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Tim Kring Talks Heroes Miniseries Heroes creator Tim Kring talks about the rumors of a Heroes miniseries. Kring says the series could continue in any number of platforms. He says NBC has expressed an interest in wrapping the shoe up in a way that honors the show and the fans. Kring says they could check in and see what life is like for Claire Bennet since coming out as a person with abilities. He does not think Nathan Petrelli could be revived. Take a look: Posted on August 26, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | ![]() The New York Daily News reports that The View creators Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie are planning an all male version of the talk show. Like The View, the all men version would have five co-hosts. The show would not run at the same time as The View, because the producers don't want to have to compete with their own spinoff. Bryant Gumbel is being considered for the moderator role. Photo: ABC Posted on August 25, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Covert Affiars Renewed for Second Season Deadline.com reports that USA Networks has picked up Covert Affairs for a second season. The show has had great ratings.
The series starring Piper Perabo has been growing consistently since its July 13 premiere, which drew 4.9 million viewers, 2.104 million of them in the adults 18-49, making Covert Affairs the highest-rated scripted cable premiere this year in the key demographic. It has remained the No.1 cable series of the year among 18-49 (2.52 million).We love Covert Affairs. Piper Perabo is great as the lead and Christopher Gorham is doing a terrific job as Auggie, the agency's blind tech guy, who is good with the ladies. Zap2It has a good write-up on Auggie here. Posted on August 20, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | ![]() The first ad campaign for the second season of Glee has been revealed. The ad shows the Glee cast tossing slushee drinks into the air. Glee has become so popular and has so many famous guest stars that it may become difficult to squeeze everyone in next season. It will be fun to watch them try. We know that Britney Spears is already on the set of Glee for her guest starring role. Posted on August 18, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Chinese Version of The Office Planned ![]() The New York Post reports that a Chinese version of the hit British and U.S. show, The Office is in the works. "I have some amazing news ... We are about to start work on developing a Chinese 'The Office.' How cool is that?" Gervais, 49, wrote.Ricky Gervais, co-writer and star of the British show, is a producer for the U.S. version of The Office. It will be interesting to see just how different the Chinese version of the show is. Posted on August 13, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Actress Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo is returning to General Hospital to play Brenda Barrett. Vanessa says, "I love the character, I love my co-stars and I love the show. It's really all my pleasure." Take a look: Posted on August 9, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Richard Castle Finds a Fallen Angel Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) says you should follow him on Twitter, @WriteRCastle. Richard Castle is tweeting and posting photographs of a Fallen Angel dead on Hamptons beach. Take a look: Note: Nathan Fillion also has a Twitter account, @nathanfillion. Posted on July 26, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | USA Networks Orders Sam Axe Burn Notice Prequel Variety reports that USA Networks has ordered a special Burn Notice telepic prequel. The prequel will feature Sam Axe (played by Bruce Campbell) during his Navy Seal days.
Heat Vision says Bruce Campbell also revealed at Comic-Con that Fiona will get kidnapped in one of this season's episodes of Burn Notice. Posted on July 22, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Piper Perabo Shines in Covert Affairs ![]() For those of us who have been missing J.J. Abrams' Alias since it went off the air, Covert Affairs is a welcome gift. Producer/creator Doug Liman (The Bourne Trilogy) has cooked up an action-packed, funny and smart spy series that's one of the best pilots we've seen this year. Piper Perabo plays Annie Walker, a young CIA trainee who is called into active duty before she graduates from her formal training. As Annie notes in the first episode, after 9/11 the agency began recruiting heavily and half the agency's employees are under 30. There is a bit of a mystery as to why Annie's bosses are really so interested in her. The supporting cast is excellent. Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Jake 2.0) plays Auggie Anderson, a CIA military intelligence agent who was blinded in action and now is Annie's guide to the agency. Peter Gallagher (The O.C., American Beauty) is Arthur Campbell, the director of Clandestine Services for the CIA. He is married to Joan (Kari Matchett), the head of the CIA's Domestic Protection Division. Joan is not above using the NSA to listen to her husband's phone conversations when she thinkgs he's having an affair. Sendhil Ramamurthy of Heroes will also be a series regular. He plays Jai Wilcox, an agent. The show lives or dies on whether the audience likes Piper Perabo --just as Alias depended on audiences loving Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow. Piper pulls off the task nicely. In her first mission, she has a car chase, a giant fight in the subway and impersonates a high class call girl. Covert Affairs premieres tonight on USA at 10pm Eastern/9 pm Central time. Be sure to tune in -- or catch it tomorrow on Hulu. Here's a preview: Posted on July 13, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Rookie Blue Gets Second Season Pickup ![]() Variety reports that ABC has greenlit a second season of Rookie Blue. The show is about five rookie cops who are freshfrom the Academy. "Rookie Blue" now ranks second in its Thursday time slot, behind "So You Think You Can Dance," among adults 18-49 and 18-34.The pickup is good news for actress Missy Peregrym (Reaper, Stick It), who plays one of the Rookie cops. Posted on July 12, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Pretty Little Liars Gets 12 Episode Extension ![]() ABC Family is already picking up 12 more episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Mediaweek reports that the audience for Liars has been building with new episodes. Liars also has built on its already significant demos, averaging 1.33 million viewers 18-49 last Tuesday, topping its debut delivery by 20 percent. The younger set also continues to flock to the series, as ABC Family set a high-water mark with episode No. 3, drawing 1.84 million viewers 12-34 (up 6 percent from the June 8 premiere) and 1.58 million females 12-34 (up 5 percent).Pretty Little Liars stars Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell and Holly Marie Combs. It is based on the book series by author Sara Shepard. Posted on July 8, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Ghost Whisperer Ends After ABC Declines to Pick it Up ![]() Deadline.com confirms that Ghost Whisperer will end. CBS decided dropped the show and plans for ABC to pick it up have failed. Ghost Whisperer executive producers Kim Moses and Ian Sander issued the following statement: “After five wonderful seasons and over 100 episodes, we are disappointed to announce Ghost Whisperer will not be returning for a sixth season. We’ve had an incredible experience and owe a debt of gratitude to everyone involved. We continue our relationship with ABC Studios and look forward to developing many more successful projects together in the future.”This is a real shame. Ghost Whisperer was a great show with a great cast. It also had good ratings. There was no need to end the series. Posted on May 30, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Preview of @#$! My Dad Says Starring William Shatner CBS has released a behind the scenes video for its new sitcom @#$! My Dad Says starring William Shatner. Based on the Twitter account "Shit My Dad Says" the show stars Shatner as the dad who says what he thinks and the relationship he has with his two sons. Some activist groups are furious there is profanity in the title, but the show itself seems like a normal sitcom. Take a look: Posted on May 23, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | NBC Picks Up New J.J. Abrams Spy Dramedy ![]() Variety reports that NBC has picked up a new J.J. Abrams series called Undercovers. The tv series is described as spy dramedy. Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star as married ex-spies who are re-activated. The pilot will air this fall. The IMDB entry for Undercovers can be found here. Jeff Gaspin, chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, says, "We have tremendous confidence in this promising series and feel this is a great way to kick off our upcoming Upfront development announcement. J.J. has delivered another signature series along with our partners at Warner Bros and we couldn't be happier." Posted on May 3, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Lee Majors Talks Human Target ![]() Lee Majors stopped by TV Guide's Hollywood 411 to talk to Madison Michele about his latest appearance on the hit Fox show Human Target. He also explains how got cast for the episode. The episode with Lee Majors was a great episode. You can still catch it on Hulu's Human Target channel. Lee Majors also says in the interview that there is going to be a movie based on The Big Valley. Take a look: Posted on April 16, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Sophia Bush Joins Southern Comfort ![]() One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush is joining the cast of a new sitcom called Southern Discomfort reports the Hollywood Reporter. Sophia Bush will play the daughter of co-stars Don Johnson and Mary Steenburgen in the sitcom. Bush will play the role of Haley, a recent Harvard graduate who returns to her Texas hometown to reunite with her old boyfriend. Her parents on the show are played by Don Johnson and Mary Steenburgen. Bush is repped by UTA, Joan Green Management and attorney Jamie Mandelbaum.One Tree Hill is not over so it will ge the priority for Sophia Bush over Southern Discomfort if there are filming conflicts. Posted on April 13, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Contestants Answer Trivia Questions on Skyscraper in ABC's Downfall The Live Feed reports that ABC has ordered a crazy reality show called "Downfall," where people are asked trivia questions on the top of a skyscraper. The players compete for $1 million in cash and prizes. If they miss a question then apparently their money is tossed off the side of the skyscraper. The show is produced by Freemantle Media.
