TV Bulletin Board (Feb. 8)
02/08/08 17:34
By ED BARK
Masterpiece Theatre it wasn't. Still, WWE Smackdown! racked up a lot of ratings points on UPN and then The CW.
Now, after a decade of carefully choreographed carnage, Smackdown! is ending its long broadcast run and negotiating a new deal elsewhere, WWE says on its Web site. CW wasn't biting anymore, and its "exclusive negotiation period" expired on Jan. 31st.
The two-hour show will remain on CW until the end of the 2007-08 TV season in May. CW had no comment on its press Web site, which frankly is still pretty pitiful.
***Sci Fi Channel's fourth season of Battlestar Galactica will launch on Friday, April 4th, the network says. On the Friday before that, two half-hour appetizers -- Battlestar Galactica: Revisited and Battle Galactica: The Phenomenon -- will recap previous events and then brag about the series' "impact on pop culture." Celebrity interviewees include Brad Paisley and Seth Green.
***NBC has a new voice for the new KITT after Will Arnett (Arrested Development) withdrew because of a "conflicting sponsorship deal." That would be GMC Truck commercials, for which Arnett does voiceovers. KITT is from the enemy Ford Mustang family.
Anyway, the new voice is Val Kilmer, recently seen in CBS' Commanche Moon miniseries. NBC's Knight Rider movie, which potentially could become a series, premieres on Feb. 17th.