Jul 2008
TV Bulletin Board (July 28)
07/28/08 10:02
By ED BARK
Ryan Seacrest soloed as Emmy host last year. This time he'll be joined by his four rivals in the first-time category of "Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program."
The Associated Press reports that Seacrest and fellow nominees Jeff Probst (Survivor), Heidi Klum (Project Runway), Tom Bergeron (Dancing with the Stars) and Howie Mandel (Deal or No Deal) will time-share on the 60th annual prime-time awards ceremony, scheduled for Sept. 21 on ABC.
***Hard-core Harvey Keitel will be joining the cast of ABC's new Life On Mars series, Variety says. He'll play a rules-flaunting homicide detective in a series that already co-stars another actor with previous mob ties, Michael Imperioli from The Sopranos. Adapted from a same-named British series, Life on Mars is set in the 1970s, where series star Jason O'Mara (Men In Trees) finds himself after a car wreck.
***Fox's latest So You Think You Can Dance tour, featuring the show's 10 finalists, will make an Oct. 10th stop at Grand Prairie's Nokia Theatre.
Fort Worth's Joshua Allen, still among the competition's Final Six, is listed as a participant. But Comfort Fedoke of Dallas so far is not.
That could change. Fedoke fell just short of the Final 10, but later was reinstated after dancer Jessica King could not continue due to injury. Fedoke then made the Final 8 before being voted off last week.
The So You Think You Can Dance press release for the Nokia stop lists King as one of the 10 featured dancers. Tickets go on sale Aug. 2nd at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.
***Fox's Secret Millionaire reality series will premiere on Dec. 3rd, the network has announced. Its premise: a real-life millionaire "goes undercover not only to experience real life in America's poorest neighborhoods, but also to uncover everyday heroes."
No millionaires have been named yet.
***Premature evacuation? HBO's sexually explicit Tell Me You Love Me has been pulled after the network previously announced that the series had been renewed for a second season.
Its creator, Cynthia Mort, said the show couldn't re-locate its G-spot after premiering last fall.
"Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, we were unable to find the direction of the show for a second season," Mort said in a statement.
TV Bulletin Board (July 24)
07/24/08 13:41
By ED BARK
Dallas-based HDNet Movies, launched in 2001 by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Philip Garvin, has a six-night Steven Spielberg festival ready to roll.
Included is a rare opportunity to see Spielberg's first made-for-TV movie in high-definition. That would be the 1971 cult classic Duel, starring Dennis Weaver as a businessman who's pursued and terrorized by the bad-ass driver of a big-assed truck. It's slated for Wednesday, July 30th at 7 p.m. central.
The Spielberg salute begins on Monday, July 28th at 7:05 p.m., with his first feature film, 1974's The Sugarland Express. Night-by-night, the other four titles, all in high-definition, are:
Tuesday -- Empire of the Sun (1987) at 7 p.m.
Thursday -- E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) at 7 p.m.
Friday -- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) at 7 p.m.
Saturday -- Jaws (1975) at 7 p.m.
***Hoping to capitalize on surprisingly solid ratings for its first two episodes, CBS is shifting the made-in-Canada cop drama Flashpoint to a more visible Thursday, 9 p.m. (central) slot, beginning July 24th.
Evicted to Fridays at the same hour is the 1970s-set Swingtown, which hasn't made much of an impression since its June 5th launch.
TV Bulletin Board (July 21)
07/21/08 07:46
By ED BARK
Emmy's most-nominated drama series, comedy series and miniseries also cleaned up Saturday night at the 24th annual Television Critics Association awards.
AMC's Mad Men, NBC's 30 Rock and HBO's John Adams all received multiple honors while the latter network's Emmy-rebuffed The Wire copped a Heritage Award after its final season.
Mad Men led the way with wins as Program of the Year, Outstanding New Program and Outstanding Achievement in Drama.
30 Rock won for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Individual Achievement in Comedy, with star and co-creator Tina Fey recognized.
John Adams took home trophies for Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials and for star Paul Giamatti's performance in the title role.
The Career Achievement award went to Saturday Night Live founding father Lorne Michaels, who also is co-executive producer of 30 Rock and brought Conan O'Brien to NBC.
Ken Burns' The War on PBS was cited for Outstanding Achievement in News & Information. PBS' Worldgirl won for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Program.
The Smothers Brothers opened the show with a performance.
***Media Rights Capital, which will be programming Sunday nights for the increasingly little-seen CW network this fall, has announced the four series it will put on.
Surviving Suburbia is a family sitcom starring Bob Saget. No one else has been cast yet.
A one-hour "dramatic comedy," Valentine, is about a family of Greek Gods, the Valentines, "whose purpose is to bring about the rare, strange and often hilarious thing called love." Jaime Murray, who played the evil temptress Lila on Showtime's Dexter, is the biggest name in the cast.
The one-hour Easy Money features Laurie Metcalf and Judge Reinhold in the saga of a family-run high interest loan business.
And the reality series In Harm's Way will spotlight "brave individuals who risk their lives in a multitude of life-threatening jobs."
Perhaps you're asking, "Why bother?" Good question.
***NBC Universal-owned Sci Fi Channel plans to present 36 made-for-TV action movies next year. That's 11 more than this year.
Titles include Malibu Shark Attack (with former LaFemme Nikita star Peta Wilson); Hellhounds (directed by Rick Schroder); Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (co-starring Shannen Doherty, who also will guest star on CW's new 90210 series); Phantom Racer (with Greg Evigan) and Lake Placid 3.
***The Oxygen cable network, also now owned by NBC Universal, says it's going to launch Dance Your Ass Off next year.
The reality-competition series will feature "talented, full-figured contestants who struggle with their weight and dance to unleash their inner thin," Oxygen says. "Losing weight has never been sexier or more fun."
Um, let's just leave it at that.
TV Bulletin Board (July 9)
07/09/08 09:16
By ED BARK
W T F?! Or maybe, O M G!!! How about "Holy jumpin' dog crap, with a fire hydrant leg lift on the side!!!" Whatever.
Fox has signed the Osbournes -- Ozzy, Sharon, Jack, Kelly -- to front a new prime-time variety series titled The Osbournes: Loud and Dangerous.
The former MTV reality show kingpins will preside over at least six episodes, says Fox, with no air date announced yet. The show's blueprint calls for it to "mix musical performances, comedy sketches and game show competitions with the Osbournes' unique blend of humor and outrageous sensibility."
Fox also says, "Move over, Donny and Marie." Here's betting they'll be guesting.
***The storied ESPN team of Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick will be reunited this fall on NBC's Football Night In America studio show. It'll be a crowded field of play, with Bob Costas, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Tiki Barber and Peter King also returning.
"I will be doing the highlights for the red states and Keith will be doing the highlights for the blue states," Patrick joshes.
They last worked together from 1992-97 on ESPN's SportsCenter.
***Showtime has a studio team in place for Inside the NFL, which it's picking up this season after a 31-year run on HBO.
The ubiquitous Collinsworth will join James Brown and Phil Simms. The premiere date is Sept. 10th.