Show is a model of success Didier Cohen, Charlotte Dawson, Jen Hawkins and Alex Perry. Deborah Hutton. Pic. Supplied Source: Supplied THERE'S a sparkly new set, a brand new host in the glamorous form of Jen Hawkins, and some new man candy in the shape of guest judge Didier Cohen. But expect Alex Perry to be sticking to business as usual with his acidic putdowns on the new season of Australia's Next Top Model. Known for his caustic comments - directed sometimes at contestants but usually toward sparring partner and close mate Charlotte Dawson - Perry says he gives it out so the aspiring models can take it in the real world. You need to give someone that honest evaluation, to say sometimes 'that isn't for you'. I think we owe that to people. It happens to me when I send designs to magazines. I would rather know the absolute truth than get the sugar coating. Perry denies he is deliberately mean to the young girls vying for the title. But he ensures the banter between himself and Dawson gives the viewers their slice of "bitchy." We actually adore each other. We do it on purpose," Perry says. She'll give me a sign, an evil look from the end of the desk, and I will have a go. People want to see a bit of bitchiness. Meanwhile, Dawson says new host Hawkins has fitted in seamlessly, mainly because she loves a laugh - especially at her own expense. She laughs at us all the time and we take the piss out of her. "She is a real sweetie and has blended in so beautifully," Dawson says. Hutton set to host ASTRAs SHE'S happy to fly the flag for the more mature woman on television, but Deborah Hutton says there will come a time when she is better off taking a step back. Things will eventually stop in TV. Sooner or later there might not be the role there. Do you really want to be on camera when you are older? For me, probably not," says a frank Hutton. But that time isn't quite now, with the presenting veteran being asked to host this year's ASTRA Awards. Hutton, 51, who currently presents the Foxtel Movie Show, says it's a sign there's room for everyone, whatever age, in the television market. I think it is very lovely they have asked a mature woman to host. It says there is more room for more women to have a place," she says. Hutton confesses she was initially shocked when she got the call to host the ASTRAs, which showcase the cream of Foxtel's talent. "My first reaction was, 'Oh my gosh I am not Bert Newton'," she says. I really want to do the role justice and put as much prep into it as I can. Let me promise you there will be a lot of heavy breathing before I jump out on stage. Hutton, whose career has seen her working in both free-to-air and subscription television, says the tough TV climate has made many networks turn to reality shows. I am not a mad reality fan. I like to invest my time in better quality television. The ASTRA Awards are on July 25 at the State Theatre. Sex stranger than death BRIAN Dietzen has had to face some pretty macabre situations in his role of offbeat assistant medical examiner Jimmy Palmer on hit crime franchise NCIS. As Palmer, the actor is usually seen getting up close to dead bodies. So it's a little odd that he says one of the strangest plot lines for his character was one which involved him getting up close to a pretty woman who was very much alive. It was a really hot agent I started fooling around with. We were having sex on autopsy tables, and then we left her bra in the autopsy drawer," Dietzen says. It just got out of hand and I liked the way it wrapped up outside of her getting killed. Jimmy had to cut things off because he thought he was being used for his body. Dietzen says the NCIS cast is often quizzed about the light banter which frequently features in scenes around the autopsy table on the show. "You get a sense when you go to a real autopsy these people do not sit around and whisper around dead bodies and pay the same reverence that you would to a dead relative lying on the slab in front of you," he says. Good, bad ... and ugly WITH the annual Aussie TV executive trek to America to look at US content for Australia completed, the fight for the best and avoiding the worst shows is on. Thanks to output deals from the likes of Warner Bros, Fox, CBS and Disney, some networks could be saddled with some content that isn't likely to set ratings figures alight. One comedy which may end up on Ten or Foxtel and is considered to be a bit of a stinker is Enlisted, about a soldier who comes home from Afghanistan and has to train "deadbeats" at an army camp, including his brothers. Our source's verdict? It's just not funny. However the good news is they could end up with Friends With Better Lives, starring James Van Der Beek, which should provide some more legitimate laughs. Meanwhile, Nine has rights to Almost Human - a fictitious cop show set in 2048, where all law enforcers have an android sidekick. It stars British actor Mackenzie Crook and has been written by J.J. Abrams of Lost and Star Trek fame. Nine also has Mom, a comedy by Chuck Lorre (Two And A Half Men), which stars Anna Faris as a newly sober single mother raising two children in a world full of temptations. Our source says it features "lots of shouting and loud music so may not translate well to the main Nine channel. It could end up on Go! Seven has picked up Intelligence - a CIA-type show starring Josh Holloway as an agent who has had a computer chip implanted in his brain, allowing him access to all the computers in the world. Our source predicts the show will work well here.