Elvis Costello to host talk show on Sundance

updated 8:53 p.m. ET April 9, 2008

NEW YORK - Music giants Elvis Costello and Elton John are joining forces for a talk-and-tunes series to air on Sundance Channel.

“Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...” will be a 13-week series on which Costello plays host to artists and other personalities for an hour of discussion and performance.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to talk in complete thoughts about music, movies, art or even vaudeville, then frame it with unique and illustrative performances,” Costello said in a statement.

John, who also will appear, will be an executive producer of the series, which is scheduled to premiere in December. Production begins next week in New York. No guests were announced.

“Spectacle” is one of a slate of upcoming programs unveiled Wednesday by Sundance Channel.

Seven series are in development for 2009, including “Eco-Trip: The Real Cost of Living,” which will examine the carbon footprint of items such as toilet paper, roses or a cup of coffee, tracing the “eco-story” behind each item from its origination to disposal.

“Johnny Weir: Black Swan Rising” follows the three-time U.S. figure skating champion as he seeks to become the 2010 Olympic champ.

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And “Toy Design” is a peek inside top-secret workshops where the next big toy is being invented.

In June, “Live From Abbey Road” is back with a new 12-part season of performances and interviews filmed at London’s Abbey Road Studios.

In October, “Iconoclasts” returns for its fourth season of pairing creative innovators from different fields as they explore each other’s world. The first episode will feature British mogul-adventurer Richard Branson and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

During the briefing, Sundance Channel president Larry Aidem passed along just-received news that his network had won a 2007 Peabody Award for its documentary series, “Nimrod Nation.” But he declined to comment on recent reports that the network, a joint venture of NBC Universal and CBS, along with co-owner Robert Redford, is being put up for sale.

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Aidem joked that NBC Universal and CBS are “the fourth mommy and daddy” Sundance has had since its founding.

“We are used to changes of ownership, and rumors of changes of ownership — it’s happened before,” Aidem said. “But this network operates quite autonomously from its parents. The one constant is Bob.”

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