Entries Tagged 'ABC' ↓

ABC has also announced its prime-time schedule for the fall. Not much in the way of new content: Scrubs moves over from NBC for its final 18-episode season; Mike Judge gives us yet another dysfunctional animated comedy in The Goode Family; British scifi import Life on Mars will keep Lost’s schedule spot warm until January; and Ashton Kutcher cranks out two new reality series — one revolves around a beauty pageant competition, partnering with Tyra Banks, and the other is an in-your-face “Publishers Clearing House” vehicle in which a mobile production team drives to unsuspecting families’ homes to test their on-the-spot knowledge of each other for cash and prizes. Other than that, it’s pretty much business as usual. Casualties of last season include: Men in Trees, Miss Guided, October Road, Women’s Murder Club, Big Shots, Cavemen (did anyone ever watch that show?), and Cashmere Mafia.

For full details visit ( Variety )

Sure, the news hit two weeks ago, but I’ve never been the first one on my e-block to know anything: Lost fans can look forward to an extra hour of season finale this year! Instead of the 13 episodes of a strike-shortened fourth season, E! reports (and the most recent official audio podcast confirms) that we can look forward to a 14th hour, adding up to what will now be a three-hour finale beginning with part one on May 15 and finishing up on May 29 with parts two and three. Despite the two week gap (to make room for Grey’s Anatomy’s own two-hour finale), getting more Lost is a very good thing. And heck, it gives us obsessives a little more time to speculate about why this year’s jaw-dropping reveal is code-named “Frozen Donkey Wheel” (which, frankly, sounds delicious).

While interviewing Rodrigo Santoro about his role in David Mamet’s new film Redbelt, I asked if there was any chance Paulo may reappear on Lost before the series concludes. “As far as I know he’s still… in the ground. I don’t know. Maybe, if they can come up with some crazy scenario to bring him back. I’d love to go back to Hawaii.”

For more with Rodrigo, check out Cinema Verdict on May 9 (we have been asked to hold our coverage until the film is released).

Not quite a year ago, bleary-eyed teens, twenty-somethings, and (ahem) slightly older gentlemen woke up to a world without plucky young P.I. Veronica Mars. After three great seasons, May 7, 2007 marked the untimely end for writer/creator Rob Thomas* and one of the cleverest shows no one watched.

Fast forward to today, and it’s suddenly sunny days for fans of smartly written TV. With ABC’s recent announcement that they’re picking up a Thomas pilot based on the New Zealand show Outrageous Fortune (about a family of criminals trying to go straight), that makes the beleaguered writer three-for-three this pilot season.

Oddly enough, the first two greenlit projects also fall under the “remake” umbrella, though considering his other ABC order is for a remake of his short-lived 1998 series Cupid, it begs the question: if you created a show in the ’90s, and remake it 10 years later, will it still star Jeremy Piven? The answer, it seems, is no.

Of course, the Thomas pilot we should all be most excited about is his spin-off of the ’90s 30-year-old-high-school-kids mega soap Beverly Hills 90210. That’s right…. a spin-off of 90210. It sounds so awful, Rob Thomas is the only person I’d trust to make it awesome. Either way, it’s coming to the CW, so we can all look forward to the inevitable Rob Thomas/Aerie Girls reunion special.

Whenever someone this talented’s luck suddenly turns from bad to rad, it’s tough to tell whether the glass is half full, or half full of poisoned lemonade. Most of me believes that with three chances to do so, Rob Thomas will finally rise to the Apatow-level of success he deserves. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that all it really means is that a year-and-a-half from now I’ll have three more complete season box sets in my Amazon cart that I’ll be too depressed to buy.

What would Veronica do?

* Not to be confused with the lead singer of “rock” band Matchbox 20 (my musical arch-nemesis… don’t ask).

With Lost lost for the time being, I’ve just realized that’s the last episode of a habit show until sometime in April. I’ll be watching a little TV–the NCAA tourney, Weather Channel forecasts, and way too many reruns of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Samantha Brown’s Passport To …, but should my local teams (Pitt and West Virginia) drop out, there’s nothing I’m looking forward to on the tube for a while. This is healthy, isn’t it?

One of the biggest casualties in my book of the writers’ strike was the delay on the production of LOST. March 20th marked the last new episode we will get until April 24th, when this new truncated Season Four comes back with new episodes. The producers wanted to do a season of 16 episodes back to back without interruption, but the strike forced them to take a break and only deliver 13. And damn it if that last episode didn’t leave me wanting more.

This year as in past seasons has been unlike anything that came before. Season Four has utilized flash forwards to further confuse the story, presented us with all new characters on a rescue(?) boat, and revealed that only a mysterious six passengers from Flight 815 get off the island of mystery. It remains one of the best overworked pieces of television - completely maddening with its intricate mysteries within mysteries, and still very addictive and well done. The shocks were fast and furious, and I’d be curious to hear what fans found the most surprising.

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A few years ago I succeeded in getting nearly everyone in my life addicted to Grey’s Anatomy. Both of my parents, my husband, and even my older brother. Then something happened - I stopped enjoying the show. This was compounded when Kate Walsh left for her spinoff, Private Practice, a show I tried watching but never quite took a liking to despite co-stars Amy Brenneman and Taye Diggs. I keep watching Grey’s Anatomy (which should be returning to the air shortly), because sometimes when you have invested years into a show and its characters, you just can’t give up so easy. Then again, I generally end each episode by turning to Adam and saying, “Man, I hate this show.”

That said, there comes news today that Kate Walsh will be reprising her role as Dr. Addison Montgomery for one episode. I don’t know if one episode will make me a Grey’s Anatomy addict again, but I definitely look forward to having Addison back at Seattle Grace, even if it’s only for one hour.

(people online)

I am going to come out and say it: last night’s episode of Lost on ABC was quite possibly the best episode this season, and maybe even of all time. For once, we actually got more answers than new questions—not to say we didn’t get plenty of both. But for us hangers-on who obsessively troll internet forums and delve into the murky depths of canonical tidbits looking for clues, “The Constant” was like a bottle of Gatorade to parched desert island castaways.

Spoilers below for those looking for a discussion.

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Thank you for the strike! Without it, this little show likely would never have seen the light of day. Sure, it’s a bit on the saccharine side, but well constructed scripts, combined with an ensemble cast that fires on all cylinders turns it into the perfect after-dinner drink for Lost. One thing actors look for in their peers is authenticity, and Jonny Lee Miller has it in spades. He was born to play this character. And anyone who can hold their own opposite Victor Garber and Loretta Devine is a-ok in my book. I can do with a little less of Julie Gonzalo’s Maggie Dekker character, but that’s about my only complaint. There’s no guarantee ABC will pickup the show for next season, so if you’ve been turning off your TV after the “Bad Robot” tag, leave it on for an extra hour next week. You might be glad you did.

As Sheila Broflovski cries, word comes that Bill Lawrence’s comedic football Scrubs may not be heading to the great television retirement home in the sky after all. The series was expected to receive a loving send-off from NBC as the strike-shortened season comes to a close. However, rumors are swirling in Burbank that ABC is about to steal the show for a new 18-episode commitment. NBC lawyers are gnashing their teeth over potential legal improprieties, so this is far from a done deal. Stay tuned.