Screen Rant » fringe

Is Nimoy Done With Fringe After 3 Episodes?

Anthony Ocasio — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:17:43 +0000

Since it’s Thursday, let’s double up on the Fringe news. While we recently brought you news of everyone’s favorite baldy weirdo popping up all over the place, we’ve got bigger fish to fry. In this case, the proverbial fish is the elusive William Bell (played by your friendly neighborhood Vulcan, Leonard Nimoy) and whether or not the story of William Bell is over before it even had a chance to get started.

If you’re in the camp to believe anything this Nimoy fellow has to say, there might be some credit to this rumor. At the DVD launch party for J.J. Abrahams Star Trek, Nimoy took the time to wax poetic about all things Fringe.

“I agreed to do three episodes; and we’ve filmed all three. Two have aired, so I will be on the air in one more. And that’s the extent of my commitment.”

Well, maybe not so poetic, but definitely absolute. And because of that, this is some news that just doesn’t make me happiest of campers.

The first time we saw William Bell it was during Fringe’s first season finale and that was for about 3 minutes. The second time was a more recent episode and that appearance was a total of 5 minutes, all in flashback. So, the two out of three moments that we’ve see William Bell equal out to less than 10 minutes of screen time and now he’s going to be gone? What’s the deal, FOX?

Bell’s finale episode is set to air on December 10th with the title of “Grey Matter.” While no description has been released as of yet, just one look at Wikipedia holds all the answers that one would need.

Wikipedia says:

Grey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and both unmyelinated axons and myelinated axons), glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes) and capillaries.

Pshh, yeah, of course. That’s exactly what I thought it was. Obviously from that definition we can tell that William Bell’s last episode will be about… something that I can’t understand, even when written down. So, pretty much like any other episode of Fringe.

Still, neuopil jokes aside (like that callback?), I’m pretty perturbed about this news. I enjoy Fringe, I always watch it the night that it’s on (unlike some shows), but my problem has been that I really don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know who the bad guy is, what the point of the show is and why all of this is happening.

I’m not a fan of illusive dramas and the fact that questions keep building up while watching this show has me a little frustrated. Now, with the announcement that the William Bell storyline is effectively gone, I have a feeling that some of my answers will go with him.

The only way that I’ll stay quiet about William Bell leaving is if his final episode is EPIC. He better be on for longer than 10min and there better be some face to face time between William Bell and Walter Bishop.

… and there better be a reference to the cow. That’s all I’m saying.

Enough of me. How do you feel about William Bell’s story being over? Do you feel like he’s played his part enough? Have all your questions been answered? Am I watching this show wrong?

Let’s hear it!

Fringe airs on Thursday night at 9pm on FOX

Source: TV Guide

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Fringe: The Observers Invade Our Reality

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:46:15 +0000

Of all the viral marketing campaigns I’ve seen over the last few years, I’ve really been digging how Fringe is carrying-over one of the running mysteries of the show into the real world: namely, the appearance of “The Observer,” a creepy-looking bald man in a black suit and fedora, who has shown up (on camera, of course) at real-world events ranging from NASCAR races to NFL Football games.

With this week’s episode of Fringe, entitled “August” we learn more about the The Observer -- namely [SEMI-SPOILER] that “The Observer” is actually “The Observer(s),” with a hint as to what the purpose and/or agenda of these mysterious beings means for the world(s) of Fringe. To help promote the episode, Fox has been sending “Observers” out into the real-world, to be spotted by those keeping a careful eye on everything related to the show.

As of recently there have been Observer sightings in and around NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta. The dedicated folks over at The Observer Trackers on Facebook have been keeping a nationwide thread open and updated, announcing and then logging the places where fans can run to be a part of this amusing game of hide-and-go-observe.

Here are some recent photos taken of Observers making their way through “our world”:

Atlanta

Los Angeles

For those of you who fancy yourselves historical experts, The Observers have been here longer than you might think…

(Hint: Left side)

Finally, here is a televised Observer sighting, captured during this week’s episodes of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance:

For a more extensive gallery of Observer pics, head over to The Observer Trackers on Facebook.

Viral Marketing can be really (really, really) annoying, but little “games” like this are pretty harmless and are, in general, a real thrill for fans. The lengths to which Fox has gone with this Observer campaign have been unprecedented -- I remember during the Fringe panel at the 2009 New York Comic Con when the show’s producer, Jeff Pinkner, told us how Fox had even lobbied (hard) to have an Observer on the platform standing next to President Obama on Inauguration Day. Needless to say they were unsuccessful (or were they?).

Gotta wonder if this latest mass Observer invasion is in any way an attempt to boost the show’s recent ratings slump…

Fringe airs on Fox Thursdays @ 9pm.

Sources: The Observer Trackers on Facebook via Sci-Fi Wire

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TV Ratings: ‘Community’ & ‘Parks’ Up, ‘Fringe’ Down 23%

Anthony Ocasio — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:14:41 +0000

It appears that the newest additions to NBC’s Thursday night comedy line-up may have found their primetime audience as last week’s episodes of Community and Park & Recreation both received some their highest ratings. Conversly, while the peacock was rejoicing, things weren’t so positive on the other side of the proverbial road as FOX’s sophomore science fiction series Fringe hit an all time low, but is Fringe really to blame or did the World Series have something to do with it?

For some time now NBC has been trying to position its Thursday primetime line-up as the place to go for comedy, but it didn’t appear to be working as last year’s addition of Park & Recreations wasn’t exactly met with rave reviews and their newest Joel McHale driven comedy, Community, received mixed reviews and had to contend with switching timeslots from 9:30PM to 8PM.

It looks as if everything has settled nicely for NBC as last weeks episode of Community pulled in 5.6 million viewers, the highest number since moving to 8PM, while Parks & Recreation achieved its highest ratings since last April with 4.9 million viewers.

While the ratings were looking good for the first part of NBC’s Thursday night line-up, the second half wasn’t as positive as both The Office and 30 Rock dropped around 6% in the ratings. 30 Rock has always had a tough time in the ratings, despite all the Emmy wins, but The Office is supposed to be NBC’s golden goose.

The only thing I can attribute the decline to is how poorly this season of The Office has been (with the notable exception of the wedding special). They’re cannibalizing the entire show and its characters; Stanley cheating on his wife just out of the blue, Jim becoming Co-manager with them building him his own office (cause you know that’s how companies do things – especially in a recession), Pam’s mom all of a sudden not only changing actresses, but also her opinion of Jim (She really liked him in the earlier seasons), the horrible receptionist, Erin (how hilarious is she? Not at all). There are more gripes, but I think you get what I’m saying. They need to keep it simple.

Now, back to FOX. With the World Series over, last Thursday brought about the end of the two-week hiatus of fan-favorite series Bones and Fringe, but I don’t think anyone told the fans, as both series saw a dramatic decline in ratings. The return of Bones was viewed by 8.5 million viewers (down 11%) while Fringe saw the largest decline in viewers since the disaster that was The Chevy Chase Show by only pulling in 5 million viewers (down a staggering 23%).

Still, can Fringe really to blame? When the World Series flows into November sweeps, things always get messed up. I, myself, missed both Fringe and Bones because everything that I had looked at had told me that it was pre-empted. My DVR didn’t pick it up because it wasn’t listed on the schedule. The only way you would have know that the shows were back last week is if you caught the commercials that said if the World Series was over before Thursday, the shows would return as normal. You would think they would do a little more for two of the network’s top shows.

