Behind The Screen With Darren Avery…

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Right, so I know what you’re thinking – here we go, Steven Gately jokes – but no, I’m not going to bother. See, unlike some people, i say it best when I say nothing at all.

In other news this week, former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is set to make her debut in Pantomime of all things at the New Wimbledon Theatre in London! She will be playing the genie of the lamp in, yeah you guessed it, Aladdin (feel free to enter your own a-lad-in joke). Having seen her last performance online I would’ve thought ‘Babes on the Wood’ would’ve been a better choice or maybe ‘Jack off the Beanstalk’? (Join in! ‘Mother Goosing’ etc...)

Also a man has been arrested under the mental health act after attacking Leona Lewis at a book signing. He was arrested under the mental health act as her regarded her as a wonderful musical talent.

Let’s talk TV…

Now here is a story that’s got me super excited ever since I heard it

Psychic medium Derek Acorah will attempt to contact Michael Jackson in a live séance on Sky1!

Immense. Thank you Sam.

Two newly commissioned shows, Michael Jackson: The Live Séance and Michael Jackson: The Search For His Spirit, will air in November.

June Sarpong will host the events, which aim to give fans -

“a final chance to connect with their hero”.

The séance will apparently take place at a secret location which was once inhabited by the ‘Thriller’ popstar.

I thought he said ‘This is it’? Something tells me this’ll never be it.

“There is an insatiable appetite to find out more about Michael Jackson. He was an extraordinary figure and the curiosity surrounding his life – and his death – stretches well beyond fans of his music,”

…said Sky1 director of programs Stuart Murphy.

“These programs will explore whether it is possible to make contact with Michael and will seek to give his fans new insight into their idol.”

Former T4 presenter Sarpong added: “I think viewers will find this program intriguing and will want to tune in to see what happens. It’s the first time I’ve done anything like this but I’m open minded and can’t wait to see what Derek uncovers.”

Trust me sweetheart, nothing.

Fox has confirmed that it plans to air all thirteen episodes of Dollhouse’s second season. The news comes as the Joss Whedon series is his new lows in its ratings in the U.S for the second season.

“We’re going to run all the episodes,”

- Fox scheduling head Preston Beckman told The Hollywood Reporter.

“We’re not saying we’re happy with those numbers, or accept them, but we don’t have to overreact… We plan on completing the order for this show.”

Which to me kinda says ‘we signed up for it, so it’s showing then it’s gone!’ Although, Beckman also confirmed that the network had not ruled out the possibility of ordering more episodes, or a third season, but will make the decision after the 13 ordered episodes of season two have aired. Yeah right.

Meanwhile, Whedon told the magazine that he is planning for episode 13 to be a potential series finale -

“We’ll definitely have closure, but will leave some doors open. When we got our first [ratings] numbers, which were bad, the first thing [Fox president] Kevin Reilly said was, ‘You’ll have all 13,’ which was great. They’re not going to pull the rug out from under us.”

This puts ‘Heroes’ firmly in cancellation pole position!

BBC Two here has commissioned former ‘Never mind the Buzzcocks‘ host Simon Amstell with his own sitcom called ‘Grandma’s House’.

The project, which marks Amstell’s writing and acting debut, has scored for six 30-minute episodes.

The series – co-written by Dan Swimer, who Amstell previously worked with on ‘PopWorld’ and ‘Buzzcocks’ – is apparently inspired by the comic’s own life, with each episode focusing on his family at his grandmother’s home in Essex. Having seen his standup show last year, a lot of his work seems to be semi-autobiographical so this isn’t a surprise.

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said:

“Simon Amstell is a great comic talent and I am looking forward to his venture into sitcom. The script is very funny and I can’t wait to see it brought to life on BBC Two.”

Linda Bassett, Geoffrey Hutchings, Rebecca Front and Nicola Walker have been confirmed to star.

Filming on the series is slated to begin in February, with transmission scheduled for later in 2010.

Speaking of ‘…Buzzcocks’ main men, Phill Jupitus is to also star in a new show. He and Flight of the Conchords’ Eugene Mirman are to star in a pilot for a TV show on the digital channel Dave that will see them trade lives in a sort of comedians’ version of ‘Wife Swap’.

