Behind The Screen!
I have returned!
Apologies for last weeks’ void in your week, I was away at the Reading Festival far away from Television, electricity, and cleanliness; but I’m back like Chris Brown – ready to slap some sense back into you.
So in recent weeks it’s been announced that Big Brother is to be evicted from our television screens at the end of the next series. Where else am I going to watch people in isolation, with no idea of what’s going on in the outside world or the public’s perception of them? Well, there is Gordon Brown….
Let’s be honest, one channel is going to pick up the Big Brother format and run with it; I’m hoping Channel Five will because Big Brother :The Autopsy sounds pretty good to me. Eviction night for the housemates will be that much more intense. To be honest, Big Brother to me is a bit like my ex girlfriend – gets turned on every now and again but after five minutes I’ve had enough.
Also this week we’ve had the news that Michael Jackson’s death certificate has been amended to show Death by Homicide – triggered by the anaesthetic Propofol. I knew the Russians had to be involved somewhere. The cause of death is now stated as ‘injection by another’ – I wonder now if his change in skin tone will be described on the certificate as ‘rejection of a brother’?
So let’s start with something potentially disastrous. According to The Hollywood Reporter, MTV has ordered a pilot for a ‘Teen Wolf’ TV series. The world is obsessed with remaking. (and ruining) 80′s classics recently, like ‘Nightrider’, the forthcoming ‘A-Team’ movie etc. MTV needs to just stick to its usual running order of – ‘P-Diddy gets women under the guise of forming a girl band’; ‘Hulk Hogan’s daughter looks like Britney Spears crossed with a Manatee’, and a pile of generic ‘I’m the teenage daughter of a millionaire who ive never seen, and i want shiny things!’.
Anyway, Senior VP of Series Development Liz Gateley said of the planned series -
‘It has a fresh take and is very different from the original. It has more of an ‘American Werewolf in London’ feel to it. It’s a dramatic thriller with two best friends in the center who provide a great comedy element: They are two very relatable characters on the outer circles of popular cliques.’
What an ‘American Werewolf in London’ has to do with ‘Teen Wolf’, apart from a werewolf, i have no idea – although something tells me it’s more of a case of ‘let’s use the name ‘Teen Wolf’ so we can ride with that wave, it’ll take a while for people to figure out that the show has nothing to do with the film’.
One thing MTV may be doing right though is a slasher movie excellently titled ‘My Super Psycho Sweet 16′ based on the program about irritating spoilt rich kids having a lavish16th Birthday Party; when all i got was a ball of wool and a warning. They are usually presented with some sort of pimped up vehicle at the end of th party as a kind of indication as to where daddy’s little princess is likely to end up.
The movie, executive produced by Maggie Malina, already has been shot and is “pretty graphic,” Linn said. The network plans to release an uncut, download-to-own version in addition to the edited telecast. Oh how i wish it was real…
Channel Five in the UK is to air new drama ‘FlashForward’ within days of US transmission! This is a biggie as we’re usually months behind as youre well aware so at least we can all keep up with the online patter as each episode airs.
The show, which is being tipped as the next ‘Lost’, debuts Thursday, September 24 on ABC. The UK premiere will follow the next week on Five.
The quick turnaround of ‘FlashForward’ was ordered by Five’s new controller Richard Woolfe ( god bless him), who popularized the whole fast-tracking thing at Sky1 with shows such as ‘Lost’ and ’24′.
Woolfe said, “When I sat in the screening room in LA last May, it was the one show that blew my mind away. I know that it’s going to pull in a massive audience.”
Right you are sir, and I’ll be there.
One such show is ‘Lost’ and in further casting news for the final season, Hiroyuki Sanada has reportedly joined the cast as a recurring character.
According to The Hollywood Reporter once again, the 48-year-old actor will appear in several episodes of the show’s final season.
Details of his character are being kept under wraps and ABC has declined to reveal the number of episodes he will appear in.
Sanada’s previous screen credits include ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Rush Hour 3′.
Also in casting news, Keith Carradine has joined the cast of the very disappointing ‘Dollhouse’, according to reports.
The 60-year-old actor will appear in two episodes of Joss Whedon’s TV series, says TV Guide.
Carradine will portray businessman Matthew Harding, who is connected to both Adelle (Olivia Williams) and Sierra (Dichen Lachman), while he will first appear in the fourth installment of the second season in October.
The actor will also resume his part on Showtime’s frankly awesome ‘Dexter’ as Detective Lundy, who is hunting for the Trinity Killer in Miami.
Dollhouse will return for its second season on Friday, September 25 on Fox, shortly to follow on Sci Fi in the UK.
ABC’s new fall drama ‘V’ is taking a two-week creative hiatus, which hopefully means they wish to work with some plot lines, and not because the show blows like Katie Price at a bachelor party. I posted the trailer in my column a few weeks ago and it looks awesome to me, so here’s hoping.
Because “V” doesn’t premiere until Nov. 3, the move won’t impact scheduling of the series or ABC’s ability to air the six episodes it’s planning for the fourth quarter.
