Alicia Silverstone Returns to NBC for Mid-Season Comedy
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, NBC,
This is familiar territory for Alicia Silverstone—a comedy on NBC. Unfortunately, the last time she tried that, with Miss Match in 2003, her series didn’t go the distance. Now NBC is ready to give Silverstone another chance, with The Singles Table, a mid-season comedy where she plays a doctor. She is replacing Pascale Hutton, who played the role in the pilot—she has now moved on to the drama Traveler.
Silverstone’s character has a booming career, but beyond that, has no life. The Singles Table will tell the story of five people who meet at a wedding reception—all seated at a table for the dateless invitees. I love Silverstone, so I’m looking forward to checking this out. In fact, any time Clueless is on TV, I have to watch it. Partly for her performance, and partly for Paul Rudd!
Read More 
| Zap2it
Gallery: Alicia Silverstone Returns to NBC for Mid-Season Comedy
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Extras—Season Two Ends the Series
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, BBC, Cable, HBO, Extras,
It’s become the Ricky Gervais Syndrome. Following in the footsteps of his original series, The Office, which ended after two seasons, so too shall Extras suffer the same fate. Gervais’ excellent series Extras is now running the second season on British TV and is expected to air on HBO in 2007. According to Gervais, “At the moment, I don’t think there will be another one. [Co-creator Stephen Merchant] and I have always had this thing where we only like to do two series. It’s like The Office—people are always asking why we didn’t do any more, but we just wanted to leave people wanting more.” Huh, must be a British thing. Here in the states, we run TV series until people just can’t take any more.
So, enjoy it while you can. The great thing about Extras are the cameos, with season two featuring appearances by Orlando Bloom, David Bowie and Daniel Radcliffe. At the end of the first season, Gervais’ character, Andy Millman, was selling a sitcom to the BBC; season two picks up with Andy losing control over the show. Let the laughs begin.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Extras—Season Two Ends the Series
NBC Plans to Stream New Fall Shows, Offer Blogs
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, Reality, NBC, ER, My Name Is Earl, Internet, Video,
In a press release from NBC today, they announced that NBC.com will stream episodes of their new fall shows for free—Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Kidnapped, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and Heroes—following the original airing of the episodes. NBC.com is also going to offer blogs written by a variety of shows’ creators, producers or cast members. The blogs will be online for every show on the air, with an additional live blog immediately after the premiere episode.
Jeff Gaspin, President, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, Digital Content and Cross-Network Strategy said of the news, “When you launch a new season, it’s important that you get the shows in front of as many eyeballs as possible. We’ve created a variety of new, engaging digital offerings to generate excitement and drive viewership to the network.”
Upcoming premiere blogs include:
- Deal or No Deal (9/18), The Banker’s Blog
- Studio 60 (9/18), Aaron Sorkin, Creator and Executive Producer and Thomas Schlamme, Executive Producer and Director
- Kidnapped (9/20), Jason Smilovic, Creator and Executive Producer
- My Name Is Earl (9/21), Greg Garcia, Creator and Executive Producer
- The Office (9/21), Greg Daniels, Executive Producer
- 30 Rock (11/11), Tina Fey, Creator and Executive Producer
A number of other blogs will accompany the shows’ premieres, including Law & Order, ER, Heroes, Friday Night Lights and Twenty Good Years, among others.
Read More | Lost Remote
Gallery: NBC Plans to Stream New Fall Shows, Offer Blogs
AOL Brings New Series a Week Early
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, NBC, Internet,
This afternoon, AOL offered Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip for viewing one week ahead of its television broadcast. Similarly, the comedy Twenty Good Years will go live on AOL on Wednesday, October 4th. AOL joined forces with Warner Bros. Television and NBC to offer an online sneak peak at each of these series. Studio 60 will continue to be available throughout the week, commercial-free. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip debuts on NBC on September 18th, while Twenty Good Years can be seen on October 11th.
“We’re pleased to be offering consumers the chance to view two of our most highly-anticipated shows ahead of their broadcast premiere,” said John Miller, Chief Marketing Officer, NBC Universal Television Group. “This partnership with AOL allows us to continue our aggressive online preview campaign and ensures an enormous number of users will have an opportunity to sample our product.”
Read More | Coming Soon
Gallery: AOL Brings New Series a Week Early
Eva Longoria Done with TV Series
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Desperate Housewives,
Eva Longoria told The Associated Press that she will not return to television following the end of Desperate Housewives, citing it as her last series. “I would never leave Desperate Housewives. I love doing both (TV and film), but I would never do another TV show after Desperate Housewives. No.” Seems a bit final, doesn’t it? Or perhaps, “famous last words” comes to mind. Longoria, a mere 31 years old, apparently would rather sink her hooks into big screen ventures rather than settle for small screen roles. Her role as Gabrielle Solis on Housewives is certainly meaty, so maybe she’s thinking that no other TV role could ever compare. She has really given no further information about her decision, but she is set to appear in the film How I Met My Boyfriend’s Dead Fiancee due in 2007. Earlier this year, she was seen with Michael Douglas in The Sentinel. Given all of her exposure from Housewives, it’s unlikely that she will see a shortage of movie roles any time soon. Desperate Housewives premieres September 24th.
Read More | Yahoo! News
Gallery: Eva Longoria Done with TV Series
The Week Ahead in TV
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Comedy, Daytime, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sports, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Amazing Race, The, Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, Family Guy, Rock Star, Survivor, News,
Things are starting to kick into high-gear now with the introduction of three high-profile reality shows and the finales of several others:
SUNDAY
Sunday Night Football (7pm EST on NBC): TV sales will increase once women realize that football season will contend with Desperate Housewives.
