Category Archives: Entertainment

TV items: ‘Nashville’ picked up by CMT, ‘Orphan Black’ renewed for final season & ‘Curb’ returns

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When ABC decided to cancel Nashville after four seasons, I was a bit distraught. The season four finale did wrap up most of the dangling threads and everyone pretty much had their happy ending, except for Juliette Barnes, of course, whose cliffhanger involved her jet going missing. A part of me thinks I could have gone on just fine if that was the end of Nashville. Over the years, the country music drama weaved in and out of being a soapy mess. The series, at its best, focused on the music and the trails and tribulations of making it in the music industry. At its worst, it focused on completely unrelated dramatic twists including Juliette going haywire with postpartum depression and, most recently, Rayna James’ eldest daughter emancipating herself from the family. Soap operas can have fun with drama like this, but when it starts to completely deviate from the soul of the series, that’s when viewers (like me, at least) begin to lose interest.

And yet, that feeling of being distraught wouldn’t budge and the reason is simple, really. A Nashville fan from the beginning, I wadded through the creative ups and downs, knowing I’d eventually reach the series’ natural conclusion. Though most characters did get their happy ending, it was clear that the season finale was not constructed to serve as a series finale. Its various relationships are important to the plot, including Rayna and Deacon and Scarlet and Gunnar finally embracing their inevitable soul mate statuses with each other. But here’s the thing: Nashville can’t end without celebrating the music that makes it so special. I went into this show with a public disregard of country music; simply wasn’t a fan. Nashville managed to convert me, so much so that I went to see the actors perform music from the show live at one of Nashville‘s popular tour stops. The show couldn’t just end without a proper goodbye, and that includes unforgettable music performances that hopefully harken back to season 1’s gems including but not limited to those touching duets by Scarlet and Gunnar.

This brings us to the exciting news at hand: CMT has picked up Nashville for a fifth season, and studio Lionsgate TV intends to produce additional seasons of the show “for years to come.” The renewal also includes a deal with Hulu; the streaming service will air new episodes of Nashville the day after they air on cable. Season 5 will be led by new showrunners, Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, and the plan is to pump out a full 22-episode season (as opposed to the 10-13 most cable networks do these days). Nashville lives on, and for someone who has invested four seasons of time with these characters and their stories, this is music to my ears.

Jump after the break to get the scoop on Orphan Black and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Continue reading TV items: ‘Nashville’ picked up by CMT, ‘Orphan Black’ renewed for final season & ‘Curb’ returns →

Upfronts: Preview The CW’s fall schedule including ‘Supergirl’ & one-hour romantic comedy

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The CW, CBS’ sister network, is the little network that could, sustaining itself mostly with superheroes and vampires over the years and more recently with critically acclaimed comedies. For the upcoming 2016-17 TV season, the green-hued net has 3 new dramas and 1 new comedy entering the fray, so let’s take a look.

This fall, Supergirl is moving from CBS to The CW where it will join producer Greg Berlanti’s crop of DC-based superhero shows including Arrow, The Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. CW head Mark Pedowitz promises the “biggest [crossover event]” is in the works. Supergirl will continue on in its Monday-at-8 timeslot followed by Jane the Virgin. On Tuesday, The Flash will open for new hour-long romantic comedy No Tomorrow and on Wednesday, Arrow will aim to attract viewers to new drama Frequency, an adaptation of the 2000 science fiction thriller. Thursday pairs the hot Legends of Tomorrow with veteran Supernatural (which is entering its 12th season!), and Friday sees The Vampire Diaries joined with the low rated but critically touted Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is relocating from Monday.

The single new series being held for midseason on The CW is Riverdale, a live action drama based on the characters from Archie Comics, also produced by Greg Berlanti. For fans of The Originals, Reign, iZombie, and The 100, fear not; though they are all being benched in the fall, they will return sometime later in the season.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview The CW’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview The CW’s fall schedule including ‘Supergirl’ & one-hour romantic comedy →

Upfronts: Preview CBS’ fall schedule including Kevin James, Matt LeBlanc & Joel McHale sitcoms

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CBS is the last of the Big Four Networks to present its fall schedule and preview its new series slate. In all, The Eye has 5 new dramas and 3 new comedies coming soon, and of the 8 new programs, six are ready to go come fall.

