Entries Tagged 'Announcements' ↓

Happy April, loyal television viewers! This has been a rough few months, with the strike annihilating our viewing schedules and dousing us in mediocre reality-themed programming and re-runs. But fear not! Today is April 1st, and April will be a fantastic, fantastic month, because the vast majority of hiatus shows will be returning to the airwaves! Rejoice!

Just to recap, below is a list of shows returning in April, so get your calendar cleared:

April 2 - Criminal Minds, CSI: NY
April 3 - Without A Trace, My Name Is Earl, CSI
April 4 - Battlestar Galactica, Numbers, Ghost Whisperer
April 8 - NCIS
April 10 - The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs, ER
April 11 - Moonlight
April 14 - Rules of Engagement, One Tree Hill, Bones
April 15 - Law & Order: SVU
April 17 - Smallville
April 20 - Brothers & Sisters
April 21 - Gossip Girl
April 22 - Reaper
April 23 - Law & Order
April 24 - Lost, Ugly Betty, Supernatural, Grey’s Anatomy
April 28 - House
April 29 - Shark

Shows missing in action until next Fall: 24, Private Practice, Heroes, Friday Night Lights (if it doesn’t get canceled)

April is going to be a busy month. My Tivo has been dangerously under-used lately. I hope the poor girl can take the strain.

(via EW)

While so many others bailed on The Simpsons years ago, and the Internet is rife with debates over when people think it stopped being funny, I for one have stayed faithful to Homer and company through the good times and bad. I thought Season 18 represented an upswing in quality, I really enjoyed the movie, and what I’ve seen of Season 19 has been pretty great. Let’s take a look at the episodes that have aired so far in 2008. Continue reading →

As Paul Harvey would say, this one is “partly personal.” For those in the Los Angeles area, comedian Jason Stuart, whose first television special Making it to the Middle premiered last night on here! TV, is headlining a benefit for Life Works Mentoring on Monday, April 14 at The Showcase Theatre (614 N. LaBrea, across from Pinks Hot Dogs), alongside Alec Mapa, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Wendy Leibman, Chad Allen, and Bruce Vilanch. For more information and to order tickets, call 310.724.6300.

Last year ABC’s runaway hit DANCING WITH THE STARS came under some critical fire. People alleged certain contestants had unfair advantages because their “day job” included choreography and learning of dance moves. Whether it was the Cheetah Girl, the Spice Girl, or the “little bit country” girl, there was no denying many of them were trained as part of what they did before to pick up steps quickly and execute them all too well.

Well… this year, although we do have an Olympic medalist ice skater and a Broadway Tony winner who both know choreography, the dancing is not quite as advanced or slick. Poor poor Monica Seles who looks like a jock in a dress, and moves as stiffly as she is fierce on the tennis court. Wow! She’s bad, and looks like she’ll be leaving soon. But guys like Adam Carolla and Penn Jillette aren’t posing much of a threat to her. It’s decidedly the most amateurish group of dancing stars ever.

Personally, as good as Kristi Yamaguchi already is, the one I am cheering for so far is Priscilla Presley, who is the oldest contestant ever. For a grandmother she looks great, and her dancing is awesome. She’s the big surprise! Shannon Elizabeth is surprisingly good too. Steve Guttenberg looks dazed and confused but somehow hopelessly happy. I want some of whatever he is on. And who knew NFL star Jason Taylor would take the lead so easily? Most courageous and inspiring goes to Marlee Matlin, who is at a disadvantage with her deafness. Yet somehow she is always the one on the beat.

I hate to admit I watch this show, but I am sort of hooked. I guess it’s just one of those shows you can’t help but smile through. But this year I doubt we will hear much controversy about professionals in an amateur contest. Apart from Yamaguchi, they all look like they have never stepped on a dance floor before.

My prediction is that Monica Seles and Adam Carolla go home all too soon… I hope Penn sticks around long enough to make me laugh harder.

Trey and Matt craft yet another brilliant homage to ’80s pop culture with this week’s new episode of South Park entitled “Major Boobage” (Ep. 12003). This time, the target is Gerald Potterton’s animated male fantasy Heavy Metal…

Kenny is skipping school and the other boys are sure it’s because he’s hooked on the latest drug craze that’s popular with the junior high and under crowd. Meanwhile, Kyle’s parents become concerned that their son is getting high when they find contraband in his room.

“Major Boobage” premieres Wednesday, March 26 at 10:00p Eastern and Pacific on Comedy Central.

I’m sure more of my Generation X contemporaries are drooling over the prospect of a new Knight Rider series, but I’ve been keeping my eye on the potential return of an earlier action series. Among the people involved in a pilot movie for a new TV version of The Saint to star James Purefoy (Rome), according to Hollywood Reporter, are Barry Levinson (who will direct the pilot), Tom Fontana (Homicide: Life in the Street) and Roger Moore, one of the many actors (including Vincent Price, George Sanders, and Val Kilmer) who has portrayed Leslie Charteris’ infamous Simon Templar over the years. There’s no U.S. network lined up, though.

“One of the things we lost a little bit of in the movie but want to bring to the TV series is that Simon Templar is [a] very funny character with great lines and situation humor, and I don’t think there is anybody better than Levinson to tackle that,” Bill Macdonald, one of the Templar Entertainment Group founders, told Hollywood Reporter.

Read more about it here.

So, I have a confession to make: I am addicted to all of the “Court” shows. I don’t mean Law and Order (though, I am pretty hooked on all flavors of L&O as well), I mean… Judge Mathis, Judge David Young, and The People’s Court. I’ve found myself in a ‘housewife’ like situation over the last year and being home alone can get boring - the TV can provide noise and comfort and before I knew it, I was tuning in to hear Judge Marilyn Milan (The People’s Court) rant at people in both English and Spanish - ON PURPOSE. This is my secret shame, and my husband is not happy about this, not happy at all.

This week, I find myself in the U.S., and while channel surfing for some daytime television to entertain me, I encountered a whole new kind of court show. It is called Jury Duty. The premise of Jury Duty is quite simple. Standard small claims cases, families suing each other over small amounts of money being the gold standard of these shows, decided by a “jury” of “celebrities.” If the “jury” cannot come to a verdict, the “judge” (in this case former Defense Attorney Bruce Cutler) will decide. This episode that I can hardly tear my eyes away from features “celebrities” such as Elayne Boosler, and the guy who played Gunther on Friends.

This is a whole new world of court shows, folks. A brave new world. I’m not sure that we, as a people, are ready for this world.

Woo-hoo! The CW’s freshman freakfest Reaper returns with all new episodes starting Thursday, March 13, following Smallville. With a second season still in doubt, a ratings boost will ensure the show earns its legs and we get more of Sam, Sock, Andi, Ben, and Leland Palmer Ray Wise as The Devil.

From a recent Entertainment Weekly spread comes this awesome Battlestar Galactica photos spread with the cast arranged in the style of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”.

It gets the blood pumping for Season Four, doesn’t it?

Check out the full picture here (link via Boing Boing)

Just watched the season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight. They had one of those cliffhangers …

(There’s a spoiler below, so read on only if you’ve seen it already.)

Continue reading →