Category Archives: Entertainment

TBS cancels ‘Glory Daze’

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Tear. After its 10-episode debut season, TBS has cancelled the ’80s college comedy Glory Daze. The culprit is ratings, of course. When the show premiered in November it attracted 1.8 million viewers (with a 1.0/3 rating in the 18-49 demo) and that number would dwindle down to a low 1.1 million when the season series finale aired. It’s a bummer because Glory Daze managed to capture by attention every week with its grounded in reality take on fraternity life. Plus the ’80s backdrop was just downright nostalgic. If you missed out on the first season when it aired, the DVD box set is must-have. This show’ll make you laugh and it always left me feeling great after every episode–it’s one of those feel-good programs, you know? Now we’ll never find out if Joel gets with Christie; ah well, ’tis the nature of television.

[Via Deadline]

Simon Cowell explains ‘The X Factor’

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Former American Idol judge Simon Cowell takes time to explain his new show The X Factor. He describes it as “a singing competition with a twist.” Auditions are open to anyone, no matter your age. Performers will be separated into the following four categories: young guys, young girls, older singers, and singing groups. Auditions will take place in LA, Miami, Newark, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas; contenders will sing not only for the judges but also in front of 3,000 to 4,000 audience members. Think of it as Idol meets America’s Got Talent. The grand prize is a $5 million recording contract. Cowell says, “I can assure you one thing: you will have never seen a show like this before in America.”

The X Factor airs this September on FOX.

Kiefer Sutherland returns to FOX this fall in Tim Kring’s ‘Touch’

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After sitting out one broadcast cycle to mull over a 24 feature film and produce a web series, Kiefer Sutherland is ready to return to primetime network TV. And he’s coming back to his former home FOX, no less. He will star in Touch, a drama from Tim Kring (Heroes). The story will focus on a father (Sutherland) who discovers that his autistic, mute son can predict events before they happen. Though the network has only committed to producing a pilot, Sutherland’s touch (pun intended) is expected to launch it into episodic treatment. In a similar fashion to 24, FOX will air Kring’s latest creation in midseason. Why, you ask? Well that’s because production is being delayed to late May-early June so that Sutherland can continue to pursue his Broadway career in a revival of Jason Miller’s That Championship Season. In addition to starring in Touch, Sutherland will serve as executive producer along with Peter Chernin and Kathrine Pope. Charles McDougall (Desperate Housewives, The Good Wife, The Chicago Code) has been tapped to direct the pilot.

Need your Kiefer fix right now? Look out for his upcoming web series The Confession premiering on Hulu next month.

[Via Deadline]

FOX renews ‘American Dad’ for seventh season

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Good morning USA! I got a feelin’ that it’s gonna be a wonderful day. That it is for animator/creator Seth MacFarlane. The man known for dominating FOX’s “Animation Domination” lineup with his imaginative and relevant comedies must be feeling an enormous sense of relief after hearing today’s news that American Dad will be joining long-time staple Family Guy and newcomer The Cleveland Show for the 2011-13 TV seasons. No, that’s not a typo and I’ll explain why. The Smiths have been guaranteed a seventh season with a full 22-episode order. However, because FOX has ordered two new animated shows Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite (yes, based on the movie) for next season, scheduling only an undisclosed portion of American Dad episodes will air in 2011-12, and the remaining eps will overflow into the 2012-13 season. And believe it or not, this is the way the show has aired since the 2005 Super Bowl. So no harm done here. Packaged with this news of renewal is a hint of what’s to come later this season; upcoming guest voices include Anjelica Huston, Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Burt Reynolds, and Cee-Lo Green.

“This is fantastic news,” said Roger the Alien in a statement. “But you do realize I’m not real, right?”

[Via Deadline]

‘No Ordinary Family’ to feature a Jim Powell tune

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If you’ve been following ABC’s new superhero show No Ordinary Family, you would know that Jim Powell is a fictional character played by the show’s male lead and executive producer Michael Chiklis. The actor best known for his role as Vic Mackey in FX’s The Shield will soon contribute to his new show in a way you would likely never expect. According to EW, the March 1 episode titled “No Ordinary Love” will feature a song recorded by Chiklis and his band. “Till I Come Home” is described as a sentimental tune that will during a “tender moment” between Chiklis’ TV daughter Daphne Powell (Kay Panabaker) and her boyfriend Chris. Interestingly the song was originally produced by Chiklis to pay tribute to U.S. troops and his cousin’s service. “I’ve been a musician my whole life,” he told EW. “I’m really enjoying making music again and this is a real band! Also, this was written and recorded in my house! This is not a product of the machine … it’s just heartfelt, homegrown music. More to come too.”

