News
The Weekly Round-Up for November 29 to December 3
Here are the entertainment news items for this past week:
TELEVISION NEWS
The Cartoon Network one-hour live-action drama Unnatural History has not been renewed by the network.
The much-talked-about-since-Comic-Con prequel movie of Burn Notice that is to focus on Sam Axe (played by Bruce Campbell) will air on the USA Network sometime in the spring and will be directed by Burn Notice lead actor Jeffrey Donovan. The two-hour movie will center on Sam’s final 2005 mission with the Navy SEALs, which involved a group of Colombian rebels.
The new ABC Dana Delany drama Body of Proof has finally been given a premiere date: Tuesday, March 29 at 10 PM, following the end of the 18-episode run of the new series Detroit 1-8-7. The series follows Dr. Megan Hunt (Delany), a brilliant neurosurgeon whose world is turned upside down when an accident puts an end to her time in the operating room. In her new career as a Medical Examiner, she is determined to solve the puzzle of who or what has killed the victims. Along the way, Megan finds that their lives and the lessons they hold can be applied to her own personal journey of redemption and forgiveness. The series also stars Jeri Ryan, John Carroll Lynch, Nicholas Bishop, Sonja Sohn, Geoffrey Arend and Windell D. Middlebrooks.
FX has announced a debut date for its new original series Lights Out: Tuesday January 11 at 10 PM. The series stars Holt McCallany (CSI: Miami) as Patrick ‘Lights’ Leary, an aging former heavyweight boxing champion who struggles to find his identity and support his wife and three daughters after retiring from the ring. The financial downturn coupled with a series of failed investments leave him at a perilous crossroads, battling the urge to return to boxing or reluctantly accepting a job as a brutal and intimidating debt collector. Catherine McCormack, Pablo Schreiber and Stacy Keach co-star. FX has ordered 13 episodes of Lights Out.
Michael Weatherly will pull double duty later this season on NCIS, as he makes his directorial debut. He expects to go behind the camera for an episode filming in January, but no other details about the episode are immediately available.
James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be co-hosting the 2011 Academy Awards.
Kristoffer Polaha has signed a talent holding deal with CBS, which pretty much puts the final nail into the coffin that was Life Unexpected.
Showtime should be making an official announcement soon about Dexter being picked up for a 6th season.
The sci-fi series Primeval will not only return for its new season on New Year’s Day in the UK but here in the US via BBC America. It will air at 9 PM in both countries. The new season picks up approximately one year after the last season ended – Abby (Hannah Spearritt) and Connor (Andrew Lee Potts) finally escape from the Cretaceous period, only to be followed by a giant Spinosaurus, the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs. A new Anomaly Research Center (ARC) team springs into action, leaving Abby and Connor’s place within the team in jeopardy while their former leader Danny (Jason Flemyng) is still missing. The new ARC recruits are: Matt (Ciaran McMenamin), the new field leader, who’s more than just an ex-soldier. He’s a zoologist, with an uncanny ability to understand animals. A private man, Matt carefully guards the secrets of his past and the real reason he joined the team. Unconventional Jess (Ruth Kearney) now runs operations from the ARC Control Centre. She is highly efficient and her work ethic is second to none, though she is human enough to nurse an unrequited crush on Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield). And Alexander Siddig as a charismatic scientist who is now a part owner of the now public/private partnership, which is also partly-owned by the government. Here is a trailer to get fans excited: http://bit.ly/fTBk6H
The BBC is in talks about a fifth season of family fantasy drama series Merlin. A 4th season of 10 episodes has already been picked up and will air in 2011.
AMC began production on another new series called The Killing, which tells the story of the murder of a young girl in Seattle and the subsequent police investigation. The series stars Mireille Enos (Big Love), Billy Campbell (Once and Again), Michelle Forbes (True Blood) and Brent Sexton (W. and In the Valley of Elah). There will be 13 one-hour episodes of this series, which is expected to air on the network in March of 2011.
News broke today that NBC has dropped the episode order from 22 to 18 episodes for their new series Chase. The show is also being moved to Wednesday nights at 9 PM starting in January.
AMC will kick off a landmark marathon of Breaking Bad, featuring all 33 episodes of the series’ three season. Two back-to-back episodes will air every Wednesday night starting on December 8 through March 2011.
