Entries Tagged 'news' ↓

Does the prospect of not getting an episode of The Office next week make you less than thankful? Well, NBC hopes to ease that pain starting this week with the debut of a new four-part “webisode” series called “The Outburst”:

When Oscar freaks out during a phone conversation, Andy offers a hundred dollar bounty to whichever co-worker can find out what made the even-tempered accountant lose his cool.

Whether or not the resolution wows you, watching everyone trying to unravel the minor mystery is fun, especially if you’re a fan of The Office’s criminally underused supporting cast. “The Outburst” gives all the drones their turn in the privacy-intruding spotlight. Look for especially great moments from Kevin, Phyllis, and (my personal favorite) Creed—and the return of a departed friend.

“The Outburst” may not be essential Office viewing, but it is an early holiday gift to fans who just can’t get enough of the Dunder Mifflin gang. The first episode goes up today on NBC’s official website.

Joss Whedon’s anticipated and maligned new series Dollhouse is getting a Friday timeslot, paired with The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The premiere is set for February 13, an ominous omen for a show that has already apparently been retooled by the network. From the expanded trailer below, the series has an Alias, La Femme Nikita vibe, but knowing Joss there will be plenty here we’ve never seen before. Unfortunately, with five episodes in the can, the show seems to have run aground again with production problems. Much like the case was with Firefly, the suits seems to have far too much creative involvement, which is giving Joss and his writing team nightmares. One can only hope that if the show catches on, the executives will butt out and let them do their thing.

For more information:

Dollverse (News site)

Whedonesque (Joss’ site)

ABC is prepping for the return of its biggest prime time drama. Set those DVRs for Wednesday, Jan 21 at 9p ET/PT as Lost warps back into our lives with a two-hour premiere, preceded by a one hour Season Four highlights show. Michael’s dead. Jin’s been blown up. Hurley can see Jacob. Locke’s in the coffin. Ben’s moved the island. And future Jack has to find a way to get the Oceanic Six back to the island. It’s 17 straight weeks of mystery, adventure, and head scratching clues to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s time jumping big picture.

In the meantime, check out these site for your pre-premiere fix…

Official Lost Site

The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack

So what do sagging ratings due to hackneyed plot twists, episodes that continually run overbudget and the proclivity to add more cast members, rather than subtract or even maintain the current number? Well if you’re Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb, co-executive producers of Heroes, it gets you your walking papers, as show creator Tim Kring let the two go Sunday night. Kring promises to make things a little more easier in upcoming episodes for the rest of the season, which has seen a more than 20% drop in ratings since an already disappointing second season. Whether this results in a turnaround, or the beginning death march of a floundering show remains to be seen, but as one who’s grown increasingly disenchanted with the episodes, I’m tempted to take Kring at his word and let him get back to basics.

In an email sent earlier today by SAG president Alan Rosenberg and Chief Negotiator Doug Allen, the Screen Actors’ Contract Negotiations committee is calling for a strike referendum to be sent to the membership (144,000+ actors) for a vote. If this recommendation is approved by the National Board during their Oct 18-19 meeting, the membership would have up to 45 days to vote for or against the strike authorization. A positive return of 75% or greater would initiate a work stoppage for feature films, free television, and pay cable television, while commercials, industrials, basic cable, TV animation, and video game contracts would be allowed to continue unimpeded.

Just be aware, there are a number of contentious issues and bad blood on both sides of the table here. Should it go that far, this would not be a pretty situation, and there’s no telling how long a strike might last. I’m all for equality of compensation and defining the boundaries of new media, but the industry may suffer severe damage from a work stoppage similar to or surpassing last Fall’s Writers Guild strike, especially in the face of current economic conditions both Stateside and abroad. The powers that be better think long and hard about putting personal differences aside and coming up with a quick, effective resolution.

The fall season is already off to a quick start, with the CW unleashing Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill, Fox’s 2-hour premiere of Prison Break, and Steven Bochco’s TNT series Raising the Bar, which brings together cast members of Angel, E.R., Malcom in the Middle, and Saved by the Bell. Sorry. Had to do it, even though Mark-Paul Gosselaar did a bang up job on Bochoco/Milch’s NYPD Blue. But seriously dude, what’s with the hair?

