Behind The Screen!
So this week has seen a lot of activity surrounding ‘Comic-Con’ in the US. Now the only comic con I was aware of until recently was how high up porn magazines are on the shelves in newsagents; so I was pleasantly surprised to hear the event is a meet and greet with many of the stars of our favorite shows, and a preview of many of those to come. It’s also an excellent opportunity for stalkers to meet their heroes and realize that the hot one from your favorite show doesn’t really go for the geeky guy in the end – she goes for the equally hot guy, not wearing a replica T-shirt and carrying a bag of merch from the Batman stand.
There have been plenty of new season trailers shown at the event – this week’s highlights have been ‘Heroes’ Season 4 trailer featuring Robert Knepper – who once again looks quietly terrifying, , the ‘Dexter’ Season 4 trailer which looks as classically dark and yet funny as ever, and the ‘Doctor Who: Waters of Mars’ trailer which looks pretty damn scary to be fair!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXDRkk4RTUo
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-rs5hQ6gpM
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClNAiVhcIMA
Speaking of ‘Doctor.Who’, The BBC has confirmed that John Simm will reprise his role as the Master in David Tennant’s final episodes this Christmas.
Simm had been spotted on the set during the recording of Tennant’s finale and his return was announced at said Comic-Con convention in San Diego, before being confirmed by the broadcaster.
The BBC said: “At the close of series three we saw the Master gunned down by his wife and whilst lying in his enemy’s arms, he refused to regenerate.
“The world believed he had died and The Doctor accepted he was the last of the Time Lords. But this is Doctor Who and you can’t keep a good bad guy down!”
Tennant’s past co-stars Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate are all rumored to return for the actor’s final episode. I always thought Billie Piper sounded an excellent name for a Scottish school friend pal for Jimmie Krankie; they missed out there.
So, Dominic Monaghan is to star in ABC’s new drama series, mentioned here way more times than I can remember by now, ‘FlashForward‘. It does look good though.
The actor, famous for his roles in ‘Lost’ and ‘Lord Of The Rings’, will play a character called Simon; which is all we have at the mo.
Speaking at Comic-Con (again), the show’s producer David S. Goyer initially refused to confirm or deny rumors surrounding Monaghan’s involvement in the project.
Moments later, fans were treated to a sneak preview of the series, including a shot of Monaghan, whose character Goyer described as “game-changing”.
‘FlashForward’ is set for kick off on Thursday, September 24 on ABC.
Monaghan has also been busy in the wooing department,the sly dog. He and Evangeline Lilly have apparently decided to get engaged for the second time.
The ‘Lost’ co-stars, who called off their engagement in 2007 after two years together, are believed to have reunited again last year.
An insider told the National Enquirer: “Dominic and Evangeline have decided that now is the time to make it official. They’ve been through break-ups and make-ups and feel that their love has stood the test of time.”
Aww bless. Now hopefully Jack and Sawyer will grow up.
Some UK viewers news now, and ITV has acquired the rights to new drama ‘The Vampire Diaries’, you’ll be pleased to know.
The Twilight-style series follows two vampire brothers – one good, one evil – who vie for the souls of a high school girl, her friends and family. The cast includes ‘Lost‘s Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev of ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ (who puts that on their resume’ as a past achievement?).
Diaries will premiere on US network The CW in September and air on ITV2 in the UK from early 2010.
Under the deal with Warner Bros, ITV has also secured the rights to the fifth movie in the Harry Potter franchise and a slew of other film titles, including Happy Feet and the Batman, Oceans and The Matrix franchises.
Also, the fifth season of ‘Supernatural’ will air on Living after Virgin Media pinched the rights from ITV2.
The deal with Warner Brothers will also give the channel exclusive rights to a Season 6 if one gets produced, as well as the right to air the first four seasons from August 1, it was announced today.
“As a strong and rapidly growing brand both in the US and the UK, ‘Supernatural’ has had an awful lot of interest and, as the home of the best in paranormal drama, we’re thrilled to have secured it,” said Amy Barham, head of acquisitions for Virgin.
The fourth season of the drama, which stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, drew an average audience of 870,000 during its run on ITV2, marking an 11.5% increase from season three.
Jeffrey Schlesinger, President of Warner Brothers International Television, added: “Living’s enthusiasm to add Supernatural to its schedule convinced us that this would be a good move. Being able to schedule both the new episodes and the prior seasons already telecast simultaneously will allow Living to make the re-launch of the series in the UK a big event for its viewing audience.”
The deal between Virgin Media and Warner also saw Virgin 1 extend its license to season three and a potential season four of action comedy ‘Chuck’.
I love ‘Supernatural’ so I don’t particularly care where I watch it as long as it’s on. At least I don’t have to speed through America’s Got Talent adverts on ITV2 from now on though. America’s Got Gun Crime – now that’s a show I’d watch. On ice.