CONCERT UPDATE
Due to overwhelming popular demand, two more concert dates for the Glee Live! In Concert! have been arranged. The kids from Glee will now perform two additional concerts at the O2 arena in London on June 28 and 29. You can get tickets at www.ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800) 745-3000 or at any Ticketmaster Outlet. For more information, please visit “Glee” at www.gleetour.com.
AWARD WINNERS
Congrats to the winners of the 2010 Gotham Awards, including the independent movie Winter’s Bone and the documentary Waiting for Superman.
CONDOLENCES
Legendary actor Leslie Nielsen passed away Sunday afternoon due to complications from pneumonia. He was 84 years old.
ME: Condolences are extended to his family, friends and fans. Moment of silence, please…
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
ABC is developing a couple of music-themed series for next fall, including a drama with musical elements from writer Bob Kushell (Samantha Who?) that would star Tony winner Idina Menzel AND a musical comedy from Robert Horn, who wrote the High School Musical-spinoff Sharpay Fabulous and The Suite Life: The Movie. The drama with Menzel would be an hour-long project abouta mother-daughter relationship in the vein of Gilmore Girls. Menzel would be a single mother with a teenager who, to make ends meet, waits tables and performs at weddings and bar mitzvahs. Meanwhile, the as-yet-untitled Horn project is described as a half-hour female-driven musical comedy.
Shonda Rhimes (the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice) is creating a new series for ABC set in the world of public relations crisis management; based on the career of legendary public relations consultant Judy Smith, who worked with Bill Clinton, Michael Vick and New York Governor David Paterson. Not much more is known about the project other than it is being developed for the 2011-12 season.
Actress Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) has landed a leading role in a new pilot for TNT called Bird Dog. The central premise of the series focuses on police officer Gail McGrath (Dushku), who trailed her father in tot he world of law enforcement – the only mutual interest she shared with her estranged old man. With time, McGrath would leave the big city she once called home in order to settle out West. A piece of home, however, soon finds McGrath as her father turns up at her house to announce that he is her new partner.
J.J. Abrams has found his new TV leading lady: Sarah Jones will join the ranks of Jennifer Garner, Keri Russell, Evangeline Lily, Anna Torv and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the FOX pilot Alcatraz, which revolves around the reappearance of a group of Alcatraz prisoners and guards, who mysteriously went missing 30 years ago, and the team of FBI agents picked to solve the mystery. Jones will play Rebecca Madsen, a smart, thoughtful and a little obsessive police officer. Jones has appeared in Sons of Anarchy and Justified as well as guest starring stints on Ugly Betty, Big Love, and House.The project is in contention for a slot on the 2011-2012 Fall TV Schedule for FOX.
Two more actors have joined the cast of the J.J. Abrams time-warped Alcatraz pilot for FOX. Jonathan Coyne (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) will play the infamous prison’s warden and Jason Butler Harner will portray his cruel lieutenant.
Actor Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) has been cast in a TBS pilot, Brain Trust, which is described as a comic detective series about a disgraced cop who turns to three “hyper-smart geniuses” from a think-tank to help him solve cases. Urie is one of the geniuses, and D.B. Sweeney is the detective.
MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE NEWS
Luke Perry and Jason Priestley (from the original Beverly Hills 90210) will reunite for the Hallmark Movie Channel film Goodnight For Justice, which is slated to debut on January 29 at 8 PM. Perry is Executive Producer and lead star of the film whose character Judge John Goodnight, a Circuit Judge, renders justice with a perfect persuasion of eloquence and deadly aim. Priestley directs the film. Here is a more broad description of the film:
In a stagecoach, a young boy creates an eidetic memory of his childhood, each sight and sound of all the days of his life recalled with stunning accuracy: Waiting outside a General Store; a candy barrel filled with peppermints; his mother and father, defeated, but still proud, hold hands as they talk about giving up the hardscrabble land they tried to call home and the excitement of new beginnings back East; an eloquent Circuit Judge, Aldous Shaw, and his elegantly-dressed wife offer solace to the Goodnight family; the judge’s six-gun and rich leather holster gleam in the sun; the slow hum of good conversation mixed with hoofbeats; out of nowhere, noise, confusion, a brilliant flash; six masked outlaws surround the coach; gunfire explodes without cessation; horses flail; Judge Shaw is felled by a pearl-handled knife; carriage overturns with deadly force; bullets fly; all are lost, except the boy and the Judge’s wife who will become his surrogate mother. The boy who hid in weeds to save his own life is now a man who walks with grandeur and purpose. He is, a Circuit Judge, hell-bent on justice.