Downfall executive producer Scott St. John says the show "is a new, hybrid, high-stakes field game show where fearless contestants have to fight and focus hard to keep their winnings from falling off the side of a building." It sounds ridiculous but people will probably tune it. Will there be people waiting at the bottom of the skyscraper for the money tossed over the side? Posted on April 8, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Hot in Cleveland Stars Betty White ![]() TV Land is launching its first original scripted sitcom series called Hot in Cleveland in June. Betty White will take on the role of the snarky but lovable Elka Ostrovsky. Betty White's co-stars include Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. The other three stars play characters who decide to rent in Elka's home after their plane makes an emergency landing in Cleveland. Hot in Cleveland is written by Suzanne Martin (Frasier, Ellen) and is produced by Emmy Award-winner Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) and Todd Milliner of Hazy Mills Productions. The sitcom has been picked up for ten episodes. You can find the Hot in Cleveland Facebook here. Posted on March 22, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | CNN Airing Documentary About Transgendered City Manager Tomorrow night CNN is airing a feature on the fired Largo, Florida city manager who was fired for undergoing the process of becoming a woman. Steve Stanton became Susan Stanton and was followed by a CNN crew for two years. Susan is now the City Manager of Lake Worth. Susan said that she agreed to be filmed to help alter public perceptions about gender change. "Her Name Was Steven" airs on CNN tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/7:00 p.m. Central time. Take a look: Posted on March 12, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Charlie Sheen Headed Back to Two and a Half Men ![]() Actor Charlie Sheen was charged with three crimes on Monday, including felony menacing, for assaulting his wife Brooke Mueller. Despite the assault incident there are no plans to end the sitcom Two and a Half Men. Production of the show has been halted for the past two weeks for Sheen's rehab but production is set to resume next Tuesday, March 16. Posted on March 10, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Report: Neil Patrick Harris to Open Oscars Deadline reports that Neil Patrick Harris and Martin Short will open the Oscars with a musical number. Deadline bills it as a spoiler, but this is news that will make people tune in early. We know we will. Anything can change, but that unlikely duo has been rehearsing an original opening song and dance routine that is one of 2 big production numbers choreographed by executive producer Adam Shankman. (The other involves extreme street dancers who’ve performed on So You Think You Can Dance where Shankman is a judge and who’ll hoof to samplings from the Best Original Score nominees.) Though Harris is predominantly a TV star, he's an awards show regular. Short also is a TV regular these days, but he has a long relationship with the broadcast’s musical director Marc Shaiman, who put together the opening number.Deadline says that Robin Williams was approached for the number, but he declined. We say: a Neil Patrick Harris musical number is a brilliant way to start the show. We're not sure about Martin Short singing and dancing, but he is funny, so that could work. Posted on March 2, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Video: 2010 Grammy Red Carpet Highights The Grammy Awards were last night. They were lengthy (3 1/2 hours) but featured some great performance and amazing outfits. In this "Best Of the Red Carpet Clip" Ryan Seacrest hears the story of how Russell Brand and Katy Perry got engaged and chats with everyone from Pink to Taylor Swift. Take a look: You can find more coverage of the Grammys here. Posted on February 1, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Oprah Invites Jay and Conan to Appear on Her Show Tonight was Conan O'Brien's last night as host of The Tonight Show. He decided to leave rather than put his show back thirty minutes. His $40 million settlement will no doubt ease some of the pain he's feeling. Jay Leno will move to The Tonight Show after the Olympics, and Jay can count on at least one major fan to help him spread the word: Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has also invited Conan O'Brien to appear, although Conan hasn't responded yet. Oprah announced on her show today that Jay will be a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Winfrey said she is set to interview Jay Leno, and her production company said an offer has been made to Conan O'Brien to appear.Will Conan show up and hug it out with Jay? Will they both cry? All signs point to....yes. Posted on January 22, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Conan and NBC Finalize Deal The late night NBC disaster is finally over. Early this morning Conan O'Brien's team and NBC reached a deal in which Conan leaves NBC, gets a lot of money, and can go back to work on another network on September 1. Jay Leno will go back to The Tonight Show and The Jimmy Fallon Show will remain in the same time slot. In a marathon session, lawyers for the talk show host and NBC finalized a settlement sealing O'Brien's exit from "The Tonight Show" at about 3 a.m. Thursday. The overall deal is said to be worth $46 million-$47 million, close to the $50 million annual production cost of "The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien."The network will air reruns of Conan's show until the Olympics, then will reboot The Tonight Show with Jay Leno after the Olympics ends. Conan will most likely end up at Fox where he will compete with David Letterman and Jay Leno. Posted on January 21, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Video: Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young Singing Pants on the Ground Jimmy Fallon did a hilarious bit on his show in homage to the American Idol "Pant son the Ground" song, penned by a would be contestant in Atlanta. Jimmy does a acoustic, mournful version of the song while dressed as Neil Young. Take a look: Posted on January 15, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Report: Leno Back to Tonight Show, Conan Leaves With Big Payday According to Nikki Finke, the NBC/Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien disaster may be settled very soon. Nikki says there's a tentative deal to put Jay back hosting The Tonight Show at 11:35 p.m. and to pay Conan a lot of money to leave. They had to call in Ron Meyer, the president of Universal to get the parties even to speak to each other. I've just learned that, for the past 48 hours, Universal Studios President/COO Ron Meyer was secretly drafted during this NBC late night crisis to negotiate a settlement between the network and Team Conan after O'Brien and his reps were threatened by NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker (see below). "Ron is a former agent, one of the biggest in Hollywood. He could get this done, so NBC used him," a source just told me. "No one would talk to each other, and they talked to Ron. He got everybody to talk to everybody."Jeff Zucker wants Conan gone and he doesn't want to pay him anything. But that's not reasonable, so someone else had to come in to mop up the mess. Nothing's signed yet, so the whole thing could blow up by morning. Posted on January 14, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Conan to NBC: I'm Won't Move to New Timeslot The late night talk show disaster just keeps rolling on. NBC has been pushing Conan for an answer about whether he'll agree to move The Tonight Show to 12:05 a.m. Well, the suits got their answer: no way. Here's Conan's statement that he released today: People of Earth:So far NBC has refused comment on Conan's amazingly brave statement. Will NBC cave and allow Conan to stay at 11:35? They've already committed to putting Jay Leno in that timeslot for half an hour with the hope that Conan will roll over and move his show back half an hour. Well, that's not happening. Although Conan says he has no formal offers, there are rumors that Fox wants to lure him away from NBC. In any event, it's not a happy day in the executive suites at NBC today. What a disaster they've created. Posted on January 12, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Zachary Levi Talks Chuck Season 3 Zachary Levi, the star of one of our favorite shows Chuck, talks about the new episodes in which we see an upgraded Chuck. Now that he's downloaded lots of new skills into his mind, Chuck can be an expert in everything from martial arts to mariachi. Season three debuts this Sunday night with a two hour episode on NBC. Take a look: Posted on January 7, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Kevin Alejandro Joining Cast of True Blood
True Blood's Layfayette may be getting a new love interest. Southland's Kevin Alejandro, who also starred in the ill-fated series Drive, has landed a gig on the HBO vampire drama.
According to The Hollywood Reporter Alejandro will be a series regular.
Alejandro, expected to appear in almost every episode of the HBO series' upcoming third season, will play Jesus, a Latino orderly who is taking care of Ruby Jean Reynolds (Alfre Woodard) at her care facility and becomes involved with her son, Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis).Alejandro will stay on Southland, which has moved to TNT. He's going to be a very busy guy, shooting two series at the same time. Posted on January 4, 2010 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Golden Globe Nominations Announced The Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday. The nominees for Best Picture (Drama) are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire, and Up In The Air. Meryl Streep was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for both Julia and Julia and for It's Complicated. Sandra Bullock was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama for Blind Side and for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for The Proposal. Nine did very well with five nominations, including Best Actress for Marion Cotillard and Best Picture (Musical or Comedy). You can see the full list of nominees here. Posted on December 16, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Beyonce and Taylor Swift Lead Grammy Nominations Beyonce has garnered ten Grammy nominations. Taylor Swith has eight nominations. Pop/hip-hop unit The Black Eyed Peas, R&B vocalist Maxwell and rapper Kanye West all hauled in six nominations, announced by the Recording Academy on Tuesday night. A handful of nominees were revealed during a special show broadcast live in the east from L.A.'s Club Nokia. Winners in 109 Grammy categories, voted on by members of the Recording Academy, will be announced Jan. 31 at the annual ceremony at L.A.'s Staples Center.This should be an interesting Grammy Awards in January. Kanye, Beyonce and Taylor Swift will all be there once again. Will Kanye even show? Will he behave himself? We'll have to tune in to see. Posted on December 2, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Ugly Betty Moving to Wednesdays After being marooned on Friday nights in a terrible timeslot this season, Ugly Betty has a glimmer of hope: ABC is moving the show to Wednesday nights, just after Cougar Town. Variety reports: "Ugly Betty" fills the void left by "Eastwick," which was not picked up for a full season. Scheduling move shifts "Betty" from what had been a lonely Friday night slot, sandwiched between the reality series "Supernanny" and the newsmag "20/20."Betty will make the move in January. This season's writing has been outstanding, but unfortunately no one has seen it since ABC dumped the show into the Friday Night Graveyard. Is it too late to save Betty? We certainly hope not. Posted on December 1, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | GE Pushing Forward With Deal to Sell NBC to Comcast Variety reports that General Electric is going to buy 20% of NBC Universal. The 20% stake is currently owned by French media company Vivendi SA. After that purchase is completed, GE will then turn around and sell 51% of NBC Universal to Comcast, the U.S.' biggest cable company. An agreement was supposed to have been announced weeks ago, but GE's talks with Vivendi have been taking longer than expected. Vivendi knew it had a strong hand -- GE wants to sell part of NBC Universal to raise money after suffering losses in its GE Capital unit. Meanwhile, Comcast wants to beef up its programming assets with a marquee name at a price it could handle -- around $5 to $7 billion cash plus contribution of its cable networks to a joint venture that would house the new NBC Universal.Comcast has said it will make lots of changes at NBC, including charging people to watch shows on Hulu.com. That is going to make a lot of tv viewers very angry. Posted on November 30, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | USA Renews Psych and Burn Notice USA Network has renewed two of our favorite shows: Burn Notice, which will have a fourth season, and Psych, which will now have a fifth season. Variety reports: "Burn Notice," which stars Jeffrey Donovan as a Miami-based spy, was a key driver of USA's strong perf this summer. Cabler ran nine episodes and will air the remaining seven in January. USA's fourth-season order for Fox Television Studios series comes on the heels of Monday's fifth-season pickup for "Psych."The split seasons are really weird, but we're going with it. By far the worst split season idea has to be what ABC is doing with V. After four episodes, the show is on hiatus until March. Posted on November 27, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Video: Conan Apologizes to Levi Johnston, Shatner Rides Again Conan O'Brien was forced to apologize to Levi Johnston for having William Shatner read Levi's tweets as freeform poetry. Levi didn't post those items on Twitter, an imposter did. So Conan made his mea culpas to Levi, then promptly brought out William Shatner again to read some of Levi's writings. Only this time, Shatner used only verified quotes that Levi made to the media in various interviews. It's still hilarious. Take a look: Posted on November 6, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Vampire Diaries Gets Full Season