Although, to be fair, can the World Series really be blamed? Bones was in the same position as Fringe and they only saw a minimal drop in the ratings. So, I’ll leave it up to you, the readers… was it the World Series or has Fringe been going down hill? Are you still watching?

I’ll admit that I’m getting a little bored with Peter always having a “friend” that can do whatever normal technology can’t. It’s just as bad as CSI zooming in on images that come from security cameras, but I still tune in, despite the flaws.

I’m just wondering what their end game is… What’s going on? What are Fringe force fighting against? Why is there a half of an apple on on my television screen before they go to commercial?

Community and Parks & Recreation air on Thursdays starting at 8PM on NBC

Fringe airs on Thursdays at 9PM on FOX

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

http://screenrant.com/world-series-viewership-5-year-high-record-scottm-33575/

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No More Free Hulu?

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:08:53 +0000

Oh Internet, say it ain’t so!

Hulu – my utopia of free TV online – may soon become another run-of-the-buck paid subscription site (see header image)! (Sigh) It was only a matter of time, really…

Broadcasting & Cable brings us this chilling news, which supposedly originated from the mouth of News Corp. Deputy Chairman Chase Carey, who said during the Onscreen Media Summit that:

“It’s time to start getting paid for broadcast content online…I think a free model is a very difficult way to capture the value of our content. I think what we need to do is deliver that content to consumers in a way where they will appreciate the value. Hulu concurs with that, it needs to evolve to have a meaningful subscription model as part of its business.”

Aw heck, we all knew this day was coming when we’d hear those words spoken about our beloved Hulu – doesn’t it always happen that way with our favorite sites?

However… In my vast Internet experience our favorite sites stop being “our favorite sites” pretty soon after they start asking for membership fees. I know that more than a few of you out there have woken up one day to find your favorite online pop-in spot suddenly requiring you provide them a credit card number, sending you back to the search engine nexus typing in the words “free, streaming…”

…Aaaand I suspect that tradition won’t be changing for the small pool of TV shows and movies that Hulu currently offers. Despite all those clever commercials with celebrities posing as aliens using Hulu to mush our brains, there’s still enough solid cerbral material left in this guy’s skull to determine that Hulu would need to expand its range of content much, much, wider for me to consider buying into the service. I’m talking:

More popular cable series (even some premium channel shows for “platinum” members who pay extra).
Every network primetime show of the current season.
More GOOD movies (Better picks of old films; same-day and direct-to-video releases (at discounted cost); premium channel releases for platinum members).
Same-day airings of primetime TV shows (with ads, if necessary).
Bigger TV show archives (for when I go on an Arrested Development or It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia binge).
Exclusive “first looks” for movie trailers and making of featurettes.
Music videos and Popular news clips added to the lineup.
Make all content accessible to any digital mobile device or game system (ipods, smart phones, Xbox Live).
Embed and sharing capabilities on all shows/movies (at least clips).
Everything in HD.

Now THAT – combined with Hulu’s great interface – would be a service I would pay for.

While I agree with Carey in the sense that it’s time for companies to have a fair shot at pursuing profits in the online market, I do think said companies are still floating archaic ideas about how to convert their “digital dimes” into digi-dollars.

The Internet has always been based on one fundamental principle: Accomplish a lot with little effort. So, if I can have access to a bunch of movies and shows I watch; get sneak peeks on the hottest music videos or movie trailers; keep up with reports on the latest news clips everyone is talking about; spend my rainy weekends marathoning through old favorites; see everything in crisp HD and share it all with my friends… Why not fork out a reasonable fee to accomplish all that?

Try selling me Hulu as it stands now, and I’m going to tell you the names of all the TV network sites where you can watch the same shows for free (hint: just throw a “.com” behind the name of your favorite network) – or maybe the names of sites that will stream old movie favorites, legally, for free. Basically, I’m going to tell you that I really don’t need Hulu all that much after all…

What about you – is Hulu something you’d pay to keep? Or does the notion of shelling out for it make you say “Thanks but no thanks!”

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

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Orci and Kurtzman Talk ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ and ‘View-Master’

Paul Young — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:35:46 +0000

Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman have got to be two of the most popular writers in Hollywood right now. Like, love or hate their work, as script writers they have turned into a very hot commodity and are quickly becoming the “go-to” guys for sci-fi scripts. With projects like Star Trek 2, Cowboys & Aliens, View-Master and multiple Fringe episodes on their plate, they have no shortage of work (which in this economy is a good thing).

Recently the great guys and gals at Collider were able to talk to Orci and Kurtzman and they managed wrangle some really good information from them in what turned out to be a lengthy interview. We’ve already discussed the parts about Star Trek 2 and their decision NOT to be involved with Transformers 3, which they confirmed during this same interview. You check out the entire interview here, but I’ll go through some of the highlights as they talk about Cowboys & Aliens, and a once popular toy, View-Master.

For those that may not know, Cowboys & Aliens first started as a graphic novel (does anyone call them comic books anymore?) by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg that was published by Platinum Studios and Harper Collins in 2006. Written by the talented team of Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley, the story revolves around beings from another world landing in Arizona during the mid-1800s with the goal of enslaving the human race. That crap may have worked in France but over here in the U.S. of A. we had Cowboys and Indians to fight back against alien scum! Sorry I got carried away; it happens because I’m southern.

Cowboys & Aliens is being helmed by Iron Man’s Jon Favreau and will most likely star Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. That’s great news because both have proved themselves to be fans of comics and have already helped to elevate lesser known comic book lore to pop culture heights. So how do Orci and Kurtzman feel about working with Favreau and where are they drawing their inspiration from for Cowboys & Aliens?

Alex: It’s the greatest.

Bob: We just started and we’re getting along really well. We’ve sent ourselves back to school and we’re watching Westerns together and analyzing them. We’re just getting into it. We just watched The Searchers last.

Alex: We had a lot of these Westerns in our head, but Jon is an incredible fountain of Western knowledge.

Bob: And, Star Trek was originally pitched as a space Western, anyway, so it was a nice lead up to this, for us.

Alex: I think Jon also comes from a very similar emotional place and, because he’s an actor, he knows what plays and what doesn’t play very quickly. We’re having an unbelievably good time working with him.

I think that’s great that they are pulling from some older westerns for inspiration and I had no idea that Favreau was a big western buff. I wonder if he dresses up and goes to Old West Conventions walking with his best John Wayne swagger, dressed in chaps, a dusty vest, a bandana wrapped around his neck, and a six shooter strapped to his leg, tipping his hat to the ladies and saying “Howdy”. HEH, I just made myself chuckle.

Continue reading for Orci/Kurtzman updates on View-Master

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First Look At Leonard Nimoy’s Return To ‘Fringe’

Anthony Ocasio — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:20:20 +0000

FOX has released some pictures of Leonard Nimoy’s return as William Bell in this week’s episode of Fringe.

We previously debunked the rumor that, according to an “in-depth” episodic description analysis, Nimoy would make an appearance as Bell in last week’s episode. While you could hear and somewhat see Nimoy is a couple frames of that episode, I wouldn’t really consider that “making an appearance” and I’m sure the amount of his subsequent paycheck would confirm and reflect that as well.

