This news totally makes me want to go re-watch old episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210: Shannon Doherty sorta hinted that she may have hooked up with Jason Priestley, who played her on-screen brother. Brenda and Brandon might've been getting in on, folks.
This isn't the only case of faux-incest on television. On Brothers & Sisters, there's a whole storyline about Justin Walker falling for Rebecca, who he thought was his half-sister. The actors, Dave Annable and Emily VanCamp, got into a relationship off-screen. Then -- poof! -- it turned out she wasn't the Walkers' long-lost sibling and they started dating on-screen.
With Rescue Me failing to bring in the ratings FX really needs or wants, and even this final, and for the record brilliant, season of The Shield under-performing, it's pretty awesome that new series Sons of Anarchy seems to have found an audience. I'm a couple episodes behind (so I'm not helping with the ratings I guess), but after a slow start, this story of a biker gang of criminals is really starting to suck me in.
Apparently I'm not the only one. In five short weeks, Sons has managed to not only retain 3.5 million viewers in the adults 18-49 demo, but it's retained 97% of its total audience since the premiere. Which is why FX decided to pick the show up for a second season.
Wow, is this right? Jesse L. Martin was on Law and Order for nine seasons? How could that be? Where has the last decade gone? I feel really old.
Martin was indeed on the hit NBC drama for that long. He left last season, in a storyline involving a gambling addiction, a murder, and a court trial. But now he might actually be coming back to the same network. Martin is in negotiations to play the James Purefoy's sidekick on the midseason replacement series The Philanthropist, about a rich man who helps people with his dough. The character's name is Philip Maidstone.
Martin must really like NBC. He's also going to be in a new Muppets movie this Christmas season on the network.
It will be interesting to see how big this sidekick role will be, because you would think at this point that Martin would be getting or going for the lead roles, not the buddy ones.
We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad: what are the worst spin-offs of all-time? Joanie Loves Chachi always makes such a list as does AfterMASH. So it's no surprise that both shows made Time's list of the 10 worst spin-offs of all-time. In fact, AfterMASH is in the number one slot.
Other shows on the list are good examples of bad spin-offs too, including The Ropers, the Three's Company spin-off that was rather unnecessary; Joey, the Friends spin-off that just couldn't recapture the magic of the parent series; and Baywatch Nights, which always amazed me with the fact that Mitch Buchannon never mentioned to the other lifeguards at his day job on the beach that he was fighting monsters and evil spirits in his night job.
I'm impressed that they not only picked the Spenser: For Hire spin-off A Man Called Hawk but placed it so high on the list, at number three. That really was a disappointing show. Some characters are just more effective in supporting roles.
The CW has an idea for a show that might one day be the replacement for Smallville, and the hit Batman movies are probably the reason why.
The network has given the green light for a new series called The Graysons, which will follow the drama and adventures of Dick Grayson and his family before he met Bruce Wayne and got involved in that weird relationship in the mansion and the cave. As we all remember from our comic book reading (and the lousy Batman & Robin flick - I'd still like my money back), Dick and his family were acrobats, and he became Bruce's ward after the rest of the family was killed. This show will show Dick before he donned the cape, much like Smallville shows Clark before he donned the cape. (Was his nickname really "D.J." in the comics?). It will be produced by some people behind both Smallville and Supernatural.
Here's something I didn't know: it's cheaper to film in England and Africa than it is to film in Hollywood.
NBC has announced that their new midseason drama The Philanthropist (a real pain to spell, by the way) won't be filmed in the U.S. at all. Instead, the production will save money by setting the show and filming the show in London, with some filming also being done in Africa and the Czech Republic. Executive producer and writer David Eick, however, will stay in Los Angeles. The first episode will be directed by Peter Horton.
After the success of The Closer, you can't blame TNT for going with a proven formula.
The cable network is close to greenlighting two police drama pilots, a project from Jerry Bruckheimer about young undercover officers and Bunker Hill starring Donnie Wahlberg (which actually already received an a pilot order).
TNT's certainly been a busy little bee, stacking up new series left and right. Besides these two pilots, they've got Time Heals, starring Jada Pinkett Smith as a hospital nursing director; Night and Day, with William Fichtner playing an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and Men of a Certain Age, a dramedy featuring Ray Romano, Scott Bakula and Andre Braugher.
If you didn't watch Swingtown this summer, you're not alone.
The CBS drama posted low ratings over the summer, despite buzz over its salacious topic. Still, the show gained some fans (including me), who have been waiting on word of its renewal or cancellation.
Now comes news that Bravo will air reruns of the show this fall. The Hollywood Reporter says the deal "essentially closes the door" on the show, with CBS unlikely to produce new episodes and Bravo uninterested in doing so.
In a time when networks are so quick to pull the plug on new series, it is absolutely stunning that two of this season's newest cable series have already been picked up for a second season. What's even more surprising is that one renewed show is Stephen Bochco's terrible Raising the Bar. After setting a record for a series debut on basic cable with 7.7 million viewers, 2.2 million people asked themselves what the hell they were watching, and the series settled into an average of 5.5 mil. But it's only been three weeks?
Surely, more of its viewers will realize that the show is absolutely terrible? From Gosselaar's bleeding heart crying to the bitching between his friends and Jane Kaczmarek's crazy judge, there's more leaps in logic and good sense than in Prison Break. The show makes Boston Legal look like a courtroom documentary. TNT also picked up Holly Hunter's Saving Grace after a respectable summer run.
There's no way that the creator/executive producer of a new series walking away from the show before the season premiere can be a good thing. In fact, it's down right ominous. Therefore, the news that Diane Ruggiero has walked off The Ex List before the October 3rd premiere does not bode well for the comedy-drama. It's not like the prospect of succeeding in the dreaded Friday at 9 P.M. ET on CBS (the place where Moonlight died) was a sign of good things to come, but having seen the pilot, I was keeping my fingers crossed. Now, I'm worried.
Reportedly, Ruggiero unexpectedly quit The Ex List on Friday morning. Rick Eid, executive producer of the show, will continue on in her place as showrunner. However, the writing staff will have to continue without their guiding light because make no mistake, the heart and soul of the main character -- Bella Bloom -- was a reflection of Diane Ruggiero. She's a strong writer with a distinct voice, one she lent to her other success (with Rob Thomas) Veronica Mars.
I posted last week about the new series Crash, premiering on Starz on Oct. 17. It's been a long time coming. I started hearing buzz about a TV series shortly after the film debuted in May, 2005, and the cast looks good (though I know some of you disagree with me).
The lineup of the ensemble drama includes Dennis Hopper, D.B. Sweeney, Ross McCall, Clare Carey, and Luis Chavez, among others. I also appreciate the fact that Paul Haggis and Don Cheadle, who worked on the film, are producing the TV series. So whatever else happens, I have to think they'll keep the integrity of the film intact.
The Crash press kit is now online, and it's interesting to watch the trailer and hark back to the movie. Some of it looks the same -- like the shot of a cop feeling up a woman -- and the racial tension is definitely in place.
(S01E02) "I will not look the other way Jax." - Hale
I'm still on board with Sons of Anarchy, but there are just too many things that are rubbing me the wrong way. Much like my minor complaint on this season of The Shield, Jax's father's manuscript has reached the point of becoming über-important just like Cruz Pezuela's blackmail box (the one Mackey stole) without any solid explanation. One gets the feeling that without that manuscript, the story would just crumble.
If this thing is so important, then why didn't Gemma or Clay have it destroyed years ago? Did they even know it existed? It was just lying out in the open in the family storage unit. While I appreciate the tension that builds as Jax slowly reads one page at a time, I'm still unconvinced that when he gets to, I dunno, "page 86," that we're going to be that shocked when the inevitable bomb is dropped. Why else would Gemma want it so bad if there wasn't some horrible family secret buried in it?
(S01E03)I was pretty unsure of the new 90210last week. My initial impression was that it wasn't bad, but it could use some work. Now, however, it is week two and I'm pretty sure I was just blinded by all of the curly hair and porcelain veneers--because this was not good.
Now I'm not trying to say that everyone who lives in Beverly Hills is stuck up and/or unfriendly, but come on. I know I'm not the only one who thinks that Annie and Dixon are having the easiest transition into a new school in the history of the world. I moved around a lot when I was a kid, and while I was lucky enough to stop moving before I got to high school, I still went to nine elementary schools. Nine different elementary schools and not a single guy flew me to San Francisco.
(S01E01) "I knew someone would come eventually." -- Dr. Walter Bishop
This is my second time watching Fringe -- I posted an Early Look review a couple of weeks ago -- and it's just as engaging to me now as the first time. Tonight, I focused more on the relationships of the characters, whereas the first time, I was fixated on the sci-fi paranormal elements. My thoughts:
The Unusuals looks like one of those funny little shows that could either be a complete bust or a major mid-season breakout -- especially given the cast and crew. The ABC ensemble dramedy stars:
1. Amber Tamblyn. I've loved her since she played Emily on General Hospital, and she has that something-different quality that will surely rocket her to super-stardom ... in an indie-film sort of way. She broke into the mainstream consciousness with Joan of Arcadia, the talk-to-God series that ran from 2003 to 2005. I was so disappointed when Tamblyn's I-see-dead-people series Babylon Fields wasn't picked up last year, but The Unusuals sounds even better.
2. Harold Perrineau. We know him as Michael on Lost, and the actor was disappointed that his character wouldn't have a happy ending with son Walt. But he's on to bigger and better things with his role in The Unusuals. It was also announced today that he's joining the cast of (and exec producing) the feature film The Killing Jar, an indie thriller also starring Michael Madsen and Danny Trejo. It was time for Perrineau to leave the island.
This news totally makes me want to go re-watch old episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210: Shannon Doherty sorta hinted that she may have hooked up with Jason Priestley, who played her on-screen brother. Brenda and Brandon might've been getting in on, folks. 
With 
Wow, is this right? Jesse L. Martin was on Law and Order for nine seasons? How could that be? Where has the last decade gone? I feel really old.
We've talked about this a lot here at TV Squad: what are the worst spin-offs of all-time? Joanie Loves Chachi always makes such a list as does AfterMASH. So it's no surprise that both shows made 
The CW has an idea for a show that might one day be the replacement for Smallville, and the hit Batman movies are probably the reason why.
Here's something I didn't know: it's cheaper to film in England and Africa than it is to film in Hollywood.
After the success of 
If you didn't watch 
In a time when networks are so quick to pull the plug on new series, it is absolutely stunning that two of this season's newest cable series have already been picked up for a second season. What's even more surprising is that 
There's no way that the creator/executive producer of a new series walking away from the show before the season premiere can be a good thing. In fact, it's down right ominous. Therefore, the news that 
I posted last week about 
(S01E02) "I will not look the other way Jax." - Hale
(S01E03)I was pretty unsure of the new 
The Unusuals
Giveaway Monday: How I Met Your Mother season three DVD
Oops! Newspapers around the world use SNL pic as official Palin one - VIDEO
The evolution of TV Squad
