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Showing posts with the label SAG Strike

Channel Surfing: "Reaper" To Return to Earth Early, "Torchwood" Sneak Peek on Thursday, CBS Eyes Pilots, "Greek," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. The CW has unveiled a scheduling shakeup that will feature the launch of Season Two of Reaper earlier than expected. Reaper will take over the Tuesdays at 8 pm timeslot--currently inhabited by 90210 --on March 3rd and will air 13 episodes without interruption. 90210 will then move to 9 pm on Tuesdays, taking over Privileged 's timeslot. So what happens to Privileged ? That series will wrap its run February 14th, much earlier than originally planned after it aired fewer repeats. No decision has been made yet about a second season of Privileged . ( Hollywood Reporter ) Torchwood fans should keep their eyes on the internet on Thursday as the 60-second trailer for the series' five-episode Season Three, entitled "Children of Earth," will be released... simultaneously around the world at 4 pm ET. Season Three is set to air later this year on BBC One and BBC America over five consecutive nights. (via press release) Mi

Channel Surfing: Gordon Ramsay to Cook Live for FOX, Michael Shannon in "Boardwalk Empire," Olivia Wilde, SAG Negotiations to Restart, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I hope everyone is recovering from some truly fantastic installments of ABC's Lost and FX's Damages last night. FOX has announced that it will air at least one live special with enfant terrible chef Gordon Ramsay, in which he teaches viewers at home how to make a three-course meal alongside him. Network will likely air the special, based on Ramsay's UK series Cook Along and part of Ramsay's overall deal with the network, in late spring or early fall. "My frustration is that most cooking shows don't really cook," said Ramsay. "Their ingredients are prepped earlier, that's not cooking... it's nice to show the journey from live ingredient to (finished meal)." ( Hollywood Reporter ) Michael Shannon ( Revolutionary Road ) has been cast as the lead in Terrence Winter and Martin Scorsese's HBO pilot Boardwalk Empire , where he will play Van Alden, a senior Treasury agent tasked with st

Channel Surfing: Nets Order Slew of Pilots, Kristen Johnson Could Be "AbFab," "Chuck" to End Season in April, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. ABC ordered three drama pilots yesterday: Inside the Box , about a female news producer in a Washington network news bureau from writer Richard E. Robbins and executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers (Grey's Anatomy); I, Claudia , about a young prosecuting attorney who is unaware that in the future she will be a contender to be the first female president of the US, from writer/executive producer John Scott Shepherd ( The Days ); and an untitled US adaptation of Argentinian series Brothers & Detectives , about a detective who discovers that he has a brilliant 11-year-old brother after the death of his estranged father, from Daniel Cerone ( Dexter ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) NBC has ordered a pilot for futuristic drama Day One from writer/executive producer Jesse A. Alexander ( Heroes ) about "the aftermath of a global event that devastates the world's infrastructures when a small band of survivors strive to

Channel Surfing: "Lost" Clues, Barrowman Pens "Torchwood" Comic, Detmer Heads to "Private Practice," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. I'm off in a bit to FOX's panel for the Television Critics Association, but here are a few headlines first. Torchwood 's John Barrowman will collaborate with artist Tommy Lee Edwards on an original comic strip entitled "Captain Jack and the Selkie," which will run in the fourteen issue of the bi-monthly Torchwood magazine. The strip will feature a story in which Jack faces" a deadly threat on a remote Scottish island, where people are disappearing one by one... To his horror, Jack starts to suspect he may know who – or perhaps more specifically what – is responsible." (via press release) Entertainment Weekly 's Doc Jensen offers some clues to understanding Season Five of Lost , which premieres Wednesday, January 21st, and recommends five previous episodes for essential viewing before the season premiere, including "There's No Place Like Home (Parts 2 & 3)," "Flashes Before Y

Channel Surfing: ABC Schedule Still Missing "Daisies," Whedon Talks "Dollhouse," Grammer Returns with New Pilot, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. Still no word on when--if ever--ABC will air the three remaining installments of Pushing Daisies . "They are not scheduled to air right now," creator Bryan Fuller told Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello, "and that's all we know." Rest assured, I'm also trying to get to the bottom of this. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) The Futon Critic's Brian Ford Sullivan has a new interview with Joss Whedon about his upcoming FOX drama Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible , in which Whedon discusses the lure of television, the genesis of Dollhouse (over lunch with Eliza Dushku), and ditching the original pilot. "This won't be the second episode because this isn't what the network wants, this isn't the kind of show they want," says Whedon. "This is something you could do two years in when everybody's familiar with it and you don't have to explain it. I always hol