ABC’s new entertainment president Channing Dungey doubled down on single-cam sitcoms, and CBS’ newly appointed entertainment head Glenn Geller is following suit by also injecting two weeknights with two-hour comedy blocks. The Big Bang Theory, the most-watched comedy on TV, will anchor Mondays in September and provide a solid lead in for the new Kevin James (King of Queens) multi-cam sitcom Kevin Can Wait. 2 Broke Girls and The Odd Couple will follow, and returning procedural Scorpion will close the night at 10. When Thursday Night Football concludes in late October, Kevin Can Wait will move into the 8pm slot and it will be paired with another new stay-at-home dad sitcom, Man with a Plan, toplined by Matt LeBlanc (Friends). New legal drama Bull, inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil and starring Michael Weatherly (NCIS), gets sandwiched between NCIS and offshoot NCIS: New Orleans on Tuesday. Wednesday is home to Survivor, Criminal Minds, and, Code Black. In late October, Big Bang will anchor another night, Thursday, and help draw eyeballs to Joel McHale’s (Community) fresh laugher, The Great Indoors. Returning sitcoms Mom and Life in Pieces complete this second two-hour comedy block on the Eye’s schedule, and new hospital-set drama Pure Genius bookends the night at 10. Friday will open with a modernized version of MacGyver and it will lead into returning crime procedurals Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods. With The Good Wife over, Sunday’s lineup now looks like this: NCIS: LA, Madam Secretary, Elementary.

New series being held for midseason include dramas Training Day–starring Bill Paxton and based on the film but taking place 15 years after it–and Doubt, a legal procedural and Katherine Heigl’s (Grey’s Anatomy) return to network TV (Orange is the New Black‘s Laverne Cox co-stars).

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview CBS’ new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview CBS’ fall schedule including Kevin James, Matt LeBlanc & Joel McHale sitcoms →

Upfronts: Preview ABC’s fall schedule including Kiefer Sutherland as POTUS

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ABC is network number three to present its new series for the upcoming 2016-17 TV season. There are 5 new dramas and 4 new comedies on deck, and of the nine new series, five will debut this fall. The upcoming season marks a changing of the guard in Alphabet city as Channing Dungey takes over for Paul Lee as the net’s new entertainment president.

In one of her first big moves as network head, Dungey cancelled a significant number of ABC’s shows including the long-running Castle and Wednesday night staple, Nashville. Leading out of Dancing with the Stars on Monday nights now and replacing Castle is a new procedural toplined by Hayley Atwell, Conviction; Atwell, ironically enough, is the former star of ABC’s now-cancelled Agent Carter. Comedy is a big deal for Dungey, and viewers should take notice. A two-hour comedy block has been added to Tuesday, and veteran The Middle is relocating there from Wednesday to serve as the opening course. It will lead into new sitcom American Housewife and the returning Fresh off the Boat and The Real O’Neals. Closing out the final hour of the evening is Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., now in the 10pm hour. A second two-hour block of comedy follows on Wednesday, and the network now entrusts The Goldbergs to kickstart the funny. It will open the night for another new sitcom, Speechless, which is followed by vet Modern Family and breakout hit black-ish. Taking over Nashville‘s Wednesdays-at-10 vacancy is new political drama Designated Survivor with Kiefer Sutherland (24). This fall, “TGIT” takes a backseat since Scandal is being held until midseason (likely because star Kerry Washington is pregnant with her second child). Sandwiched between Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder is new legal drama Notorious (and no, it is not executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, hence the halting of TGIT). But fear not–TGIT will return in midseason when both Scandal and another Shonda show The Catch return to the schedule. Friday remains dominated by ABC’s single-cam sitcoms Last Man Standing and Dr. Ken, and Sunday looks familiar with Once Upon A Time, Secrets and Lies (finally returning for its second season), and Quantico.

