Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: NBC Orders More "Knight Rider," Brody and Tudyk Find "Good Vibes" at FOX, "Fringe," and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

NBC has given a full season pickup to Knight Rider, bringing this season's total to 22 episodes despite sagging ratings. And that's all I want to say on the subject. (E! Online)

CW has ordered a few additional scripts for freshman drama series Privileged, which has struggled to find ratings though has shown significant improvement in recent weeks (it's up 22 percent) despite softening numbers for its lead-in, 90210. Should the trend continue, it seems fairly certain that Privileged will get a full season order. (Hollywood Reporter)

One of my main suggestions for improving FOX's Fringe involved giving its supporting cast some real dimension, especially Jasika Nicole's Astrid Farnsworth. Nicole speaks with TV Guide and reveals in this interview that she doesn't know Astrid's backstory either, other than "Astrid majored in music" and is "really, really smart." Not quite the three-dimensional backstory I was hoping for... though look for Astrid to become slightly more integral to the plot in episode 107. (TV Guide)

While David Tennant hasn't walked away from Doctor Who, rumors continue to swirl about possible replacements. Yet another candidate has emerged as a potential new Doctor, should Tennant decide not to pilot the TARDIS again. Paterson Joseph (Peep Show) may be the first black actor to play the Doctor though no one from production have in fact confirmed that Joseph is being considered for the role. He most recently appeared on screen in BBC's Jekyll mini-series, which was written by Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's inbound executive producer/head writer. Coincidence? You decide. (Sci Fi Wire)

Ricky Gervais has indicated that his short-lived BBC/HBO series Extras might not be over yet and that he wants to produce "another Christmas special" of the series, despite protests from co-creator Steven Merchant. "I think it would be funny to see Andy trying to make it in Hollywood," said Gervais in an interview. "The problem is, I don't think Stephen Merchant wants to do it. But I reckon he will if I insist!" (Digital Spy)

Adam Brody (The O.C.), Josh Gad (Back to You), Debi Mazar (Entourage), Olivia Thirlby (Juno), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), and Jake Busey (Broken) have been cast in FOX's animated comedy pilot presentation Good Vibes. Project, from writer/director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), 20th Century Fox Television, and Good Humor TV, is under consideration for spring and centers on two high school surfers who live near the beach. Cast will table read the script in November. (Variety)

In other FOX news, the network has signed a talent holding deal with Broadway star Kathryn Hahn, who starred on NBC's Crossing Jordan for six seasons. Under the deal, the network will cast her in either a comedy or drama project, though look for the talented thespian to most likely turn up in a comedy or dramedy. (Hollywood Reporter)

And Vince Vaughn has signed a deal to develop and executive produce a single-camera comedy pilot about the lives of young men who are just out of college and discovering truths about the real world. Pilot will be written by Jim and Steve Armogida (Grounded for Life). (Variety)

Bridget Moynahan (Six Degrees) will star opposite Donnie Wahlberg in Bunker Hill, Jerry Bruckheimer's drama pilot for TNT about crime and corruption in the Bunker Hill neighborhood of Boston. Wahlberg (Runaway) will play Mike Moriarty, a cop who grew up in Boston who returns to his home town to protect the streets of his beloved city but clashes with his sister-in-law Erin (Moynahan) who has a love/hate relationship with Mike since the death of her cop husband. (Hollywood Reporter)

More casting announcements: Kevin Sussman (Ugly Betty) has been cast as the lead in FOX's comedy pilot presentation Sincerely, Ted L. Nancy; his attachment has lifted the cast contingency on the project. Jessalyn Gilsig (Nip/Tuck) has signed on as a regular on FOX's dramedy pilot Glee from Ryan Murphy; she'll play Terri, the put-upon wife of Will (Matthew Morrison), a Spanish teacher who attempts to resurrect the high school's glee club. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Knight Rider's getting 22 episodes? Scary.

As for Doctor Who, I know David Tennant can't play the Doctor forever but I feel like the show just won't be the same without him. He's done such an incredible job with the character. Whoever comes in next will have very big shoes to fill.
Unknown said…
"David Tennant can't play the Doctor forever." And why not?! :-)

Of course my sons and I would still watch Doctor Who, but I reckon it'd be a tougher transition from Mr. Tennant than from, well, any of the other doctors (except perhaps Tom Baker).

As for Knight Rider, hey, you don't have to be over 18 to watch TV. Some shows are for younger demographics.
Anonymous said…
If only David Tennant was an actual Time Lord then he could play the Doctor forever. But since he isn't he will definitely have big shoes to fill. I just hope they don't go the Jason O'Mara route and choose someone more quirky.

@skst. Some TV is for a younger demographic but Knight Rider is aimed at 18-49 yo's....
Unknown said…
@geekchick: I figured, so I was sort of insulting it by implying they missed their target. No one ever said my humor's flawless. (Well, there was that one person, but they'd laugh at anything.)

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns