TheBigBangTheory-related stories
Posted Nov 16th 2009 11:04AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Okay, maybe it's not a "clone" per se, but the premise reads like an episode of
The Big Bang Theory. Coming to NBC: a group of small-town fanboys try to make continuing episodes of their favorite sci fi series after it is canceled. Larry Charles, who was behind such fare as
Seinfeld,
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Borat and
Bruno,
will be behind the production.
The new idea is also "semi-scripted", which means it'll likely be heavily improvised much like most of the series and movies that Charles has been involved with. Warner Bros. TV is the company producing and they also do
The Big Bang Theory, so they're in effect competing with themselves. This is a good thing because they win either way.
Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing this premise played out on an episode of
The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon gets the idea and, using his sly coercive techniques, makes everybody else play along. Since he knows no other females, he coerces Penny (who is an aspiring actress anyway) to play the token female in the series. Quick! Call Chuck Lorre!
Posted Nov 14th 2009 3:02PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Spoilers Anonymous, Reality-Free
This is
Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at
TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our
tips form or by emailing us at
tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at
(775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.
This week we have spoilers for:
90210, Castle, Desperate Housewives, Fringe, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Smallville and The Big Bang Theory. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)Continue reading Spoilers Anonymous: Castle, Heroes and more!
Posted Nov 13th 2009 1:09PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Sports, Industry, Programming, OpEd, Survivor, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Ratings, NCIS, The Mentalist, The Big Bang Theory
"Did you hear who's going to play during the Super Bowl halftime show?"
"No, who?"
"That's what I just said. Who."
"No, seriously. Which is the band that's going to appear?"
"It's Who."
"I'm not talking proper English. Which band will be on CBS's halftime show on February 7 at Landshark Stadium in Miami?"
"The Who -- you know, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend. 'Tommy, can you hear me?'"
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that!"
Okay, I couldn't resist the nod to Abbott and Costello's
Who's On First. But the fact is that
Sports Illustrated has spread the word that
The Who will star in the Super Bowl big, overblown half-time pageant. This follows the safe pattern the NFL has been employing since the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake costume malfunction; that is, stick with classic rock stars who are guaranteed to do their hits and not disrobe. That's why we've had Prince, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and now The Who. All superstar acts, no controversy.
Continue reading CBS plans Super Bowl halftime and... what comes on after the game
Posted Nov 10th 2009 1:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, How I Met Your Mother, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
So last night I sat down for some laughs with the CBS Monday night sitcom lineup. It's a weekly thing I do with my spouse, a chance to get away from the computer screen and just relax for a while. Normally, I relish this time because -- for the most part -- I love 75% of the shows from eight o'clock till
CSI: Miami. (I usually empty the dishwasher during
Accidentally on Purpose, sort of half-watching it because, as I've said before, it's just not working for me.)
Well, it seemed like last night's CBS comedies went off the rails. They strained to be funny, in all the wrong ways. Here are my thoughts, show by show -- including
Accidentally (which I did watch):
Continue reading Monday's CBS sitcoms went off the rails last night
Posted Nov 9th 2009 1:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, CSI, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Welcome to our new feature,
TV Squad readers. How well do you know what you think you know about television? Play our little trivia game, Fact or Fiction. We'll state the premise, then tell you the reality, i.e. the fact or the fiction. By the way, if you have ideas for Fact or Fiction, or questions you'd like us to figure out, share with us in the comments.
Fact or Fiction: When Chuck Lorre originally created The Big Bang Theory, the boys were dominated by a nasty neighbor named Katie.
Fact! Chuck Lorre told
Watch magazine's Jim Colluci that a year before
The Big Bang Theory was picked up by CBS, the first pilot had a female character named Katie. She manipulated the guys. "It was like shooting fish in a barrel. It didn't work," Johnny Galecki told Colluci. The problem was that Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard were and are essentially innocents and without maliciousness. The idea of a woman taking advantage of their innocence was not only mean, it wasn't funny. The writers went back to the drawing board -- so to speak -- and, thus, the character of sweet, gentle Penny was born.
Continue reading Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
Posted Oct 31st 2009 10:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Like a stray dog that works his way into your heart, I think I've fallen in love with
The Middle. I didn't want to get so attached, because -- quite frankly -- ABC's track record for sticking with quality shows isn't so great. I'm still mourning
Pushing Daisies. But
The Middle is nothing like
Pushing Daisies, nor does it fall into the quirky, clever mode of other shows that ABC has been promulgating for years.
Ugly Betty is quirky.
Better off Ted is quirky.
Dirty Sexy Money was quirky. Quirky's the word.
Continue reading My Big Bang theory: The Middle's Brick is another Sheldon
Posted Oct 30th 2009 3:00PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Spoilers Anonymous, Reality-Free
This is Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our tips form or by emailing us at tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at (775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.
This week we have spoilers for November Sweeps: 90210, Bones, Castle, Desperate Housewives, FlashForward, Fringe, Ghost Whisperer, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Melrose Place, NCIS, Smallville, Supernatural, Ugly Betty, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist and The Office. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)Continue reading Spoilers Anonymous: November Sweeps Edition
Posted Oct 22nd 2009 10:03AM by Mike Moody
Filed under: Battlestar Galactica, Celebrities, Casting, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
The geek-friendly guest stars just keep rolling into
Big Bang Theory central ...
Battlestar Galactica's
Katee Sackhoff will appear in the Nov. 23 episode of the CBS comedy. This news comes less than a week after former Squadder
Wil Wheaton showed up to crush Sheldon's spirit and help boost the show's ratings.
Sackhoff will play herself in the episode, but don't expect her role to be as big as Wheaton's or
Summer Glau's last season. The former Starbuck is only dropping by for a cameo, says the
Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, but that won't stop Wolowitz from stalking her, and I doubt it'll stop her fans from tuning in and boosting the show's ratings again.
Continue reading Battlestar's Katee Sackhoff to visit Big Bang Theory (and, um, she might get naked!)
Posted Oct 21st 2009 9:08AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Celebrities, Ratings, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
Remember
all those posts we did about
former TV Squad writer Wil Wheaton appearing on
The Big Bang Theory? Well, the ratings are in and it looks like that episode had a
15% increase in viewership in the sought-after 18-34 demo. While the article attributes the ratings boost to a Twitter campaign by Wheaton and executive producer Bill Prady, we here at TV Squad would like to think that our own promotion of the show contributed in some small way.
Speaking of which, wasn't the show great? Sure we
already did a review but it was amazing seeing Wil's screen character win by using the one aspect of playing cards (and, for that matter, reality) that Sheldon can't grasp: the human factor. Sheldon would undoubtedly be great at Blackjack and lousy at Poker.
Continue reading Wil Wheaton means record ratings
Posted Oct 7th 2009 2:02PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: TV on DVD, Ask TV Squad, Reality-Free
The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column. To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them at
asktvsquad@gmail.com.
This week, I answer questions about online TV shows, a new series called Miami Trauma, and NYPD Blue DVDs.
Continue reading Ask TV Squad: NYPD Blue, Miami Trauma and online shows
Posted Sep 20th 2009 5:08PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Friday Night Lights, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
If
Jim Parsons wins the
Emmy tonight for The Big Bang Theory, you better believe he'll be in a position to pick and choose the projects he does in the future. But here's one that I think would be fascinating, to quote Dr. Sheldon Cooper's favorite Vulcan scientist:
Jim Parsons would like to appear on Friday Night Lights.
In a recent interview, Jim was asked about his favorite current show -- other than his own -- and he said it was
Friday Night Lights. That's right, the NBC drama series about high school football deep in the heart of Texas! Somehow it's hard to imagine Sheldon in pads and a helmet. Maybe he could be the water boy? Or the genius offensive coordinator.
Continue reading Jim Parsons on Friday Night Lights? If he had his way...
Posted Sep 15th 2009 11:15PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Sons of Anarchy
(S02E02) - "Unraveling the matriarch will destabilize them. They're all little boys who need a strong mommy." The thing I'm starting to love about this show is the way it switches gears on just about any incline. They are so swift and sudden that the law should go totally "nanny state" and require me to wear a helmet during each week's episode.
For example: in this week's chapter, we see the aftermath of Gemma's rape and the toll it takes on her as she tries to keep it from the club. Then the very next shot is of Tig, played by Kim Coates and some random fishnet whore slowly waking up with hangovers that could stun an elephant, together in a spent 69.
And I ain't talking about a broken down '69 Chevy.
Continue reading Sons of Anarchy: Small Tears
Posted Aug 27th 2009 10:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, Reality-Free
The ongoing revival of the multicamera comedy format continues. Josh Schwartz is best known as the creator of
The O.C. and one of the masterminds behind The CW's
Gossip Girl; a show so powerful that it reshaped an entire network around it. He's also an executive producer and writer over at
Chuck. Now Schwartz is teaming with Matt Miller, a fellow producer on
Chuck, to get into the comedy business.
Schwartz and Miller are writing a multicamera comedy script for CBS. The premise doesn't break any new ground; it's about a newlywed couple in their 20s, picking up the story right after their honeymoon. But it's the pedigree behind it that gives it promise. Both
Gossip Girl and
Chuck have strong comedic elements.
If it comes off right, you can bet CBS will be interested. They've had tremendous success with multicamera comedies the past few years, almost single-handedly reviving the format with huge hits like
How I Met Your Mother and
The Big Bang Theory. It's the writing, not the format. And writing is something at which Schwartz has proven himself quite adept.
Posted Aug 14th 2009 3:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
The votes were counted and 77.2% of TV Squad readers
believed Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory has Asperger's Syndrome. Based on Slate writer Paul Collins' article on the subject and reported by
Joel, you were asked your opinion and agreed with Collins.
Well, majority may rule, but the writer is king.
Big Bang co-creator Bill Prady knows the character better than we do, and
Prady said Sheldon does not have Asperger's.
Continue reading Come up with a new theory: Sheldon does NOT have Asperger's
Posted Jul 24th 2009 5:37PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Spoilers Anonymous, Reality-Free
This is
Spoilers Anonymous, a weekly column here at
TV Squad where we supply you with the dirt on some of the more popular shows on the air. We'll never put spoilers up here on the main page in order to help the reformed stay unspoiled. If you have anything to add to the group, feel free to step up and let yourself be heard, either with our
tips form or by emailing us at
tvsquad at gmail dot com, or call and leave a message at
(775) 640-8479. Your anonymity is guaranteed, if you wish to remain as such.
Note that over the summer,
Spoilers Anonymous will be published every two weeks due to production hiatus for most TV series. Weekly columns will resume in August.
This week we have spoilers for:
90210, Brothers & Sisters, CSI: Miami, Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, Supernatural, The Big Bang Theory and The Mentalist. (SPOILERS FOLLOW!)
Continue reading Spoilers Anonymous
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