That being said, FOX removes all speculation regarding Nimoy’s role in this week’s episode by clearly announcing Bell’s triumphant return.

WILLIAM BELL RETURNS AND OLIVIA’S MURKY PAST MATERIALIZES ON “FRINGE” THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, ON FOX

Leonard Nimoy Guest-Stars

See… told ya. Although, it does appear that Bell’s appearance will be more flashback oriented, focused on filling-in Olivia’s memory regarding what occurred during her and Bell’s meeting last season than touching upon the current events the Fringe team are facing.

Check out the description and a preview of this week’s episode, “Momentum Deferred,” below.

Recuperating from the traumatic and alarming meeting with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell (guest star Nimoy), Agent Dunham consumes a powerful “fringe” concoction that Dr. Bishop prescribes to stimulate her memory. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a series of robbery cases that are tied to shape-shifting. As clues are tracked and memories are jogged, another woman experimented on by Dr. Bishop is introduced and a flashback reveals more about Olivia’s visit to the alternate reality.

While I’m looking forward to seeing what happened during Olivia and Bell’s meeting (which was so important as to justify killing off Charlie (Kirk Acevedo, and I’m still not happy about that), I’m anxiously awaiting the moment when Walter Bishop (John Noble) and William Bell come face to face.

You can catch Nimoy’s return to Fringe this Thursday at 9PM on FOX

Source: Sci Fi Wire

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Rumor Patrol: Leonard Nimoy Cameo On Tonight’s Fringe?

Anthony Ocasio — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:47:30 +0000

Ever since last season’s finale of Fringe, fans have been wondering when we’ll next get a glimpse of Leonard Nimoy as William Bell. Well, if you believe the guys over at AICN and read between the lines, it might happen sooner than you think -- as in, tonight!

If you read through the episode descriptions that FOX released for the upcoming episodes of Fringe, it holds some juicy tidbits about who may (or may not) be appearing in this week’s episode. While tonight’s episode description doesn’t mention anything regarding Massive Dynamics, William Bell, Leonard Nimoy or even a meeting with someone important, next week’s episode makes it seem like something substantial may yet occur tonight.

This Week’s Episode:

“Fracture” - October 01, 2009

Peter, Walter, Olivia and Broyles pursue a strange and deadly occurrence in Philadelphia where a bomb blew up inside a train station but left no trace of any explosive device. The perplexing and unexplained set of circumstances returns Walter to the lab to closely examine the human remains where he uncovers an unlikely energy source that triggered the explosion. With the explosive threat of more bombs and links to a classified military project, the intense investigation leads Olivia and Peter to Iraq.

Next Week’s Episode:

“Momentum Deferred” -- October 08, 2009

Recuperating from the traumatic and alarming meeting with Massive Dynamic founder William Bell (guest star Nimoy), Agent Dunham consumes a powerful “fringe” concoction that Dr. Bishop prescribes to stimulate her memory. Meanwhile, the Fringe Division investigates a series of robbery cases that are tied to shape-shifting. As clues are tracked and memories are jogged, another woman experimented on by Dr. Bishop is introduced and a flashback reveals more about Olivia’s visit to the alternate reality.

When I first heard this Nimoy rumor, I thought the descriptions would make some direct mention of William Bell, but as I read through it more, I think I understand how the rumor got started:

One could read through both descriptions and, because of the way next week’s description is worded, make the assumption that there will be a traumatic meeting between William Bell and Olivia this week, which Olivia will have to recover from in next week’s episode.

The problem is that Olivia already had a traumatic meeting with William Bell in last season’s finale, and I believe that’s what the description is referring to. And since Fox had no qualm mentioning Nimoy’s character in the description for next week’s episode, I think the tale of the mysterious descriptions have been solved.

I’d like to thank the television show Psych and the 1988 Goldblum/Lauper film Vibes for my deductive reasoning skills.

Either way, I’ll be watching Fringe tonight.

Check out a preview of tonight’s episode. Do you see something I missed alluding to Nimoy’s return?

Has the mystery been solved or am I reading it wrong?

Catch Fringe Thursdays @ 9PM on FOX

Source: Ain’t It Cool News

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Fringe Season 2 Premiere Review & Discussion

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:43:37 +0000

So Fringe made it to season 2, surviving the knife that ended The Sarah Connor Chronicles and almost took down Dollhouse. It premiered tonight, bringing up our favorite cast: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and the ever quirky John Noble.

Call me a cynic, but the first thing I noticed is that Fox TV has done away with the experimental abbreviated commercial breaks. No more will you see (apparantly) “Fringe will return in 30 (or 60) seconds.” Nope, standard commercial breaks just like every other show out there now.

BTW, there will be spoilers mentioned below and in the comments left by visitors.

Beyond that nitpick (I watch it DVR’d anyway and skip commercials) Fringe wasted no time coming back with a bang. After the weak Warehouse 13 substitute to tide us over, it was great to have some actual intense and exciting semi-sci-fi drama to watch once again.

The episode opened right after a car accident in New York City, giving us the sense of being thrust into something mid-stream. A nefarious fellow leaves the scene of the accident and within minutes we are re-introduced to why I can’t watch this show with my 13 year old daughter – guy sticks a device with what looks like three finishing nails in a victim’s mouth, breaks the bones in his own face and then connects HIS mouth to the other end of the device and his skull reshapes to duplicate the victim’s face.

Not pretty.

Agent Dunham seems to have vanished from the scene of the accident but moments later she materializes out of thin air, rocketing through the windshield of the SUV she was driving. Apparent terminal brain damage, but she soon wakes up severly shaken and not remembering what happened to her nor where she’s been.

Meanwhile that pesky U.S. government is in the process of shutting down the organization due to tons of spent money and no results that they can discern.

We also have a new junior agent on the scene – it remains to be seen whether she will become a regular on the show or not. She just jumps right into the groove of things (a bit too easily, it seemed to me) and starts helping out our group, who is now (at least temporarily) cut off from FBI resources.

We see the mysterious shape changing agent communicate with someone on the “other side,” presumably in that alternate universe we saw briefly at the very end of the season one finale. He’s failed in his mission to kill Dunham as instructed. He finds her (well, by the time he finds her he’s not really a “he” any more) and discovers she has no memory of something crucial that is hidden somewhere. He fails AGAIN in his attempt to kill her and is apparently killed himself. Ah, but at the very end of the episode it’s revealed that he has duplicated himself as agent Charlie Francis (played by Kirk Acevedo, who reportedly will be leaving the series this season).

Overall I enjoyed this season premiere and am looking forward to upcoming episodes. One nitpick I did have was that it didn’t seem like at the end the agent had enough time to turn into Charlie, and with the closing scene where the doppleganger disposes of the real Charlie’s body, where the heck did he stash it in the very brief amount of time he had. It seemed like less than a minute passed between the time that shots were fired and Peter Bishop showed up.

If I’m missing something here, feel free to point it out below – but overall, I’m happy Fringe is back!

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Reminder: Fringe Returns For Season 2

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:24:12 +0000

Fringe is back for a 2nd season, don’t forget!