If you’re not watching No Ordinary Family, you should be. After a rocky start, the characters have settled into their roles and the bubbling plot is overflowing with strong mythos-driven intricacies. Though the initial 13-episode order was extended due to decent ratings early on, a season 2 renewal is far from a sure thing. Check it out, and tell your friends about it. It would be too sad to see a show of this (sci-fi) caliber to fall by the wayside.

Update: The song’s landed on iTunes.

[Via EW]

‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ comes to Syfy this spring

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Hot on the heels of The Science Channel acquiring the rights to air Joss Whedon’s Firefly, the Syfy network intends to bring back another cult favorite program axed from network TV prematurely. Syfy will air all 31 episodes (spanning 2 seasons) of the ill-fated FOX show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting Thursday, April 7 at 9PM. After its cable premiere date, TSCC will air Thursdays from 7PM to 11PM–that’s right, the station will air 4 one-hour episodes back-to-back every Thursday. Intense stuff. Though the show got off on shaky ground, it quickly found its feet towards the latter half of season one and its shortened second season made for some really great TV. If you missed out on its original run, I highly recommend checking it out on Syfy this April. By the time the series finale rolls around you will be begging to the powers that be for more. Sure it’s set in the Terminator universe, but the show distances itself from the movies by expanding on familiar names (read: John and Sarah Conner) and introducing new and exciting characters (Summer Glau’s Cameron and Garrett Dillahunt’s Cromartie). Plus a TV movie may be in the works, so you’ve got to prepare for that.

[Via EW]

Trailer: Apollo 18

Movies, Video, ,

Officially, Apollo 17, launched December 17th, 1972, was the last manned mission to the moon. But a year later, in December of 1973, two American astronauts were sent on a secret mission to the moon funded by the US Department of Defense. What you are about to see is the actual footage which the astronauts captured on that mission. While NASA denies its authenticity, others say it’s the real reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.

From Dimension Films, producer Timur Bekmambetov, and director Gonzalo López-Gallego comes the sci-fi thriller Apollo 18 and it uses “found footage” to tell the an alternate history story and reveal the real reason why we haven’t traveled back to the moon in some time. Brain-melding aliens! Or something like that. Watch the spooky trailer above and anticipate the Cloverfield-meets-Paranormal Activity flick hitting theatres April 22.

Apple is Hollywood’s product placement king

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According to Brandchannel, a division of global branding agency Interbrand, Apple products can be found in 30 percent of the top movies at the U.S. box office in 2010. Last year delivered 33 high-grossing films that made it to #1 in the box office; Apple products appeared in 10 of them, so now you can see where that percentage comes from. Of the 591 brands identified in the #1 flicks, Apple was clearly the most dominant. Its product placement leadership over the years, however, has been on the decline. After reaching its product placement peak in 2008 (when Apple products showed up in nearly 50 percent (20 of 41) of #1 films), its visibility in those top films dropped about six percent in 2009 (appearing in 19 of 44 films) and a staggering 14 percent in 2010. Hop after the break to see a handy chart put together by Brandchannel that helps visualize things. Though the numbers may be dropping year-over-year, there’s no question that Apple wears the product placement crown. I mean, their products are so pretty, what do you expect?

Other fun facts brought to you by Broadcom… Nike, Chevrolet and Ford tied for second place after Apple, each appearing in 24 percent of the top films; Sony, Dell, Land Rover, and Glock appeared in at least 15 percent of the #1 films; the single movie with the most placements was Iron Man 2 with a whopping 64 brand placements. Click here for more stats.

