Alias-related stories
Posted Oct 9th 2009 9:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free
A little over a year ago, CBS was all a flutter with thoughts of a new
Hawaii Five-O.
Jane wrote about it and even allowed herself to get geeked about a new Jack Lord and company. Well, that incarnation by
Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero failed to make it into production. I guess it didn't have enough "Book 'em, Danno's" -- or maybe it had too many. Whatever the reason, that version died and a new one has been ordered. CBS now has
a new plan for an updated Hawaii Five-O.
Continue reading CBS orders pilot for a new Hawaii Five-O ... again
Posted Oct 1st 2009 4:27PM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
It's great to be J.J. Abrams. His newest spec script about a married spy couple is currently undergoing a bidding war that it looks like
NBC is winning. On top of that, he's got a
new comedy on Fox and he's behind one of the best
revitalizations of a franchise in the history of the medium. The script is co-written by Josh Reims, who worked on shows such as ABC's
Brothers & Sisters and
Dirty Sexy Money.
As others have noted, this new spec script could play as a sequel to his hit show
Alias. That show did end with Sydney and Michael married with two kids being asked to return to service. Sadly, I think Jennifer Garner would consider that a backwards step in her career no matter how much she owes Abrams. Perhaps she could make a cameo?
It's interesting that the television spinoff of
Mr. & Mrs. Smith didn't last long and had the very same premise. But then, Abrams wasn't behind that one.
Posted Sep 23rd 2009 9:25AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: TV Royalty, Programming, OpEd, House, Lost, Scrubs, Reality-Free, Fringe
I guess even J.J. Abrams needs to lighten things up now and then. With shows like Fringe, Lost and Alias, and movies like Star Trek, Cloverfield and Mission Impossible III on his impressive resume, maybe he needs a break from the sci-fi / action / drama genres.
Now he's exec producing an untitled, half-hour comedy for Fox. It's written by Mike Markowitz (who's worked on Becker and It's All Relative), but other than that, details are few and far between. The tagline is that it'll be "a comedic medical show." Hmmm, so maybe like Scrubs?
Continue reading J.J. Abrams producing comedy for Fox
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 2:21PM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: OpEd, Reality-Free, Fringe
When Fringe premiered last September, critics around the country distilled the new sci-fi drama down to one simple sentence: it's like a cross between Alias and The X-Files. At the time, that's what pretty much guaranteed I'd tune in. I still found that assessment a little odd since I always thought Alias had a healthy dose of influence from Mulder and Scully to begin with.
Regardless, Fringe clearly took a few cues from both shows in many ways. However, after this past Tuesday's episode ("Bad Dreams", S01E17), I stared to get a little annoyed. I've seen this before.
Continue reading I'm starting to think I've seen Fringe before...
Posted Apr 6th 2009 6:00PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Reality-Free
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.Hmmm...no idea why there's a new edition of
Alias' season 5 coming out tomorrow. There was another version of the season already released, but it has been discontinued. I wonder if there's something different in the set that will tick off fans who bought that deluxe
Alias Complete Series Set with Rambaldi Artifact a while back.
And the fourth season of
Felicity too. Maybe it's J.J. Abrams' birthday?
- Alias - Season 5 (new edition)
- Ben 10: Alien Force - Season 1, Vol. 3
- Beverly Hills, 90210 - Season 7
Continue reading New TV on DVD releases this week
Posted Nov 19th 2008 8:38AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free, Star Trek: Original Series
I went to see
Quantum of Solace over the weekend anxious to see the second Daniel Craig iteration as James Bond, and had the chance to see the
big screen full trailer for J.J. Abrams' re-imagining of
Star Trek. Of the latter, I'd be very skeptical. After reading many of Abrams comments --like "I've never been a fan of
Star Trek" -- my Trekkie (not Trekker) heart fears that the
Lost/Alias creator had bungled the
ST that I know so well.
So, now that I've seen the trailer, I'm even more concerned. Oy vey, what has Abrams done to the
Trek universe? The trailer looked more generic sci-fi that
ST to me. And where was the iconic music? Why was Kirk using his middle name; I don't think he ever did that on the TV series!
J.J. addressed the media and shared some clips and information -- but no photos -- of the feature which won't be hitting theaters till May 8, 2009. I'm a little more relieved by the description of the scenes. Here's the gist of what they're about:
Continue reading J.J. Abrams offers scoops about the new Star Trek movie
Posted Nov 13th 2008 11:29AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Other Reality Shows, Late Night, The Shield, How I Met Your Mother, Celebrities, Dexter, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory
I was reading AOL TV's "
TV's 50 Hottest Hunks - Ever," and I was struck by two thoughts: "Ugh, can people really use the term, 'hunk' without shuddering?" and, "
David Boreanaz? Seriously?"
I get it. Television is populated with pretty people and there are just some guys who are objectively hot (
hellooooo,
Jon Hamm). Generally speaking though, I'm not drawn to the
Luke Perrys and
Mario Lopezes of the world. I like quirky guys, and so while most of the dudes on this list aren't going to make it into the
People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive" issue, they keep me tuning in every week (heh, that sounded totally dirty).
Follow me after the jump for the undercover hotties: ten guys on TV I secretly love.
Continue reading Undercover hotties: ten guys on TV I secretly love
Posted Oct 14th 2008 9:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S01E01) Watching
My Own Worst Enemy is like deja vu. You feel like you've seen something like this before. Was it
The Bourne Identity, Casino Royale, Minority Report, Mr. and Mrs. Smith? Or maybe it was something on TV, like that failed Ray Liotta series
Smith or Jennifer Garner's
Alias or
The Bionic Woman or
The Six Million Dollar Man or something else...
See, that's the problem with
My Own Worst Enemy. It's familiar but not in a cool way. Rather it's derivative and not very compelling. NBC is already doing a double life, super secret spy thing much better in the ratings-challenged
Chuck.
The obvious appeal of
My Own Worst Enemy is two-fold: lots of action including cool gadgets, cars (thank you, GM), guns, blood and the mystery, combined with the charm and complexity of Christian Slater. Slater's a fun actor, a sort of Jack Nicholson only younger. I remember when he first started on
Ryan's Hope! He's got something.
Continue reading My Own Worst Enemy: Breakdown (series premiere)
Posted Sep 5th 2008 2:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Programming, Reality-Free
I'm sorry, but while I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion about "best this" and "best that" (not to be confused with "favorite this" and "favorite that"), sometimes such a list has some entries that just make you scratch your head so much that you have to throw the whole list away and start over. Case in point,
this list of the 10 Best TV Pilots from the new issue of
TV Guide.
While I'm not going to sit here and argue about shows on the list like
Lost,
The Sopranos, and
Alias, I am going to take issue with the inclusion of
Desperate Housewives,
The Shield, and
Football Wives. Honestly, are these true representatives of the best first episodes of TV shows? Forget about what the shows became (great shows can often have so-so early episodes), just the first episodes themselves. Was there truly anything special about
Desperate Housewives that would place it ahead of...oh, I don't know, 400 other shows in the history of television?
Continue reading TV Guide picks the best pilots (and gets it wrong)
Posted Sep 2nd 2008 11:01AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, OpEd, Video, Early Looks, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Fringe
Wow, I really like this show! But darn, I'll have to wait to see what happens next, because
FOX only sent us the pilot episode. I hope the continuing episodes are just as good. I expect nothing less from writer/producer J.J. Abrams, who already has a slew of hits on
his IMDB page, including
Lost and
Alias (and I have high hopes for the upcoming
Star Trek feature film, which he's directing and producing). Also on board for
Fringe are the writers of
Transformers:
Alex Kurtzman and
Roberto Orci. Good combo there.
Let's see ... what can I tell you about
Fringe without giving away any spoilers? The first scene hooked me and wouldn't let go until ... well, it still hasn't let go, because I can't wait to see what happens next. The show is equal parts
Lost,
Heroes,
CSI, and
The X-Files, and the pilot episode covers a lot of ground in the set-up, but also ends with lots of questions.
Continue reading Fringe - an early look - VIDEO
Posted Aug 18th 2008 3:04PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
One of the fun games to play when it comes to TV shows is "What If." What if Mickey Rooney had been cast as Archie Bunker on
All in the Family? What would have happened to the show (and to Rooney)?
