Posted Oct 6th 2008 1:05PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Entourage, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Just five episodes into Entourage's long-awaited fifth season, and HBO has already pulled the trigger on a sixth. This morning the pay cable network announced that a sixth season of the popular comedy is in the works with a summer 2009 premiere planned.
So far, season five has seen Vince and the gang head into a downward spiral as he tries to rejuvenate his career in the wake of his last poorly received film, Medellin.
Even though I've seen plenty of positive reviews of the new season (I even gave it one), I still have a bit of an issue with HBO renewing the show. It's not that I disagree with a renewal, but I'm not so sure the timing is right.
Continue reading HBO renews Entourage for sixth season
Posted Oct 6th 2008 10:25AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
It looks like more period dramas (such as
The Tudors) are headed to pay cable. And this time, "Booth" will not refer to a character on the TV show
Bones.
Kevin Bacon will be executive-producing The Booths, a period drama about the Booth brothers, the most infamous of which, John Wilkes Booth, went on to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.
It sounds like an interesting project. I do like historical dramas, but I'm always disappointed at their tendency to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of drama. Of course, when it's good drama, nobody seems to notice.
The nicest thing about being Kevin Bacon, other than being a famous actor, must be that it takes the fewest amount of steps to be in a Kevin Bacon movie for that
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game (the total number of steps would be, I believe, zero). One can say with surefire honesty that Kevin Bacon has been in all of Kevin Bacon's movies.
Posted Oct 5th 2008 1:07PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
AMC has done pretty well for itself of late with the critically acclaimed series
Broken Trail, Mad Men and
Breaking Bad. I'm also hopefully optimistic that they will do a good job with their mini-series remake of
The Prisoner. Because of this established pedigree, I am incredibly excited to hear that
AMC is developing a series based on Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars novel. With Terry Goodkind's
The Sword of Truth series already coming to television, it looks like someone in TV land has been raiding my library. Oh there are so many more good sci-fi and fantasy series to develop. Feel free to stop by any time!
The article indicates the series is based on Robinson's 1992 novel of the same name, but I hope they take it a step further and look to his expanded
Mars trilogy. That way they can have several seasons of stories to tell. I guess, though, with the bigger story covering a couple of centuries there could be some casting problems. Hell, overhaul the entire cast every few seasons.
ER does it and it's been on the air for almost fifteen years.
Continue reading AMC develping Robinson's Red Mars for series
Posted Oct 2nd 2008 11:29AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free, Fringe
You ever get excited about a new show, and you watch the first couple of episodes, and while you like the show it doesn't completely grab you, and you end up dropping it and watching something else? That's how I feel with
Fringe. It's a good show, but it's just not "must-see" for me, and I'd rather watch
The Mentalist over on CBS.
But that doesn't mean it's not popular. In fact, so far it's the #1 new show of the season (in the 18 to 49 demo that advertisers love, as we've pointed out here many times), and FOX is so happy that
they've given the J.J. Abrams sci-fi drama a full season.
The show is actually getting better ratings since the debut, which is something you don't often see. If there's one thing that the networks really love is seeing a show actually increase in viewers over the weeks, even if the first episode ratings didn't blow everyone away.
Posted Oct 1st 2008 7:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
You have to admire Norman Lear. In his heyday of the 70's, he produced a lot of counterculture television that allowed the medium to mature. And now, his production company is
producing a show about pro-wrestling in the 1970's on a network known for mature content.
I have to say that this is as how that I would watch. Wrestling was very different in the 1970's than from today, made up of regional promotions rather than the single national promotion you see today (thanks to Vince McMahon for ending that). This show is a character-driven drama about a pro-wrestling family running a promotion in New York City. I wonder if they'll get any classic wrestlers making an appearance?
Having worked behind-the-scenes in a pro-wrestling promotion once upon a time, I think this premise has a lot of potential. It certainly has the correct name behind it who understands the culture of the time. With that and the fact that HBO is its home, I think we may have a winner on our hands.
Posted Sep 30th 2008 5:04PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, The Closer, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
After the success of
The Closer, you can't blame TNT for going with a proven formula.
The cable network is close to
greenlighting two police drama pilots, a project from Jerry Bruckheimer about young undercover officers and
Bunker Hill starring Donnie Wahlberg (which actually already received an a pilot order).
TNT's certainly been a busy little bee, stacking up
new series left and right. Besides these two pilots, they've got
Time Heals, starring Jada Pinkett Smith as a hospital nursing director;
Night and Day, with William Fichtner playing an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and
Men of a Certain Age, a dramedy featuring Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher.
Continue reading TNT making more cop dramas
Posted Sep 29th 2008 3:02PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
If you didn't watch
Swingtown this summer, you're not alone.
The CBS drama posted low ratings over the summer, despite buzz over its salacious topic. Still, the show gained some fans (including me), who have been waiting on word of its renewal or cancellation.
Now comes news that Bravo will air reruns of the show this fall.
The Hollywood Reporter says the deal "essentially closes the door" on the show, with CBS unlikely to produce new episodes and Bravo uninterested in doing so.
Continue reading Is there hope for Swingtown?
Posted Sep 19th 2008 9:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings, Reality-Free
In a time when networks are so quick to pull the plug on new series, it is absolutely stunning that two of this season's newest cable series have already been picked up for a second season. What's even more surprising is that
one renewed show is Stephen Bochco's terrible Raising the Bar. After setting a record for a series debut on basic cable with 7.7 million viewers, 2.2 million people asked themselves what the hell they were watching, and the series settled into an average of 5.5 mil. But it's only been three weeks?
Surely, more of its viewers will realize that the show is absolutely terrible? From Gosselaar's bleeding heart crying to the bitching between his friends and Jane Kaczmarek's crazy judge, there's more leaps in logic and good sense than in
Prison Break. The show makes
Boston Legal look like a courtroom documentary. TNT also picked up Holly Hunter's
Saving Grace after a respectable summer run.
Continue reading Cable detectives, lawyers and vampires quickly renewed
Posted Sep 18th 2008 10:05AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Animation, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I guess they think he's FOX-worthy. Now to go along with his hit game show
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?,
FOX has greenlit an animated series about a NASCAR family by and featuring the voice talent of Jeff Foxworthy. In fact, the same article goes on to report that they're developing a daily syndicated version of
Fifth Grader also to be hosted by the redneck king. I could never really get into the show because too often the answer to the titular question is "No" and at this point it's just getting sad how stupid we're collectively getting.
As for the animated series, with the show set in the world of NASCAR, I worry that the premise is too narrow. But if anybody can turn a show about the redneck's sport of choice into a bona fide hit it would be the guy who helped turn the Blue Collar Comedy Tour into a national phenomenon. This guy gets the working class and they love him right back. I suspect he'll be gently poking fun at them much like his "You might be a redneck" jokes. If he goes too gentle, he can just call it
King of the Track and be done with it.
Posted Sep 15th 2008 2:54PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Sports, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
One of the long-time staples on cable has been
The Soup (formerly
Talk Soup) on E!. What started as a spoof of the various bizarre and goofy talk shows that permeated the airwaves throughout the '90s was reborn as a show that makes fun of all things television and pop culture now. Now the brand is seeking to expand to provide the same brand of satire and commentary to the sports world. Sister network
Versus will air Sports Soup twice a week beginning October 14th, 2008. Of course, as with Joel McHale on
The Soup the success of its new sister show will rest solely on the shoulders of its host, Matt Iseman.
In looking at
Iseman's Wiki entry, it looks like this show was originally branded
After Further Review. I guess they thought associating it with an already successful show with a similar format would improve its ratings. The network is still trying to establish itself as a viable sports brand in the ESPN world. Adding a show like this might be just the thing they need to drum up some buzz.
Continue reading The Soup spills on the sporting world
Posted Sep 15th 2008 12:03PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
It was reported way back in 2006 that
Spaceballs was being made into an animated series. Well, the wait is over.
The promo is available online (It's definitely NSFW. It's also in Quicktime format and not embedded in a Flash application like you usually see nowadays). Further details of the show can be found on the
official G4 site (Please note the series has already been shown on
Canada's Super Channel).
I have a sick mind that laughs at things aimed at the lowest common denominator, so I found the promo to be funny. The animated Princess Vespa is certainly more, uh, accented than Daphne Zuniga was in the original movie (talk about
Major Boobage).
I'm ecstatic that Mel Brooks himself is providing the voices of his characters from the movie in the animated version. This has been in development for a long time. I'm a tremendous fan of the original movie (and of Brooks' work in general) so I can only hope and pray that this doesn't suck on the level of the animated
Clone Wars.
Posted Sep 12th 2008 10:03AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I posted last week about
the new series Crash, premiering on Starz on Oct. 17. It's been a long time coming. I started hearing buzz about a TV series shortly after the film debuted in May, 2005, and the cast looks good (though I know some of you disagree with me).
The lineup of the ensemble drama includes
Dennis Hopper,
D.B. Sweeney,
Ross McCall,
Clare Carey, and
Luis Chavez, among others. I also appreciate the fact that
Paul Haggis and
Don Cheadle, who worked on the film, are producing the TV series. So whatever else happens, I have to think they'll keep the integrity of the film intact.
The
Crash press kit is now online, and it's interesting to watch the trailer and hark back to the movie. Some of it looks the same -- like the shot of a cop feeling up a woman -- and the racial tension is definitely in place.
Continue reading I like Dennis Hopper's character in Crash - VIDEO
Posted Sep 11th 2008 8:38PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, Celebrities, Project Runway, Pickups and Renewals
You know the old saying, "looking good is the best revenge?" Well, looking good on television is even better. To that end,
Nina Garcia, the acid-tongued Colombian judge on
Project Runway, is appearing on a new reality show.
Garcia will be starring on Style Network's new series, Running in Heels.
Heels follows the staff at women's magazine
Marie Claire, which Garcia joined a short while ago after leaving her long-time position at
Elle magazine.
Garcia's split from
Elle was allegedly not on the best terms, so it's probably extra sweet for her that
Running in Heels is a direct competitor to CW's
Stylista; a reality competition show taking place at, you guessed it --
Elle magazine.
Continue reading Nina Garcia is Running in Heels
Posted Sep 11th 2008 3:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Where are the family comedies these days? They're a rare commodity on the big three plus Fox, and even if you include the animated clans on
The Family Guy and
The Simpsons and
American Dad, you can count the family-type comedy shows on one hand.
However, TBS has a throwback family comedy, one in
The Cosby Show mode, and they're sticking with it.
TBS's The Bill Engvall Show has just been given a third season renewal. The sitcom will be back in the summer 2009 with ten new episodes.
I've watched
The Bill Engvall Show and enjoyed it. It's meant to evoke
Cosby, but I also found a lot of
Everybody Loves Raymond and
Home Improvement in it as well, and that's a good thing. Engvall's a funny guy, and he's greatly aided in the show by sitcom vet Nancy Travis as his smart, attractive spouse.
Continue reading TBS loves Engvall
Posted Sep 11th 2008 11:04AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals
I recently started watching
Bravo. I'm not sure why. Something about those reality shows is strangely addictive. Like, no matter how screwed up my own life might be, it's nothing compared to most of the folks on those shows. I'm pretty sure that's why reality shows are so popular. It's because they make us feel so much better about our own pathetic lives.
There's a show on Bravo called
The Real Housewives of Orange County. Remember that movie
Peyton Place? Yeah, it's a lot like that. Only the women are a lot richer, and the problems are a lot more complex than they used to be in 1957. Still fascinating ... in a voyeuristic-stalker kind of way.
Continue reading The real young people of Orange County
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