Tag Archives: Starz

Status update #2 on your favorite new and returning shows

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The TV landscape is a fickle thing as viewers decide whether or not to tune into new and returning series. With that being said, it is prime time to check back into the status of programs spanning the big networks, cable, and premium cable. Shall we?

CBS is a fan of Limitless, the new fall drama that’s based on the 2011 Bradley Cooper film; it has received the Back 9 order that lifts its episode count to a full-season 22. The same can be said for ensemble sitcom Life in Pieces.

NBC is injecting even more life into its solid performers Blindspot, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Law & Order: SVU. All four dramas–including Blindspot, which was previously granted a full season order–have been allotted one extra episode, upping their respective seasons from 22 to 23 episodes. Elsewhere on the Peacock network, underperformers The Player and Truth Be Told are getting episodes taken away from them. The Wesley Snipes casino drama is seeing its episode count reduced from 13 to 9, and the barely-on-the-radar sitcom is shedding three episodes seeing its total drop from 13 to 10.

Over on FOX, Tuesday night sitcoms Grandfathered and The Grinder led by John Stamos and Rob Lowe, respectively, have both received Back 9 orders, thus sealing their fates to last at least until May of next year.

More updates from ABC, FX, AMC, Starz, and HBO after the break. Continue reading Status update #2 on your favorite new and returning shows →

9 premieres to look out for in October: ‘Homeland,’ ‘The Leftovers,’ ‘AHS: Hotel,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ & more

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We’ve made it through premiere week, and now as we enter October there’s more than a handful of cable offerings you cannot miss. Popular series like Homeland and The Walking Dead make their highly anticipated returns this month. On Halloween, Ash vs. Evil Dead raises hell (literally) as the iconic Sam Raimi creation comes to the small screen. And there’s so much more debuting in-between. Check out my picks after the break. Continue reading 9 premieres to look out for in October: ‘Homeland,’ ‘The Leftovers,’ ‘AHS: Hotel,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ & more →

What to watch this weekend: AMC’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and Patrick Stewart in Starz’s ‘Blunt Talk’

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In TV Land, the people of Los Angeles have no idea what’s about to hit them. After years of tantalizing coverage, the time has finally come to sit back, relax tense up, and enjoy AMC’s Walking Dead companion series, Fear the Walking Dead.

Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels and the incredibly popular AMC flagship series of the same name, is behind Fear and he’s joined by many familiar producers including Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert, and Greg Nicotero. Fear stars Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Elizabeth Rodriquez, Lorenzo James Henrie, Ruben Blades, and Mercedes Mason.

This summer at San Diego Comic Con, I learned first-hand just how different the new series feels, tonally, in comparison to the flagship series. When the city gets ripped apart by freshly infected walkers, viewers will be privy to immediate government action and more significantly, we’ll witness a family unequipped for surviving the apocalypse approach the walkers head on. Fear‘s first season, after all, serves as a prequel for fans of the franchise in that events unfold before we meet Rick Grimes and his band of survivors. Remember how Rick was in a coma and missed out on the early days of the walker invasion? This is the period we will live in over the course of Fear‘s first six episodes.

As exhilarating and intriguing as it sounds to be privy to the virus spreading, EP David Erickson reminds viewers that the show will drill its focus on the family at the center of it all. “It starts as a family drama, and we filter the apocalypse through that,” he said to the crowd at Comic Con. It’s about “a highly dysfunctional blended family trying to hold it together.”

Never tuned into The Walking Dead, which enters its sixth season this fall? Fear not (heh!). Kirkman and his team have been adamant in saying that Fear stands on its own and does not require you having seen a single episode of their other series.

Fear the Walking Dead premieres Sunday, August 23 at 9pm on AMC. Click here to preview the first three minutes of the highly anticipated pilot episode. And here to watch the official trailer.

Jump after the break to learn more about Patrick Stewart’s return to TV in Blunt Talk. Continue reading What to watch this weekend: AMC’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and Patrick Stewart in Starz’s ‘Blunt Talk’ →

Comic Con: Bruce Campbell is spectacular in small-screen adaptation ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’

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The band is back together. Director Sam Raimi, producer Rob Tapert, and star Bruce Campbell have reunited to summon the Deadites again in a TV adaptation of The Evil Dead. 57-year-old Campbell starred in the original trilogy of Evil Dead movies from 1981-1992, and now he’s back to reprise his iconic role as Ash Williams in Ash vs. Evil Dead for Starz.

If you’ve seen the Evil Dead movies, you know that the franchise is best known for its equal balance of gruesome horror, campy fun, and ultimate one-liners. Despite the opening sequence in this trailer, Campbell falls back into the role quite snuggly and fans from before are going to eat this up. Missed out on the movies? That’s okay. If battling evil undead forces with more than a pinch of campy mayhem sounds entertaining to you, then Ash vs. Evil Dead is a must-see. And, as witnessed in the trailer, Ash gives his younger compatriots (and the audience) a history lesson about how he unintentionally woke the creepy crawlers 30 years ago.

Starring alongside Campbell are Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess), Ray Santiago (Bad Judge), Dana Delorenzo (Barely Famous), and Jill Marie Jones (Sleepy Hollow).

Ash vs. Evil Dead, appropriately enough, premieres this Halloween on Starz. Now go watch the trailer like five more times because it is that good.

Starz picks Aussie Liam McIntyre to be the next Spartacus

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Tough break for the boys of Prison Break.  Starz overlooked Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell, among others, and selected Australian actor Liam McIntyre (The Pacific) to be the next Thracian warrior.  After star Andy Whitfield dropped out of the Spartacus star role due to health issues, the producers came up with an ultimatum: close up shop or recast.  Whitfield gave his blessing to the recast the role, and so the network began its search.

“Since no one can really replace Andy, we realized that we should instead find an actor who can truly lead Spartacus forward,” said Starz’s CEO Chris Albrecht. “It was important to us to have Andy endorse the idea of recasting this part, which he did in the same heroic manner that he’s dealt with his whole ordeal. And that, coupled with our fortune in finding a young actor with the gladiator credentials and the acting ability of Liam, makes it easier for us to keep this hit franchise going.”

And so Spartacus: Blood and Sand will carry on.  Production on season 2 is expected to resume this spring.  The six-part prequel series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena premieres Friday, January 21 on Starz.

[Via Deadline]

Dominic Purcell the next ‘Spartacus’?

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Season 2 of Spartacus: Blood and Sand is nearly ready to begin production.  But there is one gaping hole left to fill: finding a strong replacement for cancer-striken Andy Whitfield.  After being diagnosed with early stage Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Whitfield was forced to dropped out of the show shortly after the first season concluded.  Last week Starz president Chris Albrecht said that the network is “confident that we will find an actor who can ably step into Spartacus’ sandals.”  Though Australian actor Liam McIntyre is rumored to be the selection, the casting call is apparently still open.  Prison Break star Dominic Purcell put together a screen test tape and sent it to the show’s producers.  Want to know the spark of irony here?  It was fellow Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller who initially expressed interest in taking over the role.  If you take a look at appearances alone, Purcell fits the bill over Miller due to his more Gladiator-like physique.  Anyhow, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and follow up on this story once the producers make their final decision.  Blood and Sand is tentatively scheduled for September 2011.  And don’t forget about the prequel series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena which premieres Friday, January 21 on Starz.

[Via Deadline]

Wentworth Miller the next ‘Spartacus’?

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According to EW’s Michael Ausiello, Wentworth Miller–better known as Michael Scofield, star of FOX’s breakout hit Prison Break–has expressed interest in taking over the lead role in Starz’s Spartacus: Blood and Sand.  The original Spartacus Andy Whitfield dropped out of the show shortly after its first season to undergo treatment for early stage Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  This forced the production team to come with an ultimatum–“close up shop or recast.”  Since this news broke back in late September, the team went ahead with the latter option.  There hasn’t been any official word (or even rumors) about who would take over the demanding role, and apparently Miller has stepped forward offering a bid.  The ex-con (in Break, of course) definitely has the acting chops to pull it off.  The question is whether or not he has the physical appearence to play the part.  A smearing of body tattoos of Jolie Prison isn’t going to hide that face that Miller is not nearly as buff as the intimidating Whitfield; but as Ausiello points out a healthy regimen at the gym could make up for that.

There’s much time left for decisions to be made.  Blood and Sand is tentatively scheduled for a September 2011 air date.  But until then, you can look forward to Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a six episode prequel series, airing in January 2011.  And for those concerned, Whitfield is reported to have “a very positive outlook.”

[Via EW-AusielloFiles, here & here]

FlashForward might just live to see another day on Starz?

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Ever since ABC axed FlashForward after its first season its hardcore fanbase has been trying to pull whatever strings it can to revive the show.  A Facebook group called “SAVE FLASHFORWARD!” has gained a substantial following; these rapid fans have been sending emails and letters to ABC head Steve McPherson and other network and cable presidents demanding the sci-fi drama deserves at least a second season.  Some have even staged local “blackouts” in front of ABC offices.  It appears as if these efforts might be picking up enough steam to actually influence the fate of the show.  A fan recently posted this comment on the Facebook group wall:

“I just called Starz and the rep told me that they are aggressively seeking the license for FlashForward and that a lot of people have been calling about [the show].”

Upon seeing reading this statement the group moderator followed up with this: “McPherson is allegedly softening.”

I advise you to take what you’re reading here with a grain of salt.  These statements are merely comments by eager fans of the show, so they may or may not be true.  Whatever the case, this is great news for FlashForward fans.  It’s a win-win-lose situation and here’s how.  If these statements are true, FlashForward might just live to see another day on a cable station where Mark Benford can call D. Gibbons Dyson F**k if he really wanted to.  If the statements are false, light of this news is already garnering massive fan support and encouraging people to email and call Starz to push for a renewal.  And the lose situation–well that’s if all of this ends up being for naught and the show stays dead.

Let’s get realistic for a sec.  In order for cancelled show to get brought back to life, the main cast needs to be on board if you want to appease the fans.  As far as I know, four prominent cast members are already booked for fall and midseason shows.  James Callis (Gabriel McDow) plays a new resident in Syfy’s Eureka; Michael Ealy (Agent Marshall Vogel) is joining The Good Wife on CBS; Christine Woods (Janis Hawk) is a series regular in the new NBC comedy Perfect Couples; and Joseph Fiennes (Mark Benford), the crux of the show, is signed on to play the wizard Merlin in the upcoming 10-part series Camelot on Starz.  That’s right, Starz.  If the FlashForward showrunners could somehow replace or remove Vogel and Hawk from the story and conjure up a contract with Starz that enables Fiennes to manage Camelot and FlashForward then a revival could technically happen.  But remembering we’re talking realistically here, so I’m going to say that’s a LONG SHOT.

In the end it all comes to down to scheduling conflicts, network execs, and money.  But if the hardcore fans continue to spread the word of save FlashForward who knows what might happen.  Call Starz’ toll-free line (866-888-4010) to make yourself heard.  Cuz it would be totally awesome to find out what all of little Charlie’s future visions meant!

[Via DigitalSpy; io9]

Starz cancels ‘Party Down’

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Let me start with the official statement from executive vice president of programming Stephan Shelanski because I’m speechless right now.  “After careful consideration, we’ve decided not to continue on with subsequent seasons of Party Down and Gravity.  We’re grateful to everyone involved in the shows, and are proud to have had them on the channel.  Starz remains committed to aggressively expanding our original programming lineup.”

Damn you Starz!  I mean, give me a break!  Party Down is (grr) was one of the most original shows on television.  Sure it’s ratings were abysmal and its two biggest starts moved on to other network projects (Jane Lynch to Glee, Adam Scott to Parks & Rec) but you still could’ve made things work!  After only two season on the air Party Down garnered a decent following (who apparently watched episodes soley on the Internet via Netflix) and received rave reviews from critics.  Even a slight marketing push for season 2 (I saw posters everywhere for it) wasn’t enough to attract more eyeballs to the show’s Friday night 10PM timeslot.  I’m going to place this premature death alongside the ranks of Arrested Development; both shows were ahead of their time, too smart for television, and…damnit I’m angry.

[Via EW-AusielloFiles]