WEB SERIES
Warner Premiere and Dolphin Entertainment announced casting for their forthcoming multi-platform teen action series called Aim High that will star Jackson Rathbone (the Twilight franchise) as teenage government operative Nick Green. He will be joined by Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), who stars as Nick’s charming love interest Amanda Miles. MCG is one of the producers. The web series will also stars Rebecca Mader (Lost) as Nick’s sultry science teacher Ms. Walker, Johnny Pemberton (Megadrive) as the well-connected best friend Marcus, Clancy Brown (Highlander) as Russian mercenary Boris the Bear, Jonathan McDaniel (That’s So Raven) as Amanda’s jealous boyfriend and swim team captain Derek Long, and Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) as the protective Vice Principal Ockenhocker. Aim High is the story of a young man leading a double life, juggling his studies by day and serving as a government agent by night. The series chronicles the life of Nick Green, a junior who’s just starting a new school year as one of the country’s 64 highly trained teenage operatives.When he’s not handling international spies, Nick is dreaming of Amanda Miles, the most popular girl in school who’s cool, intelligent and very alluring. Amanda mercilessly flirts with Nick, but before he can enjoy her advances he has to avoid Derek her overly protective boyfriend who threatens him for even looking at her.
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Luximation Films is set to produce an animated feature adaptation of the graphic novel The Clockwork Girl, which is the first in a series about the coming of age tale about a young robot girl named Tesla and a young monster boy named Huxley who set out to save their world from destruction. Alexa Vega and Jesse McCartney will voice the two characters. Joining them are Carrie-Anne Moss, Brad Garrett and Jeffrey Tambor.
Ray Wise (Reaper and Twin Peaks) has landed a role in the box office movie X-Men: First Class, playing the Secretary of State of the United States.
Jackie Earle Haley (Human Target), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) and Bailee Madison (Just Go with It) will star in the independent black comedy called Dance of the Mirlitons, which follows an ambitious, slightly overweight ballerina (Madison) with an overbearing mother (Bell) who will stop at nothing to become a star. The girl enters a catty clique-type environment when she has to prove her worth in class and face-off against the star ballerina (Moretz) who becomes her school nemesis. Meanwhile, Haley will likely be bringing laughs as a subtly sadistic Russian ballet teacher of the highest order.
Paul Giamatti is in negotiations to possibly star in the box office movie Cosmopolis, which is an adaptation of the Don DeLillo book of the same name. The story follows 24 hours in the life of a newly married billionaire (Colin Farrell) as he cheats on his wife (Marion Cotillard), is pursued by a stalker, gets attacked by a protester and gradually loses his entire fortune over the course of a single day.
Angela Bassett has joined thecast of the action comedy film This Means War, which stars Chris Pine and Tom Hardy as two retired spies who battle with one another after they fall in love with the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Bassett will play both of the spies’ boss who has dedicated her entire life to the spy business and has no life outside the CIA.
Director Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) is in early negotiations to direct the movie called Maze Runners. The movie will be based on the first book in the young adult sci-fi trilogy by James Dashner. The story follows a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a strange place called the Glade with no memory aside from his first name. The Glade is an enclosed structure populated by other boys, and is surrounded by tall, stone walls that protect them from monsters called Grievers that live in the Maze, which surrounds the walls around the Glade. Every day, some of the kids who are Runners venture into the labyrinth trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit. As soon as Thomas arrives, unusual things begin to happen and the others grow suspicious of him. The Maze seems familiar to Thomas, but he’s unable to make sense of the place despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. When the first girl arrives in the Glade, she brings a message that she will be the last one to ever arrive in the Glade, as the end is near.
Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) has joined the cast of the movie Looper, which also stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. The film follows a group of hitmen (called Loopers) in the present-day who are sent their targets from the future. Dano will play a character named Seth who is one of the Loopers.
The family friendly franchise from the 80’s – Benji – is being considered for a big screen relaunch, but there doesn’t seem to be any other specifics available at this time.
Tom Hanks has joined the cast of the forthcoming movie Triple Frontier, which is the next movie to be done by Oscar Best Director winner Kathryn Bigelow, which is an ensemble picture set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil where the Igazu and Parana rivers converge, making “la triple frontera” difficult to monitor and a haven for organized crime.