Last season Olivia (Anna Torv) met William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) in the alternate reality, Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) has a secretive past only hinted at, Walter Bishop (John Noble) has what looks like a serious ethical nightmare to deal with and the FBI is just confused in general about what their Fringe department does. I think we have lots of material ripe for discussion!

Fringe is moving to Thursdays, starting this Thursday, September 17th.

Tune in.fr

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Want to Watch The Fringe Tweet-Peat With The Stars?

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:36:57 +0000

This Thursday (9/3/09) night, episode 19 of season 1 of Fringe will be aired. Yes, it’s a repeat. But there’s a new twist to this episode.

We’ll be seeing live commentary, behind the scenes bits and viewers questions answered via Twitter from cast and crew scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

Fox is calling it their “Tweet-Peat.”

Those that will be twittering will be Jeff Pinkner & J.H. Wyman who are the executive producers of Fringe and stars Joshua Jackson (who plays Peter Bishop) and John Noble ( who plays Walter Bishop).

The only down side is that the actors will only be tweeting during the Eastern timezone airing while the exec. producers will be tweeting throughout both.

The Fringe Twitter accounts you would look for to participate with are:

Jeff Pinkner: @jpfringe
J.H. Wyman: @jwfringe
Josh Jackson: @peterbishop2
John Noble: @labdad1

This sounds pretty interesting. I have to wonder just how many people are going to hop on board and how hard it might be to get an question answered!?

Despite some of the obvious programming flaws we tend to note about Fox, this seems like an innovative idea. Has anyone seen any other scripted drama TV series do this? I haven’t.

PS: We have some images from the upcoming season of Fringe if interested.

Source: Fringe Television

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2009 Scream Award Nominations

Ross Miller — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:37:08 +0000

The nominees have been announced for the fourth annual Scream Awards, held every year by Spike TV. The decisively more “fan-friendly” award ceremony (compared to the Oscars) honors films from the sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic-book genres of movies, TV shows and comic books. The awards are described as, “the first and only global event of its kind,” to honor those genres.

The Scream 2009 nominees were chosen by the Advisory Board of Hollywood and Genre Leaders, a list which this year includes the likes of Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller, Eli Roth and Zack Snyder, plus many more. The event will be taped on Saturday, October 17th this year at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on Spike TV ten days later on Tuesday, October 27th (check for local times).

Along with the awards, the show will also be airing some exclusive, world premiere of footage of some of the most anticipated movies of 2010! Presenters and musicians for the event are to be announced shortly.

Below is the list of a selection of the 32 categories from this year’s Scream nominations. For those of you (all of you?) who want to have YOUR say on which film should win, you’re in luck! Public voting for the awards has opened already and will run right up to October 17th. But before you head off to vote, here are some of the nominees:

BEST FANTASY MOVIE

“Coraline”

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

“Twilight”

“Up”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST HORROR MOVIE

“Dead Snow”

“Drag Me to Hell”

“Friday the 13th”

“Let the Right One In”

“My Bloody Valentine 3D”

“Splinter”

BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE

“Dragonball Evolution”

“Punisher: War Zone”

“The Spirit”

“Watchmen”

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

BEST VILLAIN

Eric Bana as Nero; “Star Trek”

Cam Gigandet as James; “Twilight”

Lorna Raver as Mrs. Ganush; rag Me to Hell”

Liev Schrieber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth; “X-Men”

Alexander Skarsgård as Eric Northman; “True Blood”

BEST DIRECTOR

J.J. Abrams; “Star Trek”

Tomas Alfredson; “Let the Right One In”

Michael Bay; “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

Pete Doctor & Bob Peterson; “Up”

Duncan Jones; “Moon”

Sam Raimi; “Drag Me to Hell”

BEST TV SHOW

Battlestar Galactica

Dexter

Fringe

Lost

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

True Blood

BEST ACTOR IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Ed Asner, “Up”

Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”

Robert Pattinson, “Twilight”

Brad Pitt, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

Michael Sheen, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

BEST ACTRESS IN A FANTASY MOVIE OR TV SHOW

Scarlett Johansson, “The Spirit”

Jamie King, “The Spirit”

Rhona Mitra, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”

Kristen Stewart, “Twilight”

Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”

For the rest of the nominees you can head over to Spike.com, where you can also cast your votes.

Although some of the awards are truly suspect (how the hell The Spirit got nominated for ANYTHING is beyond me), I still like the overall celebration of the type of sci-fi, fantasy, comic book and horror films we here at Screen Rant revel in Although I won’t go into a specific rundown of who I think should win, I’d like to throw my opinion in the ring for a few of them:

Lost should win Best TV Show (I love Dexter, but it’s no Lost); Best Horror Movie should go to Let The Right One In (I would say Drag Me To Hell, but since that’s a comedy too, Let The Right One takes it for me); Best Actor in a Fantasy Movie Or TV Show should go to Brad Pitt for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; and Best Comic Book Movie should (EASILY) go to Watchmen.

But enough from me, what and who will YOU vote for? As stated, you can cast your votes over at Spike.com, and you can see if the winners match your picks when the Scream Awards 2009 air on October 27th this year on Spike TV.

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TV News & Notes: Fringe, True Blood, Alien Nation & More

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:32:31 +0000

It’s a new week and today your TV news includes a look at Fringe’s second season; Superman will be teaming with Chuck; The Alien Nation is rising again; True Blood takes a big bit of DVD sales; Patton Oswalt talks life on Caprica; and could Supernatural rise from the grave?

Let’s get to it:

FRINGE

Got a few pics from Fringe’s upcoming second season. The pics include The Bishops (Joshua Jackson, John Noble) and Astrid (Jasika Nicole) up to their usual hijinks in the lab, as well as guest star Meghan Markle, who will play junior FBI agent Amy Jessup – I’m guessing while Sr. Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is hanging out with Leonard Nimoy in alternate dimensions.

If you haven’t caught up on Fringe, you really need to. Here are the pics:

Should I even ask what’s up with the cow in a birthday hat? Of course not! It’s Fringe!

For the full gallery head over to Sci-fi Wire.

Fringe Returns on September 17 (Thursdays now) @ 9pm ET/PT on Fox.

CHUCK

Superman Returns star Brandon Routh will be joining the cast of Chuck for a multi-episode story arch in the upcoming season. Routh will join the show during its fourth episode where he will be playing a new spy named Shaw who takes over Operation Bartwoski and naturally starts competing for Sarah’s affections.

Chuck returns this spring on NBC.

Source: EW

ALIEN NATION

Alien Nation is still making its way back to television. Syfy (and parent company NBC Universal) are working with Twentieth Century Fox to reboot the 80s-90s cult hit show, under the creative direction of Tim Minear, a TV vet with shows like Firefly and The X-Files under his belt.

Minear has claimed that he was the new Alien Nation to be ‘The Wire with aliens,’ and after seeing all the great stuff that director Neil Blomkamp milked out of the premise for District 9 (a film undoubtedly inspired by shows like Alien Nation), I’d say a retooled Alien Nation definitely has potential.

As for contemporary relevance, Minear claims that examples like the culture clashes happening in many European countries would be a good starting point for the series (transplanted to the US of A, of course).

Head over to Earth’s Mightiest for the full interview with Minear. Alien Nation hopes to be in production sometime next year.