Channel Surfing: "Doctor Who" Lands Smith and Circles Allen, Wakefield and Seda Declared "Legally Mad," "Royal Pains" at USA, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. While everyone seems to be returning to work today (darn the end of holidays!), I'm still drowning in a pile of screeners and scripts, but c'est la vie. The big news this weekend, of course, was the announcement that 26-year-old Matt Smith ( Ruby in the Smoke ) would assume the mantle of the Eleventh Doctor in BBC's Doctor Who , replacing outbound series lead David Tennant, who will depart the series after appearing in four specials in 2009. ( Televisionary ) Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph has profiled Smith in an in-depth piece which ran today. Among the more interesting points: "Smith comes to the role without Tennant's in-depth knowledge of the series and describes the next six months as a "time to build this Time Lord…to learn the history of the show", which should give his interpretation freshness. His Doctor may also be boyishly mischievous – he spoke with relish of "the sense of mischief&quo

Channel Surfing: Third Season of "Gavin & Stacey" On Tap, "Doctor Who," SAG Delays Strike Authorization Vote, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. This being a scant two days before Christmas, there aren't many television-related headlines to discuss but rest assured there are still quite a few. Oh, what's occurrin'? The big news is, of course, that Ruth Jones and James Corden have announced-- from Barry Island , no less--that they will write a third season of their hit comedy Gavin & Stacey . The third season, which had been commissioned by the BBC earlier this year, had been in doubt when Jones and Corden said that their schedules were a bit too full at the moment to write the next season of the romantic comedy, which airs in the States on BBC America. While pesky details like actor availability still have to be worked out, it's fantastic news that we'll get to see more of Nessa and the gang from Barry and Essex before long. The Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special, meanwhile, will air tomorrow night on BBC1. ( BBC News ) Doctor Who executive produce

Channel Surfing: Holiday Wishes from "Fringe," Fontana Returns to "Philanthropist," Budget Cuts at 20th TV, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. 20th Century Fox Television has slashed its production budgets across the board, joining a slew of entertainment companies including ABC Studios cutting budgets due to the economic downturn. All of 20th's producers have been told to reduce their budgets by two percent. The budget cuts will affect both existing series such as 24 as well as new productions, including Joss Whedon's Dollhouse for FOX and ABC's Life on Mars . ( TV Week ) In yet another behind-the-scenes twist (each far more interesting than the series itself), Tom Fontana has returned to oversee NBC's midseason drama The Philanthropist , where he will replace David Eick (leaving to focus his attentions on Caprica )... who had replaced him as showrunner/executive producer on the project back in April. Creative differences between Fontana and Universal Media Studios have said to have been worked out and Fontana has returned to oversee writing on the eigh

Channel Surfing: Shawn Ryan Talks "Shield" Finale, "The Office," CBS Spins Off "NCIS," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. I'm still trying to get the idea of hallucinatory killer butterflies out of my system after last night's episode of Fringe by thinking of tomorrow's turkey feast. I'll keep the SPOILER ALERT on for the next few posts as not everyone may have seen last night's season finale of The Shield . Michael Ausiello chats with series creator Shawn Ryan about that ending, Shane and Vic's fates, Andre Benjamin's character attempting to run for mayor, and why Ryan knew there had to be a final confrontation between Claudette and Vic. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) TV Guide also talks with Ryan about his work on the series finale with some questions about justice, not knowing what the end of the series would be, what's next for the writer/producer, and Ryan's favorite TV series on the air at the moment. (Hint: Lost, Mad Men , and 30 Rock are some of them.) ( TV Guide ) The Office 's Mindy K

Channel Surfing: "Life on Mars" Co-Creator Likes US Version; Jamie Bamber "Too Scared" to Play the Doctor, Potential SAG Strike, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. While everyone is buzzing about the possible SAG strike, I hope you all tuned in to last night's episode of Chuck , the final piece of the three-part Jill storyline. Life on Mars co-creator Ashley Pharoah has praised the US version of the series, calling it "marvelous." In New York to receive an International Emmy for best drama for the original UK version of Life on Mars , Pharoah was pleased that the producers had changed the mythology of the series for the US audience and that the studio had moved the action from LA (where it was based for David E. Kelley's original pilot ) to gritty New York City. "They're changing the mythology, which I think is all right," said Pharoah. "It has to be different. Otherwise everyone just goes on YouTube and sees how it ends." ( Hollywood Reporter ) Just how would a SAG strike affect a television industry still recovering from the crippling 100-day WGA str