TVSquad

I don't want to say that I'm psychic or anything (I'm not, though I can bend spoons), but I had a feeling that Eastwick wouldn't last beyond one season after I saw the new shows at the ABC upfront. I don't know why or how I thought that, probably a combination of the plot, the time slot, the network it was on, and how programming on the networks is these days, but I just didn't think it would last.

And now it looks like it won't. ABC has declined to order more episodes of the series. This isn't an official "cancellation" but it's a very bad sign for the show.

There's more news coming from ABC too, and this is actually surprising: they've ordered 5 more episodes of The Forgotten. That's a show I thought would be gone quick too. It still could be, since ratings aren't great (though better than Eastwick's) and it hasn't exactly been critically-acclaimed.

If you haven't seen our game before, we give you a picture from a recent episode of a TV series and you provide the caption!

Last week's winner is Jesse with this: "I've won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize!"

This week's picture is from Curb Your Enthusiasm:

(S07E04) "Was there a stipulation on the gift certificate? Three hundred dollars and "take me"?" - Susie

I was afraid this might happen. As exciting as it is, even the long awaited Seinfeld reunion doesn't have the power to sustain an entire season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. After last week's reunion, I expected a lull and with that in mind, there's really no reason to be disappointed because this episode had some very funny moments. Unfortunately, not even Christian Slater's caviar addiction could save the day with such fond memories of last week's landmark half-hour still on my mind.

Stealing scenes on the small screen is nothing new to Christian Slater. The actor, known for films like Heathers, True Romance and Pump up the Volume, has made memorable guest appearances on shows like Alias, The West Wing and My Name is Earl. His first shot at his own series, the NBC spy thriller My Own Worst Enemy, struggled to find an audience, leading the network to cancel it halfway through the first season.

Slater is back starring in a new series, The Forgotten, produced by CSI head honcho Jerry Bruckheimer. The ABC procedural follows a team of amateur detectives who work murder cases involving unidentified victims, or John and Jane Does. Slater plays former cop Alex Donovan, whose search for his missing daughter inspires him in the field.

I got the chance to talk with Slater about The Forgotten, his new career in TV, and what one of his most famous big screen characters would think about his latest role.

Maybe it's because I was a teenager when it came out, but Heathers still stands as one of those few movies that I really remember and connected with. I'm kind of on the fence with this news that Fox and Sony are developing Heathers for television, though.

In the film Winona Ryder's character Veronica goes from being a "Heather," the popular clique in the school, to systematically murdering them and making their deaths look like suicides. Suddenly, suicide becomes the "in" thing. And all of this because she was tricked into doing so by the new "bad boy" in town.

Ultimately standing up to him, Veronica does the right thing in the theatrical ending, but there's lots of death, suicide attempts and darkness along the way. I'm not sure how well that translates to TV, though Buffy the Vampire Slayer had lots of death and darkness in a high school and it did okay. There's a way to do a very serious story about the emotional turmoil and cruelty of high school, but it's a tightrope that has to be walked very carefully.

Movie actors are a unique bunch of characters in Hollywood. Adept at script memorization, method acting, and being snobby little princesses (the males included), they are somewhat limited in their performance venues. They can switch pretty easily and thrive in theater productions because most of them began their acting lives on the stage in front of adoring audiences. Decades ago they could also do radio pretty easily; most likely because they could read right from the script and no one listening would know any different.

Television? Well, that's a whole different loaf a bread! For some reason, big-named movie stars with their Oscars and Golden Globes just tank when they decide to jump to the small screen. Their failures could be due to the show they've decided to star in, who they play on the show, or the fact that they are catering to a different audience than film-goers. Whatever the reason, some of Hollywood's most famous film stars had some famously big television flops. Here are but a few of them to digest.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the show. I like it. But I'm wondering why I keep watching it week after week when NBC has already canceled it.

It's not the first time that I've watched a TV show that has been canceled. And I think that fans should keep watching the remaining episodes of a TV show that has been canceled, out of loyalty if nothing else. But it takes real loyalty to watch a canceled show that has a continuing mystery at its core, which My Own Worst Enemy has.

Usually when a show is canceled, you don't hear about it from the stars. Once in a while you do (like Kelsey Grammer when Back To You was canned), but it's usually the producers and/or critics who make the most fuss about a show being canceled. My Own Worst Enemy star Madchen Amick is speaking out about the cancellation of the NBC show (one of several she is currently on).

She says that the show actually was a hit, especially if you include DVR/Tivo/online viewers. She thinks that the show's high budget is what made NBC cancel it. If it didn't have a big budget and still got fair ratings, it could have survived a little longer. She's frustrated by the experience.

Hello! My name is Isabelle and I watch watched Lipstick Jungle and My Own Worst Enemy.

See the verb tense there? Yep, past. That's because NBC decided that in the near future, LJ and MOWE would not be part of my viewing schedule anymore.

All major entertainment websites report that NBC has decided to cancel both series. What they don't know, and that's because NBC ain't talking yet, is if the already-in-the-can episodes would see the light of a TV screen before the series retire.

Looks like the NBC black hole time slot of Monday at 10 p.m. is about to swallow another victim.

My Own Worst Enemy, the new Christian Slater spy series that I'm really enjoying, continues to drop in the ratings. The premiere episode did only so-so, and this week's second episode saw a drop of 22%. Those aren't the kind of numbers that scream "second season renewal" or even "full season order." Seems more like "put on hiatus" or maybe a "let's put it on Friday nights instead!" thing.

(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.

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.

Today was the very last day of the press tour here in Beverly Hills. It was "TCA Day," with members of the association (including me) going to the Warner Brothers lot to visit the sets of ER, Pushing Daisies, and Chuck, where we spoke to cast members and producers (Oh, we went to the set of America's Best Dance Crew, but let's just forget I mentioned that one). Then we bused it over to the Fox lot, where Joss Whedon showed us around the set of Dollhouse, and the entire cast of King of the Hill gave a table read of their 250th episode. All this fun will be in upcoming posts later this summer.

Despite some of the griping you may have seen from me, it's been lots of fun. It's just a very tiring experience. Case in point: On Monday, NBC decided to close out the press conference portion of the tour by having us sit through ten panels, five of them after lunch. Here's a wrap-up post that goes over some of what went on yesterday that I haven't already covered.

Alfre Woodard has an exciting new role on the upcoming NBC drama My Own Worst Enemy. The Emmy winner is set to play Christian Slater's boss in the spy series, which premieres this fall. If you followed TV Squad's coverage of the upfronts, you already know that the drama focuses on a man (Slater) living two different lives: the life of an ordinary suburban father named Henry and the life of a spy named Edward.

Woodard's character, Mavis Heller, is Edward's "tough and astute boss" at headquarters. Like Edward, Mavis is leading a double life as well. Her alter ego, Helen, will be a part of Henry's suburban existence. My Own Worst Enemy premieres on Monday, September 29.

NBC is reportedly moments away from ordering a series starring Christian Slater, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter. The series is described as "The Bourne Identity meets Jekyll & Hyde"-- where Slater's suburban house dad discovers he has a super-spy alter ego. It would be the first television series for Slater, who has been on television's hot list for years but never made it to primetime.

The spy series is created by Jason Smilovic, who also created critically adored-but-ultimately-canceled series Kidnapped and Karen Sisco.