Source: Cinemastatic

TRUE BLOOD

True Blood has “glammed” the masses! The DVD of the HBO Series’ first season is slowly gaining on Flight of the Concords as the best-selling TV DVD. True Blood has sold almost $46 million in DVDs as of the middle of August.

Personally, I think True Blood deserves to be crowned king of DVD, considering how explicitly adult-themed the show is. Guess sex (mixed with violence and vamps) still does sell…

If you still haven’t seen True Blood season 1 (shame on you!) you can snag the DVD for cheap by going here.

Source: TV By The Numbers

SUPERNATURAL

Seems Supernatural still has its neck on the chopping block. Said show creator Eric Kripke in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly:

“I did set out [to] tell a five-season storyline…Quite frankly, I never expected [the show] to make it to five years. But now that we’re in our fifth year, I have every intention of ending the story with a bang and not drawing it out or watering it down.”

Well… Kripke at least makes a kind of concession do Supernatural die-hards out there, claiming that is finale for the series will leave room for a whole new installment of the show, with a whole new mythology to build on, in case it gets an eleventh-hour stay of execution. As Kripke points out, Buffy did it, The X-Files did it, so can Supernatural.

The show returns on September 10th @ 9pm ET/PT on the CW.

Source: EW

CAPRICA

Wanna hear actor/comedian Patton Oswalt talk about his role on the upcoming Battlestar Galactica series, Caprica? Oswalt will play Baxter Sarno, a talk show comedian who snags an interview with Cylon creator Daniel Graystone and his wife. There are a couple of good tidbits of the series for you BSG fans who have been wondering what’s coming your way.

Caprica starts with a two-hour premiere on January 22, 2010, @ 9 p.m. ET/PT and will air Fridays at 10 p.m. on Syfy.

Check out the interview with Oswalt over at AV Club.

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

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TV News & Notes: 2009 Fall Schedule, The Office & More

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:17:15 +0000

Just a brief update on this Monday: Plan your prime time with the 2009 TV Fall Schedule; Smallville is getting another new guest star; A certain “Foxy” lady might be kicking off SNL this year; Learn how to catch up on all the NBC shows you missed last year (for free!); and speaking of NBC, how about a first-look photo of Jim and Pam getting married on The Office?

And as a bonus (because I love you) I let you know about the government’s “Cash for TV Clunkers” program.

Let’s get to it!

The Office

So we recently let you Office fans know when you can expect Jim and Pam to walk down the aisle – four episodes into the news season. And now we have the first official wedding photo!

The scene was shot at a church in Van Nuys, California on this past weekend and from the photos below you can see that Pam (Jenna Fischer) will be a lovely bride and Jim (John Krasinski) will be every girl’s hometown-sweetheart Prince Charming.

Pam as a beautiful bride.

Krasinski and Fischer shooting the wedding scene.

The Office Season 6 kicks off September 17 at 9/8c on NBC.

Source: TV Guide

Smallville

Actress Steph Song let it be known on her Twitter account yesterday that she will be playing the role of Roulette on the sixth episode of Smallville’s upcoming 9th season. In the DC Universe Roulette is a kick-ass madame of underground fighting tournaments, often using super heroes and/or villains as combatants.

Not sure how the character will be portrayed on Smallville, but I’ll sure tune in to find out!

The show returns on September 25th (that’s Friday now) @ 8/7c on the CW.

Source: Twitter

Saturday Night Live

Life & Style is exclusively reporting that “actress” Megan Fox will be the host kicking SNL’s 35th season on September 26th. Fox would naturally do the gig in order to further promote her upcoming high school comedy/horror flick Jennifer’s Body, and has reportedly been prepping to bring the yuck-yuck by doing a digital short with Andy Samberg.

I’m I the only one who thinks SNL could potentially be off to a bad start this decade year?

Source: Life & Style

NBC TV Rewind

Were there any NBC shows you missed and have been waiting to catch up on? If so, forget about renting the DVDs and just head on over to NBC.com – you can catch up on episodes from many of NBC’s TV lineup for free on the website.

Shows being offered include:

30 Rock
America’s Got Talent
Chuck
Days of Our Lives
Friday Night Lights
Great American Road Trip
Heroes
Kings
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
The Listener
Merlin
The Office
Parks and Recreation
The Philanthropist
Southland
The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien
The Wanted

(I know I’ve been waiting to catch up on Days of Our Lives )

Source: NBC

2009 Fall TV Lineup

As Summer winds down many of us will be reluctantly returning to the indoors with only the anticipation of our favorite shows return (plus a few good looking new entries) to brighten up our end-of-summer blues.

But where and when do we find our long-lost TV friends and family in the new TV season? Luckily, we have a list of the shows you want to see, as well as where and when you can catch them.

[Note: Shows are listed alphabetically]

Show (Net), Date time
20/20 (ABC), Sept. 11 at 10 p.m.
30 Rock (NBC), Oct. 15 at 9:30 p.m.
48 Hours Mystery (CBS), Sept. 26 at 10 p.m.
60 Minutes (CBS), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
90210 (The CW), Sept. 8 at 8 p.m.
Accidentally On Purpose (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8:30 p.m.
Amazing Race, The (CBS), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC), Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
America’s Most Wanted (Fox), Sept. 12 at 9 p.m.
America’s Next Top Model (The CW), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
American Dad (Fox), Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m.
Beautiful Life, The (The CW), Sept. 16 at 9 p.m.
Big Bang Theory, The (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Biggest Loser, The (NBC), Sept. 15 at 8 p.m.
Bones (Fox), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Brothers (Fox), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Brothers and Sisters (ABC), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Californication (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Castle (ABC), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
Cleveland Show, The (Fox), Sept. 27at 8:30 p.m.
Cold Case (CBS), Sept. 27 at 10 p.m.
Community [moves to at 8 p.m. on Oct. 8] (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9:30 p.m.
COPS (Fox), Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
Cougar Town (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9:30 p.m.
Crash Course (ABC), Aug. 26 at 9 p.m.
Crimetime Saturday (CBS), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Criminal Minds (CBS), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
CSI (CBS), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
CSI: Miami (CBS), Sept. 21 at 10 p.m.
CSI: NY (CBS), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Dancing with the Stars (ABC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
Dateline NBC (NBC), Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.
Defying Gravity (ABC), Already Started! at 10 p.m.
Desperate Housewives (ABC), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Destination Truth (SyFy), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Dexter (Showtime), Sept. 27 at 9 p.m.
Dollhouse (Fox), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Eastwick (ABC), Sept. 23 at 10 p.m.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC), Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.
Family Guy (Fox), Sept. 27at 9 p.m.
FlashForward (ABC), Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.
Football Night in America (NBC), Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.
Forgotten, The (ABC), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Fringe (Fox), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
Gary Unmarried (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8:30 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer (CBS), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Glee (Fox), Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.
Good Wife, The (CBS), Sept. 22 at 10 p.m.
Gossip Girl (The CW), Sept. 14 at 8 p.m.
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
Greek (ABC Family), Aug. 31 at 9 p.m.
Hell’s Kitchen (Fox), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Heroes (NBC), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
House [2-hr] (Fox), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
How I Met Your Mother (CBS), Sept. 21 at 8 p.m.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX), Sept. 17 at 10 p.m.
Jay Leno Show, The (NBC), Sept. 14 at 10 p.m.
Law and Order (NBC), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Lie To Me (Fox), Sept. 28 at 8 p.m.
Mad Men (AMC), (In progress) at 10 p.m.
Man Vs Wild (Discovery), (In progress) at 9 p.m.
Medium (CBS), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Melrose Place (The CW), Sept. 8 at 9 p.m.
Mentalist, The (CBS), Sept. 24 at 10 p.m.
Mercy (NBC), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Middle, The (ABC), Sept. 30 at 8:30 p.m.
Modern Family (ABC), Sept. 23 at 9 p.m.
Monk (USA), Already started! at 9 p.m.
NBC Sunday Night Football (NBC), Sept. 13 8:15 p.m.
NCIS (CBS), Sept. 22 at 8 p.m.
NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), Sept. 22 at 9 p.m.
New Adventures of Old Christine, The (CBS), Sept. 23 at 8 p.m.
Numbers (Numb3rs) (CBS), Sept. 25 at 10 p.m.
Office, The (NBC), Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.
One Tree Hill (The CW), Sept. 14 at 9 p.m.
Parks and Recreation (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8:30 p.m.
Private Practice (ABC), Oct. 1 at 10 p.m.
Project Runway (Lifetime), Aug. at 10 p.m.
Psych (USA), Aug. 7 at 10 p.m.
Sanctuary (SyFy), Oct. 9 at 10 p.m.
Saturday Night Football (ABC), Sept. 5 at 8 p.m.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Sept. 26 11:30 p.m.
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update (NBC), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Scare Tactics (SyFy), Oct. 6 at 9 p.m.
Shark Tank (ABC), Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Simpsons, The (Fox), Sept. 27 at 8 p.m.
Smallville (The CW), Sept. 25 at 8 p.m.
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox), Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
Sons of Anarchy (FX), Sept. 8 at 10 p.m.
Southland (NBC), Sept. 25 at 9 p.m.
Stargate Universe (SyFy), Oct. 2 at 9 p.m.
Supernanny (ABC), Oct. 16 at 8 p.m.
Supernatural (The CW), Sept. 10 at 9 p.m.
Survivor: Samoa (CBS), Sept. 17 at 8 p.m.
Three Rivers (CBS), Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.
Til Death (Fox), Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m.
Trauma (NBC), Sept. 28 at 9 p.m.
Two and a Half Men (CBS), Sept. 21 at 9 p.m.
Ugly Betty (ABC), Oct. 9 at 8 p.m.
V (ABC), Nov. 3 at 8 p.m.
Vampire Diaries (The CW), Sept. 10 at 8 p.m.