Actor Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song) will star in Broken Run, a political thriller to be directed by John Singleton. The story is set in Washington D.C., following a recovering alcoholic who becomes addicted to the thrill of stalking strangers and discovering that her new obsession is perhaps more dangerous than she originally thought.
Joel Edgerton (The Thing remake) and Teresa Palmer (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) will star in an Australian psychological drama called Say Nothing, which is the story of four friends who lose themselves in the fun of a carefree Southeast Asian holiday. However, a mystery unfolds after a fateful night when they were dancing under a full moon in Cambodia and one disappears.
Emily Blunt has joined the growing list of celebrity cameos in the upcoming The Muppets movie that will star Jason Segel.
Ben Foster (The Messenger) and Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar) will join Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale in the box office film Contraband, which is a remake of the Icelandic thriller that follows a security guard and former alcohol smuggler on the Iceland-Netherlands route who is tempted back into illicit business by a dubious friend after encountering financial problems.
Actor Ryan Phillippe is set to star in thriller Set Up that is to star Bruce Willis and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The story follows a group of friends caught in a diamond heist that turns deadly. Actress Jenna Dewan will co-star.
CASTING SCOOP
Actress Valerie Harper (from the classic series Rhoda) will be guest starring in an upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives as Susan’s Aunt Claire, who comes to visit her niece along with her sister, Susan’s spacey mom Sophie. Harper will appear in the second new episode of 2011.
Casting is underway for a new series regular for Hawaii Five-0. This new character (who could male or female) is in his or her late 20s to early 30s, a wise-cracking, multilingual Asia expert recruited into the CIA right out of Harvard. The new addition also has a deep-rooted connection to McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), having taken a bullet for him years ago.
Actor Doug Hutchinson (who played Horace on Lost) will guest star in Lie To Me, playing Lane Bradley, whose rising career as a police detective comes to a screeching halt when his infant daughter is kidnapped. The episode will air later this season.
Dan Aykroyd has signed on to appear in two episodes of The Defenders, playing a judge needing help. The episodes are slated to air early next year.
It looks like Jane Badler isn’t the only original star from the original Vseries appearing on the new reboot. Marc Singer, who played freedom fighter Mike Donovan in the original, will play a new character named Lars Tremont, who is a member of a super top secret organization comprised of high-ranking military and government leaders from around the globe, who have long suspected that the Visitors — despite what they tell us — are very much not here in peace. Jane Badler will make her debut in the January 4 season premiere, while Marc will pop up in episode 10, which is also the second season finale. Badler and Singer will not share any screen time together, though.
It was only a matter of time until this happened. Actress-singer AJ Michalka (who recently starred in the movie Secretariat as Diane Lane’s daughter) will make her debut on her sister Aly’s CW series Hellcats. She will guest star as a girl who works at a record store near Lancer University. AJ is expected to appear in several episodes but which episodes those will be have not yet been confirmed.
Actress Paula Marshall (Gary Unmarried) will guest star as Cuddy’s sister Lucinda in an upcoming January episode of House.
Actress Margo Martindale (Mercy, Dexter and The Riches) will have a recurring role in Justified as Mags Bennett, a towering figure in the Harlan County criminal world as she is the matriarch of the Bennett clan, who havehad a Hatfield and McCoys-type relationship with Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) and his family for years.Season 2 is scheduled to premiere sometime in February.
Actress Anna Chlumsky is set to co-star alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the HBO comedy pilot Veep, which centers on former Senator Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus) who becomes Vice President. Chlumsky will play her responsible and insecure chief of staff Amy.
Actress Kelly Rowan (The O.C.) has the lead role in the TNT drama pilot Perception, which centers on Dr. Geoffrey Pierce (Eric McCormack), an eccentric and brilliant university professor in neuropsychiatry who helps the FBI solve complex cases. Rowan will play Pierce’s best friend and intellectual equal.
Jeremy Irons will guest star on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Dr. Cap Jackson, a sex therapist who runs a sex addition rehab clinic. The episode will air in early 2011.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
With the fall season fully upon us, there is a lot of programming for which to keep track. The list below covers most of what you can expect this coming weekend and next week:
Saturday, December 4:
Chase on NBC at 8 PM (reair)
Law & Order: Los Angeles on NBC at 9 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 10 PM (reair)
Doctor Who on BBC America at 8 and 9 PM (reairs)
In Treatment on HBO2 at 8, 8:30, 9 and 9:30 PM (reairs)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 10:15 PM (reair)
Farewell Mr. Kringle movie on Hallmark at 8 and 10 PM (Debut)
Sunday, December 5:
Desperate Housewives on ABC at 9 PM
Brothers & Sisters on ABC at 10 PM
CSI: Miami on CBS at 10 PM
The Walking Dead on AMC at 10 PM
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 9 PM (Finale)
Big Love on HBO at 10 PM (reair)
Dexter on Showtime at 9 PM (reair)
Dexter on Showtime at 10 PM (New)
Farewell Mr. Kringle movie on Hallmark at 8 PM
CMT Artists of the Year special on CMT at 8 PM (reair)
Monday, December 6:
Castle on ABC at 10:01 PM
Hawaii Five-0 on CBS at 10PM
American Country Awards on FOX at 8 PM (Two Hours)
90210 on the CW at 8 PM
Gossip Girl on the CW at 9 PM
Chase on NBC at 10 PM
Dexter on Showtime at 9 PM (reair)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO2 at 8 PM (reair)
In Treatment on HBO at 9 and 9:30 PM (New)
Rizzoli & Isles on TNT at 8 PM (reair)
The Closer on TNT at 9 PM (Return)
Men of a Certain Age on TNT at 10 PM (Return)
Sundays at Tiffany’s movie on Lifetime at 9 PM (Debut)
16 Wishes movie on Disney at 8 PM (reair)
The Good Witch’s Gift on Hallmark at 10 PM (reair)
Tuesday, December 7:
NCIS on CBS at 8 PM (reair)
NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS at 9 PM (reair)
The Good Wife on CBS at 10 PM (reair)
One Tree Hill on the CW at 8 PM
Life Unexpected on the CW at 9 PM
No Ordinary Family on ABC at 9 PM (New Time)
Detroit 1-8-7 on ABC at 10 PM
Glee on FOX at 8 PM
Tower Prep on Cartoon Network at 8 PM (may be reair – check local listings)
Eureka on Syfy at 9 PM (New Holiday Episode)
Warehouse 13 on Syfy at 10 PM (New Holiday Episode)
Glory Daze on TBS at 10 PM
Dexter on Showtime at 10 PM (reair)
In Treatment on HBO at 8 and 8:30 PM (reairs)
In Treatment on HBO at 9 and 9:30 PM (New)
Wednesday, December 8:
The Whole Truth on ABC at 10 PM
Criminal Minds on CBS at 9 PM
The Defenders on CBS at 10 PM
Human Target on FOX at 8 PM
Friday Night Lights on DirecTV at 9 PM
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC at 10 PM (reair)
Psych on USA Network at 10 PM
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 10 PM (reair)
In Treatment on HBO Signature at 9, 9:30, 10 and 10:30 PM (reairs)
Dexter on Showtime2 at 9 PM (reair)
The Santa Suit movie on Hallmark at 8 PM (Debut)
Thursday, December 9:
Barbara Walters Special with Oprah on ABC at 9 PM
Barbara Walters: The Most Fascinating People of 2010 on ABC at 10 PM
CSI on CBS at 9 PM
The Mentalist on CBS at 10 PM
The Vampire Diaries on the CW at 8 PM
Nikita on the CW at 9 PM
Bones on FOX at 8 PM
Fringe on FOX at 9 PM
Burn Notice on USA Network at 10 PM
Dexter on Showtime at 10 PM (reair)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 10 PM (reair)
The Santa Incident movie on Hallmark at 8 and 10 PM (Debut)
Friday, December 10:
The Mentalist on CBS at 8 PM (reair)
CSI: NY on CBS at 9 PM (reair)
Blue Bloods on CBS at 10 PM (reair)
Smallville on the CW at 8 PM
Supernatural on the CW at 9 PM
The Good Guys on FOX at 8 PM
The Good Guys on FOX at 9 PM (This is the REAL Finale)
The Walking Dead on AMC at 10 PM (reair)
Law & Order: UK on BBC America at 9and 10 PM (reairs)
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 PM
Dexter on Showtime2 at 9 PM (reair)
Boardwalk Empire on HBO at 9 PM
In Treatment on HBO2 at 10 and 10:30 PM (reairs)
Farewell Mr. Kringle movie on Hallmark at 8 PM (reair)
NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.
Have a great weekend!
0 comments