Now that I’ve got your attention, yes, Carlos Bernard, who played Tony Almeida on 24, will be appearing in the upcoming back half of season 3 of Burn Notice.

Details on whether he’ll be a client or a nemesis of Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan, has yet to be disclosed.

Carlos already filmed his role and now, all we have to do is wait until Burn Notice returns from its midseason break.  Grr.

I know you can’t cross franchises, but wouldn’t that be sweet?

Michael’s voice:  “When dealing with an ex-CTU agent, one has to have every tool he’s ever developed at his disposal.  Patience and a keen eye on the many probabilities are essential in…  (phone ring)…  Not now, mom!”

Source:  Buzz Focus

• Weekly TV Wrap Up – March 19th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 23rd, 2009
• Burn Notice Panel – Comic-Con 2009
• Weekly TV Update – April 23rd, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 30th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap-Up – June 4th 2009

This week, we’re going to chat about a new website for Chuck, an award bestowed upon Doctor Who and a bit about Syfy dominating Tuesdays with Warehouse 13.  We also delve into some news about Burn Notice, Royal Pains & Dollhouse.

Some cast members have been added to Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien pilot on TNT, we have an interesting tidbit on Disney and a quick, condensed look at last week’s Summer TV ratings.

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Doctor Who Recognized By Guinness

The series Doctor Who has just been recognized as the most successful sci-fi series by the Guinness Book of World Records.

They base this on quantifiable items such as ratings, sales of DVD’s, iTunes traffic and books sold. Longevity of the series was also part of the recognition process.

Doctor Who premiered in 1963 and has had a sporadic but continued successful existence.

What sci-fi show has the longest consecutive running record?  Stargate SG-1.  It had a consecutive 10-year run.

Source:  Variety

Syfy Channel News

Warehouse 13 is proving itself a solid starter for the newly renamed network.

Warehouse 13 (WH13) hit new highs for a scripted series on the network.  They pulled in 1.8 million adults between the ages of 25-54 and 1.4 million adults aged 18-49.

In the 9 p.m. hour of Tuesday, Syfy actually delivered more viewers between that ages of 25-54 than ABC did, and more male viewers than both ABC and Fox.

It was the top scripted drama on cable to boot.

But that’s not all.

As numbers come in from the Live+7 ratings, (That’s live viewers plus DVR playback over the course of 7 days), the premiere of WH13 brought in approximately 4 million viewers.  Both WH13 and Eureka are doing some serious ratings numbers.

In fact, with both WH13 and Eureka, Syfy pulled in their best July numbers ever in its 17-year history.  Even Ghost Hunters International is doing its part and bringing in 1.9 million viewers.

Right now, it seems that their plans are on track to grow the network.  We just have to see if it will hold up over time.

If Warehouse 13 keeps going strong like it has, they’ve got a chance.

Source:  NBCUMV

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Burn Notice Gets Renewed

Michael Westen is going to continue to give us instructional guidance on how to make things for another 16 episodes.

That’s how many episodes USA Network has ordered for Burn Notice.  USA also ordered 16 episodes for the show Royal Pains.

Both shows are doing great, pulling in between 4 and 7 million viewers each.

Source:  Variety

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Dollhouse Guest Star News

Jamie Bamber (Captain Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama in Battlestar Galactica) is going to be a guest star on the season 2 premiere of Dollhouse.

Bamber’s character will be engaged in an assignment with Echo (Eliza Dushku) and her new handler, Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett).  Wha!?  That’s all we have.

Season 2 will premiere on Friday, Sept 25th 2009 on Fox.

Source:  E Online

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Spielberg’s Alien Invasion Gets More Cast

Steven Spielberg’s unnamed alien invasion project that’s coming to TNT has more cast hoping on board.

Moon Bloodgood, Jessy Schram, Seychelle Gabriel and Maxim Knight will be joining Noah Wyle on the alien invasion pilot.

The show takes place just after aliens have wiped out most of humanity and focuses on a ragtag group of soldiers and people led by Noah Wyle as they struggle against the occupying alien invasion.

Is it me, or does this sound like something from Battlestar Galactica?

Source:  Sci Fi Wire

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Disney To Charge For Content

Disney is looking to start charging for it’s online content that ranges from movies to games and TV shows.

The premise is that they’re looking at a single web site that may be subscription based that will provide these products.

They’re already making revenue off their ventures on Hulu and iTunes and I suspect that the performance of these two outlets is what prompted this decision.

In what I find to be a rather insightful statement by CEO Robert Iger, he said:

“consumers spend $5 an hour at theaters to see movies, 75 cents an hour to read books, newspapers and magazines and 50 cents an hour to watch cable and satellite TV, but only 25 cents an hour to surf the Internet.”

“There’s plenty of room for people to spend more money on things that they’re doing online.”

Plenty of room?  Is that how they see us.  Web surfers with plenty of room to spend more money?  Nice.  Real nice.

