Identical Twins

. ½ THE TOPP TWINS: Untouchable Girls Directed by: Leanne Pooley Starring: Jools and Linda Topp At: Kendall Square Running time: 84 minutes Unrated The Topp Twins are your basic identical twin-sister lesbian country-and-yodeling comedy act from New Zealand. Nothing you haven’t seen before. Oh, wait. That you haven’t seen anything like Jools and Linda Topp before, and that they’re widely beloved performers in their home country, is proof that the planet has not yet shrunk to the size of your Web browser and that there are still some surprises left.

Doctors have given a clean bill of health to two-year-old twins who were born attached at the chest and abdomen and who underwent separation surgery at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital six months ago. Angelina and Angelica Sabuco were the guests of honor at a coming out party Monday attended by some of the 40 doctors and nurses who cared for them during last fall's 10-hour surgery and two-week hospital stay. Wearing matching pink dresses and different colored hair bows, the California toddlers looked like any other pair of identical twins.

Most of the risk of autism has been blamed by experts on inherited genes. Now one of the largest studies of twins and autism shifts the focus to the womb, suggesting that the mother’s age and health may play a larger role than thought. The new research doesn’t solve the mystery of what causes autism. Most scientists think faulty genes and outside factors are both at work. And since autism spectrum disorders include a wide range of conditions, from mild to severe, it’s unlikely there’s a single cause for all of them.

One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar. On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble. But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer. Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons. "I work shorter hours on this show — everybody does — than I did on 'Buffy,"' she says with satisfaction.

DALLAS - Juanita Smallwood Osborne, who became one of the first living organ donors when she gave a kidney to her ailing son in the mid-1960s, has died at 88. Ms. Osborne died Thursday in Ashland, Ky., of complications from aspiration pneumonia, said her son Burl Osborne, a former managing editor and chairman of the Associated Press and publisher emeritus of The Dallas Morning News. Ms. Osborne donated her kidney in 1966, when most successful organ transplants had been performed primarily between identical twins, her son said.

Deadly Sibling Rivalry 9 p.m., Lifetime I love the name Charisma Carpenter. An actress named Charisma Carpenter absolutely must star in Lifetime movies, don't you think? In this doozie, she plays a woman who takes over her twin sister's identity after the twin falls into a coma. The story sounds dangerously similar to the one in the forthcoming CW series "Ringer," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Carpenter's fellow "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum. The Lying Gam e 9 p.m., ABC Family Oh no. Must be the season of the twin.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent The Boston Asian American Film Festival will host a free screening Thursday of a film about twin sisters who survived a deadly disease. Anabel Stenzel and Isabel Stenzel Byrnes are identical twins born in California to Japanese and German immigrant parents. At just three days old, both were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that attacks the lungs and pancreas and usually kills its sufferers at a young age. Doctors told the twins' parents they would be lucky to reach the age of 10;...

Doctors have given a clean bill of health to two-year-old twins who were born attached at the chest and abdomen and who underwent separation surgery at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital six months ago. Angelina and Angelica Sabuco were the guests of honor at a coming out party Monday attended by some of the 40 doctors and nurses who cared for them during last fall's 10-hour surgery and two-week hospital stay. Wearing matching pink dresses and different colored hair bows, the California toddlers looked like any...

BILLY AND BOBBY MCCLAIN, THE "WONDERTWINS" AGE: "AGELESS" RESIDENCE: SOUTH BOSTON OCCUPATION: DANCERS; SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND COUNSELORS; DIRECTORS OF THE NONPROFIT PROJECT RISE. > As brothers  –  and identical twins  –  how do you differ from each other in terms of style? (All responses Billy): The way we're different is more about how we carry our style. I like things to fit the physique, while Bobby likes the feel of space in clothes.

Lovers of Audrey Niffenegger’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife’’ may be surprised by her new novel, “Her Fearful Symmetry.’’ Set near and within London’s Highgate cemetery, this book is a dark love story with ghosts and identical twins. Unless you count the ghost, the closest this new novel comes to time jumping is the phrase, “The End,’’ which is the title of the first chapter. There are two sets of identical twins, separated by geography, a generation, and a secret.