Set those Tivos because if the Republican National Convention keeps its finger on the pause button, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to sink your eye teeth into…

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*Questions were selectively answered and cryptic in response, save for a few things.

In between Friday’s “Showrunners” Panel with the producers of Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Saturday’s Lost Q&A, I’ve spent a bit of non-quality time with producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Aside from being a couple of funny guys (Lindelof wore a “Trust Snape” T-shirt to Saturday’s event and cracked wise on several occasions), they certainly know their stuff. Some of what they answered was covered in Michael Stailey’s blog and Twitter entries from last week, but I’ll add onto some others after the jump:

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As is often the case with the behemoth known as Comic Con, things are constantly changing. As a result, I didn’t get to everything I had planned for the day. But, what I did cover was well worth the time investment.

Started the day by interviewing William Katt on the rebirth of the Greatest American Hero franchise, as unveiled at Thursday’s packed panel discussion with special guests Robert Culp and Connie Sellecca. With the blessing of series creator Stephen J. Cannell, Katt’s publishing company, Catastrophic Comics, will bring the series to comic book form by retelling the original pilot (with a few modern updates) and then proceed to fill in the gaps with many more tales of Ralph, Bill, Pam, and the suit. They’ll also be doing flash animation shorts, with Bob, Connie, and William voicing the characters. I’ll have the full interview for you shortly.

From there, it was over to the Marriott for a sit down with three of the original MST3K creators, Joel Hodgson, Jim Mallon, and Trace Beaulieu. Getting there early, I got to hang out while UGO did their on-camera interview, providing a little more insight into the show’s history. Then it was my turn for a less formal discussion, which ranged from the series origins to the nuts and bolts of what it took to create the show week in and week out. This was without a doubt the highlight of the day. At the moment, the interview is half transcribed, so with any luck I’ll have it for you before the end of Saturday.

Back to the convention center for Entertainment Weekly’s Showrunners panel, featuring producers Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Damon Lindelof (Lost), Josh Schwartz (Chuck), and Josh Friedman (Sarah Connor Chronicles). As you might imagine, it ended up being very Lost-centric, but everyone seemed to find the humor in it, and we got some great insights into the other shows as well. The one Lost tidbit I wasn’t aware of is that the demise of Mr Eko was not according to plan. Apparently, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje came down with a severe case of island fever (the stir crazies) and wanted out of his contract, forcing Damon and Carlton to end Eko’s storyline long before they had originally planned. On the Sarah Connor front, Josh explained the casting of Brian Austin Green happened at the very last minute, less than a day before the character was schedule to shoot, and the entire staff thought Josh was insane for hiring him. Luckily for him, the move paid off in spades. And with regards to Pushing Daisies, the new season will pick up 10 months after we last saw our heroes, with all of them still desperately holding onto their respective secrets now tearing them apart. I’ll have the full report for you shortly. In the meantime, check out TV Verdict’s Twitter feed for live highlights of the discussion (typos included).

After taking a break from the festivities to work on transcribing, I sat in on the Robot Chicken panel and man are those guys nuts. Seth Green and Breckin Meyer have the greatest rapport of two friends I have ever seen, and the rest of this cast of characters are a comedy series unto themselves. Highlights from this discussion include teases for what to expect in Season Four — Tentacle porn; A war between the Smurfs and the Snorks; a second Star Wars special with Carrie Fisher; guest appearances by Joss Whedon and Ron Moore; and an unseen behind-the-scenes look at the making of Indiana Jones. You know, they’ve repeatedly asked Harrison Ford to appear on the show, but his agent (who has been repping him since the early ’70s) had no idea what the show was and was floored that there’s an entire network dedicated to cartoons. Again, head over to the Twitter feed for more highlights and stay tuned for a full report. Oh, and just remember, if anyone asks, Breckin wrote the Emperor Palpatine sketch.

Finally, we closed the day with the MST3K 20th Anniversary Celebration, featuring all 11 creative contributors to the series’ 11-year run. The well documented split between the gang still seems somewhat palpable, with Joel, Jim, and Trace seated to one side of the podium, while Mike, Kevin, Frank, Mary Jo, Josh, Bill, Brigid, and Paul were on the other. Not to make more out of this than there is, it’s just interesting to see the interactions between them all. Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the evening opened with a musical montage and clips, followed by a moderated discussion. No questions were taken from the audience though, which was a bit disappointing. Kevin and Frank ended up talking the most, with Mike and Josh saying the least. It may be strong of me to say the evening was a letdown, but given my talk with the guys earlier in the day, perhaps my expectations were too high. In any case, the 20th Anniversary DVD set will be released October 28 by Shout! Factory and include four never before released episodes — First Spaceship On Venus, Laserblast, Werewolf, and Future War — four lobby cards, a Crow figurine, and the bonus materials I mentioned earlier, much of which is being recorded this weekend. I’ll have a more robust summary for you, alongside the interview later this weekend.

Preview for Day Three:
* Jamie Bamber interview
* Interviews with cast and crew for DC’s next animated feature — Wonder Woman
* Lost, BSG, Pushing Daisies, and Fringe presentations (time and crowds permitting)
* TV Guide Fall preview

Thanks to a disastrous seven hour drive down from Santa Monica (5 South was shut down due to a fiery crash), the day was nearly a total washout.

However, I did get to sit down for an hour with Jeannie Schulz, wife of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, to discuss his career, the legacy of the characters, their new partnership with Warner Bros. to release all of the animated specials, and a special Rock the Vote campaign this fall. We’ll have the full interview for you next week.

I also attended the world premiere of Stargate: Continuum aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Midway. There’s nothing like watching a big movie on a drive-in sized screen, on a flight deck loaded with fighter jets, with the San Diego skyline as your backdrop. Beau Bridges, Richard Dean Anderson, and many past and current Stargate cast and crew were in attendance. And for someone with very little exposure to the Stargate franchise (beyond the feature film), Continuum is a surprisingly accessible and engaging adventure, loaded with humor and in-jokes for the fans. This time travel tale puts a whole new spin on things, as Carter (Amanda Tapping), Jackson (Michael Shanks), and Mitchell (Ben Browder) must survive an alternate timeline while finding a way to restore their own. Sure, there are some plot holes and cheesy special effects, but the film — written by Brad Wright and directed by Martin Wood — is well crafted and well executed. Continuum comes to DVD on Tuesday (Jul 29) and we’ll have a full review for you that day over at DVD Verdict.

Preview for Day Two:
* Interview with William Katt about relaunch of Greatest American Hero franchise
* Preview of new SciFi Channel series Sanctuary
* Bones Season Four cast panel
* MST3K 20th Anniversary reunion and interviews with Joel, Trace, and Jim Mallon

A surprise announcement to those who enjoy their cinematic criticism from their television: Richard Roeper has given the finger to his television day job.

Richard Roeper has given two thumbs down—and two weeks’ notice—to a contract offer for his stalwart movie review show.

After being unable to agree to terms to renew his contract with show producers, the Chicago Sun-Times columnist announced plans to leave At the Movies With Ebert & Roeper after eight seasons cohosting with Roger Ebert.

Roeper’s last flick of the thumb will come the weekend of Aug. 16-17. The following week, At the Movies will be in the unprecedented predicament of being without either of its titular critics.

“Several months ago, Disney offered to extend my contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2007-08 season,” Roeper said. “I opted to wait. Much transpired after that behind the scenes, but an agreement was never reached, and we are all moving on.”

Should be interesting to see what happens to the long-running show now. With Roeper gone, and Ebert probably not coming back due to ongoing health concerns/lack of jaw, the show might be pooched.

At the very least, they’d have to change the title. “At The Movies With Whoever We Can Find” lacks the same ring, you know?

(via E!Online)