Coldplay will become the latest band to make a guest appearance in animated comedy ‘The Simpsons’, their spokesman has confirmed.
The band will reportedly be hired by Homer to play a private concert for him and Bart after he wins the lottery.
“When Bart goes to the bathroom, Coldplay has to stop,” executive producer Al Jean told US website Entertainment Weekly.
Coldplay follow in the footsteps of artists including U2 and Sting.
Sir Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, Elton John and The Moody Blues have also made appearances. I don’t mind as long as Chris Martin doesn’t start whingeing about me having to buy ‘Fair Trade’ goods. Trade with the fair has only ever cost me £2 to throw blunt darts at cards, and a Goldfish that dies in a day.
The voices of celebrities including comedy actor Seth Rogen and actress Neve Campbell will reportedly also feature in the 21st season of ‘The Simpsons’, which will be shown in the US on Fox from 27 September.
Entertainment Weekly said the late singer and actress Eartha Kitt had also recorded audio for an episode for the new season before her death on Christmas Day last year.
So, this week I watched Will Ferrell meets Bear Grylls on Discovery. In the episode, Ferrell joins Grylls in the far north of Sweden and they spend 48 hours taking on Mother Nature. They rappel down hundred-foot frozen waterfalls, tandem-abseil off a helicopter and huddle for warmth overnight in subzero temperatures.
The two also find food in the forest, and eat reindeer eyeballs, improvise snow shoes and drink their own urine – and fair play to Ferrell, he was pretty funny throughout; even in pretty dodgy conditions.
“Will did an amazing job in subzero, very unforgiving conditions,” Grylls said. “He trusted me when it mattered, and we survived. … He should be very proud of how he performed.”
Ferrell called the stint on “Man vs. Wild” “a thrill of a lifetime, even though I did get urine-drunk, which is sad.”
A quick aside also from Ferrell, He’s confirmed talks are afoot for a second Anchorman – not my genre I know, but I love the first film so I’m gonna mention it anyway.
He told Zoo magazine: “I can tell you this. We’re going to talk to all the guys next week – Steve Carell, Paul Rudd and everybody else – to see if it’s feasible to do it… But I think the odds are good.
“My next year is already booked up with stuff I’ve been working on, but hopefully we can start filming in a couple of years.”
Will also revealed the film’s writers are considering setting the movie in the 80s.
“We have talked about setting it in the ’80s. Do you try to change it up and try a different era, or is it better seeing these guys stuck in the ’70s? I don’t know yet.
“That’s what we have to figure out: what will be the most fun?” I’m excited, I know you can’t see it, but I’m grinning.
An upcoming abortion-themed episode of ‘Family Guy’ will not air on the Fox network, it has been reported.
The broadcaster has refused to screen the “controversial” instalment but will not halt its distribution onto other platforms such as a DVD release, says The Hollywood Reporter.
“Fox will not air the ‘Partial Terms Of Endearment’ episode of ‘Family Guy’, but we fully support the producers’ right to make the episode and distribute it in whatever way they want,” the channel’s executives said in a statement.
Show creator Seth MacFarlane spoke out about the subject at Comic-Con, saying: “20th Century Fox, as always, allowed us to produce the episode and then said, ‘You know what? We’re scared to f**king death of this’.”
He later clarified his comments in an email to the publication, adding: “We were allowed to take a crack at this controversial story and that’s enough for me.”
Bit of news for you hardcore geeks – Bravo has announced that it will soon start broadcasting a weekly programme dedicated to the world of video gaming.
‘GameFace’ to be hosted by Current TV’s Julia Handy, will feature interactive options including quizzes, tournaments and competitions.
Bravo acquisitions manager Ronan Hand said: “The gaming community is a vast and varied group that has previously been underserved and overlooked on British TV, and we know from our past success with similar formats what Bravo’s core audience want. In partnership with Ginx TV, Bravo will bring gaming out of the niche and into the mainstream.”
Meanwhile, Charlie Brooker recently confirmed that he will front the new video games show ‘Gameswipe’, which is expected to be in similar vein to his ‘Newswipe’ and ‘Screenwipe’ programmes on BBC Four. Good stuff.
Ok, so what will I be watching this coming week you ask? Well….
- Saturday night at 10pm on Channel Four sees the aforementioned Will Ferrell perform his Broadway stand up show ‘Your welcome America:A final night with George W Bush’ – should be good, although I’ve never seen his standup before, so we’ll see!
- Tuesday night at 10pm on Bravo will see the finale of the ‘Sons of Anarchy’. I’ve enjoyed the series and should be headed for a bloody end…
- Also at its Season Finale is ‘Lie to Me’ on Sky1 at 10pm on Thursday. The show totally proved me wrong and has been excellent; and a terrorist threat on Washington is a good place for a meaty Season ender!
So there we are for another week, have a great weekend!
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