Source: Cinemastatic

BONUS ITEM: Cash For TV Clunkers

Need a chuckle to get you through this current political/economic turmoil? Head over to TV Tango and have a look at their “Cash For TV Clunkers” program – a listing of the top 10 famous TV cars that could stand to be sent to the scrapyard.

Hilarious!

Source: TV Tango

That’s it for now. Talk to you again during the commercials.

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – August 13th, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:31:26 +0000

In today’s Weekly TV Wrap Up, we’re going to talk about Fringe realities, Supernatural & Smallville news & True Blood setting records.

We’re then going to touch on some news from Fox’s House, and wrap things up with an NCIS tidbit and some more summer time ratings.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

Fringe

Despite the possibility of there being multiple realities, the showrunners for Fringe are only going to torment the viewers with one alternate reality at a time. Thank god. I have enough trouble with my own reality as it is!

As they put it, there’s “over here” and the alternate reality referred to as “over there,” where William Bell (Leonard Nimoy) lives.

The upcoming season will take place mostly “over here,” but what occurs “over there” will have a great impact on what happens “over here.” (Did you follow that?)

Leonard Nimoy has already filmed one episode for season 2 and will be making numerous appearances throughout the season.

Fringe returns Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

Source: TV Guide

Supernatural

I call this when worlds collide! I know you’ve all been waiting for this one moment in time, but Paris Hilton is going to guest star on Supernatural. Crickets…

She’ll be playing a demon that takes the form of, all things, Paris Hilton. I so can’t wait for the Winchester brothers to stake her!

Eric Kripke calls it a “… a fun, irreverent episode.” I call it frightening.

The episode, titled “American Idol,” will air on October 8, 2009.

Source: The CW

Smallville

According showrunner Brian Peterson, they’re backing down from claims made earlier in the off-season that the upcoming 9th season of Smallville will be darker.

After they dropped that bombshell, fans started to get grumpy saying “Superman fans don’t do dark.” and “Nobody watches a TV show to become depressed.” LOL… I’m guessing they weren’t Battlestar Galactica fans.

Peterson went on to sooth the fanbase by adding that season 9 will not be all gloom and doom and backpedaled saying that Clark will just have some hard decisions to make.

WARNING: He did warn us that sparks may very well fly between Clark and Lois… and they’ll be fighting zombies and … well crap, I may have said too much already. Zombies? Am I reporting on Supernatural or Smallville?

Source: EW

True Blood

2 weeks ago, True Blood on HBO hit a record number of estimated viewers, at 4.3 million. But then last weekend they dusted the record books again and the show brought in an estimated 4.4 million pairs of eyeballs, breaking their own personal best.

It is an awesome, well-written show and I am not surprised that they’re pulling in the viewers.

Source: EW

House

For you Cameron and Chase fans from House, good news: They’re going to be back in their old jobs and off the sidelines. Of course, nothing comes easy and with them working side-by-side, that may put some strain on their brand new marriage!

We’ll also be seeing Foreman filling in as the top doc while Dr. Gregory House is on “leave,” which promises to be a rocky transition for Foreman.

As far as Cuddy and House go, don’t be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for anything to develop anytime soon between them. Despite the tease of the imaginary hook-up, the showrunners are taking a step back and letting this premise simmer for a while.

Of course it all makes sense, right? They want us to go stir crazy, but really, speaking of crazy, House does have to sort out a few things as he tries to re-balance his sanity. He’s apparently not going to have an easy time of it.

Sources: EW: Link 1, Link 2

NCIS

According to sources, be sure you do not miss the very first minute of NCIS when it starts up its new season. According to exec producer Shane Brennan, you’re going to be asking yourself if you’re seeing things or not!

The new season of NCIS premieres on September 22nd.

Source: EW

If you missed my prequel TV News article to this one, I chatted about Dollhouse, 24, Lie To Me, Damages, Lawman, King of the Hill and the The Office

Ratings

Well, without really digging up a lot of info, amongst all the reality shows, repeats of NCIS (3rd with 9.9 million viewers), CSI:NY (9th w/ 8 mil viewers), CSI Miami (11th), The Mentalist (13th) & CSI (15th) eeked out their spots in the top 20.

On cable, Burn Notice, The Closer, Royal Pains and Monk chipped out 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th respectively amongst the top 10 cable shows.

Source: TV By The Numbers

Thanks for coming by. Questions and comments are always welcome, here on Screen Rant.

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The Television Presence At San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:38:32 +0000

UpDated 7-2-09

Last year at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, the event was ruled by several big named movies that ranged from youthful vampires to illegal vigilantes. TV was more a side-note than anything else.

This year at the 2009 Comic-Con, things will be a bit different as television programming seems to have a bigger presence than last year.

For instance, the Warner Brothers Television Group will have 11 different panels for their shows. That’s a studio best for them. ABC Studios will have 7 panels. 20th Century Fox will have 9 panels.

