Posted Jul 2nd 2009 10:07AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals
Usually I'm not a fan of reality television, but this new series has potential. ABC has
ordered a new show called
The Fast & the Funniest from two of the producers of
Last Comic Standing.
This comedian competition would be different than
Last Comic Standing because it would involve more travel and improvisation. It's easier to be funny when one is in a set location doing pre-rehearsed material. It's much harder when it's not known where the performance is and for whom.
Mind you, the description of the show is somewhat vague in the article. For all that is known, the show could be less like
Last Comic Standing and more like
Fear Factor. The competition could involve having the comedians eat bugs in the middle of the woods in Arkansas. Or possibly having them fight to the death with machetes. Or not.
Is there any comedian you'd like to see on this show? I vote for
Jay Black.
Posted Jul 1st 2009 7:02PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Yesterday FX announced their fall premiere dates along with the news that an untitled new half-hour comedy would be launched and paired with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Nothing else was announced about this yet-to-be-named series, but thanks to our reader Jared, we now have an idea of what it may be:
The Norm MacDonald Reality Show.
Nothing has come down from FX regarding this in terms of a pilot greenlight or series pick up, but according to Norm himself? He seems to think it's a go.
Continue reading FX is not picking up The Norm MacDonald Reality Show
Posted Jul 1st 2009 1:11PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Ordinarily I do not do a fanboy squeal when I hear of an attempt at a science fiction program revamp of an old series, but this one has
Battlestar Galactica potential. Tim Minear (
Angel,
Firefly) is taking on a
remake of Alien Nation for Sci Fi or SyFy or whatever they're calling themselves.
The original television series on Fox was one of the cases where the spin-off actually exceeded the quality of the movie it was based on. The only mistake that was made was taking the show off the air after one year (although it did spawn a set of television movies).
Tim Minear is a good choice as showrunner since he's used to sci fi shows that rely on characterization. I have to give props to Sci Fi for this decision. Hopefully it will last longer than its predecessor and be leaps and bounds better than their attempted remake of
Flash Gordon.
Posted Jun 30th 2009 12:03PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Industry, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Were you charmed by the first sweet and funny season of
My Name is Earl? Me too. And did you just about give up on the show after it eventually lost most of its charm and became a depressing, unfunny raunch fest? Me too. That's probably why I'm not too excited about
Earl creator
Greg Garcia's new show.
Fox just picked up Garcia's untitled single-camera comedy. The show will revolve around a young man raising an infant, the result of a one-night stand with a death row inmate, with the help of his dysfunctional family. Garcia tells
Variety that his new characters will be "the same type of people" we saw in
Earl and that they'll inhabit a world not unlike Earl's hometown of Camden.
Count me out if the show will rely on the same mean-spirited bathroom and gross out humor we saw in the last few seasons of
Earl. Hopefully, Garcia will deliver something fun, fresh and clever instead of rehashing the same crude jokes and stories that got his old show cancelled.
Posted Jun 30th 2009 11:10AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Good news for all you Chris Kattan fans. The
Saturday Night Live veteran has
snagged a regular role in the new ABC single-camera comedy
The Middle. He will play a car salesman alongside series star Patricia Heaton.
Based on what I've read, this sounds like one of those safe, non-controversial, family comedies that the networks love and I loathe, such as
According To Jim and
Two and a Half Men (nowadays I prefer sitcoms like
How I Met Your Mother and
The Big Bang Theory). As a result, I doubt we'll be seeing characters such as Mango make an appearance (that and the fact he's on a competing network to NBC and would likely be sued for doing so).
And here I thought Kattan would end up like one of those obscure
SNL celebrities like Garrett Morris or Rich Hall. In a tough economy, he's got a job. More power to him.
Posted Jun 29th 2009 9:35AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, OpEd, Video, Pickups and Renewals
If I go to Hell after I die, I'm quite certain that part of my eternal punishment would be sitting in a room with all the Real Housewives of New Jersey for all eternity. Therefore the following piece of news is about as close to Hell on Earth as I can get: popular rumor has it that Bravo has
renewed The Real Housewives of New Jersey for a second season.
I was born and bred in New Jersey (those of you offering condolences can shut it right now. I like New Jersey). As a result of sharing my humble abode with someone of the female persuasion, I have been subjected to this program. I can personally attest that very few people in New Jersey actually act like these "housewives". If you're planning a vacation, please don't let the behaviors of these women put you off from visiting the Garden State.
However, to give credit, the program did lead to a funny sketch on
Chelsea Lately. The video of that is after the jump.
Continue reading The Real Housewives of NJ gets a second season
Posted Jun 25th 2009 2:02PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Early Looks, Reality-Free
I really wish I could have liked the pilot for
Virtuality. It was Ron Moore's first new series since the end of his
Battlestar Galactica relaunch that wasn't related to that series. Unfortunately, the pilot seems to fall flat and is unlikely to lead into a series.
The concept is solid. It's about a group of 12 space travellers (each of whom could be mistaken for an underwear model) who are on Earth's first interstellar spacecraft, the Phaeton. Earth has become all but unlivable and they are traveling to a nearby star for ten years (five there, five back) and try to save the planet.
Continue reading Virtuality -- An early look
Posted Jun 23rd 2009 12:12PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Industry, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals
We warned you about Jessica Simpson's
latest idea for a reality TV show back in May. The pop star was shopping around a project starring herself called
The Price of Beauty in which "she and a friend set off on a road trip around the world in search of what people find beautiful and why," according to an
US Weekly source.
It looks like the show is moving ahead and is
set to air on VH1, the home of celebrity trash TV, sometime in 2010. Simpson will travel the world meeting women, and pop culture "icons," to discuss fashion, beauty and, of course, take part in some extreme
beauty regimes and practices.
Continue reading Jessica Simpson's new reality show finds a home
Posted Jun 22nd 2009 11:08AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Animation, Interviews, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Futurama has gone through more frustrating cancellations than a United Airlines flight leaving Chicago's O'Hare Airport. No one knows that better than voice actor
Billy West and actress
Katey Sagal who respectively provide the voice, heart and soul of the show's two main characters, Fry and Leela.
But what has kept the show going is the camaraderie of the cast and crew. Everyone from the show still keep in touch in between other jobs and even have the occasional reunion from their regular crowded visits at ComicCon to smaller get togethers like when Katey said the cast got together to watch her last concert at the
MBar in Hollywood.
Most of all, they said they have the fans to thank for their next big reunion when
Futurama goes back into production. They both took a short time out of their busy schedules to chat about Comedy Central's two season order.
Continue reading Katey Sagal and Billy West on the return of Futurama
Posted Jun 19th 2009 6:02PM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Video, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
If you enjoyed the
Yo Teach ... ! clips Jason Schwartzman did to promote Judd Apatow's
Funny People, then you'll dig the following teaser for HBO's
Bored to Death. The upcoming comedy stars Schwartzman as a struggling writer who moonlights as a detective.
Writer Jonathan Ames is the man behind the series, which features an amazing cast including Zach Galifianakis (still riding a buzz from
The Hangover), Ted Danson, Parker Posey and
Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig.
Continue reading Check out a teaser for HBO's new comedy Bored to Death
Posted Jun 11th 2009 2:04PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Dancing With The Stars, Pickups and Renewals, Celebreality
Because you can never get enough of celebrities dancing,
ABC has picked up Let's Dance, which they're calling a comedic reality show. It's based on a format that found success as part of the UK's
Comic Relief programming. Rather than having celebrities commit to a full season to learn a variety of ballroom styles, a la
Dancing with the Stars, this new show only requires a one-week commitment with the possibility of a "finale" return. And all they have to master is an already well-known dance.
I guess this is where the "comedy" comes in?
Continue reading Between seasons of Dancing with the Stars, ABC says Let's Dance
Posted Jun 10th 2009 7:09PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I've talked at length in the past about how much I've loved all the creative taglines Entourage has featured over it's previous five seasons. They're short and witty, yet the brevity always gets across the point of the season too. The latest promotional campaign for Entourage's upcoming sixth season is no exception:
"Life changes. Friends don't."
When we last left Vinny and the boys, they were gearing up for Marty Scorsese's Great Gatsby re-imagining and it began with moving home to Queens. Speculation seems to be leaning towards Vince finally getting his due and being recognized for what's sure to be a stand-out performance in a Scorsese classic.
Continue reading Check out the new season six poster for Entourage
Posted Jun 10th 2009 5:34PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, The Shield, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
The Shield may have wrapped its run this past year, but that doesn't mean creator Shawn Ryan is done with FX. The network did let his vision run its course to completion, so I'm sure he's quite comfortable there. I know I am. This time, he's executive producing with
Ocean's Eleven scribe Ted Griffin on the new dramedy
Terriers, about a detective who teams up with a young hot-shot.
FX has already greenlit Terriers, and Griffin has turned in the scripts so it's down to casting.
Continue reading FX greenlights Terriers from The Shield's Shawn Ryan
Posted Jun 10th 2009 11:09AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Mere hours after the series premiered on the cable net,
Showtime has renewed Nurse Jackie for a second season. Why so fast, you might wonder? Well, Showtime could point to the biggest premiere since 2004, but because it was on pay cable the total number of viewers is less than two million. Those are the kind of numbers that would get it canceled on USA or TNT, not to mention ABC or CBS, but for Showtime it's excellent.
Excellent is also what a majority of TV critics and bloggers -- including
Jane -- had to say about the Edie Falco dark comedy. Some were more effusive than others, but for all intents and purposes, the press was pro-Jackie from the get-go. But not everyone loved the show.
Nurses complained loudly about the depiction of their profession.
Continue reading That was fast! Showtime gives Nurse Jackie second season pickup
Posted Jun 10th 2009 10:00AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Industry, Programming, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing With The Stars, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
ABC will kick off its
upcoming fall season in earnest Sept. 21 with three nights of
Dancing With the Stars. The hit show – that continues to gain viewers no matter how much I wish it would die and stay dead -- will lead off the network's prime time schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays before being reduced to two nights a week to make room for a pair new comedies.
There's still no word on exactly when
Lost will return, but the new mystery drama
Flash Forward will bow Sept. 24 at 8 p.m., right before the season premiere of
Grey's Anatomy.
The new seasons of
Ugly Betty and
Supernanny will debut in October with several new and renewed shows – like
Scrubs,
Brothers & Sisters,
Eastwick and
Private Practice – expected to show up on the network schedule later.
Click through for the sked:
Continue reading We've got ABC's new fall schedule right here
Next Page »
TV Squad previews NBC's new shows (part 1)
TV 101: How ESPN controls the world and what the other networks can learn from it
TV Squad previews CBS's new shows
