Stage and screen star Laurence Fishburne’s last turn as a series regular on network television was the role of Cowboy Curtis on the 1980s kids show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”

So the acclaimed actor better known for playing dark, brooding characters says he looks forward to his new TV gig as a forensics investigator with disturbing tendencies on the hit CBS detective drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Not that he had ever seen the series before his first meeting with the show’s executive producers, Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar.

“I felt a little stupid and embarrassed that I hadn’t watched the show prior to having a meeting with them,” Fishburne, 47, acknowledged in a conference call with reporters for the announcement that he is joining the show’s cast.

“But I’m happy to say that the episodes that they sent me to look at were really, really engaging and really wonderful, and kind of dark and moody, like a lot of the work that I’ve actually been involved in,” he added. “So I’m very excited.”

Famed for his movie work as Morpheus in “The Matrix” trilogy and his Oscar-nominated role as Ike Turner in “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” Fishburne is slated to make his “CSI” debut in episode nine of the show’s upcoming ninth season.

“CSI,” which averaged 17 million viewers last season, ranks as CBS’s top-rated show and the third most-watched scripted series in all of U.S. prime time.

Mendelsohn and Shankar hailed Fishburne as their “dream” casting choice.

Returning home from war is one of the biggest challenges a veteran faces. In the MTV News special “Choose or Lose & Kanye West Present: Homecoming” — which airs tonight (Monday, July 28) at 10 p.m. ET — Kanye West and MTV’s Sway Calloway surprise three veterans with visits to their homes. Kanye and Sway listen to their stories, thank them for their contributions to the country, and then help the vets confront their challenges, including debt and adjusting to civilian life.

“There are hundreds of thousands of veterans who have fallen through the cracks,” Kanye says in the show. “I wanted to hear their stories.”

West is visibly moved by the veterans’ stories. “This past year I suffered a lot of losses,” he says, referring primarily to the death of his mother, Donda. (The MC’s Dr. Donda West Foundation and MTV are providing most of the money for the gifts to the veterans.) “I know my music inspires people, but you can always do more.”

One vet, 25-year-old Tirann Laws from Oklahoma City, suffers from post-tramautic stress disorder and has found himself in debt and having difficulty holding down a job. He says he wants to return to school. West and MTV offer him that opportunity — but as grateful as Laws is, Kanye also finds himself changed by the experience. “You make me want to improve myself,” West says. “We thought I’d come in and be an inspiration to you and lift your spirits, but actually you’re inspirational to me because I’m going through a lot of losses.”

Next up, Kanye meets with aspiring rapper Lorenzo Zarate, 24, at his home in Austin, Texas. Zarate’s wife has a baby on the way, and the couple say they are just weeks away from being forced to leave their home. During the visit, Kanye and Zarate find common ground in Zarate’s home studio — “I remember those days,” Kanye reminisces — and he plays a bit of “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” on Zarate’s keyboard. Then the gifts are revealed: paying six months’ rent, a new microphone, a week of studio time and an internship at a local radio station.

Like Zarate, 24-year-old Shameeka Gray of Charlotte, North Carolina, came back from war and found herself in tremendous debt, but must devote most of her time to caring for her young son. Kanye related to Gray over the subject of death; she said it was when someone in her company died that she realized she could die too.

Kanye said, “Sometimes it’s definitely easier to not even accept death and just act like you’re in a bad dream and you could wake up from it.” Gray’s gift is paying off her credit card debt, and setting up a college-tuition fund for her son.

Profiles for all three vets (Shameeka Gray, Tirann Laws and Lorenzo Zarate) are available on the Choose or Lose site, where viewers can also interact with the veterans and find ways to take action on these issues and share their own thoughts on the subject.

Emmy organizers for the first time ever on Thursday unveiled a list of the top 10 comedies and 10 dramas competing to be nominated for U.S. television’s highest honors, which are presented in September.

Traditionally, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences does not reveal its short list of the 20 shows under consideration for best drama and best comedy series nominations, which this year will be announced on July 17.

The list of 10 drama finalists includes one previous Emmy winner for best drama series, ABC’s castaway thriller “Lost,” and three other past nominees — ABC’s courtroom saga “Boston Legal” and two medical shows, the Fox hit “House” and ABC favorite “Grey’s Anatomy.”

The critically acclaimed but low-rated NBC series “Friday Night Lights” also made the cut, as did the serial killer drama “Dexter,” which appeared on both CBS and the cable network Showtime.

Rounding out the roster of drama finalists were four more cable shows — AMC’s new period piece “Mad Men,” the FX legal drama “Damages,” Showtime’s historical romp “The Tudors” and the final season of HBO’s “The Wire.”

The top 10 comedies feature six programs from the broadcast networks lead by Emmy winners for the last two year, “30 Rock” and “The Office,” both on NBC, as well as CBS’s bawdy sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” Fox’s animated series “Family Guy” and ABC newcomer “Pushing Daisies.”

HBO dominated the four cable TV comedies on the short list with veteran programs “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Entourage,” as well as recent arrival “Flight of the Conchords.” They are joined by Showtime’s “Weeds,” about a pot-dealing mom.

The top 10 short lists were determined by votes from the entire television academy, and now go to “blue ribbon” panels of academy members who will judge the contenders. Results from the academy voting and the panel voting are then averaged to determine the five nominees for each category.

The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards will take place September 21, and will also include awards for TV actors, actresses, mini-series, made-for-TV movies and a host of other honors.

“Dancing With the Stars” will quick step its way to the end of another season - and as reality show cycles go, it’s been a pretty good one.

Almost alone among the most-watched network series, including “American Idol,” “Dancing” has actually seen its viewership go up year to year. Its audience of 20 million-plus will almost certainly make it the runner-up to “Idol” in this season’s Nielsen sweepstakes.

Admittedly, the kids dance competition got old real fast (although Brandon and Brittany, both 10, can sure do a mean pasodoble), and those appearances by pop music acts in search of a sales boost were awfully embarrassing. (What was Sheryl Crow thinking?)

But this season has also had some wonderfully goofy (and not-so-goofy) moments that kept things interesting. Let’s be honest, it was fun to watch Adam Carolla and Penn Jillette butcher the cha-cha and the tango for a couple of weeks.

We never thought we’d see Steve Guttenberg again, and his turn on “Dancing” gave us a nasty flashback to “Police Academy 4.”

But then there was the sheer persistence of Marlee Matlin, the determination and drive of Shannon Elizabeth (don’t ever get into a poker game with her) and the charm of “Hairspray” star Marissa Jaret Winokur, who won over enough fans that she stuck around until last week’s penultimate episode.

And, in the end, the last three couples standing were probably the best in

the field. Let’s take a look at why each couple might win - and why they might falter on the floor: Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark BallasWhy we like ‘em: Well, Kristi is the hometown favorite. In fact, she’s been the clear favorite since Week 1 without taking into account her Bay Area connections. Her experience as a pairs figure skater and her competitiveness have worked well for her.

Why we don’t: In recent weeks, the couple seems to have been phoning it in - almost as if they feel they’ve already won. They cranked it up last week, but Ballas needs to avoid the over-choreographing that has damaged some of their routines.

The odds: Still the favorites.

Jason Taylor and Edyta SliwinskaWhy we like ‘em: For a big man, Taylor is mighty smooth. In fact, he ranks right up there with the best male dancers in the show’s history. Plus, he’s got a charming on-air presence that helps with the voters at home, if not the judges.

Why we don’t: They’re still not as good as Yamaguchi and Ballas. Sliwinska can sometimes come across (like she did last week) as something of a chilly sourpuss. That’s not the way to harvest the audience vote.

The odds: A strong couple on the floor but will probably come up short.

Cristían de la Fuente and Cheryl BurkeWhy we like ‘em: The guy is dancing with one arm, while most people have trouble doing the moves with two. Ever since de la Fuente injured his left arm, the couple has actually gotten stronger and looked particularly sharp last week - a sign of just how good a choreographer Burke, the Bay Area dance pro, can be.

Why we don’t: Sympathy - and Burke’s clever routines - may go only so far when it gets down to the finals.

The odds: The joker in the deck. If there’s going to be an upset, they may be the ones to pull it off.

‘Dancing With the Stars’

Airing: 8 tonight and Tuesday, Ch. 7

Tila Tequila’s life is an open book.  Tagged as “the Madonna of MySpace” by Time magazine after branching out to nearly 2 million friends on the social networking site where she divulged her most intimate thoughts and pictures of herself in provocative poses, this 26-year-old model continues to broaden her exposure with her controversial bisexual-themed series, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, where she aims to find her ideal match by testing the shallow waters of the reality dating scene (and making out with men and women).

Having said that, it’s hard to imagine that there could be anything that pop culture enthusiasts don’t already know about this reality TV starlet.  However, Tila Tequila says there’s still more to reveal about herself and she plans to drop all those details in a book, which will be released in the fall.

“My fans write me every day with questions so I figured instead of responding and sitting there taking hours, I’ll just put all the answers in a book from all their questions,” Tila Tequila, whose real name is Tila Nguyen, said in an interview at MTV Canada headquarters.

Known for her appearances in Stuff, Maxim, Time, and Penthouse, Tila Tequila intends to start writing her book when she gets back at home in Hollywood later this month.  In anticipation of her tell-all, fans of her reality dating show will likely expect to find some clarification over what really happened with Bobby Banhart, whom Tila Tequila chose as the winner of the first season of A Shot at Love.

While Tila Tequila plans to spill as many beans as she can, she doesn’t feel that she has to answer to anyone.

“A lot of people, they get signed to a big company or whatever and they have lots of people working around them to create an image and telling them what to say, how to sound, and I don’t do that,” the Shot at Love star said.  “Like, this is all me.  Nobody tells me what to do and I do what I like and if people don’t like it, then too bad.”