Source:  Media Week

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Summer TV Ratings

Of the top 20 broadcast shows last week, NCIS was the best rated scripted drama in 3rd with 9.7 million viewers.  The Mentalist was 4th with 9.6 mil viewers & CSI: Miami brought in 8.5 million viewers.

Outside the top 10, CSI was 11th with 7.8 mil viewers, Law And Order:SVU was 12th and CSI:NY was in 15th.

On the cable side of things, Burn Notice was the top dog with 6.8 million viewers, The Closer was 2nd with 6.6 million viewers.  NASCAR was 3rd, Royal Pains 4th with 6.2 mil. and NCIS was 8th with 4.9 mil. viewers.

Source:  TV By The Numbers

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Chuck Online Hangout

During Comic-Con, the new website called ChuckMeOut.com launched during the Chuck panel at Comic-Con.

At ChuckMeOut.com, you can get behind the scenes clips from cast and crew, blogs from the set and social networking tools.

So go, enjoy and let us know what you think!

Source: NBCUMV

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Reader comments are always welcome here on Screen Rant.  Ask questions, leave opinions or just say hi!

• Weekly TV Wrap Up – June 25, 2009
• Syfy’s Warehouse 13 Dominates Tuesday Ratings
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – August 6th, 2009
• Stargate Universe Premiere Overnight Rating Numbers
• Warehouse 13 Setting Records For Syfy
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 23rd, 2009

The Burn Notice panel was a very popular event in Ballroom 20 on Thursday at Comic-Con.  Michael Shanks moderated.  When he was announced, I wasn’t sure my hearing would survive, but it did.

The panel had Ben Shenkman, Matt Nix, Alfredo Barrios jr., actor Jay Karns, actor Seth Petersen and Bruce Campbell.  When Bruce came out, the crowd went berserk and I finally did lose my hearing.  Twilighters have nothing on this group.

The panel had a few great videos.  One of them had Michael Westen narrating how to not miss any Comic-Con panels.  It’s simple really.  All you have to do is create a problem that delays one of the other panels to give you enough time to get over to it.  Of course Michael Westen’s methods always appeal to me, so I’m not going to describe it.  It’s mine, and several hundred others secret now.

We then got a bit of a sneak peek at scenes from this season’s final episodes this year.  I have to say, explosions in Ballroom 20 are so much better than in my living room.

Matt Nix jumped right into the fray and talked about Michael’s missing mystery father.  He humorously noted that Micheal’s father did not burn him.  That was our huge inside scoop.  He added a bit about the addition of family to the show, saying that spies don’t always have families and it was a great angle to add to the show.

Pretty much, the panel was about Bruce Campbell, even when he tried to let the other personalities have the chat time.

Someone yelled out they love Bruce.  Campbell got up, called them up to the stage and gave them money for saying it.  (I’ll presume the denomination of a $20 bill, but I wasn’t close enough to see.)

He was asked what part of Sam’s character are more like or least like Bruce himself.

Most like:  He wears those shirts all the time.
Least likely:  his wife doesn’t let him sleep with rich Miami women.

Bruce couldn’t help himself and brought up that there’s a new Evil Dead movie, and he’s going to call it Dead Notice.  People enjoyed that levity directed towards everyone’s desire to see a new Evil Dead movie.

Matt Nix added, while thinking on this new idea, There’s a reason you want to fight a zombie with a chain saw.  LOL, I can hear Michael’s voice on that one.

I’ve never actually caught on to this, but they have little Easter Egg-like nuggets through the show.  Has anyone noticed that one of Fiona’s boyfriends name is Campbell?  The different restaurants they visit are named after the writers children and other little bits.  Now we’ll have to start paying close attention.

Michael Shanks is pretty snarky & witty and as he opened up the floor to attendee questions, he noted how these “can be so interesting!”

Bruce Campbell was asked how to start being a film maker, considering his origins.  he said don’t copy anyone.  Do things that people will want to copy from you.

They’re almost done shooting this season and they’re looking for fun things to do with Michael’s brother and I swore I hear them say “or another brother.”

In case you’re wondering, the naming of Brennan’s Yogurt led to 3 hour argument about what to name it.

Someone asked about a Burn Notice movie and Matt Nix said let’s put it to the people and asked the crowd.  the crowd lit up and my ears were done.

Bruce noted that Matt Nix does not use digital explosions.  They’ve apparently blown a house off it’s foundation with their explosions.  Nice!

Someone asked if they would quit letting Sam get his butt kicked.  Bruce then asked the guy to come up, and gave out more money!

How do they come up with the Macgyverisms / voice overs:  The show has a former intelligence operative as a consultant, that and the internet.

It was asked if Bruce offered a role in Drag Me To Hell.  Bruce said, no and then proceeded to hem and haw and said that Sam will pay for that and have to put him in Spider-Man 4, 5 and 6.

Someone asked Matt nix if he has Bruce help him write the funny lines of the show.  Someone else just made $20 more bucks.

Bruce noted out loud, “How was Comic-Con Bruce?”  He answered himself: “Expensive!”

