TVSquad

I thought Defying Gravity was over. Kona wasn't sure, but had little hope. The internet ran with it and there were unsubstantiated reports that ABC would never air the final five episodes. It was frustrating because it ended just before the big reveal as to what the "beta" entity was. So it looked like it would be another chapter in the long list of television shows that ended on a maddening cliffhanger.

I don't know what those episodes have in store, or if they provide better closure than what we have now, but ABC felt it was important enough to curb the rumors by putting out a statement that they fully intend to air those last Defying Gravity episodes. They just aren't sure when.

DG was too sci-fi for the audience they were hoping for with the "Grey's Anatomy in space" tag. There wasn't enough sci-fi for the hardcore science fiction base. At least those of us who toughed it out might get some closure.

It seems like not even two months ago, I was interviewing Ron Livingston about his exciting new ABC drama, Defying Gravity (probably because it was about 6 weeks ago), and now it's gone. After airing only 8 episodes, ABC has just announced that last night's episode of Gravity would be its last.

Although ABC hasn't given any official word about its cancellation, it wasn't as though it came as much of a surprise, given the show's troubles from the very beginning. According to Ace Showbiz, "It premiered to only 3.83 million viewers on August 2 and the number has constantly deteriorated since then. Last week, ABC has excluded listing Gravity on the schedule after the September 13 episode but did not give explanation to that."

The fact that everyone from the show's producers to its actors kept on describing Defying Gravity as "Grey's Anatomy in space," probably didn't help matters much either. I've seen most of the episodes, and while it could have done with a lot less Grey's-like twinkly music to signify emotions, it was a perfectly passable summer show. Luckily, for all of you fans out there, SlashControl has all of the episodes available to view online.

What do you think? Are you sad to see it go, or are you amazed it lasted this long?

Ron Livingston, who is probably best-known for his role as the lovable slacker, Peter Gibbons, in the cult classic, Office Space, is no stranger to television. He played the rakish captain Lewis Nixon on HBO's seminal miniseries, Band of Brothers, and will go down in Pop Culture history as Berger, the douche who broke up with Carrie via Post-It note on Sex and the City.

This summer, Livingston is starring in the new ABC drama, Defying Gravity, with a special two-hour premiere on Sunday, August 2, at 9:00. Described, to the dismay of many, as "Grey's Anatomy in Space," Gravity follows a group of astronauts on a planetary mission 40 years from now. While everybody's sleeping with their coworkers, they aren't quite as angst-ridden about it as their Grey's counterparts. These astronauts cut through all the BS and get down to the business of doing it in zero gravity, as any rational person would.

Recently, I was able to chat with Ron Livingston about Defying Gravity. We talk about some of the more mysterious elements of the show, how he prepared for the role, and why they're wearing t-shirts in the future, instead of Mylar jumpsuits.

(There aren't any major spoilers, but we do discuss the pilot, so keep that in mind).

The first Sex and the City movie wasn't just a hit. It was a big, big hit. The worldwide box office was $400 million, which even in today's inflated dollars is an awful lot of cash. Therefore, it was no surprise that New Line has green lighted a sequel to the feature based on the HBO series for release in 2010.

Debra wasn't thrilled with more Sex features, but I have faith in Michael Patrick King. However, there is another issue; while all the ladies are inked for the Sex and the City sequel, Chris Noth is not, which may -- or may not -- be a "big" deal.

Fans of Standoff, the FOX hostage negotiator drama starring Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt, were worried when it was announced that the show was moving to Fridays. Now here's more to be concerned about: the show isn't returning at all until the summer.

It was supposed to return in April, but FOX has decided the show won't be back until after the network announces its fall schedule in May. I wonder how this will affect their decision, since the show has been on hiatus for a while and they're not going to know what the summer numbers are until, well, the show airs in the summer. They insist the show isn't canceled, but this can't be seen as a "good" sign, that's for sure. It got pretty good numbers when it was on.

For the record, I thought the show was so-so.

I loves myself some Ron Livingston. It's mostly due to his laid back lead role in Office Space, but I'm always impressed by that "everyman" thing he does so well. Alas, I've never seen Relative Strangers, the 2006 comedy starring Livingston, but I and everyone else will have a chance to catch it on Comedy Central on March 17 at 10:00 p.m.

