out over the air, WPXI general manager Ray Carter said.

Channel 11 received just four complaints, and Carter said the viewers he spoke to were understanding when he explained it was a mistake.

"He feels awful about what happened," Carter said. "The great lesson is, always assume your mike is open, even when you're not on camera."

Carter said disciplinary action was taken, but he wouldn't be specific. Benson will be back on the air this weekend.

Despite recent Federal Communications Commission fines imposed for profanity, Carter said this situation was different from the case of Bono uttering profanity during a live awards show telecast.

"This was not an on-air moment, it wasn't anything scripted or even ad libbed, it was simply an accident," Carter said. "We don't feel there is any FCC concern, but we're always going to be concerned about what goes out over the air and it's not something we want on our air. We've taken the appropriate measures with this incident to make sure something like this doesn't happen."

(Rob Owen, Post-Gazette TV editor)

Channel surfing

The next Rick Sebak special on WQED -- "What Makes Pittsburgh Pittsburgh?" -- premieres at 8 p.m. March 20. ... The finals of the Pittsburgh Public Theater's Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest can be seen on Comcast's On Demand service beginning today under the Pittsburgh Arts section of Your Town.

(R.O.)