Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: "Flight of the Conchords" Might Stop Flying, Rosenbaum Arrives at "V," James Franco to "30 Rock," Colin Hanks, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

Flight of the Conchords star/co-creator Jemaine Clement has indicated that there might not be a third season of their HBO comedy series but said that a final decision will be made within a month, once Clement discusses it with fellow co-creators Bret McKenzie and James Bobin. "It very likely might not," said Clement. "It could come back in a shorter season or like a special." One major hurdle is that the team would not only have to write the scripts for the series but also the music as well. HBO, meanwhile, will stand by the Conchords' decision either way. "We've left their future entirely in their hands," said HBO spokesperson Nancy Lesser. "We would love to have more, and we left an open door at HBO." (Hollywood Reporter)

Chuck executive producer Scott Rosenbaum has replaced Scott Peters as the showrunner on ABC's sci-fi series V, which launched yesterday evening. Peters will remain on board the series as an executive producer. Jeff Bell, meanwhile, has left the series. Rosenbaum has signed a two-year deal with Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind V. (Los Angeles Times/Show Tracker)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that James Franco will follow his run on General Hospital with a guest shot on NBC's 30 Rock. Citing an insider, Ausiello reports that "Franco (playing himself) will be involved in a faux romance with Jane Krakowski’s Jenna — a relationship engineered by their respective agents." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Colin Hanks (Mad Men) will star opposite Bradley Whitford in FOX's upcoming drama series Jack and Dan, produced by Fox Television Studios under their international co-production business model. Hanks will play Jack, "an ambitious, by-the-book detective whose habit of undermining himself has resulted in a dead-end position at the Los Angeles Police Department." He's partnered with drunken cop Dan (Whitford). Production is scheduled to begin in early 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

FOX is developing an untitled espionage drama with writer Harris Wilkinson and Chernin Entertainment that will revolve around a specialized division of the CIA that uses remote viewing, i.e., intelligence gathering using paranormal means. Project will be executive produced by Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, and Lauren Stein. Len Wiseman is attached to direct the pilot. (Variety)

CBS has ordered five additional episodes of freshman comedy Accidentally on Purpose, bringing its season total to 18 installments, just short of a full season pickup. With the additional episode order, it leaves only drama series Three Rivers without any additional commitment at the network; the medical drama is widely expected to be axed though no decision has been made at this point. (Variety)

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts for the 82nd Academy Awards. "I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy, Alec Baldwin," said Martin in a statement. (via press release)

Former Dirty Sexy Money star Blair Underwood is set to reprise his role as Daniel Harris on CBS' The New Adventures of Old Christine in an upcoming episode set to air in January. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Writer Craig Doyle has set up two projects, one at FOX and the other at CBS. The FOX project is an untitled comedy about a screw-up who has to rescue his severely Type-A sister after she suffers a tragedy. It hails from 20th Century Fox Television and Chernin Entertainment. The second, a multi-camera comedy entitled Three Sisters, is about three very different men who wed three sisters who are all extremely close. CBS Television Studios and Katalyst Films will produce. (Hollywood Reporter)

TVGuide.com's Natalie Abrams has an interview with Glee star Mark Salling. "I would never rule it completely out, especially with this group of writers," said Salling about a possible second go-around with Lea Michele's Rachel. "You never know what's going to happen and who's going to be with whom. I hope it does; I like that dynamic myself. It seems like the fans really liked it, so hopefully they'll take that into consideration." (TVGuide.com)

E! has ordered eight episodes of reality series Bank of Hollywood, in which everyday people will be able to plead with celebrities and business moguls for money for a specific purpose. Panelists will include Candy Spelling, poker player Vanessa Rousso, Wilhelmina Models president Sean Patterson, and Pussycat Dolls singer Melody Thornton. Series, from Ryan Seacrest Prods., Fever Media, and BBC, is set to debut on December 14th. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC will pre-empt supernatural drama Eastwick on Wednesday, November 18th in favor of ABC News' interview with Janet Jackson about her late brother Michael Jackson. (Variety)

A&E has ordered ten half-hour episodes of an untitled docudrama focusing on Kirstie Alley's life as a single mother attempting to lose weight. Project, from FremantleMedia North America, is expected to debut in 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

CMT is making a foray into the scripted television business and has hired former FOX comedy executive Brad Johnson to oversee the development of roughly twelve scripted comedy projects, with the goal of getting two on the air in 2010. The cabler has also ordered two adventure series, Danger Coast, from ITV and Gator 911, from 12 Forward. Both will launch in second quarter 2010. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Hadley said…
Flight of the Conchords will be missed but I suppose I would rather have them off working on a new project rather than hastily cobbling something together for HBO. Clement and McKenzie are fantastically talented and I'm sure we'll see more excellent work from them in the future, whether that be a Conchords HBO special or a new live show or a new line of camera phones and hair helmets!

Popular posts from this blog

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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

In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj