Archive for August, 2008
Leaving G4’s signature daily series Attack of the Show, executive producer Gavin Purcell will be going to network television as he joins the crew of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as co-producer.
Fallon says Purcell was hired because of the pop culture sensibility of Attack of the Show, which he also wants in his own late night program.
I like Attack of the Show and have ambivalent feelings regarding Fallon on late night. He never seemed particularly impressive on Saturday Night Live, but perhaps he didn’t get a chance to shine that he otherwise would with a solo gig (similar to certain other SNL alumni like Chris Rock). Hopefully, adding Purcell to his team will give his late night show a unique flavor that will distinguish it from others or his predecessor.
Some of our TV Squad team have appeared on Attack of the Show during Purcell’s tenure. I wonder if now they’ll be asking us to appear on Jimmy Fallon’s show? It would be nice. I’m ready for ya, Jimmy.
With that pesky business of putting the kibosh on season six of Atlantis out of the way, Sci Fi is now ready to announce that they are giving the Stargate Universe project a green light. The show will kick off with a two hour movie early next year and transition to a regular series for the summer. Creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper will be the executive producers.
Universe will follow a new cast of characters on the adventure that comes after they explore a ship launched by the Ancients, Destiny. The reconnaissance mission takes a dramatic turn when they discover that the ship can never return to Earth. They are along for the ride as the ship carries on with it’s pre-programmed navigational schedule. The adventure comes during periodic stops at stargates. The danger is that if anyone is left behind, there is no way to go back for them.
There are no names attached for the cast as of yet, but most of us probably won’t recognize many of them when the roles are filled. The word is that the network is looking for a recognizable actor for one lead role, and fresh faces for the rest of the crew. That’s obviously a budget thing, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a mark against the show. While not ideal, a good cast can be built that way.
Personally, I already know I’m going to watch it no matter what. I’d have to hear some really crazy stuff to get me to not give another version of Stargate a chance. That’s not to say I’m completely sold on the idea either. The references from Sci Fi president Dave Howe about targeting a younger audience, and the show having a younger vibe, give me pause.
Does Stargate really need to get younger? The core of the Stargate fan base has now been watching for over a decade. Given that most of them probably didn’t start watching at eight, I’m not sure I understand the obsession with getting younger. It’s possible I’m just too old and square to get it.
More concerns come in the form of this quote from Wright and Cooper: “In Universe, we plan to keep those elements that have made the franchise a success, such as adventure and humor, while breaking new ground in the relationships between mostly young and desperate explorers, thrust together and far from home.” Yeeeee. I just don’t know. Something about “relationships between mostly young and desperate explorers” throws up a red flag. I like a good Degrassi marathon as much as anyone, but I’m just not sure I that I want to get my space adventure chocolate bar stuck in that particular brand of peanut butter.
On the plus side, I’m already curious to get a look at Destiny. The ship opens the door for exploring more Ancient tech, and the pre-programmed itinerary, while forcing deadlines on adventure, also should offer up new and interesting aliens. And, if I can just throw it out there, it’s the perfect opportunity for Larrin to make a return to the franchise. Let’s get Jill Wagner out of Wipeout and back on a proper series, even if it is just a short stint.
I’m curious to see what everyone else thinks. Does the idea of a younger, relationship focused, Stargate get the wheels turning? Or do you have visions of Gossip Girl in space, complete with your own mental caption, WTF? I do still want more Atlantis, but I’ll certainly give this one a fair shot.
Check out the leaked trailer for the upcoming Dreamworks Animation film while you still can!
The film features the voices of Seth Rogen, Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd, Rainn Wilson, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert. The film comes out on March 27th, 2009.
We’re used to reading all of the lists that rank the best and worst TV shows of all-time, now ABC is getting even more specific than that. What are the top moments in television history?
You can vote for them at the ABC site and your answers will be revealed on the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be broadcast on Sunday, September 21. There are two categories, comedy and drama (sorry fans of game shows and reality shows). No, you can’t write in your own vote, you have to pick from the finalists that they’ve already chosen for you, so right off the bat you know there’s going to be a lot of “but what about…” and “why did they include…” talk.
I will say this, the lists certainly are varied. In the Drama category we have scenes from Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Dallas, ER, The Fugitive, The X-Files, and Miami Vice, but also TV movies such as Duel and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. In Comedy, we have nominees from shows like M*A*S*H, All in the Family, Newhart (you can guess which scene it is), The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, and South Park.
Oh wait, there is a nominee for a reality show. American Idol’s first season finale is nominated in the Comedy category. I’m not sure why this is here, unless ABC really has a bizarre, snarky sense of humor. I’m sure a lot of Idol-haters will get a kick out of that.
It’s great that recent shows we love, whether it’s Mad Men or Seinfeld or The Sopranos, get released on DVD so we can watch every episode again any time that we want. But the true greatness of the DVD technology is that we get to see shows that we’ve never seen before, because we were too young to watch them when they first aired and they’re not rerun in syndication like I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners.
The latest show to be released - and getting the Complete Series treatment! - is M Squad, a black and white detective series from the late 50s that starred Lee Marvin as a Chicago undercover cop. The set will include 15 discs, 14 that will house the episodes of the show and another disc that will feature the show’s music. What’s most interesting about this release is that at first it was supposed to be only a Very Best Of set, because the studio didn’t have all of the episodes. They sent out a plea to fans and collectors to see if they had a copy of any missing episodes on videotape, and the fans came through. So now it’s a Complete Series set and not just a Very Best Of.
The set will be released on September 23.
NBC has the Olympics all night.
- At 8, CBS has a new Great American Dog.
- ESPN has more Little League World Series coverage at 8.
- At 9, Bravo has a new Project Runway, followed by a new Shear Genius.
- Sci-Fi has a new Ghost Hunters International at 9, then two new episodes of Scare Tactics.
- Sundance has the series premiere of Architecture School at 9, followed by the series premiere of On The Road In America.
- At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, then two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak.
- At 10, Food Network has the season premiere of Dinner: Impossible, with new host Michael Symon.
It’s Wednesday in the Big Brother 10 house. Recently that would mean the houseguests gather in the living room at some point for their appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Last week April wore an Afro wig. She’s been planning all kinds of things for this week’s appearance. I noticed that Ferguson is in reruns this week. Too bad, so sad for April, huh?
For spoilers from the 24/7 live feeds, read on past the jump!
Uh-oh. You came to the other side of the jump and I really don’t have a heck of a lot of spoilers for you. But, since you made that leap of faith to join me here, I’ll give you a run down on what’s been happening in the house.
- April cried.
- April and Ollie had sex again.
- Others mocked Jerry behind his back.
- Jerry stood and stared at the washing machine through an entire load of wash.
- Everyone else mocked him from the kitchen.
So there you go. Short and sweet and it’s a wrap! What? You want more? Well, let’s see … no one has killed anyone yet although everyone except Ollie and April played a game of Murder in the kitchen last night. Ollie and April were too busy in the hot tub planning their future together. Ollie has also been trying to convince Renny who grows more suspicious of Memphis by the day. She really thinks that Memphis and Michelle have a strong alliance and plan to go to the end of the game together.
While Renny worries about Memphis, Memphis keeps thinking that Jerry has been saying things behind his back. With all that everyone in the house say about Jerry, I don’t really know why anyone would be all that concerned with what Jerry might say about them. If I were in the house, I’d tell Memphis that Jerry said he’s a womanizer and a gigolo. Yep, we haven’t had enough screaming hissy fits lately!
In house crumbs:
- The Diary Room called the hamsters in one-by-one today. I’d guess that would be the goodbye messages for Jerry and April.
- Michelle has been trying to get that one more vote to keep April. Dan was sure he told Keesha about that one!
- Renny got the HOH digital camera and wrote her HOH blog entry for the CBS website.
- Renny did her impersonation of Jerry much to the delight of Michelle, Ollie, and Dan.
Although Michelle is working on getting that one more vote, it doesn’t look like she’ll have any success. It’s still looking like April will be voted out either 4-1 or 3-2. Ollie seems to be spending a lot more time interacting with the others today as April naps. All of the others have wondered what Ollie’s game will be like once April is gone. So do I.
British hottie, Kate Beckinsale, looked red hot in her bright orange bikini while vacationing with her family in Cabo San Luca, Mexico. Kate, husband Len Wiseman, and daughter Lily, 9, splashed seaside and soaked up the sun.
Kate has a new film coming out - Whiteout - and she reportedly had the director hire a $2000-a-day nude model because she was insecure about baring hre body for a shower scene. Ha, she’s crazy - she looks fabulous!
Haven’t we been down this road before? Reportedly Kate Hudson - now that she and Lance Armstrong called it quits - is wanting her ex-flame Owen Wilson, twice (?), back for another round of romance. Hudson is like some sort of serial dater. Her son Ryder must get a tad confused!
According to a source, Kate has been speed-dialing Owen and he’s apparently taking her calls. Sucker.
The insider says, “He was frosty at first. He felt betrayed when she dumped him for his friend Lance. But after awhile, he caved in and has been sweet to her.
Friends of Owen’s are obviously concerned - he tried to commit suicide in ‘07 after breaking it off from Kate the first time. What does she have some sort of spell over him?
Another pal says, “It’s not fair to Owen, because he really cares for her and ends up getting hurt.”
Uh ya, not to mention that her 4-year-old son must wonder why his mom is with all these men. And wasn’t she spotted kissing her ex-husband recently?
Good luck Owen!
No, I’m not talking about who will come out ahead in the divorce that New Kid on the Block Donnie Wahlberg and his wife just announced yesterday. I’m talking about who won the race to file their divorce papers first. According to TMZ Wahlberg’s wife of nine years, Kim Fey, filed her papers in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, August 13 at 1:29 PT and Wahlberg filed his own divorce papers in Ventura County Superior Court on the very same day - at 3:46 PT.
Kim wins by 2 hours, 17 minutes. If Divorce Paper Filing were an Olympic event, she would have won the gold!
Court papers show that Fey is asking for sole physical and legal custody of their two sons – Xavier, 15 and Elijah, 7 – with visitation rights for NKOTB (for those of you without extensive knowledge of boy bands, that’s short for New Kid On The Block) Wahlberg.
Let’s see who’s got The Right Stuff! (Yes, that’s a NKOTB song.)