A guy dressed up as a jester ran up to the mic and Shanks said “Oh, we gotta hear this one.” But the Jester was overtaken with another instructional video from Micheal Westen on surviving Comic-Con.

This was a fun panel between Shanks, Campbell and the videos – fun and interactive panel.

• Tony Almeida To Guest Star On Burn Notice
• Heroes’ Odd Off-Site Comic-Con Panel
• Raimi Insists He AND Campbell Will Be Back For ‘Evil Dead 4′
• WonderCon 2009 – ‘Chuck’ Panel
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 23rd, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 30th, 2009

Hello from San Diego at Comic-Con.  Today’s bit of weekly TV news is a bit short today but I have managed to include some not so good news about Burn Notice’s Jeffrey Donovan, some good news for 24 star Keifer Sutherland, returning news for Jorja Fox on CSI, and TV ratings from last week.

Jorja Fox Returns to CSI

Jorja Fox’s relationship with CBS and CSI is an off-again, on-again event over the last few years.  It looks like things are “on” again as Fox will be appearing in the upcoming 10th season premiere and an additional few episodes throughout the season.

When inquired if Petersen would return and CBS has no comment.  Grr.

Source:  TV Guide

Michael Westen Really Burned

Burn Notice star Jeffrey Donovan has been busted on July 12th for operating his motor vehicle while under the influence, down in Florida.

He was released on bail.

Source:  TV Guide

24’s Keifer Sutherland Off The Hook

While one star got into trouble, another got out of it.  The Manhattan district attorney has decided not to pursue charges against Keifer Sutherland in that head butting case where Keifer stepped in and reportedly head-butted fashion designer Jack McCullough.

Then again, Sutherland and McCullough did meet and reconcile their issues after the fact.

With the charges dropped, Sutherland is no longer threatening his five-year probation issue from his 2007 DUI.

Source:  TV Guide

Torchwood To Continue

Without giving away too much, Russell T. Davies has said that he’s fairly confident that Torchwood will go on.  There are many different options on the table, so don’t fret.

Just thought you’d like to know.

Source:  EW.com

TV Ratings

This week, sports led the way in ratings while a few reality shows kept sticking their nose in the ratings mix.

I try to stick to the ‘all viewers’ mode to capture a better, more rounded set of ratings, though at times, reality programming just doesn’t go away.

Rank, Show, (R)= Repeat, (S)=Special, Network, Viewers (Millions)

1.  MLB All-Star Game (S) – FOX – 14.6
2.  America’s Got Talent – Tue – NBC – 13.5
3.  America Got Talent – Wed 9PM – NBC – 11.6
4.  MLB All-Star Pre-Game – (S) – FOX – 11.2
5.  NCIS (R) – CBS – 10.5
6.  Two and a Half Men – (R) – CBS – 9.1
7.  The Mentalist – (R) – CBS – 8.4
8.  The Big Bang Theory – (R) – CBS – 8.2
9.  The Bachelorette – ABC – 8.0
10. CSI: Miami – (R) – CBS – 8.0
11. CSI: NY – (R) – CBS – 8.0
12. Wipeout – ABC – 7.7
13. CSI – (R) – CBS – 7.7
14. CBS News: Remember Cronkite – (S) – CBS – 7.6
15. Criminal Minds – (R) – CBS – 7.5
16. America Got Talent – Tue 8PM – (R) – NBC – 7.5
17. So You Think You Can Dance – Thur – FOX – 7.2
18. Law And Order: SVU – (R) – NBC – 7.1
19. So You Think You Can Dance – Wed – FOX – 6.9
20. America Got Talent- Wed 8PM – (R) – NBC – 6.5

Noted Shows On Cable

Rank, Program, Net, Viewers (millions)
3rd – Burn Notice on USA – 6.7
4th – The Closer on TNT – 6.6
5th – Royal Pains on USA – 6.2
19th – NCIS on USA – 4.3

Source:  TV By The Numbers

Thanks for coming by.  Reader comments are always welcome here on Screen Rant.

• Weekly TV Wrap-Up – June 4th 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 2nd 2009
• Torchwood Premiering On BBC America
• Tony Almeida To Guest Star On Burn Notice
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 16th, 2009
• Doctor Who & Torchwood Panels At 2009 Comic-Con

It is Thursday again and the weekend looms in front of us.

Today I’m going to chat about Summer Glau maybe being on Dollhouse, a tiny bit about Law & Order: SVU, a bit of Doctor Who news and some info about Ronald D. Moore’s Virtuality including the air date and scenes from the show.

And as usual, we’ll take a peak at ratings from last week.

Oh!  I’ve jammed in a subtle note about Burn Notice.

While you’re here, if there’s anything TV related on your mind, slap it in the comments and let us know what you’re curious about or have an opinion on.

Shall we get on with it?

Summer Glau On Dollhouse?

Does Summer look chatty here?

Joss Whedon was asked if he’d consider getting Summer Glau on Dollhouse.  Duh!

He’s way ahead of everyone.  Apparently he was already asking Summer to consider coming on board the Dollhouse production before The Sarah Connor Chronicles was even canceled. (A moment of silence for TSCC please.)

