Celebrity News:

Framed (IFC, Fridays at 10:30 p.m. ET)—a new star-on-star chatfest produced by Reebok—represents the sneaker company's attempt to do an end run around your DVR. It's "branded entertainment," commercial-free, and all the sponsor asks is that you save a little space in your heart for the pretty people wearing its ugly logo. If the show is typical of the marketing-programming hybrids that await us in the advertainment future, then let the bastardization roll, by all means.

Each installment of Framed captures an emissary from the realm of show biz hanging out with an athlete in possession of a Reebok endorsement deal. Because, as everybody knows, what actors and singers really want to do is direct, the performers make short films about the jocks, and these run at the end of each episode. In coming installments, St. Louis rapper Nelly will corral Denver Nuggets* point guard Allen Iverson; the Iberian cupcake Paz Vega will mingle with French striker Thierry Henry; and starlet Brittany Snow will pay gratitude to her agent for arranging screen time with Jelena Jankovic, the third-ranked tennis player on the women's circuit. All of these duos will have a tough time besting the oomph of the series' first episode, which featured Entourage's Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan) and the Golden State Warriors' Baron Davis, and was extravagantly foxy.