PICK OF THE DAY Brothers in song It's not surprising that Eddie and Anthony Edwards look just like each other (they're identical twins). What's unusual is that they also look like Elton John, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, and Elvis. In ‘‘The Edwards Twins: 2 Brothers, 100 Stars," Anthony covers the males, while Eddie generally plays the ladies. See the pair sing, dance, act, and impersonate a host of superstars. Jan. 12-22. Thurs 7:30 p.m., Fri and Sat 8 p.m., Sat 3 p.m., Sun 2 p.m. $32-$35, $4 off seniors.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent The Boston Asian American Film Festival will host a free screening Thursday of a film about twin sisters who survived a deadly disease. Anabel Stenzel and Isabel Stenzel Byrnes are identical twins born in California to Japanese and German immigrant parents. At just three days old, both were diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that attacks the lungs and pancreas and usually kills its sufferers at a young age. Doctors told the twins' parents they would be lucky to reach the age of 10;...

BILLY AND BOBBY MCCLAIN, THE "WONDERTWINS" AGE: "AGELESS" RESIDENCE: SOUTH BOSTON OCCUPATION: DANCERS; SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS AND COUNSELORS; DIRECTORS OF THE NONPROFIT PROJECT RISE. > As brothers  –  and identical twins  –  how do you differ from each other in terms of style? (All responses Billy): The way we're different is more about how we carry our style. I like things to fit the physique, while Bobby likes the feel of space in clothes.

Deadly Sibling Rivalry 9 p.m., Lifetime I love the name Charisma Carpenter. An actress named Charisma Carpenter absolutely must star in Lifetime movies, don't you think? In this doozie, she plays a woman who takes over her twin sister's identity after the twin falls into a coma. The story sounds dangerously similar to the one in the forthcoming CW series "Ringer," starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Carpenter's fellow "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum. The Lying Gam e 9 p.m., ABC Family Oh no. Must be the season of the twin.

Most of the risk of autism has been blamed by experts on inherited genes. Now one of the largest studies of twins and autism shifts the focus to the womb, suggesting that the mother’s age and health may play a larger role than thought. The new research doesn’t solve the mystery of what causes autism. Most scientists think faulty genes and outside factors are both at work. And since autism spectrum disorders include a wide range of conditions, from mild to severe, it’s unlikely there’s a single cause for all of them.

. ½ THE TOPP TWINS: Untouchable Girls Directed by: Leanne Pooley Starring: Jools and Linda Topp At: Kendall Square Running time: 84 minutes Unrated The Topp Twins are your basic identical twin-sister lesbian country-and-yodeling comedy act from New Zealand. Nothing you haven’t seen before. Oh, wait. That you haven’t seen anything like Jools and Linda Topp before, and that they’re widely beloved performers in their home country, is proof that the planet has not yet shrunk to the size of your Web browser and that there are...

PICK OF THE DAY Brothers in song It's not surprising that Eddie and Anthony Edwards look just like each other (they're identical twins). What's unusual is that they also look like Elton John, Cher, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, Roy Orbison, and Elvis. In ‘‘The Edwards Twins: 2 Brothers, 100 Stars," Anthony covers the males, while Eddie generally plays the ladies. See the pair sing, dance, act, and impersonate a host of superstars. Jan. 12-22. Thurs 7:30 p.m., Fri and Sat 8 p.m., Sat 3 p.m., Sun 2 p.m. $32-$35, $4 off seniors.

One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar. On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble. But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer. Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons. "I work shorter hours on this show — everybody does — than I did on 'Buffy,"' she says with satisfaction.

Jake and Ryan Wardwell are identical twins. But even from afar, the two Hudson High juniors are easy to tell apart. Ryan is the elder, by three minutes, and he is, very literally, the big brother. At 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, he has three inches and 40 pounds on Jake. The pitch of their voices and the length of their hair (flowing out from under their baseball caps) are similar, but there’s no mistaking them. “We tried to swap places on a teacher once,’’ said Ryan, “but she knew right away.’’ On the diamond, their differences are even more apparent.

Lovers of Audrey Niffenegger’s “The Time Traveler’s Wife’’ may be surprised by her new novel, “Her Fearful Symmetry.’’ Set near and within London’s Highgate cemetery, this book is a dark love story with ghosts and identical twins. Unless you count the ghost, the closest this new novel comes to time jumping is the phrase, “The End,’’ which is the title of the first chapter. There are two sets of identical twins, separated by geography, a generation, and a secret.