Joss is looking to cast her in a role of a character that talks too much.  LOL… that would be new.  Summer Glau being chatty?

Some think she’d be prefect as an “active” (i.e., one of the dolls) in Dollhouse, but Joss likes pushing his cast.  The idea of her being someone chatty would definitely be new to us.

If you haven’t seen her actually being all chit-chatty, it’s a refreshing look at Summer.

Source:  Entertainment Weekly

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Law & Order: SVU Contract Talks

Word on the street is that there is still no deal in place for Law & Order: SVU stars Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni for next season.

As you know, SVU has been renewed for next year regardless of the stars’ contracts, but word is that negotiations are “moving in the right direction.”

I think it’s a shame that Hargitay and Meloni were asking for so much money and I hope everyone can come to a happy medium.

I know SVU is NBC’s No. 1 scripted show, but that isn’t saying much considering where on the charts it kept showing up.  Last week in the ratings it was in 25th place.

Source:  Entertainment Weekly

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Doctor Who Coming to BBC America

Starting in July, BBC America will be airing five Doctor Who specials.  On top of those episodes, they’ll also be airing the final four adventures that have David Tennant starring as the Doctor.

All this fun starts in July.

Making a smart move for Doctor Who fans, BBC America also snagged the 2008 Christmas Special, “The Next Doctor,” which stars David Morrissey and Dervla Kirwan. It will be broadcast on June 27, 2009.

Sounds great.  Now I have to figure out what channel BBC America is.

Source:  Sci Fi Wire

Continued after the page break:

• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 23rd, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – May 14th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 30th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 2nd 2009
• Friday Night Ratings: Dollhouse & Smallville
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 30th, 2009

This week’s weekly TV report from April 30th, 2009 chats a little about Chuck’s sandwich run, the probable return of Fringe, a new character for Burn Notice and how Harper’s Island is not only sinking, but moving – much like the island on Lost!  We’ve also got some syndication news on My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider and Dollhouse.  Yep, syndication news on Dollhouse.  That can’t be good.  Read on folks!

Chuck Takes Fans To Subway

Though they feel they’re currently on the good side of the ratings / cancel bubble, the cast of Chuck are still trying to take care of their sponsors.

While the cast was attending a Starfury convention T1 event in Birmingham, U.K., a fan suggested they try to help the show by supporting a sponsor, in this case, Subway. Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin (who else would have done this?) then asked those in attendance if they’d follow them to a local Subway. Sure enough, they ended up leading about 400 convention attendees to the poor beleaguered sandwich shop. That would have sucked to be the guy behind the counter when this unruly gang showed up!

Zachary even got behind the counter and helped out until the very last customer was taken care of. Some headlines said they treated the fans, but I think they meant treated fans to their company.  Not treated as in buying them sandwiches.

Now we wait and see if Chuck gets renewed. But we need to keep something in mind: because NBC is cutting hours out of the prime-time schedule to make room for Jay Leno’s show, it’s hard to say what show is safe and not safe.  We can only hope for Chuck to make the grade.

Source: End Of Show

Fringe Will Probably Be Back

If J.J. Abrams has anything to say about it, Fringe will be back for a second season. In fact he said so! No, there’s no official word, but he’s talking as if he knows something, so there’s that. As it stands, he says they have some pretty dynamic stuff in store for a second season.

On an interesting note, Abrams admitted that he has very little to do ABC’s Lost at this point in time and that it’s all Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and Jack Bender who are doing a spectacular job.

Sidenote: Though Fox will air 22 episodes of Fringe, they’ve shot 23, because Fox originally bought 23 episodes. We can expect the see the 23rd episode next season.  Does this almost sound familiar or what (the mysterious Dollhouse 13th episode)?

Fringe season 1 finale is on May 12th.

Source: Sci Fi WIre

Dollhouse, Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy to Sci-Fi

It’s being reported that Dollhouse, Knight Rider and My Own Worst Enemy are all headed to syndication mode over on the Sci-Fi Channel.  But before anyone gets their hopes up, it’s the Sci-Fi in the UK, so UK readers rejoice.

To be honest, when Sci-Fi picks up another network show, that is because it has usually gone into repeat mode and it won’t have any new episodes.

I wonder if Fox letting Sci-Fi get the rights for UK distribution of Dollhouse is some kind of death knell for the Joss Whedon project?  Typical… welcome to Friday, say goodnight Gracie.

Source:  Digital Spy, Digital Spy,

Burn Notice Gets A New Character

The cast of Burn Notice got a new character whose name is Tom Strickler. He’s a smooth talking freelance spy broker who says he has the ability to cancel Michael’s burn notice.

Strickler will be played by Ben Shenkman and is slated for at least 4 episodes and he will show up in mid-season.

Burn Notice is slated to return for its 3rd season in mid-June.

