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Posts tagged as “News”

Bursting the Bubble

As the Upfronts are approaching, looks like everyone is talking about the shows “on the bubble”. Chuck, Dollhouse, Medium, Cold Case, you name it.

A friend of mine told me it was way too early to try the guessing game so I suppose I’ll post my pick-up guess list in a week or two, even though I already have my own idea of what is going to be picked up or cancelled, and it’s not necessarily what most people think.

In the meantime, like I said, several websites have their own grids up, or at least are asking people to vote in to save a show.
You have USA Today, and even the Canadian TV Guide.
And of course E!’s Kristin annual “Save One Show” campain.

The Hollywood Reporter also has its own little article relating to bubble shows.
I wouldn’t be as optimistic nor sombre as they are on some of the shows listed though.

Also up on THR is the early buzz regarding upcoming pilots.
Unsurprisingly, ABC’s Flash Forward is a lock for series order. I’m thinking it’s going to be coupled with Lost.
Same goes for FOX’s Human Target which in my opinion will either be put with Dollhouse, or, if the show gets canned, with 24.
No surprises as well with Eastwick, Happy Town, and V, most likely getting picked up.

In the meantime, Syfyllis is teaming up with non other than Will Smith to produce Unfinished Business, a spin-off to Medium with the main character being Miles from Lost.
Wait, I’m sorry, I’m being told the show is actually about an ex-cop that can see the memories of recently dead people.
The pilot should be penned by Iron Jawed Angels‘s Sally Robinson and directed by Band of Brothers‘ Mikael Salomon.

Upcoming


Former Illinois Governor Rod “Lego Man” Blagojevich has made a deal to star in NBC’s I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here, the American adaptation of the famous UK reality show.

I admit I laughed out loud a bit at the announcement.
And even more when an NBC spokesman soon after declared:

Rod Blagojevich will be a participant on the show pending the court’s approval.

Priceless.

On a whole other subject, most of the Stargate SG-1 cast will unite once again and join the spin-off Stargate Universe.
Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Gary Jones, will reprise their roles in guest stints.
Janelle Monáe will also guest as herself to play a couple of songs from her latest album.

I find interesting that so many cast members from the original show are jumping on the new ship, especially given the fact that this spin-off is supposed to be almost completely detached from its two predecessors with almost no real tie-in to the current Stargate mythology (except of course being the show’s launching pad).
Add that to the fact that the premise is based on them stuck on a spaceship and not being able to return to Earth, and you’ve got yourself some strange cameos throughout the show’s history.

And finally, a bit of 3-D news.
AMG TV is to become the first 3-D dedicated network in America.
For about $50, you’ll be able to turn any HDTV into a 3-D TV, including the cost of glasses, with the help of an add-on box for cable and satellite subscribers.

The deal links AMG to Signet International Holdings and to Kerner Broadcast Corp., a spin-off company from non other than the famous Industrial Light and Magic.
Kerner will basically supplying the programming, creating new 3-D content as well as upgrading and converting already-existing 2-D content.

Although the quality is not yet on par with actual High Definition (5 out of 10 in terms of quality says the CEO of Kerner Broadcasting), the technology is affordable enough to get it to the masses.

Surely a very interesting year to come for television.

Passing the buck

After being right for a day, it looks like I (and everyone else) is wrong.
Showtime has not picked up Tim Robbin’s pilot which he both wrote and directed (Possible Side Effects).

Rumors are flying around that the pass on Possible Side Effects is due to its subject matter (the pharmaceutical drug industry) and pharmaceutical corps are among the top advertisers over at another Viacom network: CBS.

So, ultimately, out of the 4 pilots ordered by Sho, none of them were picked up.
Cash thrown out the window?

Variety has a piece up discussing how the networks are trying to minimize the spendings by co-producing or buying international properties instead of investing in pilots that won’t ultimately be picked up.
Overall, a pretty interesting read which takes a look at why certain shows are currently on the bubble.

In other TV news, TNT meanwhile has canceled Trust Me.

As for the recent Dollhouse/13-episode matter, I’ll be talking about that in more detail very soon in my follow-up article to the Four Reasons why Dollhouse might be Renewed.