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Posts tagged as “News”

Reach

Yesterday was ABC day as Steve McPherson took the stage over at the TCA Press Tour.
It’s funny (but not really) to see how Steve seems to blame every failure and cancellation on Nielsen.
After heavily criticizing Nielsen, McPherson said about Dirty Sexy Money and Pushing Daisies being cancelled:

I really loved the shows. The producers delivered what they promised. For us it was a frustration that we couldn’t get a larger audience — or that Nielsen says we couldn’t get a larger audience.

Wait.
You’re saying that you had to cancel those shows based on a prediction taken from a system you don’t even believe in and publicly criticize?

Isn’t that the definition of hypocrisy?

In other news, Matthew Weiner finally signed that deal for Mad Men. The 10+ millions that were asked was kinda ridiculous given what we’re talking about here: a small cable channel and an indie studio on the brink of bankruptcy with a TV show having between 1 and 2 million viewers. Ultimately Weiner got a 2-year 7-digit contract with Lionsgate TV.
Not too shabby.

It's settled

As predicted, the cash machine triumphed in the end as Fox and WB reached a settlement for the Watchmen case.
Fox won’t co-own the money nor co-distribute it, but it will have a nifty “sizable cash payment” with a percentage on the film’s B.O. revenue.
As Nikki Finke loves to say over and over and over again: TOLDJA!

Now that that is settled, let’s move on.

NBC unveiled various announcements such as the premiere date of Amy Poheler’s show: April 9.
But still no name in sight.
I wonder how it’s gonna down in the TV Guide. “Tune in tonight for the thrilling premiere of NBC’s new hit show, The Untitled Daniels/Schur/Poehler Series.”
Also, no surprise, both The Office and 30 Rock have been renewed for another season.

In other news, TNT has ordered six additional scripts for Leverage.
New faces are joining SGU (which will actually premiere in the fall): Justin Louis, David Blue, Brian J. Smith and Jamil Walker Smith.
CBS has ordered the pilot for another comedy, Tick Tock, and FOX has greenlit two new dramas, Maggie Hill (a female heart surgeon suffering from schizophrenia) and Human Target (a security expert going undercover to protect targeted clients).

Oh, and a Jericho movie could be on its way.

Spin it

New infos are starting to leak on that Office not-really-a-spin-off-but-kinda, starring Amy Poehler, and premiering next April on NBC. First off, it will start shooting this month. Despite being made by Greg Daniels and Michael Shur and being shot documentary style the show will not be tied in to The Office. Yet Rachida Jones is joining the cast (with Aziz Ansari).
Will she play an all-new character?
Survey says probably.
Jones is playing Poehler’s BFF. Ansari is the intern constantly following Amy’s every move. Think Ryan inside Dwight. Or not. Why the hell would you put that image in your mind?
Anyway, sounds like The Office 2: Revenge of the Awesome.
Now, what about the main character? And what about the actual show?
The show is actually set in Pawnee, Indiana inside “The Department of Parks and Recreation” with Amy Poehler as its deputy chairman.
FYI the actual Pawnee in Indiana is currently a cornfield.

On the actual Office show meanwhile, Idris Elba has been cast as the new nemesis for Michael Scott. He should appear later this season for a 6-episode stint. Elba is going to play a new Dunder Mifflin corporate recruit that is going to make Scott’s life a living hell.

And I’m not even going to bother talking about that Gossip Girl spin-off prequel.