PS: Don’t forget, not only are we getting a 3rd season, but USA Network (NBC Owned) had renewed the show for 2 seasons, so we have a 4th season coming next year!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Harper’s Island Moved to Saturday Nights

Ratings aren’t backing up the weekly escapades of a frenzied mystery killer on Harper’s Island. Because no one is buying into it, the show is getting pushed to the second-worst night of the week and that’s Saturday (seeing as how Fox has Friday night all squared away and all).

But CBS is quick to point out that the 7-day playback ratings are good outside Harper’s Island’s Thursday night air time. Are those studio execs good at attempted spin, or what? The last pick-up truck I rolled and destroyed, the radio still worked!  See?  I could work for CBS.

Starting May 2nd, Harper’s Island will be on at 9PM and will be the lead-in for 48 Hours Mystery on CBS.

Source: CBS Press

ABC’s Renewed Shows

ABC has announced their list of shows that are coming back next year. To be thorough, I’m adding everything, though I cringe at some of it.

The shows renewed for the 2009 – 2010 season are:

Lost, Ugly Betty and others. Oh… I said thorough, didn’t I? They’ll also be bringing back America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, (Because on-air break ups are all the rage these days.) Brothers & Sisters, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Supernanny, and Wife Swap. (I can’t help but think interesting thoughts with that last show title. Sorry.)

Source: ABC

Is Fox Making A Political Statement?

On Wednesday, Fox Broadcasting Company did not air President Obama’s Wednesday nights news conference. They’re opted to air Lie To Me and their bread winning reality show, the results episode of American Idol.

It was an interesting bit of gamble and social statement and sadly, the social statement was surprising as ratings between the shows were comparably even.

Wow – reality TV trumps the President.  But then, it is Fox.  (Note: The CW never breaks for presidential telecasts.)

Source: TV Guide, E Online

Weekly Ratings Reported

The usual shows sat in the top 10 slots yet again. CSI stayed strong. Last week the repeat (R) of Criminal Minds sat in 19th and the new episode popped into 6th.

NCIS held on to a top 10 spot, though this week’s the episode introduced it’s cast / team for it’s new spin-off show. Did anyone catch it? What did you think. I’m betting it’s in the top 5 in next week’s chart.

Lost lost it and dropped to 43rd from last week’s 28th spot. I think people are getting tired of non-linear stories.  But this weeks episode was pretty decent in my opinion…  oh, they stayed fairly linear this week.  Sort of.

Castle popped up 8 spots to 32nd while Southland surprisingly faded from 25 to 34th. Harper’s Island keeps sliding down the chart, now sitting in 41st, while Heroes slid down to 49th. What is up with that?

Chuck held steady, while Smallville moved up from 83rd to 75th. Supernatural held fast while Dollhouse and Prison Break are still suffering the Friday night slot.

Look for your favorite show in the list below and tell us your thoughts on the different issues at hand here this week!

• TV Renewal And Cancellation Notes To Date
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – June 25, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – May 21st, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – May 7th 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – March 19th, 2009
• Weekly TV Update – April 23rd, 2009

It is Thursday yet again. How’s your week been so far? We’re doing good here at Screen Rant.

Today we’re chatting a little about CBS’s season finales, also  A Game Of Thrones, Supernatural, Fringe, Burn Notice, BSG, Dexter, Kings, and a bit on Ugly Betty.  We’ve also got a video preview of True Blood season two, and a few other bits and pieces.  Oh, and of course, I touch on some ratings from the week that was.

Game Of Thrones

The HBO pilot for George R. R. Martin’s A Game Of Thrones will begin filming in Northern Ireland in the 3rd quarter of 2009.

Economically speaking, Northern Ireland is excited about the production coming their way.  Emotionally speaking, this is great news for the fans of the book series.

The First Minister Peter D. Robinson said: “This is the first time that a TV production of such vast size and scale has been filmed in Northern Ireland.”

Source: Northern Ireland Executive

Supernatural

Supernatural is all new this week. With the new set of episodes comes the much-heralded meeting between Dean, Sam and their younger brother! Yep. The younger winchester brother I hinted at way back in February, will be played by Jake Abel (Threshold).

And for one more detail to keep in mind, the season finale of Supernatural takes place on May 14th!

Fringe

Everyone is presuming that Fringe will be getting a second season even though it hasn’t been officially announced yet. With that second season will come an interesting move of filming locations.

Fringe has been filming in New York City, but due to something or other about poor tax breaks for television productions, they’re moving to Vancouver.

So the big question is, can they make Vancouver look anything like Boston? I presume so. I’m betting if they actually said they were in New York City, things might have been different, being how cities love to be talked about. They claim it draws tourism.

Source: TV Guide

Prison Break

Prison Break kicked it back in gear last week. Was it me, or did it just not pull you in? I guess it could be that it’s been so long since Fox actually gave up on showed it that I forgot everything. It pulled me back in at about the halfway mark.

But that still doesn’t detract from the 32% ratings drop in viewers on… oh, wait, another show slapped into Friday night! I’m shocked. The show pulled in only 3.3 million viewers. Fox must not care since it’s ending in a few weeks.