That's one of interesting revelations (though that one has been known for quite some time) in the new book
Mickey Rooney as Archie Bunker and Other TV Almosts by Eila Mell. It lists a bunch of actors and actresses who almost got roles we know and love. For example, Jenna Fischer (
The Office) tried out for the role of Sydney Bristow on
Alias, but was deemed not sexy enough for the part (as we told you about
before). Whitney Houston didn't want the role of Bill Cosby's daughter on
The Cosby Show so the role went to Lisa Bonet. And Leonardo DiCaprio almost played David Hasselhoff's son on
Baywatch (the role went to Brandon Call and later Jeremy Jackson). That one isn't surprising at all, considering DiCaprio did work on
Growing Pains and other shows.
Continue reading Jenna Fischer wasn't sexy enough to play Sydney Bristow
Posted Aug 15th 2008 8:38AM by Brett Love
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Video, Casting, Reality-Free
Some day I should probably type up an official list of the actresses who, by their mere presence, will guarantee I'll watch a series. The fact that I saw every episode of Freddie should serve as proof that Mädchen Amick is on that list. After following that up with Viva Laughlin, I think we can all agree that this latest role has her career moving in the generally upwards direction.
My Own Worst Enemy was already on my short list of new shows to keep an eye on in the fall. It's an interesting premise, has Christian Slater, and the previews look great. The addition of Amick just makes it that much more intriguing. She'll be taking over the role of Henry's wife that was originally played by Yara Martinez (The Unit). It's a bit of rough luck for Martinez. Before this she was set to appear in that ill-fated Spaced remake.
Continue reading Mädchen Amick joins My Own Worst Enemy - VIDEO
Posted Aug 12th 2008 4:25PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free
JJ Abrams is a busy guy, and it looks like he's gearing up to produce one of his biggest films yet.
The
Lost co-creator/producer, currently directing the big screen
Star Trek flick, is going to produce
a disaster movie centering around an earthquake. This isn't a remake of the 70s
Irwin Allen film that starred Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Ava Gardner, and Lorne Greene (playing Gardner's father, when he was only seven years older than she was) but a brand-spanking new adventure. It's way too early to talk about cast, but I bet Greg Grunberg will be in it. Abrams will produce the movie, but will he also direct?
Continue reading JJ Abrams goes from Lost and Star Trek to ... Earthquake?
Posted Jul 29th 2008 4:43PM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: OpEd, Kyle XY, Reality-Free, Comic-Con
(Check out part one of this four-part report)FridayMorning was weird, as I was still on east-coast time. My alarm was set for 7 AM, but I was wide-awake by 5:30. I was scheduled to go to an X-Box breakfast that morning, but I was getting freaked out that I'd miss getting in to wait for the
Stargate panels, most of which I was saving for Rich but I knew would be incredibly popular and busy. Thankfully I made the right decision -- the line for Ballroom 20 was already insane by the time I arrived.
As I waited for Ballroom 20, I saw another line creeping up the patio outside. I learned that this was just a glimpse of what to expect with waiting for panels in the enormous Hall H, as the line I saw was for the popular
Watchmen panel. Trust me, part of me was jealous I wasn't in that line to see the new footage.
Continue reading My post-Comic-Con report, part two
Posted Jul 14th 2008 4:35PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, TCA Press Tour, Reality-Free
Right before a
Kitchen Nightmares-themed lunch, FOX held the press conference for the new J.J. Abrams show,
Fringe. On the panel were Abrams and fellow executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orici, Jeff Pinkner, and Bryan Burk, with stars Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, and John Noble appearing via satellite from New York.
The name
The X-Files was brought up a number of times during the session, mainly because the show aims to tell a continuing story with a mythology, using scientific investigation methods and other plot points based in scientific fact. But, Abrams and company took pains to tell the gathered critics that, while the story of FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Torv) investigates the operations of the Massive Dynamic corporation will have an overall arc, there will be a "mystery of the week" to keep people who've just tuned in for the first time interested.
He realized that some of his previous shows (
Alias, Lost) are a bit more complicated than that, which was brought home one day at Greg Grunberg's house.
Continue reading Fringe panel: J.J. Abrams realizes his shows can get complicated - TCA Report
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