GeorgeClooney-related stories
Posted Oct 27th 2009 1:06PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
George Clooney learned a lot about television toiling away on
The Facts of Life and
E/R. The latter wasn't NBC medical drama that made him a star. I'm talking about the
1984 Elliott Gould sitcom on CBS that lasted a year, just 22 episodes.
But the point is this: he may be a major movie star today, but George knows and appreciates television. That could be why
George Clooney's behind Delta Blues, a cop drama that TNT has just picked up.
I use the term drama loosely, because it's something goofier than a straight drama. The lead character is an Elvis Presley impersonator when he's not working for the Memphis Police Department. One more thing: Like Elvis, he honors his mother... and lives with her. Does that make him a mama's boy? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Continue reading George Clooney, Elvis, the cops and TNT
Posted Mar 1st 2009 9:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Casting, Reality-Free
I've been pretty hard on NBC of late, like
calling for Jeff Zucker's head when NBC announced it will present Jay Leno every weeknight in prime time next fall, but I think I'm going to have to tip my cap to the network for how
ER is coming to an end.
Not only have the producers lured
George Clooney and Juliana Margulies back for a last go-round, they've also cast Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon for a guest turn. George, Julianna and Susan will all appear on
ER on March 12.
I'm curious to see their appearances, but here's the casting that will have me definitely tuning in:
Alexis Bledel is booked for ER two-hour finale on April 2.
Continue reading Gilmore Girl set for ER finale
Posted Feb 20th 2009 11:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: TV on the Bigscreen, Reality-Free, TV Squad Ten
As much as there have been movies about the theater and movies about movies, the films that have been made about television are some of the best ever. This year alone, there are two movies nominated for Best Picture of the year by the Academy Awards that are all about television --
Slumdog Millionaire and
Frost/Nixon. Without TV, neither of these films would exist. Looking back, here are the films about TV that set the standards by which
Slumdog Millionaire and
Frost/Nixon are measured.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: The best movies about television
Posted Oct 21st 2008 11:35AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free, Mad Men
As Bob wrote the other day, AMC has given the Emmy-award winning drama series
Mad Men a pick up for a third season. No shock, but that future will be greatly dependent on re-signing Matthew Weiner to continue as the show's creator. Imagining
Mad Men without Weiner at the helm is like Sterling Cooper without Don Draper as creative director!
However, while we're waiting to hear that Weiner's signed on the dotted line, the news today has me even more nervous.
Jon Hamm and John Slattery have yet to renegotiate their contracts, which means the stars of
Mad Men could be done with next week's season finale.
I don't believe that's going to happen, but Roger Friedman floated the possibility out there. He even suggests that Jon Hamm's star has risen so high, so fast that he could be the next George Clooney. Clooney, you'll remember, parlayed a few seasons of
ER into a movie career (although there was more to it than that).
Continue reading Is the future of Mad Men in doubt?
Posted Sep 23rd 2008 6:00PM by Thomas DiChiara
Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, CSI, ER, Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Casting, Reality-Free
Let's get the bad/obvious news out of the way first:
Despite what ER showrunner David Zabel told TV Guide in a recent interview, George Clooney will not -- repeat NOT -- be returning to the show for it's 15th and final season.
According to Clooney's publicist, "He is on record as saying he is not coming back. It is something he has already done. He is busy making movies." If you're an optimist, though, you can always hope for a surprise Clooney return a la the 2000
ER season finale, in which Georgie showed up at the very end of Julianna Margulies' farewell ep.
On a more positive note, there are plenty of actors who ARE joining popular existing series or are attached to promising upcoming projects. A rundown of these casting coups ensues.
Continue reading Casting scoop: George Clooney, William Fichtner and more
Posted Sep 22nd 2008 3:19PM by Kelly Woo
Filed under: ER, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free
With this being the final season of
ER, the show naturally wants to bring back some of its old stars for cameos. George Clooney is the big fish to land, of course, and producers say they've got a
juicy storyline to lure him in.
Showrunner David Zabel told TV Guide, "We have a really good story line for every [major] character from the past to show [the actors] what we want to do."
Anthony Edwards is already on board to appear in flashbacks on the Nov. 13 episode (since his character, Dr. Greene, is dead), along with Paul McCrane (Dr. Romano) and Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver). Noah Wyle will guest star in four episodes, and Alex Kingston may show up as Dr. Corday.
Continue reading How ER plans to get George Clooney back
Posted Jul 11th 2008 9:19AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: ER, Celebrities, Reality-Free
Remember what a jerk Eriq LaSalle was as Dr. Peter Benton on
ER? You know, a real hard-ass. Well, it turns out his dynamic performance as that character may be because he wasn't acting. At the
Hallmark Channel press tour,
LaSalle got ticked off when asked about ER.
He was meeting the press to answer questions about his TV movie,
Relative Stranger, which will air next January. When LaSalle noticed that there were a plethora of questions about
ER -- for him and co-stars Michael Michele and Michael Beach, both of whom had also been on NBC's long-running medical drama -- Eriq flared.
"Okay, I mean look, it was a defining moment, you know, for a lot of us as artists. You know, it was a show that was a little bit ahead of its time. We had a great time doing it. I don't know what else to say. I talked about the show so much. I prefer to talk about
Relative Stranger."Continue reading Stop asking Eriq LaSalle about ER
Posted Jun 27th 2008 4:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Grey's Anatomy, Celebrities, Emmys, Reality-Free
Reports of Katherine Heigl's exit from
Grey's Anatomy have been greatly exaggerated, and that comes straight from the actress's mouth.
Heigl's staying on Grey's Anatomy for the foreseeable future.
