Brad Trechak
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Chuck to return in January
Chuck will be returning to the airwaves on NBC on Sunday January 10th at 8 PM. The third season will start with a two-hour premiere and then the show will be on again the following night in its regular timeslot right after Heroes. This is three hours of Chuck over two days.The pity is that Chuck is actually a good show and Heroes hasn't been as such since the first season. Perhaps Heroes should be the lead-in for Chuck? With the boost in the number of episodes and the guest-stars galore slated for the coming season, it's a very exciting time to be a Chuckaholic like me. This could also be a sign that NBC is giving more support for Chuck and less for the dying Heroes.
Zachary Levi is great in his role and Yvonne Strahovski is much fun to look at, but what really makes the show is Adam Baldwin. Perhaps John Casey should get his own show? Nah. He's better as a foil for Chuck Bartowski.
And the new character on The Simpsons is ...
Recently, to celebrate the show's 20th season, there was a contest to create a new character for The Simpsons. Well, the winner has been announced as Peggy Black of Orange, Conn., and the character is Ricardo Bomba, who is quite the ladies' man.While the concept of a womanizing male character has been done on The Simpsons before (Life on the Fast Lane, anyone?), it hasn't been done with any regularity. This could be the case of The Simpsons stealing from the Family Guy character of Glenn Quagmire (although likely with more taste). However, the concept of the ladies' man has been around since Casanova himself so I don't think it actually qualifies as a theft.
With a show like The Simpsons, it's always tough to find new concepts and new characters. The popular theory is that television ideas can be recycled every seven years, but The Simpsons has been around for twenty. Let's hope Ricardo Bomba can inject some life into the franchise.
Gretchen Mol to join Boardwalk Empire
Gretchen Mol, who was last seen in last season's short-lived American television version of Life on Mars and in the feature An American Affair, will be going to HBO for the series Boardwalk Empire. She's scheduled to have a recurring role as a showgirl. The series is being produced by Martin Scorsese.Gretchen Mol was on Life on Mars with Michael Imperioli, who was also on The Sopranos on HBO and was in Scorsese's Goodfellas. Boardwalk Empire star Steve Buscemi also appeared on The Sopranos. In short, all these people know each other and it's definitely a case of cast inbreeding. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Seriously, Gretchen Mol is a terrific actress and was fantastic in The Notorious Bettie Page. Given the talent already behind Boardwalk Empire, it was likely to be a fantastic series. Now its volume just went up to 11.
Chris Elliott returns to TV
Chris Elliott is quite possibly the most famous person few people have heard of. His early '90s sitcom Get A Life is a classic and he's had runs on TV shows like Late Night With David Letterman and Everybody Loves Raymond as well as some memorable movie cameos. And now he's in a new TV show.It's called Eagleheart and it's about an over-the-hill action star who uses his television show of the same name "as a soapbox for his right-wing politics and conservative paranoia". He'll likely be more carictaure than character. Is the character based on Chuck Norris, I wonder?
It is produced by Conan O'Brien's production company. Conan actually co-created a pilot with similar themes (an over-the-hill star trying to remain relevant) in the early 90's called Lookwell starring Adam West.
It's got the right star and the concept certainly sounds amusing. But did it have to be Cartoon Network? Isn't the word "cartoon" in the network's title? Yet another example of channel drift.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl not so secret anymore
The anonymous blogger "Belle Du Jour" whose career as a call girl spawned the British and Showtime TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl has outed herself. Apparently she wanted to do it because an ex-boyfriend threatened to do it for her. Her real name is Brooke Magnanti and she's a child health researcher at the University of Bristol. She worked as a escort for over a year while pursuing her Ph.D.Thankfully, her university has said her past was not relevant to her current job. I wonder if an American university would be as supportive of such a decision, given the taboo of sex work and sex in general in the U.S.
On the other hand, now she can start publishing more books under her real name. If she makes enough (or possibly gets another TV deal), she wouldn't need to worry about who would hire her or not.