The CW's freshman drama The Vampire Diaries has earned a full season pickup. While "Melrose" has been a letdown, "Vampire" has turned into a bona fide hit for the netlet. Both shows, which launched before the season started, also manage to do quite well with DVR playback.Vampire Diaries, which is based on the bestselling book series of the same name by L.J. Smith, stars Nina Dobrev, Steven R. McQueen, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley, Sara Canning, Katerina Graham, Candice Accola, Zach Roerig, Kayla Ewell and Michael Trevino. Posted on October 21, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Joss Whedon to Direct Episode of Glee Joss Whedon will be directing an upcoming episode of Glee. We just couldn't be more excited. We loved the Buffy musical episode, "Once More With Feeling" and "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog." So how did this happen? Michael Ausiello explains:
Turns out, the genius who gave us not only the "Once More, With Feeling" musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a big fan of Ryan Murphy’s new phenom. So when Twentieth (the studio behind Glee) approached him about the gig, pretty much his only reservation was scheduling.We just cannot wait for this. Now, let's talk guest stars. We're thinking Sarah Michelle Gellar needs to get a babysitter and get to the Glee set. Or James Marsters -- he has his own rock band. Or Neil Patrick Harris? Better yet, how about all three of them? Posted on October 19, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Putting a Stop to Loud TV Commercials Super loud commercials may soon be a thing of the past. So why are they so loud? So that you will still hear them if you leave the room. How will they be stopped? Two ways, The FCC already mandates that commercials can't be louder than the loudest part of the program they interrupt. If you're watching an action movie, that's no help at all. But this approach has serious limitations. An action show that climaxes in a burst of gunfire is one thing; a commercial that's as loud as a gun going off from start to finish is another -- especially if the lead-in to the commercial is relatively quiet. And in addition to making their commercials as loud as the FCC lets them, marketers also use various technological tricks to make them sound even louder than they are, like packing more sound energy into midrange frequencies, the ones that the human ear is most sensitive to.We say: we don't care how you stop them, just stop them. We hate loud commercials and always mute them. We wouldn't mute them if they weren't so loud and annoying, so really it's in the advertisers' best interested to tone it down. Posted on October 16, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Fox Reality Channel to be Shuttered News Corp has decided to shut down the Fox Reality Channel. The channel will go dark in March, 2010. There is no word yet what will replace the channel, but News Corp denied that it was being replaced by a comedy channel. Variety reports:
News Corp. is mum on what will replace the channel, now available in almost 50 million households, after that. According to the Wrap, which first wrote about the shutdown, a complete channel rebranding is in the works and may include a new partner outside of the Fox Cable Networks group.Fox Reality Channel aired such original shows as American Idol Extra, Gimmie My Reality Show! and Reality Remix, along with repeats of popular reality shows. Posted on October 14, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | FlashForward Gets Picked Up ![]() The ABC drama FlashForward has received a back nine pickup, which is great news. The order has been extended from 22 to 25 episodes. Move is not unexpected as drama from ABC Studios has been a solid ratings earner at 8 p.m. Thursday, challenging CBS reality stalwart "Survivor" in the timeslot. "FlashForward" is one of the top new dramas of the season in adults 18-34.Joseph Fiennes and John Cho are both doing fabulous jobs with their characters on the show, and we can't wait until Dominic Monaghan (Charlie from Lost) joins the cast. Posted on October 12, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | NBC's Chuck May Make Early Return ![]() Michael Ausiello reports that Chuck may make an early return to NBC. The hit show may return as early as late October. “How much sooner” you ask?Michael Ausiello says an early return makes it more likely that Chuck will get additional episodes beyond the 13 NBC initially commissioned. We love Chuck so the show returning early with a good chance of more episodes sounds good to us. We just hope they don't put it up against one of our other favorite shows as the networks so often like to do. Posted on October 10, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Cougar Town Gets Early Pick Up, Southland Gets Surprise Cancellation ABC has given an early pickup to Courtney Cox's Cougar Town, Modern Family and The Middle. The series all got picked up for nine more episodes. Courteney Cox's "Cougar Town," which like "Modern Family" has aired three times, came out strong too. More than 11.2 million viewers tuned in to the Sept. 23 premiere, which earned a 4.4 rating/11 share in 18-49. Through three airings, ABC Studios' "Cougar" is averaging a 3.8/10 in the demo and solid 9.5 million viewers overall.In other tv news, Ben McKenzie's supposedly renewed cop show Southland just got axed by NBC. The cast and crew has already filmed six episodes of the second season, so the news is coming a quite a shock. Rumors say that NBC execs were shocked at how dark the six episodes are, but we're not buying it. Southland executive producer John Wells issued a statement saying: "I am disappointed that NBC no longer has the time periods available to support the kind of critically acclaimed series that was for so many years the hallmark of their success." He said he is going to shop the show to another network. It's a good show and hopefully another network will pick it up. Posted on October 8, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | 24 Director John Cassar to Direct