J.J. Abrams’ New Series

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, FOX, Lost,

J.J. Abrams, the power house behind Alias and Lost (not to mention Felicity and What About Brian), is back to rock your television screen. His latest series, Fringe, has been picked up by Fox—and this is a doozy. It’s got a spooky theme and a killer budget for the pilot. We’re talking a pilot that’s well over $10 million. How obscene is that? Given, it will be a two hour pilot, but still! The show is so far director-less and lacks a cast, but with J.J. on board, you can bet it will grab some viewers. Of course, I thought the same of last season’s… uh, what was it called? Six Degrees? Seriously, I tuned in just because it was a J.J. deal and didn’t like it at all (and I guess I wasn’t alone, because it wasn’t around for long!). Abrams says Fringe includes elements of The X-Files and the Twilight Zone, so it could be interesting, with plenty of paranormal mysteries to be had. According to Abrams, “It’s definitely meant to scare the hell out of you, but it’s also meant to make you laugh… It pushes all the buttons of things we loved from our childhood.”

Read More | Coming Soon

TV on DVD:  September 25, 2007

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, ABC, Cable, CBS, FOX, NBC, King of Queens, My Name Is Earl, DVD,

Here are some of the TV-on-DVD options you can find on the shelves this Tuesday:

• What About Brian (Complete series)
• The Streets of San Francisco (Season 1, Vol. 2)
• My Name is Earl (Season 2)
• The Unit (Season 2)
• Drawn Together (Season 2)
• Grounded for Life (Season 5)
• The King of Queens (Season 9)

Click here to see the Movies-On-DVD options for this week.
Click here to see the new titles released on HD DVD and Blu-Ray.

‘What About Brian’ to be Canceled?

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Drama, Prime Time, ABC, CBS, Cancellations, Ratings, Renewals,

Ruh-roh. This is one piece of casting news that can’t be good news for the fate of What About Brian? Co-star Amanda Detmer will reportedly star in a comedy pilot for CBS. Does this pretty much squelch any chance of renewal for the low-rated Brian? Say it ain’t so, but I think fans of the show will not be too surprised if it doesn’t live to see another season. Many of us enjoyed this little mid-season entry last year, but it has been fizzling fast this year, despite the addition of hotties Tiffani Thiessen and Stacy Keibler. Anway, Detmer will join Paul F. Thompkins in the documentary-style comedy, 1321 Clover. For those who watch Brian, I’m sure we can all agree that the cupcake business wasn’t doing much for Detmer’s character.

Read More | Zap2it

Tiffani Thiessen Joins Cast of What About Brian

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Dancing With The Stars, Ratings,

With the recent news that Stacy Keibler, of Dancing With the Stars, is joining What About Brian, and now Tiffani Thiessen, it seems that the show is desperately scrambling to build viewer interest. How best to do that? Hiring on a couple of hot women certainly can’t hurt. Of course, maintaining some more interesting storylines would be a good start too. I don’t know what happened to this show—this mid-season replacement was so great last year, then just seemed to go nowhere this season.

Thiessen, of Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210 fame, will play Natasha Dylan, an intern of Dave’s who is now his boss at KC Gaming. Apparently, she’ll be sexy (naturally) and manipulative, and will be playing mind games with both Brian and Adam. Stacy Keibler will play an actress and model named Stephanie, who moves in downstairs from Brian (Barry Watson). She’ll be on hand to provide additional sexiness, and to create tension between Brian and his girlfriend. My question is, whatever happened to Marjorie (played by Sarah Lancaster)?

Read More | Comingsoon.net

What About Brian Picked Up

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Ratings, Renewals,

We already reported not even two weeks ago that ABC was ordering four additional scripts of the sophomore drama, What About Brian—and now, the series has been picked up for the full season! Wow, that was fast. Must have been some quality scripts, huh? With Barry Watson (as Brian) leading a cast of interesting characters and storylines, it seemed a safe bet that this show would stick around for the rest of the season. While ratings are not stellar, they did get a bump from 6.3 million last season to 6.7 million this fall. With The Bachelor in the timeslot before it, What About Brian is able to hold on to 85 percent of the lead-in show’s audience. Adults 18-49, and in particular, women 18-34, are a strong part of the viewing audience.

Read More | Zap2it

What About Brian Receives Additional Script Order

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Drama, Prime Time, ABC, Ratings,

ABC already seemed to take a chance by bringing back What About Brian for a second season, following less-than-stellar viewership for the mid-season entry last year. The network seems smitten with Brian, ordering four additional scripts—although there has been no commitment by ABC to film any more episodes. ABC has also ordered additional scripts for The Nine, Help Me Help You and Men in Trees; the other networks have also made similar arrangements with Friday Night Lights, Justice, The Class and Studio 60.

What About Brian has made a promising start to its second season, following Brian (Barry Watson), as the only single guy in his group of friends. Ratings are up from 6.3 million last season to 6.9 million this fall. Brian also retains about 85 percent of the show before it, The Bachelor. I’m hoping What About Brian goes the distance this season, since I’ve followed it since last year and am looking forward to seeing where they take the storylines.

Read More | Zap2it