In recent weeks, since choosing not to submit her name for
Emmy consideration because she was critical of the material she had this past season, speculation has been that the star wants out of the show. Fueling the fire is the fact that in the past year, thanks to
Knocked Up (and a lot less to
27 Dresses), Ms. Heigl's getting many, many offers to jump to the big screen full time.
Life & Style caught up with her last week at L.A.'s Hotel Cafe, where she was watching her husband Josh Kelly, performing. When asked if she would be on
Grey's this season, she said, "Of course, absolutely. Those people are like my family." She described the set as a happy, joyful place where there's lots of laughter despite the serious storylines they're playing.
Continue reading Heigl says she's staying on Grey's
Posted Jun 24th 2008 2:00PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
To some people, George Clooney's affable good nature and sincerity comes off as smug over-confidence. I fall into the former rather than the latter category.
I think George is ambitious and grateful to be working in the business. I think he remembers
the years of struggling to become a star -- those years on
The Facts of Life and
Riptide and
E/R (the Elliott Gould sitcom, not the Emmy award-winning NBC medical drama).
Failures like
Leatherheads have to keep him humble. Anyway, his efforts to expand as an actor and director and producer strike me as someone who is wisely not resting on his laurels. That said, today it was reported that
Clooney's production company, Smoke House, is behind a new pilot for Showtime called The Fall of Bob. Continue reading Clooney gets The Fall of Bob on Showtime
Posted May 15th 2008 12:41PM by Brett Love
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Episode Recaps
Among many announcements from TNT at upfront week was the stated goal to dramatically increase original content. The network aims to eventually reach 80% original content, with plans for three original nights a week by 2010. How are they going to reach those goals? With cops. Lots and lots of cops.
We've already heard about the new Donnie Wahlberg DEA series, Morse Code. Three other cop shows are in development at the network, including Delta Blues, from executive producer George Clooney, which follows the story of a Memphis cop who does a little Elvis impersonating on the side. 24 co-creator Joel Surnow is also joining the TNT family with an as yet untitled series built around an ATF agent. Finishing off the law enforcement party is Angel City. Written by L.A. cop Will Beall and Barry Schindel, Angel City is being compared to Adam-12. Read on past the jump for the less cuff-heavy goings on over at TNT.
Continue reading TNT & TBS have big plans for original content
Posted Apr 4th 2008 12:05PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: OpEd, The Daily Show, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
"George Walker Bush: Still President": President Bush recently paid a visit to Eastern Europe to try and recruit some new buddies for NATO... and his fight in Afghanistan. Brian Williams' endorsement of the "'Chess' Kiddin'!" set made up for the cheesiness of that mini-commercial. Senior Political Analyst John Oliver stopped by to share how annoyed top NATO brass feel about certain countries refusing to send troops to Iraq. Of course, the best part was Vice Marshal Jock Stirrup's name and the ridiculous list of Britain's fallen soldiers that followed. I cannot remember the last time I cracked up so badly over a
Daily Show segment.
Continue reading The Daily Show: April 3, 2008 - VIDEO
Posted Mar 15th 2008 12:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: House, Pickups and Renewals
Paul Attanasio,
House executive producer, has conjured up a legal drama for Fox. The network greenlighted a one-hour pilot,
Court K, which is set in Milwaukee and involves a judge, a prosecutor and a public defender. Just because it's set in Milwaukee, don't expect to see Laverne and Shirley.
Like
House is not your typical medical drama,
Court K will not be a typical lawyer show, not that
Boston Legal is typical, but you know what I mean.
Court K is reportedly a lot grittier, with sardonic, dark comic elements. We'll have to see if any of the principals are hooked on Vicodan. I wonder if it'll remind me of the movie
...And Justice For All, which was also a dark comic look at a Baltimore courthouse. But then, wasn't that
Night Court, too?
Continue reading House producer heading to Court K
Posted Mar 5th 2008 11:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Industry, WGA Strike
Have you seen all those feel-good commercials on CBS showing the actors returning to work after the WGA strike, the message promising us that good times -- and fresh new episodes -- would soon be on the air? Well, here comes the cold shower. The big story this morning out of L.A. is that
Hollywood is shaking with fear that the actors will strike this summer if a new contract isn't hammered out before June 30.
Big names like George Clooney and Tom Hanks have been quietly urging Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg to commence negotiations now in hopes of averting another contentious battle. Even AFTRA (SAG's sister organization, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) reportedly wants to start formal talks.
Continue reading Brace yourselves for a possible actors strike
Posted Aug 23rd 2007 8:21AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: ER, Celebrities, Casting
Of course, getting George Clooney to come back would be a dream come true for ER producers, but they are trying to bring back old favorites for the final season (probably) of the hit NBC drama.
So far, only Noah Wyle has officially signed to come back to the show. He'll be on for several episodes, and in the ER not Africa (thank God). But producers have also talked to Julianna Marguiles and Gloria Reuben about coming back, and would love to also grab Eriq LaSalle, William H. Macy, and Laura Innes.
Continue reading Will Clooney return to ER?
Posted Jun 5th 2007 5:57PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show
Charlie Rose: artist Richard Serra - The Daily Show: Paul Rudd
- The Colbert Report: Jessica Valenti
- The Late Show With David Letterman: Chevy Chase, Amanda Beard, and Satellite Party
- Jay Leno: George Clooney, The Zimmers, and Rihanna
- Jimmy Kimmel Live: Carmen Electra and Peter Jones
- Tavis Smiley: Nancy Wilson
- Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Brian Williams, Leslie Mann, and Los Straightjackets
- The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson: David Milch, Rosie Perez, and Patti Smith
- Last Call With Carson Daly: Andy Richter and Gary Jules
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