TVSquad

Is that music coming from The Closer production?


The Closer's Executive Producer James Duff, told TV Guide -- exclusively -- that a wedding may be in the works. Could Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, a woman who's great at her job but a neurotic mess in her personal life, get it together to actually marry the love of her life, FBI agent Fritz Howard? Could it happen this season?

Bravo's top-rated and highly acclaimed reality food show, Top Chef, has big plans for the fifth season. Like real estate, it's all about location, location, location and Top Chef has chosen a most unique place, somewhere you might not guess in a game of 20 questions. I'm not going to reveal the place until after the jump, because there may be some of you out there that want to be surprised.

Just to recap, Top Chef has already spent seasons in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago. They've also had special episodes and finales in Napa Valley, Las Vegas, Hawaii and Aspen and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Traveling to interesting and even exotic locales is part of the fun, giving the contestants a chance to incorporate the regional foods and the style of that part of the world.

Okay, if the suspense is getting to you -- I know it is -- go to the jump and see where season five of Top Chef is going to be...

MTV has decided that after a ten-year absence from the west coast, the Video Music Awards will be held this year in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be held on Sunday September 7th at the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood.

What? No Kodak Theatre? No Nokia Theatre? So, why the choice to hold the ceremony at a Hollywood studio lot? Entertainment Weekly says, "Expect executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic to make use of many of Paramount's stages, rooftops, and camera-ready city streets for the star-studded show, which will only air once in its original incarnation."

(S02E01) I watched the first season of Flipping Out on Bravo last summer based on a teaser I saw during Top Chef 3. The show is about a real estate "flipper" who buys properties, fixes them up and then resells them for a profit. You might say, "Yawn, that's just like a bunch of other shows on TLC, Discovery, et al." Well, yes, that's true.

But Flipping Out isn't really about the flipping, it's about the flipper -- Jeff Lewis. This guy Lewis is not normal. I mean it, he's not. He says he's not. He's obsessive compulsive and it comes out in everything he does. It makes him a better flipper, because of his attention to detail, but it also makes him really hard to take if you're his employee, partner or contractor. But, boy, is it fun to watch Jeff Lewis's life! That's what Flipping Out is really all about and it's back.

This news will leave a hole in the gut of movie and TV fans.

A giant fire broke out at Universal Studios in Los Angeles early this morning, destroying the courthouse square from the Back to the Future movies and damaging the famous clock tower. The King Kong attraction was destroyed, along with over 40,000 videos that were housed in a vault, including footage from I Love Lucy and Miami Vice. Not sure why videos aren't stored in a fireproof vault, maybe underground or some other safe area, but luckily there are copies of the videos in another office.

There have also been a few sets that have been destroyed, including fake New York City and New England street sets that have been used in various TV shows, commercials, and movies. No word on how the fire started but officials say that it has now been contained. One firefighter and two other have been hurt (the latter in an explosion at the vault after the fire was out), but the MTV Movie Awards will go on as scheduled tonight.

(S04E01) It's back! *sings terribly* "Oh, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me!" I am psyched for So You Think You Can Dance. We kicked off tonight with the L.A. auditions and a two-hour season premiere. There were a lot of Russians, a lot of pelvic thrusts, a lot of repeat dancers, and a lot of Mary Murphy's infectious/irritating laugh. I can't decide about that one. Some times I can't stand her and some times I want to sit next to her at the judges table. What about you?

But enough about Mary, let's get to the good stuff ... the auditions!

Starz, the cable network, is getting into original production and their first project will be based on the 2005 Best Picture Oscar-winning film Crash. Glen Mazzara, whose credits include Life, The Shield, Stand-Off and Nash Bridges, has been named executive producer/showrunner for the drama series. Lionsgate TV will co-produce with Starz, and they've greenlighted 13 episodes.

The controversial film, which dealt with the intersecting lives of a myriad of people living in Los Angeles in just 48 hours, centers on the character of Detective Graham Waters. Waters, a police detective, is struggling with his career, his drug addict mother and a criminal brother. The role was played by Don Cheadle (Picket Fences), who was also one of the film's producers. He is expected to reprise the part in the Starz production and may even direct a few episodes. In addition, director/co-writer/producer Paul Haggis and others from the film are also on board for Starz.

I'm not going to argue with Mr. Klosterman. I admire him so much that for a short while, I thought he was my own Tyler Durden (all the ways I wish I could be -- that's Chuck). If we are, however, to take Klosterman's argument as truth -- that Puck and Pedro realizing the cameras were on them was the TV equivalent of Skynet becoming self-aware and destroying humanity -- we must then look to the second season of the show as the moment when Miles Dyson started working for Cyberdyne. That is, the seeds for television's unraveling were sown not during the third season of The Real World, but during the second. As 2008 is the 15th anniversary of The Real World: Los Angeles, I thought it might be a good idea to take a look back at how it managed to ruin everything...

According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, the cost of the WGA strike on the local Los Angeles economy is estimated at $2 billion. This is four times the number of the 1988 strike, which lasted six weeks longer.

All this information assumes the strike will end Tuesday when the contract terms are put to general vote. It's a likely assumption.

I've been to L.A. and it's pretty much a one-industry town (yes, I'm referring to the entertainment industry). When every other industry revolves around that one, a strike hits pretty hard.

(S05E01) "I feel like I'm trying to sell semen at a whore house." - Christian

Life just ain't easy for Sean McNamara and Christian Troy. They moved out to LA thinking it would bring them a fresh start. Sean had just put a messy divorce with Julia to bed. Christian had backed out of his engagement to Michelle. They needed a new beginning. After pouring all their money into a new state-of-the-art Rodeo Drive operation and recovery facility, what do they have to show for it? Nothing. Saying that you "almost" did some work on Joan Rivers isn't exactly a great resume when no one has heard of you.

The set-up was to be expected. Of course it wasn't going to be easy. Everyone is a plastic surgeon in Hollywood. But it's been two months since they switched coasts and the money is running thin. That's where this season of Nip/Tuck draws its plot from and watching Sean and Christian crack the secrets of their new celebrity infested locale is plenty of fun for us viewers. I think we've got a good season in store.

There have been rumors swirling ever since Conan O'Brien was tapped by NBC to replace Jay Leno as host of The Tonight Show that O'Brien would be asked to move to L.A. from his current New York City home. And now it's been made official by NBC: Conan will move to L.A. when he takes over the show in 2009.

The network has big plans for the area. NBC is selling off part of its Burbank lot and Conan's show will beam to us from the renovated Studio One at Universal Studios.

24 star Kiefer Sutherland was arrested last night in Los Angeles for drunk driving, TMZ.com is reporting.

The field sobriety test given to Sutherland showed the star was two times over the state limit of .08. Too bad he wasn't three times over, that would have been 24 and would have been great promotion for the show, though the show doesn't start up again for a few more months so that probably wouldn't have been great strategy.

Sutherland probably would have been OK but he made an illegal U-turn. He was released a few hours after the arrest after posting $25,000 bail. If convicted he could serve at least five days in jail. This is his second offense in three years.

Egad, it's like a real-life telenovela in Los Angeles.

Here's what happened last month: Mirthala Salinas, a reporter for Telemundo station KVEA, Channel 52 in Los Angeles was suspended for two months after an investigation revealed she had been having an affair with Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Salinas herself, previous to the affair being exposed, reported the separation of Villaraigosa and his wife on the air. She was suspended for violating "conflict of interest" policies.

I'm getting a bit concerned about the new CBS drama Moonlight. You know, the one about a vampire private-eye who works the streets of Los Angeles? No, I'm not confusing this show with Angel! See, that was a show about a vampire who was a private-eye working the dark streets of Los Angeles. Two totally different shows here!

I'm getting worried because of all of the changes going on for a show that hasn't even aired its first episode yet. I know that small changes can occur between the time that a show is picked up until its series premiere. But, when the changes include recasting everyone except the main character I foresee problems. And, when the person who decided to recast the show leaves after only a few short weeks I can see the words 'mid-season replacement' written all over the program.

NBC considered Monday night's broadcast of Victoria Beckham: Coming to America a success. So much so, in fact, that the network is re-airing the one-hour special tonight (10 pm) with new footage. The net also shot some new video with Beckham that has her "hosting" tonight's comedy line-up, which includes repeats of My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and Scrubs.