New series being held for midseason include another Shondaland show, Still Star-Crossed, the third time-travel series to come out of this year’s upfronts, Time After Time (following NBC’s Timeless and FOX’s Making History), and sitcoms Downward Dog and Imaginary Mary (for former including a talking dog, and the latter a completely animated character). Mary is the second live-action/CGI hybrid to debut this week, following FOX’s Son of Zorn. Special event programming include a David Blaine magic special, Ali: The Champion, a special honoring boxer Muhammad Ali, limited series When We Rise, and a three-hour filmed musical event, Dirty Dancing.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview ABC’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview ABC’s fall schedule including Kiefer Sutherland as POTUS →

Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’

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FOX followed NBC out of the gate in presenting its next programming slate for the 2016-17 TV season. In total, the now American Idol-less network is showcasing 8 new dramas, 3 new comedies, 2 new reality series, and a live musical. Of the 13 new shows, four will premiere this fall and the remainders will air in midseason or later. Sound familiar? NBC is playing up stability in the fall, too, debuting only three new series early on and saving the rest for next year. Unlike the other networks, however, FOX shares its fall and midseason schedules at the Upfronts, so we have a clearer picture here as to when benched series will see the light of day.

This fall, FOX’s schedule is unmistakable. Gotham and Lucifer open Monday. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl provide a comedic launchpad for Ryan Murphy’s fun horror fest Scream Queens on Tuesday. On Wednesday, new drama Lethal Weapon is paired with broadcast juggernaut Empire. Thursday sees crime procedural Rosewood leading into the final season of Bones. Another new drama based on a popular film franchise, The Exorcist, gets the Friday-at-9 slot following Hell’s Kitchen, where it will go head-to-head with NBC’s Friday night genre fare, Grimm. Animation Domination Sunday includes the return of Bob’s Burgers, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and at 8:30 a new half-hour sitcom, Son of Zorn, which is an eccentric live action/animated hybrid from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Last Man on Earth). A live presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) and Victoria Justice (Victorious), will air sometime in October, just in time for Halloween.

Perhaps the most anticipated new series next season, the exciting return of 24 and Prison Break, are being saved for midseason premieres. In 24: Legacy, Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is out and The Walking Dead‘s Corey Hawkins is in as the new lead. Typically FOX announces midseason premieres as we get closer to winter, but the new 24 is a special case because it has snagged the coveted post-Super Bowl slot; it will premiere Sunday, Feb. 5 immediately following the big game, and then it will fall into its regular Monday-at-8 timeslot the day after. The next chapter in Prison Break is being billed as a six-episode event series and it will air Thursdays-at-9 leading out of Rosewood come early 2017; the entire gang is back and it looks incredible. Other new series being held for midseason include dramas APB with Justin Kirk (Tyrant), MLB-backed Pitch from EP Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love), racially charged Shots Fired, and Lee Daniels’ Star, plus comedies The Mick with Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny) and fun time-traveller Making History with Adam Pally (Happy Endings). Reality series Kicking and Screaming and My Kitchen Rules come later, too. And for all your Sleepyheads out there, Sleepy Hollow will return to Friday next year.

Update (5/20): FOX has made some tweaks to its upcoming schedules, just days after announcing them at the Upfronts. Baseball drama Pitch will now premiere in the fall (alongside the new MLB season, so that makes sense), and this pushes Bones to winter. And that, in turn, pushes Prison Break to spring, when it will air on Tuesday instead of Thursday. Got it? Good. The fall and midseason schedules below have been updated to reflect these changes.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview FOX’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’ →

Upfronts: Preview NBC’s fall schedule including time travel drama & afterlife sitcom

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NBC is the first of the Big Four Networks to unveil its new series for the upcoming 2016-17 TV season. In total, the Peacock has 7 new dramas, 5 new comedies, and 3 new reality series in the pipeline to debut next season. Of the 15 new shows, only three will rollout in the fall, and the rest will remain on tap for midseason.

Time travel drama Timeless from Eric Kripke (Revolution, Supernatural) and Shawn Ryan (Last Resort, The Chicago Code, The Shield) has landed NBC’s most powerful timeslot, the plumb Monday-at-10 hour behind ratings juggernaut The Voice. On Tuesday, ensemble drama This Is Us from Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) is sandwiched between a second hour of The Voice and the returning Dick Wolf procedural Chicago Fire. This past fall’s breakout hit Blindspot is relocating to Wednesday to give Timeless a fighting chance, where the Greg Berlanti-produced thriller will lead into Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D. Comedies will open Thursday nights, with the returning Superstore leading into Michael Schur’s (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Rec) next surefire hit The Good Place. The second half of NBC’s “Must See TV” evening is comprised of Chicago Med and The Blacklist. Genre fare Grimm remains on Fridays perched at the 9pm hour, SNL rules Saturday night as is tradition, and football dominates Sundays.

