TVSquad

It's taken a couple years, as we first posted about the series in August 2006, but Sam Raimi's adaptation of the Terry Goodkind books will finally be beaming into our televisions the weekend of November 1, 2008. That's about as specific as anyone can be, because this is a syndicated series. We'll all have to check our local listings. The good news though, is that Disney-ABC says they have cleared the show in 95% of the country.

The press release mentions that Raimi and his partners, Rob Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle, and Kenneth Biller are the team behind Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Why they continue to excise Cleopatra 2525 from that list remains a mystery to me.

The series will kick off with a two-hour premiere and Raimi describes it by saying, "The amazing characters and heartfelt story, combined with the captivating backdrop of New Zealand, will have viewers on the edge of their seats." I'm pretty much in the bag for anything Raimi is involved in, so I'll be watching. Wizard's First Rule could be that something to watch on Saturday night we're all looking for.

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have Trading Spaces, The Newlywed Game and other new shows.

Spider-Man's director is going real. Reality TV that is. After nearly two years of talking with the CW about this project, Sam Raimi is prepping a summer reality series called 13. Considering Raimi's unique vision, as seen in the Spider-Man movies and other features like Darkman and Evil Dead, you have to hope that he'll bring something fresh to a genre as played out as reality.

Raimi with co-executive produce the eight-episodes of 13 with a renown reality producer, Jay Bienstock (Survivor and The Apprentice). Also attached is Robert Tapert, Sam's Ghost House Productions partner.

Poor Robert Jordan. I was sure his The Wheel of Time series would be the first modern fantasy series to make the leap to ongoing television series. But not only did George R.R. Martin's much newer A Song of Ice and Fire get picked up by HBO last year to be made into a series (what's the status on that?), now it looks like Terry Goodkind beat him to the punch, too.

Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) is teaming with ABC/Disney on 22 hour-long episodes chronicling Goodkind's The Sword of Truth eleven volume series, though the working title of the show appears to be the title of the first novel only: Wizard's First Rule. Intended for syndication, Rule will be the first major fantasy syndicated series since the likes of Hercules and Xena ruled the airwaves in the late '90s.

I'm not a fan of most "big" movies. You know, those movies with a ton of special effects, babes and explosions but very little plot? However, that doesn't mean decent "big" movies don't exist, and I think the Spider-Man films are a good example. Also, nobody brings a comic book to life better than Sam Raimi (perhaps some of my comic book-loving readers will disagree, though).

Anyway, I mention Spidey on this TV blog because FX has garnered the rights to broadcast Spider-Man 3 in 2009. How much FX ends up paying for the movie depends on how much money the movie itself brings in. As of this writing, the movie has brought in $161,401,784. The deal between Sony and FX could also allow Sony to sell the film to other broadcast networks.

Just out of curiosity, who saw Spider-Man 3 and what did you think of it? I liked it quite a bit, though I think it's probably the least of the series so far: a little too much story for one movie, but it did maintain that "old comic book" feel I love so much. I have a lot more to say about it, but I'll turn it over to you guys in the comments. Opine.

Here's the question I now have to ask myself: if Sam Raimi, a director who has made some of my favorite films of all time, decides to produce a reality series, a genre I despise and always avoid, what do I do? What, oh what, do I do? Hopefully I'll find out soon, because that's exactly what he's planning, along with his old producing partner, Robert Tapert. The duo are creating House of Horrors for the CW network, a reality series in which contestants will live in a house where they must face their fears, with contestants being killed off (not literally) in cool ways. Raimi did not come up with the concept, the show is actually the brainchild of Gunnar Witterberg. Raimi and Tapert are on board as executive producers, however. The show could possibly hit the airwaves by next summer.

Sam Raimi, director of the Spider-Man and Evil Dead films, as well as producer of popular syndicated series such as Xena and Hercules, recently secured the film rights to author Terry Goodkind's eleven-volume Sword of Truth series. Development of the first part of the lengthy mini-series, based on the first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, will begin as Raimi wraps up production on Spider-Man 3. The final volume of Goodkind's fantasy series is slated for release in 2008, and more information on the TV adaptation will be available early next year. I've read very little fantasy in my lifetime, but are any of you fans of Goodkind? What do you think of this collaboration?