UKTV, which owns Dave, has commissioned a one-hour pilot of the show entitled, ‘Comedy Exchange’.

The show features Jupitus, trading places with Mirman who plays Eugene, the landlord of lead characters Bret and Jermaine in the HBO comedy to see how they handle each other’s lives.

The two will swap lives for a week in order to prepare for a final standup performance. The show is being filmed in New York and London.

“Despite speaking the same language Brits don’t get jokes about Altoids or Mickey Mantle and gags about chavs or the WI are lost on us Americans,”

- said Christian Drobnyk, UKTV’s director of entertainment

Kind of sounds like ITV’s ‘Tough Gig’ which was ok I guess, depending on the comedian and whether they were regurgitating old jokes. I’ll bring you dates as soon as i know them!

Fox has announced details of its upcoming ‘Family Guy’ special.

The half-hour episode – titled ‘Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show’ – is scheduled to air in the U.S on November 8 at 8.30pm.

The special will also broadcast without its usual commercials; instead, it will be infiltrated with Microsoft Windows 7-based adverts.

A Fox spokesperson said:

“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with Windows 7 on such an exciting, highly collaborative marketing campaign featuring the very unique talents of Seth MacFarlane as he overhauls the old Hollywood tradition of the sponsored variety show by marrying Windows 7 messaging with content.”

According to a press release, the episode in question -

“will highlight the comedy duo’s subversive and unique humor with original animation, live-action performances of Family Guy’s most memorable musical numbers, comedy sketches and surprise celebrity guests”.

OOooo sounds pretty good, I’ll have to downl…I mean wait until it’s shown in the UK.

Five UK has announced plans to screen a documentary on Dan Brown’s newly released novel

The hour-long factual, titled The Lost Symbol: Truth Or Fiction?, will air next Wednesday at 8pm.

The show will delve into the secret society of the Freemasons, examining how it started and what was behind its development.

“We are thrilled with the program because it gives a unique insight into the world of the Freemasons,”

- said Five’s Sally Kenchington.

“It’s a remarkable achievement to turn around a documentary so soon after Brown’s book has been published.”

I’m still waiting for a show about his book I’ve heard about on Jesus being from Wales, the Dai Vinci code.

I was skeptical the first time I heard there was to be a U.S version of Channel 4′s ‘Shameless’ but at least they’re putting together a decent cast. William H Macy is to play drunkard anti-hero Frank Gallagher in the US adaptation of the show.

Subscription channel Showtime has ordered a pilot of the show which is being produced by John Wells, whose credits include ER and The West Wing.

Wells penned the pilot episode with the creator of the UK series, Paul Abbott.

Abbott’s original, based around the anarchic, outrageous behavior of the Gallagher family, was loosely inspired by his childhood in Burnley – something I’m sure a U.S audience will relate to eh?!

The US adaptation will be set in present-day Chicago against the backdrop of the recession. Not quite the same…

The plot sees 18-year-old Fiona tasked with keeping her five younger siblings in line after their mother goes missing and the father turns to alcohol.

According to Variety magazine, the pilot will be shot in December.

The UK version of Shameless, starring David Threlfall as Frank Gallagher, has been seen in the US on BBC America and the Sundance Channel.

Ok, so finally, what’s on TV for you this week? Well….

Sunday from 9pm on BBC3 sees the finale of the exciting ‘Harpers Island’. Should be gruesome, and we all love a bit of that..

Season Two of ‘Burn Notice’ continues in its second episode on Monday at 9pm on FX…

Wednesday at 10pm sees the show, yes show, finale of ‘Life’ on ITV3. Hopefully Charlie will get some closure and I’ll sleep ok knowing he finally got his karma…

…and…

for the first time I’m gonna give an ITV show a plug! Ooohh terrestrial TV, how quaint! 3 part series ‘Murderland’ starts Monday at 9pm on ITV1 with a strong cast including Robbie Coltrane.

There we go for another week – have a good weekend!!

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