New series being held for midseason include spinoff The Blacklist: Redemption, another Dick Wolf spinoff Chicago Justice, Wizard of Oz-inspired Emerald City, mystical Midnight Texas, a prequel series Taken based on the Liam Neeson movie franchise and sitcoms Great News (from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock), Marlon Wayans’ Marlon, DC Comics-based Powerless, and Trial & Error with John Lithgow. Reality series warming the bench include The New Celebrity Apprentice spearheaded by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Better Late Than Never starring Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, and George Foreman, First Dates executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres, and The Wall EP’d by LeBron James. Special event programming include Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, Hairspray Live!, and A Few Good Men Live!.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview NBC’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview NBC’s fall schedule including time travel drama & afterlife sitcom →

Status update #10 on your favorite new and returning shows

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Here’s the tenth and final status update on the fates of your favorite shows across the major broadcast networks. This week brings the Upfronts presentations where the nets unveil their new programming for the upcoming 2016-17 TV season. Before we get to that, read on to find out which shows will be returning for more, and which ones are biting the dust. Fair warning, the networks committed deep spring cleaning, so brace yourselves.

CBS is forging forward with one long-running franchise and saying goodbye to another. Criminal Minds has been renewed for a 12th season, and according to Deadline, its spinoff Beyond Borders is expected to return for a second run. CSI: Cyber, on the other hand, has been cancelled after two seasons. The axing of the spinoff marks the end of an era for The Eye; next season will mark the first time the network isn’t airing a CSI show in 16 years. For those keeping count, the original CSI ran for 15 seasons, and its other spinoffs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY ran for 10 and 9 seasons, respectively. After some negotiation between CBS and studio Warner Bros. TV, Supergirl will produce a second season, but it will do so on sister network The CW. The superhero show, created by prolific producer Greg Berlani, will join Berlanti’s other crop of DC Comics-based series at The CW including Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow. Elsewhere, ensemble sitcom Life in Pieces was renewed for a sophomore run. We’re still waiting on the fates of hospital drama Code Black and sitcom The Odd Couple, but Deadline predicts imminent renewals on both fronts. Update (5/16): Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Code Black, The Odd Couple, and Undercover Boss have all been renewed. Freshman drama Rush Hour has been cancelled.

Jump after the break for more from NBC, FOX, and ABC. Continue reading Status update #10 on your favorite new and returning shows →

Experimental band Xiu Xiu resurrects ‘Twin Peaks’ score with poise

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If you ever tuned into David Lynch’s cult mystery drama Twin Peaks, then you are well aware of composer Angelo Badalamenti’s instantly iconic score. Every episode of the short-lived show kicked off with scenic views of the not-everything-is-as-it-seems town, including shots of The Packard Saw Mill and The Great Northern Hotel. Elevating these gorgeous shots to greater heights? Badalamenti’s score, which happened to mesh perfectly with Lynch’s overall vision for the show; the sounds and songs of Twin Peaks were grandiose, eerie, edgy, disturbed even. It’s been confirmed that Badalamenti is teaming up with Lynch again for the now-in-production third season of Twin Peaks, coming to Showtime sometime next year. For now, though, there’s this. Continue reading Experimental band Xiu Xiu resurrects ‘Twin Peaks’ score with poise →

Star Wars Day: Emojis tell ‘The Force Awakens’, and J.J. Abrams & Lin Manuel Miranda perform the new Cantina song

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Today is May 4th and you know what that means: it’s Star Wars Day! To celebrate the annual occasion, Disney dropped this incredibly adorable version of The Force Awakens…as told by emoji! In under four minutes, the cute clip breaks down the seventh installment in the Star Wars franchise, hitting most of the major beats of the film. Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, Han Solo, and the rest of your characters pop up throughout in emoji form, and the animation makes fun use of GIFs, apps, and recognizable iDevices. Enjoy, and May the Fourth Be With You!