The finale is scheduled for a double-episode that airs on May 8th. As far as that stand-alone, 2-hour episode that’s been filmed, no one knows what Fox plans to do with it yet. If it doesn’t air, it better be on the DVD.

The 2-hour movie takes place in a 4-year flash-forward.

Source: TV Guide, TV Guide

Burn Notice

Here’s a confusing note: Burn Notice is going to have a guest star in a season 3 episode.

The actor guest starring will be Michael Weston, from House and Six Feet Under. Weston (The actor) will play a character named Spencer who’s a little imbalanced.

He’s an MIT grad who uncovers a plan to sell the names of spies. Aside from the seriousness of the issue, he believes aliens are behind it. Hmm, they do say imbalanced.

Source: EW.com

Battlestar Galactica

If you’ve been waiting for the chance to purchase season 4.5 of Battlestar Galactica on DVD or Blu-ray, it became available for pre-order. It will be shipping on July 28th.

Source: Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Dexter

Since I’m chatting up DVD’s, let’s talk Dexter. Season 3 of Dexter is available for pre-order, but oddly, no date has been set yet for its delivery. Thought you’d like to know.

Kings

We were asked by a reader if we knew anything about NBC’s Kings. Well, of course we do!

Kings had started out to what NBC considered to be dismal ratings, despite the hoopla they tried to generate about the show. Of course, being originally scheduled for Thursdays, then airing on Sunday’s didn’t help. Then moving it to Saturday, where in theory it was going to do better amongst the world of repeats on Saturday’s, it still didn’t seem to take with the hoped-for audience.

If you were wondering what’s up about the season being finished out, NBC is going to do just that. They’re looking to finish the rest of the season of Kings Starting Saturday, June 13th and running on through to July 25th.

Source: THR

True Blood

For the upcoming second season of HBO’s True Blood, Evan Rachel Wood has been cast as the Louisiana vampire Queen, Sophie-Ann. She’ll be in two episodes near the end of season two and if they go to a third season, she should have a more prevalent role.

Below is a preview of the upcoming 2nd season of True Blood. We already talked a little bit about True Blood’s 2nd season, now let’s show you something about it.

Source: EW.com

CBS Season Finales

The following are season finale dates announced by CBS

Ugly Betty

The season finale of Ugly Betty is due to air on May 21st. Guest stars lined up are Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. They’ll be playing themselves, as View hosts when Daniel is a guest of the show (in the show, not for real. I think I just hurt my brain). I’m sure you’ve heard of the View. It’s the show where the hostess’s get into big rip roaring arguments every 3 to 4 weeks to generate media, and try to pump up their ratings.

One other note: Ugly Betty is coming back on April 30th. That’s one week earlier than it was originally scheduled.

Source: EW.com

Last Week’s Ratings:

I hate repeating myself, so I won’t.  When you get to the chart, you’ll see who dominated the top 2 spots.  CSI moved into 4th with their Science Fiction Convention-based episode, where we saw some guest appearances by several Battlestar Galactica alumni.  Did you catch everyone that was on the show?  There were more than just Moore…

From Last Week

CSI had fewer viewers, but moved up from 7th to 4th.  Mathematically, that confuses me.  Fringe moves up 1 spot to 21st, while the ratings got murdered on Harper’s Island,  and it tumbled from 20th to 34th on the list.  Meanwhile, Heroes pushed up from 48th to 43rd as it approached its season finale.  I included Miss USA 2009…  having to be as thorough as I can, and, um, checking the quality of the programming content for our viewers.  Yeah, that’s it.   Coming in 64th on the list isn’t surprising considering how mundane = the outline they presently have is.  Of course, this year, Ms. California seems to have generated the most notoriety I’ve ever seen for a runner-up (1st loser).  Dudette, move on already.

We had one premiere, Sit Down Shut up, on Fox that debuted in 60th.  Meanwhile, repeat episodes like the perennial performer NCIS still kept the top-20 mixed up.  NCIS just hits all the right buttons.  The appeal of the police drama, combined with the mystery of the top-secret world of the military and the mix of cast / characters is just the perfect hit for viewers.  Good job CBS.

Best Performing Show For Each Network

Fox had American Idol as their bread winner, while ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was their best hit of the week.  Considering the eye-candy, I’m not surprised. (I’ve been told one of the dancers, LT’s partner, Edyta Sliwinska, looks like my wife.)  CBS hit 4th on the chart with their best performing show, CSI.  NBC’s best hit, (on this list) is Southland, hitting 25th on the charts.  The CW shows up near the bottom with their best performer, America’s Next Top Model.

Considering how much we love Smallville and Supernatural, I’m surprised at the numbers of these shows.  Thank god they’re on the CW.  Fox would have taken out their shovel and put them on Friday nights and buried them.  Oops, did I just say that?  Damn keyboard malfunctions all the time.

This is a selected 60 out 92 shows rated.

The “I Hope You Haven’t Eaten Yet” Section

I was entertaining the idea of adding ratings from cable networks to accent my basic network table, but after seeing what constituted the top-10 shows on the cable networks, I don’t think I want to irritate myself:

Just in case you really don’t know, WWE is “wrestling”.  I’m not showing spots 3, 4, 7, 8 or 10 because they’re different episodes or air dates of the same things already noted. I’m not sure what to say about SpongeBob giving WWE a run for its money in spots 1-4.  I can only root for the sea-faring sponge.  Go Bob! Go!  Huh, I’ve never rooted for a sponge before.

I think I will digress on the issue and not pursue this!

Personal Thought

I’m straying off the beaten path of my known realm of TV but I have to say that after I saw the short film that the upcoming Tim Burton-produced film, 9, is based on, I was moved at how much could be conveyed in a 10-minute, silent animated short.  We are shown back story, present plight and future hopes all in 10 minutes.

I think 9 creator Shane Acker is abso-freakin-lutely genius and I can’t wait for more from him.

If you haven’t checked it out, this link will show you Kofi and Ross’s articles written about 9. Even if you don’t think that silent animated skits are your thing, maybe you can join the “Totally Surprised” section I’m sitting in right now.

I’m Done, I’m Shutting Up

If anyone has anything to add, help or have questions – you can leave a comment and we’ll do our best to answer them in the subsequent weekly article.

Thanks for coming by.

• Weekly TV Wrap Up – August 13th, 2009
• Are Smallville And Supernatural Ending Next Season?
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – March 19th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 30th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 23rd, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – July 2nd 2009

It’s another week and another Wrap Up article. I have a lot going on this week, so scroll slowly and keep your eye out for your favorite show! There is a cast note on Burn Notice, that I don’t believe is a spoiler, but now that I’m shell shocked, well, there you have it! Let’s get the ball rolling, shall we?

Battlestar Galactica

This week is the finale for Battlestar Galactica. The series finale that is. It’s been quite the journey and I believe, if all the hype is correct, a fruitful ending. We shall see.

The finale is a 2-hour episode. Prior to that, last weeks episode airs and The Sci-Fi Channel advertised a Battlestar Galactica Marathon for Friday.

Two And A Half Men & Big Bang

Both Two and Half Men and The Big Bang Theory were renewed. The big thing about that is that they were both renewed for multiple seasons. Two and Half Men is renewed through to 2012, and Big Bang, until 2011. That, is a lot of faith!

Source: TV Guide

Friday Night Lights

NBC is in what they call active negotiations with DirectTV.

In case you didn’t know, the deal with DirectTV is that Friday Night Lights season airs on DirectTV first, then it airs on NBC. Both have a shot at showing the series and they share in costs of the show. Almost a win/win, especially with a show that has a decent following.

The uber-cool news is that the negotiations may be for a multiple season contract renewal! Sweet! Yes, I like Friday Night Lights.

Source: EW.com

Fringe

In case you’re worried, Fringe is not gone. It is on a break until April 7th, giving the much touted American Idol room to breath.  Because we all know how much you all love American Idol.  Actually it was pretty funny when they let a 13th contestant into the semi’s, then the phone number they put for that person turned out to be some phone sex line.  American Idol, indeed!

Leverage

if you were watching Leverage, and wondering how well it did, wonder no more. It did well enough to at least be coming back for a 2nd season.  I saw the ads.  They looked cool!  I hope to catch reruns and have a thought about the show.

Source: TV Guide

Alex O’Loughlin

Wait! That’s not a show! That’s a vampire!  Or was.

In the comment section of last weeks weekly, I noted that O’Loughlin is contracted to CBS.  I have proof!

Just in case we have a few fans of Alex O’Loughlin, I’d like to let you know that he has signed up for a new CBS show called Three Rivers. Well, at least for a pilot. Three Rivers is an interesting sounding concept, dealing with organ transplants and the scenarios therein, as seen through the eyes of the doctors, the donors and the recipients.

Yet as interesting as it sounds, it also sounds like it may be a little too cerebral for Bruce… I hope not. That way the Moonlight fans can get their dose of O’Loughlin for a little more screen time.

Source: THR

Burn Notice (POSSIBLE DVR / DVD / CAST SPOILER – Avert thine eyes!)

I’m going to try to say this with letting as little out of the bag as possible… I’m in enough trouble with everyone as it is: The role that Jennifer Esposito introduced at the end of season two of Burn Notice is being taken over by Journeyman’s Moon Bloodgood.

Esposito had to step down due to health issues, which, at the time of my writing this, I did not have any further details on.

No – I wasn’t traumatized by my other slips over the last few weeks.

Source: EW.com

Lily Cast News

The Gossip Girl spin-off, Lily, has cast Andrew McCarthy as Rick, a music business executive who is the father of our teenage Lily Rhodes.

Lily will be played by Brittany Snow. (American Dreams)

Matt Barr will be playing Keith van der Woodsen. A love interest of Lily’s.

Source: TV Guide

ABC Season Finales

ABC has taken it upon themselves to announce the air dates for their season finales.

Better Off Ted: Wednesday, April 29, 8:30 p.m. ET
In the Motherhood: Thursday, April 30, 8 p.m. ET
Samantha Who?: Thursday, April 30, 8:30 p.m. ET
Private Practice: Thursday, April 30, 10 p.m. ET
Wife Swap: Friday, May 1, 8 p.m. ET
Supernanny: Friday, May 1, 9 p.m. ET
Scrubs: Wednesday, May 6, 8 p.m. ET
Brothers and Sisters: Sunday, May 10, 10 p.m. ET
Castle: Monday, May 11, 10 p.m. ET
Cupid: Tuesday, May 12, 10 p.m. ET
Lost: Wednesday, May 13, 9 p.m. ET
Grey’s Anatomy: Thursday, May 14, 9 p.m. ET
Desperate Housewives: Sunday, May 17, 9 p.m. ET (two hours)
Dancing With the Stars: Tuesday, May 19, 9 p.m. ET (two hours)
Ugly Betty: Thursday, May 21, 8 p.m. ET (two hours)

Top 30 TV Shows Last Week

If you were curious as to what shows are dominating the tube, here’s a list. Not surprisingly, reality shows dominated in the top 3 spots. The numbers are in total viewers across all age brackets:

1. American Idol – Tuesday (Fox): 25.77 million,
2. American Idol – Wednesday (Fox): 25.55,
3. Dancing With the Stars (ABC, season premiere): 22.83,
4. CSI (CBS): 17.13,
5. Desperate Housewives (ABC): 14.60,
6. Criminal Minds (CBS): 14.34,
7. The Mentalist R (CBS): 14.32,
8. CSI: Miami (CBS): 14.21,
9. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): 13.64,
10. CSI: NY (CBS): 13.63,

Outside the top-10 were:

NCIS R (CBS): 13.52, Two and a Half Men (CBS): 13.44, Cold Case (CBS): 13.02, 60 Minutes (CBS); 12.87, Survivor: Tocantins (CBS): 12.82, House (Fox): 12.38, Eleventh Hour (CBS): 11.61, 24 (Fox): 11.37, Lie to Me (Fox): 11.25, Law & Order: SVU (NBC): 11.07, The Unit (CBS): 10.87, ER (NBC): 10.86, Castle (ABC, series premiere): 10.76, Ghost Whisperer (CBS): 10.57, Brothers & Sisters (ABC): 10.43, The Amazing Race (CBS): 10.33, Without a Trace R (CBS): 10.22, Rules of Engagement (CBS): 9.95, Bones (Fox): 9.67, Numb3rs (CBS): 9.51

Speaking Of Numbers

If you were wondering how some of the new midseason shows might be doing with regards to the number of viewers they’re getting, (This excludes repeats)

1. Lie to Me (Fox) – Wednesday 8 p.m. (new time period) 11.25 million
2. Castle (ABC) – Monday 10 p.m. (series premiere) 10.76 million
3. Kings (NBC) – Sunday 8 p.m. (series premiere, two hours) 6.08 million
4. Homeland Security USA (ABC) – Tuesday 8 p.m.; 5.14 million
5. Dollhouse (Fox) – Friday 9 p.m.; 4.26 million
6. Howie Do It (NBC) – Friday 8 p.m.; 4.08 million
7. The Chopping Block (NBC) – Wednesday 8 p.m. (series premiere); 3.77 million

I guess it’s no lie when the ads say Lie to Me is the season’s hot new show. At least for the new midseason shows. Though folks told me Castle wasn’t that great, more than I expected tuned in to check it out! If they’re not careful, NBC is going to have to put the cooking reality show, The Chopping Block, well, on the chopping block if it doesn’t pick up. So much for pitching a show hosted by a man who made Gordon Ramsey cry.

Whacky Note: Television Show Trading Cards

Came across an odd entity of an article the other day: Television shows that have had trading cards made after the show! There’s some real classics in this list… as in old shows, not wow, I have to watch again shows! Though, there are some of those too!

• American Idol,
• The Addams Family,
• Alias,
• American Bandstand,
• The Andy Griffith Show,
• Angel,
• The Avengers,
• Babylon 5,
• Batman,
• Battlestar Galactica,
• The Bionic Woman,
• The Brady Bunch,
• Buffy, the Vampire Slayer,
• Charlie’s Angels,
• Charmed,
• Chips,
• Combat,
• CSI,
• Dallas,
• Flipper,
• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,
• The Gong Show,
• Growing Pains,
• Gunsmoke,
• Happy Days,
• I Love Lucy,
• The Incredible Hulk,
• JAG,
• Lost,
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,
• Mork & Mindy,
• The Prisoner,
• Roswell,
• The Six Million Dollar Man,
• Saturday Night Live,
• Space 1999,
• Star Trek,
• Three’s Company,
• 24,
• Twin Peaks and
• Welcome Back, Kotter.

That’s it for this week!

Source: Media Week

• Upcoming 2009 TV Season Finales
• Fox Fall TV Premiere Dates & Times
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 30th, 2009
• Weekly TV Update – April 23rd, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – February 26th, 2009
• 2009 CBS Fall TV Line Up: No ‘Eleventh Hour’