Big Bang Theory clone coming to NBC
Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to make continuing episodes of their favorite sci fi series after it is canceled. Larry Charles, who was behind such fare as Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Borat and Bruno, will be behind the production.The new idea is also "semi-scripted", which means it'll likely be heavily improvised much like most of the series and movies that Charles has been involved with. Warner Bros. TV is the company producing and they also do The Big Bang Theory, so they're in effect competing with themselves. This is a good thing because they win either way.
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this premise played out on an episode of The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon gets the idea and, using his sly coercive techniques, makes everybody else play along. Since he knows no other females, he coerces Penny (who is an aspiring actress anyway) to play the token female in the series. Quick! Call Chuck Lorre!
Michael Moorcock to write Doctor Who story
Fantasy novelist Michael Moorcook will be writing a Doctor Who story. No, it won't be a script for the actual television show bur rather an original novel. He revealed this on his forum.The mind boggles with regards to what a fantasy novelist like Moorcock could do with Doctor Who. He's used to antihero creations like Elric. Any spin he could put on the character would be interesting. As of yet, it's not even known which incarnation of The Doctor he'll be writing about.
The most appropriate Doctor for Moorcock to write about could be the first (played by William Hartnell), who had a subtle arrogance and sinister nature (arguably the least human of the bunch). I'd personally like to read a sixth Doctor story by Moorcock.
Moorcock has influenced legendary writers like Alan Moore. Whatever take he has on the Doctor Who universe will at least be interesting. What do you think?
Review: Smallville - Idol
(S09E08) Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! Okay, so it wasn't so much the Wonder Twins as an homage to the Wonder Twins. Or Wonder Twins: The Next Generation. You get the idea. The blingy Gleek cell phone was a nice touch. Hell, the ringtone even sounded like an alien monkey.Of course, the Wonder Twins were just gravy for the actual purpose of the episode: to further the legend of the Blur and heighten the Lois/Clark relationship. Like her predecessor in the 1990's Lois & Clark series, Lois is a smart cookie but really blind when it comes to secret identities. Speaking of cell phones, her ringtone for the Blur was very cute indeed.
Continue reading Review: Smallville - Idol
Charlie's Angels returning to TV?
Josh Friedman, the creator behind Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is now getting behind another movie franchise to bring to ABC. This time it's Charlie's Angels. Okay, this one started as a television franchise then moved to the movies and now is moving back to TV. Well, you get the idea.Also involved would be Leonard Goldberg, who worked with Aaron Spelling to produce the original series, and Drew Barrymore, who produced and starred in the movie versions. My guess is that this new version would something like Charlie's Angels: The Next Generation. Will John Forsythe return as the voice of Charlie? I hope so.
Revival-mania continues strong on network television. Success has been a mixed bag. For every Battlestar Galactica there are several Bionic Womans. A new version of Charlie's Angels certainly has a shot in today's market and the movies did well. Aaron Spelling tried to revive the franchise in '88 and that didn't work. Now could be a better time. What do you think?
Mad Men and Buffy writer remaking Fright Night
Marti Noxon will be writing the remake of the cult 1980's flick Fright Night. For those who don't know, Noxon is a writer on the series Mad Men (for which she got a WGA nomination) among other shows. She is best remembered for her singing appearances on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Once More With Feeling" (she was a writer and producer on that show too) and the Internet phenomenon Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.Getting into movies for a moment, Fright Night was always a guilty pleasure of mine. Noxon is a good choice to write it too. Along with the diversity of her writing experience, she has used the same sort of combination of horror/humor when she wrote Buffy.
Of course, she's not the only Buffy alumnus writing a comedy horror. Joss Whedon himself is involved with project called Cabin In The Woods. He has the spare time to complete it now.
The TV Squad Podcast: The Prisoner, '80s TV, soap news and more
Let's talk about spoilers ...
The Prisoner -- An early look