FOX Comedies (starting @ 8pm): Those men not already watching football—and/or live on the West Coast—will have a line-up of father-oriented comedies to watch: The Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy and The War at Home.
MONDAY
9/11 Anniversary (various): Most of the networks will choose to pay tribute on the 5-year anniversary. Other programming will most likely be interrupted by a scheduled Pres. Bush speech at 9pm EST.
TUESDAY
Big Brother (8pm on CBS): The finale between Mike Boogie and Erika. Sadly, someone has to be chosen the winner. Maybe they can just have each other.
Dancing with the Stars (8pm on ABC): The 2-hour debut of the ABC powerhouse. Am I the only one who believes that Mario Lopez still deserves some karmic embarrassment for cheating on Ali Landry before their wedding?
WEDNESDAY
Today Show (NBC): The debut of Meredith Vieira. I’m betting she’s happy to have a little more testosterone in her life.
Rock Star: Supernova (8pm on CBS): The winner will be announced. If Dilana doesn’t win, I’ll be boycotting CBS.
THURSDAY
Survivor: Cook Islands (8pm on CBS): My 24-hour boycott of CBS will have ended when I return to watch this controversial racial experiment. Being 1/2 Asian, 1/2 Hispanic…I’m not sure which team I will root for. I just know that if those two tribes merge, the other groups could be in a world of hurt.
SUNDAY (9/17)
The Amazing Race 10 (8:30pm on CBS): Twelve teams of two will depart from Seattle and travel around the world. Twelve teams of two will also be that much closer to Phil Keoghan than I will ever be.
Gallery: The Week Ahead in TV
Which New Series Will be Canceled?
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, WB, Cancellations, HDTV,
Website Brilliant But Cancelled is offering visitors the chance to vote on which new series they think will get the axe. Their contest, Death Watch Fall ‘06 offers weekly iPOD prizes and a grand prize of a 37 inch Aquos flatscreen HDTV. Hey, not too shabby, considering you probably have your own ideas about which shows will succeed or fail. Just log in each week and make your selection—each correct bet puts you into a drawing for the prizes. Place your bets now, since the contest starts today, September 8th and runs for nine weeks. Visit http://www.brilliantbutcancelled.com/deathwatch/ for more details. The odds change often, with 2:1 most likely to get the axe.
Read More | Brilliant But Cancelled
Gallery: Which New Series Will be Canceled?
Desperate Housewife Pregnant
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Comedy, ABC, Desperate Housewives, Gossip,
Well—talk about a potential cliffhanger…
Reps for Marcia Cross, 44, have confirmed exclusively to People magazine that the newlywed is pregnant. Just married in June, the Desperate Housewives star is reportedly due in April. You don’t need to do the math to figure out that she and her husband, stockbroker Tom Mahoney, acted quickly!
Given that most finales are filmed long before their May sweeps debuts, will her impending pregnancy have any impact on the show? If so, who could possibly be the father? Both men in her life—Rex and George—are already dead. Could it be Kyle Maclachlan’s?? He was making the moves on her at the end of last season.
But then again, it doesn’t have to affect the show at all. She wouldn’t be the first person to hide behind pillows. Seriously though— judging by her size, she probably won’t need to hide at all. She could probably go the whole season without anyone being the wiser…
Read More | People
Gallery: Desperate Housewife Pregnant
Comic Relief Makes a Comeback
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Cable, HBO, Cable/Satellite, News,
Remember how great Comic Relief used to be? They were wildly successful at raising money, yet somehow they stopped making new ones. Hard to believe that it’s been eight years since the last Comic Relief special. After the long hiatus, Comic Relief returns to HBO this fall—raising money for the Hurricane Katrina recovery. For those without HBO, their Time Warner “sibling” TBS will also air the Comic Relief 2006 concert live on Saturday, November 18th. The special is taking place in Las Vegas and it’s good to hear that the original hosts will be returning. Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal originally hosted Relief in 1986 and hosted the first eight concerts.
“Disasters like Katrina devastate the environment and cause suffering for all forms of life, both human and animal,” says Bob Zmuda, Comic Relief’s founder and president. “Comic Relief is determined to address these tragedies by benefiting everyone from the elderly to children and pets.” Look for live segments from New Orleans during the three hour show. The specifics of the performers have not yet been released.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: Comic Relief Makes a Comeback
TiVo and CBS Bring Early Preview of The Class
Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, CBS, DVR, Ratings,
One of CBS’ new (and heavily promoted) fall shows is about to get a one week bump for TiVo subscribers. The Class, an ensemble sitcom that includes Jason Ritter, will be available to TiVo subscribers as a free preview. This type of partnership is a first, and will likely be the first of many. George Schweitzer, head of marketing for CBS, commented that “CBS’ partnership with TiVo is a creative new way to use DVR technology to help drive television network viewing. Our goal is to introduce our fresh new comedy The Class... to a broad, diversified, receptive audience that has the ability to start trends and generate buzz, which is exactly what TiVo offers.”
CBS also has agreed to give TiVo users previews of three other new series: Jericho, Smith and Shark. TiVo users total around 4.4 million, while the number of households in the U.S. with DVRs is somewhere in the 8 to 12 million range. This type of arrangement could allow TiVo to set themselves apart from the other DVR services.
Read More | Zap2it
Gallery: TiVo and CBS Bring Early Preview of The Class
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