Do you think your favorite television show will be represented?

This year, I’m ready… I hope. So in preparation, I’ve started sifting through the network press releases and other resources, pulling it all together for myself. I decided… OK, maybe I was nudged a bit by Vic, to actually put it all prep info together here, for you, our loyal readers.

I’m done chatting. Let’s take a look at what television panels are lined up for the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.

Wednesday Evening, July 22nd:

6-9 p.m.:
Warner Brothers Television will be airing pilot previews this evening for the early-arriving crowd.

Human Target, V and The Vampire Diaries are the shows being previewed on this evening.

Thursday, July 23rd:

Burn Notice, Time To Be Determined (TTBD)
This panel will feature Bruce Campbell and writers from the series.

Legend of the Seeker, TTBD

Psych, TTBD

5-6 p.m.: Dexter

8 p.m. – Special Screening – Green Lantern [UPDATED]
Catch a special screening of the 5th DVD in the Green Lantern series, titled Green Lantern: First Flight. It will have it’s world premiere in Ballroom 20. That’s 5 days before it’s released to DVD!

Continue to the next page for Friday’s schedule

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Weekly TV Wrap Up – June 25, 2009

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:48:12 +0000

Welcome to my weekly TV Wrap Up.

This week we’re chatting about the NCIS cast, Chuck season 3 insights, a bit of Fringe cast news and I ask a question about a character from Lost. I’m also going to touch on yet another alien invasion show from TNT. Also have some details on the DVD / Blu-ray release of season one of Lie To Me.

I wrap it up with my usual look at how shows did in the ratings from last week.

Let’s get on with it.

NCIS Spin-off Adds Cast

Linda Hunt will be joining the cast of the NCIS spin-off as a hard-nosed former film industry technician who oversees the “backroom” support staff.

Of note, Louise Lombard was let go from the staff, as the cast seems to be constantly evolving.

Is it me, or will we have a hard time getting past the ‘ghosts’ from Linda Hunt’s past?

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Chuck Season 3 Tidbits

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zachary Levi chats a bit about the upcoming third season of Chuck.

He talks about how folks are expecting “Orange Orange” to become a Subway and other ideas like that.

He also reminds us that next season is a 13-episode season, but if the ratings are good enough, NBC will add additional episodes. (That’s the part where it means “tell your friends.”)

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Fringe Cast Grows

Meghan Markle (Deal Or No Deal, 90210) is joining Fringe as a recurring role in the upcoming season. She’ll be playing a brash and quick-witted FBI agent.

Well, at least she’s moving up from briefcases duty and teen angst shows.

Not to mention, if I weren’t already watching Fringe… well you get the drift.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Is Charlie Coming Back To Lost Or What?

What are the chances of Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) returning to the next season of Lost?

It depends on the rumors surrounding the ill-fated rocker.

He’s been seen having breakfast with showrunner Damon Lindelof. That could mean what? That two buds are having breakfast together? Or are they plotting the return of Charlie to the island in some form or fashion?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Source: E Online

Lie To Me Season 1

The Blu-ray and DVD release of season 1 for Fox’s Lie To Me are due out on August 25th. The show is being released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

The release will include 13 episodes, featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel. Here’s a listing of extras from both the Blu-ray and DVD packages:

The Blu-ray Bonus Features include

The Truth About Lies
Deleted Scenes

The DVD Bonus Disk includes:

The Lightman Group Lie Detection Tutorials
Play ALL
Intro
Anger
Contempt
Disgust
Fear
Happiness
Sad
Surprise

Source: TV Shows On DVD

Noah Wyle, Steven Spielberg and Alien Invasions

Noah Wyle has been snagged to headline a yet-to-be-titled sci-fi show on TNT that will involve yet another alien invasion plot.

The storyline kicks in gear approximately 6 months after an insidious evil alien species invades the Earth and Wyle will be the leader of the human resistance.

I’m a little disappointed that this premise sounds so much like another upcoming show that starts with a V. I expected a bit more originality out of Spielberg.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

Ratings section is on the next page

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Fox Fall TV Premiere Dates & Times

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:29:10 +0000

If you remember, back on the week of May 18th we let you know what shows were renewed and dumped with the following:

The only snags with these listings were that they were just lists of shows renewed or dropped, with no specific dates.

Fox has released their list of dates and times. Just to be thorough, we’re including all shows that they’ve announced.

A few items of note is that Fringe has moved to Thursdays, and in their effort to continue to murder the ratings, Dollhouse stays on Fridays. OK, to be fair, we’re a small minority and I do think we’re lucky that Dollhouse stayed with us for a 2nd season. Even if it’s just to draw out their DVD sales.

Saturday, Sept. 12

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – COPS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – COPS (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – AMERICA’S MOST WANTED (Season Premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 16

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – GLEE (Series Premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 17

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – BONES (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – FRINGE (Season Premiere)

Friday, Sept. 18

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – BROTHERS (Series Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – ‘TIL DEATH (Season Premiere)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – DOLLHOUSE (Season Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 21

8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – HOUSE (2-Hour Season Premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 27

8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT – THE SIMPSONS (Season Premiere)

8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT – THE CLEVELAND SHOW (Series Premiere)

9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT – FAMILY GUY (Season Premiere)

9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT – AMERICAN DAD (Season Premiere)

Monday, Sept. 28

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – HOUSE (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – LIE TO ME (Season Premiere)

Tuesday, Sept. 29

8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT – HELL’S KITCHEN (All-New Episode)

9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Time Period Premiere)

Tuesday, Oct. 27

8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (Time Period Premiere)

Saturday, Nov. 7

11:00 PM-Midnight ET/PT – THE WANDA SYKES SHOW (wt*) (Series Premiere)
*Bruce’s note: “wt” means working title.

And there you have it. The upcoming season of unstoppable excitement, the likes of which we’ve never seen before. OK, I couldn’t help myself.

On a serious note, don’t fret if you don’t see 24 with Kiefer Sutherland on the list. This is just a list of shows starting around the same time the other networks are kicking it in gear for the 2009 / 2010 season. 24 is airing in January of 2010.

I know a lot of these shows may not appeal to most of the faithful Screen Rant readers, but thorough is thorough. Hey, I had to type it so quit grumbling!

All joking aside, if there’s a show in here you like and you want more details than what we may have covered, don’t be shy. Let us know. We’re a civil and understanding group of hooligans here! Thanks for coming by.

Source: Fox Press

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Are Smallville And Supernatural Ending Next Season?

Bruce Simmons — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:22:43 +0000

With Smallville moving to Fridays and Supernatural getting a new vampire neighbor on Thursday nights, what does the future look like for both shows?

Various factors have me thinking “bleak.”

As we know, Smallville is moving to the dreaded ratings vacuum called Friday night. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a place networks put shows they don’t care about. We all saw how Friday night killed viewer numbers for The Sarah Connor Chronicles when it was moved there. And TSCC had more viewers than Smallville.

Back on Thursdays, The Vampire Diaries will be the lead-in to Supernatural in the 9 o’clock hour. This isn’t necessarily the doom of the show, but we need to remember that Eric Kripke had a 5 year story outline for the Supernatural. Yet on the down side of things, the Winchester brothers will be up against Fringe on Thursdays at 9 – that alone makes puts Supernatural’s fate into question.

CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff is also saying “We’ll see how the season goes,” in regards to Supernatural continuing beyond a 5th season, as if they’re not paying any heed to Kripke’s plan.

With the break-up of a great duo and the stiff competition that Fox is bringing to Thursdays, it does look like the next seasons of Smallville and Supernatural could be a little bleak in the ratings department.

Smallville: A Quote To Remember

I had to toss this out for later reference at the end of the 2009/10 season of Smallville.

CW entertainment president Dawn Ostroff is being noted as saying that if Smallville delivers more viewers than some previous Friday night shows like Everybody Hates Chris and The Game, that that would be super.

Does this mean super as in good, we’ll keep it around or super as in, it’s just super it did that, but we’re going to let it simmer and steam out from there?

Is it me, or does this all sound like lip-service in a weak attempt to retain viewers?

Sources: TV Guide, TV Guide

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Fox Announces Fall TV Lineup & Squirms On Sarah Connor

Bruce Simmons — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:50:25 +0000

Yesterday (Monday, the 19th) Fox announced it’s upcoming Fall lineup today and we will be seeing some of Screen Rant’s favorites like House, Lie To Me, Bones, Fringe & Dollhouse return this fall. These are the shows we here at Screen Rant are more focused on.

The news in and about the industry this last weekend was swirling in a dance on what was being renewed and canceled. Specifically, some were focused on the fates of Dollhouse and The Sarah Connor Chronicles and why one show was given the axe, and the other given a reprieve.

For the upcoming Fall season House and Lie To Me will be on Mondays. Bones leads into Fringe on Thursday nights. Dollhouse stays on Friday with two 30-minute comedies as lead-ins.

At the mid-season point in the schedule, 24 will show up on Mondays following House.

Human Target starts in January on Wednesdays.

PS: I’ve picked up some noise that 24 will take place in New York City next season.

Fringe Moving To Thursday Nights

Olivia? Are we really moving to Thursdays?

If you don’t look at the other network schedules, I’m thinking that Fox is pitching two popular shows on one night. Seems good, but if you dwell on the issue at hand, it seems that they might as well put Fringe on Friday nights with Dollhouse.

I say that because as it currently stands Thursday nights are dominated on other networks by The Office, 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy and CSI.

If you look at these shows on the other networks, in regards to viewers there is some serious competition on these other networks for Bones and Fringe. Numbers from last weeks ratings:

The Office had 7.8 milion viewers;
30 Rock – 6.1 mil;
Grey’s Anatomy – 15.5 mil;
CSI – 14.9 mil.

Meanwhile, Bones brought in 8.8 mil and Fringe 9.2 million viewers.

What happens when you pitch Fringe and Bones up against Grey’s and CSI? To me it sounds like a bit of a slaughter and possibly an excuse to cancel one or the other. Fox may be trying to compete for Thursday nights, but I’m not sure this is their best way of doing it. It almost seems like they’re setting up some shows to be the fall guy.

The guys at Fox seem to think that CSI had a decline in ratings and, I presume, they are thinking it is vulnerable to a new competing show. Of course, last week Grey’s Anatomy was 6th and CSI was 7th in the top 10 of all shows, and 3rd and 4th respectively amongst scripted dramas.

Who is this “decline” statement aimed at? Mutants from a planet with no TV? Despite this “toe the company line” stance, Reilly still managed, with a straight face, to toss out statements like “Thursday night, … the door’s more open on this night than it’s been in a long, long time.”

Regardless, this placement to Thursdays for Fringe concerns this writer. The only potential saving grace is that we don’t know for sure if the regular line up from Thursdays will still exist on the other networks this fall. We only have to wait a day or two to find out.

On The Dollhouse Renewal

I have to kick butt next season. You with me?

Despite fan-polls on the internet showing a massive popularity draw to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Fox renewed Dollhouse.

(continued…)

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Fringe Season Finale Review and Discussion

Bruce Simmons — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:52:23 +0000

The following is a spoiler-free perspective, with the time-shifted viewer in mind.

The Fringe finale brought answers on what you might call “multiple” fronts. It did not feel like it was stretched to meet any expectations. It rounded out a decent first season for its maiden voyage on Fox.

When I first saw the Fringe panel at Comic-Con last year, the crowd was thin and the set-up questionable. I panned it out and came away from the panel thinking it was going to flounder.

Did I miss the mark, or what?

When the series started, we saw FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) come on the scene and right up front she loses her fiancee / FBI co-worker. That is, except for that him-hanging-around-in-her-head thing.

Olivia didn’t sit well with me in the beginning but as the show progressed, so did she as we started to see just how she fit into this funny puzzle of science tampering.

Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) was the reluctant player in this whole ordeal. From being coerced into coming on board, to having to babysit the father he seemed most reluctant to deal with. It was a tragic scenario for Peter as he had to leave his happy life in the shadows and live a life as a consultant for the FBI, assisting Olivia in wrangling his father, begrudgingly.

In the beginning, Peter was a character that interacted with the stories and the scenes. But was it me or in these last few episodes was Peter less integral in the dialog? Peter was getting on my nerves. I loved his sarcastic whit. I really did… he converses much like I do, but it was almost all he ever did – Throwing out snarky quips for conversational bits. I found myself wishing they’d give more depth to Peter’s role in this whole picture in the back 1/2 of the season.

Peter’s father, Walter Bishop, is played wonderfully by John Noble. Ah Walter. Talk about a well-meaning loose canon who wasn’t exactly connected to the here and now. But I don’t think he’s nuts. He’s just so absorbed in his thinking processes that his preoccupation appears as if he’s not quite connected. That and being a science nerd, not being socially well-integrated only seemed to make him nuts. He’s forgetful. He’s obsessive. But I’m just not sure he was really nuts. And the funny part is that John Noble was just like this at the Fringe panel last year at Comic-Con… rambling with subtle undertones of wise and insightful humor led on by years of experience… or read very well into his role.

Walter is a hoot, with his intermittent inappropriate flatulence to his urges for sugar-laden cereals from yesteryear. We’ve also watched Walter grow and become a working part of the team. Albeit, in his own special way. He has a cow you know! No, really, a cow. Everyone needs a pet.

This nice part is seeing the father-son bond grow with time, as Peter and Walter are slowly coming together understanding each other more and more.

Then the man in charge of this whole thing, Homeland Security Agent Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick), leads the team as they investigate these patterns.

He’s gone from the stoic leader of this rag-tag group of feds and become the stoic leader of this ragtag team that has learned to work together as the season progressed. But now, he’s more forgiving and lenient with Olivia’s requests unless he has orders that come from high in the scheme of the government.

The rest of the cast is just, well, the rest of the cast that helped or hindered our mystery-chasing good guys.

In the finale, it all comes together. Through different channels the group learns about the deja vu of it all.

And, Olivia gets what she wants with regards to both David Jones and William Bell while we are left with something that’s not necessarily a cliff hanger, but one heck of a daring cliff dangler!

I cannot wait to see it all start up again for season 2. Bring it Abrams, bring it.

How do you feel the show has evolved? Does it merit the 2nd season it’s been given? How long do you think it will keep this up? Keep in mind that though this article is technically spoiler free, the comments may very well not be!

You’ve been warned.

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