[Via Gizmodo; Broadchannel] Continue reading Apple is Hollywood’s product placement king →

Music video: Kanye West – “All of the Lights” (Featuring Rihanna & Kid Cudi)

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The music video for Kanye West’s All of the Lights has arrived. ‘Ye tapped long-time collaborator Hype Williams to direct, and he also managed to bring featured artists Rihanna (her supple breasts) and Kid Cudi into the mix. The video plays out in a unique manner. It begins in black-and-white, following a little girl walking around a city while the interlude plays behind her. The interlude fades out about one minute in, bright colors frantically flash over the still girl, and the vocals come begin. Before West, Rihanna, and Cudder show up, RiRi belts out the chorus as the corresponding lyrics fill up the screen in various colors, shapes, sizes, and style. After Cudi concludes his bit, the horns come back and we are left without an appearance from Fergie. The chorus sounds again along with the stylized words, and then the video name drops all of the song’s contributors including John Legend, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, Alicia Keys, and La Roux. The final fifteen seconds involves a barrage of–what else–flashing lights. If you haven’t picked up My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy yet, what is wrong with you?

Music video: Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me”

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It’s true, I haven’t been the biggest fan of Britney Spears since her 2007 meltdown. But I’ve never seen such anticipation for music video like this before. Spears shot the video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund and choreographed by Brian Friedman, in late January and since then “HIAM” and anything relating to it has been trending on Twitter ever since. People couldn’t stop talking about Britney’s followup to her comeback effort (2008’s Circus). The Max Martin/Dr. Luke dance track is lively and technically sound; Spears’ autotuned voice adds some flavor to it. The music video is odd, to say the least. Though the choreography is enjoyable, Åkerlund decided on too many frantic cuts so it was hard to watch Britney do her thing. I did enjoy the battle of the Britneys sequence, and I’m sure you will too. Check it out above, and download the track right here. Her seventh studio album Femme Fatale releases March 25.

Michael Emerson joins Abrams’ ‘Person of Interest’

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In mid-September it was reported that CBS picked up a new series from J.J. Abrams titled Person of Interest. As a standard Abrams affair, the program was shrouded in secrecy in terms of casting and plotline. Today that has all changed. Abrams and series collaborator Jonah Nolan (brother of renowned film director Christopher Nolan) have chosen Michael Emerson to be show’s lead. Emerson, who reunites with Lost creator Abrams, is best known for his phenomenal portrayal as the villainous Benjamin Linus. The CBS project, backed by Warner Bros. and Abrams’ Bad Robot, is being described as a crime drama centered on an ex-CIA agent, presumed dead, who teams up with a mysterious billionaire (Emerson) to prevent violent crimes in New York City. David Semel (Heroes) will direct the pilot which is slated to air in the fall.

By now you might be thinking to yourself what about the other Abrams project known as Odd Jobs starring Emerson with Lost pal Terry O’Quinn. It’s true that NBC picked up the show with Abrams, Bryan Burk, Josh Appelbaum, and Andre Nemec (all producers) attached, but now it’s apparently being saved for the 2012 pilot season. Whether or not Emerson will be able to juggle two TV shows at once is a question no one has to answer to just yet. They are both backed by the same studios (Warner and Robot), so the potential is there. We shall wait and see. But for now you should rejoice knowing that Emerson will serve as a lead in another Abrams project that’s sure to dazzle and mystify TV viewers this fall.

[Via Deadline]

Mitch Hurwitz’s guide to getting a sitcom cancelled

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The name Mitch Hurwitz should ring a bell. He’s the brilliant mind behind the short-lived FOX series Arrested Development. Most recently he mistakingly teamed with FOX again to create Running Wilde, the Will Arnett-starer which couldn’t manage to air its initial 13-episode run before FOX canned it. Enough background. Hurwitz wrote this comically relevant Guide to Getting A Sitcom Canceled for the British newspaper The Guardian. As you’re reading it you’ll quickly pick up on Hurwitz’s intention behind writing such a guide; in essence he’s listing the reasons why Development likely got the axe. I won’t spoil it for you–start reading it here, then jump after the break to see the rest.

Have a confusing title

Come up with an unwieldy title that perhaps comes from the realm of psychology, so that the title of your show is almost instantly forgettable. For example, if you were to call the show Welcome Matt, an audience could immediately understand the concept: this must be a character named Matt and he must either be a welcoming person or stepped on. If you call a show Arrested Development it’s confusing and sufficiently disorientating to guarantee that a wide audience never discovers the fruits of your labor.

Continue reading Mitch Hurwitz’s guide to getting a sitcom cancelled →