Now, those of you who picked up a copy of John Williams’ score from The Force Awakens likely scratched your head and went, Huh, where’s the new Cantina song? Well, here it is now! In honor of Star Wars Day, Lucasfilm is finally making “Jabba Flow” available to stream and purchase. The track is written and performed by director J.J. Abrams and Hamilton creator and star Lin Manuel Miranda. Watch them perform it live, for the first time ever, in a video recorded earlier today; it’s embedded below. Continue reading Star Wars Day: Emojis tell ‘The Force Awakens’, and J.J. Abrams & Lin Manuel Miranda perform the new Cantina song →

What to watch this month: ‘Person of Interest,’ ‘Preacher,’ ‘Bloodline’ & more

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We’ve nearly reached the official “end” of the network TV season, seeing as we’ve entered the month of May. But, as we know from recent years past, that no longer means there’s nothing to watch until September. CBS sat on Person of Interest for far too long, and now we’re finally privy to the final season. AMC aims to impress with its adaptation of the cult comic book franchise Preacher. Netflix’s captivating family drama Bloodline is back and ready to peel more layers off the Rayburns. What else? Fox hopes to strike gold again by resuming its mystery thriller Wayward Pines, and Chelsea Handler debuts Netflix’s first talk show. Find posters and trailers and premiere dates after the break! Continue reading What to watch this month: ‘Person of Interest,’ ‘Preacher,’ ‘Bloodline’ & more →

Status update #9 on your favorite new and returning shows

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You know the drill by now–here’s a roundup of recently renewed TV series across network and cable stations. Happy to report there are no major cancellations to share.

NBC is clearly a fan of its Friday night genre fare; Grimm will return for a sixth season, albeit a short season order that will produce 13 episodes instead of the customary 22.

FOX, took you long enough! New Girl fans, you can breathe a quiet sigh of relief; the popular sitcom is coming back for a sixth run. Elsewhere on the network, newbies Lucifer and Rosewood have been renewed for second seasons.

FXX made my heart sing when it commissioned a third season of its surreal relationship sitcom Man Seeking Woman. If you’re not watching this one, you’re missing out.

AMC can’t get enough Dead. The Walking Dead‘s companion series Fear the Walking Dead, currently in the middle of its second season run, is confirmed to unspool a third season set to debut in 2017.

HBO, in a move that surprised no one, swiftly renewed its uber-popular fantasy drama Game of Thrones and critically acclaimed comedies Veep and Silicon Valley. It is Thrones‘ seventh, Veep‘s sixth, and Silicon Valley‘s fourth.

Streamer Hulu loves The Mindy Project, just like the rest of us! Mindy Kaling’s sitcom, which moved over from Fox when the network cancelled it after three seasons, is making a fifth season. Also coming back for more is The Path, the buzzy drama about a controversial cult starring Aaron Paul, Hugh Dancy, and Michelle Monaghan.

Netflix orders ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ sequel, summer of ’91 reunion gets real!

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“Hey, lets all promise that ten years from today, we’ll meet again, and we’ll see what kind of people we have blossomed into.”

That’s a line that Bradley Cooper’s Ben says at the end of the 2001 cult comedy film Wet Hot American Summer. When Netflix announced that it was bringing Wet Hot back as an episodic TV series, fans were pleasantly surprised to find out that it would a prequel taking place during the first day of camp in the summer of 1981 (as opposed to the last day of camp as featured in the movie). For those of you still yearning for a true sequel, your prayers have been answered. Taking a cue from Cooper’s Ben, Netflix confirms Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later is on its way!

Wet Hot writers Michael Showalter and David Wain are returning to pen the 8-episode sequel series, and Wain will direct the installments again. The cast hasn’t been solidified yet, but by teasing the new season with the clip from the movie embedded above, you have to imagine that the entire gang is game to reprise their memorable characters.

Wondering what the crop of raunchy characters will be up to in the summer of 1991? Perhaps the “10 Years Later” tag at the very end of the Wet Hot movie provides clues; revisit it here.

Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later is set to debut on Netflix in 2017.