Feature Film John Cassar, co-executive producer and director for 24, is inking a deal for his first feature film. The film is called Motorcade and is being produced by DreamWorks. Ryan Reynolds is rumored to star in the secret service thriller. The studio hopes to get the picture into production by late summer or early fall 2010, and DreamWorks is eyeing Ryan Reynolds to play the disgraced Secret Service agent who happens to be in the wrong place at the right time when the U.S. president is kidnapped in New York.The script is being revised by Billy Ray. Ryan Reynolds' career is super hot right now; we think an action thriller would be perfect for him. Although we loved him in The Proposal. He is so great at comedy. Posted on October 6, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Bones Set Shut Down Due to Swine Flu Michael Ausiello reports that the swine flu has shut down the production of the tv show Bones starring David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel. Bones has abruptly shut down production due to a possible outbreak of swine flu, the show"s creator, Hart Hanson, announced via Twitter. "First time in Bones history we are shut down from production," Hanson tweeted. "Damn swine flu! That's gonna cut into Christmas hiatus."We wish everyone good health on the set -- whatever is going on there. Posted on October 5, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Vampires Diaries is a Hit for the CW ![]() The CW has a hit on its hands. Last night's debut of The Vampire Diaries was the highest rated debut in the channel's history. Based on a series of books by author L. J. Smith (the first title was published in 1991, long before Twilight) the show revolves around a high school girl who is being courted by two ancient and very different vampire brothers. "The Vampire Diaries" -- the CW's last best hope for a new fall show to deliver a breakout number -- delivered. "Diaries" (4.8 million viewers, 2.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating, 3.0 women 18-34) is the CW's most-watched series premiere ever.We watched the premiere and were pleasantly surprised. The "evil" brother is played by Ian Somerhalder from Lost and easily steals every scene he's in. We'll tune in for episode two, for sure. Posted on September 11, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Maura Tierney Withdraws From Parenthood Role for Cancer Treatment Maura Tierney has had to pull out permanently from the much buzzed new series dramedy, Parenthood. Maura is battling breast cancer and is not able to return to the series, as was the original plan. NBC had already pushed back the series from a planned fall debut to midseason to give the star time to undergo treatments. On Thursday, the Peacock said that while Tierney is expected to recover, her treatment plan was conflicting with the production sked for the Universal Media Studios dramedy.What terrible news for her: she had originally planned to continue filming, but clearly the treatment regimen is more strenuous than was originally thought. We wish Maura a full and speedy recovery. Posted on September 10, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Janet Jackson to Open VMAs With Tribute to Michael TMZ reports that Janet Jackson is working hard on a special tribute to her brother Michael to be performed at the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday. Ms. Jackson is set to put on a huge MJ-honoring performance featuring 20 backup dancers -- which is being put together by some of the best choreographers in the world, including Frank Gatson and Travis Payne.The Video Music Awards will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and Janet is expected to open the show with her tribute. Posted on September 8, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | TNT Wants More Leverage ![]() Variety reports that TNT is renewing Leverage for a third season, which will have 15 episodes. The series has gained viewers in its second season. The drama from Dean Devlin's Electric Entertainment averaged 3.9 million viewers in its first season and 4.1 million in season two (both figures include live-plus-seven DVR usage).Leverage is a great series that manages to deliver both humor and thrills. It also has great cast led by the brilliant Timothy Hutton. TNT offers full episodes online. Posted on August 27, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Paula Abdul to Host VH1's Divas ![]() Paula Abdul tweeted that she will be hosting this year's VH1 Divas on September 17th. Hi guys! im really excited 2 announce ill b hosting this year's "Vh1 Divas"! The show will be live on Sept 17th @ 9 pm ESTIt sounds like a great lineup. Posted on August 25, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | Project Runway Premiere Breaks Records at Lifetime The premiere of season six of Project Runway premiered on Lifetime last Thursday and it was a ratings hit. The show was the highest-rated series premiere in the history of the Lifetime channel. Variety reports: Runway drew 4.2 million viewers -- the largest crowd for any reality competition series preem on cable this year -- and a 3.2 rating among women 18-49, the demo the network covets. That number was 32% higher than the show's fifth-season premiere on Bravo.We watched the premiere and it was fabulous. We think Lifetime is doing a much better job of promoting the show than Bravo ever did. The graphics are better and you can actually watch episodes online at Lifetime's website: Bravo never has anything for viewing later on. If you miss it, you miss it. Posted on August 24, 2009 Permalink | Subscribe | | | Comments (View) | |
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