Livingston plays a psychiatrist named Richard Clayton who sets out to find his birth parents, only to find out they're trailer trash with the surname "Manure" (played by Danny DeVito and Kathy Bates). I'm liking this movie already based on the talent alone, and as The Waterboy demonstrated, Bates knows how to play a hick.

UPDATE: An early draft of this post mistakenly identified the movie as a new Comedy Central series. That was my mistake, a result of misreading the press release. Thanks to those who pointed that out. I promise to report with greater care in the future.

You might have noticed that I didn't review last night's episode of Standoff. It's not because of election coverage. I'm just super bored with the show. Here's why.

1. It's like Mad Libs. Seriously, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with each episode's set up, confrontaion, and resolution. The two hostage negotiators are called in, Matt gets on the phone, Emily figures out what's going on in the hostage-taker's life that would make him do this, Frank wants to shoot them instead of talk to them, Matt and Emily banter about their relationship, their boss stands around and looks concerned, and then Matt or Emily talks the person out of doing anything else. Noun-adjective-adverb. Yawn.

(S01E05) This show is just too formulaic. It's not that the plots aren't a tad innovative - not just hostages at a bank but hostages in a airport control tower, a diner, and in this episode, a hospital operating room - it's just that the structure is just so formulaic and tedious. Guy with a gun takes over a place, the only two hostage negotiators in L.A. are called in, one of them calls the guy with the gun, things seem to be about to go well, then someone screws it up and this pisses off the guy with the gun and it makes everything harder for the FBI team. So they have to work harder to figure out what is motivating the guy, by going into his past (with the help of the cute girl with the Apple laptop back at HQ). That's pretty much what happens.

Yup, you're reading that right. The TV Guide Channel, which is mostly made up of interviews and behind the scenes visits to TV show sets and gossip, is going to have a marathon of the FOX drama Standoff this Sunday, from 3pm to 7pm. In case you're wondering, TV Guide is in the same company as FOX.

This is probably a good move, because the show has been interrupted for the past month or so because of baseball playoff and World Series coverage on FOX. So maybe this will get fans and potential fans into the show. Though I wonder if people will even find it on the TV Guide Channel.

[via TV Tattle]

On the new FOX drama Standoff, Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt play Matt Flannery and Emily Lehman, who are partners on one of the FBI's finest crisis negotiaton teams. They also happen to be sleeping together. The show examines how the personal aspect of their relationship mixes in with the high-stakes nature of their jobs. I was able to get a few minutes with the pair before the screening of the show's pilot at the New York Television Festival. Of course, no Ron Livingston interview could go by without my sneaking in an Office Space question or two, which I did at the end:

(S01E03) There were two great things about this third episode of Standoff. One was a joke at the start of the show, when Matt says to Emily that he "feels like Lindsay Lohan," and Emily replies "oh come on, you're not that drunk." Matt was actually talking about everyone looking at him.

The second great thing about the episode was the commercial for a new Victoria's Secret bra. Something called the "Infinity Edge" bra. Awesome commercial. The rest of this episode? Meh.

(S01E01) I'm one of those people that truly believes that any TV show or movie premise could be great. Because it's not the premise of a show that's most important. Really, what does the premise of a show have to do with anything? A "great" premise could have horrible writing, acting, direction, while a show that seems to have a "typical" or "boring" premise can be great if it has good writing, acting, and direction. Seinfeld was a show about "nothing" but it was the writing and the cast that made that show great. Heck, what was the movie My Dinner With Andre but two guys eating dinner and talking for two hours?

So it's not the premise of Standoff (hostage negotiators are also lovers!) that is disappointing, it's that there's nothing really special about it. Not yet anyway. But it's a show that has promise, and here's why.

Press kits usually come in one of two ways: they're either a very basic press kit, just a folder with the show's logo on it, and some print press materials inside, maybe a few photos. And then there are the other ones, the press kits with really cool collectibles inside and/or an innovative packaging. The one for FOX's Standoff seems to be in the middle. It comes with the basic paperwork stapled together (no folder??), but also includes two neat collectibles.

Wahoo! Ron Livingston, of Office Space and Sex and the City fame, is going to be on the fall television schedule. Ahead of next week's upfronts, FOX has announced that it picked up Primary for the fall. The drama stars Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt as hostage negotiators with the hots for each other.

FOX is also picking up American Crime, starring Alias veteran Victor Garber as part of an ensemble cast. The show is about high-profile defense attorneys. Good. Someone needs to counter all the adoration for prosecuting attorneys happening over at NBC on four different Law & Order franchises.