The studio wouldn’t discuss the specific reasons behind the move, saying only that the shutdown was designed to boost “V” in the long-term.
WBTV wants to “take advantage of our November premiere to maximize creative opportunities and deliver the audience the best show possible,” a Warners spokesperson said.
Indications are, that the hiatus was put in place so that writers would have time to beef up future scripts and bring them in line with the quality of the pilot, which has been getting good buzz from bloggers and critics since a successful screening at Comic-Con last month.
Short-term shutdowns for first-year series, especially dramas, have become increasingly common in recent years. With networks often unwilling to give shows second chances if they don’t make a strong impact out of the box, studios want to make sure they do everything possible to ensure scripts are in the best possible shape for filming.
Let’s hope the extra time and effort will produce an excellent series as it’s one that, if done correctly, could be huge.
It looks like ‘Chuck’s got a thing for tight tops and tights.
Last week it was announced that Brandon Routh who starred as the man of steel in the latest movie (yeah ok, it sucked), is to guest star on the show. He will play a new agent named Shaw who will mentor Zachary Levi’s character and yes, you guessed it, compete for the affections of the amazingly hot Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski). Talking of hot, on the back of this news it has now been announced that Smallville stunner Kristin Kreuk is joining ‘Chuck’ for multiple episodes as Hannah, a girl Chuck meets on a flight to Paris.
Laid off from her glamorous publishing job, Hannah ends up working at the Buy More apparently. Thats not too much of a spoiler right?
The new season of ‘Chuck’ begins in March 2010 in the US
A decade after coming up with the idea for “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” while working as a Las Vegas tram driver, Anthony Zuiker has moved on, and this week he launched a multimedia experience that involves a new digi-novel, a social community and motion picture footage.
Zuiker, speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, said ” ‘Level 26: Dark Origins’ is a horror-crime novel written by myself and Duane Swierczynski with motion-picture footage and a social community all wrapped into one experience. When you read the book, every 20 pages you have the option to log onto a Web site called Level26.com, enter a code and watch a three-minute motion picture that continues the narrative from one chapter to another. There’s 20 of those inside the book, so it’s kind of like getting a movie inside a book.” Sounds pretty interesting to me – particularly as the non-reading heathen I’ve become. Reminds me a lot of those ‘if you choose option A, turn to page 34′ books that i used to love as a kid, so i think i may have to give this phenomena a try.
Check out the website at http://www.level26.com/
What’s on this week? Well -
Friday on E4 at 7.30 is the season one debut of ‘How I Met Your Mother’ – a kind of buddy comedy with a few famous faces you’ll recognise such as ‘American Pie’s’ Alyson Hannigan, Doogie Howser of all people and Jason Segel of ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’. Looks crappy, but I’ll give it a whirl.
What isn’t in any way crappy however is ITV4′s Spinal Tap 25th Anniversary Celebration night also this Friday. Various tributes from comedians, bands etc feature for the first hour then the legendary ‘This is Spinal Tap’ follows at 10.30. If you haven’t already seen it – get out. No go on – get
Finally, due to popular demand, ive been asked to post up a list of start dates for the various shows i’ve mentioned over the weeks and months; so here is said list of what’s coming up (obviously bear in mind these are the US Premiere dates)
For those of you who are as excited as I am for all the upcoming new series’ this fall, there’s an excellent page setup on youtube where you can view all the trailers for the big upcoming shows -
http://www.youtube.com/falltvpreview – Check it out.
- September 8:
- Sons of Anarchy, 10 p.m. (FX)
- September 10:
- Supernatural, 9 p.m. (The CW)
- The Vampire Diaries, 8 p.m. (The CW)
- September 17:
- Fringe, 9 p.m. (Fox)
- September 20:
- Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9 p.m. (HBO)
- September 21:
- CSI: Miami, 10 p.m. (CBS)
- Dancing with the Stars, 8 p.m. (ABC)
- Heroes, 8 p.m. (NBC)
- September 23:
- Eastwick, 10 p.m. (ABC)
- September 24:
- Flash Forward, 8 p.m. (ABC)
- The Mentalist, 10 p.m. (CBS)
- September 25:
- Dollhouse, 9 p.m. (Fox)
- Smallville, 8 p.m. (The CW)
- September 27:
- American Dad, 9:30 p.m. (Fox)
- Californication, 10 p.m. (Showtime)
- The Cleveland Show, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
- Dexter, 9 p.m. (Showtime)
- Family Guy, 9 p.m. (Fox)
- The Simpsons, 8 p.m. (Fox)
- September 28:
- Lie to Me, 9 p.m. (Fox)
- October 2:
- Stargate Universe, 9 p.m. (Syfy)
- October 7:
- South Park, 10 p.m. (Comedy Central)
- October 15:
- 30 Rock, 9:30 p.m. (NBC)
- October 23:
- Southland, 9 p.m. (NBC)
- November 3:
- V, 8 p.m. (ABC)
Have a good week!
P.S – Sorry Dee!
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